THE BRIEF
I considered mixing my travels up a bit this year and decided to add some cruises to the itinerary. I hadn’t been cruising for many years so I used a cruise agent to give me some ideas. 7771.
I would be crossing the Atlantic (the wrong direction for November) and stopping at all the exotic ports of Europe, including Rome, Athens, and Cairo ( to visit the Great Pyramids). The trip would be on the Volendam cruise ship. I’ve never travelled on this 111, so this would be a great opportunity to do a review
This Dutch-registered ship was built in 1999 and has been refurbished several times since then. It’s a medium-sized vessel of around 780 ft. with 10 decks and a maximum capacity of 1430 guests. It has 2 pools, a spa, a casino, several bars, a world stage for nightly entertainment and 3 different dining rooms. On my cruise, scattered through day and night slots, there were a couple of piano players, a stringed trio, a contemporary band at the Ocean Bar and nightly entertainment on the world stage. Of course, daily movies and guest speakers discussing various topics were also included along with all kinds of games to play. So if you wanted to keep busy you could easily do it here.
Once we passed the Bahamas the seas got very rough and the small ship was tossed around a good deal. I believe this may have contributed to some damage to various components including in my cabin.
The cabin was a rather plain affair with very little room to maneuver in. The balcony was of adequate size and there were great dividers on both sides to allow for very good privacy. The problems on board started right here though. We were crossing the Atlantic and in short order, the nights started getting quite nippy. I selected heat but received only more AC blowing straight down on the bed. I complained every night. The ship was full and there was nowhere to move me so I continued to be very uncomfortable night after night. It took FOUR DAYS for them to replace the faulty heater. That turned out to be a good thing since it only got colder after that. They did offer me some small compensation.
The food was acceptable, but in most cases not the quality and variety you would expect on a so-called luxury cruise line. An upcoming review of Princess Cruise will show a more favourable display.
