MS Veendam, Bermuda, May 14-21, 2016

[rafinmd]

Sadly, the first line went out a few minutes ago. I'm afraid my days on the S-class are over. I'll miss them, although except for Bermuda I probably somewhat prefer the R-Class. I think the middle stairway overrides the modest difference in size

 

Roy

[SilvertoGold]

Sadly, the first line went out a few minutes ago. I'm afraid my days on the S-class are over. I'll miss them, although except for Bermuda I probably somewhat prefer the R-Class. I think the middle stairway overrides the modest difference in size

 

Roy

 

I agree about the mid-ship stairwell on the R-class: makes quite a difference. The larger Explorer's Lounge is another plus that we really prefer.

 

Glad your toe is better. This is one of the very few negatives of cruise life: I always end up with a blister the first days out. I think the movement of the ship while we walk the deck does it.

[rafinmd]

I agree about the mid-ship stairwell on the R-class: makes quite a difference. The larger Explorer's Lounge is another plus that we really prefer.

 

Glad your toe is better. This is one of the very few negatives of cruise life: I always end up with a blister the first days out. I think the movement of the ship while we walk the deck does it.

 

Thank you. I don't usually get blister problems, I have a feeling it may have started when my feet got wet from all the rain Saturday morning in Boston.

 

Now a few hits and misses:

 

Overall, I liked the ship and the crew. As indicated earlier, I thought the entertainers were the best I've ever seen on an R or S ship. I heard very little about any mechanical problems. I think I heard of one toilet that stopped working once but it was fixed within an hour. I never saw a lack of air conditioning, the dining room was on the cool side but that can be fixed with a jacket or sweater, there's not much you can do if it's too hot.

 

There were a couple of negatives. The new pizza place sounded nice but I was never able to get a plain cheese pizza. I think that's a significant shortcoming. The other negative was the lack of a Filipino or Indonesian crew show. I understand why it was such a scheduling problem but I still missed it.

 

My disembarkation day report is still coming but it was a great cruise.

 

Roy

[SilvertoGold]

Thank you. I don't usually get blister problems, I have a feeling it may have started when my feet got wet from all the rain Saturday morning in Boston.

 

Now a few hits and misses:

 

Overall, I liked the ship and the crew. As indicated earlier, I thought the entertainers were the best I've ever seen on an R or S ship. I heard very little about any mechanical problems. I think I heard of one toilet that stopped working once but it was fixed within an hour. I never saw a lack of air conditioning, the dining room was on the cool side but that can be fixed with a jacket or sweater, there's not much you can do if it's too hot.

 

There were a couple of negatives. The new pizza place sounded nice but I was never able to get a plain cheese pizza. I think that's a significant shortcoming. The other negative was the lack of a Filipino or Indonesian crew show. I understand why it was such a scheduling problem but I still missed it.

 

My disembarkation day report is still coming but it was a great cruise.

 

Roy

 

Thanks for these notes, Roy.

 

You can't just order what you want on a pizza? What's the point of this new set-up? Reminds me of the new sandwich bar.... HAL's way or no way.

 

I'd miss the crew show, too. The one way to get me to stay up until midnight!

[sppunk]

FWIW we didn't have a crew show on Veendam to Bermuda either a few years back.

[rafinmd]

Thanks Silvertogold and sppunk

 

While my alarm was set for 5AM I was up about 4:30 and up ro the Lido for coffee. As I passed the Lower Promenade deck I was greeted by a lovely pre-dawn color in the sky and a full moon. Actual sunrise was about 5:10 and was the most spectacular I’ve seen in months.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/1stlinght521.jpg

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/dawn0521.jpg

 

We eased our way into Boston Harbor and our first line went out about 6:45, although the line handlers seemed to be in no hurry to get to it. Disembarkation went pretty smoothly and according to schedule. My Green 1 window was 8:45 to 9:00; most tags were called about 7 minutes before their windows, mine was called at 8:46.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/ahoyboston.jpg

 

Disembarkation was very easy. I handed in my customs form on entering the terminal before collecting my big bag, and was waiting for the Silver Line bus at 8:55.

