Background Information: We live in FL and have been on 9 cruises in the past two years. This is the third one on HAL.

Embarkation: We drove to the port and left the car in the Park & Fly lot. Very handy with fast shuttle to the ship. Arrived at the pier at about 2:00 PM and was on board in about 20 minutes. Very efficient staff.

Ship: The Volendam was totally booked, but there was no crowding in most venues. The ship is getting old and is need of repairs to carpets, walls, etc. Some elevator buttons did not work. There was a toilet problem the first morning. It was fixed within a few hours and didn't reappear. The A/C was very unbalanced. Some rooms were too hot and some too cold. It seemed to get worse as the cruise went on. They tested the emergency generator one day and we got brownish water in the shower. This was reported in a September 2007 review, and I guess it is still a problem. Our (outside view) cabin was very large and comfortable. There was lots of storage. This class of cabin did not have a refrigerator, something other cruise lines have as standard. Read more