Veendam condition

We are thinking of booking the 49 day cruise next October on the Veendam, but concerned with her condition based on cruise critic comments. Would appreciate any insight one might have regarding this. Thank you in advance!

Thanks for asking this. We've already booked that cruise and were also concerned about the condition of the Veendam.

Hi there

I don't know what your specific concerns are, but we just completed our first HAL cruise on the Veendam last Saturday.

We had a great time, excellent service, very helpful crew. I found it to be a nice quiet, small ship. It floats very well, so I would imagine it will get you where you are going.

If there is some specific concern that I might answer, I will try.

have a good day

Hi there

 

I don't know what your specific concerns are, but we just completed our first HAL cruise on the Veendam last Saturday.

 

It floats very well, so I would imagine it will get you where you are going.

Good answer!

Hi there

 

I don't know what your specific concerns are, but we just completed our first HAL cruise on the Veendam last Saturday.

 

We had a great time, excellent service, very helpful crew. I found it to be a nice quiet, small ship. It floats very well, so I would imagine it will get you where you are going.

 

If there is some specific concern that I might answer, I will try.

 

have a good day

Our concern is with the ships physical and engineering condition. We read several negative comments on the CC boards. But I just talked with a HAL agent who was on the Veendam last summer and loved it - no problems (but of course she works for HAL). Ship was also in dry dock this past March/April.

Cabin noise (location) and cabin temperature regulation seem to be the common complaints: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=39

Cabin noise (location) and cabin temperature regulation seem to be the common complaints: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=39

Hi there

Of course cabin noise would be dependent on your location. That would be normal for any ship.

Our cabin thermostat appeared to be functioning correctly. That wouldn't mean that it would be the case for all the cabins.

I didn't see anything that would suggest that the ship wasn't safe to be on, certainly no major leaks were evident. :) I would say that typically I rely on the ships' crew to worry about the equipment. Equipment that is operational 24 hrs. a day can break down at any time, no different from where I used to work, if something breaks (typical), there is someone who can fix it. If on the ship I would not expect to get a call if there were a breakdown, but would be sipping on a drink.

A 49 day cruise would be hard to take if you were really worried about the condition of the ship. I don't know what to say. :)

try not to worry

have a great cruise

We will be boarding shortly and expect the ship's A/C to be stressed as we get closer to the Panama Canal. Not sure this is a fault of the ship more than a consequence of the location nearer the equator.

Sailed her over the 4th of July, Montreal to Boston, and had no complaints. Everything (in our cabin) worked as advertised

We sailed on her three years ago, and were VERY concerned, considering all the negative chatter we heard for the six months leading up to the cruise.

She turned out to be in great shape, a lovely smaller ship, and of the four HA ships we have sailed on our favorite to date.... We have no idea what all the fuss was about.

We were on Veendam in 2010 (NYC-Bermuda round trip) and again in early June (Montreal-Boston). To my non-expert eyes, she appeared very seaworthy on both occasions and performed quite well. Veendam's overall condition (from an appearance and cleanliness standpoint) in June had noticeably improved from what it was in 2010, a function no doubt of her having been in dry dock in March/April.

Smooth sailing ...

We're looking at booking on the Veendam too and are relieved to see all these positive reports.

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Helps to drill down the "complaints" about a ship. In reading the reviews, most are on the "hotel" side - the food service, the entertainment, the itinerary, the weather. Some are because of cabin location with inherent ship noise and vibration factors. Some are decor, some are size, some are unmet expectations, some are unrealistic comparisons.

HAL is a mass market cruise line turning over thousands of passengers ever few weeks on their ships. It continues to amaze and please me the one thing that gets consistent high marks is the remarkable professionalism, friendliness and warmth of the HAL crews.

Thank you to everyone for their opinions!

Sailed on Veendam this past May from Montreal to Boston and I had no complaints. Everything worked and the temperature was great for me as I like it cold and we were north with outside temps ranging in 50s. Only complaint I heard from others was that it was cold.

We have sailed HAL before but I can't exactly recall which ships, for I don't keep records like those. But...one HAL sailing had a bad boiler (or engine) so the cruise had to skip some ports due to slower speed that would have extended the voyage if it stopped at all scheduled ports. Another ship had a/c problems out of Seattle and had the maintenance crew living outside our cabin, basically, with missing ceiling tiles and water dripping most of the cruise. Another one on a Canadian-New England cruise had similar a/c problems. So, I really don't know what to expect from the Veendam this spring, given wjhat others have said, so I have yet to decide to book it.

Love the size of this ship, the quiet, the service and we had no problems... Possibly one of my favorites

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Love the size of this ship, the quiet, the service and we had no problems... Possibly one of my favorites

 

 

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Ditto that.

Have had two cruises on the Veendam and getting ready to go on a 48 day one very soon. On the first one in 2007 I'd been concerned about mechanical problems others reported on previous cruises. We didn't have any problems and had a great cruise, although the ship itself needed refurbishing. Fast forward to 2015...Veendam went from my least favorite ship to favorite. It had been refurbished. I love the smaller size and the service and expertise on the Voyage of the Vikings was second to none. We're getting ready for Amazon Explorer....and hope the AC is up to it. Needless to say, my advice is not to worry about the Veendam.

We will be boarding shortly and expect the ship's A/C to be stressed as we get closer to the Panama Canal. Not sure this is a fault of the ship more than a consequence of the location nearer the equator.

It will always help if cruisers kept their verandah doors closed if not going in or out.

bosco

Veendam had some serious problems perhaps 5 years ago but they were straightened out. I think some people were on then, decided never to sail her again, and continue to bad mouth her based on long ago corrected problems. I was on her in 2013 and 2016 and found her very good both times.

Of course, salt water is very hard on ships not to mention continuous hard use and things can go wrong any time but that's true on all ships, even relatively new ones.

Roy

We are just off the Veendam. It is in fine condition. There were a few spots showing some age, but a few that were brand new -- just like on every other HAL ship we have been on. Continual maintenance is being kept up. (In our hallway they were putting new shiny grab bars into the tubs.) Just keep in mind that this is the only ship with no aft pool.

Just keep in mind that this is the only ship with no aft pool.

Slight correction: it's one of two HAL ships without an aft pool. The Rotterdam also had its aft pool removed several years ago.

Thank you all for the positive feedback we are on 48 Amazon explorer next week

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Just returned from our 48 days cruise to Brazil and the Amazon with our group of 10 all retired people The Veendam was fine just issues with aircon but they do fix it or moved us. Public area like MDR was warm every night though

Staff were fantastic food was very good and the Best Captain we have ever had on any cruise line Eric van der Welle

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