HAL has long had a reputation for excellence, based on a high standard of service. Although experienced cruisers, this was our first trip aboard a HAL ship. Unfortunately, Volendam failed to live up to the HAL standard.

Admittedly used to larger classes of ships, we thought that the smaller size of the Volendam would translate to more personal service, and perhaps a higher standard of cuisine. This was not the case. During the first two days of the cruise, we were astounded by the lack of cheerful attention that we had enjoyed on other cruise lines. On Day One, the special coffee bar was out of our favourite beverages. The dining room staff forgot and lost orders, failed to clear the table, and were almost rude in their treatment of our party. The dining room supervisors refused to sit our party together at breakfast. It got so bad that on Day Three we made three formal complaints to the service staff. It was only after this extraordinary measure that the service changed to something closer to expectations.

In addition, we found the condition of the ship to be poor. There were large stains on our cabin walls. The corridors stank of cigarette smoke (I have heard that HAL is considering changing its policy of allowing smoking in cabins). The stores were located in the same area as the casino, so that it was impossible to shop without breathing in second-hand smoke. There were broken picture frames on the walls of the corridors, and some of the washrooms were unusable due to unclean conditions. In short, HAL clearly needs to pay more attention to the condition of its ships. Read more