IMHO Volendam New Zealand/Australia

[Gsel]

First, these are my impressions. You might have another opinion and you are welcome to it, but this is what I found in the two weeks I was on the Volendam. We sailed on her from Jan. 17 - Feb. 4 and had a wonderful trip. The itinerary was fabulous and her crew was great. Would do this again in a minute, just let me get my laundry done and my bags packed!

AIR - First and most of all, do not, don't and please don't let HAL do your air no matter how much money you might think you are saving. It still won't be worth it. We booked this cruise very early and thought we were saving plenty by comparing air prices from Dallas to Auckland and Sydney back to Dallas. By the time we actually took the trip air prices had dropped considerably and HAL and Qantas made a lot of money on us. The flight from LAX to Auckland on Qantas was absolutely awful. No matter how much we protested none of our group were seated in the seats we were promised when we left DFW. Not one couple was seated together (I was in row 47 and DH was in row 60). The flight attendants were rude and surley and what little service we got was awful. Did not make for a good night or a good start to our trip. The return from Sydney to LAX was just the opposite, great service, wonderful seats, clean aircraft. Go figure!

HAL TRANSFER - We bought the HAL transfer in Auckland due to the early arrival. Another mistake! By the time we cleared Customs it was around 9am, we were bused to a downtown hotel where we were promised clean restrooms, coffee and continental breakfast. Coffee and continental breakfast was ok, forget the clean restrooms. After searching the hotel we finally found a clean restroom behind the desk in the lobby. We would have loved to explore the city but there was no place to leave our hand luggage so we were stuck sitting at the hotel until we were called to re-board the bus for our tour of the city. We were at the pier by 12:30 and ready to start our check-in.

CHECK-IN

Check-in was easy. They had timed the buses to arrive at different times so the lines were short. We had upgraded our cabin about a month before departure so there was some confusion, but with our last invoice from HAL things were straight in a few minutes. We were on board in about 20 minutes. In the Lido for lunch by 1pm. Cabins were ready around 2pm. Our key card did not work and it took a trip to the front desk to work that out, again a problem with the upgrade and the cabin still in the other couple's name.

CABINS

We were in cabin 6169 on the Veranda Deck. Our Cabin Steward was Lucman. He immediately introduced himself and asked if we had any special needs. After talking a few minutes we remembered him from another cruise on the Veendam and knew he would be very good at taking care of us. He told us he now had 30 cabins to do every day twice a day. (too many in my opinion!) Our cabin was spotless and was kept that way the whole trip. The bathrooms could use a good remake, they really look old and worn.

DINING

We were assigned AYWD and did not have a problem getting a table when we wanted. Our major problem was the length of time it took to eat. The first night it took 3 hours to have dinner. The next night it was 3 1/2 hours. After that we just decided it was not worth it and went to the Lido for dinner. The only other night we were in the Dining Room was the last evening. We did go to the Pinnacle two evenings. The food was ok, not wonderful, just ok. I would say they could use much less salt in all of the food. After two weeks it was a bit boring, more variety would be nice. The dining room staff seemed a bit over-worked.

STAFF

Over all the staff is great and the entertainment was good. The Volendam is a happy ship with lots of smiles and happy people. They are putting in very long hours and working very hard to keep the passengers happy. I wonder how long they can keep this going.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

IMHO Holland America is making a huge mistake with cutting staff. Service is suffering and people are grumbling. Our cabin was always clean and ready each time we left it, but our neighbors sometimes didn't get their cabin clean until late in the day. Three hours for dinner doesn't leave any time for the shows or anything else in the evening. It also makes for cold entrees when they finally do arrive. This doesn't make even those of us who love HAL want to come back. What does it make the first time HAL cruiser think?

[Down-Unders]

First, these are my impressions. You might have another opinion and you are welcome to it, but this is what I found in the two weeks I was on the Volendam. We sailed on her from Jan. 17 - Feb. 4 and had a wonderful trip. The itinerary was fabulous and her crew was great. Would do this again in a minute, just let me get my laundry done and my bags packed!

