Volendam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The ship was very nice! The rooms were large and the beds were cozy! They had alot of activites on board! Mostly for the older folks on board! The ports of call were great! I really enjoyed skagway, the railroad excersion was amazing a must do!

I recently returned from an Alaska cruise on Holland America Line (HAL)'s Volendam, having taken my mother along as a 70th birthday gift. Both she and I have taken other cruises over the years, but this was our first on a Holland America ship. We were greatly impressed. The staff were unfailingly cheerful, helpful and personable. I did not encounter any grumpy staff member the entire time. Our outside cabin was beautiful, and the beds were wonderfully comfortable. The food was excellent, and our table steward went above and beyond to ensure that we were happy. The entertainment was excellent. I went to all but one of the shows, and I'm sorry that I missed one. They were all great! The ship itself is so elegant, with artwork and fine furniture throughout. The shore excursions that we took were top notch, and the ship's staff really worked hard to get everybody off the ship quickly so as to maximize our time ashore. On the negative side, I found the ship photographer's photos to be somewhat unflattering (probably poor use of lighting or perhaps from using digital instead of real film) and very expensive. They were four dollars more than similar photos we bought last year on a Carnival cruise. Another issue was the ship's staff insisting that passengers use hand sanitizer upon entering an area where food was served. There was concern about gastrointestinal illness aboard the ship, which is understandable, but I happen to wash my hands with soap and water, and I dislike the smell of the hand sanitizer, especially when I would get a whiff of it every time I lifted my fork to my mouth! We had to line up and hold our hands out to be squirted with a glob of Purell before being given a tray for the buffet or being seated in the dining room. Overall, however, we had a wonderful time on the cruise, and we would definitely travel with Holland America again. In fact, my mother insists that her next cruise will be with HAL.

Ship was very comfortable, rode smoothly, the right size ( 1500 people), food good.

The overall expierence on the Volendam was awesome. The crew was incredible and very helpful with anything we needed. I was very impressed with their professional attitudes and the Entertainment was superb. The Lead Singers should be on Broadway.

The Volendam is a beautiful, well appointed ship that handles the number of passengers gracefully. There is never a sense of crowdedness. Everything is easily accessible and the crew helpful and abundant.

We have sailed six different cruise lines and the menu on the Vollendam (7-day Alaska from Vancouver) surpassed any for variety, number of selections, quality and presentation. provided us with a complimentary dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, which we saved for our last night. The filet mignon was the finest shipboard beef since the now defunct Ocean Pearl twenty years ago. Could there be any better way to conclude a cruise? The European bed linens and mattress topper helped make the ample-sized and nicely appointed stateroom (inside, M-class) a most-comfortable home at sea. The Explorations Lounge featured a library of thoughtfully selected books and recorded music. The information sheets distributed the night before each port gave accurate, helpful information for those passengers not taking the ship's excursions. The staff wanted us to enjoy the port whether we bought their excursions or not. Unfortunately, this can not be said for all cruiselines.

Ship sevice and food were awful. Itinerary was great

Very nice, clean and the fresh flowers add an extra touch of elegance

The odor problem continues to be an issue since there has been very little offered as compensation for a deluxe suite rendered unusable outside area due to sewer treatment odor. The problem was clearly pointed out each day the sickening smell was present. We were told the wind would change and it would be okay. We certainly understand these problems sometimes arise but the managements way of dealing with it has been extremely irresponsible. We were offered a discount on our next trip. To me this is like buying a car with a defective transmission and being told they will give us a discount on our next car. It stinks. This was our third cruise with Holland America and our last. We have yet to receive any compensation for this mess and I will never recommend a company which has such total disregard for its loyal customers.

Great holiday cruise!! Great ports- lovely beaches with awesome weather.

This cruise was just average until we reached Curacao. We fell in love with this town and look forward to going back soon. Great people!

Amazon was amazing, but time on ship was dull. Cruise director had no personality, not suited to job!! Entertainment was horrible for a 30 day cruise. Only high point was Billboard stage. Only 7 menus rotated 4 times

Very educational especially the Amazon River and Devils Island. Our main reason for taking this cruise was to experience the a-for mentioned places the entire “Amazon Explorer” cruise was a little long but was very enjoyable

I wouldn't recommend this cruise but I've been happy with HAL in the past.

The Volendam recently came out of dry dock, and HAL installed several new venues, furniture, carpets, and reworked some of the older venues. We loved this cruise on this ship!!!

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.

Good staff. Need more personnel behind buffet stations. Service very slow due to this. Long lines.

I expected much more from this cruise line. They did not deliver, on anything! I have even completed their online survey immediately after returning & they have continued to ignore me. I have receive no response from them in a month. I even reached out to them again recently to ensure that they had received my survey. $ days have passed & I have again been ignored. I would NOT recommend this line to anyone!!!!!

We enjoyed our time with our family the time on the ship was awesome the crew was great and went above and beyond

I am required to type 50 characters minimum in this space so I did. I gave my review above. No need for this.