This was our 3rd cruise with HAL. The first 2 were on Amsterdam,which immediatly set a high standard, which Volendam couldn't quite attain. More on that later.
We had booked this itinerary a couple of years ago, but unfortunately it was chartered away from under us.We ended up doing a 37 day Grand Voyage sector on Amsterdam from Fort Lauderdale to Sydney, which was absolutely magnificent.
We flew from Melbourne to Hong Kong and spent 3 days at the beautiful Royal Pacific Hotel & Towers before boarding Volendam. Even though we enjoyed a wonderful tour of Lantau Island and the shopping, we were counting the hours.We got a taxi from the hotel to Ocean Terminal and felt sure he drove the longest possible way. Didn't matter, we were on a high.
Our cabin was identical to Amsterdam's. There was a ton of storage, and it was spotless. We had a hot water issue which was fixed within an hour. Where our cabin was situated we had no noise of any kind. Our 2 cabin stewards Sarji and David were exceptional and they were rewarded. We loved the towel animals. Some of them even had my glasses on. For a vessel launched in 2000, she is holding up very well. One ongoing complaint is that you have to point your arm skyward to alter the television.
We took the free shuttle from the ship to AEON market. We bought some wine, but caught a shuttle back soon afterwards. Didn't think much of this place.
We had a very obliging cab driver who took us to Peace Park, turned off his meter and then did the same thing at Ground Zero. Very impressed with Japanese attitude.
Couldn't get over the amount of people. We were dissapointed we didn't go to Yokohama, where I have tried twice to board an old passenger ship, but each time it was closed for a public holiday.
We thought Sitka was beautiful, and apparently we were lucky with the weather. Some of the locals said it was usually cold and wet. Even they couldn't believe how nice it was.