 

Up to now all of my travels have been with shared transportation, but the Silver Line bus blew right by me. There was no sign and I may have been a bit out of position but was really frustrated at his just sailing by, and I ended up taking a cab to South Station.

 

At Club Acela a Red Cap took my bags and I took a short walk to the free Boston Fire Museum, in an old fire station. The sign said Saturday 11 to 5 but they were open for business when I arrived before 10. It was mostly antique equipment but there is a 1966 American laFrance pumper nearly identical to the engine at my station when I joined in 1973 (but with an open top cab). There was also an active unit, a rehab (refreshments and warming/cooling) unit still manned by volunteers.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/steampumper.jpg

 

Back at Club Acela there was an internet terminal available, and the Red Cap escorted us out to my train about 10:30. We left promptly at 11 and lunch was served about 11:45.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/lunch0521.jpg

 

We were dead on time at New York’s Penn Station, and despite having to stop for a rest along the way I arrived at the Magnuson (formerly Best Western) Convention Center hotel about 3:15.

 

I got dinner at Panera and snacks nearby but encountered rain on the way back. I hope I dried my feet off soon enough to avoid a repeat of the blisters. If the weather is decent in the morning my walk to the cruise terminal should be about the same as the walk to the hotel. I hope to get to bed relatively early tonight.

 

This will conclude my planned reporting on the Veendam. My travels will continue on the NCL forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2355065

 

I will respond to questions but there will be a delay as I will have a limited internet plan on the Breakaway but will have good coverage in Bermuda where I bought a wifi card for my next stay there before the Veendam left.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I have moved the Veendam menus and On Locations away from the main pages for those functions to make way for the Breakaway Menus and dalies.

 

The Veendam menus are here: Veendam Menus

 

And the On Location: On Location

 

There is also a "site map" to each of the pages in the left hand bar of the blog:

 

http://solocabinchallenge.wordpress.com

 

Roy

[chefestelle]

The link gods are mocking you. The on location link goes to your menus

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[bakcd]

I have thoroughly enjoyed your postings for this sailing. We will be on the Veendam when it next visits Bermuda and now have a good idea of how to plan our time. It was also nice to read your positive comments of the Veendam.

[Colakid]

Great review. Just as if I was with you on this cruise. Oh - I was. Fortunately I was on aboard for 14 days. The M&G went well. Thank you for the wonderful words. Colakid

[rafinmd]

Thank you Colakid, chefestelle, and bakcd. Are you in Bermuda now or in about 3 weeks. If now, I hope yesterday's holiday wasn't a problem for you. I heard some complaints about that from fellow passengers on the ferry to St George. It does seem to me that holiday or no with 2 full and 2 half days in Hamilton there should be every opportunity to do a lot.

 

I have posted the Cruise log. I hope I have the link to the page right now.

 

https://solocabinchallenge.wordpress.com/programs/veendamlocation/

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Many of you know I’m a sailaway addict, and some know I’ve been on the NCL Breakaway in Bermuda this week. I set my sights on Saint George Wednesday but went into Hamilton Thursday morning. I spent much of the morning visiting sites I had missed last week but walked past the Veendam on my way to the 1PM ferry. I was just getting to front street as I heard the sound of the pipers on the dock to bid the Veendam goodbye. Over the net half hour as I waited for and boarded the ferry the Veendam’s horn sounded several times. A couple of times around 12:45 I got the impression that the ship was attempting to call stragglers, but the lines came in promptly at 1PM. By the time we started backing from out slip the ship was well out into the water and by the time we started moving forward the Veendam was pointed into the channel.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/ready.jpg

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/awayfromdock.jpg

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/tothechannel.jpg

 

We moved much faster and by the time we cleared 2 rocks the ship was far behind us but catching up was quicker than I thought. For much of the ride I could see the Veendam’s funnels over the trees.

