The V & V ships are OK!

[igraf]

Despite some recent remarks, I am happy to report that the Veendam is operating just fine. Air conditioning was strong despite some very warm weather off of Mexico, toilets were capable and there were no strange odors in the hallways. Dinners were also very good, marred only by the usual slow service on the first night. Likewise, we had a pleasant cruise on the Volendam last year. The Veendam was our 8th HAL cruise as a basis of comparison.

 

Our biggest complaint was that the British captain and the Canadian cruise director insisted on pronouncing the Veendam as "V-long e-ndam" rather than "V-long a-ndam" or better yet as "F-long a-ndam. My mother is from Holland, so I found the silly Americanization of the ship's name to be a bit embarrassing and we had to listen to it all week.

 

The new aft deck extension wasn't of the best design but it did offer extra open deck space. Speaking of which, there was always empty chairs and tables available both by the Lido pool and elsewhere. Usually many open tables. The whole idea of paying hundreds of dollars to reserve deck space (cabanas) was laughable. The only place where public chairs became tight was on the outside Promenade deck. Most of these chairs were reserved for the Lanai cabins but rarely used by the Lanai occupants, so these deck chairs were unused for the most part. What a waste, and it just goes to show that privatization of the open decks creates rather than solves problems.

 

Travel trip: We paid for a resort day pass while in Puerto Vallarta right on the beach in the Romantic Zone. The modest fee included pool towel service and wifi, and the day pass fee was credited back to us a food and drinks! I highly recommend this for anyone touring on their own.

 

igraf

Edited March 27, 2014 by igraf

[shrimp56]

Thanks for reporting in on the "V" ladies. They were our first two HAL ships so they have a warm place in our heart. We will be reboarding both of them in the next year or so: Veendam for Circle Hawaii and Volendam for Kobe-Vancouver Pacific Crossing. BTW we had a Dutch captain on Veendam and I don't remember which way he pronounced it. We all said Veendam. Learned how to say Zuiderdam though. (Rhymes with "spider")

[RJ2002]

Thanks for your report on the Veendam. We enjoyed her very much several years ago, on a wonderful South America and Antarctica cruise.

 

Very interested in your PV suggestion, as we will be stopping there on our Zuiderdam cruise next month. What is the name of the resort? Was it within walking distance of the pier?

[igraf]

We used Playa Los Arcos as our day pass resort. The fee is advertised as US$15 each, though it was upped to US$17 each due to currency fluctuations. You might be wondering how nice was the place for such a low price. We wondered as well. I thought at least it will be a place to rest and use a bathroom. It turned out that this resort is small but quite nice and very clean. We wished that we had more time to enjoy the facilities and area.

 

https://www.playalosarcos.com/

 

Look under the Services menu for the day pass program. Playa Los Arcos is ideally located within a short walking distance of all of the downtown PV attractions.

 

Krystal is another popular day pass resort in PV. Krystal is within walking distance of the ship, but don't let that be a big factor as taxis to downtown are only $7 - $10.

 

http://www.krystalvallartaresort.com/

 

There are other resorts that charge quite a bit more for a day pass, but I don't really see the point as cruise people really don't have that much time on shore. We had plenty of drinks and a bit to eat.

 

igraf

 

ps I read a lot of Trip Advisor reviews and nobody complained about food problems at Playa Los Arcos.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for your report on the Veendam. We enjoyed her very much several years ago, on a wonderful South America and Antarctica cruise.

 

Very interested in your PV suggestion, as we will be stopping there on our Zuiderdam cruise next month. What is the name of the resort? Was it within walking distance of the pier?

[RJ2002]

Igraf, thanks very much!

 

We use TripAdvisor as a reference quite a bit too.