Veendam June 1-8 Canada and New England review

[Jenncruiser]

My mom and I took this cruise on the MS Veendam leaving out of Boston June 1st with stops in Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, and ending in Quebec.

 

We're both pretty new to cruising. We took a cruise last year to Alaska on Royal Caribbean and enjoyed it immensely. We chose Holland for this cruise since it was the only line that offered this itinerary in June.

 

Initially we were a bit hesitant to sail on Holland since the reputation seemed to show that it appealed mostly to an older crowd, and that was definitely the case. I'm only 22 but i'm not really interested in the late night activities that appeal to a lot of people my age so it wasn't really a problem. The first night I was worried that the cruise wouldn't be very lively since at the opening night show the crowd was not too enthusiastic but everyone definitely seemed to have a lot of fun as the week went on. We don't like socializing with new people that much but I was surprised how friendly everyone was on this ship. Of course we encountered a few bad apples but I think that's the case wherever you are.The Veendam is small so you see a lot of the same people over and over again. We got to know a few people that we talked with multiple times and we met a lot of people from our area, Bay Area (CA), so that was nice. We were a little frustrated at times at how long we had to wait to walk from one place to another, or get on and off the ships and the tender, since we moved much much faster then everybody else. But that really wasn't that big of a deal.

 

We stayed in a Verandah Cabin B Category, towards the middle of the ship. We actually were upgraded to a balcony which was really nice. We wished we could have had a balcony in Alaska so it was great to have one this time. We tried to use our balcony whenever we could but there were a quite a few times that we couldn't because it was too cold or rainy, but I think that's unavoidable in the area. I get sea sick so I think the location of the room definitely helped. The ship was very rocky the second night, more so then I had ever experienced, but it calmed down after that. And in our room it never was too bad. Our room was very nice, it was bigger then we expected it to be and I loved that there was lots of closet space. My only complaints would be the shower, which was very complicated and hard to turn on. We ended up taking baths most of the time which was okay since the bath had water jets which was nice after a long day walking around ports. The light switches were also confusing, we could never remember which switch turned on which light since there were so many of them. Our room was always cleaned when we came in and I loved the fact that they leave chocolates on your bed every night.

 

The service on the ship was really great, not much to complain about. They weren't as enthusiastic and in your face as Royal Caribbean which we didn't really mind. Our waiters seemed to have a lot of trouble speaking English so he didn't talk to us much and we did have some trouble with ordering on occasion. The first night they gave my mom regular coffee instead of decaf and she was kept awake all night. When we tried to explain what they did the next night they couldn't understand what we were saying and offered us tea instead, that was definitely frustrating. On RC our waiter was so friendly, he knew us all by name, and he talked to us a lot of every night, so I definitely missed that experience.

 

The food was good, definitely on par with RC. We didn't eat in any of the specialty restaurants since it seemed kind of ridiculous to pay more when you already paid for a perfectly good meal in the dining room. I'm a picky eater so there were some nights that I had trouble finding something to order in the dining room, there was one night we ate in the lido instead, but for the most part I was very impressed with the food. I really liked the international menu they had on the last night and the late night dessert buffet that occurred towards the end of the cruise.

 

The entertainment was really top notch and a far step above what we saw on RC. I was a music and theater major in college so I am pickier then most when it comes to performers, but I was incredibly impressed with the selection they had. The singers were very good. There was one man in particular, an operatic singer, that was truly phenomenal. We absolutely loved the comedian they had on too. The Dancing with the Stars show was fun, I love the TV show, so I enjoyed watching the audience competition. We watched the viola and piano player in the Explorer's lounge almost every night as well and they were really a joy to listen to. The cruise director Kelsey was really sweet and friendly too. She seemed much more genuine then the one we had on RC.

