Veendam - Yay or Nay??

[KruzPrincess]

Hello everyone! I just booked a Canada/New England cruise on the Veendam. I haven't been on a HAL cruise since 2001. I primarily cruise on Princess, but this cruise worked out for me the best with dates and such. Anyway, I'm wondering if people who have recently been on the Veendam can tell me about her and about your experience? Was it good? I'm a pretty casual cruiser and often eat dinner in the buffet. I've heard that HAL has much more restrictive buffet hours than Princess so I'm prepared for that. I like reading and watching movies. Mostly I like to relax and watch the ocean go by. I read she was recently refurbished. That's good! Please just fill me in on your basic experience on this ship. Thanks so much!

[InTheWASide]

All I'm going to say, and I'll let the others take it from here...

 

BRACE YOURSELF

[KruzPrincess]

All I'm going to say, and I'll let the others take it from here...

 

BRACE YOURSELF

 

LOL. You're making me feel all warm and fuzzy about this choice. ;)

[Hlitner]

We were on her for 28 days last fall and it was all OK. Not sure what you are "fishing" for with your question. The Veendam is pretty typical of HAL ships although we were not happy that she only has one swimming pool (probably not an issue for a Canada/NE Cruise. Entertainment and food change with the moon cycles so we cannot know what would happen on your cruise. And yes, the buffet hours are quite limited on all HAL ships. If you do not eat by 8...you will need to rely on room service.

 

Hank

[Linda&Vern]

All I'm going to say, and I'll let the others take it from here ... BRACE YOURSELF

OK - you have me confused. Your signature shows you have not been on the Veendam, yet you have made what I am assuming was supposed to be a very negative response to the OP's question. BRACE YOURSELF for what? Yes, I'm extremely curious as in two months I'll be on her for 17 days. Can you clarify your remark please, please, please.

[sppunk]

Nay.

 

Our room was flooded, it failed its CDC inspection, and the crew was in a mutiny kind of mood in 2011 when we sailed her. Granted more than half her officers were fired when we docked back in nyc, but you won't see me on her ever again.

[Linda&Vern]

Nay.

 

Our room was flooded, it failed its CDC inspection, and the crew was in a mutiny kind of mood in 2011 when we sailed her. Granted more than half her officers were fired when we docked back in nyc, but you won't see me on her ever again.

So your opinion is that nothing has changed in three years? Oh dear, ugh! I had been led to believe all was going pretty well now.

[KruzPrincess]

I'm not really "fishing" for anything, but recent experiences. I read Princess boards a lot and people always come on and ask questions about cruising on Princess. I try to give them my most recent experiences so they'll know what to expect. What's good and what's bad. I'm not a novice cruiser, but I haven't been on HAL in a long time and I'm giving them another chance. I went to the reviews page and the majority of them were fairly positive. Tell me what will be good that makes this a good decision. I guess I'm fishing for someone to tell me about HAL and the Veendam and things I should know before I go. I suspect I'll have a good time with or without advice, but that's what I come to Cruise Critic for.

 

Hlitner: BTW, thanks for responding. I'm glad to hear it was all OK for you.

Edited August 21, 2014 by KruzPrincess

[Langoustine]

My wife and I went to Bermuda on the Veendam in 2011 and had no problems of any kind. We do hate what they did to the stern pool area, though. What caused the ship's officers to be fired? And when in 2011 was this?

Edited August 21, 2014 by Langoustine

[sppunk]

So your opinion is that nothing has changed in three years? Oh dear, ugh! I had been led to believe all was going pretty well now.

 

I hope things are better, but I won't be paying to find out first-hand.

[dfish]

I sailed on Veendam for 17 days in 2011 and again last summer on a Canada/New England cruise for 7 days. Both cruises were great and the ship was fine. Yes, what they did to the aft deck is not pretty, the rest of the ship was just fine. Last summer we were in an inside room and everything worked just fine. Same in 2011 in an aft balcony cabin.

 

Debbie

[jaspersmycat]

Look at the blog of the just completed Voyage of the Vikings at http://kingston.WordPress.com that is about as current as you can get.

