Veendam Seven Night Canada/NE

Good afternoon everyone!

So, i would love some opinions and advice. Please note i am not usually a fan of starting a new thread and i have searched through a lot of archive posts and read this board daily the past three weeks but having more information has given me more questions! so let me begin :)

First time HAL cruiser

* you all have finally talked me into making a reservation at the pinnacle. however, i can't decide what date to make it. i am on a port intensive cruise, but only have plans for the two ports in nova scotia. the other days i was going to take it easy. I have 2 gala nights, but i am unsure which days they will be (likely the last night?). Do you recommend going on a gala night or a regular night? i would like to book online in advance of the cruise

* i am doing my first time not having a set dinner time in the MDR and plan to wing it, despite the fact that i am a big planner. i have read you can make any time dining reservations up to 3 days in advance - is that only once ON board? IE can i not make a reservation for my first night until that first night? i imagine i would do it first thing getting into my cabin

* laundry. i have sent laundry out before on carnival and it has not come back the same way i sent it. items i frequently launder at home with no special process came back faded and shrunk beyond recognition, i assume due to industrial machines. has anyone experienced this?

* i know she is recently out of dry dock - does anyone know if the tvs were updated to the new system or using dvds still? If so, i assum ethat means i can pack my own DVDs, if i like.

* is it true rooms are available as soon as you go on board?

* for a tender in bar harbor 7a-3pm, what do you think would be the latest you should disembark if you just want to take a stroll through town and have lunch? 7am is too early for my first day of vacation :)

* guaranteed state room - another place i rolled the dice, i am letting HAL assign my stateroom. i only booked this cruise a month ago, so i had some limitations with this (and dining) but im trying to relax and just go with the flow. when would i expect this to be assigned? will it come in an email or will it just show up when i log in to view my reservation one day (no TA)

* does anyone swim on these NE cruises? i am expecting it to be cold but (depart 5/28)...it could be nice!

i am a solo cruiser in my late 30s looking to just relax, see some pretty things, break my diet for a week and drink many fruity cocktails and glasses of champagne. do any veendam cruisers have any ship specific tips or secrets they'd be willing to share? i know if you share its not a secret, but i thought i'd ask ;)

thanks in advance to anyone that is willing to provide feedback...thank you!

I can reply to the laundry issue. We went on a back to back on the Westerdam a number of years ago. Because it was two weeks, we needed to get things washed. We had the same disappointment you had on Carnival. It was obvious items were washed in commercial machines at hot temps. Two or three brand new Brooks Brothers golf shirts came back badly faded. Now if we're not cruising on the smaller HAL ships that have self service laundry rooms, we bring what I would call technical or hiking clothing for day wear. These things can be rinsed in the sink, wrapped in a towel and hung on the laundry line in the shower. They're dry and ready to wear the next morning. In ports like Bar Harbor, that's how you'll see people dressed whether they're cruising or not. It's the kind of clothing you can buy at LLBean, REI, etc. Enjoy your cruise.

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I can answer a few of your questions as we were on the Veendam last Fall. If you don't care to send out the laundry, there are self-serve machines on the Verandah Deck. People do use the pool, and especially the hot tubs. We were off the ship fairly early in Bar Harbor because we did the Cadillac Mountain/Jordan Pond tour (recommended). To just stroll the town and lunch, I would say 10:00 give or take.

Enjoy your cruise!

I can answer a few of your questions as we were on the Veendam last Fall. If you don't care to send out the laundry, there are self-serve machines on the Verandah Deck. People do use the pool, and especially the hot tubs. We were off the ship fairly early in Bar Harbor because we did the Cadillac Mountain/Jordan Pond tour (recommended). To just stroll the town and lunch, I would say 10:00 give or take.

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks, Heartgrove for pointing out the self serve laundry. We made good use of it on the Maasdam on our 50 day transatlantic last fall. I much prefer doing the laundry myself.

Did you have the popovers at Jordan Pond?

Thanks, Heartgrove for pointing out the self serve laundry. We made good use of it on the Maasdam on our 50 day transatlantic last fall. I much prefer doing the laundry myself.

Did you have the popovers at Jordan Pond?

Yes we did!

Soap is supplied for the self service washers, but if you want dryer sheets you should take your own.

I think the Gala nights will be May 29 when you leave Bar Harbor at 3 and June 2, your sea day.

I've only had anytime dining on HAL once but I was always able to be seated pretty quickly without a reservation.

Since you have sailed with Carnival you are considered a 1-star Mariner but you have no days. You should be invited to a cocktail party in the Crows Nest on embarkation day and a brunch with tile souvenirs late in the cruise.

Yes, you should be able to go to your room immediately on embarkation.

Roy

thanks everyone :)

We sent laundry out on Veendam in February & had no issues. Sent out a variety of items: jeans, t-shirts, khakis, socks & undies. Everything was returned as sent but clean.

I went on a Canada / New England cruise on the Veendam a couple years ago. I cruised solo, but I'm older than you. ;)

I used the self service laundry on that cruise.

I went into Bar Harbor at about 10AM, walked around, had lunch and went back to the ship around 2pm. I had plenty of time for what I wanted which was basically to shop. There is a little town square with free wifi. I did sit there for a bit. You'll see a lot of other people doing the same.

In the end, I didn't do the specialty dining because the room and menu didn't look that inviting to me.

I believe the rooms were available when I got on the ship.

Things change over time depending on who's cooking the food, but I really enjoyed some of the evening buffet offerings. I splurged on some pastas and they had a nice Bolognese sauce. I've read that the buffet has been redone during drydock and they no longer offer sandwiches made to order. At the PEI (not sure of your itinerary), they brought on PEI mussels and had them at the buffet. At Dive In ( the grill by the pool ) they had a Poutine Bar one day instead of the normal nachos. Very unusual offering. Salad bar is my go to thing and it was nice. My big splurge was the ice cream cones in the buffet. Too tempting. Oh, one afternoon, they had lobster rolls in the buffet, but they were not very good.

I went in September. Some people used the hot tubs, but I don't recall seeing a lot of swimming, but I could be wrong. It was very cold one day. I wished I'd brought warmer clothes and ended up buying sweatshirts in Bar Harbor.

Good luck.

I went on a Canada / New England cruise on the Veendam a couple years ago. I cruised solo, but I'm older than you. ;)

 

I used the self service laundry on that cruise.

 

I went into Bar Harbor at about 10AM, walked around, had lunch and went back to the ship around 2pm. I had plenty of time for what I wanted which was basically to shop. There is a little town square with free wifi. I did sit there for a bit. You'll see a lot of other people doing the same.

 

In the end, I didn't do the specialty dining because the room and menu didn't look that inviting to me.

 

I believe the rooms were available when I got on the ship.

 

Things change over time depending on who's cooking the food, but I really enjoyed some of the evening buffet offerings. I splurged on some pastas and they had a nice Bolognese sauce. I've read that the buffet has been redone during drydock and they no longer offer sandwiches made to order. At the PEI (not sure of your itinerary), they brought on PEI mussels and had them at the buffet. At Dive In ( the grill by the pool ) they had a Poutine Bar one day instead of the normal nachos. Very unusual offering. Salad bar is my go to thing and it was nice. My big splurge was the ice cream cones in the buffet. Too tempting. Oh, one afternoon, they had lobster rolls in the buffet, but they were not very good.

 

I went in September. Some people used the hot tubs, but I don't recall seeing a lot of swimming, but I could be wrong. It was very cold one day. I wished I'd brought warmer clothes and ended up buying sweatshirts in Bar Harbor.

 

Good luck.

thank you so much for the feedback!