Veendam Questions

[DeRon]

I've been reading a lot about the Veendam cruise to Bermuda (which we may do in October). I have some serious concerns, and wondering if what I am reading is just random, or real issues:

 

• Does the ship appear old and tired - even though it was "remolded" in 2009?
  
• Is there an A/C problem on the ship, or not? I have read many different angles on this.
  
• Why does the Lido close so early...at 8:00? Where do you get food on the ship if you miss the main dining, and it's after 8:00?
  
• Can you eat breakfast in the main dining room? If so, can you get a table for 2 easily, or do you have to sit with strangers?
  

 

Thanks!

[McVegas]

Where did you see that the Lido closes at 8? I found info that says 10:30. I would call HAL to confirm.

[1025cruise]

I was on the Veendam last June. From what I recall, the Lido did close earlier than I would have expected, seeing that the MDR was still open. In fact, compared to Princess where I have sailed previously (this trip on the Veendam was our first HA), I found the hours that the Lido was open to be terrible. Come back to the ship after "lunch" hours, your options are sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, the taco bar, or room service. On Princess, they at least leave one side of the Lido up and running for a late lunch.

 

The ship was in OK condition. With regard to breakfast in the MDR, yes, you can. Only once did we get a table for 2, other times we were put with other people. One comment that I had was that the service was extremely SLOW. As in, if anyone at the table ordered juice, or fruit, it took an hour for it to arrive, followed by meals. For someone like my wife who is not a coffee drinker, and usually only drinks juice, this was an issue as she had nothing to drink while the rest of the table was munching on pastries (which were mediocre in my opinion) and drinking coffee. In fact, I once witnessed a couple leave before being served due to how long it was taking. I also found there were days when the waiters had to go to Lido to get something (or so it seemed) due to the main kitchen closing up.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Where did you see that the Lido closes at 8? I found info that says 10:30. I would call HAL to confirm.

 

Where did you find the 10:30 time mentioned? I wish HAL would keep the Lido open that late, but they don't. I think the usual closing time is 8:30. If you get back late, you can always get soemthing from room service. You can order room service from that evening's MDR menu, but there are time limitations on that (sorry, dont' remember the details). Otherwise, it's just the regular room service menu.

[DeRon]

Thanks for everyone's replies. My biggest question.... Is the A/C a problem on the Veendam??

[Ontario Cruiser]

We were on the Veendam for the March Amazon cruise and yes there were many problems. Some cabins didn't have airconditioning. One aft elevator never worked for the 28 days. We had sewage back up in our cabin and the same problem was in many cabins on the lower two decks. Most people seemed to go to the 8pm show and there was very often standing room only. The entertainment was not great either. This statement I will probably be flamed for this statement I didn't like that men & women attended the shows in short shorts even on formal night.This was our 2nd time on the Veendam and I found that she is getting VERY tired. The retreat area was awful and I don't think there has been much improvement. Hopefully thing have improved since drydocking that was done in April. Would I go on the Veendam again? Only if the itinerary was exceptional.

We have also been on the Volendam (another tired ship) and Noordam. We are on the Westerdam in November

Ontario Cruiser

[iancal]

We looked at Veendam and passed for a number of reasons. You should be alright IF you select your cabin carefully and you are not dependent on the elevators. It has been reported repeatedly, over a number of years, that some areas in the lower decks have known air conditioning, flooding, and plumbing issues.

 

IF you can figure out what cabins or deck(s) to avoid from these posts and reviews then you should be OK. Otherwise, buyer beware.

 

I think that this is why the reviews are so spotty. People in the known trouble areas post poor reviews. People in other cabins (the majority) have no issue and post glowing comments. A minority of cruisers on the ship are impacted but that does not mean they did not have issues. HAL does not seem inclined to remedy the situation-$200 dollar future cruise shut up and go away credits appear to be their resolution.

[peaches from georgia]

Where did you see that the Lido closes at 8? I found info that says 10:30. I would call HAL to confirm.

I think the 10:30 person is posting about breakfast and the 8 o'clock person is posting about dinner. Lido closes dinner at a time I consider too early and breakfast closes mid-morning to get set up for lunch.

