Veendam Canada/New England

[drneal]

I just returned from the Montreal to Boston cruise on the Veendam.

Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown PEI, Sydney/Cape Briton, Halifax Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor Maine and Boston.

This was my first Cruise on Holland America.

I have gone on Royal Caribbean, Disney, NCL and Princess. After reading some other reviews I wasn't sure what to think.

I was looking forward to being on a smaller ship and I was very pleased.

We went with 6 of us. My wife and myself in our 40's, son 14, daughter 10 and in-laws 70's.

 

We had 2 spa cabins and one vista suite. All the rooms were very comfortable.

The Vista suite was in the back of the ship and the 2 Spa suites were in the front. We did feel some movement on 2 nights but it was fine.

The spa suites were ocean view which were converted to balcony cabins by adding 6 small balconies on each side of the ship in 2009.

The spa balconies were much smaller than the vista suites. There was no room for a lounge chair on the spa balcony.

Having said that I spent many hours on the balcony. It was actually slightly larger than on NCL.

 

There was only one 110v outlet and one 220 v outlet(for the hair dryer) by the desk and one "shaver" outlet above the mirror in the bathroom .

I brought a small power strip but the orientation of the outlet did not allow the mini power strip to fit.

 

The decor was slightly "lighter" than the other cabins.

[/img] small balcony[/img]

We did get some discounts at the spa but it took a few days and asking several people what they were.

 

The staff on the Veendam were very accommodating. They were able to allow access to more than one cabin on the key card.

 

The other passengers were very nice. The average age was 65-70 but were very active and friendly.

There were a few scooters but mobility issues were not an issue.

 

There were about 20 children under 18 on board but my kids were mostly with us.

The ship was pretty full with 1294 passengers.

 

Our cell phone service worked most of the time on the ship.

There were no problems getting seats at the buffet, lounge chairs by the pool, or seats at the shows. You could easily get a drink at the bar.

The pool, spa and gym were never crowded.

 

Probably the biggest disapointment was the main dining room. We had anytime dining and could only get in at 5:45 or 7:45. They seemed understaffed there.

I usually don't go to the buffet on a cruise but we went to the buffet 3 times and the Pinnacle once, this was everyones favorite meal.

I really enjoyed the happy hour in the Crow's Nest. Buy one drink and get the second for $1. I was able to take a few cans of beer and soda back to the room.

I enjoyed the shows. I liked that they were short, usually about 40 min.

 

Getting on and off the ship was very easy.

The first port was Quebec City. There was a marathon that day so we were unable to get a taxi at the port.

I would have appreciated this information prior to getting off of the ship so I could have changed my plans.

Chateau Frontenac

Quebec City[/img]

 

More to come.....

 

[erewhon]

Looking forward to the remainder of your review.

[kazu]

Nice review - looking forward to the rest.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your review.

Looking forward to more.

[drneal]

Day 3

 

scenic cruising on the St. Laurence river.

We have Verizon and we had cell service during most of the day.

 

 

The ship had a Canada & New England highlights talk in the showroom.

 

We also went to the Culinary Arts Center for a talk on Lobsters from the Celebrity guest chef "The Kilted Chef"

 

There was always some lecture or a movie going on somewhere.

They have a great library and a Digital workshop.

I enjoyed the team trivia.

They have a small but nice gym and they do have classes and talks.

They have a nice pool area with a retractable roof.

 

The pool area was never crowded

 

There are two hot tubs by the pool and they have 4 more hot tubs in the retreat are which is outside in the back of the ship.

The Oasis area for the teens was closed due to some incident last year.

There was always something for the kids to do in the kids club.

Mostly my kids stayed with us by the pool/hot tubs and they had ping pong.

I had read somewhere that they have (or had) an open bridge policy where you could go on a tour.

This was no longer the case and I did request a tour but never heard back from the from desk.

The captain always gave a detailed announcement as to the weather conditions, distance to the next port and anticipated speed when he would leave a port.

On the last day of the cruise we received a "Cruise Log" which summarized each days port and weather conditions.

The cruise log also included statistics including average fuel and water consumption as well as guest/crew capacities.

