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Holland America Line

MS Volendam

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:Marie Effen
# previous cruises: 7
Date of Trip: March 5, 2000
Itinerary: Caribbean Southern

The cruise was great. I would recommend this ship, even with the couple of negative comments that follow. Over all HAL is a great line and I am already planning to use this line next year for my daughter's and her husband's first cruise. On the Pro Side: The cabin,food,and service was excellent. It cannot be beat. Personal remember your names, drinks and preferences. The artwork is beautiful. Take the time to go up and down each stair case. There are paintings of all the former HAL ships. Less than 1500 passengers. Lots of public space. Lots of elevators. All the cabins are nice. (I have seen most) Pools are good. Lots of chairs. We always found one. One nice addition, was adding a bar to the outside pool.

On the Con Side; We had one bad experience. "The Just For Us" package was ordered when we booked the cruise, and not delivered. When we arrived in our cabin, the dozen roses were not there. My husband checked with the desk and he was told "We were not on the list" and he would have to PROVE IT. My husband took the documents to the desk which showed we did pay for the package. There was a second call where there was a comment made about the flowers. This person offered to provide the other features of the package and my husband asked about flowers. She made a comment to the effect of "What do you want me to do, run to the florist and get them". We did not feel these comments were called for and he called management. The manager agreed. We cancelled the package and had our account credited. With two cruises on HAL, this was the only rude person we ran across.

Air conditioning needs improvement. There are areas on the ship that get very hot. The smoking area in the Explorers Lounge, the bar in the Ocean Bar, the Casino Bar,and our dinning room table. Other areas of the dinning room were fine, because as soon as we got up and started to walk out you could feel the air. Other passengers that sat in a different area thought the air was fine. Vibrations could be felt every night in bed. This reminded me of the "quarter massages" motels used to have. We were in the front of the ship, but had a cabin on the Ryndam in the exact same location last year and felt very little if no vibrations at all. Another couple on our deck also mentioned this problem.

I did not like the atrium, all that glass looked tacky and out of place, nor did I like the reddish/orangeish carpets. (This is a personal preference, since some people liked it.) The ceiling of the Crow's Nest was very plain. On other HAL ships they beautiful. Looks like they may have cut some corners when building this.

I liked every lounge, but the Casino Bar was our favorite. The casino area is a little larger than on other HAL ships. (More slots were added). This area got pretty full on most nights. There is only one roulette table and it was full every night. Another table should be added. There was both a Slot Marathon and Black Jack Marathon that drew a lot of players and a big crowd that watched. Service was at its best. Danny the bartender and Sandra the waitress took care of us both before and after dinner.

The Explorers Lounge has classical music after dinner and is great for an after dinner drink or coffee. The Captain's Coffee" became my favorite. (Grand Mariner and I think, Kalua). There are also hand made chocolates served in this lounge.

The Piano Bar had a good turn out every night also. There were trivia games on music and a great piano player. I think this lounge was a little too open, since you had to cut through it to get to the dinning room. The Ocean Bar had dancing both before and after dinner. Great music for dancers. Very nice lounge, but don't sit at the bar. The bar stools will kill your legs. Nice stop for a pre dinner cocktail.

The Crow's Nest was jumping every night I stopped in. This may have been due to the age group. There were a lot of people in their 50's on this cruise. A band plays until 11:00,then Disk Jockey and Kareokee after 11:00. The Movie Theater showed two different movies each day. The movie playing in the evening repeated the next afternoon. Fresh popcorn is available as you enter the theater.

The Coffee Bar outside the Movie Theater serves great coffee, capuchino and cookies. (No charge unless liquor is added.)

There are two fresh water pools and two hot tubs. One hot tub is hot and the other cool, both are in the indoor pool area. The indoor pool has a retractable roof that can be closed if the weather is bad. All lounge chairs have cushions which is a nice touch. There is a bar with tables that doubles as "Cigars Under the Stars", but is too humid to really enjoy sitting at, at night. The outdoor pool also has a bar which is nice. I used the outdoor pool most of the time since I like the air and it is much quieter. My husband used the indoor pool and hot tubs. There is music only indoors. We liked both. The dinning room is 2 decks high. The upper area has the center completely open where you can look down. The ceiling has stars that twinkle.

