Volendam Review
Celebrity Cruise Lines needs to pay attention to what HAL is
Rating by category
Additional details
Once an exclusive HAL frequent cruiser, I switched to Celebrity Cruises about seven years ago and have cruised with them for my past nine cruises. Since Celebrity pulled out of the South Pacific and Asia, HAL had the itinerary we wanted so we thought we would give them a try. We were not disappointed.
Dining
After the itinerary, food is the number one amenity I look for on a cruise. Having cruised multiple times with almost every major cruise line, the exception being Princes, we've concluded Celebrity offers the best overall dining experience. Their specialty restaurants are on par with Cunard while their dining room experience exceeded them.
Cabin Review
Large Interior Stateroom
I found the rooms standard and on par with any other major line. However, you need to understand I typically purchase the cheapest cabin on the ship and spend my savings on shore excursions and food! So, in my book, if you've seen one inside cabin, you've seen them all. We got a quad to sleep our family of four. I was a bit surprised that we did not get two bunk beds, but only one. They made the small couch into a fourth bed. This really cut down on our usable space. I will be a little more diligent about being sure a quad means two bunk beds in the future.
The big negative for us is that we got a smoking room. Since my family is non-smokers, this was rather unpleasant. Tried as hard as they could, they were unable to eradicate the smoke smell from our room. That was after shampooing the carpet, replacing the shower curtain, and washing the drapes. My advice is that if a non-smoking room is important to you, don't stay in cabin 2664. Better yet, get a clear understanding with HAL prior to the cruise that if you end up in a smoking room that you will be switched to another room or compensated. I'll be adding that to my booking request list for any line in the future.
One positive note was that their towels were heavy and fluffy. The stewards were pleasant and responsive.