Is HAL retiring the Veendam?

[jimmy2x]

Is the Veendam one of the ships that butchered the aft pool area?  

[Himself]

17 minutes ago, jimmy2x said:

Is the Veendam one of the ships that butchered the aft pool area?  

Yes.  The S class ships and the Rotterdam had the aft pools on the Navigation deck   On these two ships they took the aft pool out and lengthened the Lido deck but without an aft pool.  the Veendam has the back end hanging out over the rest of the ship.  They put in a "lazy river" but that, I understand has been eliminated.  Personally, I think they should have left it alone.

[jimmy2x]

6 minutes ago, Himself said:

Yes.  The S class ships and the Rotterdam had the aft pools on the Navigation deck   On these two ships they took the aft pool out and lengthened the Lido deck but without an aft pool.  the Veendam has the back end hanging out over the rest of the ship.  They put in a "lazy river" but that, I understand has been eliminated.  Personally, I think they should have left it alone.

Thanks for the info.  An absolute deal-killer for me. 

[iancal]

I suspect that HAL will spend as little as possible on this ship. 

 

They will try to suck out as much revenue and profit as they can in the short term.  When one of their next generation of their ships enters service , they will dump Veendam in a heartbeat.    My guess is that this is HAL's new reality.

Edited August 31, 2019 by iancal

[Tampa Girl]

8 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

 

It is now showing November 22, 2020 to November 29, 2020 out of Tampa.

Yay!  It looks like Tampa is back.

[Sea Belle]

I would love to see the Veendam resume the Boston/Bermuda run.  That was a unique cruise docking in downtown Hamilton.  We were disappointed to miss it this summer.

[rafinmd]

14 minutes ago, Sea Belle said:

I would love to see the Veendam resume the Boston/Bermuda run.  That was a unique cruise docking in downtown Hamilton.  We were disappointed to miss it this summer.

You might consider Empress of the Seas.  It's another ship redeployed from the Cuba trade and it has some great itineraries from Bayonne next summer.  Hamilton and St. George.

 

Roy

[Belle]

In dry dock this April didn't they put the aft pool back to normal?

[need2cruisesoon]

I think Azamara is looking for a 4th ship to purchase....

[sail7seas]

Maasdam's aft pool remains in place and is wonderful  What they did to Veendam is  disgrace  IMO.  BAD  enough no pool but he mess of those ridiculous hot tubs block ALL view.  A most unpleasant  place to sit on Veendam.

 

    What  a   waste

 

 

 

.

 

[sail7seas]

20 hours ago, rafinmd said:

You might consider Empress of the Seas.  It's another ship redeployed from the Cuba trade and it has some great itineraries from Bayonne next summer.  Hamilton and St. George.

 

Roy

 

 

I struggle to think of anyone who would purposfully travel to Bayone in order  to    sail on  (in)  Veendam,  No Way.  Huh  ?

 

 

[casavaha]

On 8/30/2019 at 12:03 PM, TiogaCruiser said:

And please include when your experience was.

I was on the Veendam right after the first refurbishing when they put in that terrible pool aft.

The pool leaked all the way to Vancouver.  When the ship made a turn all the water overflowed.

No air conditioning.  Fortunately HAL got rid of the Statendam another piece of junk.  The new ships

are very good but the old ones are past their prime.  The Prinsendam should have been kept in the

fleet.  Of course this is just my opinion but the new ships that HAL is building are really the future of

the line.

Greg

[rafinmd]

20 minutes ago, casavaha said:

I was on the Veendam right after the first refurbishing when they put in that terrible pool aft.

The pool leaked all the way to Vancouver.  When the ship made a turn all the water overflowed.

No air conditioning.  Fortunately HAL got rid of the Statendam another piece of junk.  The new ships

are very good but the old ones are past their prime.  The Prinsendam should have been kept in the

fleet.  Of course this is just my opinion but the new ships that HAL is building are really the future of

the line.

Greg

You seem to think you know more about ships than people who have been on them recently.  I started sailing on HAL in 2011 and at then the Veendam already had been configured.  That's pretty close to half the Veendam's life ago.  I was on the Statendam and Ryndam their final seasons and the Veendam in 2014 and 2016.  While I won't fly to Tampa for a Caribbean cruise I would get back on her for the right itinerary in a heartbeat.

 

Roy

[kazu]

1 hour ago, casavaha said:

The new ships

are very good but the old ones are past their prime.  The Prinsendam should have been kept in the

fleet.  Of course this is just my opinion but the new ships that HAL is building are really the future of

the line.

 

This post has me very confused.  If you think all the old ones are past their prime and that the new ships HAL are building are the future then WHY would you say the Prinsendam should have been kept?  She was the oldest ship in the fleet - 30 years old pretty much.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I loved that ship and spent a lot of time on her.

