Veendam

[jgd3rdbcfd]

My wife and I are considering the Veendam for March 6. I have not been on HAL since 2000 (total 5 cruises) but have been sailing Princess many times. Can anyone give us their opinion about the ship and the Western itinerary.

[OlsSalt]

I believe she will be heading into dry dock after your cruise. She is among the smaller HAL ships and we find very comfortable with traditional design. Did you sail on the smaller ships when you sailed HAL in the past. The cabins are actually larger, great library, wrap around deck, lots of windows in the public rooms easy to get around top bottom side to side. I love these small ships so we just have to take what we get now they are aging themselves out of the inventory.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I believe she will be heading into dry dock after your cruise. She is among the smaller HAL ships and we find very comfortable with traditional design. Did you sail on the smaller ships when you sailed HAL in the past. The cabins are actually larger, great library, wrap around deck, lots of windows in the public rooms easy to get around top bottom side to side. I love these small ships so we just have to take what we get now they are aging themselves out of the inventory.

 

This description definitely hits some high points for us. We have been on Veendam twice and Maasdam once, and love the size and the layout. Nothing ever seems far away from where you started.

[cayman09]

Sailed to Bermuda in May and loved the Veendam. The size was the best thing for us. We were in an aft corner and could breeze to the forward Crows Nest for a coffee and bring it back hot. Room size was a nice surprise too, as was the veranda on the corner. I thought the ship was in good shape, crew was one of the best and no complaints about the food.

[DeepWaterMariner]

I did 35 days on the Veendam last summer and thought she was perfect for my tastes. Not too big but big enough to have everything in which I was interested.

[Airnocker]

My DW and I did the 2015 Voyage of the Viking cruise on the Veendam. We had also finished the 60 day Asian Adventure on the Volendam a couple of months earlier on the Volendam.

I will not be cruising a HAL S Class (Veendam) again.

Moving from essentially equal class veranda cabins, the first thing we noticed was the interior of the Veendam cabin is substantially smaller than the Volendam. I was an engineer, my guess is that the Veendam cabin is at least a foot narrower and likely 3 feet shorter on the beam. There is one fewer closet bays in the Veendam veranda cabins.

Another Veendam design shortcoming is the lack of a midship elevator bay. This creates congestion at the popular times in the two existing bays. During our 35 day VOV one of the aft elevators never worked. For PAX with mobility issues, these made getting about especially difficult.

The Veendam showroom has what I consider to be major flaws. The balcony seats are in my opinion, are virtually uninhabitable. Apparently lots of folks agree. This created crowding in the main floor showroom, which has insufficient seating for a showroom on a ship of this size. Chairs are added to help, but this makes isles narrow and clogs up the audience flow as well as tempers. Only one side of the main floor has a wheelchair ramp. To get a seat at the early show, we would only have time for a very brief cabin stop after early MDR dinner. Lectures also required about an hour in advance to get satisfactory seats.

The dining room staff provided their usual excellent service, so that was not the issue. All of the other staff also provided superb service.

I've heard that HAL has the S class ships on the block. I won't miss them.

Airnocker

[jgd3rdbcfd]

Thanks to all for your information!

[jtl513]

I've heard that HAL has the S class ships on the block. I won't miss them.

But no takers at the current asking prices. I predict the prices will drop and the Veendam and Maasdam will go about the time that the second Pinnacle class ship nears completion.

 

We had good cruises on the Maasdam and Ryndam, not so good on the Veendam and Statendam.

Edited February 19, 2016 by jtl513

[Topsham]

I will not be cruising a HAL S Class (Veendam) again.

Moving from essentially equal class veranda cabins, the first thing we noticed was the interior of the Veendam cabin is substantially smaller than the Volendam. I was an engineer, my guess is that the Veendam cabin is at least a foot narrower and likely 3 feet shorter on the beam. There is one fewer closet bays in the Veendam veranda cabins.

Another Veendam design shortcoming is the lack of a midship elevator bay. This creates congestion at the popular times in the two existing bays. During our 35 day VOV one of the aft elevators never worked. For PAX with mobility issues, these made getting about especially difficult.

