Great First-time Cruise - Alaska is beautiful

Volendam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

1Chsecty

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 13

Overall rating:

4.5 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Inside Passage (Vancouver Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 27, 2018

Ship: Volendam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 1856

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

This was a great cruise to go on for our first one. The staff are very friendly and always greet you with a smile. Our room stewards were great (Silo & Toyo) and looked after us well. It took a while to figure out how to get to some of the places on the ship (e.g. Deck 4 entrance to Main Dining Room can only be accessed by the aft elevator/stairs because of the ship's kitchen between it and the mid-ship elevator/stairs). I wasn't a fan of all the jewelry shops on the ship and at each port. They're all owned by "the company". I guess it's okay if you're into tanzanite or chocolate diamond jewelry and watches (none of which are from Alaska, by the way). The ship was very clean and well-kept. We appreciated the mats in the elevators changed every day to remind us which day of the week it was. Our fellow cruisers were mostly retirees, with some younger vacationers mixed in, which which we didn't mind, and may consider Holland America Line for any future cruises because of that. Even though we're not quite retired, it was nice not to have to put up with children whining and their natural exuberance on this vacation. Glacier Bay was the best "port" of all. It was perfect weather and the scenery was gorgeous. We saw one section of the glacier fall (not sure if it was a proper calving) and heard the "thunder".