Live Aboard Veendam

[Clay Clayton]

Posting live from aboard Veendam while docked at Amber Cove (substitute for Grand Turk where it was forecast to be too windy to port😱?). 

 

First time cruising Holland America and with the exception of a guarantee stateroom snafu which caused way too much of a runaround and the lack of Christmas decor🎄so far we have relatively pleased with the food and service. 

 

We have been surprised by the background music - seems to us that Beyoncé, Gaga and Katy Perry are a bit offbrand for HAL. 😂

 

If anyone has any questions, I can try to respond with answers when we are in port. We aren’t paying for internet. 

 

[Vic The Parrot]

5 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Posting live from aboard Veendam while docked at Amber Cove (substitute for Grand Turk where it was forecast to be too windy to port😱?). 

 

First time cruising Holland America and with the exception of a guarantee stateroom snafu which caused way too much of a runaround and the lack of Christmas decor🎄so far we have relatively pleased with the food and service. 

 

We have been surprised by the background music - seems to us that Beyoncé, Gaga and Katy Perry are a bit offbrand for HAL. 😂

 

If anyone has any questions, I can try to respond with answers when we are in port. We aren’t paying for internet. 

 

Last time I was on Veendam, she stole my heart again. 

 

Looking forward to your postings. 

Have a great time!

 

[kgd]

Scheduled for next week's cruise on the Veendam. First time sailing with Holland. How formal (ie tuxes) are the gala nights or are most of the men just wearing suits

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for checking in.

[cat shepard]

Bon Voyage & following seas!

[cowmilker]

Hey, Clay. Dave and I are boarding the Veendam on the 18th, which is probably when you are disembarking.  🙂  Have a super good trip.

[RuthC]

4 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

We have been surprised by the background music - seems to us that Beyoncé, Gaga and Katy Perry are a bit offbrand for HAL. 😂

Oh, ew. Not at all what I would want to listen to. Are they trying to drive people back to their cabins? 

[erewhon]

Thanks for your post,  have a fabulous cruise on the Veendam.

[Clay Clayton]

On 12/6/2019 at 2:01 PM, cowmilker said:

Hey, Clay. Dave and I are boarding the Veendam on the 18th, which is probably when you are disembarking.  🙂  Have a super good trip.

Actually we are disembarking on the 11th. Hope you have a great cruise!

[Clay Clayton]

22 hours ago, RuthC said:

Oh, ew. Not at all what I would want to listen to. Are they trying to drive people back to their cabins? 

Dunno, just found it a bit surprising.  The non background music is generally more in keeping with their guests.  Though I heard two folks complaining a bit ago that yesterday’s movie was Spider-Man. “Who wants to watch that-seen one you’ve seen them all. They need to show good movies”. 😂

[puppycanducruise]

Hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Looking forward to reading all about it.

[Djptcp]

Have a great cruise. We will be sailing on her in Feb. We also have a Guarantee (Vista Suite) and hope we don't have any snafus.

[Hobbsey]

Greetings, I was wondering about the safety drill.  How long did it run, was it held outside, that kind of thing.  I'm also interested in the Thermal Suite, size and availability.  Is there a day pass available and at what price.  We are trying to decide if we should get cruise long access.

 

I hope you relax into the HAL style and learn to love the wonderful service and beautiful and comfortable spaces.  Although, I agree, I'm not sure why aren't piping in Sinatra, Big Band or something more evocative of a quieter era of cruising.

[Clay Clayton]

The drill was one of the differences from other cruise lines. It was posted for 4pm with a 5 o’clock sailaway time.

 

At 3:45 pm, there were two long blasts followed by an announcement that this was a drill and that the first stage had started. That certain crew were to report to their stations.  A little before 4, there was another set of blasts and all guests were requested to go to their staterooms and await further directions.  It appeared that many instead went and hung out inside the doorways leading to the promenade deck-presume these are experienced HALers. A little after 4pm we got the seven short and one long blast and were directed to our lifeboat stations outside on the promenade. 

 

This is where it got really interesting. Even though there are clearly station # marked at locations along the promenade, we were directed to not wait there but to “keep walking” to we reached a handheld sign with our lifeboat station printed on it. This location appeared to be under “our lifeboat” and therefor I suspect that the first sign we saw would be where we would a actually gather while the boats were lowered. Then move to the spot where we were told to keep walking to reach.  Here we would enter the boat. But since no one I asked could explain what the other sign was for, my fingers are crossed that we don’t have an actual emergency. 

 

Other concerns were that two of the three card scanners assigned to our group were offline so it wasn’t entirely clear if everyone was actually confirmed to have attended.  Also, the promenade was barely wide enough for the number of people to stand so I have concern on what it would be like on a full sailing and in a real emergency when few would heed the request to remain calm. 

 

While I appreciate HAL making the drill more like what steps would actually be taken in a real emergency, I wonder if I would have the calmness of mind to actually go back to my cabin rather than to the lifeboats. 

 

Sorry I don’t have any information about the Thermal Suite. 

[sevenseasnomad]

Trust me, if a passenger wasn't scanned into the system at the Muster Drill, you would have heard their name called.  They would not have been allowed to sail.  I'm sure the crew was checking off names from a list if the name didn't register properly on the hand-held device.  We have been on cruises where names were called and those passengers were escorted from the ship only minutes from leaving the Port Everglades dock.  HAL takes the Muster Drill seriously as they should.