Both food and service was excellent (****). Many choices on the menu. There was never a night were I could not find something I liked. Service was outstanding. Wine was reasonably priced and we ordered a bottle every night. The wine steward also took care of sending a bottle of champagne to our cabin after dinner, so we could have mimosas the following morning. We never had breakfast or lunch in the dinning room. Breakfast

We used room service for breakfast most of the time. The menu was very good. Omelettes, ham, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereals,danish,bagels. Breakfast was always delivered on time. The Lido had a very good choices also. Pancakes, omelettes made to order, fruit etc. Lunch

We ate in the Lido and it was very good. The menu changed daily for the hot food and salads. There was always a carving station that also changed daily. Ham, turkey, pork, prime rib, etc. There was a sandwich bar where you could get almost anything made to order also a separate soup and salad bar. The desserts were sinful. The ice cream bar offered a couple different flavors everyday. It also had all the good stuff to go with it, including liquors and whipped cream. Hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza is also available in the indoor pool area.

Tea - I did not go to tea, but I spoke with a couple of ladies that raved about it. They even managed to get their husbands to leave the pool and go.

Dinner - Every night was excellent. The menu always had choices of 4 appetizers, 2 hot soups 1 cold soup,2 salads and 5 entrees that included fish, shell fish, beef, pork,and chicken. There was also a Grill selection of chicken and salmon and 1 vegetarian selection each night. The desserts were wonderful. I skipped the salad most nights to have room for dessert. Peach Melba was my favorite. There were 3 selections plus ice cream and the flambe of the day. Sugar free desserts, fruit plates and cheese plates are also available.

We had a suite. If you can afford it go for it! The verandah and cabin is very large, twice the size of the mini suites. On the verandah there is a full size table with 4 chairs , and 2 lounge chairs with a table, with room to still move around. The room is very, very large with one wall all windows and the doors to the verandah. The cabin has a large curved sofa that could open to a bed, 2 chairs a coffee table and queen size bed with plenty of room to move around. Lots of drawer and closet space. The bathroom has a full size tub with a jacuzzi and plenty of counter space. There is a separate dressing area with a vanity and a sink, TV with vcr, bar, refrigerator and a safe.

Included with the suite is a bottle of Mumms champagne on arrival, free laundry which we took full advantage of, especially since this was a 10 day cruise,fluffy robes, separate check in line, priority boarding, priority disembarkation including luggage that is pulled aside separately, priority passes for the tender to and from Half Moon Cay, a cocktail part for suite guests, and a private dinner for all suite guests with the captain and crew officers which included another cocktail party. We never heard our neighbors in the next cabin.

The entertainment was pretty good, considering this was a cruise. I was on the Ryndam last year and thought this was a bit better. The one draw back was on three different nights the showtime was changed to a pre-dinner time so a bingo thing could be held in the theater during the regular show time for second seating. I missed all of these shows.

On board there is the usual activities,pools/hot tubs,horse racing, game room with scrabble, bridge and puzzles,movie theater, ESPN in the casino area, volleyball,ping pong, walk-a-mile,health club,fitness programs,dance lessons, and art auctions. I enjoyed the art auctions. HAL used a company that I bought from on another line and I bought 2 pictures this cruise. There is also a room to use the internet. My husband sent an email for about 4.00 and change. He said it was a nice set up.

Ports were: St.Kitts, Trinidad, Martinique, Dominica, St.Thomas, and Half Moon Cay. St. Kitts, We took the helicopter tour. (I decided this after a couple of mimosas) Loved it! Town was nice with a few shops. Trinidad , we took a cab tour for about an 2 hrs. Nice tour, saw the mansions, an old church with a beautiful view and some country side. Did not stop in town. The town was very crowded. Other passengers told me the shopping is not very good. There is a straw market right off the ship with the usual stuff. You can bargain. Martinique, we took a private cab tour. Weather was a misty rain, but it added to the charm and mystic of this island. Very pretty island. We would like to go back. Did not stop in town. It also was very crowded. Some passengers complained about exchange rates being very different from store to store. Dominica, went to Trafagar Falls. It was beautiful. We would go back to this island again. The town had the usual straw market stuff, with one jewelry store. Wish we were in port longer.

St. Thomas, did the normal, shopped for jewelry. Had to do a lot of fast walking since the shops in town are only open until 1:00 on Sundays. Met my husband at Green Doors for lunch. Food is good here. Half Moon Cay, we stayed on the ship to relax. Only about 6 people at the outside pool. Very quite. I needed it!

The age group was 50 up. We made a lot of new friends. We would invite them for dinner.