Back from Veendam June 28 - July 5

[richwmn]

A couple of other things I thought of over night.

 

There was no CD on this cruise. There was an "event manager" and a "show host". Neither had the charisma of a good CD or did the full CD job. Maybe another cutback.

 

Folks at the front desk did a good job on the standard things (Card became demagnetized, need a copy of the account, etc.). If you needed help with general information (what time do the tenders start in Bar harbor?) it was more difficult to come by. One person at the desk told me I couldn't get a tender until 10:30 am. We kept going back until we found someone who knew the info (we were off by 8:30).

 

There was also some quality control issues with the daily schedule. When we were in Halifax some Sydney information was there.

 

As a follow up on the CD issue. That started on the 21-28 Cruise. My understanding was that the previous CD's contract ended on the 21st and he left the ship. The replacement, from what I understand, actually boarded the ship, then got a call with a family emergency. We were first told that he would be joining the ship later during our cruise but found out later that a different CD had been assigned and was to board on the 28th.

 

During our cruise the entertainers (Julie Barr and Dan?) did the afternoon trivia. The event manager did the announcements and introduced the shows. The show host did the evening trivia and some other things. For having unaccustomed duties thrust on them at the last minute I thought they did a good job.

 

As far as the daily planner, from what I understand that is part of the CD's job which the event planner and show host might not have been familiar with.

[nagingmom]

I was on the same cruise. Most of the staff had a lack of enthusiasm. I was the one who got the seafood pot pie. It was totally empty of seafood as well as anything else. The head waiter did come over and ask me what else I wanted and I told him the fettucine. The fettucine had some kind of italian ham in it which did not taste good so when the head waiter came over to check how my food was and saw I had picked out the ham, he went and got me one without it. He was excellent in taking care of the issues at our table. The dive-in's hot dogs and onion frizzles were excellent. My husband said the burger was good. I did go to the bbq on the last night and they overcooked the burgers to the point of being burned and still actually served them. Our room stewards, Ikin and Jar were excellent. They kept the room neat and clean. The entertainment was very good just wished they had a cruise director to give the evening that little extra something. The people at the front desk were not very knowledgeable about information regarding getting off the ship, what you can use your OBC for and the best one of all was when my husband needed to break a canadian $20 bill, they told us they had no Canadian money on board. One would think if you were going to Canada you would have Canadian money. The ports were fun. In Bar Harbor we did Olie's Trolley, a great way to see some of Acadia National Park. Bar Harbor is a cute town. In Halifax we were on our own as we had been there before. In Sydney we went to the Fort. In PEI, we went on a private tour which was alot of fun and saw quite a diverse number of places. Quebec we went to see the changing of the guard at the Citadel and walked the streets. On Saturday before going to the airport we did the Hop On, Hop Off bus and stayed on to see more of the city before going to the airport. With all that was not right the cruise was relaxing, interesting and we had a good time. What more could we want!

[mskaufman]

Just read the last few Veendam reviews on the member review page. Luckily my experience was nowhere near what those folks reported.

[NYteacher]

I'm getting on the Veendam in twenty days. I'm looking forward to the cruise, but shall definitely prepare to roll with the punches.

 

This particular voyage was picked for the itinerary, then we took advantage of a Neptune upsell, so I think it will be pretty great no matter what happens.

[mskaufman]

If anyone is still checking this thread, here is the link to my pictures.

 

https://markandkarencanadanewengland.shutterfly.com/

[POA1]

If anyone is still checking this thread, here is the link to my pictures.

 

https://markandkarencanadanewengland.shutterfly.com/

Thanks again!