Legendary Amazon Explorer from Ft. Lauderdale, 25 November 2026 (27 nights)

Nice size Ship with about 1200 on board mainly Americans. Food in Lido Market was good but heavy reliance on Protein and not many Green Vegetables. Not many good varieties of Bread for Breakfast as we had to buy our own later in cruise. The Dining room food was less enjoyable as again it was heavily based upon protein with very little green vegetables. Many times we had Khaki green and limp Asparagus and two or 3 half Brussel Sprouts. The main green vegetable was Green Beans. Our Cabin was beneath the Galley and we experienced knocking and scraping noises both late in the evening & early morning. Apart from this the position of the cabin was great. We also had issues with the Bathroom Basin waste getting stuck on a few occasions. Generally the Crew were very good and attentive and we found that some of the service in the Dining room was a little different as we are used to having the table set for the meal except for Desert. Some of the food was not cooked to our liking as we ordered it and we pointed this out at the time. EG: Steaks under cooked & fish over cooked and rather small dishes. The activities were good on board with plenty to keep you occupied. There appeared to be more seating in the public spaces as opposed to the Niew Statendam that we were on earlier in the year. The Captain was very good with informing the passenger with his daily broadcasts and also letting everyone know about the rough weather and so on. To be honest there were far to many Americans for our liking as it took us a while to adjust to the American way of life on board. HAL have a more varied cruise destination programme than other Cruise lines which we like, but maybe we might choose a smaller cruise length in the future. We chose this cruise as a replacement for a cancelled cruise in 2024 due to the Middle East crisis, due to its destinations.

Elegant smaller ship. Great crew and good food.

Volendam is a lovely friendly ship, not too big therefore easy to get around and find stuff. Food was high quality and delicious. Activities and entertainment were good too. Ship ports were delightful to walk round with lots of interest. Hotels used were perfect for seeing Montreal and Boston. Slight issue with transfer pick up delay off ship but we resolved ourselves. Otherwise a great trip that we would recommend.

cabin sizes large , food and drinks v good