Volendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
591 reviews

Eating our way through Asia on and off the ship -- superb.

Review for Asia Cruise on Volendam
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Epicureangirl
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jan 2018
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom
Traveled with children

Warning, if you're not a foodie the first few paragraphs will bore you!

FOOD & DINING VENUES

I am a lowly two-star mariner, but know the ropes of HAL cruising and had been going to the specialty restaurants to reduce my meals in the MDR on past cruises. After reading so much about HAL's cost-cutting measures I thought I'd be disappointed with my meals, but instead was pleasantly surprised. Certainly the portions are small, but not when it counts. On steak and lobster nights, it was more then enough (though I think some were ordering a second lobster tail -- and good for them!). My steak was perfectly medium-rare, and this was the first cruise it came out perfectly. Most of the lunches in the MDR, were even better than dinners. I was surprised to like even the chicken strips which appeared to be hand-breaded with a coating containing crispy almond slices. I loved them so much and knew my (12 year old) daughter would actually want to eat in the MDR if she could have them, so asked for it to be arranged, and no problem -- she had them for dinner that same evening. Curries, were mild and the lamb was fork-tender, and delicious. I usually don't order any ethnic food on HAL, because I mistakenly thought it would be food-fair quality. Shame on me!

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin DA

First off this is a handicapped/accessible room so it was a non-standard layout. The twin or queen bed is near the window, and the sofa which is also a bed is to the left (port side) of the room past the bathroom. There is a small table and dining chairs in the centre of the room with plenty of space to get around everything. I'm going to give the cabin a 4 out of 5 because I was so grateful for a huge oceanview room, when I had booked an interior cabin. However, even though Volendam had come out of dry-dock, this room has not been updated and it has filler to patch the vanity and some odd cosmetic patching in the shower tile. This is not a pretty room, but the carpets looked fresh as did the bedding, and it was spotlessly clean. The shower was amazing, great pressure and a fantastic valve. We had smells in the room twice, once on embarkation of a STRONG curry smell (spray took care of that), and later in the cruise we awoke to the smell of a varnish or paint thinner. I'm not sure if the HVAC system was functioning properly, the smells were only in my room and not in the hallway. Four nights were very rocky and we didn't sleep well. I have not had a forward cabin before, and this is a higher deck. This was probably the biggest issue with the location. I should also mention this is over top the mainstage so you will hear them perform at 10PM and for rehearsals too. It never bothered us, we found it kind of amusing.

Port Reviews

Singapore

The most un-asian city. Pristinely clean, modern architecture, high standard of living and no scammers out to get you! Ha. Loved it and would be happy to route through there again some time. Fantastic food.

Nha Trang

We took the Nha Trang Rickshaw and Shopping tour through HAL. It was enjoyable being part of the parade of Rickshaws along the waterfront and town, but was not exciting or scary. The traffic here is not crazy, and any ability can relax and take the ride on a rickshaw. The shopping portion wasn't interesting -- we took off from the group and met up at the arranged time. Grabbed a coffee in a fantastic cafe and looked at the sights on the street. I wouldn't go back to this town, very taken over by Russians, didn't seem like an authentic slice of life in Vietnam. The Dam Market was the last stop and it wasn't very interesting compared to the other markets visited on this trip. I didn't buy a thing. So sad!

Halong Bay

We got together with other folks from Cruise Critic to take a boat tour to Ha Long Bay and the Caves. We had a fantastic seafood lunch on board. It was a long, full day. We actually had very cold weather this day, so be prepared with your wardrobe. We weren't and only had very lightweight jackets. Being on the water made it even colder. This is beautiful but a very busy waterway. Boats jockeying for position is eye opening. Things are different here, that's for sure!

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