Veendam

[lb0103]

We have been on Westerdam and Zuierdam, loved them both, but our first HAL was the Maasdam. Then Maasdam as a ship was great as an old ship, but the service was awful. It took us a while before we booked the new Westerdam, at the time. We loved it and last year went on the Zuierdam and also loved it.

 

We are now looking at the Veendam for fall and are looking for comments about her.

 

Anyone care to comment?

 

Linda

[WindyCity]

We sailed on the Veendam this past December and liked the ship more than the Westerdam, which was our previous cruise. It is smaller and seems more intimate - the staff was great!

[jtl513]

We have been on Westerdam and Zuierdam, loved them both, but our first HAL was the Maasdam. Then Maasdam as a ship was great as an old ship, but the service was awful. We are now looking at the Veendam for fall and are looking for comments about her.

We had great service on the Veendam, as on the Westerdam and the Noordam. (I don't remember that much about the service on the Amsterdam.)

[lb0103]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, I was glad to hear someone that has been on her recently liked it.

[Randyk47]

We were on the Veendam this past March. Not exactly the greatest cruise we've been on. The ship was great, the service was great every place but the dining room, but the food in the dining was below par so the service issue just made it really bad. The other disappointment, at least for us, was the lack of a band in the Crow's Nest which, up until the Veendam cruise, had always been our favorite. After probably the cruise of all cruises on the Volendam the year before we had very high hopes but it just didn't quite come together on our cruise. Now that's not to say it was a bad cruise, not sure there is such a thing on HAL. We prefer the smaller ships over the Vista class ships so that wasn't a problem. In fact, in order of preference we'd go Volendam, Ryndam, Oosterdam, and then the Veendam.

[lb0103]

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it when people tell it like it is. We chose this ship because of the itinerary to the western carribean. I do know one thing for sure, we will NEVER go hungry on a cruise. We seem to find something that we like and the sampling is the best part.

 

I think we will go ahead and book it!

[Copper10-8]

............The other disappointment, at least for us, was the lack of a band in the Crow's Nest which, up until the Veendam cruise, had always been our favorite........

 

Randy, we had the same situation on Ryndam this spring. Seems to be one of the ongoing changes HAL is making (experimenting? with) (to take the dedicated nightly band out of the CN). There was a thread here a month and a half ago or so from one of the HAL musicians who addressed this. He (and apparently his fellow contract musicians) was/were not a happy camper(s) with this "new" arrangement by HAL.

 

To the OP: Veendam will do you good!! "S" class ships are more compact than the Vista's and a favorite of many HAL fans!

[lee-gold]

We've sailed on HAL Volendam, Rotterdam, Ryndam, Noordam, Zuiderdam, Oosterdam and Westerdam, but our very favorite is Veendam.

 

We've booked out next two cruises on her, 14 days in in November 2007 and again in February 2008, and are looking forward to both of them eagerly.

 

The size suits us better than any of the others, and the service has been exceptional.

[lb0103]

Lee-Gold

We will try to leave her in good shape when we disembark.

 

We do not do the suites, we try to cruise once a year and they are not in our budget. We will enjoy our porthole on Main and swim with the fishes.

 

We have been on the Westerdam and Zuiderdam and loved them both, we don't really "get into" the decore of any ship, we just enjoy walking around and checking everything out. As for the poor service we had on Maasdam, we chaulk that up the luck of the draw. We had balconys on the bigger ships and that may be why we had better service.

 

We will still enjoy our cruise!

[ookpik]

lurve the Veendam!!Great ship,great crew and usually great Master.

And besides that..the first HAL ship that my DH went on and convinced

by HER that cruising was forever!!

[localady]

The Veendam is my favorite S ship and I have cruised on all 4!:D We had an absolutely lovely S. Caribbean cruise with on her in Nov. 2005, and are hoping for a similar experience this November.:D

Note to Lee-Gold: If you are cruising on Nov.25, come sign in on our roll call please!!;)

[harryjr]

lb0103Thanks for the comments, I appreciate it when people tell it like it is. We chose this ship because of the itinerary to the western carribean. I do know one thing for sure, we will NEVER go hungry on a cruise. We seem to find something that we like and the sampling is the best part.

 

I think we will go ahead and book it!

 

Are you considering the Dec. 9 Western Caribbean? If so, there is a roll call started but it is not very active. We're considering that date also, but haven't decided yet.

[harryjr]

That last post wasn't supposed to have lb0103's message on it. Sorry.

[lb0103]

No problem!

 

We just booked the 10/21 Western Carib out of Tampa.

