VEENDAM, Feb. 5th “HELL” week

[xpcdoojk]

Beth,

 

Very well said.

 

I look at it from this perspective>>>I discount, for the most part, posters who have made only a few posts. They generally tend to have an ax to grind, and their opinion is therefore jaded. An exception, of course, being the "one-post-person" we've seen earlier on this thread.

 

I agree with this.

 

In a similar vein, I also discount posters who have 1000X's of posts. First, they tend to loose objectivity on either the subject, the cruise line, etc. Second, this is a message board and is supposed to be solely for entertainment purposes, not to spend all your waking hours here. Geeezzz, life's too important...........

 

I tend to think it is very arrogant to tell others what is and is not important. We can make that judgement for ourselves. :rolleyes:

jc

[lipoppop]

This board has been very calm lately. Maybe that is why so many people have taken such strong positions. I don't want to trivialize anybodys comments yet I feel sometimes th9ings are said more to get a reaction than to represent a true opinion.

 

I agree that the kool-aid references are in bad taste because they are offensive to people. The original point could have been made in another way.

[barbgazz]

I am considering booking a 14 cruise on the Veendam, am I making a mistake?

[sail7seas]

You are not making a mistake IMO

 

 

I would not hesitate to book a future cruise on Veendam. The ship is wonderful and provides a great cruise. IMO

 

We spent 12 days on Veendam in early January and would book that same cruise all over again.

[dakrewser]

I am considering booking a 14 cruise on the Veendam, am I making a mistake?

 

Compared to what?

 

Compared to staying in Downington for 2 weeks? No, you're not making a mistake.

 

Compared to two weeks cruising the south Pacidic on the Prinsendam? Maybe.

 

Perspective DOES matter! But you will enjoy the cruise :)

[Arubalisa]

After reading this thread (and others) I can't imagine why anyone would bother to post a review on this message board with any negatives in it. Who needs every sentence parsed, the 3rd degree over every statement even mildly critical, much less be called a liar in so many words for a major complaint. Who needs this? Kool Aid Drinkers indeed. :(

Based upon the number of views of this thread as well as the comments, I would agree with you 100%. Take the time to write and post a comprehensive review and see how much interest it generates compared to this "defensive" thread....

[kryos]

Yeah ... you can get by Security, but you can't get by the photographers. :D

LOL ... never tried to avoid them on HAL, but on my recent Princess cruise I knew I wasn't gonna buy any photos. I already had photos from previous cruises and after all, one embarkation photo is pretty much the same as the next.

 

So, at embarkation, I just told the guy ... very nicely, of course ... save your film; I'm not gonna buy the photo anyway ... and just walked right through. He didn't seem to take offense.

 

I knew I was gonna be taking a lot of pictures on my last cruise, both underwater and land. So, I figured the photo gallery would make out good with me either way. I planned to get a lot of pictures developed so that I could occupy myself on the flight home putting them into albums. So, I didn't have to add to the photo gallery's coffers by buying the overpriced ship photos too. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[ExpCruiser]

Gaylen ... sorry you had the cruise from hell. Few posters here want to acknowledge that things go wrong and the sorry state of (lack of) responsiveness from staff. I posted previously about my Maasdam cruise and got drummed out of the HAL board corp! As you can see from some of the responses, there are several HAL supporters that seem to have all the "right approaches" to resolving the issues. Like you, I took our inquiries and input to the staff and got no reaction/response. HAL costs more than most of the other cruise lines and the service just doesn't match my expectations (and I'm not that hard to please). THANKS for your input, and I agree this is what the message board is about. Glad to know I wasn't the only one disappointed with HAL and determined not to use them again. :(

[kryos]

You know what I just realized? Something that has happened the last couple of times and maybe this is what happened to you...I've been on the Zuiderdam a couple of times when they let us board early because the rooms weren't ready so most of the guys who would normally escort you to your rooms were still taking care of the cabins. I was told I could go to the Lido and eat and leave my bags in another area, etc. I think there were maybe only 3-4 guys there helping take carry-ons and put them away and they were trying to direct passengers to the Lido also. Maybe this is what happened on the Veendam that day?

You know something? Now that I think about it, that's EXACTLY what happened on my Zuiderdam cruise last summer. I said there was no one to escort us to our staterooms, but that might be my own fault.