 

When I disembarked the ferry my view of the Veendam was blocked by the Celebriity Summit but when I got close to the ships the Veendam was quickly approaching.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/atkingswharf.jpg

 

I had hoped to go up to the top deck to watch the Veendam pass but it was moving quickly enough that I headed to the first outside deck, deck 7 rather than 15, and saw the Veendam’s stern. I watched as she sailed away for what might be the last time I see the Veendam in person.

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/adieu1.jpg

 

http://solocabinchallenge.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/adieu2.jpg

 

Roy

[Topsham]

Roy,

 

I apologize for the dreadful weather this week. What a shame. Spring has come a bit late this year. Two more weeks and we will have the VEENDAM back again.

 

Hey, you have to admit she looked quite spotless. PRINSENDAM last week was also spotless too!

 

I went up to Dockyard on Wednesday. Far too many people. Just plain crowded. If you want to cruise to Bermuda (Hamilton) ... sail in VEENDAM!

 

Stephen

[rafinmd]

Roy,

 

I apologize for the dreadful weather this week. What a shame. Spring has come a bit late this year. Two more weeks and we will have the VEENDAM back again.

 

Hey, you have to admit she looked quite spotless. PRINSENDAM last week was also spotless too!

 

I went up to Dockyard on Wednesday. Far too many people. Just plain crowded. If you want to cruise to Bermuda (Hamilton) ... sail in VEENDAM!

 

Stephen

 

Thank you Stephen. I didn't think the weather was that bad but then I'm not a beach person. My word for the Dockyards--Tourist trap but at least it's not that hard to get away.

 

I don't think I could have handled being at Dockyards while the Elegant Explorer was in Hamilton.

 

Roy

[erewhon]

Enjoying reading all your reports.

Thank you.

[rafinmd]

Now that these 3 cruises are nearly over I am ready for some comparisons. These are my opinions reflecting my biases. First of all, my general philosophy is “any room on the best ship I can afford” so my opinions will be far different from many others’ preferences. The Breakaway was my first modern cruise on NCL while I have recently attained Diamond on RCI and 4-star on HAL, not absolutely top rewards program levels but quite substantial. I started modern cruising with HAL mainly because of the Prinsendam and in general it’s one of my favorite cruise lines while I started with Royal mainly because it has the best itineraries out of Baltimore. I would probably not have tried NCL except for curiosity about the studio cabins. I do have definite preferences but do not consider myself a cheerleader for any cruise line except possibly Crystal. And I must admit, some of our preferences may not stand up to cold hard logic. I see it in others like a table mate on the Breakaway who said something like “I’m glad I tried Cunard once, but would not go back because of the dress code and the dinners are too long.” This was said with a straight face by a lady in a very nice evening gown near the end of a dinner that I excused myself from after about 2 hours and 20 minutes. I’m sure I have my own illogical biases but of course I don’t see them.

 

Embarkation:

I’ll give that to HAL with one proviso. They seem to have a tendency to skimp on checkin personnel and I’ve seen long checkin lines. Not usually (and not in Boston for the Veendam) but probably about 25% of the time. On my Maasdam cruise I stood in line 55 minutes waiting for someone to take my ticket. The only staff presence in that time was the equivalent of Japanese subway “crammers” cajoling everybody to crowd together and keep the line from stretching down the stairs. As a 4-star mariner I now have priority embarkation and no longer need to experience that but I claim to follow a religious leader who said “As you’ve treated the least of my brethren you’ve treated me. Come on, HAL, you can do better.

Once actually on board HAL really shines. I boarded about the same time as the other 2 ships but went directly to my room, stowed my bags, and was soon in the dining room for a civilized lunch.

 

Checkin on the Breakaway started really early. The checkin line was short and I had completed the formalities by 10:30, but actual boarding didn’t begin until 11:30. The wait in the lounge was fairly comfortable; I was just glad I had my suduku book with me. After the suites boarding was in groups by order of arrival, I boarded a little before noon. Rooms were available to drop off bags at noon, but not ready for occupancy until later. Lunch was in the lido and not great but fairly civilized.