Edited August 21, 2014 by jaspersmycat

[Shmoo here]

I'm not really "fishing" for anything, but recent experiences. I read Princess boards a lot and people always come on and ask questions about cruising on Princess. I try to give them my most recent experiences so they'll know what to expect. What's good and what's bad. I'm not a novice cruiser, but I haven't been on HAL in a long time and I'm giving them another chance. I went to the reviews page and the majority of them were fairly positive. Tell me what will be good that makes this a good decision. I guess I'm fishing for someone to tell me about HAL and the Veendam and things I should know before I go. I suspect I'll have a good time with or without advice, but that's what I come to Cruise Critic for.

 

Hlitner: BTW, thanks for responding. I'm glad to hear it was all OK for you.

 

We were on the same cruise with Hlitner. Well, most of it - Boston/San Diego (21 nights). The only issues we had with the Veendam were the extremely cold showroom theatre (as well as our room, but that's another story), and the fact that most of the upholstered seating seemed to be little more than a wood box with minimal padding under the upholstery.

 

The food on the cruise was excellent, in my opinion, and I loved the production shows. In fact, "Encore" was the best show I've seen on a (any)cruise ship yet. Sadly, I recently read that it's going away. :(

 

Yes, the raised pool area in the back isn't set up well for just sitting back there and being able to view all around, but we wouldn't hesitate to go on her again.

[goleta]

I got off the Veendam in Amsterdam on 7/29/14. Everything was fine except the respiratory infection most passenger had.

[PathfinderEss]

Have been on the Veendam 4 times over about 15 years and not one of our cruises on her have been good. Its been issue after issue with her and I have basically given up cruising on her. I also hate what they did to her aft deck.:(

[InTheWASide]

OK - you have me confused. Your signature shows you have not been on the Veendam, yet you have made what I am assuming was supposed to be a very negative response to the OP's question. BRACE YOURSELF for what? Yes, I'm extremely curious as in two months I'll be on her for 17 days. Can you clarify your remark please, please, please.

 

 

You frequent these forums enough to know that very little about HAL is criticized on here more fiercely than Veendam. You assumed incorrectly. But Veendam threads rarely talk about the positive things the ship has to offer and you know it just as well as I do and any others that even semi regularly come here when they go online.

 

I DID post when I had a short period of time to do so and couldn't more fully elaborate on my rationale for that reply like I did to the OP in my next post.

 

 

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Edited August 21, 2014 by InTheWASide

[InTheWASide]

LOL. You're making me feel all warm and fuzzy about this choice. ;)

 

 

It's just a ship that people tend to get particularly opinionated about. Seemingly more so than much of the rest of the fleet

 

 

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[Crazy For Cats]

I was on the same sailing last year with Debbie and I agree with her. I would have no trouble sailing on the Veendam for a Canada/New England cruise. The food was typical HAL and the crew was wonderful. We got lucky and had an aft corner suite and loved it.

[mskaufman]

We were on in early July. We were apprehensive after reading the CC reviews. The good news is that we did not experience the bad things that some people expressed. As did others, we found the crew less attentive than on other ships (not a big deal for me). However, in the last three years we were on Liberty of Seas, Ruby Princess and Veendam and I would rank Veendam a clear last among those three. The other HAl ship we were on is Zuiderdam and Veendam would rank below.

 

That all said, we had a great Canada/New England cruise.

[shrimp56]

Veendam post-CDC problem is a different kettle of fish entirely. We've sailed her twice, once in 2013 and we're on her now. She is all shiny and refreshed after her recent drydock. The only big problem has been going early to anytime dining. We have a lot of young children on board for this "one off" Boston to Boston NE/Canada. The lines have been winding up the stairs. The line is moving faster now, but when you get to the front the table supply is low. This is not a problem if you do not have a lot of kids on board.

 

Otherwise she is lovely. Yes she's smaller. Yes she is a HAL ship with the characteristics mentioned above. But we're enjoying her even more this time. Any specific questions I'll be happy to address.

