JimnKaren

We were on Veendam for 14 days in mid-December. Less than 900 pax on board! I had initially thought that it might be due to news coverage about hurricane damage, but changed my mind a bit once I saw the demographics on the ship.

There were (surprisingly) many people under 18! We had only 4 sea days out of 14. Lots of ports and lots of things to do. What?

It was, in my opinion, all about timing. Too many folks, no matter the price, wanted to cruise late December, not the middle of the month!

I cruise the cruise lines postings and notice that there are some cruise lines that just don't discount. They seem to me to be willing to sail with less-than-full ships rather than discount to draw more passengers. Holland America Line does the discount thing. And yet, they still did not draw enough to come close to 9/10 full. OK with me, that left lots of open tables in the dining room for me and plenty of seating for the 3 great shows that the dancers and singers provided.

I have looked at my future booked cruises (on more than HAL) and see plenty of open cabins. Is it too many cabins? And yet, the marketing gurus have determined that building larger capacity ships is the way to go. No thanks. I'll stay with less than 4,000 passengers.

Jim

Just off Veendam. New wine packages. Used to be Navigator and Admiral and choices were 3, 5 or 7 bottles.

Now there are three packages and the choices are 4, 6 or 8 bottles.

Four bottles on package number 1 is $119; on number 2 is $149; and number 3 is $189. I will guess that you don't want the 6 or 8 bottle package. There are some decent (not great) wines on package number 1. Do the math, and determine your best option. We did the number 2 and asked our wine steward to tap into some previously offered wines and he obliged.

Jim

If you go into the Ocean Bar, and you happen to see either Karen or Evan or Enrico, let them know that Jim and Karen remember them.

29 days in 2017 on Veendam.

Jim

Leaving for Veendam on Friday for 14 days. The price dropped a couple of hundred dollars for our guarantee cabin. I asked our TA if she could get HAL to do anything for us. Nope.

Our TA gave us some OBC because we book so much with her, but HAL (115 on HAL in the past 13 months) did not want to do anything for us. Nuts.

Jim

When we got off Zuiderdam on 11/26, thee were two agents handling the regular people and one in the Global Entry. However the Global Entry person had only a couple of passengers, so he was accepting us regular people. The big problem was that hundreds (not dozens) of passengers elected the expedited and it was slow from the beginning of the process.

Jim

Thanksgiving Day on Zuiderdam. I was in my cabin in the afternoon, I wanted to watch college basketball (several tournaments were being played). What I discovered on ESPN was the NBC feed of a professional football game. It was the same game that was being shown on the “special events” channel, the NBC feed of the professional football game. I called the front desk to complain and ask for an explanation. The woman returned my call several minutes later to inform me that someone (she would not give a name) from ‘marketing’ made the decision to show the same game on two channels.

We had been to all ports previously. This cruise was not to get off the ship and do things. It was to relax. I went ashore to buy a t-shirt in Colon and spent 60 minutes wandering Limon. That was all I did off the ship.

It was a good cruise, but I wish care had been taken with many housekeeping chores (from dry dock) that did not get addressed.

Temperature variances on the ship made for several unpleasant experiences. For instance: there was very little air flow in the Pinnacle Bar and it seemed stuffy and warm during the entire voyage; whereas in the aft portion of the Lincoln Center Stage it was breezy and extremely cool.

Pinnacle Bar is where my wife and I spent a minimum of 90 minutes prior to our evening meal. The bartender, Mark and the bar attendant John are among the best teams that you have working with your cruise line. Whenever John got busy with ‘special’ guests in the venue, Mark came from behind the bar and took orders and then served the drinks. I have never seen that happen before. John always made time for those passengers under four years old with a smile and maybe a card trick for the older guests

Elevator 14 was not working properly about half through the voyage. The buttons on the starboard side did not work at all and the message above the door never changed. I approached the front desk and inquired if they were aware of the problems and the woman said that they knew about the situation. I should have submitted a comment card as the situation was never resolved during our time on the ship.

As You Wish Dining was our choice as we rarely feel the need to dine at a fixed time every day. Often, after sitting in the Pinnacle Bar, we would arrive on deck 2 much later than most passengers. In theory, with fewer guests to serve, the service would seem to be better; however, that was not our experience. Three times, the waiter came to the table to apologize for slow service due to issues in the kitchen. One night, the waiter reported that my pasta dish was the problem. I have worked in professional kitchens. If pasta is on the menu, then there is always a pot of water simmering. There is no good excuse that a main dish of pasta should be delayed due to kitchen issues. Never.