 

Checkin for the Anthem started later but was quick and I was on board soon after the formalities. Rooms, however are completely off limits until 1PM. Despite announcements for people in the WJ (lido) to leave, people were occupying tables with mounds of luggage waiting for 1PM. That’s fairly standard on RCI, but what was new was there were staff at the entrance to the WJ holding up long lines of people from going in until tables were vacated. I managed to get food only by promising to get it and take it elsewhere to eat, then putting my plate on my lap on a pool lounger. My verdict best Veendam, then Breakaway, and finally Anthem.

 

Roy

Edited June 9, 2016 by rafinmd

[rafinmd]

Dining is very subjective, both in cuisine and style. I do like fixed dining at a large table and the Veendam delivered what I like. On the Veendam I was at a table for 8 with 3 couples and one other solo and most were present the majority of the time. We developed a rapport with our waiter and had great dinners. Most of my breakfasts and lunches (as on all 3 ships) were in the lido with a good selection and I enjoyed eating either at tables by the pool or the aft deck.

 

I am not really a fan of Freestyle Dining. Even where I’ve had anytime dining I’ve usually been offered the choice of my own table or dining with others. That does not seem to be part of the NCL culture. I think that would be a real drag for me on most NCL ships, but being in a studio made a difference. Each evening there was a happy hour in the studio lounge, sometimes there was a full group dinner, and on occasion there wasn’t but a few people would get together and go somewhere. There are 3 complementary restaurants, all with the same menu, but one operates as a “supper” club and I found the shows distracting and they impeded conversation. I think over the week I dined 2 or 3 times on my own, once with a couple of others arranged at the last minute and 3 or 4 full group dinners. For the studio, I should probably rate the experience as different although equal to HAL; I just didn’t associate that as the typical NCL standard.

 

On the Grandeur of the Seas I had found the dining to be very nice, just a shade below what I experienced on the Veendam. I thought the idea of Dynamic Classic Dining was a good one so I was very disappointed in what was actually offered. As noted earlier in the blog I had a confirmation of early classic dining with an empty set of actual reservations. After chasing around embarkation day I got a 4 day supply of reservations, but only for one meal at a time. Those for whom Royal actually followed through on Classic sailed into their assigned tables while I stood in line waiting to be assigned a new table and a new waiters. At the end of the 4 days I had no reservations and the system told me I could not make reservations because I already had them. After 30 minutes with Guest Services and another visit to the dining room I finally had reservations but nobody on board showed any concern that I was not given what I was supposed to have. Anthem also had the only really bad food of the trio, a slice of French toast from the Solarium Bistro only slightly softer than a rock.

 

Bottom line HAL #1, Breakaway 2nd, and Anthem a distant last.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I had an Ocean View room on the Veendam, and it was very much what I expected. It was pleasant and to me having a full bath tub was a bonus, especially when I developed a sore toe walking in the rain in Boston and soaking the foot was a real help. There was ample work space at the desk, although the power was a bit of a challenge. There were 2 outlets (1 US and 1 Euro) but they were so close together I not use both the Euro outlet and my 3-way tap. I managed to get one other outlet from the TV power but I was generally feeling a bit short of outlets. The room was well serviced and there was fresh fruit every day. There was not a fridge but ice was provided twice a day.

 

My studio on the Breakaway was a unique experience. The room was tiny, and storage space was barely adequate. There was just an awkward and very small space for a single computer, there were a lot of outlets but no place to put anything to connect to them. The bath setup was a bit strange with commode, shower, and sink in separate spaces. It would have bothered me if I was sharing the room with a roommate, but worked fine for just me. Ice was provided twice a day. Power was available only when a card was in a slot by the door, when the card was removed EVERYTHING shut off immediately, no grace period to close the door before the lights went out.

