Sorry to hear about your wife's scary situation. Glad it was not something serious. And thank you for your extensive review.
My fiance and I got married in a civil ceremony in Bermuda on Wednesday.
I reconnected with a friend who lives there,after 16 years. She invited us to dinner at her beautiful home and was a witness (and photographer) at our ceremony. We also had access to a private beach for people in her community and were the only ones there for a few hours. Of the several beaches we visited, including Horseshoe, this private beach was the most beautiful. After our wedding ceremony, she took us out to lunch at Harry's, her favorite restaurant in Hamilton. So she and her partner will always be a major part of our marriage memories.
This was my fourth cruise and my husband's first. We live in New York and arrived at the terminal close to 3PM so we were spared all the waiting as it turns out.
We loved the Lanai stateroom. The lower promenade deck never seemed too crowded and we loved being able to open the doors to the deck and sit outside on our chairs. We could see out of the room at all times and nobody could ever see in because the outside of the doors is mirrored. We had fun with that! It was like the SVU interrogation rooms!
Our complaints did not in any way disrupt our voyage but were annoying factors.
We ordered breakfast in our room every day which was convenient. The other meals were always in the dining room. We found the food ok-very good but not excellent. The wait staff in the dining room was very slow and sometimes a simple request like more coffe or some ice took forever, if it came at all.
We also found it hard to understand many of the staff members. I think the English competency standard should be higher.
Several of our various table mates felt they were being nickel and dimed, e.g. charged $2.95 for a bottle of water left in the room at the start of the voyage.
I bought 100 minutes of internet time. When I used up the 100 minutes, nothing on the screen indicated that and I was charged for any minutes over 100 even though I had not wanted to go beyond 100. Luckily I found this out after only 8 additional minutes and got the charge credited back. There should be a clock that counts down your minutes online. That's how most places work this.
My sister exerted a lot of effort to send us a bottle of champage onboard to celebrate our wedding day. And spent a pretty penny. We received a $12 bottle of wine in the room. I am looking into this and want her to get her charges credited back.
I have not written off Holland America but would not look to sail the Veendam again. I wish other ships would copy the Lanai stateroom layout.
P.S. I agree that David, the piano man, was terrific. There was also a wonderful classical quartet on board. And we liked the passengers we met in the dining room. They added to our voyage. We did open seating which I loved because we got to dinner at almost 9PM each night. And we almost always chose to be seated with others.
Waterfalls and an angel in white: Review of Veendam 8/19/2012 NYC to Bermuda
in Holland America Line
Posted
:D
Sorry to hear about your wife's scary situation. Glad it was not something serious. And thank you for your extensive review.
My fiance and I got married in a civil ceremony in Bermuda on Wednesday.
I reconnected with a friend who lives there,after 16 years. She invited us to dinner at her beautiful home and was a witness (and photographer) at our ceremony. We also had access to a private beach for people in her community and were the only ones there for a few hours. Of the several beaches we visited, including Horseshoe, this private beach was the most beautiful. After our wedding ceremony, she took us out to lunch at Harry's, her favorite restaurant in Hamilton. So she and her partner will always be a major part of our marriage memories.
This was my fourth cruise and my husband's first. We live in New York and arrived at the terminal close to 3PM so we were spared all the waiting as it turns out.
We loved the Lanai stateroom. The lower promenade deck never seemed too crowded and we loved being able to open the doors to the deck and sit outside on our chairs. We could see out of the room at all times and nobody could ever see in because the outside of the doors is mirrored. We had fun with that! It was like the SVU interrogation rooms!
Our complaints did not in any way disrupt our voyage but were annoying factors.
We ordered breakfast in our room every day which was convenient. The other meals were always in the dining room. We found the food ok-very good but not excellent. The wait staff in the dining room was very slow and sometimes a simple request like more coffe or some ice took forever, if it came at all.
We also found it hard to understand many of the staff members. I think the English competency standard should be higher.
Several of our various table mates felt they were being nickel and dimed, e.g. charged $2.95 for a bottle of water left in the room at the start of the voyage.
I bought 100 minutes of internet time. When I used up the 100 minutes, nothing on the screen indicated that and I was charged for any minutes over 100 even though I had not wanted to go beyond 100. Luckily I found this out after only 8 additional minutes and got the charge credited back. There should be a clock that counts down your minutes online. That's how most places work this.
My sister exerted a lot of effort to send us a bottle of champage onboard to celebrate our wedding day. And spent a pretty penny. We received a $12 bottle of wine in the room. I am looking into this and want her to get her charges credited back.
I have not written off Holland America but would not look to sail the Veendam again. I wish other ships would copy the Lanai stateroom layout.
P.S. I agree that David, the piano man, was terrific. There was also a wonderful classical quartet on board. And we liked the passengers we met in the dining room. They added to our voyage. We did open seating which I loved because we got to dinner at almost 9PM each night. And we almost always chose to be seated with others.