 

We were directed to the Lido upon boarding ... lots of stewards by the elevators directing passengers there. I grabbed a bite to eat and then went outside to grab a smoke. As I was sitting there, I got to talking with the guys who were entertaining on deck ... this great combo that was playing sets of music and then taking breaks. During their breaks, they were sitting at a table right next to mine ... since they had the "bad habit" too. :)

 

Well, they made the announcement that cabins were ready, but I was having way too much fun listening to the music and talking to these guys. It must have been a good hour and a half later before I decided it might be a good idea to head to my cabin and take a shower and get an hour of shuteye before muster drill (I had been up since late afternoon the day before since I worked the night before the cruise). Of course, by the time I wandered down to my deck, most of the stewards were done with their "greeting" chores. I did find one who pointed me in the right direction of my cabin, but there were none specifically designated to escort passengers by that time.

 

You're probably right on in terms of what happened to this passenger. The stewards were probably busy getting the cabins ready and that's why there was no one available to direct them to their cabin.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[lipoppop]

I am considering booking a 14 cruise on the Veendam, am I making a mistake?

 

Yes, book a longer cruise. While there will always be people who complain about their cruise the majority of us go back again and again. The Veendam is a special ship for us. It was our first cruise on HAL and we have sailed with her again.

[xpcdoojk]

Gaylen ... sorry you had the cruise from hell. Few posters here want to acknowledge that things go wrong and the sorry state of (lack of) responsiveness from staff. I posted previously about my Maasdam cruise and got drummed out of the HAL board corp! As you can see from some of the responses, there are several HAL supporters that seem to have all the "right approaches" to resolving the issues. Like you, I took our inquiries and input to the staff and got no reaction/response. HAL costs more than most of the other cruise lines and the service just doesn't match my expectations (and I'm not that hard to please). THANKS for your input, and I agree this is what the message board is about. Glad to know I wasn't the only one disappointed with HAL and determined not to use them again. :(

 

Poor guy drummed out of the corp. I wasn't even aware that there was a corp. Was it like the old Chuck Connors show, where they always broke his sword and ripped the stripes from his uniform before dumping him into the wild west? Inquiring minds and all?:eek: :D

 

jc

[HeatherInFlorida]

Geez ..... I didn't know there was a "HAL Board Corp" either;) ! How do we get in that? Do you have to sign up and pay ... or is it an invitation kind of thing? And how do you all get together to "drum" someone out? Is there like a vote or is it more like there's a Covenants Committee?

[xpcdoojk]

Geez ..... I didn't know there was a "HAL Board Corp" either;) ! How do we get in that? Do you have to sign up and pay ... or is it an invitation kind of thing? And how do you all get together to "drum" someone out? Is there like a vote or is it more like there's a Covenants Committee?

 

Yeah the funnier thing is the guy that got drummed out of the corp seems less determined to never sail HAl than he seems determined that no one else sails HAL. I wonder why I get that impression?:confused:

 

jc

[heyabbott]

Geez ..... I didn't know there was a "HAL Board Corp" either;) ! How do we get in that? Do you have to sign up and pay ... or is it an invitation kind of thing? And how do you all get together to "drum" someone out? Is there like a vote or is it more like there's a Covenants Committee?

 

It's more like the Del Boca Vista, phase 2. Where they drummed Morty out.

 

Nisht do gedachet

[Pete Jackson]

Got me to perusing some of the other lines' boards to see if problems are limited only to HAL. Well, several people were knocking Cunard for letting the QE2 go to ruin, according to them, and that some staff acted like they were waiting to get their pension checks. And Crystal let hundreds of Mexican passengers in at Acupulco on day 3 of an 8-day cruise! :eek:They offered an incredibly cheap fare to these people and, needless to say, many of them did not behave themselves like good Crystal passengers - like not dressing up on formal nights, etc. etc.

 

So, problems related to cost-cutting are clearly not only on HAL and the whole industry seems to be in a bit of a decline. In general things seem to go better on longer cruises (but not if they let locals overrun the ship on short ad hoc segments - I can't believe Crystal did that).

[KBC]

I don't know what Kool Aid actually is but I have already decided I don't like it. :rolleyes:

[barbgazz]

I have been on The Song of American, RCCL's Explorer of the Seas, the Voyager of the Seas, the Grandeur, Golden Princess, Celebrity Horizon, and Celebrity Galaxy (for B2B cruises last October).

 

We prefer a longer cruise now since one week isn't enough. So I wasn't exactly comparing two weeks in Downingtown to two weeks on the Veendam, but perhaps 13 days on a Norwegian repo cruise, or a transatlantic on the Galaxy again.

 

Any input would be appreciated.

[xpcdoojk]

Got me to perusing some of the other lines' boards to see if problems are limited only to HAL. Well, several people were knocking Cunard for letting the QE2 go to ruin, according to them, and that some staff acted like they were waiting to get their pension checks. And Crystal let hundreds of Mexican passengers in at Acupulco on day 3 of an 8-day cruise! :eek:They offered an incredibly cheap fare to these people and, needless to say, many of them did not behave themselves like good Crystal passengers - like not dressing up on formal nights, etc. etc.