 

The ship was small and I do wish they would have offered more on board activities. Many activities were scheduled at the same time or at inconvenient times and there just wasn't quite enough scheduled to begin with. We didn't get a chance to see any of the cooking shows since they were always in the morning when we had port excursions, but I was curious to see how those went. We didn't go to the pool either since we were usually too cold. But we enjoyed going to the shows every night and many times we hung out in the library and played games or read which was nice. We also enjoyed looking in the stores. At first we thought everything would be too expensive but there were some really fantastic jewelry sales we took advantage of. I got 2 necklaces, 2 bracelets, a pair of earrings, and a watch for under $60.

 

What I really liked about this itinerary was the fact that there were port stops almost every single day. I was really eager to see this part of the world and it definitely didn't disappoint.

 

In Bar Harbor we took the excursion entitled: Panoramic Acadia National Park. This tour would have been alright but the bus was incredibly hot the whole time which it made it nearly impossible to enjoy, many on the bus were feeling sick due to the heat and the winding roads. When we asked to turn the AC up they said that there wasn't much they could do, this problem needs to be fixed. The views from Cadillac Mountain were great though and we really enjoyed walking around Bar Harbor afterwards. I would recommend Adelmann's deli and grill for lunch there. It's farther down main street and goes unnoticed by a lot of tourists I think, but they have a much cheaper lobster roll that was delicious and really great soft serve.

 

We were delayed for a bit getting off in Halifax. We thought it was customs but I found out after the cruise it was because they were arresting one of the crew members. We saw a lot of police coming on board so it explains a lot. In Halifax we took the Peggy's Cove and Titanic combination. This was probably my favorite excursion because our tour guide Ellen was so phenomenal. She told many stories and legends of Halifax that were truly fascinating. Peggy's Cove was cold and windy but still quaint and nice to walk around, I took lots of great pictures there. The titanic grave site was really interesting as well, I never knew so many of them were buried in Halifax. Halifax as a town was great too. We walked to the public gardens and the citadel and around some of the main shopping streets.

 

In Sydney the weather was rough so we were delayed getting off of the ship and had to tender. We did the Baddeck your way: Hike to the Falls excursion which went to Baddeck and hiked to the Uisge Falls. The tour was great and I actually enjoyed the hike a lot, it was nice to get some exercise after spending so many days eating. The only bad part was how rainy it was the whole time, we were all soaking wet and freezing on the bus ride back.

 

In Charlottetown we took the Island Drive and Anne of Green Gables tour. I really loved getting out to look at the red beaches in Cavendish and Green Gables was really nice too. Our tour guide was a little boring and seemed to run out of things to say on the drive but that wasn't too big of a deal. Charlottetown was a nice place to walk around, lots of cute shops and historic buildings to look at.

 

Quebec City was probably my favorite place, the Chateau Frontenac took my breath away when I turned the corner and saw it for the first time. We didn't do any excursions, we spent seven hours walking all around the city and had a lot of fun. The next day we did the tour that takes you to the airport and stops at Montmorency Falls. The Falls were nice, not that impressive compared to Niagra, but still nice.

 

I never felt like I didn't have enough time in any of the ports. We were able to do an excursion and walk around every city and never felt like we were missing anything.

 

Lastly we took part in bingo a lot during the week and didn't have much luck until we did the win a free cruise bingo and WE WON A FREE CRUISE! We have been wanting to go the Caribbean and we were going to go on one of the big RC ships but now we'll be going on Holland, we're very excited!

 

Overall we had a fantastic week and I can't wait for our next cruise :)

[rafinmd]

WOW! Sounds like you had an awesome time on my next ship. Thank you for your review.

 

Roy

[Cruising-along]

Thank you for the well thought out review, and welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

 

I know it's too late now, but I'm sure if you had asked your cabin steward how the shower works he would have been happy to show you. I know it can be confusing the first HAL cruise. On our last cruise we had trouble with the DVD player and I couldn't believe how much time our steward spent explaining it to us.