 

I had booked a studio room on the Anthem but was upgraded to a regular balcony cabin. I did get a quick peek into a studio while it was being cleaned and it was a lot bigger than on the Breakaway, almost as big as a regular cabin. My cabin has a mini-fridge; it’s nearly packed with stuff for sale and I get very limited space there but it has been working. There is ample desk space, storage space, and power outlets, the only thing I would have preferred would be a tub rather than a shower. There’s a key slot for power but the electric outlets stay on and when the card is removed the lights stay on for several seconds allowing an orderly exit from the room. I found that on the Breakaway I often put a random card in the slot while out of the room but the less drastic cutoff on the Anthem kept me more honest about only using the card slot while in the room.

 

My bottom line on rooms is Anthem #1, then Veendam, and finally Breakaway.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

This is probably the one where I will get the most disagreement.

 

Until recently, I thought the entertainment on HAL’s R and S class ships was pretty limited. They are now using a new entertainment company and I think the quality of the shows and especially the dancers has improved. Entertainment is of course subjective and the Veendam had fewer choices than the other ships but I thought the quality of the shows in the Showroom and the guy in the piano bar were very good. I also appreciated the fact that you could just walk into any of the entertainment and never had to worry about reservations.

 

The Breakaway has some very nice shows but almost all of them require reservations and they all seem to get sold out very quickly. I was able to get into only 1 production show, Burn the Floor. It was nice but I thought overly long. Most of the other shows including the comedy club required reservations and by the time I tried to book stuff about day 2 there was nothing available.

 

That was largely true on the Anthem as well, but there was more flexibility than on the Breakaway. The 2 main production shows as well as some of the shows in Two70 required reservations but they seemed easier to come by. There were also a couple of headline entertainers who briefly joined the ship; I thought the comedian was very good, the singer not so much to my taste.

 

One thing all 3 ships had was some form of piano bar. I thought Jeff on the Veendam was excellent, I did not really watch Matt on the Anthem much, partially because he had the Schooner Bar packed and jumping and I didn’t find a seat. I stopped by the Piano Bar on the Breakaway several times when the guy was scheduled to be playing but all I ever saw was an empty piano.

 

My bottom line on entertainment: (1) Veendam, (2) Anthem, (3) Breakaway

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I find it hard to do true comparisons of internet but I’ll give you my impressions. My strategy was a bit different on the 3 ships. On both the Veendam and Breakaway I had extended visits to Bermuda. In both cases I purchased 72-hour wifi passes in Bermuda and used the ship’s internet mostly while at sea. On the Veendam internet is sold by the minute, and it was fairly pricey. The speed was low but not the lowest I’ve seen, and performance was slowish but stable. I was able to complete my blog entries and personal email and business with about ½ hour usage per day.

 

On the Breakaway my internet came as part of a promotion. They are different from most cruise lines that internet is priced by megabyte rather than by minute. I had to choose from several optional “perks” of booking and came as 300mb of data. I had no idea on embarkation of what 300mb really meant in terms of what I could do. It lasted for my entire cruise and I had quite a few megabytes left over when I disembarked. The wifi packages in Bermuda were pretty much dirt cheap, $15 for 72 hours which easily covered my 3 port days on the Breakaway and were a perfect fit for my 72-hour visit over 4 days on the Veendam. I was able to access the internet from the lifeboat deck on both ships (better on the Veendam in Hamilton) but did most of my work then off the ship. After returning home I analyzed my usage and found I averaged about 1.2mb per minute, giving the equivalent of about 250 minutes, which would have been enough for 7 days without the wifi card. I thought the wifi performance was roughly the same as on the Veendam.

 

The best ship’s internet was on the Anthem. They had a pre-embarkation sale which was about $9 per day for the cheapest plan. That plan was fast enough that I was able to watch several webcam sailaways from the ship and download updates for my Ipads. The only slight negative was that it used a code delivered to my stateroom, so I would have liked to but was unable to use the internet until the rooms were opened up at 1PM. I’m not sure how well the technology RCI is using would work with HAL’s worldwide itineraries.

