lintom

And B.B. Kings, another loud active venue.

And, the complete desecration of the Crow's Nest.

No Ocean Bar...

 

Where would one go to relax and socialize for a before or after dinner drink?

Keep in mind - husband and I (late 50s) love the jazz duo and classical options HAL offers too, but will definitely check out the new venue as well. It's not all or none. I wouldn't worry.

Did you notice the new sticky at the top of the forum? (just what we need - another sticky!)

Posted today by LauraS

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2678822

 

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=8866

 

A few minutes ago I was thinking about upcoming October cruise on K'dam, now all I can think about is next year and getting my picture on the cover of Rolling Stone :hearteyes:

That's terrific! Nothing like live music.

Great info. Thank you. Yes, we booked lime from airport to hotel thru hotel.

Transfer from Rome to cruise port purchased from HAL odd pickup. Hard to tell til were there I gyess. Staying near roman forum, pickup in mazzini, lazio, rome. we shall see.

? you were picked up at your hotel? We were given a pickup location of piazza mazzini, lazio. Staying a night in rome, and hotel does NOT appear convenient to pick up location.

Als, what are most people doing for airport to rome, thinking of hotel pricey pickup from airport to hotel.

You'll love it. We did this itinerary last yr, our first HAL cruise. It's elegant and lovely. Diff than the RCCL and Norwegian cruises we'd done with our kids. No booming constant reminders broadcast into hallways. Ports are great. Enjoy travelling with the generations!

Your cabin is probably okay.. probably a good one.

These should only have cabins, and no public areas above to create any noise issues.

I believe that the balconies on these are fully covered.

You might want to double check and make sure that your particular cabin is non-adjoining.

 

I believe that the V category you are mentioning is because of the mid-ship location. I would prefer to be in a VC, which are not in-set over the lifeboats like the mid-ship cabins.

 

Here is a video showing what I am describing, from the mid-ship in-set (not bumped out) section over the lifeboats just below.

I also think I am seeing an adjoining door to the next cabin? But, I don't think the deck-plans are showing 5092 as adjoining?

V5092

 

Happy planning!

Thank you Wishing On A Star!!! Yes, our stateroom is bumped out, just forward of midship and not connecting. So the HAL consultant steered me well! Looking forward to this trip VERY much....

I see from another post of yours that this is your second HAL cruise. Unless your first was a long one in a suite, you are likely a long way from a discounted wine package. At 3-star (75 day credits) you can get 25% off.

 

See https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/mariner-society.html

Thanks Carol. Yes we were in a vista suite? our first HAL cruise on the Veendam. So, yes, no discounted wine for us :-( I guess we'll be 2star after this cruise.

As with just about any cabin levels, it is really all location, location, location.

 

What Mariner status do you have? The perks are explained on the HAL website.

Thank you. Yes apparently we're one star until after this cruise :-(

Booked cat VC balcony deck 5. Wondering difference between this and lower cat V.

Also how do I find out mariner status, perks, etc. Would like to take advantage of any discounted wine packages, etc.

Booked direct thru HAL consultant.

ditto what jim said. Disembarkation mess fell far MORE on shoulders of Montreal Port in our opinion. Being behind calling tags is one thing. Having elderly (AND others with suitcases) disembark from a steep gangway was ridiculous. For Veendam's part they could have sent management staff to gangway to facilitate a process. Not a fan of the us vs. them, the new people are rude, mentality (maybe because WE ARE first time HAL cruisers - don't drink much, do dress for dinner, enjoyed the music, presentations, etc). seems to me most guests did their best, waited patiently. short line to get taxi. saw several people loudly commenting on their 'mariner status priority disembarkation, etc' which didn't really help progression of line. port seemed ill prepared for arrival of ship. Not real acceptable since far smaller ports accomodated arrival easily. RCCL and NCL have shown that easy disembarkation CAN happen. a few doors down from jimnkaren, never got to meet, maybe next time!

We were on this Veendam itinerary. Several problems became apparent early.

For unknown reasons, we arrived about one hour later than scheduled. I watched from my verandah as the portable crane had to lift the gangway to its appropriate location. That process did not begin until all lines were attached, no anticipation of the the lines being snugly secured.