 

There was always some place to get food throughout the day and night.

My son is vegetarian and had no problems with the food.

 

I would have liked to be able to view the previous nights show on the cabin TV.

They had a few channels of news and 3 channels showing 6 movies throughout the day.

There was a DVD player in the room and you are able to order a free movie from a large list.

 

I didn't make it to high tea as it usually was around the same time as happy hour.

 

The Crow's Nest

 

They had a good selection of alcohol and beers.

You could buy a bottle of wine at the bar and then have it sent to the dining room to have with dinner.

 

They offered wine and scotch tastings during the cruise.

 

This was the first of 2 Gala nights. Most men were in suits or sport jackets. Not too many tuxedos.

As for me I was a little more casual in chinos and a button down shirt.

The other nights attire in the dining room was "smart casual" which I usually wore pants/jeans and a collared shirt.

On the first night my son was asked to put on pants as he was wearing shorts.

 

There was always some live music in one of the bars starting at about 5:30.

I saw some of the show that night but opted for the casino.

The casino wasn't very crowded but there still was smoking allowed at some of the tables.

They had one night where the casino was smoke free.

 

We had to turn the clock ahead one hour for Charlottetown PEI.

 

More later

[6boysnana]

Thank you for your review. Keep it coming along with the photos.

I am dreaming of a Veendam cruise.

 

6boysnana

[SouthHillSteve]

I too want to thank you for doing this review! I am following with great interest because we are booked on the Veendam next July and the first week is the Canada/New England cruise.

We presently have a Lanai cabin booked but I have been considering changing it to a Spa stateroom, so your first post and the pictures have given me some food for thought! Can I ask you whether or not there is a 2nd chair on the balcony? Also, would you be able to give me an idea of just what type of Spa discounts or perks came with this room?

Thanks in advance, and I am looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip and seeing the great photography!

[drneal]

Day 4

Charlottetown PEI...possibly the best day!

 

 

How can't it be a great day when you wake up to this?!

 

We arrived in Charlottetown at 7 AM.

We had an extra hour and final boarding was at 5:30 PM.

 

I had booked a tour with Top Notch tours for a 1 1/2 hour lobster tour.

Mark and his brother Cody were great. They are PEI lobster fishermen and do sport finishing in the late summer/fall.

They taught us about the lobster industry in PEI and sustainable fishing.

The tour has a total of 12 people. We left at 10:30 and returned at noon.

The kids were able to drive the boat and haul up the lobster traps.

 

Thats Capt. Mark with Larry the Lobster....only for teaching purposes.

 

After the boat tour we stopped by the Queen of fries for some PEI potato fries and the went to lunch at Sims for local oysters

and then got a taxi to take us to the north shore/Stanley bridge area....which should not be missed.

 

 

Stanley Bridge area

 

 

New London Range Rear Lighthouse

 

 

On the way to the lighthouse

 

The north shore is where Anne of the Green Gables is so you can see much of the great scenery if you do that tour.

We were able to pass both mussel and oyster farms.

 

Charlottetown is a great port. Nice streets to walk around by the port.

 

They had the Halifax Citadel Bagpipe performance by the pool before the sail-a-way.

 

Back to the ship in time for happy hour and a sail-a-way with more lighthouses.

 

 

We saw Top Notch doing a later tour/lobster dinner on our way out of the harbor.

 

 

Lido buffet for dinner.

 

The show was Thomas John, a comedy juggler. He was on America's Got Talent in 2013.

This was my favorite show.

I saw the comedian/ventriloquist the first night but liked Thomas better.

The two of them performed together on the last night as well.

Showtimes were at 8 & 10 PM but there was only one show at 9:45 on the final night.

 

Up next day 5.

 

 

[lais]

Do you have any pics of the Vista Suite?

[drneal]

I too want to thank you for doing this review! I am following with great interest because we are booked on the Veendam next July and the first week is the Canada/New England cruise.

We presently have a Lanai cabin booked but I have been considering changing it to a Spa stateroom, so your first post and the pictures have given me some food for thought! Can I ask you whether or not there is a 2nd chair on the balcony? Also, would you be able to give me an idea of just what type of Spa discounts or perks came with this room?