[wwb]

We recently returned from the 8/21 Veendam and both of our cabins 784 and 786 were hot the entire cruise. We brought a fan along just in case, but needed another one as well. I heard from other people on our desk (4) that their cabins were extremely COLD. Additionally, we had numerous problems with our toilets not flushing properly.

BTW, there was never a problem with getting seats for a show on our cruise.

wwb

[3rdGenCunarder]

We looked at Veendam and passed for a number of reasons. You should be alright IF you select your cabin carefully and you are not dependent on the elevators. It has been reported repeatedly, over a number of years, that some areas in the lower decks have known air conditioning, flooding, and plumbing issues.

 

IF you can figure out what cabins or deck(s) to avoid from these posts and reviews then you should be OK. Otherwise, buyer beware.

 

I think that this is why the reviews are so spotty. People in the known trouble areas post poor reviews. People in other cabins (the majority) have no issue and post glowing comments. A minority of cruisers on the ship are impacted but that does not mean they did not have issues. HAL does not seem inclined to remedy the situation-$200 dollar future cruise shut up and go away credits appear to be their resolution.

 

I think you're right about the variable reviews. We had no problems of any sort in our cabin, nor did our friends. I don't know that the AC problems are consistent. Last year there was some discussion that people who leave lanai or balcony doors open mess up that branch of the AC system. So some of the AC troubles depend on who's leaving doors open. I don't think any cabins were identified as constant problems, so I guess it's a matter of luck if you get a good cabin or one with AC or plumbing issues. I wouldn't be afraid to sail on Veendam again.

[pbnjrockette]

We sailed on the Veendam in July with NO problems.....AC was fine, toilets were fine....very enjoyable cruise. Did find it difficult to get a seat at the early shows unless we arrived very early....AND it was rather cold in there!

 

I think the ship is beautiful but even after a week was unable to find my way around....not easy to get "there" from "here" as on the RC ships.

 

I would NOT hesitate to book on this ship again!!

[bermuda triangle]

Thanks for everyone's replies. My biggest question.... Is the A/C a problem on the Veendam??

 

Yes it varies on where your room is located. On the port side aft on deck 6 it is still hot (stayed there twice last year) this year on deck 5 mid ship port side no problem. You can ask for a fan for your room which makes quite a difference in a cabin that is A/C challenged.

 

Lido closes at midnight for food (11-12 is late night buffet).

 

For the MDR you can request not to share a table at any meal.

 

The ship is older, but still classy. I would not say it looks old and tired. Maintenance is always being done on the ship to insure it looks well cared for!

 

Laura

[dennbr9]

Would assume that AC issues would be less in October also:-)

 

We sail on her in two weeks and looking forward to getting back to Bermuda and docking in Hamilton again.

 

If worried, get a cabin with a Balcony or a Lanai where you can open the door.

 

Never been on a bad Cruise in 23 tries so far.

[barante]

We were on the Veendam for the March Amazon cruise and yes there were many problems. Some cabins didn't have airconditioning. One aft elevator never worked for the 28 days. We had sewage back up in our cabin and the same problem was in many cabins on the lower two decks. . . The retreat area was awful and I don't think there has been much improvement. Hopefully thing have improved since drydocking that was done in April. Would I go on the Veendam again? Only if the itinerary was exceptional.

We have also been on the Volendam (another tired ship) and Noordam. We are on the Westerdam in November

Ontario Cruiser

 

Good post, Ontario Cruiser. We were on that Amazon cruise as well and my summation is pretty similar. They had the most ridiculous, big wading pool -- whoever came up with that idea? -- that presumably was replaced with some type of a real swimming pool for humans during the recent dry dock.

We had air-condition problems -- our inside J was cold as a morgue. One might think that it was done purposely because the ship had repeated code reds and bronchial and gastronomical ailments. But since many other cabins were not cold enough, that could not be the explanation.

The cruise had many pluses. It began with an overnight in Rio, then Salvador, Recife and Fortaleza. I love the first two but find Fortaleza, with one previous visit on my belt, forgettable. Manaus was fascinating but human encroachment is now so deep that animals are farther and farther in the jungle.

Another plus was that we discovered the glory of the Lower Promenade Deck, the circular common balcony. We liked our cabin -- J 347, just two doors from the laundromat --so much we booked the identical cabin on the Volendam for a cruise in March.