 

Sailed Veendam on a Bermuda cruise 2011.  Lovely memories.  Hope you have a marvelous time.

Edited December 7, 2019 by sevenseasnomad

[Clay Clayton]

Discovered tonight that the menu on the app doesn’t necessarily correlate to what they are actually serving on the buffet. Not a real issue but just should be noted. 

 

We have loved the breads and some of the desserts (key lime pie at the buffet) have been great. The grilled lamb chops tonight on the buffet were really tasty (especially if you could get them directly from the flat top a minute or two before the chef thought they were done!). 

 

We went to tea today and it was fine.  No you as good as Viking (but then again we didn’t pay Viking prices!). The only complaint about the tea was the scone.  It was tough and why would you serve it pre-creamed and pre-jammed? LOL

 

and why oh why do the salt and pepper shakers in the Main Dining Room look like the ones from my Grandmother’s beachhouse in 1965???? 😂 The one’s in the buffet are more substantial and in better shape. 

 

oh, and to whom can I talk to have one of these daily rugs at my house? #iNeverKnowWhatDayItIs

 

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by Clay Clayton

[*Miss G*]

Sadly, afternoon tea is more of a nod to yesterday than what it should be.  That scone looks hideous.  Thanks for bringing us along!

[Copper10-8]

Hi Clay, appreciate you posting! Can you tell us a bit about the showroom/main stage evening entertainment on Veendam this week? Step One dancers? Comedian? Magician? BBC Earth? Thanks! 

 

Btw, good to hear about more modern background/piped in music and recording artists in the public areas, as opposed to Lawrence Welk, the champagne music makers, the Semonski sisters and other ancient elevator music 

[ski ww]

Welcome to HAL, thanks for posting your review. 

[puppycanducruise]

That scone looks terrible.

Hope there were other choices.

[Krazy Kruizers]

What is HAL thinking serving scones that look like a hockey puck?

[Clay Clayton]

There were other choices which were fine but nothing special except for the linzer cookie which was delicious! See photo below of the whole stand. 

 

The entertainment this week has been the Veendam Singers and Dancers (three of the four are quite good!), a comedian and his puppet (tonight-probably won’t go), a pianist (didn’t go as we ended up being still at dinner) and BBC World. 

 

The “as you wish” dining program should perhaps be renamed “as we wish”. The maitre’d basically told us if we do not want a wait then we need to come before 5:15 or after 7:30. Fixed seating wasn’t an option offered us and I wasn’t too upset about it since early was too early and late too late.  Not a biggie as we really aren’t show folks and we have gotten used to expecting a 20-30 minute wait to be seated. But other lines seem to perhaps have a better system. It is crazy to see the number of empty tables waiting to be reset when there are so many folks waiting to be seated.  Also, HAL seems to need more seaters. One night there was only one so there were six or eight parties standing waiting for him to take them to their tables. 

 

 

[CruiseMGM]

Thanks so much for your comments on the "as you wish" dining. We have that on our cruise next month (no choice given when booking) and have only had it once before on HAL. We weren't big fans of the situation THEN, and I'm not sure we'll be big fans NOW, either. Since we like both of the specialty restaurants, I booked dinner for our first and last nights, as well as one night in the middle, and we'll thus be assured of a quieter table-for-two with no wait at least 3x during our cruise. And there's always the buffet, which (long-ish ago!) served different food than the MDR and now serves the same, so it's convenient if you don't want to "dress up"...…...…..although our "dressing up" has dwindled over the years as the cost of checked bags has risen!

 

I've also enjoyed looking at your blog, Clay! You and Mike have definitely had some great adventures. We're going on a Gate1 escorted tour to include Xi'an and Beijing next October, so I feverishly read over your prose and devoured your photos, just fantastic! We had a few overnights on our Asia cruise several years ago and a group from our roll call booked tours with China Highlights...... fantastic programs and guides, and we definitely saw and experienced a lot.

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise, thanks for posting your impressions! Best wishes!

[Clay Clayton]

There have been some differences between the MDR and the buffet-for example last night the menu said there was turkey in the MDR but brisket in the Lido. The brisket was actually whole roast pig (delicious) and they are supposed to have turkey upstairs tonight being carved. Hopefully it’s not leftovers from last night 😂

 

Thanks for your kind words about the blog.  I am Waaay behind but hope to catch up during the winter months when we will be sitting still for awhile. Please “follow” as I’m trying to make it a slight money generator (via ad revenue) to offset some of the costs (web hosting) and the more followers the better my chances at that!

 

I hope you have a great cruise!

[cat shepard]

11 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

There have been some differences between the MDR and the buffet-for example last night the menu said there was turkey in the MDR but brisket in the Lido. The brisket was actually whole roast pig (delicious) and they are supposed to have turkey upstairs tonight being carved. Hopefully it’s not leftovers from last night 😂

 

Thanks for your kind words about the blog.  I am Waaay behind but hope to catch up during the winter months when we will be sitting still for awhile. Please “follow” as I’m trying to make it a slight money generator (via ad revenue) to offset some of the costs (web hosting) and the more followers the better my chances at that!

 

I hope you have a great cruise!

Would you post the link to your blog again, please. I would be happy to follow!