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Veendam review

clarkie02360

By clarkie02360,
in Holland America Line

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clarkie02360

clarkie02360

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My wife & I celebrated our 30th Anniversary on Veendam 6/27-7/4 Boston to Bermuda.

Cabin:

I upgraded/upsell from Vista Gty to Neptune Suite room 033.

The cabin was fantastic! I surprised my wife with the upgrade so I was a rock star! From the size to the amazing balcony for great people watching on Front St...to all the perks, comped laundry/dry cleaning.. To the Neptune Lounge was just plain fantastic! We never experienced any AC issues although several Neptune suites around us did.

There were no plumbing issues in our room, although the Promenade Deck did have a foul odor mid-week.

 

Food/Dining:

Overall the food was as good if not better than any line we've cruised on.

Rotterdam: excellent service and nice variety of the menu.

Pinnacle Grill: just plain awesome! The best steakhouse by far compared to the other lines. We ended up eating there twice! We did have an issue with an undercooked steak, however the staff quickly fixed this without delay. The service again was spot on.

Canaletto: another great meal. The highlight was the veal pacata over angle hair pasta. Also..The best deserts we encountered. Once Again, great service!

Lido: overall good for breakfast and lunch. Loved the made to order sandwich's. We did not eat dinner there.

Dive In: awesome burgers and dogs. Only complaint would be the wait, mostly 30-45 minutes.

Slice Pizza: average at best. Not much you can do with a pre-made (frozen crust).

 

Entertainment: overall just average to below average. We knew that going in so it wasn't a great disappointment. I would have loved to have had the BB King Blues club here!

 

Lido Pool/Retreat:

Very disappointed here. The Lido pool was so small and over-run by kids it was tough to enjoy. And for some reason the roof was partially opened which did not ventilate the pool area making it a virtual sauna.

The Retreat: big disappointment here as well. Nice area to sunbathe, however the raised hot tub area killed any view of the ocean. Plus having hot tubs on a warm weather cruise just didn't mix. Way too hot to enjoy. HAL should reconsider sending the Veendam on any warm weather sites. Not having an Aft Pool here is just crazy.

 

In closing the Veendam was very enjoyable. The food and service was the best we've experienced. Will we cruise her again? Only to a cold weather region. Will we cruise HAL again? Most definitely!

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clarkie02360

clarkie02360

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Nice review clarkie, although our experience in a Lower Promenade Ocean View was somewhat different :)

 

 

 

How 'bout those seas??

 

 

OMG.. The seas on the first day were extreme. I crawled in a hole for the entire day. As did half the crew I'm told.

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clarkie02360

clarkie02360

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My wife & I celebrated our 30th Anniversary on Veendam 6/27-7/4 Boston to Bermuda.

Cabin:

I upgraded/upsell from Vista Gty to Neptune Suite room 033.

The cabin was fantastic! I surprised my wife with the upgrade so I was a rock star! From the size to the amazing balcony for great people watching on Front St...to all the perks, comped laundry/dry cleaning.. To the Neptune Lounge was just plain fantastic! We never experienced any AC issues although several Neptune suites around us did.

There were no plumbing issues in our room, although the Promenade Deck did have a foul odor mid-week.

 

Food/Dining:

Overall the food was as good if not better than any line we've cruised on.

Rotterdam: excellent service and nice variety of the menu.

Pinnacle Grill: just plain awesome! The best steakhouse by far compared to the other lines. We ended up eating there twice! We did have an issue with an undercooked steak, however the staff quickly fixed this without delay. The service again was spot on.

Canaletto: another great meal. The highlight was the veal pacata over angle hair pasta. Also..The best deserts we encountered. Once Again, great service!

Lido: overall good for breakfast and lunch. Loved the made to order sandwich's. We did not eat dinner there.

Dive In: awesome burgers and dogs. Only complaint would be the wait, mostly 30-45 minutes.

Slice Pizza: average at best. Not much you can do with a pre-made (frozen crust).

 

Entertainment: overall just average to below average. We knew that going in so it wasn't a great disappointment. I would have loved to have had the BB King Blues club here!

 

Lido Pool/Retreat:

Very disappointed here. The Lido pool was so small and over-run by kids it was tough to enjoy. And for some reason the roof was partially opened which did not ventilate the pool area making it a virtual sauna.

The Retreat: big disappointment here as well. Nice area to sunbathe, however the raised hot tub area killed any view of the ocean. Plus having hot tubs on a warm weather cruise just didn't mix. Way too hot to enjoy. HAL should reconsider sending the Veendam on any warm weather sites. Not having an Aft Pool here is just crazy.

