Volendam
Another maiden call for Singapore was made on Saturday, April 4th when the Holldand America Volendam visited Singapore. Below she is seen departing on a rainy afternoon passing the Singapore island of Sentosa in the background on her way to open water.
The Volendam is the 3rd in the "R class" of ships built by Holland America starting with the Rotterdam VI of 1997. Although the Rotterdam and her sister Amsterdam are graced by similar twin, side-by-side funnels, Holland America decided to provide the Volendam and her sister, the Zaandam, with a single, short and blandly designed funnel.
The difference in profile between the Rotterdam/Amsterdam and Volendam/Zaandam is tremendous. While the single funnel does make the ship look longer, looking at the ship, one might wonder why Holland America would alter the design. Were they trying to pay homage to the single funnel of the 1984 Noordam/Niew Amsterdam or was it just some attempt to lower the cost? No matter what the real reason, it is great disservice to the ship. At least Holland America appears to have learned from their mistake with all of the new Vista and Signature class ships having twin, in-line funnels.
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