cruisebie

Just took it from Montreal to Boston, Sept 8-15, 2018, and posted a review here on Cruiscritic. I thought Veendam was great. Not shiny and new, but nobody's going to build a new ship this size anymore (I don't think), and I much prefer a ship like Veendam to a megaship. But they really appeal to very different travelers too.

 

 

 

Anyway, if you want more specifics go see the review I put up. I liked the Maasdam too.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=634384

 

A couple photos:

 

Arriving at Quebec City at dawn:

 

 

 

 

Taking the tender in at Bar Harbor:

 

Thanks for your review - very helpful information and beautiful pictures. I'm doing the Montreal to Ft Lauderdale cruise on the 6th and I'm seriously thinking about the Fun With Falcons excursion. That just looks amazing!

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13 days to go, so maybe I'll be getting my assignment soon. [emoji4]. They did send out an upsell email a couple of weeks ago, so maybe they will be ready to assign soon. The upsell was tempting @ $249 pp for a vista suite and probably well worth it. I didn't take it since I'm solo and would have to pay the full amount. I'm happy with the cabin type I booked.

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Call Holland America's Ship Services.....1-800-541-1576.....request an extension cord....and a gallon of distilled water is $2.95 (have your visa ready)....both will be in your room when you arrive....so much easier than bringing it onboard....

 

If you haven't received a cabin number.....print your blank luggage tags....the porters will have your cabin number when you arrive at the ship....:)

Thanks so much for that info, Rowsby. That is just what I needed to know. I just didn't want to lug that awkward gallon of water onboard! I keep logging in to my account & checking just in case my cabin gets assigned. Good to know I can just bring the blank ones & fill in at the pier.

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Yes, you will go through immigration in Bar Harbor. It didn't take long. Afterwards we headed right down to the tenders and were ashore by 10. Bought our Oli Trolley tickets in the shop and they brought the bus down to us as we did not have time to climb the hill to where they normally board.

Thanks Krazy Kruizers! That sounds like a good option. I may just wait until I'm on shore to get the tickets.

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I've booked a guaranteed lanai cabin on my upcoming cruise on the Veendam on 10/6. This is my first experience with booking a guarantee so I'm not sure what to expect. I know that you can receive your assignment at the dock. If that is the case what do you do about your luggage since the pre-printed tags won't have the cabin number?

Also, is there a way to request distilled water and an extension cord for my c-pap in advance?

One last random question lol, the cruise begins in Montreal & ends in Ft Lauderdale. Bar Harbor is our first U.S. port. I think I read that we will go through customs here. Is that correct? I'm thinking of booking a tour with Ollie's Trollies & so how long should I estimate for tendering & customs?

Thanks for any advice!

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Hi Kazu,

I'm very last minute making this booking, but can I be added to the listing? I'm on the Veendam's 11 day Atlantic Coastal for October 6, 2018. So much fun to be able to take a (relatively) last minute adventure!

Thank you for all you do in keeping up this listing and posting the Bon Voyage threads. That is a lot of work!

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What an amazing day! And I love the last pic of your Mom all wrapped up and covered up in the lounge chair. She's a trooper!

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It was in Charlottetown. We all got to hold a falcon and later feed a hawk. Bring your camera if you do this to take pictures and video.

 

 

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That sounds awesome! I will definitely look for that one. Thanks for the tip!

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Glad you found it helpful. The Canada/New England itinerary is wonderful. If you do excursions through HAL check out Fun with Falcons it was one of the better ones we have done.

 

 

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We just completed our 14 day cruise to Canada/New England and learned something new while in Canada. Some credit card terminals will give you the option of having the purchase converted to US dollars. A nice shop keeper let us know that there is a 4% fee tacked onto the charge for the conversion. If you are using a credit card that has no foreign fees, like the HAL card, the recommendation is to choose the Canadian dollar option instead of the US option. In my case the CAD was 31.74 the credit card machine option for US was 25.32 I opted for CAD and my credit card charge was 24.25.

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Just to be clear, purchases made prior to boarding are counted toward Mariner credits.

Thank you for clarifying that! I didn't realize those purchases counted too. I thought only those made on the ship were counted. Makes sense though.

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The reason I ask is that I had the same problem with an older gen iPad that couldn’t update to the newest OS, but I don’t have that problem with a new iPad running the current OS.

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Are you using an older iPad?

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Safari user here. No problem once figured out the "layout". On Thursday was able to change cabin selection, search for cabin, reserve specific cabin and place on 24 hour hold. Then asked my TA to go get the reservation the next day. Mind you I did use at least two non HAL websites to find available cabins that were not shown on the HAL website.

 

 

 

Peter

Would you mind posting how to do that? I found I can choose the cabin type if I go to to room tab before clicking on book, but I've never figured out how to get anything other than a guaranteed cabin. If I try to click on change stateroom and then on select your cabin, I get the whirling circle of doom. Also most of the time, if I log in I'm only able to see restricted fares and none of the other options.

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I was feeling guilty about posting a query before doing adequate research, so I looked at the Mariner FAQs on the HAL web site (and it didn't lock up on me!). I found this (bolding is mine) -

 

 

 

Q: Are any onboard charges excluded from the onboardpurchases bonus?

 

A: All casino charges, cash advances, Future Cruise deposits, and associated fees are excluded. All other onboard purchases, for example, Hotel Service Charge, Beverage Service Charge, taxes, shore excursions and all gift items purchased online or through Ship Services count towards bonus Cruise Day credits.