AIR - First and most of all, do not, don't and please don't let HAL do your air no matter how much money you might think you are saving. It still won't be worth it. We booked this cruise very early and thought we were saving plenty by comparing air prices from Dallas to Auckland and Sydney back to Dallas. By the time we actually took the trip air prices had dropped considerably and HAL and Qantas made a lot of money on us. The flight from LAX to Auckland on Qantas was absolutely awful. No matter how much we protested none of our group were seated in the seats we were promised when we left DFW. Not one couple was seated together (I was in row 47 and DH was in row 60). The flight attendants were rude and surley and what little service we got was awful. Did not make for a good night or a good start to our trip. The return from Sydney to LAX was just the opposite, great service, wonderful seats, clean aircraft. Go figure!

HAL TRANSFER - We bought the HAL transfer in Auckland due to the early arrival. Another mistake! By the time we cleared Customs it was around 9am, we were bused to a downtown hotel where we were promised clean restrooms, coffee and continental breakfast. Coffee and continental breakfast was ok, forget the clean restrooms. After searching the hotel we finally found a clean restroom behind the desk in the lobby. We would have loved to explore the city but there was no place to leave our hand luggage so we were stuck sitting at the hotel until we were called to re-board the bus for our tour of the city. We were at the pier by 12:30 and ready to start our check-in.

CHECK-IN

Check-in was easy. They had timed the buses to arrive at different times so the lines were short. We had upgraded our cabin about a month before departure so there was some confusion, but with our last invoice from HAL things were straight in a few minutes. We were on board in about 20 minutes. In the Lido for lunch by 1pm. Cabins were ready around 2pm. Our key card did not work and it took a trip to the front desk to work that out, again a problem with the upgrade and the cabin still in the other couple's name.

CABINS

We were in cabin 6169 on the Veranda Deck. Our Cabin Steward was Lucman. He immediately introduced himself and asked if we had any special needs. After talking a few minutes we remembered him from another cruise on the Veendam and knew he would be very good at taking care of us. He told us he now had 30 cabins to do every day twice a day. (too many in my opinion!) Our cabin was spotless and was kept that way the whole trip. The bathrooms could use a good remake, they really look old and worn.

DINING

We were assigned AYWD and did not have a problem getting a table when we wanted. Our major problem was the length of time it took to eat. The first night it took 3 hours to have dinner. The next night it was 3 1/2 hours. After that we just decided it was not worth it and went to the Lido for dinner. The only other night we were in the Dining Room was the last evening. We did go to the Pinnacle two evenings. The food was ok, not wonderful, just ok. I would say they could use much less salt in all of the food. After two weeks it was a bit boring, more variety would be nice. The dining room staff seemed a bit over-worked.

STAFF

Over all the staff is great and the entertainment was good. The Volendam is a happy ship with lots of smiles and happy people. They are putting in very long hours and working very hard to keep the passengers happy. I wonder how long they can keep this going.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

IMHO Holland America is making a huge mistake with cutting staff. Service is suffering and people are grumbling. Our cabin was always clean and ready each time we left it, but our neighbors sometimes didn't get their cabin clean until late in the day. Three hours for dinner doesn't leave any time for the shows or anything else in the evening. It also makes for cold entrees when they finally do arrive. This doesn't make even those of us who love HAL want to come back. What does it make the first time HAL cruiser think?

 

 

Never use Qantas for the reasons you have stated, one time a average flight next anything goes. Staff are so stressed with cutbacks, not happy with Hugh profits Qantas want more and more packing you in like sardines with extra seats added. Give me my Asian airline where the service never falters, cheaper more comfortable seats and staff who are a pleasure to deal with.

[boards]

We flew with Qantas the same route in Nov/Dec. of 2006, as Gsel did and found the flights and service to be very good. What other air line are you suggesting that could do a better job? The transfers were handled by TA and they worked out good as well. The ship we were on was the Statendam and that also was a very good trip. There is a review done by Cands about the cruise and it tells a wonderful story.