Airnocker

 

 

I think you will find that suites like the Neptune Suit... on board VEENDAM (S Class) and VOLENDAM (same R Class)... are identical. The size is 575 sq ft.

 

Cabins.... well, they are not EXACTLY. Some cabins even the same category might be a bit different.

 

VOLENDAM beam is 1.40 metres... roughly 4.6 ft MORE than VEENDAM. Ah!

Don't be so quick.... the extra width is the beam of the ship at about waterline. Once up to Lower Prom Deck... the beam is the same up on the higher deck in the superstructure.. same as VEENDAM and VOLENDAM.

 

VOLENDAM is roughly 50 feet longer than the VEENDAM. They wanted faster ships for the R Class and because of that it gave a longer waterline length and for stability in the extra beam. In addition is gave two extra lifeboats... extra suite and cabins AND the midships elevators.

 

The S Class were planned in the 1989. R Class were planned about 1992. A lot if similarities but they are different types of ship. Heaven, if everything had to be the same and the best then every other 14 ships in the fleet woukld have to be scrapped when KONINGSDAM sails in April. Ships are planned for a life about 25 years. Explain the 15 to 25 year life span to the travel agent by the owners in Seattle!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Will be on the Veendam and the Volendam for the first time this year and looking forward to enjoying these two older ships.

Edited February 19, 2016 by SJSULIBRARIAN

[Click.Write.Post.]

Just spent 7 days aboard the ms Veendam and had a really great cruise. No issues that we can recall. On port days, if you are on port side forward, expect to hear lots of noise as the ship prepares to dock. It doesn't last for more then 10 - 15 minutes, but doing those early morning snoozing hours it was a bit of a nuisance.

[BJzink]

My wife and I are considering the Veendam for March 6. I have not been on HAL since 2000 (total 5 cruises) but have been sailing Princess many times. Can anyone give us their opinion about the ship and the Western itinerary.

We sailed the Veendam twice, once to the Mexican Riviera (7 days), and once to Hawaii (18 days). Loved the ship, layout, size, decor, staff, dining, most everything. The only change we made was to book a Lanai cabin for the Hawaii cruise. We were not overly pleased with this cabin for the extra cost. We had a regular Veranda cabin for the Mexico trip. The lanai cabin was much smaller due to the addition of the sliding glass door - smaller desk with no drawers - and the glass allowed viewing into the cabin at night if the lights were on. We also had to frequently remind other passengers that the deck chairs were reserved for our use. The sliding glass door was really heavy to open, and could not be left open at all for fresh air. We use our verandas a LOT on our cruises, for room service breakfast, reading, just watching the water go by, and private conversation. So.......we felt that we were always on exhibit. I have read reviews from passegers who liked them a lot, just a personal preference.

[jhsocal]

Reviews on Veendam are all over the range good to bad. Our N.E. Canada cruise last Sept. was very good. Most people will agree staff are friendly and efficient, sometimes problems concerning condition of ship. a major disappointment was the removal of aft pool for more cabins.

[RuthC]

The lanai cabin was much smaller due to the addition of the sliding glass door ....

The sliding door had nothing to do with the size of the cabin. It's the same size it was when it was an outside cabin---which is smaller than the outsides on lower decks.

The rearrangement of the furniture makes it feel smaller than it was, though.

[Rotterdam]

we sailed 2x on Veendam - both to Bermuda....the ship itself is a great size but after HAL added more cabins & took out the aft pool there are too many passengers for the ship.

 

WE also sailed on Volendam & as long as no more cabins are added its a nice ship! HAL keeps pushing the limit on passengers & it shows on the crowding onboard...the crew is always nice but they can only handle so many passengers.

[Heartgrove]

We were also on the Veendam this past September on a NE Canada cruise. It was our first HAL cruise and were thoroughly satisfied. It hit high marks on all counts. Of course it was not a warm climate cruise as the pools appeared to be barely used. Adding cabins is a way of increasing the bottom line which means that HAL has not needed to resort to an ala carte-type cruise as others have.