Thanks in advance, and I am looking forward to reading about the rest of your trip and seeing the great photography!

 

The balcony had 2 chairs and a small table. The vista suits had more space and had a lounge chair.

I liked having my own balcony and spent many hours out there. It was slightly LARGER than the one I had on the NCL Getaway.

Being in the front of the ship we did feel a little more motion on 2 nights than we are used to when we are in a mid-ship cabin but there was not a lot of ocean sailing.

The spa cabin comes with its own yoga mats, pedometers and a wooden bath mat in the bathroom. You also get Vitamin water instead of Evian.

The Spa cabin comes with fruit smoothies from room service....

...but this was basically yogurt in a glass of milk and not the fruit smoothies you get at the bars on the ship.

We walked by the Lanai cabins. They are on a lower deck and I read that that the rooms are smaller. The lanai cabins have reserved deck chairs outside the cabin.

My in-laws booked a guarantee spa (VQ) but were put in a Vista Suite on deck 10. It was a bigger room with an aft balcony.

I liked being on deck 9. 2 decks up to the lido deck/pool and 1 or 2 decks down to everything else.

The spa room did not really give you many options in the spa. On other ships you get full use of the spa.

They were selling the spa package on day 1 for like $13/person/day.

The discounts were $30 off a signature service which is a 70 minute service so you basically get the longer service for the same price.

I would have liked to have known that before we booked the massage.

 

 

Veendam in Charlottetown

 

 

...and another lighthouse leaving Charlottetown

 

[OlsSalt]

We are heading this way on the Veendam in a few more weeks - love getting your preview of this cruise and all your port tips. It looks wonderful.

[drneal]

Do you have any pics of the Vista Suite?

 

I didn't take any pictures as there were many on the internet and the rooms they show on the the Holland America website are accurate.

The colors were darker browns than the Spa suite.

The couch was a full size couch.

There were 3 sets of desk drawers instead of one and extra shelves by the desk.

There were also 5 closets/doors instead of 4 in the Spa cabin.

The balcony is much bigger and has a lounge chair. The balcony is also "part" of the ship where as the Spa balcony was added on in a 2009 refit.

The Vista suite had a jacuzzi tub and they had a pair of binoculars for you to use.

The bathrooms were the same size.

 

Below is a link that shows the Vista cabin....this is exactly what my in-laws cabin looked like.

 

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollandamerica.com%2Fimages%2Fcruise-vacation-onboard%2Fships%2FVE%2F520XVerandah_popup.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollandamerica.com%2Fcruise-vacation-onboard%2FVeendam&docid=Laa4QpG65kTjGM&tbnid=nOBuSIzN0PCvlM%3A&w=500&h=334&bih=879&biw=1710&ved=0ahUKEwiIrrqI2_jOAhUBcSYKHXz9AU4QMwgfKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8

[lais]

I didn't take any pictures as there were many on the internet and the rooms they show on the the Holland America website are accurate.

The colors were darker browns than the Spa suite.

The couch was a full size couch.

There were 3 sets of desk drawers instead of one and extra shelves by the desk.

There were also 5 closets/doors instead of 4 in the Spa cabin.

The balcony is much bigger and has a lounge chair. The balcony is also "part" of the ship where as the Spa balcony was added on in a 2009 refit.

The Vista suite had a jacuzzi tub and they had a pair of binoculars for you to use.

The bathrooms were the same size.

 

Below is a link that shows the Vista cabin....this is exactly what my in-laws cabin looked like.

 

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollandamerica.com%2Fimages%2Fcruise-vacation-onboard%2Fships%2FVE%2F520XVerandah_popup.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollandamerica.com%2Fcruise-vacation-onboard%2FVeendam&docid=Laa4QpG65kTjGM&tbnid=nOBuSIzN0PCvlM%3A&w=500&h=334&bih=879&biw=1710&ved=0ahUKEwiIrrqI2_jOAhUBcSYKHXz9AU4QMwgfKAEwAQ&iact=mrc&uact=8

Thank you so very much!

