I loved the itinerary of my cruise on the Volendam. I sailed from Singapore to Shanghai and discovered many unknown ports and countries. As far as the itinerary was concerned the trip exceeded expectations.
As usual the crew from Holland Amerika was great as well. However there are some improvements that could be made. Especially during the second leg of the trip, from Hong Kong to Shanghai, the customs forms were rarely delivered to my room. I had to make sure that I read the daily programm to be sure I would not miss out on something last minute. I know customs are very demanding in this part of the world but if you say you will deliver forms to people's staterooms you should do it. It went wrong at least three times in my case.
I was also annoyed by the fact that the laundry I sent out came back with the same stains I had sent it in for. This is the problem if you cannot do laundry by yourself. I would have treated the stains before putting things in the machine, they obviously don't.
I don't know what cabin category I was in, however I was on the dolphin deck forward. I thought that was fine. This cabin is very close to the elevators and stairways, which I like. I would love to be in this stateroom again.
Traffic is horrendous in this town. Don't go to Tagatay ridge, it is too far out of town and takes to long. Stay in town when you are there only for the day and visit Intramuros.