HAL Veendam - May 2019 - Venice to Rome

I have this cruise booked in an SB room and started reading some of the issues with that ship being old, possibly could be sold, etc.

For the HAL experts, is it worth taking the risk on this ship or should I move to the NCL Jade in June 2019? My husband and I are retired so flexible with travel dates.

One of the things that appealed to me about the HAL cruise is it starts in May, hopefully before the super busy summer travel season begins. We would be in the middle of that in June with the NCL Jade.

Thank you for your help and opinions.

We're booked on Koningsdam to the Med May 10th 2019. Ten day cruise, Rome-Rome. IMHO a much nicer ship than any NCL ship and nicer than Veendam. Koningsdam is the newest HAL ship and is quite beautiful. Take a look at the HAL website. NCL would not be my choice in the Med.

We're booked on Koningsdam to the Med May 10th 2019. Ten day cruise, Rome-Rome. IMHO a much nicer ship than any NCL ship and nicer than Veendam. Koningsdam is the newest HAL ship and is quite beautiful. Take a look at the HAL website. NCL would not be my choice in the Med.

Thank you I will look into that. I always wanted to cruise out of Venice, but we could just fly into Venice and spend a few days then take the train to Rome for the cruise.

We are looking at that cruise, or one in June on the Veendam. I was hoping to sail out of Venice again. But I have the same issues about the Veendam that you do, so I'm looking forward to reading others opinions on the ship.

Thanks.

I have this cruise booked in an SB room and started reading some of the issues with that ship being old, possibly could be sold, etc.

 

For the HAL experts, is it worth taking the risk on this ship or should I move to the NCL Jade in June 2019? My husband and I are retired so flexible with travel dates.

 

One of the things that appealed to me about the HAL cruise is it starts in May, hopefully before the super busy summer travel season begins. We would be in the middle of that in June with the NCL Jade.

 

Thank you for your help and opinions.

I'm booked on May 5th 2019 since the Veendam Med cruises went out. The itinerary is great and I chose for Saranda (my first time to Albania) and Catania ( going to Siracusa). The other ports are nice as well. Then May is perfect because not busy travel season as you said.

I was just back from a Koningsdam cruise in March when I decided to book the Veendam (booked also Rotterdam for June 2018 and Amsterdam for January 2019) because I like the small ship and the Koningsdam is too big! IMHO

I’ve sailed on both Koningsdam and Veendam and love them both for different reasons! Koningsdam was bright, shiny new when we sailed her in the Caribbean and we loved all the venues. Veendam is much smaller and cozy and we loved that about her. But, for your trip, I would not pass up being able to sail out of Venice. It is absolutely breathtaking. We sailed into Venice on Oceania a few years ago and I’ll never forget it. I fear we’ll lose the option of sailing in or out of Venice before long! :(

Whichever you decide, have a great cruise!

One thing that appealed to me about the Veendam is the size. My only other cruise was Alaska on the NCL Pearl and that's a big ship. Not as big as the new mega ships, but still big. We sailed AFT and walked ourselves silly to get to anything around the boat. Didn't help I severely sprained my ankle the week before we left. :(

Well, I have much to decide and quickly especially since we want to use free United miles for the trip and the booking window for May 2019 will open next week.

I have this cruise booked in an SB room and started reading some of the issues with that ship being old, possibly could be sold, etc.

 

 

 

For the HAL experts, is it worth taking the risk on this ship or should I move to the NCL Jade in June 2019? My husband and I are retired so flexible with travel dates.

 

 

 

One of the things that appealed to me about the HAL cruise is it starts in May, hopefully before the super busy summer travel season begins. We would be in the middle of that in June with the NCL Jade.

 

 

 

Thank you for your help and opinions.

We just disembarked the Veendam on Saturday. We cruise for the itinerary, and have cruises on her 3 times to Bermuda...and if they weren’t sending her to Venice, I would have booked again next year.

It’s not a perfect ship but it’s still a lovely ship. I would keep your cruise on her!

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I agree that the sail in or sail out of Venice is breathtaking and understand why people are booking the Veendam in order to have that experience. But in my opinion, if you're asking the question, I would not recommend the Veendam for a Mediterranean cruise. The bottom line is too expensive to take a chance with that ship.

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I agree that the sail in or sail out of Venice is breathtaking and understand why people are booking the Veendam in order to have that experience. But in my opinion, if you're asking the question, I would not recommend the Veendam for a Mediterranean cruise. The bottom line is too expensive to take a chance with that ship.

 

 

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I agree that the sail in or sail out of Venice is breathtaking and understand why people are booking the Veendam in order to have that experience. But in my opinion, if you're asking the question, I would not recommend the Veendam for a Mediterranean cruise. The bottom line is too expensive to take a chance with that ship.

 

 

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My husband feels the same way. It's too expensive to risk. And we are flying from California so it's not a quick trip. To complicate things more we get a 20% discount on the NCL Jade because of their Harrah's partnership. After much consideration we decided to book the Jade.

I was leaning towards Veendam but since we were on the Pearl he feels he knows that ship. And we are able to take advantage of the free Unlimited Beverage Package NCL has going right now. He loves the Drink of the Day!