MS Volendam

MS Volendam pictured in Juneau, Alaska
History
Name: Volendam
Owner: Carnival Corporation & plc
Operator: Holland America Line
Port of registry:  Netherlands
Builder: Fincantieri
Christened: 12 November 1999
In service: 1999
Identification:
Status: Operational
General characteristics
Class and type: R class cruise ship
Tonnage: 60,906 GT
Length: 237.0 m (777.6 ft)
Beam: 32.3 m (106 ft)
Draft: 8.1 m (27 ft)
Decks: 10
Speed: 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Capacity: 1,432 passengers
Crew: 647

MS Volendam is an R-Class cruise ship belonging to Holland America Line. There are ten decks, with passenger cabins spread across five of them. The ship contains eight bars, two swimming pools, two hot tubs, a spa, and a show lounge. The theme aboard Volendam is flowers and fresh displays are located in abundance on board the ship; décor throughout the ship also emphasize floral patterns. She sails out of Australia, Asia and conducts cruises of the Inside Passage traversing British Columbia and Alaska.

Design and description

Volendam is an R-Class cruise ship operated by Holland America Line as a subsidiary company of Carnival Cruise Lines. She has three sister ships in the fleet, Zaandam, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. She was the second of these ships to be launched, the Rotterdam being the lead ship of the class. Volendam is 238 m (781 ft), a 32.3 m (106 ft) beam, and a 8.1 m (27 ft) draft.[2] She has ten decks, and contains cabins for passengers (called staterooms) on decks one through three (Dolphin, Main and Lower Promenade decks), and decks six, seven and eight (Verandah, Navigation, and Lido decks).[3]

The ship's theme is flowers, and she features floral designs throughout. The atrium contains a sculpture spanning three decks which was created by Luciano Vistosi.[4] Volendam was christened by former professional tennis player Chris Evert on 12 November 1999, who became the ship's godmother.[5]

As part of the Holland America Line's fleet upgrade to include a program of Microsoft digital workshops on board, Volendam launched its program on 27 May 2009.[6] She also contains other standard elements onboard Holland America Line vessels, such as the Explorations Café, a show lounge, a spa, and children's clubs. There is a total of eight bars, two pools and two hot tubs.[4] Dining options include the Rotterdam Dining Lounge, and the Pinnacle Grill,[7] which is the ship's signature restaurant and features evenings recreating New York's Le Cirque restaurant.[8] The Lido Deck (Deck 8) features two pools, two hot tubs, a grill, a recreation area (poolside; includes ping-pong table, chess board and more), and the Lido Restaurant. The Lido Restaurant serves food from around 07:00 am – 12:30am, the Lido Restaurant closes to prepare for lunch after breakfast, and dinner after lunch. The Lido has different sections for different cultural cuisine, such as Filipino, Indonesian, Moroccan, Italian, Swiss, and more. Each and every night, the Lido Restaurant offers different kinds of cultural foods, each specified in a menu before entering. The Lido Restaurant also features the Canaletto Italian Cuisine for those who wish to have their own sectioned off area to eat.

After being refurbished in 2006, she entered drydock in Singapore during 2011 for a refit.[4][9]

Ports of call

MS Volendam in Sydney Harbour

She first entered the Australian market in 2009.[2] Volendam cancelled a visit to Batemans Bay during a trip circumnavigating Australia in 2010, only giving 48 hours notice due to "operational issues" which was interpreted by local media as a failure by the town's council to meet the requirements set out by Holland America regarding the town's wharf some twelve months prior to the expected arrival of the ship.[10] During 2011 she was chartered to visit match relevant destinations during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in New Zealand.[11]

In 2016, Volendam sails out of Australia/New Zealand and South Pacific, and during the Northern Hemisphere summer sails out of Vancouver BC, Canada, conducting cruises of the Inside Passage to Alaska along with fellow Holland America vessels Zaandam and Nieuw Amsterdam.[12] She hosted an Inside Passage cruise in September 2012 to celebrate a hundred years of The Vancouver Sun.[13] In 2013 when Volendam returned to Australian waters, she visited Kangaroo Island for the first time, after a new landing pontoon was installed on the island to allow for it to become a cruise ship destination.[14] After she left Australia for Asia, she visited a variety of Asian countries including Japan, China, South Korea and Vietnam.[15]

On 9 March 2016 she witnessed a Total Solar Eclipse in the Makassar Straight while sailing through Indonesia as part of an extended tour of Asia, hosting a number of astronomy groups and eclipse followers. The successful observation was under the captaincy of James Russell-Dunford, who retired immediately after at the next major port of call in Singapore.

In the 2005 film Into the Blue, Voldendam makes a brief cameo when she was docked in the Prince George Wharf port of Nassau, Bahamas

References

  1. ↑ "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Volendam". VesselTracker. 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Carnival Australia Submission to the Independent Review of Enhanced Cruise Ship Access to Garden Island (the Review)" (PDF). Carnival Australia. Australian Government, Department of Defence. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "MS Volendam Deck Plan" (PDF). The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 "MS Volendam refitting - Drydock" (PDF). HMS Service. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  5. ↑ "Tennis Star Chris Evert to Dedicate Holland America's Newest Ship". South Florida Business Journal. 5 November 1999. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "Microsoft Digital Workshop Rolls Across Holland America Line Ships". Canada Newswire. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "ms Volendam Cruise Ship". Virgin Holidays Cruises. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  8. ↑ Heelan, Paula (14 January 2012). "Life for chef sailing along nicely". The Morning Bulletin. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Holland America names Joe Palermo director, ship refurbishments". MarineLog. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  10. ↑ Foy, Sally (19 March 2010). "Cruise market in jeopardy". Batesman Bay Post. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  11. ↑ "Adventure World charter Volendam for Rugby World Cup 2011". eTravel Blackbird. 3 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  12. ↑ Saunders, Aaron (22 April 2012). "Getting up close, personal with Alaska". The Province. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  13. ↑ "The Vancouver Sun Anniversary Cruise". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  14. ↑ "12,500 to arrive on cruises". The Islander. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "Holland America Line's ms Volendam to Sail a Series of Far East Itineraries in Early 2013". PR Newswire. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
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