[scottjeanne]

We did this same cruise in December. We made our own air arrangements and I heard many people complain about the arrangements made by HAL. One family flew from California to Hong Kong to Fiji to Aukland.They travelled for days!! We flew Air New Zealand and had a lovely trip.

 

We had HAL transfers. The hotel we were bussed to had clean facilities and a place to check our hand luggage. We went walking and to find an ATM. They then gave us a very long tour (4 hours) of the city. The tour was long because we got in so early and had to wait to board the Volendam.

 

Embarkation was quick. We also had Lucman as our steward. THe was great.The staff was courteous but over worked. Dinner did not take us three hours. It was usually an hour and a half. We had late seating (8 pm) and my teenager usually tried to leave the dining room by 9, which meant she did not get dessert. But all her friends had the earlier seating and were waiting for her.

 

This cruise was fabulous. The countries are wonderful and the scenery was amazing. HAL unfrotunatley does not rate as a premium line in my opinion. The food was just okay and the service in the dining room was about the same.

[hammybee]

3-3.5 hours for dinner has to be a record. Did you ask the Dining Room Manager what was going on? There has to be an explanation.

[simsge]

Jeez -

 

I will be on the April 4 Volendam cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong. I am thinking that I should lower my expectations for Holland America although this will be my first time on this line. There seems to be a pretty consistent theme, here on this board, and in independent reviews - that the food on Holland America is at time mediocre at best, and the service levels have fallen off recently. There are also those who feel all is well with HAL. Guess I will judge for myself in 6 weeks.

 

Since Holland America is listed as, and touted to be a premium cruise line, ( and I booked with them in part because of this), I will judge them based on the "premium" label. I have cruised with other lines, so the comparison will be valid and objective.

 

So far, in dealing with the HAL representitives in getting this cruise booked, I am satisfied, my expectpations have mostly been met.

 

To get me to agree that this is a premium cruise line, they will have to exceed my expectatons, as I have already lowered them more than a tad. I do, however, expect to have a fantastic time on my cruise, whatever the level of service.

[hammybee]

So far, in dealing with the HAL representitives in getting this cruise booked, I am satisfied, my expectpations have mostly been met.

 

To get me to agree that this is a premium cruise line, they will have to exceed my expectatons, as I have already lowered them more than a tad. I do, however, expect to have a fantastic time on my cruise, whatever the level of service.

 

The reviews posted about this intinerary are a very mixed bag, sometimes within the same cruise. No doubt, no two passengers experience the same cruise.

 

The majority of cabins have been selling at prices that are not consistent with a premium cruise line. They are more reflective of what prices were in Alaska, just a few years ago.

 

I hope that the overall experience exceeds your expectations.

[Gsel]

Yes, we did ask why it was taking so long, never did get a good explanation. One night we were told there was a "mix-up" in the kitcen, the next night we were told our entrees were sent to another table by mistake. Still didn't explain the time to us. Part of the problems seemed to be AYWD, not having the same waiter responsible for your dinner each evening and him being there each evening makes him not so eager to please you in my eyes. Just getting a table doesn't solve the whole problem, you have a table but you also have to get the service and the food after that. We went to the Mariner's Brunch and had a very nice table but it seemed no waiter was assigned that table. Consequently, no food and no service. Not very good at the Mariner's Brunch!

[boards]

Sorry to hear about the problems you had. We are a year away from taking our cruise on the Volendam, so I hope they can get the problems corrected by then.

[Down-Unders]

We were on the Volendam January and no way was there a three hour dinner time frame, as far as three and a half hour time frame goes that would mean you would leave the dining room at 11.30PM. I will keep an open mind as we know now people want and want it now, when we used the dining room we had a comfortable two hour time frame and could have been out sooner.

[Down-Unders]

I agree that the cabin staff are over worked, it is 7 days x 11months of the year and now they have a extra hour every day on top of all that. HAL and the rest of these cruise lines need to realize that we are now in a global world, young people see how others live and the day is coming when they will not want to work these unreasonable hours.