 

 

 

 

 

So it seems a little ambiguous - I will have to call or email the Mariner folks for clarification and report back. I would note that when you miss/change a port, the port charge refund shows up as a credit on your onboard account.

 

 

 

Long Live Creativity!

Port fees & taxes are paid as part of your cruise fare and are paid before you board the ship. To count as onboard spending, a charge would need to be paid when you were actually on the ship. I've never heard of additional port charges being posted while onboard, but I guess that could be possible.

My guess is that in the context you posted taxes refers to any taxes charged for purchases on the ship. For instance, some cities such as Miami require the ship to tax all alcohol purchases until the ship leaves port. Others may do the same. If you get clarification on this, please post back.

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I would call them. This may have happened to someone else & Cheers eventually re-appeared, but since you are sailing in 3 days I wouldn't wait. Much better to get it sorted out before you get on the ship. Who wants to spend valuable vacation time standing in a line? Plus it would probably take longer to fix onboard because they would probably have to ck with the shoreside people. I doubt the ship would have direct access to your account.

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OP, I understand your concern from your initial post. You are giving this cruise to your husband as a Christmas present, so naturally you want it to be a nice surprise.

I think you will have a good time on the Veendam. I was on the Veendam in mid June for a cruise to Bermuda and this was the smallest ship I had ever sailed on. I was a little concerned by some of the reviews I read beforehand but once onboard I was very pleased. Yes, the ship is older, but everything was spotless & in good repair. I found I loved the smaller, more intimate setting. Each evening there were shows, piano bar, music in the Ocean Bar, a movie in the Wajang Theatre, music & dancing in the Crows Nest. I always found something fun to do. The crew and service was excellent, as was the food. The one issue I had was that my room was too warm, but not so much so that I would never sail on this ship again. In fact, I've been trying to decide between two cruises on the Veendam for my next cruise--the New Years one you have booked and an 11 day from Montreal to Ft Lauderdale.

Have a great cruise. I think New Years aboard a ship would be a lot of fun! I wouldn't worry too much about the current problems. I'm sure this will be repaired asap. They seem to take good care of their ships.

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This must be Carnival's evil plan to get her to book another cruise. Bwaahaahaaa. [emoji41] I know that would work on me.

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Would the cabin be anywhere near the forward elevators? I had a lido cabin on Splendor last year that was near the forward elevators and consequently the atrium "shaft" for lack of a better term. The shaft acted like a sound funnel and I could hear every detail of everything that went on in the atrium while I was in my room. There are a lot of activities in the atrium these days:) I suspected that would be the case when I booked so I took ear plugs. Loved the convenience of getting to the buffet, Serenity deck and movies under the stars, but it was noisy.

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Oh I am now very steamed about late strollers to the ship knowing when it is to leave. I am not sure if you attend the captains q&a on Friday. My husband and I did and it was very informative and the captain very chatty and down to earth. One of the last questions was "does anyone miss the ship" and the captain replied "every week" and went through the procedure this week when three people didn't make the ship as it left Bermuda. It is quite a process as they did not have their passports etc. They had to spend the night at a hotel in Bermuda and fly back to Boston. No sympathy there from me. But what really upset me was that a woman reprimanded the captain in front of everyone for leaving the poor passengers in a "foreign" island. And made things worse by telling him that if he does not have the patience to wait for passengers then maybe he is in the wrong job. Seriously? I think those people who literally missed the boat are taking the wrong vacation. I felt so bad for the captain to have his hand slapped by this ignorant woman but he was gracious and acknowledged that he understood what she was saying. It does take all sorts of people and opinions but I could have done without hers!

I intended to go to the Captain's Q&A, but unfortunately missed it. The nerve of that woman! She clearly doesn't have much cruising experience to make those kinds of statements. Kudos to the Captain for the way he handled this. If it were me, I would have been tempted to take her down a peg or two. Maybe it's a good thing I missed this, that would have really upset me, too.

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I was on this cruise also. Loved this cruise and am sad that they won't be doing this itinerary next year. I would love to do this cruise again.

I was on my balcony at noon on Thursday and I was surprised at the number of people still casually strolling up to the ship far past the all aboard time of 12:00. One couple ambled up the path in no apparent hurry at 12:40. I don't know if they were clueless or have nerves of steel! I sure wouldn't chance it.

I'm looking forward to your review so I can relive it all through your eyes!

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I would keep checking every day. You never know what might happen. Also, if you can get an early check in time, hurry to the excursion desk as soon as you board and see if something is available. I recently had to cancel a cruise a day before sailing due to a family emergency. I had a cabana for HMC and cancelled that also. Hopefully someone was able to snap that cabana up at the last minute.

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Our aforementioned Platinum status also means that our stateroom is ready when we step onboard, so once we stepped onto the ship, we found our way to deck six, snuck past the closed doors and made the long walk from the forward elevators we boarded from all the way aft. And if I forget to mention it later, holy Farcus -- I’ve seen many wacky design schemes on Carnival ships, but the Splendor may take the award for the most out-there aesthetic.

 

 

 

I know what you mean. The whole time I was on the Splendor I kept craving a pink iced donut with chocolate drizzled on top. I wonder why[emoji848][emoji6]. Loving your review!

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Replied by mistake.[emoji4]

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If I had to guess, I'd say that sign is just something generic that that particular crew had printed. Because it doesn't even mention FTTF being allowed in their rooms and, regardless of the truth about D/P's, FTTF is definitely still allowed. If you take that sign literally, then even FTTF aren't allowed, which we know they still are.

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