 

Now all we have to do is wait for our passports, we renew now so we won't have to worry if a short trip comes up. They have had them 10 weeks already and from what I have read on here they are averaging about 14-15 weeks.

[ortrud]

We Cruised The Veendam Last December And Are Booked For The Nov 14 Day Cruise, This Year. This Will Be Our Third Time On Her. Love The Ship And The Crew.

[cle1]

We did the Transatlantic on the Veendam in April, and enjoyed it sooo much we booked the Nov.4 Caribbean.

[May4]

Yes, you'll have a fine time on the Veendam. I just know it. We took a 7-day trip from Tampa last February/March. It was our third time on the Veendam.

 

There's proof for you:)

 

A wonderful time was had by all. We happened to have a C stateroom on the Lower Promenade Deck. That's a handy spot for reaching all areas of this beautiful ship.

[lb0103]

I am SOOOO grateful for all the comments.

 

We booked our own air and we are READY, of course it would be nice if we had our passports and docs in hand, but we have time.

 

I guess I can start trying on clothes, I'll do that for the next 4 months and my husband, the week before we go will pull out 7 shirts(2 white), 1 suit,black and 4 pair of pants and he does that in 20 minutes. I get the undies and he is ready to go.

 

Well at least I take my time and enjoy being excited.

 

Can't wait

[grammyc]

ib0103

 

We also took our first cruise ever on the Veendam in Feb/March this year. We went with 12 other family members and had a blast!! Since we had never been on a cruise before, we had no idea what to expect. We were on the Navigation Deck in a stateroom with a verandah. Had the most wonderful room steward (Sonny) who was attentative without being obtrusive. Everyone on the crew from the front desk staff to the casino dealers and everyone in between were wonderful. Always greeted with a smile and a pleasant "hello". The Veendam's public areas were quite easy to navigate around and in fine condition. The food in the Lido was good (sure miss the bread pudding) and the menu in the dining room had several choices for everyone's liking. Of course, food is always subjective! Our ports-of-call were Key West, Belize, Guatemala and Costa Maya. Our favorite excursion was cave tubing in Belize. I know you will enjoy your cruise and enjoy everything about the Veendam. Look forward to hearing your report upon your return.

 

May 4 - Were we on the same cruise? Left Tampa on Feb. 25th. We were the loud family group at sailaways!!

 

Happy Sailing . . .

 

Cindy

[refman]

our first cruise ever was on the veendam in 1997 and so hooked us that we`ve been on a cruise a year since then and two years we did two cruises.all but two have been on holland america and three were on the veendam including our marriage at the key west port. we think it still is the nicest ship of hal`s fleet and will hopefully be back on the veendam within the next two years. good luck and have a great trip.

[refman]

We were on the Veendam this past March. Not exactly the greatest cruise we've been on. The ship was great, the service was great every place but the dining room, but the food in the dining was below par so the service issue just made it really bad. The other disappointment, at least for us, was the lack of a band in the Crow's Nest which, up until the Veendam cruise, had always been our favorite. After probably the cruise of all cruises on the Volendam the year before we had very high hopes but it just didn't quite come together on our cruise. Now that's not to say it was a bad cruise, not sure there is such a thing on HAL. We prefer the smaller ships over the Vista class ships so that wasn't a problem. In fact, in order of preference we'd go Volendam, Ryndam, Oosterdam, and then the Veendam.

we also were on the volendam two years ago and had one of our best cruise experiences ever, with specific regards to service thruout the entire ship.

[HeatherInFlorida]

We haven't been on Veendam yet, but look forward to our 11/25 14-day out of Tampa on her. I loved the Maasdam so can't imagine not being happy on Veendam.

 

The S-class are a wonderful size ... not as small as I would like, but pretty close!!!

 

Glad you found a cruise you like, Linda ... just leave the ship tip top for all of us following you!!!:)

[nobbync]

All of you must have known I was also looking for info on the Veendam. I am trying to arrange a family renunion onboard the Veendam on August 8, 2008 for 14 days in Alaska next year. A couple days ago I was searching for comments on the Veendam when thus thread appeared... Thanks for all the comments and looks like a good choice for a ship...

 

Nobby

[refman]

good luck

[lb0103]

I'm glad I was not the only interested in comments on this ship.

 

Those that have cruise with HAL before know what to expect and for us, we expect great service and the ship is our way of seeing different parts of the world for us. Each ship has it's own personality and we have not been on ANY ship in ANY line that we have not liked.

 

It is nice to know the quirks of a ship but I enjoy hearing the past experiences, both good and bad, of other cruisers.

 

Next year in Alaska make sure you do the helicopter to a glacier and the whale watching, both FANTASTIC.

 

Linda