VEENDAM 8/26 to Bermuda. Photo revieiw of the FOOD & SHIP

[aliaschief]

Very well done. Thanks for sharing.

[cruisenanny]

A few room service photos from throughout the week.

The turkey club was different but good.

 

The California chicken sandwich, ehh

 

The steak sandwich, was very good

 

A burger

 

Chocolate cake, it was ok, not a wow

 

Room service cookies, very good

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing, Now, you've made me hungry. Great job on the pics.

[pampaul]

Thanks Pampaul, I love seeing food pics in reviews too!

Did you find the ship uncomfortably warm in places on your sailing??

 

Yes. We got a fan for our room (619-deck 5) on day 2. The first night the AC seemed to work okay. But quite warm the next. They "claimed" they came to fix it but it never worked any better throughout the week.

 

But we did notice that the AC would be freezing in certain parts of the ship and VERY warm in other parts. I would say the ship was more warm than cool.

[cruisenanny]

Ahhhhhhhhhh - you're making me hungry:):)

 

They are my pictures & they made me hungry too!

I jokingly asked my husband if he wanted MDR or room service tonight, lol

(as I was making our ramen & bagels for dinner, haven't gotten to the grocery store yet...:rolleyes:)

 

Your pictures are fabulous. Very detailed view of the cabin and the food had my mouth watering.

 

The no ice thing is curious.

 

THANK YOU!

Yes, I thought the ice debacle was so very odd, my mouth fell open when he told me they WOULD NOT give him any ice!!:eek::p

 

I loved the French toast for breakfast.... and loving your review!

 

Thanks!!

I thought the french toast was very good!! Do you think if I hang a card on my bedroom door tonight I might get some in the morning? :D

[Galaxy02_99]

. . . what:eek: no horseradish for the prime rib??? Well, I would have been asking (I am a foodie too and frankly prime rib cannot be eaten without horse radish;)).

 

I was eating lunch in the Lido cafe one day; at carving station there was roast beef. The sign said roast beef & horseradish sauce. After getting the beef, I headed for a table but realized I had not been given or offered the horseradish sauce. Went back, looked around where the beef was, but didn't see it. When I asked him for sauce, he took about 4 or 5 steps to an area behind him and put some sauce in a bowl. More than I could possibly eat. That was a case of poor organization. Sauce should have been right next to the beef. It wasn't offered because the way it was set-up, it was very time consuming.

[cruisenanny]

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

 

Very well done. Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks for sharing, Now, you've made me hungry. Great job on the pics.

 

Many thanks for the compliments!

I will finish the review later today.

[cruisenanny]

More photos of the Mixx area

 

Champagne Bar (was never opened that we saw)

 

Small Piano bar, off to the side of the Martini Bar

 

A cozy sitting nook, tucked behind the Piano bar & the Martini Bar

 

Martini Bar

 

Spirits & Ales Bar (no bar ledge or stools for sitting, walk-up only,

I thought that was odd for a "spirit & ale" bar)

[buckirj1]

Great photos! I'm surprised at how much the cabin photos look like the same category on Carnival. I have to say the pleather sofa looks a dang sight better in black than that awful salmon color.

[mbrcoupe]

We were in room 320 on deck #6 and had the same issues, we were given a fan as well but it was still hot till day 5 of the cruise and they got it working a little better.

Our food service was comparable to yours as well, the butter for lobster we all had to ask for it and it seemed like they were short staffed in the dining room or something because our service was not good at all. This was our first Holland America cruise and it didn't leave a good impression at all...

 

Love the pictures, what kind of camera were you using?

[cruisenanny]

The 2nd Formal night, we went to the MDR

Escargot

 

Cream of mushroom soup

 

Surf & turf

 

A nice chicken dish with a dijon mustard sauce

 

 

Here are some photos from the Chocolate Extravaganza

Held in the atrium on decks 6, 7 & 8, at 10pm on the 2nd formal night

We knew we wanted to go so we skipped dessert in the MDR this night.

It looked lovely. After snapping some photos, we sampled 4 cakes....

Sorry to say they were not good. I wish I could say they were even ok..

I'm sure there had to be some yummy things there, just nothing that we tried.

 

Deck 8, the cakes that we sampled were from these two tables.

In this first pic, I sampled the cake with the large red sugar piece on top.

From the second pic I sampled the cake with the strawberries on it.

They looked sooooo delicious.

[cruisenanny]

The rest of my chocolate extravaganza photographs.

A few of the chefs looking down on the deck 6 displays.

[mamaofami]

duplicate

[mamaofami]

[cruisenanny]

Yes. We got a fan for our room (619-deck 5) on day 2. The first night the AC seemed to work okay. But quite warm the next. They "claimed" they came to fix it but it never worked any better throughout the week.