 

It sounds like you like to do the same things we do, as when we were in those ports we did the same things. :D We rented cars in some ports and did Ollie's Trolley to get to Acadia National Park. I also loved Quebec City. We also liked to sit and listen to the music nightly in the Explorers' Lounge. It's one of the many things we love about HAL.

 

Oh, and congratulations on your upgrade to a verandah, and especially winning another cruise!! Well done!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

How nice you were upgraded to a B category and could enjoy your balcony a few times.

Why did you have to tender in Sydney? We have been there a few times and never had to.

Wonderful!! You won a free cruise at Bingo!! So -- what ship and which Caribbean itinerary do you thik you will do?

[sail7seas]

What a nice review.

We sail Canada/NE from Boston every summer on Maasdam.

We have not been on Veendam for years but are booked for an upcoming cruise on her and your review, along with others I have read here, make me really look forward to boarding Veendam.

 

Could you verify if the safe in your cabin operated by entering your own four digit code or did you have to use a card with a magnetic strip to open/close the safe?

 

Thanks for your review. I really enjoyed reading it.

[SpokaneDan]

Thank you for your thoughtful review. Very useful for our upcoming trip on Veendam, and congrats. on your free cruise!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the review of your Veendam cruise. Glad you had a wonderful time.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[Friend100]

Thanks for the review. It is particularly refreshing to read a review about the Veendam from a relatively new cruiser.

 

This cruise is all about ports, ports and more beautiful ports, including the embarkation and debarkation ports, which is not a surprise.

 

What's really a bigger surprise to me is this -

The entertainment was really top notch and a far step above what we saw on RC.

 

Way to go Veendam! :)

[hpf]

Thanks for taking the time to write such an interesting review; and congratulations on winning the bingo Cruise. Enjoy your next trip.

 

Helen

[debjo]

We're sailing on the VEENDAM in two weeks (Quebec to Boston) and really appreciate your informative view points from your sailing...and CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING ANOTHER CRUISE...I've often wondered about that...having never actually played Bingo on-board a ship...it is nice to read that someone actually DOES win that cruise!

 

Debjo

[Jenncruiser]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

How nice you were upgraded to a B category and could enjoy your balcony a few times.

Why did you have to tender in Sydney? We have been there a few times and never had to.

Wonderful!! You won a free cruise at Bingo!! So -- what ship and which Caribbean itinerary do you thik you will do?

 

I'm not entirely sure why. I think it was because the wind was too strong or something along those lines. I was glad we could go at all since I had read some other reviews here where they canceled Sydney due to weather.

 

We're actually trying to decide which Caribbean itinerary we'll do. I don't know if Eastern or Western is better. I definitely have to read up on it.

[Jenncruiser]

What a nice review.

We sail Canada/NE from Boston every summer on Maasdam.

We have not been on Veendam for years but are booked for an upcoming cruise on her and your review, along with others I have read here, make me really look forward to boarding Veendam.

 

Could you verify if the safe in your cabin operated by entering your own four digit code or did you have to use a card with a magnetic strip to open/close the safe?

 

Thanks for your review. I really enjoyed reading it.

 

Sorry, wish I could help but we never actually used our safe. Probably not the wisest but we didn't bring much of value anyway.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[erewhon]

Enjoyed reading your review.

Thank you.

 

Congratulations on winning a cruise.

[WARD801]

Thank you for the post. We are going on the same cruise leaving Boston on June 29 so your info will be very helpful. Congrats on the free cruise!

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, sounds like you had a good time. This is an itinerary we have not yet done but have on the list.

[kakalina]

Congratulations on winning a cruise. What a deal! Your review made a very interesting read; thanks for posting it.

We will be spending a month on the Veendam in December. She has always been one of our favorite HAL ships.

 

As for the Caribbean cruise why not buy the extra cruise and do the collector's cruise that does both East and West? It's a wonderful itinerary and we have enjoyed doing it a few times.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed the review.

 

Keith

[Coolcruise02]

Great review! Love the Veendam. :)

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with the rest of us.