I don't know why the font is doing what it is doing. I apologize.

After our evening meal, I approached the front desk and informed them of the speaker problem, and the response was a shrug of the shoulders. I then mentioned the circumstance of the TV not working and that comment resulted in an immediate phone call to a technician. The tech who came to our cabin had to remove the TV from the wall and plug the cable feed into the proper receptacle. My concern was, why didn’t the cabin steward deal with that situation prior to our arrival!

The TV did not work; I called the front desk and informed them of the problem. We waited in our cabin for the drill to begin, but noticed that there were no working speakers in our cabin; we had to have the cabin door open in order to hear the announcements in the passageway. During the drill, we stood at Lifeboat 11, the outside speakers were faulty and neither my wife nor I could understand much of anything that was said.

Being 4-star Mariners, our embarkation was smooth and swift, after arriving on the pier about 12:45 p.m. Cabin 4111 was our assigned stateroom with an outside guarantee fare

Gelato in Canaletto.

Jim

We did a back-to-back 14 plus 7 out of Tampa a few years ago. There was a significant difference in the age demographics. Not just teens, but there were folks in their 40s who were working and could get off for only 7 days at a time. (I once had a job that allowed 3 weeks off, but I was not allowed to take more than one week at a time.)

Jim

We are booked on Veendam this month; we are booked on Maasdam in late February; and we are booked on Rotterdam next November. Whine! I didn't get one.

I did send a 6-page letter to guest relations and to Orlando about my Zuiderdam experiences from last month. Nothing in response. I did not mention Cruise Critic. Maybe I ought to post a review here and see what happens.

Jim

The canal passage will seem hot as there is generally not much of a breeze and the ship will not be moving fast enough to create any cooling. If you are outside during the canal passage, be prepared for more than "warm."

Jim

Veendam is crossing the Atlantic now as it ends HAL's final Atlantic Adventurer, it has been gone for 6 weeks. There is a high probability that most of the entertainers will be leaving when it returns to Port Everglades.

This spring, in the Ocean Bar, Ashley Wey led a trio that was good. On Eurodam this fall, The Band was in the Ocean Bar, a much different experience.

BB King's Blues does their thing in the evenings, generally well-attended if a bit too loud for my ears. There will be something in the Showroom at Sea every evening and you rarely know ahead of time who any guest performer might be in attendance.

Keep in mind that those itineraries are typically completed after schools start in the autumn, that will change the demographics to an older guest list. Most people at age 40 and under don't want to take kids from school to go to Nova Scotia or Bar Harbor.

Jim

Unless you are on a 14-day Alaska cruise, your days are mostly in port or near glaciers. At the time you are considering, there will be many (not lots) of passengers in your kid's age group. They should enjoy themselves.

Jim

We eat at the Pinnacle during the Canal passage and it is interesting to see the rise and fall of the ship. It is less of an 'issue' on a full passage as you would be in Gatun Lake. Still a nice leisurely lunch.

Jim

I am almost anal about completing my post-cruise survey. We'll have 115 days on HAL within the last 13 months and did not get anything for any of our four cruises for this year.

Jim

There are 'packages' that you can purchase that will allow a slight discount. Otherwise, you have to have the 'stars' to get a discount.

Jim

We got off Zuiderdam on 11/26. We have done the expedited process for several years. Usually there are 50 people or so who get off that way. On the 26th, Karen and I figured that there were more than 300! Yes, it took a long time to get through customs with that many people and only three agents working. I believe that there were 7 cruise ships in port that day, customs people were spread thin.

Jim

Maybe our cabin steward missed it, but we did not have a "port guide" in our cabin. Likewise, there were no maps of the town when I got off in Colon and Limon.

Is that another revenue saving device?

Jim

Before you get to the canal, watch the Panama Canal TV programs. They are very good and the information will help you during your passage.

Jim

That area of the island (Nuns Valley) is spectacular. I want to return. Enjoy your sea days as the last Atlantic Adventurer returns to Port Everglades.

In the Ocean Bar, there was a person playing the piano from 5:00 - 5:45 and 7:00 - 7:45 only. Neither The Band nor The Ocean Trio were not in evidence. The thing with the Ocean Bar on this class of ship is that it is split, part of it is above Pinnacle Grill and part of it is above Pinnacle Bar/Art Gallery. Thus, there is the primary walk-through from the front to back of the ship. Unlike Maasdam, Amsterdam and Veendam where the walk-through does not go through the bar area.

Jim