VEENDAM questions for recent cruisers?

[Cruisin Kay D]

Need information/answers from recent (December+January) Veendam cruisers: 

• Was the Dining Room open for lunch on boarding day?    (We board  2/5) 
• How was the Entertainment and Daily Activities?
• Was the Ship in good condition?
• Any other pertinent info you want to share before we board?

 

[patdiferdi]

We were on her in November for 18 days. The crew was exceptional. Although an older ship it was clean and very well maintained. Yes dining room was open but only til 1 on embarkation day. Daily activities was about normal for HAL 

[Crazy For Cats]

We were on for ten days in December.  Dining room was open on embarkation day, food was good but service was unusually slow.  Entertainment was average, we did have singers and dancers.  The ship was in good condition.  We had the internet on the ship and it worked wonderfully except for the one day the satellite went down for the entire fleet.

[I like vacation]

Cruised January 15 to 22, 2020.  Veendam had a great, friendly crew as usual with HAL.  Ship was very clean, service in MDR was very good,  porterhouse steak in the Pinnacle was excellent.  Service and portions in the Canaletto was very good as well.  Finally had the HAL version of Beef Wellington in the MDR on the second Gala Night which was also excellent.

 

This is the first HAL ship that had the electronic type Bingo tablet which seemed to run the cost up significantly.  We didn't use the pool or hot tubs but a few hot tubs were not in service for the entire cruise.  Embarkation in Ft Lauderdale went smoothly as we arrived around 11:30 and were allowed to board within 15 minutes.  We skipped the MDR for lunch but did attend the Mariner get to together the first day.  The Mariner lunch, later in the cruise, was done nicely as well.  Self disembarkation was a breeze at 7:20 am after a quick breakfast in the Lido.

 

Have a great cruise.

[VTcruisenut]

49 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

Cruised January 15 to 22, 2020.  Veendam had a great, friendly crew as usual with HAL.  Ship was very clean, service in MDR was very good,  porterhouse steak in the Pinnacle was excellent.  Service and portions in the Canaletto was very good as well.  Finally had the HAL version of Beef Wellington in the MDR on the second Gala Night which was also excellent.

 

This is the first HAL ship that had the electronic type Bingo tablet which seemed to run the cost up significantly.  We didn't use the pool or hot tubs but a few hot tubs were not in service for the entire cruise.  Embarkation in Ft Lauderdale went smoothly as we arrived around 11:30 and were allowed to board within 15 minutes.  We skipped the MDR for lunch but did attend the Mariner get to together the first day.  The Mariner lunch, later in the cruise, was done nicely as well.  Self disembarkation was a breeze at 7:20 am after a quick breakfast in the Lido.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

did they give a reason for the hot tubs being down?  and were they the ones in the Retreat Aft area?  We too , board on the 5th

[I like vacation]

14 minutes ago, VTcruisenut said:

 

did they give a reason for the hot tubs being down?  and were they the ones in the Retreat Aft area?  We too , board on the 5th

There was one hot tub by the Lido pool that was out of service and covered with a net and one by the Aft Retreat as well.  I didn't ask anyone why they were down as I wasn't using them.  

 

Additionally, the entertainment was standard HAL fare.  Comedian one night, ventriloquist another night and production show with very talented singers and dancers on two nights.  On the final night the comedian and ventriloquist had a split bill show. All entertaining but I am not expecting much from a HAL cruise in the entertainment department.

 

Premium internet plan was pretty good except for the last sea day when it didn't work most of the day.  We had "free" internet so I didn't ask about any partial refund for the day.

[LushLifeAtl]

5 hours ago, Cruisin Kay D said:

Need information/answers from recent (December+January) Veendam cruisers: 

• Was the Dining Room open for lunch on boarding day?    (We board  2/5) 
• How was the Entertainment and Daily Activities?
• Was the Ship in good condition?
• Any other pertinent info you want to share before we board?

 

I have seen conflicting information in my searches... for anyone who has sailed Veendam recently, does this ship show outdoor or poolside movies?

Edited February 3, 2020 by LushLifeAtl

[I like vacation]

46 minutes ago, LushLifeAtl said:

I have seen conflicting information in my searches... for anyone who has sailed Veendam recently, does this ship show outdoor or poolside movies?

 The Veendam does not have the capability for outdoor or poolside movies, there is no outdoor screen.  There is a very small indoor theater that show movies.  The staterooms are also not equipped with wall mounted flat screen tv's with an on demand type movie system.  The Veendam offers a DVD player in your cabin and large library of DVDs to borrow from.

[janmcn]

We were also on in January. Ship in good shape, entertainment typical, Barry from Boston in piano bar, food very good, DR open 12-1 on boarding day. We enjoyed her...and will be on for a month in September.