[drneal]

We arrived in Sydney at 8 AM. All aboard was 4:30.

Again we got an extra hour in port.

 

Sydney is a nice but small town and I read that you are better off doing excursions out of Sydney.

 

The Island of Cape Breton is known for its Celtic roots and fiddle playing.

This explains the giant fiddle at the port.

 

Prior to the cruise I had hired Don Blackwood of Blackwood tours.

His assistant Tom McDonald met us at the pier on time.

We had a Dodge caravan that could fit 6 passengers.

We paid 80 CAD/hour. (In PEI it was 70 CAD/hr and in Halifax 50-55 CAD/hr)

At the end of the tour Tom asked for $80 US, but let's just assume it was an honest mistake.

He had me wait until Don came. Don also wanted $80 US.

I guess it was good that I'm not from Europe or he may have asked for 80 EURO.

 

There were plenty of taxis for hire at the port and you can rent a car as well.

 

I had arranged to go to the Louisbourg lighthouse and then to Baddeck but Tom said that we should go to Baddeck first.

I'm still not sure why.

 

Baddeck is a nice town with more to do than the Louisbourg....but I was more interested in seeing lighthouses and eating lobster.

 

Baddeck is about 1 hr 20 min from Sydney. They have a nice waterfront but are mostly known for the Alexander Graham Bell museum.

 

 

View of the Kidston Island Lighthouse from the Alexander Graham Bell Museum

 

 

McNeil Beach Lighthouse by the Seal Island Bridge, Cape Breton

 

Next off to North Sydney for lunch at the Lobster Pound.

It's open from 12-3 for lunch. We went but couldn't get in before 1 PM without a reservation.

 

Off to Louisbourg. About 1 hr 15 min from North Sydney and 50 min form the port.

The lighthouse was at the end of a narrow and winding road. Not easily accessible with a tour bus.

for me it was TOTALLY WORTH IT !

 

Not many people at all. Nicer than the Peggy's Cove lighthouse.

There are views of the rugged coast line and crashing waves....

....did I mention that there were VERY few people here.

 

 

Louisbourg lighthouse, you can see the fortress across the bay in the background

 

 

View by the Louisbourg Lighthouse

 

You can do some light hiking down along the coast.

 

 

....and one more look at the lighthouse

 

You could see the Fortress of Louisbourg but I was more interested in the lighthouse.....and lobster.

 

Once we left the lighthouse on the way back to the pier I saw a sign for the Lobster Kettle.

A small restaurant on the water with very good, inexpensive food.

 

 

Lobster Kettle for a lobster and Keith's Red

 

Maybe it was partly because I wasn't expecting much from our time in Sydney but I really enjoyed it.

 

Mostly the bright blue sky and the beautifull lighthouse without the hoards of tourists.

 

Back to the ship and HAPPY HOUR. Buy one get the second for $1. No need to get the drink package for $45/day.

Happy hour was from 4-5 PM in the Crow's Nest on Deck 12 and the Ocean Bar on deck 8 and again at the Crow's nest from 9-10 PM.

What a great way to sail-a-way. 2 decks above the bridge with a cocktail.

It would get busy there but was never crowded. Again you could always get seats or a place at the bar.

 

The other guests were very nice people. Seemed like every other person was retired military.

 

Dinner, for us, that night was the New England Mussels and Fish Bake at the Lido Market (Buffet).

I would say that this was my second favorite meal after the Pinnacle.

We were always able to get a table for 6 with no problems.

The mussels were from PEI and were very good but I really enjoyed the New England Chowder and they had steak at the carving station.

For desert, like most nights, we got the ice cream in these great waffle cones.

 

Again lots of live music starting at 5:30 PM

a solo guitarist in the Mix bar bar, Violin/piano performers playing classical music in the Explorer's lounge.

The Neptunes playing in the Ocean bar and Annika in the Piano Bar.

The Movie was Two if By Sea at 3 PM, 7:30 PM and 9:30 PM.

If you missed this Sandra Bullock/Denis Leary comedy you could catch it the next day on your stateroom TV.