[FredT]

On 8/30/2019 at 3:03 PM, TiogaCruiser said:

And please include when your experience was.

Each to his own.   We have 2 trips on the Veendam, one six years ago, one a year ago.   Still our Favority ship of the fleet.  

[ksmaxey]

I am on the Veendam as I write and as we approach St. John's Newfoundland.  The ship is in good shape in terms of maintenance and carpets and such.  All the elevators are working.  The new carpet from the last dry dock looks great.

I found the rear hot tubs ok and working fine.  My biggest complaints are the old TV's which are way too small as programming has adapted as TV's have grown larger and my second is the lack of the BB Kings in the evening.   We are not huge ship fans but find the ship a little small and prefer the Eurodam and even the Westerdam or Zuiderdam.

We have a new captain who is filling in on the voyage and he shared yesterday that ships used to be built for 40-50 years of service but with the new class they are planning on only 30 years of service and talk is now about 20 years of service.  People want "new" and the industry will provide what people will pay for.  I laughed out loud because I remember people on this board talking about "the new ship smell."

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

40 minutes ago, ksmaxey said:

I am on the Veendam as I write and as we approach St. John's Newfoundland.  The ship is in good shape in terms of maintenance and carpets and such.  All the elevators are working.  The new carpet from the last dry dock looks great.

I found the rear hot tubs ok and working fine.  My biggest complaints are the old TV's which are way too small as programming has adapted as TV's have grown larger and my second is the lack of the BB Kings in the evening.   We are not huge ship fans but find the ship a little small and prefer the Eurodam and even the Westerdam or Zuiderdam.

We have a new captain who is filling in on the voyage and he shared yesterday that ships used to be built for 40-50 years of service but with the new class they are planning on only 30 years of service and talk is now about 20 years of service.  People want "new" and the industry will provide what people will pay for.  I laughed out loud because I remember people on this board talking about "the new ship smell."

Thanks for the info.

[sail7seas]

I was last on Veendam, July 2018 to Bermuda and had a very   disappointing cruise on her.   It would have to be an extraordinary   reason  for  me to purposefully sail her again without a major refit. 

 

 

 

sail.noordam@gmail.com

[iancal]

We would consider a cruise  on Veedam if and perhaps when  Phoenix Reisen bought her and refurbed her properly-not the band aid, paper clip, or elastic band type of refurb to simply smooth over the more obvious rough bits.

 

Otherwise, no thank you, we will pass.

Edited September 2, 2019 by iancal

[tpwolfe]

When my wife and travel alone we look at itinerary and cruise ships as transportation only and all the other stuff is a bonus.  We pick a cruise ship because of the itinerary.  If it’s not a good itinerary we don’t do that ship.  When we travel with the grand kids we look at the ship and not the itinerary.  The last 2 cruises with the grand kids we have done MSC because of the water slides, bowling, and a lot other things kids enjoy.  They have a ball.

[sail7seas]

20 hours ago, tpwolfe said:

When my wife and travel alone we look at itinerary and cruise ships as transportation only and all the other stuff is a bonus.  We pick a cruise ship because of the itinerary.  If it’s not a good itinerary we don’t do that ship.  When we travel with the grand kids we look at the ship and not the itinerary.  The last 2 cruises with the grand kids we have done MSC because of the water slides, bowling, and a lot other things kids enjoy.  They have a ball.

 

Depending upon the children's ages, I don't think they would much like Veendam

 

It is a shame as she was once  a  lovely ship.  We started sailing her during her Inagural Season     BUT stopped after the massive messy blunder they made. with her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

On 8/30/2019 at 1:02 PM, Sir PMP said:

Including the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam..

 

 

With respect, cruise consultants are not always the best source for current accurate information.  Sadly some have been known to get things really wrong.

 

 

[sail7seas]

With respect, cruise consultants are not always the best source for current accurate information.  Sadly some have been known to get things really wrong

[sail7seas]

On 8/31/2019 at 10:50 AM, jimmy2x said:

Thanks for the info.  An absolute deal-killer for me. 

Maasdam, certainly an "S" class ship still has her wonderful aft pool

 

They made an awful mess of Veendam's aft pool area.  Not only is the pool gone but they also ruined the views by putting some horrid looking huge hot  tubs  Veendam is not going to be easy to sell  IMO. Though it is my understanding she has stood available for purchase for quite a long time.

 

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

On 9/2/2019 at 4:23 AM, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Thanks for the info.

Surely you knew the  size of

Veendam when you booked your cruise and compared  her to the other  ships you mention when opting to book her for the great  Canada/New England  itinerary?