Veendam review

[stevexy]

Just got back from Veendam Alaska.

 

My impressions--

 

1) service on HAL Veendam was excellent. No question--everyone nice, helpful, etc. Really doing a great job.

 

2) food I thought was great. Very small portions by "Cheesecake Factory.." standards but frankly I was very happy--ordered appetizer, entree, desert, soup, and at end of meal was full but not stuffed (ps if you are looking fro stuffed just order more food..) Presumeably they are trying to save money here and avoid wastage with a "tapas" type portions, but it worked for me (and again--if you want more food--just order it). Again, food, preparation, choices, etc outstanding. We mostly ate in sitdown restuarant--not the lido.

 

3) room--I had a HH obstructed "discount" room. For the price --great. But yes, as other posters have noted, you definitely hear some occassional loud noises above you from whatever they are doing in the kitchen at 530am. And room is only 182 sq feet compared to usual 198. But price was right--just be prepared for occassional loud crashing noises in the very early am. It might have been worth it to go to a higher grade room. Suites looked really wonderful--but cost is much higher. You pay for what you get. Is great being on Lower prom deck for taking a walk, as long as you remember to close curtains at night, or you will be "on display".

 

4) Shore excursions--cant say--I did everything with my own booking. Took airplane out of Haines to fly over glacier bay--very nice--used FlyDrake, Drake picked us up at the boat, we went to airfield and took off to see the glaciers. Heard people liked the rafting which we didnt do. Mendenhall you can do by yourself. Sitka you can do by yourself with a lot of walking.

 

5) Odor of sewage--something definitely wrong midship--you definitely got the ongoing mild to moderate toilet odor in the hallway midships at the lower prom deck at least--dont know about other decks. But people said they couldnt smell it in their room. We were at end of ship -- no odor down there. maybe that is why veendam going into drydock to fix this.

 

6) I did speak to one couple whose room flooded from broken pipe. As of when I spoke to them HAL was offering a $150 room credit, which is an insult as a reponse for staying in a soaked room. I dont know how these people ended up, but it didnt look like HAL was doing the right thing.

 

7) Veendam is an older ship, but is in generally good repair. Is kind of like a very well maintained 80's hotel

 

8) Hubbard glacier was wonderful.

 

Overall thought it was great.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your review. Were you on the August 8 northbound sailing? We were on the July 25 NB Veendam cruise, also in an HH cabin - and I loved it. We had fog and ice at Hubbard Glacier, and didn't get close at all. The Millennium also didn't move from in front of the glacier, and apparently we timed out and left. :( It was Capt. James' first cruise back on the Veendam, so perhaps he has had a few words with the Millennium's captain since then!

[NancyIL]

Sorry - double post

[stevexy]

yes we were on the august 8th, and in this case we got very close to glacier--crew commented it was the closest they got. Hubband was really impressive. Filmed a couple of calving episodes. Sorry you didnt have as good of an experience. But the HH cabin, sounds like you agree--just great for the money, I would do it again in a minute...

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home.

 

Glad you had a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

[Kamloops50]

We are leaving on the Veendam on Aug 22 for 14 days.

This is our third cruise (second on HAL) and a first to Alaska.

We found portions small on our HAL cruise thru the Panama in 06.Was fine with us as we didn't want to eat alot and gain weight.

 

My 91 yr old dad is going with us. His first cruise to anywhere, the smaller portions will suit he just fine. Did you do fixed dining or anytime dining?

[Kamloops50]

We are leaving on the Veendam on Aug 22 for 14 days.

This is our third cruise (second on HAL) and a first to Alaska.

We found portions small on our HAL cruise thru the Panama in 06.Was fine with us as we didn't want to eat alot and gain weight.

 

My 91 yr old dad is going with us. His first cruise to anywhere, the smaller portions will suit he just fine. Did you do fixed dining or anytime dining?

[fireman845]

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Veendam!!

[Colakid]

Thank you for the great review. DW and I board the Veendam in about 4 weeks and glad to hear she is still alive and well. We left her in good shape last fall and hoped everyone would take good care of her over the last 10 months when we were away. Somewhat sad about Captain Albert leaving the helm for another ship but we will get over this and have to meet a new captain. Sailing soon. Colakid

[JimVrhovac]

Thank you for the review.

 

The Veendam is our favorite ship

 

Ruth & Jim

[Loreto]

Thanks for the review! we will be on the Veendam Nov. 1 Lower Prom midship outside...hope the sewer smell is gone.:eek:

 

Karen

[stevexy]

to prior poster--I am trying to remember but toilet smell around 386 maybe, and may only be on that side of the boat--we never went down the hallway ont he other side. But other than remembering to close your window shades at night--being on the lower prom deck is great. But again, the people in room said smell only in hallway, not in room.

 

we did open dining, and had no problems at all--maybe waited 5 minutes at most. Nut we generally ate around 600pm.

 

One thing I noticed--the later you eat, the more formally dressed everyone is. At 600pm formal night--sportcoats, 800pm--suits and tuxes.

 

Again, service and food ont he Veendam was outstanding. HAL did the job.