 

Showtime was Richard Rubin. A comedic piano player. He was a very good piano player and entertainer

....at least to me, others in my group didn't think so.

Definitely worth seeing. What else are you going to do on the ship for 40 min. at 10 PM?

I was happy with the entertainment on the ship. Even if you don't really like it you don't need to leave early because most of the shows are only 1/2 hour long.

 

As others have said there isn't much in the way of night life.

I was happy going to bed by 11. We were in ports most days and I was up by 7 AM.

 

Up next Halifax.

 

[Cruise_More_Often]

I'm having a great time following along on your cruise. Thank you so much for doing this live review. We'll be doing the same cruise next May, and it's good to see what you're doing.

 

Have you had a chance to stop by the Piano Bar (I'm assuming there is still a Piano Bar on the ship)? That's a great place to spend some fun time in the evenings. Another great entertainment venue is the BB King Blues Club, if there is a BB King group playing on the ship. We've spent many an evening split between those two venues.

 

It sounds like you're having a good time. We did many, many cruises with NCL before finding HAL, and we love it.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Cruise_More_Often

[Sue from Canada]

Lovely review and photos. I'm doing this cruise (Boston to Montreal) in just over 2 weeks:) Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

[drneal]

Day 6

 

Halifax

 

We arrived at 8:30 AM in Halifax.

 

The Anthem of the Seas was already in port....with 4200 passengers.

 

 

Welcome to Halifax. That's the Anthem of the Seas behind Georges Island.

 

 

Georges Island lighthouse

 

You can find Fort Charolette (1750) on Georges Island.

The ship docks next to Georges Island.

 

Prior to going we booked a tour with the Halifax tour guys based on TripAdvisor reviews.

 

I had read that we needed to get to the Lighthouse at Peggy's cover early, so we met out guide Earl McGee at 8:45 AM and went directly to the lighthouse.

We got there in about 50 min.....and it was already crowded. There were about 8 tour buses already.

Whenever I would look at the live webcam in Peggy's cover it was foggy.

....and it was foggy when we went as well.

So it was foggy and crowded.

 

 

Peggy's Cove Lighthouse

 

 

Peggy's Cove

 

The town of Peggy's cove is very nice. Small, only about 40 people, not families but people.

 

 

Peggy's Cove

 

Earl was a great tour guide. He grew up in Halifax and told us all about the area.

 

Prior to going to Halifax I read about Lunenburg and was very interested to see it.

The town was laid out in England in 1753 and the streets and parks as well as many buildings are the same.

There are a lot of German decedents there and so they have a piece of the Berlin wall there.

 

 

View of Lunenburg from the golf course across the bay

 

It was about 1 hr 20 min to get to Lunenburg from Peggy'Cove.

We toured around a bit, had lunch and had to head back to the ship before 2 PM as we had 1 1/2 hour ride to get back to Halifax.

 

They have a built up the waterfront by the cruise ship pier and there are a lot of restaurants and shops along the boardwalk.

 

I really enjoyed Lunenburg.

 

This was the 2nd Gala attire night.

 

We ate at the Pinnacle Grill. Best meal on the ship.

We saw the Captain and the Kilted Chef having dinner together with their wives.

 

Again many live music choices. Digital workshop and X-Men: Apocalypse was playing in the theater at 1, 7, and 9:45 PM.

 

The show was Droom with the ships singers and dancers.

It was a magical/mystical song and dance show.

 

Final day...Bar Harbor.

 

[drneal]

The ship left Halifax about 1/2 hour late as one of the ship's excursions was late.

A good reason to think about booking you excursions through the ship.

[jimbri]

Great photos!

[sail7seas]

thanks for your good review andsd the photos. Having f sailethat itginerary liiertally dfozens of times, on Veendam and Maasdam, it is a pleasure to 'revisit thos ports I enjoy so much.

[SouthHillSteve]

Thanks so much for answering my questions! Seeing all of the great options for shore excursions I believe we will stick with our somewhat smaller Lanai and spend the extra $$$ taking in sights and experiences in the many ports of call!

