Beautiful part of the world.

Item: Volendam
Rating: 4
Author: juliehills

Volendam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

juliehills

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 37

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

7 Night Alaskan Inside Passage (Vancouver Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 07, 2019

Ship: Volendam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

We had a wonderful time on the cruise although, within our group of friends (10) people, all of us had some sort of issue to deal with at the guest services desk. I think this if very poor, as we stayed in hotels around Canada for the 3 weeks prior to coming on this cruise and never once did we have any issue with any of the hotels we stayed at. On that note, as good a time as we had on the cruise, we would think twice before going on a Holland America cruise in the future.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

very smooth

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

We ate in the main dining room for the first few nights but gave up after a few days as the meals were never hot when they arrived to the table. The buffet was wonderful.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

massage, gym, trivia

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Stage shows all very good and very entertaining.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

the staff were all very helpful in particular our room stewards. We actually had two rooms due to a problem with our room which saw us move on the 4th day. So our room stewards, Wi & Anang and then Sugi & Yudi kept both our rooms clean, tidy and were very helpful and friendly.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Very well designed ship, not too big which made it easy to find my way around the ship.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Comfortable beds, cleanliness was good but I would say, there is no room for baggage, so could be bigger.

Ship tip

watch out for the gratuity charges that get automatically added to items such as treatments from the day spa and the $14.50 room service fees. We opted to sign out of this and chose our own amount to pay our stewards directly at the end of our cruise. More importantly, make yourself aware of where your room is exactly in relation to being in a noisy area, such as below the Galley (like we were and eventually moved to a different room after 3 days of complaining. We had to wait to get a the next port where passengers were departing for a room to become available.). I cannot understand how there is no backup (vacant rooms) for situations like this that may arise.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

4 out of 5

No excursion taken. Only embarkation and disembarkation.

Thumbs Up 4

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

4 out of 5

The beautiful sights along the Inside passage of Alaska are something you don't get sick of. Absolutely stunning.

Thumbs Up 4

Cruise Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska

4 out of 5

Lovely relaxing day on board ship with beautiful scenery.

Thumbs Up 10

Juneau, Alaska

2 out of 5

this port would have been much better with 80% less jewelry shops and pushy shop assistants pestering people on the streets to enter their store and then rip them off asking ridiculous prices that are only for the unassuming tourist.

Thumbs Up 6

Skagway, Alaska

4 out of 5

Had a great time in Skagway going to the Musher camp and meeting the gorgeous dogs.

Thumbs Up 8

Cruise Glacier Bay

5 out of 5

This was the highlight of our cruising experience. It was absolutely breathtaking to be so close to the Glacier on a lovely day.

Thumbs Up 7

Ketchikan, Alaska

4 out of 5

The little town of Ketchikan is so lovely and spotting bears in the rainforest was a treat.

Thumbs Up 12

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Very smooth and well organised.

3 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

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CruzeFan 5 years ago

Glad you enjoyed it. As far as the “problem” with the room, it Is always a good idea to choose a room that is between floors with others cabins and not near any public or crew areas. There Are several websites where you can check the deck plans before choosing the room. If you chose a guarantee cabin, the chance you take for getting a lower rate It is been assigned to a room that is in an area no one else chose for obvious reasons. And I’m not sure why you would think they should hold cabins unsold just in case someone doesn’t like theirs. That makes no good business sense at all.

Thumbs Up 2

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15mustang 5 years ago

Alaska cruises are very popular. Why would the cruiseline leave empty cabins for people who aren't happy with their choice. You chose your cabin, next time look at a deck plan to see what is near your cabin. You were lucky you were able to move,they didn't need to do this.

Thumbs Up 1

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