[Randyk47]

The Veendam is our least favorite ship. While no cruise is perfect nor completely horrible our one and only cruise on the Veendam was not good. It was a mix of problems from HVAC to marginal food to slow service to a lack of entertainment. Now some have said that was four years ago and all that's been addressed or fixed and I understand. Our problem is that we only cruise once, and maybe if we're really lucky twice, a year. That means a cruise is our major vacation so a bad experience is not easily dismissed. Maybe it's not totally fair but once I've been disappointed in a product or experience it's really hard or at least harder for me to go back and try that product or experience again. Kind of like being burnt, I've not too excited about sticking my hand back in the fire to make sure I'll still get burnt. :)

[TiogaCruiser]

It's just a ship that people tend to get particularly opinionated about. Seemingly more so than much of the rest of the fleet

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Wasn't she the first to get the lanai cabins and then Retreat 1.0 with big screen TV? That may have something to do with it. Agreed she seems to have a bad rep here (with some big issues reported here leading up to the CDC inspection (which I thought was August 2012)

 

We had a pipe break and several cabins flood but it got cleaned up quickly. It wasn't my cabin but it would have impacted those whose it was. Others reported sewer back up when someone flushed a Depends. Stupidity can happen anywhere. I understand the netting in the diningroom is long gone and the ceiling fixed. I would take her again quite happily. Loved all the outdoor spaces and the crew was fabulous.

Edited August 21, 2014 by TiogaCruiser

[whogo]

I just reread my journal of our great Cape Horn cruise on the Veendam in 2011. There were a few minor flaws that have probably not changed in the intervening years. Cabins were converted to lanais at the time the aft pool was removed. There were darn few desirable chaises longues on the promenade deck that were not reserved for lanai cabin occupants.

 

Also, the ship snap, crackled and popped in rough seas. The crackling was quite noticeable in our cabin in the open Pacific. Similarly an area near the main dining room had a much worse loud grinding sound. I thought some metal might fail at that point.

 

I have not seen either of these problems mentioned recently, they may have been rectified. I would prefer to sail a HAL ship that had not been modified, but would sail Veendam again on the right itinerary.

[NYteacher]

We just got off the Westbound portion of the Voyage of the Vikings--18 days. We had a lovely time. We ate a bit later (closer to eight) and didn't encounter the line problem the earlier poster mentioned. That will vary voyage by voyage.

 

We found the ship in ship shape, the crew lovely and the officers charming.

[sparty1]

We just got off the Veendam after a 35 day cruise, and I would take her again! We had the farthest balcony cabin on Starboard to the aft(it was perfect!) All but 2 crew/staff instances were very positive(one very surly security member that I witnessed treating a confused elderly lady with a lack of respect; one staff member who was also having a bad day was very abrupt/condescending)This was over 35 days, so I don't know where the negative commenters come from. The Captain was probably the best we have had in over 50 cruises! I feel the attitudes go down through the ranks, so with the positive attitude of a Captain and most officers we had, the experience we had was wonderful! If you look hard enough, you'll find the ship shows wear in places, but you really have to look hard. Food was decent to good. Service was mostly excellent. The Lido staff were some of the happiest and attentive we've experienced. Buffet normally ended at 2pm, BUT they had sandwiches until 5pm; Dive-in open until 5pm; pizza station open late. Many ships we've been on no food from 3pm-dinner--not the case here! Cabin stewards were outstanding! Outside entertainment was good to very good. The lead chef for the Lido and Dive-In were alert and supportive of my husbands GF needs. On and on I could go:-) Nothing is perfect,(at least 1 elevator always out of order; temp issue with the heat in our zone;some issues that administration compensated for immediately, etc) but our experience was overall very positive!! Go in with a good attitude, be realistic and you will have a great time!!:D

Hello everyone! I just booked a Canada/New England cruise on the Veendam. I haven't been on a HAL cruise since 2001. I primarily cruise on Princess, but this cruise worked out for me the best with dates and such. Anyway, I'm wondering if people who have recently been on the Veendam can tell me about her and about your experience? Was it good? I'm a pretty casual cruiser and often eat dinner in the buffet. I've heard that HAL has much more restrictive buffet hours than Princess so I'm prepared for that. I like reading and watching movies. Mostly I like to relax and watch the ocean go by. I read she was recently refurbished. That's good! Please just fill me in on your basic experience on this ship. Thanks so much!

Edited August 21, 2014 by sparty1
didn't mean to have all that underling...sorry folks