Traveling with the Jones — Sharing Travel Discoveries

A Look Inside Ocean-view Stateroom 2641 on Holland America’s Volendam

by Janis on January 9, 2015

We sailed round-trip from Singapore on the 14-Day Asian Adventure Holiday Cruise on Holland America’s ms Volendam cruise ship. Our assigned stateroom was #2641, a Category C Ocean-View Stateroom located on Deck 2, the Main Deck in the middle part of the ship.

When we boarded the Volendam on December 22, 2014, the ship had just come from a 2-week-long major dry dock renovation in Singapore. One of the dry-dock upgrades impacted this group of staterooms, as the bathrooms were redone to remove the shower tub and replace it with a glassed-in “bathtub-sized” double shower stall, and new sinks.

Here’s a look inside ocean-view stateroom #2641, which is a triple cabin, and is also a connecting stateroom with #2643.

Stateroom 2641, Volendam, Holland America

The view looking back towards the door. You can see the door to the adjoining cabin, which really doesn’t work as there is not enough room between the bed and the wall to get the door open.

These staterooms do not have a refrigerator, but do have an ice bucket and sodas/water for purchase.

The five full-length closets provide ample storage for a two-week or longer cruise. Each closet has clothing rods and fold-down shelves, with plenty of full-size wooden hangers.

The bathroom is small but well laid out. In the panoramic photo above, you can see the new sink and the new glassed-in shower, which replaced the prior bathtub. This is a spacious shower, and the latching glass door is far superior to a shower curtain.

The shower conveniently has a foot-bar to make it easier for ladies to shave their legs, and the Elemis shampoo, conditioner and shower gel are conveniently in large dispensers in the shower. The shower head is adjustable in height, and has a terrific rain-head style shower head.

For the sink, the new counter-tops are sparkling new, but there is still very limited storage space in this area. There are glass shelves above and one below-the-sink shelf.

Our bottom line on the Holland America Line Volendam Category “C” Large Ocean-View Staterooms:

They are in the center of the ship on a low deck, a good choice if you are concerned about rough seas or motion.
The new tub-sized, glassed-in double shower is nice, and the rain-head style shower head is terrific.
There is more-than-adequate closet space for a two-week or longer cruise. There is also room under the bed (behind the drawers at the foot of the bed) to store your suitcases.
The doors for the adjoining rooms really don’t work – there is not enough room between the bed and the wall to get the door open, particularly if the beds are made up with twins in one of the adjoining cabins.

Two other notes: after one night, we requested to be moved to a different stateroom as this one was excessively warm. This was, we are certain, a lingering issue from the dry dock causing the heating and cooling systems to be shut down for a while, and not a permanent issue. (Many staterooms were impacted as the ship’s heating, cooling and water systems were getting back into working gear after being shut off for two weeks.

We moved to stateroom 2618, nearby on the other side of the ship, which has a similar layout except that it has a shorter sofa to along room for another small storage cabinet and lamp. (Staterooms that are triples have the longer sleeper sofa, without the lamp/cabinet.)

Have you sailed in a large ocean-view stateroom on the Volendam or on one of Holland America’s similar ships? What’s your reaction to the upgrades? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

You may also want to check out photos of the Volendam’s post dry-dock renovations on Deck 6 here.

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A Post-Dry Dock Look Around Holland America’s Volendam Cruise Ship

by Janis on January 8, 2015

On December 22nd we boarded the ms Volendam, a 1,432 passenger cruise ship launched in 1999 as part of the Holland America Line.

The ship had just come out of a two-week-long dry dock renovation in Singapore.

One of the major visible parts of the renovation occurred on Deck 5, the ship’s Upper Promenade Deck.

The area that formerly housed the Casino Bar, the Piano Bar and the Seaview Lounge has been opened up into one new area called The Mix.

The Mix is a staple on most other Holland America Line “R” and “S” class ships including the Maasdam, Rotterdam, Ryndam, Statendam and the Veendam. The Mix has not been added to the Amsterdam or the Zaandam.

Here’s a look at the new Mix on the Volendam:

The change opens up the former sections into one larger area, with three different bars, and the piano player in an open area.

There was also a guitar player near the Spirits & Ale bar earlier in the evening. While there are two locations for entertainers in the MIX, they are not used at the same time.

The MIX has one upgrade on the Volendam compared to the other ships. Rather than a Champagne bar (which really isn’t a bar) there is a new Wine Bar with a 12-bottle Enomatic machine for that allows for wine tasting by the 1- ounce, 3-ounce or 6-ounce pour. We would have tasted all of the wines, and reported here, but unfortunately the system was missing the nitrogen canister to make it work during our sailing.

