This itinerary of HAL's Volendam attracted us without us knowing HAL had little experience in most of these ports and March was not a warm /good month to cruise in Asia. We liked the idea to get a sample of nine ports including Yokohama, Osaka, Shanghai, Taiwan and Hong Kong but did not know that some of the ports had little to explore ( Shimizu, Hoshishima, Naha, Keelong, Kaoshing) But we did wisely not book the cost of a verandah or Lanai as the weather proved very cool with some nights below 40degrees F.

Our embarkation heralded two problems with this cruise.In the large reception area at Yokohama there were no HAL staff to help anyone with a mobility problem Each passenger was on their own to get aboard. Throughout this cruise the lack of HAL staff to assist those with mobility problems was evident .Many of the ports had very long walks to get to the ship and there were no wheelchairs and freindly Indonesian staff to help.

The other problem was HAL did not understand the Chinese governments ruling in October 2016 that cruise passengers did not need a Chinese visa to disembark in Shanghai if they had a Chinese government licensed tour prebooked for 2 or more peoplel HAL demanded waivers to be signed at embarkatiom that state we would perhaps pay fines, be put off the ship and other nasty threats and certainly not be allowed to board in Japan/Yokohama if we did not have a Chinese visa and sign their HAL lawyers' release of liability . Many statements put in front of us to sign were false such as we needed visas for Japan,Taiwan and Hong Kong. WE checked in at 3PM on March 14 and had various letters and notificaitons from the Volendam front office about our lack of Chinese visa until 9PM on March 18 when notice came that HAL Seattle had recognized the October 2016 China 15 day free visa program for passengers on this sailing of the Volendam arriving the next norning in Shanghai. Even at 7AM im the morning of arrival HAL staff were working out how to get their passengers through immigration under the new rules. This immigration stress continued fo rthe full cruise as we were troted around to present ourselves on and off the ship for the 2 weeks cruise for Japanese, Taiwan and Hong Kong immigration. Nothing was made easy for the passengers. Read more