 

So, problems related to cost-cutting are clearly not only on HAL and the whole industry seems to be in a bit of a decline. In general things seem to go better on longer cruises (but not if they let locals overrun the ship on short ad hoc segments - I can't believe Crystal did that).

 

Sometimes a company needs to desparately increase income, and they make decisions that might not be in the best interests of everyone. Of course, since they are running the company and not us passengers they have this right. I hope you are not suggesting that if they had chosen to do this with another type (not Mexican) passenger it would have been ok in your mind?:confused: Because that would be very intolerant. Funny too the next stop would probably be in a port with gasp Mexicans.:D Of course, maybe you are saying that it is ok to visit Mexicans but to have to share dinner with them is unacceptable?

 

I would imagine that cost cutting that is so decried in these forums might be another way of trying to stay in business. I, personally, would hate to see cruiselines going out of business. I enjoy a cruise vacation. Seems to me in many ways cruising today is better than it has ever been. It just isn't the way it was in 1970 or 1980 or pick your time in history. Things change, and things that don't tend to disappear completely.

 

I do agree with you in one way completely. These stories are not limited to HAL, but to everyone cruiseline that has a forum here at CC.

 

jc

[Pete Jackson]

No, jc, it's not being Mexican that was the problem. The word Mexican was used to show that locals were getting on, not the normal cruise passengers who were flying from other places. Of course, it would have been the same problem if a lot of local Americans got on at a US stop that wasn't marketed in the cruise brochures as a cruise embarcation port, and who had paid fares far lower than the other pax. It just happened to be Mexicans in Acapulco - I apologise if it didn't read that way!

[Quo Vadis?]

I am considering booking a 14 cruise on the Veendam, am I making a mistake?

 

I was on the sick Veendam ship Jan 14-29... never got sick and am eager to go back again... In November.... I just wish it did more of them.... I'd sign up again and again....

 

Old phrase: One man's milk is another's poison...

 

But I would not be able to tolerate a cabin that really applied the heat and put me in hell... I'd find a nice sofa in a public lounge... bring my bedding...:eek:

[ExpCruiser]

I have been on The Song of American, RCCL's Explorer of the Seas, the Voyager of the Seas, the Grandeur, Golden Princess, Celebrity Horizon, and Celebrity Galaxy (for B2B cruises last October).

 

We prefer a longer cruise now since one week isn't enough. So I wasn't exactly comparing two weeks in Downingtown to two weeks on the Veendam, but perhaps 13 days on a Norwegian repo cruise, or a transatlantic on the Galaxy again.

 

Any input would be appreciated

 

You've been on some great ships and cruises and while the other HAL Lovers will be dismayed, I'd take ANY other cruise line before I sailed on a dam ship again! I especially loved the Galaxy and the Grandeur of the Seas. Never did the Veendam but HAL tends to run its ships out and use them til there isn't anything left to save, hence all the complaints about heat/toilets/etc. Now that is my input ... as requested. p.s. What's wrong with the poster who thinks he/she can malign your home town and get away with it, shame shame.

[HeatherInFlorida]

If I cruised on a line I hated and never wanted to cruise again, I sure wouldn't be visiting the boards for that line other than writing a review and moving on. Can't see the pleasure in that. So, jc, I think you're right ... some folks are just determined to get everyone over to their way of thinking. That's going to be quite a challenge on these boards;) .

HeyAbbot, you're just lucky I watch Seinfeld or I'd be asking a gizillion questions about now!:D

[ekerr19]

Heather - I was thinking exactly the same thing. I keep wondering why someone would continually return to these boards after so boldly announcing that he has no intention of ever sailing on HAL again. :)

 

Oh well, maybe we can persuade him...?

[sail7seas]

I don't think it's beneficial to try to 'persuade him'. Speaking only for myself, I would not be pleased to be sitting in a lounge, or at the pool, or the show, or in the dining room or anywhere aboard a "dam" ship listening to someone complain and gripe about how horrible time they are having. Fine by me for anyone to avoid HAL if their product does not please them.

[OCruisers]

If I cruised on a line I hated and never wanted to cruise again, I sure wouldn't be visiting the boards for that line other than writing a review and moving on. Can't see the pleasure in that.

 

Heather .... Totally agree! While I really do always appreciate the honest opinions of others (good or bad), there's no reason to keep going keep going on and on and on about it! Some people just seem to ENJOY causing trouble!!! :rolleyes:

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)