Holland America's Veendam Question for Pam

[rayandshirl]

Pam, you have cruised both Holland America as well as Princess and I have a question for you. It's not about food!

 

A couple of years ago we were on the Hurricane Sandy cruise on Princess from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale that ended up sailing up and down the St. Lawrence which kept us out of harm's way.

 

We're itinerary focused when we choose a cruise and Holland America has a 14-day Canada and New England cruise with overnight stays in Quebec that calls to us.

 

We know that non-Princess people tend to say Holland America is "dead" after 8:00 pm and just wonder what your take is on it.

 

Thank you advance for your thoughts.

[Pam in CA]

Yup. In my experience, lounges and bars tend to be empty after late seating. Compared to Princess, it's "dead." There were times when my friend and I would go for an after dinner drink and we'd be the only people there. We felt sorry for the trio that was playing. The larger ships are more active and it might depend on the people onboard.

 

IMHO, Princess production shows are much better although some individual entertainers have been great. HALs lecturers that I've gone to were awesome. I think that HAL has better lecturers and cooking demos.

Edited June 11, 2014 by Pam in CA

[taschwab53]

Pam, you have cruised both Holland America as well as Princess and I have a question for you. It's not about food!

 

A couple of years ago we were on the Hurricane Sandy cruise on Princess from Quebec to Ft. Lauderdale that ended up sailing up and down the St. Lawrence which kept us out of harm's way.

 

We're itinerary focused when we choose a cruise and Holland America has a 14-day Canada and New England cruise with overnight stays in Quebec that calls to us.

 

We know that non-Princess people tend to say Holland America is "dead" after 8:00 pm and just wonder what your take is on it.

 

Thank you advance for your thoughts.

 

I haven't sailed on Holland America but one time someone told me their midnight buffet is at 6pm and early dinner seating is 2pm .

[pris993]

We also cruise on both Princess and HAL.

 

Just finished a TA on the Nieuw Amsterdam, from Fl to Barcelona. We always do late traditional dining in the MDR.

 

HAL has added BBKing in one lounge, not really our favorite but lots of folks enjoyed it. It was the main offerring in the evening.

 

Overall, we were very disappointment with the entertainment on board. We have done TAs in the past on HAL by the way. Entertainment was much better in the past. HAL no longer has the Trio group in the Crows Nest, instead they had a solo guiatar player, for 14 nights, who sounded like someone you might hear in a l960s coffee bar, disappointing a best. On this particular cruise while stopped in Gilbrater, a local flamingo group was invited on which was not very good either.

 

By contrast, as Pam said, the guest speaker on board who did daily talks on Spain and Spanish history was excellent.

 

Food was also very good, actually thought the menu offerrings were better than our most recent Princess cruise, which was last September.

 

Love traditional experience on HAL.

[Sillyjilly]

I'm with Pam. Everyone is bed by 9pm.

 

Also, the Veendam was my least favorite Holland ship. Not impressed at all with that ship. Loved the Amsterdam.

[cruz chic]

I cruise Hal a lot and I'm not in bed by 9. I do agree that the Veendam isn't their finest ship.

[Sillyjilly]

I cruise Hal a lot and I'm not in bed by 9. I do agree that the Veendam isn't their finest ship.

 

Make that the "majority". :)