 

Hotel staff see Officers going on leave after three months, Head waiters after six it is only common sence in this day and age that these young people want a reasonable work roster. We were on deck 6 veranda and at 11.45am our cabin was not made up, it was at this point in time I realized what a unreasonable work load these great staff have.

[Down-Unders]

Jeez -

 

I will be on the April 4 Volendam cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong. I am thinking that I should lower my expectations for Holland America although this will be my first time on this line. There seems to be a pretty consistent theme, here on this board, and in independent reviews - that the food on Holland America is at time mediocre at best, and the service levels have fallen off recently. There are also those who feel all is well with HAL. Guess I will judge for myself in 6 weeks.

 

Since Holland America is listed as, and touted to be a premium cruise line, ( and I booked with them in part because of this), I will judge them based on the "premium" label. I have cruised with other lines, so the comparison will be valid and objective.

 

So far, in dealing with the HAL representitives in getting this cruise booked, I am satisfied, my expectpations have mostly been met.

 

To get me to agree that this is a premium cruise line, they will have to exceed my expectatons, as I have already lowered them more than a tad. I do, however, expect to have a fantastic time on my cruise, whatever the level of service.

 

 

We were on the Volendam January 5, we rated the cruise nine out of ten. The ship was spotless, staff excellent and the food good, only one problem it all came to an end. Enjoy your cruise, we did!

[Gsel]

Down-Unders, you might not have found a three hour dinner time frame if you were in the dining room at 8pm. We went around 6pm on both the first and second evening. Both evenings we found ourselves still there at 9pm. As I said in the beginning, everyone is welcome to their own opinion, we did not find the food up to the usual HAL standard, you did. Great, glad you did!

[Oca]

Gsel --

 

We are planning to be on the Volendam in March. What time were the shows in the evening during your cruise?

[Arwen]

Hi Gsel:

 

We were on the same "down under" cruise on the Volendam.

 

I totally agree with you about booking airline flight with HAL. We won't do it ever

again UNLESS we decide to pay the deviation fee which would allow us to pick and

choose our flight and airlines.

 

We flew from Seattle to LAX, to Sydney, and then to Auckland. That was "nuts" because I

already knew months ago that there were flights that go from Seattle to LAX and then

directly to Auckland. In checking, it seemed that New Zealand Air had more scheduled flights than Qantas. I talked to other people on our cruise who had a much more circuitous flights(via HAL) than even ours and they were not happy campers...errrrr, I mean sailors!

 

In fact, we overheard on one of the tours that 40 people had been placed on

standby status despite the booking by HAL. Apparently Qantas had overbooked!!!

For one couple, they were lucky and moved into 1st class (gee, give that one to ME!)

 

The flight over on Qantas was decent enough considering that in coach you feel like

you are in a flying sardine can! Very tight seating to be tolerated for 13 1/2 hrs. If anyone here hasn't flown international...a word of wisdom...wear compression stockings

You will be very glad you did!

 

Our flight home was better as we flew from Sydney to LAX and then to Seattle. However, Qantas "forgot" to add my special dietary meal, so no meal for me! The

flight attendants did their best by giving me cheese and fruit. Still, I was not happy,

though I did not starve. On the return flight and just right after lift off, we heard a loud bang followed by a shudder inside the cabin...hubby and I thought we were done for. No

explanation at all. Hubby assumed we blew out one of the 12 landing tires. I was too afraid to ask for an explanation and even so ...not sure I would have been told "oh,

we just blew a tire!"

 

I have heard and read that New Zealand Air gets decent reviews...also Singapore

Airlines.

 

I agree with you that the HAL staff is asked to do too much now. Our room often wasn't made up till very late in the day. I also suspect the sheets were not changed in the two weeks either. I spoke with a friend who recently came back from a HAL cruise

and she knew for a fact that her sheets had not been changed after a long two week

cruise (same stain on the pillow). She asked for clean bedding.

