Disability Matters:
We booked the cruise well in advance. Mum requires a walking frame to get around and a wheel chair for steep inclines and long distances. Because mum couldn't climb into a bath to shower, we opted for a disabled room. That was a good move on our part.
Embarkation: We caught a cab from our hotel to the dock. The staff were wonderful and directed us to where we needed to go. We ...
This was our tenth cruise with five cruiselines over a period of 14 years. We always choose verandah or mini-suite accommodation and have been happy with every experience so far. We had read differing views of Volendam but were prepared to take the chance on a 16-day round-trip cruise, Sydney to New Zealand, for Christmas and New Year.
What a surprise! This is the most gorgeous ship that measures ...
This was our 6th cruise but it was our very first cruise with Holland America Line.
Embarkation was satisfactory. Our luggage was delivered quickly to our cabin.
The ship itself was smaller than the ships we had cruised on before, but it had everything that any other big cruise ships have. There were beautiful fresh arranged flowers almost everywhere around the ship, the arrangements of the ...
We planned our holiday New Zealand Cruise, our first on Holland America Line, about 6 months ago, and used other Cruise Critics reviews and message board to plan many aspects of our trip.
We booked our trip through USAA travel agency available to military or former miltary members. We are experienced internet travel searchers, and still was a better deal than we could have gotten anywhere ...
I usually read the worst reviews and don't bother with the good ones, that way I know the worst and can be pleasantly surprised. So to keep this short I will not say all the good things of which there are many but will simply set out what HAL can do to improve.
1. Smoking - although cabin smoking will now be banned, there will still be smoking on verandahs (if you are downwind from a chimney of ...
This a review of the Volendam's 5 December 11 voyage around New Zealand, a Sydney to Sydney round trip. But there is a back story to this review.
In July my wife Gail, who posts on these boards as Abby Ruth, was diagnosed with ALS (motor neurone disease for those in the UK). The disease is marked by a progressive weakening of the voluntary muscles. We got evidence of this on an earlier Black ...
We booked the 17-Day Australia and Indonesia cruise on the Volendam about 2 months out in January and was offered an upsell from a DA outside stateroom to a B verandah stateroom at an attractive price and having a large amount of sea days during this cruise.
Arriving just 1 day before the cruise began, we spent the night at the Holiday Inn Old City, which we chose due to the close proximity ...
My wife and I are in our 60's. We live in outside of Reno Nevada. We flew to Sydney Australia to catch the Volendam Discovery Cruise which is a 14 day cruise departing from Sydney, sailing around New Zealand then back to Sydney. The stops in New Zealand were Fordland National Park, Stewart Island, Dunedin, Christ Church, Napier, Tauranga, Auckland and Bay of Islands. This cruise occurred in early ...
We used Cruise Critic reviews before our sail date to chose excursions and make the most of our trip. The information from the reviews was most helpful.
We started our trip in Syndey with a few extra days booked through HAL. We had a false sense of extra time due to the slow transfer time from the airport to the hotel on the first day. And then the actual embarkation day was taken up ...
This was a 14 day cruise from Sydney, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand. As we live in Auckland this cruise was ideal for a relaxing holiday with no long air flights. We flew to Sydney three days beforehand for a little sightseeing and shopping first. The embarkation process was both good and bad. Firstly no one seemed to know exactly where Wharf 5 in Darling Harbour was. I had looked it up and ...