 

In closing the Veendam was very enjoyable. The food and service was the best we've experienced. Will we cruise her again? Only to a cold weather region. Will we cruise HAL again? Most definitely!

 

 

Here are a few more thoughts from our cruise.

Explorations Cafe: this was a treat a real gem! An amazingly large library with relaxing chairs, table/board games & a puzzle area. And the coffee? Fantastic!

 

Another observation from this trip is, HAL really let's you relax. Every other cruise line is bombarding you with picture taking/& package purchase, drinks and drink specials etc. not HAL.. It was a pleasure not having constant in your face sales pitches.

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clarkie02360

clarkie02360

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We were also on this cruise. One thing to note was we were 6 hours late arriving in Bermuda due to the sea conditions. We arrived at 5pm on Monday. To late to really do anything. We basically lost the day there.

 

 

Yes, arriving late blew that day and plans in Bermuda. At the time I was thankful the sun was out and the ship had stopped rockin'.

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dznymom

dznymom

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My big plan for that day was to toddle up to the Hog Penny Pub to try some of the local beer, so I was able to carry on :) I can highly recommend both the Whale of a Wheat and Black Anchor Porter.

 

I was actually more disappointed that we couldn't use the outer decks coming and going as I had visions of sitting and reading while enjoying a lovely ocean breeze. It was certainly no one's fault, and safety has to be first, but it was still disappointing.

 

Bermuda was absolutely fabulous though, and we enjoyed every minute there. I loved being docked in Hamilton.

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Jim Avery

Jim Avery

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Thanks for taking the time to review your cruise. We also have had fun on Veendam and certainly relate to the pool issue. They continue to use Veendam for the Mexican Riviera out of San Diego which is very convenient for us and enjoyable but the pool situation has us looking elsewhere. A warm itinerary ship should have more than one pool. Veendam would be better used in Alaska imho.

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cruz chic

cruz chic

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We were also on this cruise. One thing to note was we were 6 hours late arriving in Bermuda due to the sea conditions. We arrived at 5pm on Monday. To late to really do anything. We basically lost the day there.

 

I think I got there at 1 pm on my cruise in May. By the time I got off the ship it was later in the afternoon. Not really enough time to do anything. You didn't lose 24 hours. It looks to me that you lost 5.

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clarkie02360

clarkie02360

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I think I got there at 1 pm on my cruise in May. By the time I got off the ship it was later in the afternoon. Not really enough time to do anything. You didn't lose 24 hours. It looks to me that you lost 5.

 

 

Yes only 5-6 hrs. it was about 6:30-7 before they opened the gangway. However our afternoon plans for Horseshoe bay were shot with the late arrival.

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  • 5 weeks later...
3rdGenCunarder "Live from...." Rare

3rdGenCunarder

Posted
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Thanks for taking the time to review your cruise. We also have had fun on Veendam and certainly relate to the pool issue. They continue to use Veendam for the Mexican Riviera out of San Diego which is very convenient for us and enjoyable but the pool situation has us looking elsewhere. A warm itinerary ship should have more than one pool. Veendam would be better used in Alaska imho.

 

Ooh, sitting in the hot tubs while glacier viewing! That does sound good. I've never understood why they keep sending that ship into warm itineraries.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Airnocker

Airnocker

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My wife & I celebrated our 30th Anniversary on Veendam 6/27-7/4 Boston to Bermuda.

Cabin:

I upgraded/upsell from Vista Gty to Neptune Suite room 033.

The cabin was fantastic! I surprised my wife with the upgrade so I was a rock star

Dive In: awesome burgers and dogs. Only complaint would be the wait, mostly 30-45 minutes.

Slice Pizza: average at best. Not much you can do with a pre-made (frozen crust).

Entertainment: overall just average to below average. We knew that going in so it wasn't a great disappointment. I would have loved to have had the BB King Blues club here!

 

Lido Pool/Retreat:

Very disappointed here. The Lido pool was so small and over-run by kids it was tough to enjoy. And for some reason the roof was partially opened which did not ventilate the pool area making it a virtual sauna.

In closing the Veendam was very enjoyable. The food and service was the best we've experienced. Will we cruise her again? Only to a cold weather region. Will we cruise HAL again? Most definitely!

 

Congratulations on your anniversary. Agree that the HAL crew were as good as ever.

We just finished the 2015 Voyage of the Vikings on the Veendam, an enjoyable cruise, But I will not be sailing on a HAL "S" class again. The showroom is dreadful for the mobility inpaired. The balcony seating is nearly uninhabitable, creating overcrowding in the main showroom. The ship has only two elevator bays, no mid-ship elevators. The aft elevators were somewhat overtaxed at meal times.

We'll soon be on HAL again, just not this type.

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