VEENDAM- Montreal to San Diego Oct/Nov 2016 - quiclk impressions

[OlsSalt]

Veendam- Verandah cabin - Oct-Nov 2016 - Montreal to San Diego Collectors Cruise - via Panama Canal

 

These are just a few quick "ship stuff" comments upon our return last night:

 

1. NEW UNIFORMS - waiters donned "bistro" type black vest jackets at night; others wore "preppy" white oxford cloth shirts, khacki pants, orange braided belt ..and light blue/grey ties - very nice looking. Most of the white shirts had orange 'buttons" on the collars so you could tell them from other similarly "preppy" dressed passengers.

 

2. GALA NIGHTS -20% perhaps of the men in tuxes; far more women wearing long or short cocktail/sparkly attire. Others wore something dressy, dark suit, jacket, tie, or not. You will not feel over or under-dressed.

 

3. ENRICHMENT LECTURE CD Christine Purcell gave a "Veendam Confidential" slide show lecture telling about the lives and accommodations of the crew. Excellent

 

4. ENRICHMENT LECTURE Capt Albert "Shoonenbeck" (sp?) retired captain gave a History of Holland America lecture - excellent.

 

5. YUM YUM man was out every evening in the Upper Dining Room

 

6. BEACH TOWELS New HAL logo heavy quality light blue striped beach towels offered in each cabin -we purchased our as souvenirs for US$27 each.

 

7. HMC post-Matthew was in excellent shape, though they were still sweeping away some of the sand. Perfect day -shared it with the Nieuw Amsterdam - water temperature so delicious it was really hard to get out.

 

8. PIRATE SHIP Did I miss something on an earlier visit but the Pirate ship how has cut out viewing areas overlooking the beach, and no loud music - I remember it being closed in.

 

9.LIFE-BOAT DRILL No second life boat drill for Collectors Cruise passengers - notice that all NEW passengers were required to attend, but not those who had already been through their own embarkation drill previously.

 

10. SHORE EXCURSIONSMany shore excursions met on the dock at the appropriate bus, where stickers were attached instead of lining up in the show room.

 

11. CASINO Very few used the casino, which offered "smoke-free" nights occasionally. Had smoker on the next balcony which was only a minor short term intrusion.

 

12.CABIN TEMPERATURE Expected a "warm cabin" when in the tropics and kept track of both high-low and humidity every day. After FLL, it went up to 81 degrees - too hot so we called housekeeping and someone did "something" to the unit. Dropped down to 73-77 degrees more typically which was about 10-15 degrees cooler than outside.

 

Hotel Manager said HAL cabin comfort standards were 73-77 degrees so our cabin temperature became "normal". And we even had to turn the heat on in Panama after a rain storm. So for the few days you make this southern passage -expect a "warm" but "normal" cabin temperature and call the front desk if it exceeds 77 degrees.

 

But we also made sure we closed the curtains during the day and kept the verandah door locked- because unlocked allowed air to seep out - not a tight seal.

 

HAL still needs to be more aggressive about keeping balcony doors closed. And they did warn people during the Canal Passage to keep them closed while going in and out to enjoy the view from their own verandah.

 

13. MONTREAL AIRPORT ARRIVAL Did not like Montreal Airport- very poor signage and found it difficult to hook up with our HAL pick-up or find a place to eat and enjoy the necessary wait time for embarkation time, since we arrived on an early morning red-eye.

 

14. TOILETS No toilet problems at all anywhere, including "delayed flush".

 

15.PANAMA CANAL ROUTE Liked entering the Panama Canal from the Caribbean side Gatun Locks, compared to our two trips first entering in from the Pacific Ocean side.

 

Three locks in a row at Gatun let you view the whole scope of the action along with ships passing ahead or beside you- we followed the Zuiderdam into the locks, while they were on the single entry turnaround "SunFarer" cruise. Plus you get a good view of the new Canal locks as well as the old, but failed French attempted excavation

 

16. PIANO BARJeremy at the Piano Bar was excellent and one should never miss his 24 minute rendition and narrative of "Bye Bye Miss American Pie. Adagio was fairly good but appeared a bit too tentative and perhaps have not played together that long- each was talented but they had not yet jelled as a duo - had a very nice repertoire of selections and it got better each night.