Now, here a shocking revelation. I am actually leaning toward taking the Veendam again. My reasons are those cited by Ontario Cruiser: "Would I go on the Veendam again? Only if the itinerary was exceptional."

O, Canada.

Holland America Line-ms Veendam

Valparaiso, Coquimbo, Callao, Salaverry, Manta, Puerto Caldera, Corinto, El Quetzal, Huatulco, Cabo San Lucas, San Diego, Victoria, Vancouver

1 departure date: Apr 13 2013.

Two years ago or so I wanted badly to take this itinerary, sans Canada. The Norwegian Sun was offering a 17-day run from Los Angeles to Valparaiso, with the tiniest insides going for about $500 for union members, police and teachers. Since then other lines have kept offering variations of this itinerary. The Veendam hits all the big hits -- including El Quetzal in Guatemala that I want to see. A day in San Diego, Victoria and Vancouver are icings on the cake.

Here's another winner, but we will be taking a cruise from NZ to Vancouver at the time.

Mexico-Round Trip 30 Days • Holland America Line • ms Rotterdam

 

Day Date (2012) Port Arrive Depart

1

Fri, Feb 3

San Diego 5:00 P

2

Sat, Feb 4

At Sea

3

Sun, Feb 5

Cabo San Lucas 10:00 A 4:00 P

4

Mon, Feb 6

Puerto Vallarta 10:00 A 8:00 P

5

Tue, Feb 7

At Sea

6

Wed, Feb 8

At Sea

7

Thu, Feb 9

El Quetzal 8:00 A 5:00 P

8

Fri, Feb 10

Corinto 8:00 A 5:00 P

9

Sat, Feb 11

At Sea

10

Sun, Feb 12

Fuerte Amador 10:00 A

11

Mon, Feb 13

Fuerte Amador 4:00 P

12

Tue, Feb 14

At Sea

13

Wed, Feb 15

At Sea

14

Thu, Feb 16

Salaverry 5:30 A 5:00 P

15

Fri, Feb 17

Callao 10:00 A

16

Sat, Feb 18

Callao

17

Sun, Feb 19

Callao 5:00 P

18

Mon, Feb 20

At Sea

19

Tue, Feb 21

Guayaquil 10:00 A 6:00 P

20

Wed, Feb 22

Manta 9:00 A 6:00 P

21

Thu, Feb 23

At Sea

22

Fri, Feb 24

Puerto Caldera 8:00 A 8:00 P

23

Sat, Feb 25

At Sea

24

Sun, Feb 26

Puerto Chiapas 7:00 A 6:00 P

25

Mon, Feb 27

Huatulco 8:00 A 5:00 P

26

Tue, Feb 28

Acapulco 8:00 A 9:00 P

27

Wed, Feb 29

Zihuatanejo 8:00 A 5:00 P

28

Thu, Mar 1

Manzanillo 8:00 A 5:00 P

29

Fri, Mar 2

At Sea

30

Sat, Mar 3

At Sea

31

Sun, Mar 4

San Diego 7:00 A

[jpver]

We had the Veendam Buenos Aires Valparaiso in december 2010 (end last year) The ship does it very good.... even in the heaviest storm you can have windforce 12 = hurricane force!!

Re the airco leaving Montevideo it was a bit to cool and seemed not getting higher. A phone call and a quarter of an hour later a technician came fixed it within a few mùinutes.

 

A bit surprised as the documentation I have shows:

Lido : continental breakfast 6:30 am - 11:00am

full buffet 7:00am - 10:00 am (and this some days even from 06:00 depending the ports. probably for excursion pursoses )

[ikelmay]

We have just returned from the Veendam - it was our first sailing with her. I found the ship to be in reasonable condition given its age - you can find signs of wear and tear if you look hard enough, but it is an older ship.

 

I found some of the remodelling odd. The 'retreat' area aft just didn't work for me - from a design perspective, it is a choppy layout that doesn't make good use of the space. My personal bugaboo is the lanai cabins on the promenade deck with the reserved loungers outside, forcing other guests to hunt down the spare 'unreserved' chairs. Not a big fan of this concept.

 

Regarding air conditioning, we were located on deck 4 and experienced an overenthusiastic a/c system that never warmed up - I think our settings were 'fridge', 'freezer' and 'arctic'. This of course was preferable to baking in an overheated cabin but I did find icy cold spots all over the ship. A couple of the lounges for instance had very cold areas.

