Adressing concerns of the Veendam

[jeffreypositano]

To all of those who have read about and expressed concerns about the Veendam:

We just returned yesterday from our week to Bermuda and back and rest assured, we had NO PROBLEMS AT ALL (except for some "rough seas" according to the Captain's log). A/C was great, though unnecessary on the way home. No bathroom issues! Great service from the MDR, Room Stewards, Lido Staff, Casino Staff and ESPECIALLY, the CLUB HAL Staff!! Our 5yr old LOVED it and couldn't wait for the next session to begin at night!!

Our only "Complaint" is about the other passengers sense of "Entitlement" while cruising and their complete disregard towards the great staff that makes HAL special! Just because those people go out of their way to serve you and make things great for you, they aren't your slaves and should be treated with respect! A smile and thank you will go much farther! I will post a complete review under the other section once I have decompressed.

[innlady1]

Thanks, Jeffrey, for stopping by and giving your "short and sweet" review! I totally concur with your thoughts as we did the same itinerary in early May. Except that I didn't encounter any rude passengers...thank goodness. I hate when I see them being rude to the crew...and we did see that on one of our Noordam cruises from NYC to the Caribbean.

So glad to hear another good report on the Veendam...and am glad to hear that you little one enjoyed it as well. In all honesty, all our cruises have been great, but this topped the list.

[Robkat]

To all of those who have read about and expressed concerns about the Veendam:

We just returned yesterday from our week to Bermuda and back and rest assured, we had NO PROBLEMS AT ALL (except for some "rough seas" according to the Captain's log). A/C was great, though unnecessary on the way home. No bathroom issues! Great service from the MDR, Room Stewards, Lido Staff, Casino Staff and ESPECIALLY, the CLUB HAL Staff!! Our 5yr old LOVED it and couldn't wait for the next session to begin at night!!

Our only "Complaint" is about the other passengers sense of "Entitlement" while cruising and their complete disregard towards the great staff that makes HAL special! Just because those people go out of their way to serve you and make things great for you, they aren't your slaves and should be treated with respect! A smile and thank you will go much farther! I will post a complete review under the other section once I have decompressed.

 

 

Thanks so much for your "to the point" pre-review! We've sailed on the Veendam only once and it was many years ago, and we've just booked a Canada/New England cruise on her. After reading so many bad reviews and complaints, we were wondering if we'd made a mistake. Your comments have alleviated our concerns ... so thanks again.

 

Also agree with you about people being rude to the crew and staff ... ugh, sometimes people are so inconsiderate and just awful. We always go the "smile and thank you" route and it's obvious that everyone appreciates that.

[Langoustine]

I agree with the OP. My wife and I had absolutely no complaints about the ship or her staff last year on our Bermuda cruise. Some of the passengers...that's another story.

[jimbri]

Thank you so much for your positive review. Will be our first time on HAL and looking forward to it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for mini review.

 

Looking forward to your complete review.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your thoughts on the Veendam. Good to know that everything is good on the ship.

[sail7seas]

Seeing we have a Veendam cruise booked, I've been looking for recent reviews. Thanks for your comments. :)

[innlady1]

Seeing we have a Veendam cruise booked, I've been looking for recent reviews. Thanks for your comments. :)

 

As you know, we had a wonderful cruise on the Veendam in early May. If we can get away, we will do the 7 day Boston/Boston cruise next August...it all depends if we sell the inn and are finally free during the summer!

[Himself]

Thank you for your positive comments on the Veendam.

[luv2travel06]

Our only "Complaint" is about the other passengers sense of "Entitlement" while cruising and their complete disregard towards the great staff that makes HAL special! Just because those people go out of their way to serve you and make things great for you, they aren't your slaves and should be treated with respect! A smile and thank you will go much farther!

 

We are with you on that!

 

As much as the staff is helpful and friendly to us, we try to be thankful and friendly to them.

 

We also make a point to mention the names of those who have helped make the cruise special on the survey and throw a few extra bucks their way at the end of the cruise.

 

As hard as they work, we try to make their jobs more pleasant to the extent that we can.

 

Be nice, everybody!

[Viesczy]

To all of those who have read about and expressed concerns about the Veendam:

We just returned yesterday from our week to Bermuda and back and rest assured, we had NO PROBLEMS AT ALL (except for some "rough seas" according to the Captain's log). A/C was great, though unnecessary on the way home. No bathroom issues! Great service from the MDR, Room Stewards, Lido Staff, Casino Staff and ESPECIALLY, the CLUB HAL Staff!! Our 5yr old LOVED it and couldn't wait for the next session to begin at night!!