 

17. HAL CATS No Hal Cats at the poolside during the day - though there was intrusive piped in music starting with breakfast.

 

18. DININGFood in all venues was excellent -though we did not try Canaletto - lots of variety with many fresher flavors and presentations.

 

19. DINING HOURS "Late seating" (regular dining) started at 7:45 -and we were easily out within an hour.

 

20. CULINARY DIRECTOR Kelly in the Culinary Lounges was a gifted and witty MC - crew cook-offs were fun. Hope we see more of her - she would make a very good cruise director.

 

21. ENTERTAINMENTDid not attend entertainment, but did see several movies. Pop corn alive and well.

 

22. EXPLORATIONS LOUNGE Loss of the Librarian was noted and they need to add "Quiet Please" signs as the noise level often got quite high and disturbed the many quests who expect to be able to read here undisturbed. We can just point to the signs" when it gets out of hand without having to directly confront anyone on our own perhaps?

 

23. FIVE STAR PERKS Two Five Star Mariners cocktail parties with the officers and a few Collectors Cruise events - including a very lovely noon time Rystaffel lunch.

 

24. ARRIVAL San Diego arrival shared with the Westerdam - so it was a HAL family affair all the way.

[canadianbear]

Welcome back! Sounds like a fantastic cruise. Appreciate your summaries-very helpful.

 

I miss having a librarian-shame they have cut back that helpful position.

 

HMC sounds wonderful-we haven't been there yet but have a 3 week cruise booked next year and it's one of the stops (weather permitting of course!)

 

Thanks for taking the time with your comments.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

Thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts and reports.

[kazu]

Thanks so much for sharing. sounds like you had a great cruise :)

 

Very happy to hear that you could skip the second life boat drill. Hoping that holds true for us in March next year.

 

Great synopsis and really appreciated.

 

And, of course, welcome home :)

[easyboy]

That was a very interesting feedback.

I am impressed with the idea of the orange "button" on the collars.

Thanks for sharing.

[the2ofus]

I enjoyed your comments on your cruise. I was following along on Captain Albert's blog because I will be doing the same itinerary on the Nieuw Amsterdam next April. I would like to read some of your impressions on the ports you visited during the cruise. I'm sure some you have visited on previous canal transits. Any suggestions regarding excursions that are must-do and skip-it would be welcome.

 

If I may make a small correction, Captain Albert has not retired. In fact he celebrated 35 years with Holland America Line just this weekend. His assignments now make use of his talents as a mentor and his experience asa captain while he rotates throughout the fleet. His title is, I believe, On Board Team Support Officer. You can read his history in more detail here: http://www.hollandamericablog.com/about-2-8/

[OlsSalt]

I enjoyed your comments on your cruise. I was following along on Captain Albert's blog because I will be doing the same itinerary on the Nieuw Amsterdam next April. I would like to read some of your impressions on the ports you visited during the cruise. I'm sure some you have visited on previous canal transits. Any suggestions regarding excursions that are must-do and skip-it would be welcome.

 

If I may make a small correction, Captain Albert has not retired. In fact he celebrated 35 years with Holland America Line just this weekend. His assignments now make use of his talents as a mentor and his experience asa captain while he rotates throughout the fleet. His title is, I believe, On Board Team Support Officer. You can read his history in more detail here: http://www.hollandamericablog.com/about-2-8/

 

Thank you for the fuller explanation of Captain Albert's special status - He claimed he was now an "on board trouble maker" (of some sort), with a wide grin but I missed his exact title. His talk was a lot of fun.

 

I will follow-up with more highlights about each port with thanks to all who wrote about these spots before we departed - Chez Aston in Quebec is indeed the Queen of Poutine -- with the squeakiest cheese curds ever. Lived up to all prior expectations.

 

We kept talking about how good it was for the rest of the trip and tried to see if we could dress up some Dive_in fries for the same effect. They did have a special Lido Poutine Bar, but it was on a day when we were off doing something else.