[marco]

We were on the "Veendam" to Bermuda a couple of months ago. If it's after 8PM and you are looking form something to eat there is room service and then the Lido opens again 11:30-ish PM for their midnight buffet. We found no problem with the A/C in our cabin and as for the public rooms, we found them to be "comfortable". For some, that might be too warm but our experience has been that on most ships in the public rooms it always seems to be too cold. Going to St Georges and Hamilton instead of docking at Kings Wharf was far more important to us when choosing a Bermuda cruise.

[RuthC]

If worried, get a cabin with a Balcony or a Lanai where you can open the door.

Balcony and lanai doors should be open only long enough to pass through them. To leave them open any longer than that cuts off the HVAC for every other cabin on the same line. That line extends to decks above and below, and includes inside and outside cabins that cannot open doors for relief.

[bobpatj]

From what a previous poster said, it looks like the Veendam is taking over the itineraries from San Diego to Peru that the Rotterdam has done, for the past few years. Does that mean that Veendam will not be in the Atlantic for the Bermuda cruises in 2013? This was a question that was asked after we disembarked the Bermuda cruise on August 7th?

 

By the way, we really enjoyed the Veendam, our accommodations and the staff & crew. The entertainment was tops! :)

[iancal]

It could be because HAL have a much higher than average percentage of people that leave their balcony doors open!

 

We have been fortunate...we have never had an AC, or an HVAC issue on any cruise that we have taken that required fans to be brought into the stateroom to cool it down to a reasonable temperature.

[dennbr9]

Balcony and lanai doors should be open only long enough to pass through them. To leave them open any longer than that cuts off the HVAC for every other cabin on the same line. That line extends to decks above and below, and includes inside and outside cabins that cannot open doors for relief. [/quote

Older ships we were on would have a shut off of the AC in your cabin when the door was not closed but that did not shut off everyone else's.

 

Turning your Thermostat/ AC way down and leaving the door open would not be right, as may overwork the system as a whole, but turning the temp up so system does not run with door open should not effect the system.

 

Sounds a little far fetched to me:confused:

[iancal]

Agreed.

[RuthC]

Sounds a little far fetched to me:confused:

Really? Ask the engineer next time you're aboard. You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about the HVAC system.

[iancal]

I have no doubt that it may cause issues.

 

I have no doubt that it is NOT the main cause of the long standing, on going AC issues in certain areas of the ship.

 

Sounds to me like the tune most cruise line employees learn on their very first day of training that goes something like this.....'this is the first time we have heard of this complaint'.

[NordicPrince]

DW and I were on Veendam in June 2010 and June 2011 in Lanai cabins on the Bermuda run. Here's what I recall:

 

- Never had any a/c issues or plumbing issues. Our cabins were on the port side aft of mid-ship.

 

- The Lido stayed open until about 8:30. Half of it was closedpart of that time so that officers and senior crew could eat. Th staff took your cabin number

if you had dinner.

 

- The Lido was open at 11 P.M. for light snacks and desserts.

 

- The ship was not tired looking. It was clean and there was always a crew member polishing and cleaning. The public areas such as Mix and the Lattitudes coffee bar were modern and up-to-date.

 

- The Rotterdam Dining Room was in a word quite elegant.

 

- There was no problem finding your way around. The only road block was the deck where the theatre room and main galley roadblocked a direct path to the

aft portion of the ship.

 

- Accurately, there was 1 elevator that consistently gave an unsettling ride to its passengers and we knew to avoid it.

 

- In 2011 the Retreat Area was reworked and provided 3 hot tubs of varying degrees of hot-ness, a vast improvement over 2010. Not what the traditional HAL cheerleaders had hoped for but a lot more serviceable.

 

- DW made use of the Spa Weekly special on a daily basis. Happy wife = Happy

husband.

 

- When we would sit outside of our Lanai late in the afternoon there was hardly any one else out there so these complaints about not being able to find an unreserved chair are essentially bogus.

 

- No one leaves a Lanai door open. You would be afraid of unwanted visitors.

 

We are seasoned RCI cruisers and we very much like their modern and innovative ships. But we enjoy the Veendam for what it does offer: a more classic ship with a wrap-around promenade.