Background: This cruise was a 14 day Alaskan cruise roundtrip from Vancouver. We are not typical Holland America customers - we are a younger couple (both under 45.) We've been on about 12 cruises all on various lines including Princess, Carnival, Oceania, Uniworld, etc. and this is our 2nd Holland America cruise.

The Ship: We really liked the Volendam. It is a smaller ship that is easy to navigate, so you get that cozy feeling but there are still plenty of spaces for you to explore. The deck space was perfect for Alaska because even in Glacier Bay there was plenty of room to see everything. The ship is older so if you're really looking for it you can find evidence of wear and tear, but for the large part the ship is in excellent shape and is very clean. Like on other Holland ships, the Volendam has lots of art displayed around the ship and some fun touches in the public rooms. Our favorite places onboard the ship were the Ocean Bar, the Rotterdam Dining Room (gorgeous, love the twinkling lights), the Crow's Nest (best place for whale watching), and the Frans Hals Lounge.

Service: Excellent service on almost all accounts, this is a category where Holland America really shines. Our cabin steward Joe was just wonderful, we'd leave our room at varying times during the day and like magic he would clean our room while we were gone. Our waiters in the Rotterdam were terrific - thanks Robert and Johdi for a job well done. The only place onboard that didn't give exemplary service was the front desk and the reservation line for as you wish dining. We had a few issues with a key card that didn't work and also a lost sweatshirt (found it!) and the front desk staff didn't seem to care. We also got incorrect information from them a few times, but these problems were minor in our overall experience. With the as you wish dining reservation line, it seems that the staff is still trying to get a handle on the system. We made reservations almost every night and they lost our reservations twice. It seems that the system is still a little rocky or it could also be a communication issue as the reservation agent didn't seem to understand everything I was saying. A word of advice: if you make a reservation, make sure you get a green reservation card delivered to your room - if you don't have one, they probably didn't make your reservation - also bring the card with you to dinner. Read more