Making a Change - Veendam to Summit

[Flyingfish]

Almost ready to make that change. Would appreciate a little help here. As it has been decided that the Veendam is now too big to dock at St. George, and will tender in, I'm thinking of canceling this booking. I'd love to know who's running the show up in Seattle at HAL. I'm looking at a group of four cabins, on Vista deck, aft. The veranda's appear to be larger (7176-7182). I've sailed the Veendam but not the Summit. Any info regarding this ship will be most appreciated. How is Cape Liberty parking? Thanks

[Wine-O]

Almost ready to make that change. Would appreciate a little help here. As it has been decided that the Veendam is now too big to dock at St. George, and will tender in, I'm thinking of canceling this booking. I'd love to know who's running the show up in Seattle at HAL. I'm looking at a group of four cabins, on Vista deck, aft. The veranda's appear to be larger (7176-7182). I've sailed the Veendam but not the Summit. Any info regarding this ship will be most appreciated. How is Cape Liberty parking? Thanks

 

I found this thread concerning M-Class balconies. It does appear that 7176/78/80 are oversized balconies and 7182 is a normal size balcony -- but that stateroom is Concierge Class (C3). Stateroom is larger (191 sq ft) but balcony is normal size.

 

We're booked on Summit 30 May and love Bermuda. I heard recently that Veendam can get into Hamilton, but will have to tender at St. George. As I recall, that one heck of a tender distance, but it will drop you downtown.

 

The parking lot at Cape Liberty is right next to the cruise terminal. I dropped off the luggage then went back around to the parking lot, parked, and walked to the cruise terminal. It's very convenient.

 

One word of caution about parking. We were on Zenith in 2006 and parked in their lot. There's the Bayonne Drydock and Repair right near Cape Liberty. While they were painting one of the ships in drydock, all the cars in the lot got paint overspray. Little tiny white dots of paint that I didn't recognize until days later when I got "up close and personal" to look as it blended into the metalic paint. I first discovered it when it rained, and I couldn't figure out why the windshield was streaking. The specks were very fine and hard to see. They made good in paying for my car to get detailed. There was another thread on here a couple months ago where it happened again.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=9678039&postcount=3

[Wine-O]

Here are a few threads discussing the parking at Bayonne. Looks like the parking has gone up since we were there last. It's now $19 per day?

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1061888&highlight=bayonne+drydock

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1083830&highlight=bayonne+drydock

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=443026&highlight=bayonne+drydock

[Flyingfish]

Thanks Wine-O for the heads-up regarding parking. The reason I'm canceling is due to the fact that St. George now becomes a tender port. As anyone knows who has quite a few cruises under their belt, tender ports are always subject to weather conditions. Just don't want to take that chance.

[mamadot]

As far as the ships you can certainly not go wrong! We were on the Veendam just after dry dock earlier this year and loved it. But...love the Summit just as much. But then I never a cruise ship I did not love!!

[mamadot]

Just thought........is the Summit not larger than the Veendam??

[avalon1025]

The summit is much larger than the Veendam. I would stick with the veendam for the experience of docking in Hamilton, its great and the ship becomes a hotel on main street!

[Guest maddycat]

The thread below is very helpful. Cape Liberty Cruise Port is discussed in detail.

Bayonne NJ Resident will help with FAQ - Cruise Critic Message Boards