 

Our bathroom was always clean, ice bucket filled, bed turned down. However, a dirty

robe was left in the cabin(it was hung up) upon our arrival.

 

The poor room steward looked very stressed and didn't have time for small talk.

 

The dinners for us most nights were some of the best we have ever had, especially the New

Zealand lamb. The Lido was so-so.

 

By the way....the itinerary for New Zealand cruise is awesome. Just wish they would add more ports for Australia, but then a 14 day cruise would be more like a 20 day....

[Down-Unders]

Hi Gsel:

 

We were on the same "down under" cruise on the Volendam.

 

I totally agree with you about booking airline flight with HAL. We won't do it ever

again UNLESS we decide to pay the deviation fee which would allow us to pick and

choose our flight and airlines.

 

We flew from Seattle to LAX, to Sydney, and then to Auckland. That was "nuts" because I

already knew months ago that there were flights that go from Seattle to LAX and then

directly to Auckland. In checking, it seemed that New Zealand Air had more scheduled flights than Qantas. I talked to other people on our cruise who had a much more circuitous flights(via HAL) than even ours and they were not happy campers...errrrr, I mean sailors!

 

In fact, we overheard on one of the tours that 40 people had been placed on

standby status despite the booking by HAL. Apparently Qantas had overbooked!!!

For one couple, they were lucky and moved into 1st class (gee, give that one to ME!)

 

The flight over on Qantas was decent enough considering that in coach you feel like

you are in a flying sardine can! Very tight seating to be tolerated for 13 1/2 hrs. If anyone here hasn't flown international...a word of wisdom...wear compression stockings

You will be very glad you did!

 

Our flight home was better as we flew from Sydney to LAX and then to Seattle. However, Qantas "forgot" to add my special dietary meal, so no meal for me! The

flight attendants did their best by giving me cheese and fruit. Still, I was not happy,

though I did not starve. On the return flight and just right after lift off, we heard a loud bang followed by a shudder inside the cabin...hubby and I thought we were done for. No

explanation at all. Hubby assumed we blew out one of the 12 landing tires. I was too afraid to ask for an explanation and even so ...not sure I would have been told "oh,

we just blew a tire!"

 

I have heard and read that New Zealand Air gets decent reviews...also Singapore

Airlines.

 

I agree with you that the HAL staff is asked to do too much now. Our room often wasn't made up till very late in the day. I also suspect the sheets were not changed in the two weeks either. I spoke with a friend who recently came back from a HAL cruise

and she knew for a fact that her sheets had not been changed after a long two week

cruise (same stain on the pillow). She asked for clean bedding.

 

Our bathroom was always clean, ice bucket filled, bed turned down. However, a dirty

robe was left in the cabin(it was hung up) upon our arrival.

 

The poor room steward looked very stressed and didn't have time for small talk.

 

The dinners for us most nights were some of the best we have ever had, especially the New

Zealand lamb. The Lido was so-so.

 

By the way....the itinerary for New Zealand cruise is awesome. Just wish they would add more ports for Australia, but then a 14 day cruise would be more like a 20 day....

 

 

If you suspected your sheets were not changed in fourteen days why did you not take it up with the cabin people? and what did your friend do about it?

[Gsel]

Oca, the first show was at 8:30 I think, can't say what time the last show was. We are early risers which means we go to bed early.

Arwen, I know what you mean about the sardine can. My poor DH was in a window seat with a couple who didn't move the whole flight down. He finally woke them and told them he had to get out. I had made him wear compression socks, he thanked me later. Qantas used to have a great reputation, they sure don't any more! I loved the itinerary of this trip also. I had been to New Zealand before many years ago and would have been happy just to go there. Australia was just a added bonus. We spent a couple of days in Sydney after the cruise and wish we had had a few days more.

[boards]

BTW the flights we took were arranged by our TA. It had been suggested to us to get the seats in rows in the 70's where there is only two seats by the window. We were in row 72 and we had lots of room and it was easy to get up and stretch without bothering others. DW can tell you about the compression sockings. They were okay when seated but she had problems when walking, (I know too much information). We are going to do the trip again next Mar. '10 this time 34 days around Australia. Wow.