The water level was high, the angle of the ramp was steep and many passengers needed assistance. A partial solution would have been to have the gangway placed on a platform that was 2-3' high with a second ramp to descend the rest of the way to the pier itself. It appeared to me that the folks in Montreal did not seem to care much whether the incline was steep or not. Poor planning on their part.

Because of the location, the process of off-loading of luggage was cumbersome. The crane had to be re-positioned and connected to a 'cage' that off loaded one batch of luggage at a time. It was at leas 5 minutes for each cage-full to be deposited on the pier, then a fork lift could move it to the their spartan terminal. The process was done slowly and with colors off loaded in the order that they would be called.

We were Green 1, scheduled to debark about 8:00 a.m. It was about 8:45 before we were called and discovered many, many people there who had HAL numbered stickers (I am guessing that they were on HAL paid airport transfers). My recollection was that those #15 stickers were to be called about 8:45 and those folks just got in line, with little concern about others. Fortunately, they were turned away at the scanner; however, that did make the line longer than was necessary.

Once off, we found our luggage within 2 minutes and were out the door after another minute (or so). Into the cab and on our way to the empty airport.

 

I was regularly amazed at the lack of consideration of my fellow passengers regarding their self-centered actions. One gent, in the Ocean Bar, pushed his chair all the way back to the bar stool behind him thus forcing the wait staff to squeeze between the stool and the bar itself in order to pick up their orders. He just did not care. And another gent in the Explorations Cafe, turned a chair around to look out the window. In doing so, he blocked two other chairs. He sat there for less than 5 minutes and walked away, not caring about the situation that he created. It was early and no one was inconvenienced, but I turned the chair back to its original position.

 

Are the new breed of cruisers that HAL wants to have those kinds of people who will continue to create problems? Possibly. I did not see some of this when on longer cruises; maybe these disdainful folks take only the shorter ones.

 

Jim

Comments ftom husband, we just got off veendam saturday. When treadmill set to uphill grade you're head is far too close to ceiling/cramped. Tv screen on treadmills blocked ocean view. Disposable headphones and water bottles were not supplied (that we saw) which are pretty standard in hotels or gyms. None of these were a big deal!, he used rower instead. Nice, clean facility otherwise.

Just got off verndam today. Lovely smaller ship. We saw no signs of poor maintenance onboard. Staterooms, venues impeccable, and we had no issues with temperature, bathrooms etc. Occasionally a public rest room would appear closed, presumably for cleaning?, but certainly NOT a big deal.

Lovely ship.

Agree it was the most unpleasant disembarkation in recent memory. That having been said HAL kept calling additional categories down when we were wrapped around in lines. Gangway FAR too steep and narrow for elderly, handicapped or those wheeling luggage. Resulted in SLOw process. I'd think montreal port could do better.

Thanks all for updates. Boarding in boston tuesday. Really hope all is in order. Anxious to hear from those that boarded in FL. In the meantime, packing!

Walk newbury st, nice shops and cafes, galleries, also convenient to boston common for walk to sWan boat ride, a boston tradition. Museum fine arts fairly close to this area too. Walk Commonwealth ave, parallel to newbury, see lovely homes, and check out pub Cheers was based on.

Or seaport district, new and lovely area, tour harpoon brewery, lunch on waterfront, ICA museum.

any recommendations other than patriots trail or hop-on-hop off---been here twice before and looking for something new (yn)

In seaport district there are many good restaurants incl legal waterfront, great views and food. Great lobster roll at little place next to harpoon brewery *which is a fun free tour and beer hall).

We took upsell to vista,suite from lanai guarantee. Received 2nd upsell emsil, followed immediately by stateroom assignment, which was not an upgrade from lanai guarantee. So called and took upsell, chose statetoom. I asked about upgrade to Neptune which was $100 more per person than Vista upsell. Not bad, but Vista fine for us.

Boarding in Boston 4/25 for 11 day Canada on HAL veendam. Can't find when embarkation begins.

Zumba - I innocently got up to try zumba poolside, only to realize I was surroundeddd by zumba instructors. Hundreds. Upon hundreds. National zumba instructors organization or something. Nice people, but sooooo excited to see old friends across the dining rooms!, lol.:D