VEENDAM: June 15-22 Boston to Quebec AKA "Honey we're home"

[shrimp56]

Pictures of most of our family taken pre-cruise at the Marriott Copley Place. Missing are Bonnie and her husband, Wayne. Note the half-empty glasses and the smiles :)

 

Soroptomist between Patsy and Joe. And if that's the size of the fish that got away...

 

Soroptomist's mom between Bill and Libby with Cruisin_Kay_D on the right

 

Two husbands: David (mine) and Mike (Kay's) and Patsy

[bachcruise]

What a great review! Thank you, I really enjoyed reading. I'd love to do this itinerary.

[Jujuju2]

Very enjoyable review and glad you had a good time.

 

Stars looking good. Before you know it, you will be getting free laundry.

 

Juju from TTG and Facebook

[yukongold]

Thanks for the review. We have not sailed to these ports so the review was of particular interest. Loved the photos...just wished you could have taken some photos of the food, though.:)

[debjo]

For shrimp56...

Have a superb next cruise on the Eurodam...sounds exciting! And...congratulations on your "star". I love your cruising attitude...especially when an "older" ship is involved. I also, wholeheartedly agree with you about the hard-working staff...they were great, but spread too thin.

 

They SYDNEY CRUISE SHIP TERMINAL gets our "best" vote too...not just for the ports-of-call on our VEENDAM cruise, but for "any" cruise ship terminal we've ever been through...SYDNEY gets our "gold star" award!

 

DH and I have truly appreciated your review and photographs...thanks so much for sharing your trip with the rest of us!

 

Debjo

[Jujuju2]

Meant to comment yesterday - we do not care for HAL's last night international dinner either, so we always eat somewhere other than main dining room that night. In our opinion the food is not very good that night, and we don't actually like the waiters having to parade through the dining room putting on a show when they are already overworked.

 

Agree about staff in general being overburdened with work.

[TylerRose]

Thank you once again for all the time and effort involved in your narration.

We spent 2 weeks last summer touring Europe on the Eurodam... you will love it. (Not sure I could have survived all the miles of exploration we accomplished without the hydro pool --- well worth the splurge. IMO)

 

We have no port days planned at this point, so I have read your port suggestions gratefully.

I need to avoid tours with shellfish luncheons, and would appreciate all feedback since I know many tours are planned with lunch as a special part.

 

Currently we have main seating... I am debating switching to early.

I want to book the pinnacle at least one eve & perhaps Italian (though on a short cruise I would rather 2 nights at the pinnacle.)

Any suggestions on which?

 

We have sailed twice with Captain Bos... I hope he is still on board late September. Ten years ago he remarried my husband and I for our 15th wedding anniversary. :D

[cruz chic]

Meant to comment yesterday - we do not care for HAL's last night international dinner either, so we always eat somewhere other than main dining room that night. In our opinion the food is not very good that night, and we don't actually like the waiters having to parade through the dining room putting on a show when they are already overworked.

 

Agree about staff in general being overburdened with work.

I agree. I was excited to try the International dinner but felt it was a big letdown.

 

Shrimp, I really enjoyed your review:).

[shrimp56]

Meant to comment yesterday - we do not care for HAL's last night international dinner either, so we always eat somewhere other than main dining room that night. In our opinion the food is not very good that night, and we don't actually like the waiters having to parade through the dining room putting on a show when they are already overworked.

 

Agree about staff in general being overburdened with work.

 

We loved the International Dinner on the Volendam last summer, so was surprised this one wasn't better. Thanks for your kind comments in your earlier responses.

 

Thank you once again for all the time and effort involved in your narration.

We spent 2 weeks last summer touring Europe on the Eurodam... you will love it. (Not sure I could have survived all the miles of exploration we accomplished without the hydro pool --- well worth the splurge. IMO)

 

Can you book just the Hydro pool or is it a whole package? And did you book it ahead of time or on board?

 

We have no port days planned at this point, so I have read your port suggestions gratefully.

I need to avoid tours with shellfish luncheons, and would appreciate all feedback since I know many tours are planned with lunch as a special part.

Well I only did two tours so I'm not the one to ask. Since was was Lobster 101, of the two I'd recommend the Lighthouses on PEI. I learned a whole lot! The problem with Sydney is you really can't get to the real Cape Breton in the time available, so we just did the walking tour on our own

 

Currently we have main seating... I am debating switching to early.

I want to book the pinnacle at least one eve & perhaps Italian (though on a short cruise I would rather 2 nights at the pinnacle.)

Any suggestions on which?

 

We did open seating. Since the ship was full we couldn't get a set table, but the tables we got on our 4 visits were fine. (We always ask for a two top.). I just missed the connection we felt with our servers on the Volendam. Some people don't like Canaletto, but we enjoyed it both times. We did 2 Canaletto dinners and one Pinnacle lunch.

 

We have sailed twice with Captain Bos... I hope he is still on board late September. Ten years ago he remarried my husband and I for our 15th wedding anniversary. :D Lucky you :) If he is on the usual three month rotation he will probably be rotating off mid-September, alas :9

[shrimp56]

I want to thank everyone who responded to my report. I tried to answer any questions that were raised, but know I didn't thank everyone by name. In the short time I've been on Cruise Critic you have all been so helpful to me. I'm glad I could give something back :)

[Bonnie L]

Sally,

 

Loved your review! Made me feel like I was there all over again. This was the first cruise for us outside of the Caribbean, where we feel at home. It opened up a new world of travel. I am now looking forward to Alaska, the Panama Canal, and the Mediterranean. Thanks for sharing your pics.

[fireflies]

Thanks again for sharing your adventure. Have a great time in Northern Europe, hope the fjords are fantastic!

[shrimp56]

Thanks again for sharing your adventure. Have a great time in Northern Europe, hope the fjords are fantastic!

 

You are very welcome.

 

I KNOW the fjords will be fantastic as my very first cruise was a 2 week North Cape cruise on The Royal Viking Sea. My husband is in for a treat:)

[jplewis]

Oh, Sally, are you through? It was like visiting with you every day. I agree with our friend, Bonnie, felt like we were still there. Thanks for putting so many of our thoughts into words.

Patsy

[shrimp56]

Oh, Sally, are you through? It was like visiting with you every day. I agree with our friend, Bonnie, felt like we were still there. Thanks for putting so many of our thoughts into words.

Patsy

 

I didn't want to finish the report for the same reason:( It was a wonderful cruise made even better meeting the "family."

[shrimp56]

Sorry about the temporary bandwidth issue. It should be fixed now.

[sppunk]

Could you do a similar Euridam review of your upcoming cruise? I'd love to see/read it!

[shrimp56]

Could you do a similar Euridam review of your upcoming cruise? I'd love to see/read it!

 

Awww shucks :o

 

I'll do my best, but it might be a lot of whining about where's the "family"?

[jplewis]

I was just going to say - it wouldn't be the same! You wouldn't feel the "love".

[shrimp56]

I was just going to say - it wouldn't be the same! You wouldn't feel the "love".

 

I'm trying not to think about it :(

[shrimp56]

Topping for jplewis.