Review of the Volendam

Just back from a Volendam cruise

written by KathyB posted on 28/10/05

This was our third cruise on HAL's Volendam. She is just as lovely a ship as always. But this time the food was the best ever. We ate in the dining room every night...unusual for us. But the food was so good and so was the service. The Volendam is not for everyone, and my preference is Princess, but every now and then I need a Volendam cruise. It's very quiet and laid back. We had a Verandah suite, which is much like the minis on Princess. It was great. The first production show was called Show Time and they did routines and songs from Broadway. It was excellent!!! The next production show was called something like "H2OH" and it was awful! Paul Papas was a headliner one night. Fantastic on the piano. The ports of call were very good...Aruba, Curacao, Dominica and Tortola. We took shore excursions of the islands and they were really good. The one big megative was the CD. She was terrible. She gave little to no information of value to passengers. She was especially negligent on our return to port, which was changed due to circumstances. A HUGE void on the loud speaker system, and it was perplexing to the passengers waiting for some info of value. Half Moon Cay was cancelled due to windy conditions. The captain felt it was too dangerous to bring down the tenders. It was okay with us, but many were disappointed. The beach and water events are quite good on HMC and there were many who planned a day at the beach. Due to Hurricane Wilma, we had to dock in Port Canaveral instead of Port Everglades which caused big problems for those with flights. We live in FL and did not have trouble getting home. Overall, the cruise was top notch and I will sail on the Volendam again. But most of the time I prefer the perkier, active atmosphere of Princess. I will be happy to answer any questions about the cruise. Just ask.