There are good ships. there are wood ships,
There are ships that sail the sea,
but the best ships are friendships,
And May they always be.
Holland America’s Mariner Society appropriated that old Irish toast substituting “dam” for “friend.” And while I love the “dam” ships the original toast is best. It’s the community built, friendships made and renewed that keep us coming back to the “dam” ships.
But beyond human connection this cruise was outstanding because of the itinerary. It took us to places we had never visited. We traveled 25,422 Nautical Miles and only missed one port of call. For most of the trip we traveled in a bubble of good weather. I read 8 books and lost 5 pounds.
Holland America has upped its game in several areas. Music is only getting better. Classical Music is back after being dropped for a while. The mainstage has live music backing up acts again instead of the high class karaoke that we had for the past few grand voyages and the dance band that backs up mainstage does jazz sets when not on mainstage. The Mainstage Company is getting ever better in their production shows.
Holland America has also restored the Destination Guide, the person on board who does the port lectures and holds office hours to help us plan our independent forays ashore. Emryn did a great job.
Another innovation Suzi liked was making Lobster available in the Lido when we didn’t have the energy or inclination to get dressed up on formal or dressy nights.
But when cruise mates commented “This was the best cruise ever.” I had trouble agreeing. While it was a “dam good cruise” it wasn’t “Grand.” On my first HAL Grand Voyage I was blown away by everything. It was much more than I expected. This cruise was about what I had expected on that first Grand Voyage 11 years ago. Pretty Dam good. Had it been my first Grand Voyage I would have considered it “Grand.”
Because HAL needs to keep the price point that will keep us sailing on company ships it has reduced staff in the Lido, Main Dining Room and with the room stewards (Each stateroom team had 34 cabins, when we started Grand Voyages it was 27.) I understand the need to trim financial costs but it does come at a cost in service, and I suspect in wear and tear on the crew. (Note, I gave this cruise a 10 out of 10 for value for money.)
In The Lido it took staff longer to clear tables or to get us our drinks than in the past. I can get drinks myself. What I missed was enough time to talk with the waiters and waitresses. They were often too busy to spend time chatting. Getting to know folks who are serving you is one of the joys of a Grand Voyage. The Lido staff were friendly and competent, I got to know some of them a bit but not as well as in the past.
The Main Dining Room was hit or miss. Sometimes great service, sometimes not so much. At times when we arrived between 5:15 and 5:30 we either missed the 7:30 show or had to skip dessert to make the show. Sometimes meals were tepid and ice cream was a puddle rather than a scoop. Sometimes there was no salt in the grinder (it always seemed to be the salt) or we had two salt or two pepper grinders on the table. The food was flavorful, the choice good but service inconsistent.
Communications were poor. On past Grand Voyages we got a preview of entertainment for the next two weeks, not this time. In past cruises the time zone shifts were listed in the Navigator well in advance. On this cruise they were added at the last minute, if at all. I am on several boards and need to plan meetings so I need to know what the time will be to schedule meetings. Once I called Guest Services to ask when the clocks would be advanced. They said “There will be a card in your room.” I had to explain WHY I needed to know when the clocks would advance before they told me. I have already blogged about our reboarding in Melbourne and about the confusion about the time for our airport departure.
Then, there was communication from the captain, or lack of it. I can’t even remember the name of our first captain. He avoided bad weather, gave us a smooth ride and looked out for our welfare, a good captain, but he didn’t say much, minimal noon announcements and no Captain’s Q&A. That’s different from past Grand Voyages. Tim Robert’s witty noon announcements, Jonathan Mercer’s charisma and photo blog, Captain Rens, well, almost everything he did, and Captain Paul Adams’s presentations and wandering the ship stopping at tables to chat were all integral to the Grand Voyage experiene. This lack of a visible captain was brought home to me on two occasions. In Sydney I ran into Volendam’s Captain Rens. He pointed to me, laughed and said, “I forgive you for being on the wrong ship.” He remembered a passenger from a year before. The second occasion was when Thomas Van Bentham became captain. He did a coffee chat, cut cheese at a sail away, manned one of the carnival booths and we had a few chats as he was wandering the ship, bringing Suzi and Me up to date on his daughter Lily, who was a toddler traveling with Thomas and his wife in the 2018 Grand World when he was staff captain.
Finally, I did not develop a strong attachment to the ship. Almost everyone loved Prinsendam. It had its own cachet and was a favorite for South America and Med grand voyages. Amsterdam was the traditional ship for world cruises. Captain Mercer and Hotel Manager Henk built affection for “The Beautiful Amsterdam” over years. While I had no affection for Volendam to start, Captain Ren’s obvious love for his “Beautiful, Elegant Volendam” was infectious. It first it was a standing joke on last year’s P2P and then the slogan appeared on t shirts. I developed a genuine affection for Volendam.
Zaandam is a good ship, a comfortable ship, a beautiful ship, and because of her similarity with Amsterdam and Volendam, a familiar ship, but not a ship that I became attached to. I realized that when I made a sunrise Facebook post near the end of the cruise with the tag “Good Morning Volendam.” I took a lot of ribbing for that but it says something.
I don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t love this cruise. On the HAL evaluation I gave it an 8 out of 10. I would take this cruise on this ship again in a heartbeat! I had a wonderful time with friends and will continue to be an advocate for HAL. When asked if I would recommend HAL to family and friends I gave it a 10. This cruise was better than anything I could have expected when I started taking long cruises. But times change. I need to adjust my expectations.
