Hope we did not make a mistake!!

[knuts1]

I hope we did not make a mistake and booking on the Veendam. We have always booked on NCL and loved the ships. We have never had loose tiles in the pool or any AC problems.

 

By the sounds of it the pool tiles are coming off and the plumbing is almost non funcinal and the food is not very good and the AC has gone with the plumbing.

 

We picked this ship as it has not been out of dry dock that long and we wanted to do a cruise with the Antartica excursion on it.

 

If this ship is half as bad as people make it sound here I will be very disapointed.

 

I guess we will just need to wait and see.

[kazu]

I hope we did not make a mistake and booking on the Veendam. We have always booked on NCL and loved the ships. We have never had loose tiles in the pool or any AC problems.

 

By the sounds of it the pool tiles are coming off and the plumbing is almost non funcinal and the food is not very good and the AC has gone with the plumbing.

 

We picked this ship as it has not been out of dry dock that long and we wanted to do a cruise with the Antartica excursion on it.

 

If this ship is half as bad as people make it sound here I will be very disapointed.

 

I guess we will just need to wait and see.

 

It is really too bad that you picked this for your first HAL cruise.

 

I haven't been on the Veendam in a long time so I can't comment, but the rest of the ships are absolutely awesome. I think you will see a big difference between the food on NCL and HAL in the MDR (for the better).

 

I do hope you enjoy your cruise and I am sure that you will hear from others on the board with great advice:):)

[Sillyjilly]

I love the Amsterdam and will continue to sail on her, but the Veendam didn't even compare.

 

The Amsterdam is a beautiful ship, but the Veendam was just depressing. It's run down IMHO. We had an AC problem while we were on her that was fixed, but the ship needs an overhaul.

 

After sailing on the Veendam, I canceled my Zaandam cruise after reading many unfavorable reviews, and switched to the Amsterdam. I'll stick with a sure thing.

[ace6636634]

I hope we did not make a mistake and booking on the Veendam. We have always booked on NCL and loved the ships. We have never had loose tiles in the pool or any AC problems.

 

By the sounds of it the pool tiles are coming off and the plumbing is almost non funcinal and the food is not very good and the AC has gone with the plumbing.

 

We picked this ship as it has not been out of dry dock that long and we wanted to do a cruise with the Antartica excursion on it.

 

If this ship is half as bad as people make it sound here I will be very disapointed.

 

I guess we will just need to wait and see.

 

I'm just like you. I wanted to try HAL out and now all I want to do is cancel.

[doctork]

I'm thinking like the OP - booked the Veendam Antarctica cruise because of the itinerary, but worried because of the start and end in BA and Santiago where it will be very hot in their mid-summer. Did I make a mistake?

 

I just sailed on the Veendam in March and had a wonderful trip, no problems with AC, entertainment, food or anything else. But it was a 7 day Caribbean cruise out of Tampa, sharing a cabin with a friend. The South America/Antarctica cruise is a 17 day anniversary/birthday trip with my husband, so it is a lot more expensive, $12,000 with airfare, hotels, and excursions added in. Do I dare gamble that kind of money when there is a significant chance that 6 - 8 days of the trip could be uncomfortably hot?

 

This will be my 4th cruise, and the 3 previous ones have all been on HAL and I've loved all of them. But I have medical issues that make AC a necessity, so I am wondering if I should look at another line.