 

Just going over our photos right now- one thing is the colors were brilliant and at their peak in early Oct in Canada when we started -whole hillsides on the St Lawrence River and Quebec's surrounding hills were solid red. Then more mixed as we moved south - but plenty to fulfill my own dream of seeing the "Fall colors" of 'New England" and parts north.

[JimAOk1945]

Your cruise review is off to a great start. I'm looking forward to reading and seeing pictures of your port visits. We noticed the buttons on the collars of the wait staff on our Alaska cruise in August.

 

Our August cruise was our first on HAL. Your itinerary is on our bucket list.

[DarkCrystal]

We were on the same cruise, enjoyed every minute of it.

[OlsSalt]

We were on the same cruise, enjoyed every minute of it.

 

Shhhhh... then don't tell anyone about our first night out of Quebec. :eek: We were rocking and rolling with wine glasses sliding on the tables and plates crashing all over the upper dining room at "late" seating that night.

Edited November 7, 2016 by OlsSalt

[DarkCrystal]

Shhhhh... then don't tell anyone about our first night out of Quebec. :eek:

 

Not a word ;-)

[OlsSalt]

Not a word ;-)

 

Sorry, I had to go back and edit and spill the beans (almost literally had they been on the menu that night.) Hardly seemed fair to leave it such a tease.

Edited November 7, 2016 by OlsSalt

[JimAOk1945]

Shhhhh... then don't tell anyone about our first night out of Quebec. :eek: We were rocking and rolling with wine glasses sliding on the tables and plates crashing all over the upper dining room at "late" seating that night.

Wow! Can't wait to hear about that. [emoji33] [emoji32]

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Forums mobile app

[OlsSalt]

Wow! Can't wait to hear about that. [emoji33] [emoji32]

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Forums mobile app

 

Captain explained this was a very unexpected left over problem from Hurricane Matthew - not in its path at that time, but some sort of linked weather phenomenon. Came up suddenly to even his surprise and did some violent jerking around during our dinner time.

 

Many of the small potted plants were getting swept up from the outdoor Lido tables the next day too. They all probably slid right off those tables unless someone was still sitting there to grab them in their free fall.

 

Captain later warned us about the passage past notorious wind tunnel that blows across Mexico between the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean - but that one is expected.

 

He claimed it was never as bad as its reputation from his own prior experience, but this time it also packed a bit of a wallop though nothing like that post-Matthew "hiccup" on our St Laurence passage way to Prince Edward Island.

 

How long did it last - uhhhhhhm, help me here Dark Cruiser - maybe 15-30 minutes?:confused:

[DarkCrystal]

The one on the way to PEI woke me up when our bottled water, etc started falling over on the desk. I went right back to sleep, I'm used to noise and the rocking didn't bother me. Oh, and before I went to sleep I kept sliding down on the bed with the 'bumping'. We were near the front so that probably had something to do with it.

The wind tunnel one did make for a bit of a bumpy ride during the night, and we did have bumps just before San Diego. Other than that, it was an incredibly smooth ride. I kept forgetting I was on a ship.

We were so lucky with the weather, weren't we? Every day we had sun. I had heard the weather was so hot for the Canal I doubted that I'd be able to go outside to watch it as I can't tolerate it at all, but it was fine. Not as hot as it could be and we had a bit of a breeze.

What a great trip!

[OlsSalt]

.....

We were so lucky with the weather, weren't we? Every day we had sun. I had heard the weather was so hot for the Canal I doubted that I'd be able to go outside to watch it as I can't tolerate it at all, but it was fine. Not as hot as it could be and we had a bit of a breeze.

What a great trip!

 

I packed for much colder weather in the Canada and New England sector and found the 70 degree days a delightful surprise.

 

But then, I had to turn on the cabin heat after we left Panama - that was a very pleasant day for just the opposite reasons. One night in the Pinnacle, DH and I remarked could not believe we were actually on a ship - rather than spacious and gracious land-based restaurant, it was so smooth.