 

My bottom line (1) Anthem, (2) Breakaway (since it was free), and (3) Veendam.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

There are a couple of components to disembarkation, the ship procedures, and the port procedures. Royal and NCL, respectively, are the only lines of the 3 using the Bayonne and Manhattan terminals regularly, but all 3 sail from Boston, including the Dawn to Bermuda.

 

All 3 ships started the process with self assist disembarkation.

 

On the Breakaway there was little or no pre-departure organization of the disembarkation process. At about day 5 luggage tags were set out by Guest Relations with a chart of what time each color was expected to be called. You simply picked up the tags corresponding to the time you wanted to leave, with no need to notify anybody about what you picked. I know NCL offered airport transfers and I’m sure there were special tags for the transfer people but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. Somehow the system seemed to work reasonably well although the lines at customs were pretty long. We were supposed to be out of our cabins by 8:30 although the first color was not expected to be called until 9:15. I think that would have been a pain if I’d been in a regular cabin, but the studio lounge was a great place to wait. As it was, we were called at 8:40, not 9:15. It was about 40 minutes from my tag being called to exiting customs.

 

On the Anthem we filled out a questionnaire asking for our preferred departure time. That questionnaire seemed to be totally ignored as I requested 8:15 and was given 9:45. After a visit to Guest Relations I was reassigned to 8:15 (the person in front of me was assigned a time 1 ½ hours EARLIER than requested so it seems like the times assigned must have been pretty random. For embarkation morning the instructions were silent about when we needed to be our of our cabins, but we needed to be at one of the departure lounges 15 minutes early. My 8:15 color was called at 8:00 and things moved quite quickly from there. I was driving out of the parking garage at 8:35 after stowing my bags in my truck and returning to the terminal for a last minute toilet break so I estimate I was past customs about 15 minutes after my tag was called.

 

On the Veendam we were given a survey around day 2. For those using transfers, the HAL form (and only HAL form) collected information about flight times with the times coordinated with flight departure times. Otherwise, we were given a choice of independent departure times, and I got the time requested. HAL policy is clear that the stateroom is yours to keep until your departure time is called. (HAL works some real magic here when this is combined with having the rooms ready on embarkation; I believe they assign some personnel other than the usual room stewards to turning around the room) My tag was called at 8:46, the beginning of my window of 8:45 to 9:00. From there departure was a true breeze. One thing that is very nice about Boston (I assume for all cruise lines) is that we meet with CPB immediately on entering the terminal BEFORE we claim our luggage, a lot easier than lining up for the agents with all our stuff. I was waiting at the Silver Line bus stop 10 minutes after my tag was called. Amazing!

 

My rating here (1) Veendam/Boston by a mile, (2) Anthem, and (3) Breakaway. One more part to come, overall conclusions.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I’ll take the ships in the order I sailed them. Holland America is one of my go-to cruise lines and I’ve been on the Veendam and it’s close sisters for over a hundred days so far. It’s definitely a smaller ship which will appeal to some people and not to others; it appeals to me. The choices in activities and entertainment are more limited on the bigger ships but I consider what they offer to be quite good. The activities run more to cooking demonstrations than to belly-flop contests and the like, and there isn’t really much in the way of night life. That all works for me, less so for others. I knew pretty much what to expect on the Veendam with only 2 surprises, one not very welcome and the other not very surprising. The not welcome one was pizza. There’s a new pizza oven on the back lido deck. They had about 6 varies of pizza, each with about 6-8 different toppings. I asked for a plain cheese pizza and was told it essentially was not available. I think a step backwards. The one not so surprising was the Location Guide. Each HAL ship has a location guide, their destination expert. They work for the entertainment department rather than shore excursions and are generally good to excellent sources on information on the ports of call. They give port talks, have desk hours for individual questions, and are stationed on the gangway on each port day to answer any last-minute questions. While the location guides are generally good to excellent, Jeremy was outstanding. Not really a big surprise but not something I could have assumed either. The Veendam of course has no solo cabins and what solo activities there are are somewhat hit or miss. I had a table of 6 at dinner with 2 couples and one other solo and we were a good mix and enjoyed our time together.