 

But we did notice that the AC would be freezing in certain parts of the ship and VERY warm in other parts. I would say the ship was more warm than cool.

 

On night 4 or 5 I came in off of our balcony to find a female officer (I think, she was "official" looking staff of some sort) IN our cabin. She scared the CRAP out of me, said she was just there to do a random cabin inspection & had knocked but no one answered. I offered to go back on the balcony so she could "do her inspection" but she said no, that she would choose another cabin.

It was very weird but the point is, she asked me if everything was ok with the cabin before she left. So of course I told her we were very warm & that our cabin always felt damp!! She said "well, I see you have a fan, but I will have it looked into", and she left. No one ever came and nothing ever changed.

 

Absolutely the ship was more warm than cool. It was tough to find a cool oasis anywhere. Often where we sat or went on the ship was dictated by the temperature and this is just not how it should be.

I would be disappointed and upset to encounter this on a "VALUE" line (and we never have), let alone HAL.

[hypercafe]

We were on the Zuiderdam in April in Panama and had the same problem with the AC. Needless to say it was very hot there. Maybe it has something to do with the equipment HAL puts on their ships.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Love your pcitures.

We have long since stopped ordering Caeser salad on HAL ships -- it is prepared too far in advance an is warm and wilted. Even on our last couple of cruises we though we would get a good one in the Pinnacle made fresh -- didn't happen. Even though it was made table side -- it was already wilted.

We experienced the new system of drinks in the main dining room on our Maasdam cruise in February. Don't like it. We sat at table #78 and watched manhy times as the ice melted in our drinks. The waiters have way too much to do and don't need this extra chore of of handling drinks. And on our cruise the wine stewards stood around doing nothing as very few people ordered bottles of wine at the 5:45 dinner time.

[CtheW0rld]

Thank you for your review.

 

Love your pcitures.

 

We have long since stopped ordering Caeser salad on HAL ships -- it is prepared too far in advance an is warm and wilted. Even on our last couple of cruises we though we would get a good one in the Pinnacle made fresh -- didn't happen. Even though it was made table side -- it was already wilted.

 

We experienced the new system of drinks in the main dining room on our Maasdam cruise in February. Don't like it. We sat at table #78 and watched manhy times as the ice melted in our drinks. The waiters have way too much to do and don't need this extra chore of of handling drinks. And on our cruise the wine stewards stood around doing nothing as very few people ordered bottles of wine at the 5:45 dinner time.

 

you could get up and get them yourself, rather than sitting there and watching them melt. things like that get noticed and you probably would only have to do it once.

[cruisenanny]

A few more pictures from around the ship

 

Crows nest

 

Culinary arts center

 

Ocean bar

 

Main showroom

 

gorgeous Atrium

 

Explorers lounge

[cruisenanny]

The expansive yet very cozy Explorers Cafe area.

Delicious cappuccinos.

 

[cruisenanny]

Some treats we had in the lido the last night

SUPER chicken & veggie spring rolls

 

A Mediterranean appetizer plate, I added the delicious multi-gran bread

 

Chris tried the Lamb shank, he said it was delicious.

I will never know...

[cruisenanny]

A few odds & ends pictures

 

I knew these guys existed, but it took 19 cruses for me to get one!!! LOL

 

fruit basket & fresh flowers in our cabin

 

I just thought this was a neat picture, it was the flowers on our MDR table

 

Views across the Hamilton harbor, taken from the retreat area

[cruisenanny]

I hadn't planned to be awake for our sail back into NYC, but I was glad I couldn't sleep...

Here's a few photos I like of the city just waking up.

 

The magic was already docked.

 

Last but not least, the Star was coming in behind us.

 

 

AND THAT"S IT!

There are a few posts that I still want to respond to, but I will do it tomorrow.

Goodnight all, hope you enjoyed my review as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you!

[aliaschief]

One more time. Thanks for the great review and pictures.

[Tika]

On night 4 or 5 I came in off of our balcony to find a female officer (I think, she was "official" looking staff of some sort) IN our cabin. She scared the CRAP out of me, said she was just there to do a random cabin inspection & had knocked but no one answered. I offered to go back on the balcony so she could "do her inspection" but she said no, that she would choose another cabin.

It was very weird but the point is, she asked me if everything was ok with the cabin before she left. So of course I told her we were very warm & that our cabin always felt damp!! She said "well, I see you have a fan, but I will have it looked into", and she left. No one ever came and nothing ever changed.

 

Absolutely the ship was more warm than cool. It was tough to find a cool oasis anywhere. Often where we sat or went on the ship was dictated by the temperature and this is just not how it should be.

I would be disappointed and upset to encounter this on a "VALUE" line (and we never have), let alone HAL.

 

I find the incident with the "Officer" in your cabin very, very strange!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!