 

We will have to do a port tip thread- wondering what you did and liked and how it was different from the choices we made. We did the Tikal flight excursion - that was our biggie. Others were very pleasant on our second and third trips to many of these ports. Our worst days in the sun was on the Puerto Chiapas -Tapachula city tour and Maya ruins and the Leon Botanical Gardens - hot, stuffy and humid. But we did choose to go to the tropics and got them full blast. And now they are just very nice memories, rather than the endurance contest it seemed to be at the time.

 

And oh what day we had at HMC- never felt the water so warm and inviting there in the past. We almost did not even get off the ship - so glad we changed our mind.

 

Yep, that bumpy entry into San Diego was a surprise. We found we still had our sea legs for the first day we were back - everything felt a bit woozy at first since we were not having to adjust to the micro-movements of being on a ship.

 

Hard to believe we went from pretty spectacular Fall colors with the hint of winter to lush green and humid rain forests, all in one sweep of a trip. It was a very interesting itinerary. And great for us to just roll things over to the San Diego train station and arrive home a few hours later with no jet lag or airplane torture.

Edited November 8, 2016 by OlsSalt

[DarkCrystal]

The only tour we did was the HOHO bus in New York, we really enjoyed it. We got off at every port on the East Coast leg and walked around the downtowns of the various spots.

Decided not to do any tours on the second leg. When we got off in Cartagena, I almost died from the heat and humidity. I've never been able to tolerate that

kind of heat, when we were on a Mexico cruise I got s heat allergy and it put a bit of a damper on the rest of the cruise. We took a bus tour once where the AC didn't work, I was afraid that might happen on one of these tours. We did go to HMC and walked around. Gorgeous!

We just cancelled a South Pacific cruise for that reason. I've decided to stick to the 'cooler' cruises from now on.

I'm looking forward to reading your reports of what I missed ;-)

[OlsSalt]

The only tour we did was the HOHO bus in New York, we really enjoyed it. We got off at every port on the East Coast leg and walked around the downtowns of the various spots.

Decided not to do any tours on the second leg. When we got off in Cartagena, I almost died from the heat and humidity. I've never been able to tolerate that

kind of heat, when we were on a Mexico cruise I got s heat allergy and it put a bit of a damper on the rest of the cruise. We took a bus tour once where the AC didn't work, I was afraid that might happen on one of these tours. We did go to HMC and walked around. Gorgeous!

We just cancelled a South Pacific cruise for that reason. I've decided to stick to the 'cooler' cruises from now on.

I'm looking forward to reading your reports of what I missed ;-)

 

We did the Tales of the South Pacific last year and it was not as hot as what we faced on this recent trip. Plus the water was pretty cold - that was a surprise for me. I wouldn't give up on this cruise.

 

Only Fanning Island was hot because it was so close to the equator - but utterly charming and had warm water for swimming. So that one "hot" port stop was worth it.

[DarkCrystal]

We did the Tales of the South Pacific last year and it was not as hot as what we faced on this recent trip. Plus the water was pretty cold - that was a surprise for me. I wouldn't give up on this cruise.

 

Only Fanning Island was hot because it was so close to the equator - but utterly charming and had warm water for swimming. So that one "hot" port stop was worth it.

 

You're the second person that has said that. Maybe I'll reconsider it.

[OlsSalt]

You're the second person that has said that. Maybe I'll reconsider it.

 

Flip the globe upside down and see what climate zones you will be spending time in while below the equator. (Unless you are Australian and have a totally different take on what is up and down, and when. :cool:)

[St Pete Cruiser]

Nice summary report for a long cruise. We had friends on the segment from FTL to SD, and were afraid the Veendam might not please them after doing only Vista class. So glad to hear it was very pleasant.

[OlsSalt]

Nice summary report for a long cruise. We had friends on the segment from FTL to SD, and were afraid the Veendam might not please them after doing only Vista class. So glad to hear it was very pleasant.

 

This is a very port intensive itinerary so the time on the ship, any ship, besides eating and sleeping was pretty limited. And Veendam dining options and small scale grace was very adequate for this sort of a cruise..

Edited November 9, 2016 by OlsSalt