[BJzink]

The sliding door had nothing to do with the size of the cabin. It's the same size it was when it was an outside cabin---which is smaller than the outsides on lower decks.

The rearrangement of the furniture makes it feel smaller than it was, though.

Guess I should have said the "usable space" in the cabin was reduced....The distance between the curtains and the glass door was at least a foot - nothing could be put there.

[RuthC]

Guess I should have said the "usable space" in the cabin was reduced....The distance between the curtains and the glass door was at least a foot - nothing could be put there.

The "usable space" is the same as it was when the cabin was an outside. The curtains are in the same place, covering what had been the inset window.

 

These are just small rooms. That's all there is to it. They feel smaller now because the bed has been moved away from the outside wall, leaving a very narrow space at the foot of the bed.

Moving the couch and desk toward the outside wall left no room for a standard size desk, with drawers, making that smaller.

 

Oh, and it's a good idea to move the lounger cushions into that space between the door and the curtains at night. Keeps them dry from the dew and deck washing, yet handy when you want to use them.

[MARLEY225]

I have been on the Veendam twice (once to NE and Canada, secondly to Bermuda). My dislike of this ship is the fact that it does not have a "Queens Lounge" and thus no BB King Group. I enjoy going to the shows there (which are usually 3 times per night) in between seeing the main show and doing some gambling.

[semibeater]

Veendam made a hasty get away today in Key West as it came into harbor and left without docking. Cold and windy (too windy for docking). Left for warmer climes south. Timing is everything!:cool:

[wesport]

From what I have read, the VEENDAM is in drydock two weeks prior to the 15 day Caribbean cruise on April 9,2016. Not sure what is being done. Another post said they are flipping out the dvd players for on on demand system. Did a 15 day Hawaiian cruise in an Oceanview cabin. The only problem we had was with the AC, but it was fixed within hours. The rest of the cruise was great.

[MSMcDuffy]

Hi All,

 

I cruised on the Veendam last week and thought she looked and moved just fine. I was concerned about feeling vibration because a while back on the Volendam we felt a lot in our aft balcony. However, none on Veendam except when she was pulling towards/away from the dock and that's the only time we heard banging sounds (anchors?). My only complaint about the room was that our loveseat was rather uncomfortable - hard and you had to sit in the middle otherwise you'd be sliding from either side to the center, lol. We had one light burned out by the sofa but didn't feel the need to have it fixed.

 

Some comments on HAL in general....

This was my 3rd time w/HAL (last time was '08) so I'm not sure if this is new but I didn't like that there were no trays in the buffet. I found myself always having to go back & forth from the table to the food counters gathering my salad, entrees & dessert separately. Also, they seemed to be short-staffed in the buffet as the tables were not cleaned off very quickly and crumbs all over the floor even when they started serving the next meal. (Maybe the people on my cruise were slobs :eek:;)) Guess I'm just spoiled by my Princess cruises (who I've mainly sailed with) where the crew is grabbing your plate before you're practically done eating and 10 people asking you what beverages you need, lol.

 

I thought the entertainment was great. I loved the comedy pianist and the production show Droom with the HAL dancers--some of the best I've seen on any ship.

 

This was my favorite size of ship to sail on - not too big to be too crowded and not too small to offer enough activities to fill the day.

[drneal]

thank you for the Veendam update

It's an older ship and there is not a lot of talk about her.

[OlsSalt]

Hi All,

 

I cruised on the Veendam last week and thought she looked and moved just fine. ......

I thought the entertainment was great. I loved the comedy pianist and the production show Droom with the HAL dancers--some of the best I've seen on any ship.

 

This was my favorite size of ship to sail on - not too big to be too crowded and not too small to offer enough activities to fill the day.

 

Thanks for your first hand report. Getting ready to join her soon.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Thank you, MSMcDuffy! I agree with you about the size of this class of ship. We loved our cruise last fall on the Maasdam, Veendam's sister, and we're looking forward to our Veendam cruise in May.