Veendam review 12/5 - 12/20 Panama CanalI read all of the reviews on this ship before

[lais]

I read all of the reviews on this ship before boarding and there were more bad than good so I just went on with an open mind and here is my review.

 

There was absolutely nothing wrong or off with this ship. It was clean, well maintained and the service was fantastic. The food was good. I didn't like everything that I tried but I have to say the food was pretty good overall.

The Lido offered a good breakfast and lunch but came up short for dinner. That is really the only complaint I have. It was actually yucky or maybe I was just there on an off night? The main dining was always a better experience with Harry as our waiter

Our cabin was 095 aft and it was clean and in good shape. The balcony was great and the view even better but not as good as our cabin attendants Warman and Rudi. What a couple of hardworking men.

The shops are nice and the bars were nice. Not a lot of activities and I can do without a lot of activity but sometimes it would be nice to have more choices.

We did not attend any of the shows so no comment there.

People reported in reviews that they didn't like what was done on the aft Lido deck and I have to agree. They built up the area with hot tubs about 6 feet up and it ruins any view back there. If they had someone playing music for sail away they were blocked from view and had a small space to play. It wasted a potentially beautiful area

I think I was blessed with meeting so many nice polite people. They helped make this an even better cruise.

For those if you with an upcoming Veendam cruise, enjoy!

[easyboy]

Thank you for your feedback.

[Scrapnana]

Thanks for your review. I normally don't care for dinner at the Lido on any ship.

[kftw]

Thank you for your review.

[madera1]

Thanks for the review.

 

 

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[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise on the Veendam.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Veendam and your cruise.

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for taking the time to post your review.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[kazu]

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise and welcome home :)

[euro cruiser]

We were on the same cruise and I agree that overall the ship and the cruise were fine.

 

I missed the aft pool found on the other ships, I wonder what the thinking was with the change. It certainly seems that only a small fraction of passengers enjoy the hot tubs, so why so many? And why, as noted, elevated like that? (Answering my own question I assume they simply built over the top of the old pool.)

 

Our servers and cabin attendants were great and the restaurant staff in particular went out of their way to be helpful. The carpet makes self propelling in a wheelchair slow and extra difficult and a couple of times when my brother was tired the restaurant guys pushed his chair all the way back to his cabin, without being asked (most nights they just pushed him to the elevators). Their attention to people and their needs is simply outstanding.

 

One issue that I heard about was inconsistent air conditioning. My brother went to a talk that the captain was giving about the ship and people complained about it until a passenger got up and said "I came here to learn about the ship, not your AC problems". We didn't have a problem in our cabin but my brother did in his once or twice, but it was quickly fixed. Certainly the Crows Nest was always cool to the point of refrigeration - we joked that because it was above the bridge you could count on the AC working right.

 

The ship is older and she shows her age in places, but don't we all. There was obvious wear and tear to our cabin's upholstery but that didn't diminish our cruise. The hinges on one of our closet doors were loose so the door didn't stay completely shut, but so what?

 

I will say regarding the food that someone needs to review the vegetarian options, there are very few that are not Asian spiced. Two weeks of a very similar flavor palate can get old, a bit more variety would be appreciated.

 

Embarking and disembarking were accomplished so easily I was amazed. We dropped our things off in the morning and went back in mid-afternoon to board and we breezed on. For disembarking we waited up on the Lido so we'd be the first into the elevator when our group was called (two wheelchairs pretty much take up the space so we knew if we tried to get on at a lower level we'd be split up). This process was easy as well since they took us through a special line for handicapped passengers at customs.

 

Even though we didn't do much (several of the ports were container ship areas and there was no place to walk to) we had a lovely time on this cruise. The warm weather was a nice break, the Panama Canal was a fabulous day, and the service was attentive.

Edited December 27, 2016 by euro cruiser

[RuthC]

I missed the aft pool found on the other ships, I wonder what the thinking was with the change. It certainly seems that only a small fraction of passengers enjoy the hot tubs, so why so many? And why, as noted, elevated like that? (Answering my own question I assume they simply built over the top of the old pool.)

Here's a brief history lesson from someone who sailed the Veendam under all three configurations:

Once upon a time the area where the current Retreat hot tubs are now was thin air. The aft pool was one deck down, on Navigation Deck. You could enjoy looking down on the pool, or far out to sea, from the Lido Deck.

 

Then, the HAL brain trust decided to put cabins on Navigation Deck where the pool was. They also decided it would be neat to have a meandering water trough (had they ever even been on a ship?), with loungers placed in it, upon Lido Deck. They could not have a pool, since the depth would drop right into those shiny brand new cabins.

 

Well, that water trough idea may be trendy on land, but ships move, and tilt. When then do, water sloshes all over the place---including all over the deck where people were sitting. Anything on the deck got soaked.

HAL reconsidered its decision.

 

The result was the current high-rise hot tubs. Again, they can't be at deck level as they would severely limit movement about the cabins below.

At least they don't dump water all over the place when the ship turns, or in rough seas.

[euro cruiser]

Ah, that makes sense. The diagram at the Lido elevators still shows the meandering trough - I thought it was a pool but your description makes it more clear.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review

 

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[Cruise_More_Often]

Thank you lais (and euro cruiser) for sharing your experiences on the Veendam. She sounds like a great little ship with a happy crew. We will be on her in May, so it's always nice to hear good words about her.

[joekerstef]

thank you lais and euro cruiser for your veendam reviews. I too have read of past problems with this ship on the CC boards with a little trepidation, so it's good to hear of more recent positive experiences. I'll be on Veendam in May, and I'm a wee bit sad that we'll be in port in Boston with Maasdam just because I think I'd rather be on her with her nice wide open back end and good memories from our cruise on her earlier this year. But I'll get over it because heck we'll be on another dam cruise.... :D