The seats at the Martini Bar are very comfortable.

This new area was very popular on the ship, and had a strong crowd throughout the late evening to sing along with or just enjoy the piano player.

There were four kinds of draft beer in the Spirits & Ales part of the MIX. CJ is an excellent bartender in this area.

The Explorer’s Lounge was another area on the Volendam’s Promenade Deck that was revised during the dry dock.

The Explorer’s Lounge was opened up with more movable and flexible seating arrangements.

We think the renovation was not yet complete as there was a mix of old furniture and new furniture with two completely different color schemes.

A two-person combo played classical music in this venue after dinner. It was also used for some presentations on the ship and some special functions, such as the party for Mariner’s who were receiving awards.

Have you sailed on Holland America’s Volendam? What’s your opinion of the update to the MIX? Please share your thoughts in comments below.

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Early Morning Views from Singapore

by Janis on January 7, 2015

When you travel to a time zone that’s 14 hours ahead of your home time zone, you will, most likely, suffer some jet lag symptoms.

For our trip to Singapore in late December, we were wide awake at 4:30 am. We’d try to go back to sleep, and then start dreaming about breakfast.

The best thing about waking up early is to take a walk soon after the sun comes up.

In Singapore, within walking distance from the Conrad Centennial Singapore hotel, there are some terrific early morning views.

Singapore is a surreal city. Known as “Asia for beginners,” it’s modern, clean and safe to walk around alone.

The city is full of gleaming high rises, each seeming to try to out-do the others with architectural magnificence.

A cruise ship in the sky?

A building shaped like a lotus flower?

A war monument nicknamed “the chopsticks?”

Singapore will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year in 2015, and the city/state is a modern-day success story.

After all of that morning walking, we found ourselves ready for another Singapore highlight: the food.

We headed to Din Tai Fung for our favorite soup dumplings. Yum!

Have you been to Singapore? What did you enjoy most in the city? Please share in comments below.

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A Return Visit to the Conrad Centennial Hotel in Singapore

by Janis on January 6, 2015

We loved the Conrad Centennial Hotel during a stay in March, 2014.

Would another stay in late December be as wonderful?

On this trip, we were staying for three nights prior to our 14-Day Asian Holiday cruise. We arrived very late (actually in the very early morning) due to some flight delay/re-routing issues as we traveled to Singapore.

Once again, we splurged by arranging an airport pick-up by the hotel car. This is a wonderful service when you’ve been traveling for more than 24 hours, and just want to get to your hotel quickly.

Upon arrival, it was fantastic to be greeted by this unique Christmas tree.

Yes, the giant lobby tree was constructed entirely with Conrad bears in a variety of sizes.

We were assigned to room 3121, which is exactly the same as room 2821 of our prior stay room, with the exception that 3121 is conveniently located on the executive floor.

Once again, we loved the extensive breakfast buffet options at Oscar’s. There is every kind of international breakfast food imaginable offered, but we especially loved the Asian and Indian specialties. (Hilton Honors Diamond Level guests are offered their choice of complimentary breakfast in the executive lounge, or in Oscar’s on the lobby level.)

Plus, there’s nothing better to start the day with that a perfectly (and artfully) prepared cup of cappuccino.

One of the things that we appreciated most about the executive lounge on our prior stay was the fact that it has a posted dress code and a no children policy, making it a quiet oasis for business, or a relaxing pre-dinner cocktail.

Although the sign was still posted, the “rules” seemed to have disappeared (possibly because it was prior to Christmas). The result was a packed, over-crowded and messy lounge with no room during cocktail hour.

We headed to the hotel’s first floor Lobby Bar, were we discovered a major upgrade to the signature gin & tonic since our prior stay.

The cocktail is served on a slab of slate, with a cocktail glass with ice and gin. You add the artisanal tonic (from an individual bottle) and the slices of fresh orange, lemon and lime, along with star anise and a stick of cinnamon.

It seems a little random and overdone, but the resulting cocktail is refreshing and utterly delicious.

On Sunday night we had a better experience at the Executive Lounge by visiting a little later. The views of Singapore from the lounge are stunning.

For example, you could see the red and white spheres in the Marina Bay in preparation for the New Year’s Eve celebration where Singapore would ring in 2015, the year of the country’s 50th anniversary celebration.

One more thing that we loved at the Conrad Singapore: we tried the Concierge App on our iPads, and ordered different kinds of several different kinds of toiletries.

They were promptly delivered, and delightful.

Have you stayed at the Conrad Centennial Singapore Hotel? How was your experience? Please share in comments below.

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