[Gsel]

Boards, lucky you! Don't think I could get DH to go away for that long. I wear compression socks most of the time due to BP problems so I am used to them. Some people just can't stand them though, I love them because they keep my BP up.

Oca, DH has corrected me, he says the show was at 9pm. His memory is much better than mine when it comes to things like that.

[Arwen]

If you suspected your sheets were not changed in fourteen days why did you not take it up with the cabin people? and what did your friend do about it?

 

I could have asked to have the sheets changed. I didn't, because as my

husband said..."You don't even change our own bed sheets that often at home".:p I try to "pick my gripes carefully" when I am on a cruise/vacation. I like the room stewards and in fact I did ask my steward to change our shower curtain upon our arrival because it reeked of ciggy odor (not trying to start a controversy here) Just a fact. He complied quickly with that request.

 

As for the other individual, they did ask to have their sheets changed.

 

Now, we are booked for a future 33 day Hawaii circle cruise....and I will

be asking to have my sheets changed at least one to two times during

that cruise:eek:

[Down-Unders]

I could have asked to have the sheets changed. I didn't, because as my

husband said..."You don't even change our own bed sheets that often at home".:p I try to "pick my gripes carefully" when I am on a cruise/vacation. I like the room stewards and in fact I did ask my steward to change our shower curtain upon our arrival because it reeked of ciggy odor (not trying to start a controversy here) Just a fact. He complied quickly with that request.

 

As for the other individual, they did ask to have their sheets changed.

 

Now, we are booked for a future 33 day Hawaii circle cruise....and I will

be asking to have my sheets changed at least one to two times during

that cruise:eek:

 

 

Thank you for your reply, yes I have heard from others that sheets were not changed for the duration of the trip, at first I was skeptical. I always believe If you have a problem talk to the staff especially on HAL or for that matter any line, from my experience such matters are resolved on the spot.

 

Enjoy your next trip, we will keep a eye on our bedding on our next 21 day voyage.

 

 

:):)

[Gsel]

I think this is another result of the cut in staff. The cabin stewards just don't have time to change sheets when they should be changed. Our sheets were changed after the first week of the 14-day cruise as they should have been. But, Lucman was an exceptional Steward and somehow found the time to do all the "little" things he knew he should do. We also made sure we found the time to leave him a "little" something extra at the end of our cruise!

[Bradtez]

Never use Qantas for the reasons you have stated, one time a average flight next anything goes. Staff are so stressed with cutbacks, not happy with Hugh profits Qantas want more and more packing you in like sardines with extra seats added. Give me my Asian airline where the service never falters, cheaper more comfortable seats and staff who are a pleasure to deal with.

 

Aircraft that are ordered for QANTAS have a certain seating configuration, extra seats cannot be added. Seats can be removed yes, but none can be added.

[pitdoctor]

Another possibility as to why the bedding isn't changed as often is to cut down on how often it is washed. Land based hotels are doing the same thing these days to be more environmentally friendly. Less laundry means less waste water with detergents and other chemicals in it.

 

I have no idea what is causing it, but it might not only be overworked room stewards.

[geologygeek]

The flight from LAX to Auckland on Qantas was absolutely awful. No matter how much we protested none of our group were seated in the seats we were promised when we left DFW. Not one couple was seated together (I was in row 47 and DH was in row 60). The flight attendants were rude and surley and what little service we got was awful.

 

Last time I checked QF didn't fly from DFW! If you were flying on their Oneworld Partner, AA (or any other domestic carrier), when you check in for your US domestic leg they cannot change seats on the QF leg.

 

Some people on here are HAL cheerleaders, well I'm proud of my national airline.

 

I would have liked to see your comments if you flew with United! If you'd have done some research it's an aged B747-300 series that QF fly LAX-AKL, I never take that route (ever) - but it is always cheap.