My partner and I travelled on the Volendam on a 7 night Alaska cruise leaving Vancouver in May of 2009. We were disappointed to find many shortcomings and can not work out how the ship could possibly be classified as 5 star. On boarding in Vancouver very few cabins were ready to occupy and ours was not ready until 230pm. On boarding the ship at 1pm we were told to go to the only retaurant open (the Lido buffet) and have lunch. All the passengers that had boarded previously were also there taking up all the table space. There was a long line to get food and the staff could not keep up with the demand. They ran out of plates and cutlery and were doing their best to replenish but they just couldn't keep up with the demand. Our luggage was not delivered to our cabin until after the ship sailed at 5pm. We were hoping it would get better ....it didn't. The Lido restaurant which is the buffet is cafetaria style where everybody has to line up with a tray and wait for the people in front of them to obtain what they want. At Breakfast time if someone wants eggs or toast cooked the whole line stops. Every morning the queue was out past the lifts. Dinner time the buffet closes at 8pm and main dining room doors close at 815pm. If passengers go to the early show in the theatre by the time the show is over there is nowhere to eat except back in the cabin where it takes over a hour to get room service. As there are no fridges in the cabins to get ice is an ordeal....we had to wait sometimes 45 minutes before it was deliverd. A wine package is offered which we purchased. As the cruise was 7 nights we ordered 7 bottles , one for each night at Dinner. We were supposed to know what wine we wanted for the next night (24 hours in advance)so that it could be ready in the restauirant for us. We found this to be ridiculous as we had no idea which restaurant we would be eating in the next night and certainly wouldn't know which wine we were going to be drinking without even siting a menu. There is only one central wine storage area on the ship and waiters have to obtain it from there. To overcome the problem we ordered all the wines to be sent to our cabin and we took the wine with us to the restaurant with us. Chilling the white wine was done by ordering Ice to the cabin. If Holland America thinks this is 5 star service and a "signature of excellence they are deluding themselves. I feel they are trading on an old reputation but have not moved with the times. We have travelled on Princess lines and a restaurant is open 24/7. They leave Holland America for dead and deserve their 5 star rating. Holland America offers anytime dining but don't have the restaurants open to cope with it. We tried booking a restaurant but the phone reservation number was never answered. We ended up having to go physically to the restaurant of choice and making a booking. Even with a booking there are long queues to get in. We found the food on bood very good and it is certainly worth paying the extra money to dine in the Pinnacle grill. The staff on board were all very friendly and did their best to handle what we saw as inefficient systems. I have been in the travel industry for 37 years and have traveled on numerous cruises wuth many different companies. I will never travel with Holland America again and would not recommend them to any friends or family.They simply put are not good value for money.