Our only "Complaint" is about the other passengers sense of "Entitlement" while cruising and their complete disregard towards the great staff that makes HAL special! Just because those people go out of their way to serve you and make things great for you, they aren't your slaves and should be treated with respect! A smile and thank you will go much farther! I will post a complete review under the other section once I have decompressed.

 

^ This post is unacceptable! We need more juicy dirt to get the boards on fire! :D C'mon, rip on something! :D

 

Seriously, great to hear you had an amazing time! Sorry that it ended!

 

A side note, every line seems to have the same entitled folks treating the staff like excrement. Don't they realize that you treat those who serve you with the utmost respect? Those folks are handling your food! :eek:

 

Again though, so glad you had a great time!

 

Derek

[hammybee]

I had the same wonderful Veedam experience 3 weeks ago. I also observed a heck of a lot of " mature" women who were too miserable to cruise.

[coyotecruising]

I agree with you, some cruise passengers feel like the own the whole ship just because they have paid for a ticket and behave very badly towards the staff that are working very hard to make you satisfied with your cruise.

[innlady1]

I agree with you, some cruise passengers feel like the own the whole ship just because they have paid for a ticket and behave very badly towards the staff that are working very hard to make you satisfied with your cruise.

 

I hate it when I see that happen. The crew works so hard for all of us, and to see the way they are treated by some is horrific.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I agree with you, some cruise passengers feel like the own the whole ship just because they have paid for a ticket and behave very badly towards the staff that are working very hard to make you satisfied with your cruise.

 

I call them finger snappers. You know the type--hand in the air snapping fingers, saying, "You there! Get me [whatever]."

[Viesczy]

Those demanding people, I don't get their mindset and actions towards the crew at all. It is like A Clockwork Orange almost, but it isn't just the teens who are acting that way.

 

I truly don't get it. Many hands make light work.

 

Derek

[George C]

We also had a very nice cruise on Veendam, only complaints were the rough seas and the fact that there is only 1 pool.

[rafinmd]

I agree with you, some cruise passengers feel like the own the whole ship just because they have paid for a ticket and behave very badly towards the staff that are working very hard to make you satisfied with your cruise.

 

I can only agree partially. That's certainly true of some complainers but I don't think it applies to Carol (mamaofami).

 

It seems strange but on several older HAL ships most of the problems they have relate to "improvements" added to the ships long after they entered service.

 

Think of the Prinsendam, where most of the complaints relate to cabins added in the recent drydock. Think of the Veendam where the retreat seems to have leaked water onto the dining room ceiling.

 

I'm no fan of Lanaii cabins. For the rest of us, many of the deck chairs that were public are not available. For those who have paid extra for a Lanaii, if something's happening around the chair you paid extra for, the opportunities to move to another chair are limited.

 

I think I'd do pretty well on the Veendam, booking an inside or oceanview cabin. I would not feel cheated going to an available deck and finding an open place.

 

Roy

[innlady1]

I think the lanai's are iffy. My DH calls the LP Deck on the "S" class and the Promenade Deck on the Vista class the "working decks". Therefore, he's discouraged me from booking one.

We had an outside on the Maasdam in January and an Inside on the Veendam in May...and had easy access to the Lower Promenade and the chairs not reserved for the lanai cabins. On the Maasdam during the winter, they were working on a lifeboat while we were at sea. Those with Lanai's couldn't enjoy their chairs then.

Better not to be confined to certain chairs and to have the choice to go where it's quiet.

[mamaofami]

I can only agree partially. That's certainly true of some complainers but I don't think it applies to Carol (mamaofami).

 

Roy

Roy, thank you for that. While I did complain to guest relations about the conditions we experienced, neither DH or myself would ever snap our fingers or be rude to the staff. I felt we had many good reasons for complaining, not the least of which was being made sick from the paint. I've never had this type of experience on any other cruise, and this is the first time we've had a less than satisfactory experience.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Roy, thank you for that. While I did complain to guest relations about the conditions we experienced, neither DH or myself would ever snap our fingers or be rude to the staff. I felt we had many good reasons for complaining, not the least of which was being made sick from the paint. I've never had this type of experience on any other cruise, and this is the first time we've had a less than satisfactory experience.

 

I don't think the complainer comments were aimed at any poster. They were in response to someone who commented on complainers he saw on his cruise.

 

Carol, you had more than enough reason to complain.

[jan can]

As nice as it can be to join a group of lovely people each evening for dinner, after encountering a couple of "finger-snappers" on our last cruise, I was thankful for open seating.