Now if we were to get an upgrade or upsell offer I would definitely consider making the switch!

Interested to see what you folks did in Bar Harbour and Boston. Thanks!

[drneal]

Our final day was spent in Bar Harbor, Maine.

I thought I posted Bar Harbor already but I don't see it.

Sorry if this is a duplicate.

 

We arrived back in the US Bar Harbor at 8 AM.

We turned our clocks back 1 hour so we had an extra hour in the morning.

 

We had to pass through US CBP before going to the tenders.

This was basically showing them your passport.

I though it would take a while and that we would be late for our private excursion.

The ship had all the passengers with early ship excursions go through followed by passengers on decks 9 & 10.

This took all of 10 min.

We then went to the showroom at sea and got our tender passes.

The tenders were the life/rescue boats from the ship. They hold 60 passengers.

We had an 8 min boat ride to the dock.

 

Prior to the cruise I booked a tour with At Your Service Tours.

We were interested in seeing Acadia National Park and going for a lobster lunch.

 

We met our tour guide, Dave Reed, at the pier.

He took the 6 of us in a mini van to get our $25 car pass before going to the park.

Dave was great. He is retired from the parks department and worked at the park before retiring. He is a lifelong resident of Bar Harbor.

The tour was $80/hour.

 

We went to the top of Cadillac mountain and then to Thunder Hole.

 

 

View of there Porcupine Islands from the top of Cadillac mountain. You can see Veendam in the harbor

 

As the ship left Bar Harbor the tide was out and we could see people walking from Bar harbor to Bar Island.

 

 

Another view from the top of Cadillac Mountain

 

 

View of the coastline from Thunder Hole

 

As we drove around the entire park Dave gave us a history of the park and Bar Harbor.

 

Next it was off to Trenton Bridge Lobster pound for lunch.

When we were here 15 years ago we ate here every night and I wanted to go back.

It's about a 40 min drive from the pier.

 

 

Trenton Bridge Lobster pound

 

The place is just over the Trenton Bridge that connects Dessert Island to the mainland.

It's right on the water.

You pick your lobster and they weigh it for you. I think it was about $12-13/pound.

They then put the lobster in a net bag and boil it in sea water outside.

The last time I was there they didn't have beer, now they have beer and wine.

The blueberry pie and cake was great.

 

Next it was back to Bar Harbor where we did some shopping and then to the tenders back to the ship.

The last tender was at 4:30.

They were using a lobster tour boat and someone said that 2 of the tenders weren't working.

 

 

Veendam in Bar Harbor

 

We made it back to the ship by 4 PM and....

HAPPY HOUR !

 

That nights dinner was from the culinary council in the dining room which we didn't really enjoy.

The Lido buffet also had some ethnic food but we had a large lobster lunch so we were fine.

 

The luggage had to be outside the cabin by midnight.

 

They had all of the usual live entertainment.

They had one show at 9:45 featuring the Comedian juggler and the ventriloquist.

 

 

One final lighthouse as we leave Bar Harbor. Notice all of the lobster trap buoys in the foreground.

 

Disembarkation was very easy the next day in Boston. All passengers were off by 9:30 AM.

 

We decided to spend a night in Boston before heading home to NY on Sunday.

We did the Duck tour which uses WW II amphibious vehicles and takes you around Boston and then into the Charles River.

A free student led tour of Harvard was included.

We went to Little Italy for dinner.

 

We went to the Paramount restaurant in Beacon hill for breakfast. We waited on line for 1 hr 20 min before we got to order....we all thought is was worth it.

 

We then went to Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall and some of the Freedom trail before catching a train back to NY.

 

I enjoyed reading other reviews on Cruise Critic before my trip and appreciate the time people took to write them.

I would also like to say thank you to the people who answered my questions.

 

I hope this review and pictures gets people excited to go on their cruise to Canada/New England.

 

 

[drneal]

That last lighthouse is the Egg Rock lighthouse.

[Florida_gal_50]

Excellent thread. Thanks so much.

[Cruise_More_Often]

I should have mentioned in my earlier post how much I love your pictures. They are fantastic, and you are an artist!