 

The Breakaway was my first modern NCL cruise. I concluded I’m not really an NCL person, not really a Freestyle devotee, and found the need for show reservations a hassle. I actually found that I had less opportunity to make spontaneous plans on the Breakaway than I have on any recent ship. I would probably not sail again on an NCL ship except for the ones with studio cabins. There were 2 significant positives. I really enjoyed the Night Out concept where there was a special night with encouragement to be well dressed without putting an obligation on everybody. I enjoy getting dressed for dinner occasionally but do not enjoy dining with the empty chairs of tablemates put off by a dress code. The other real positive was the studio. For one thing, while other ships have a few solo cabins that quickly sell out and demand premium prices, the Breakaway has about 60 which seems to pretty well match the demand and keeps the prices reasonable. The other bonus is the studio lounge where 60 people in a common location fosters a sense of community that you do not see in other ships. NCL does studios right. NCL will never be my first choice in a cruise but the studios add value both from price and experience perspectives and I will be eager to return from time to time.

 

While I enjoyed my time on the Anthem I would have enjoyed my time on just about any other ship just as much. There are supposedly 16 solo cabins on the Anthem but 4 are also sold as part of family suites so it’s really just a dozen full time solo cabins. They are nice but I don’t think the nicer cabin makes up for the amenities of the Studio lounge. RCI is primarily my go to cruise line for cruises out of my home port of Baltimore. I love both the Vision and Radiance class ships. My last RCI cruise was Transatlantic on the Allure of the Seas. The ship was not my cup of tea but I always had the feeling of being on a well run ship. Sadly, I did not get that impression on the Anthem. The biggest issue was the dining snafu and the unwillingness of anyone on board to follow through. Add to that the lack of coordination of departure times with those requested and digital signs throughout the ship that failed to respond appropriately to user input (they have worked well on all my previous RCI ships) and I did not come away feeling positive. It seems the Captain was somewhat aloof; the only time I saw him was his back in the next room when I was on the All Access tour. Being around is not really the Captain’s job, but he is responsible for everything and it does not sit well for him being out of touch when things are not going well. I heard a lot of negative comments from fellow passengers.

 

I really have no incentive to return to the Anthem when my price for a solo cabin was double what I paid for a Studio on the Breakaway and more than I am paying for occupancy of a double cabin for 9 days on the Grandeur. I expect to continue to sail the Vision and Radiance class ships but when they go away I probably will as well.

 

My bottom line is the Veendam number 1. Some of the things that appeal to me may not appeal to others, but spending days in Hamilton is a big plus, and will largely be a thing of the past once the Veendam is gone. Number 2 would be the Breakaway. I tend to cruise for the things I like. While there’s quite a bit that wasn’t a good fit for me, the studio experience was a huge plus that I can’t get anywhere else. I will choose those experiences judiciously, but definitely expect them to be part of my cruising future. Anthem was a distant last, some frills that were nice but mediocre basics. Both of my other Bermuda ships, as well as any other RCI ship I’ve sailed in the past strike me as better choices.

 

Except for questions this concludes my reports here. My next solo cabin voyage will be the Koningsdam in February. Next up overall is the Northwest Passage on Crystal Serenity in August that I’ll be reporting on the Crystal Forum of Cruise Critic and at http://aroundamericabitbybit.wordpress.com.

 

Roy

[St Pete Cruiser]

Thanks for your Bermuda summary. For what it is worth, I agree with your findings.

I am looking forward to your Crystal Arctic adventure! Only a little jealous. Ok, maybe quite a lot. Do enjoy and have a safe and healthy cruise.

[Kreader]

Hi Roy, Thanks for your review of all three ships. I really liked my 15 night Caribbean cruise on the Veendam in April. So glad you followed up on my recommendation of Jeff,the piano player. Nice that you found him to be an excellent piano player/singer. Hope others at the piano bar thought the same. Kendra P.S. I am not fond of NCL so I will cruise on HAL,RCCL,Princess,or Carnival. I look for the best lowest single supplement I can get with a decent itinerary.