Volendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
591 reviews

Sydney- Auckland and we had a ball!

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Volendam
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Down-Unders
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2009
Cabin: Verandah Suite

Arrived at darling harbour Sydney to check in, no one at the main door to give us directions. We were half way into the terminal only to be redirected outside, we arrived early to people watch and have coffee only to find out the kiosk in the terminal was on holiday, we were directed somewhere away from the terminal but declined as we had hand luggage. No one could answer questions or give us clear directions, finally HAL arrived with cold water, no juice or coffee. A line was formed and we got into the customs and check in area, had priority check in but with only one counter were advised to use any check in, the person I dealt with did not know how to swipe my credit card and after having to call the supervisor twice to make sure everything was in order we were ready to board, made comment to the HAL rep who was supervising behind the check in that it was the worst we ever experienced.

We finally arrived at our verandah suite on deck 6 and it looked good. Volendam itself was in a spotless condition if you used the restrooms there was a sign to open the door with the tissues provided. Fresh flowers everywhere and a lovely ambiance created a perfect setting for our cruise. The standard of cleanliness never wavered the whole trip.

The Lido was chaos the first two days bearing in mind there were over 1500 passengers on the ship. Breakfast in the dining rooms was hit and miss, after three times we either eat in our room or in the Lido. Room service was excellent for breakfast and dinner although it broke down on our last night at sea. The use of trays with so many passengers made for slow and long queues. I believe if the trays had not been used quicker service would result as we are NCL past passengers. HAL staff listened to our comments regarding the Lido and to their credit things slightly improved. Although we only dined four times for dinner in the Rotterdam restaurant including a formal night Prima was excellent. We had the same experience from the Lido and room service.

Cabin Review

Verandah Suite

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