Hawaii
Volendam Cruise Review to Hawaii
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 53
Review summary
Overall, I was not impressed with Hawaii, except for Pearl Harbor and the Maui Gold pineapple plantation. The 5 days out and back was wonderful. I enjoyed being on the ship. The ocean was consistently very rough the whole time and a number of guests fell during the cruise. The staff was exhausted but pleasant. Many of the staff were going home from San Diego. They got restaffed before the next cruise.Embarkation
Quick and well organized.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Menus were not always to my liking so I did room service a few times but overall, everything was good, especially, the Pinnacle Steakhouse. We went there twice and as 3-star Mariners, we saved 15% off each time.
Onboard Activities
The girls who ran the coloring and origami activities were very lame. 2 choices only for coloring and they were very stingy with the origami paper. The pieces were so small it was very difficult for older guests to fold to make projects. They were very condescending in their tone and treated the guests like Kindergarteners!
Entertainment
5 stars for the Ukrainian classical duo!! They were fantastic. They played 3 times a day with new programs each time. It was standing room only for some performances. I did not attempt any of the other entertainment venues because I have learned that HAL does not employ very good performers.
Service and Staff
The service seemed to be lacking this trip. They seemed understaffed in all areas. We made friends with some of the staff but it was not as special as usual.
Ship Quality
They kept everything very clean throughout the ship. I love the smaller size of the Volendam. You really got to know people because you saw them each day. Just a beautiful ship but i noticed that much of the seating on board was so low that many of the guests could not sit in them becausetheywereso hard to get out of for older guests or guestswithmobilty problems..
Cabin / Stateroom
The cabin had plenty of storage for everything we brought. We couldn't get enough hangers but had plenty of drawer space. Didn't sleep well because the bed was so hard but did ok.
Ship tip
They were doing in transit updating and repairs so that was inconvenient at times.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Disembarkation
Very quick and smooth.