I realize that you may think differently. I would love to read your comments on this coda.
Rich, I agree with you 100%. I am so happy that HAL is bringing back the destinations presentations that Barbara and then Jessica Potter held. They were valuable to orient us to our next ports without the shopping enticements! What you wrote about our cruising family is so true. That is one of the BIG reasons I’m going on the HAL Solar Eclipse cruise in July. Hell, I’ll even get up early to go to breakfast with everyone just to be with them! I especially loved having talk time with crew members and enjoy their post on FB. Thanks for finding out some behind the scene info for us. We’ll appreciate our crew more on the Eclipse cruise!
After the Pandemic, L and I stepped away from HAL for a few years because they were not treating some of their crew/staff/entertainers well. I still have bitter feelings about some of the firings/laying off valuable people.
There may be lots behind the scene that we don’t know and it probably comes down to MONEY!
Thank you again for your honest appraisal of this Dam ship. I agree.
Sharon in sunny Tallahassee
Rich, thank you for ‘taking us along’ on your cruise. We always enjoyed the interesting tidbits and informative nature of your posts. My husband and I aren’t able to travel right now because of side effects he has had from a cancer treatment. It has been particularly bad in the mornings, so I started reading him your posts along with other blogs to distract both of us. It very much helped us to get through and over the rough spots. Thank you for taking the time to do these. They meant a lot to us. Hope to maybe meet you and Suzi one day, either in Sitka or onboard a dam ship. Take care.
Rich, thanks for all your posts! This was our first Grand cruise. Having only short cruises to compare, the extra activities were welcome addition. Deb Arts, Amy the dance instructor, hula lessons, etc. We had a fixed dining time of 5. Out every night by 6:30 at the latest. Sorry your dinners took so long. Special thanks to Suzi for all the yarn she brought onboard and the beautiful blanket she donated. Leslie.
Leslie, Our first cruise in 16 years was a grand. I had just retired and had the time. It was so much better than our last cruise, 16 years before, with my mother. I was blown away.
Kim, I’m glad my posts were helpful to you. I hope to see you on a Dam ship or in Sitka soon.
Rich
Thank you again for the interesting, informative posts all along this voyage. I would love to have been on it, but since sailing vicariously on the voyages of others is the only way I can now, I appreciate the time and effort that goes into these posts.
Rich, thank you for your posts and thoughts. We are hoping to do this cruise in 2028. Currently sailing on Westerdam and will be in Sitka on May 6. I would welcome a chance to chat over lunch if you have any interest.
On May 6, I will be in Anchorage unfortunately.
Rich,
I love your blog posts. I learned something from each. I forwarded a few to others and encouraged others to read them. I hope to adopt a few of your format ideas for my future FB posts.
You requested responses to this post. You earned it.
I had a different experience than you did. In the post-cruise survey, I told HAL that this cruise was “Grand”, the best I had experienced to date.
I have completed almost 700 days cruising. Have enjoyed several cruise lines; most cruising days with Cunard. The longest cruise I have completed was 140 days.
I have seen/experienced the good, the ugly and the great. Based on my experience and expectations, this was my best overall long term cruise.
I attributed my rating to the following:
1. Rebecca is simply awesome. Her energy, knowledge and improvisation skills are at a mastery level. She brought her A game to every event. The ship sponsored dozens of unique events. She contributed to each.
2. Emryn added value to every port, for every passenger. Few are more conscientious. [We agree on this.]
3. There were a few minor glitches, but the Excursions team performed admirably, considerably better than recent ships I have been on. I trusted them to protect the scarce time in port.
4. For 93 days, the crew executed nearly flawlessly. Disney gets awards for doing it for a few days. This crew did it for 3 months. Never did I see a crew member show less than 100%. Many of the passengers could not do the same and they were not working the long hours.
Overall satisfaction = performance – expectations.
I do not question any of your experiences. I ask you to examine your expectations.
I think HAL is providing exceptional value. The entertainment and enrichment lectures were not at the same level as Cunard. But, the cost per day on HAL is considerably less and I do not have the added costs for formal dress.
Luxury cruises currently charge several thousands per day. Depending on the cabin, HAL is charging a mere fraction of this.
I don’t have the same expectations for a Prius that I do for a Lexus.
HAL makes it possible for many who would otherwise be unable to experience the “once in a lifetime experience.”
I am not, nor have I ever been, an employee of HAL or any of its vendors. I taught business, customer service and organizational behavior. As a solo traveler, I pay the solo supplement.
I have two more HAL cruises scheduled for this year. I hope to meet you on a future cruise.
Bob Shaver
Rich, vicariously went halfway around the world with you! Thanks, we have a mock booking for 2028 starting in FLL 107 days. Thanks so much, can I reach out later for port ideas?
Scott
mrhearing@cs.com (Miltonplane88)
Bob, thanks for your comments. It is the type of feedback I was hoping for. Perhaps you are right, I need to adjust my expectations based on the current economic situation. I gave them a 10 for value for money. I think I will add that to the blog text. My reactions are based on past HAL cruises, including last year’s P2P. I mentioned the price point as being important because it allows us to take long cruises. By the way, the only other cruise lines I have been on in the last 40 years have been Cunard, Fathom and Alaska Dream Cruises. Alaska Dream was a completely different category, as was Fathom, but I felt that any of the HAL cruises I have been on was better than the best Cunard. Again, thanks for the feedback.
Rich