JUST BACK FROM CUBA ON THE VEENDAM

[cruisebie]

I have sailed on the Veendam twice in the past year and have had a wonderful cruise both times. Yes, the ship is older and that means more issues and more upkeep but she has her charms as well (maybe the same can be said about me). I didn't experience any of the issues that have been reported but I have no doubt they exist.  I have had some of these issues on newer ships on other cruise lines, so they can happen on any ship at any time and I'm sure it would impact the way you felt about a particular ship.

 

I did notice the two elevators were out of service on both my cruises, which were 3 months apart. It was one from the forward bank of elevators and one of the rear bank.  That still left 3 functioning elevators in both banks.  The only time I really noticed a problem was when something in the main showroom was over.  I will say that I work in a building with an older elevator that we just had to have rebuilt because parts were no longer available.  It was a very lengthy (about 5-6weeks) and expensive repair.  So I don't think HAL is just cheaping out on repairing this. It probably needs to wait for a major dry dock.

 

The crew on the Veendam for both of my cruises was wonderful.  I think the crew is what really puts HAL a notch above other lines!  They not only provide great service but also do the little things that are so appreciated.

[ChinaShrek]

10 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

No point conflating the elevator problems with the passenger generated AC and plumbing issues. I expect better reading comprehension from you.  It has been stated in the past it is hard to even get replacement parts for some of the mechanical equipment on some of the older ships.

 

But yes, passenger unwitting issues can cause momentary elevator misfunction - pushing buttons before the doors close - who knew other than learning by trial and error. However, elevators permanently out of function is the topic - how long and by what causation - deal killer or not. Virtue of smaller ships - shorter walk to the next elevator bank. 

 

Making excuses for HAL a bit here, no?  I was on the same Christmas cruise.  Two elevators have been out on this ship for months and there is no desire (or ability) to fix them.  The reasons are irrelevant.  When most people book a cruise, they expect all elevators to be working at all times.  Most people also expect the AC to be working (though I did not experience any AC issues).  Your excuses do not make their frustration and sadness go away.

Edited January 18, 2019 by ChinaShrek

[Ken the cruiser]

Hey Chuck! What a lively thread! As far as Loyalty programs go, Oceania and Celebrity/Azamara have the best ones in our opinion. You're right. You have to get to 4 star on HAL to get free laundry, a $7 a day perk, and 50% off a wine package. We just made Elite on Celebrity and besides the internet and laundry perks that go along with that, we also each get 3 free drinks every night of the cruise, except for the first night, from 5-7 pm in any lounge. The other nice thing about Celebrity and Azamara loyalty programs is that since your club number is the same on both lines, you collect points independent of which line you sail on. If you like to have fun on sea days and enjoy great entertainment, then X would be a good pick. If you like smaller more laid back ships, 660-1200 pax, and longer itineraries, then Azamara would be a good choice. On Oceania after your 9th cruise leg, you get OBC and free gratuities, which can definitely add up on longer cruises. We just got off a 32 day O cruise and gratuities alone were $1,024. We also prefer O over Azamara because O is cheaper, they have great food and don't include unlimited drinks and gratuities in their cruise fare.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[Jammu2]

I'm late to the thread. I've read many of the responses but not all. My points in no particular order.

 

1. Azamara ships are old Renaissance cruise ships. Beautiful, but if you think 225 square feet is a sardine can you will be in for a shock. Have they launched newer ships? I dont know. 

 

2. The RCI loyalty programs do offer reciprocity. However, cruise points earned are only applicable for the line. If, for example, you become Diamond on Royal Carribean, you can get a similar status on Celebrity. But then your next Celebrity cruise will not count on your Diamond status on Royal.

 

3. I dont care for Royal. I will be trying Celebrity for the second time this fall. 

 

4. Check out Oceania's "O" Class ships (they also have 3 Renaissance "R" class ships). I really like them.

 

5. We will cruise on Oosterdam and Westerdam in 2019. I've cruised on Eurodam. I love Eurodam. Theres a lot of room per passenger. The specialty restaurants are good. If Oosty and Westy are comparable, then I think I will have found my favorite line for comfort/ food/ value. Though I do want to continue on Oceania once a year and would like to try Seabourn.

 

6. I don't make decisions based on loyalty programs. Across the industry benefits are degrading. 

 

Good luck!

[Chuck]

Let me just add this to OlsSalt and anyone else who cares to attack me for calling the room a "SARDINE CAN".   First of all I was promised a Mini Suite on the Verandah Deck 9.  I had NO IDEA just how small a 225 square foot room really is.  There is no place for your personal bathroom items except an EXTREMELY SMALL LAVATORY WITH 2 SMALL GLASS SHELVES HANGING ON THE WALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We truly were very dissapointed after spending $5,450 for the cruise, another $1,000 for the insurance, another $1,000 for airfare and another $221 for the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale, then add in another $850 at the tail end for the gratuities, drinks, water, etc etc.   Thats somewhere in the vicinity of $8,521 for the 10 day cruise.  HARDLY A BARGAIN IN MY OPINION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     I started out this post on a pretty optimistic note but after being attacked for calling it a sardine can I decided to counter punch.   LOL    The room in no other words was a "SARDINE CAN", and in the future I will do much more HOMEWORK regarding the room.   I have checked the square footage on our next room and that room is a GIANT 294 Square Feet.   Ha Ha  LOL.    We are thinking SERIOUSLY about CANCELLING the cruise that we have booked in SEPT. of 2019 on the ZUIDERDAM  FEARING THAT IT WILL BE MORE OF THE SAME.   RIGHT NOW I CAN CANCEL WITH "NO PENALTIES PER A HOLLAND AMERICA REP.     We are a couple that actually DOES spend a fair amount of time in the room so the room size is a BIG DEAL to us.  I fully understand to some its no big deal.  But we do not gamble, are light drinkers, and don't go to any of the shows.  We never went to one show on this last 10 day cruise as we just don't enjoy their lame entertainment.  Enough said.

[VMax1700]

32 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Enough said.

 

Agree, enough has been said.

Hindsight is 20/20

Move on and research.

[taxmantoo]

59 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Let me just add this to OlsSalt and anyone else who cares to attack me for calling the room a "SARDINE CAN".   First of all I was promised a Mini Suite on the Verandah Deck 9.  I had NO IDEA just how small a 225 square foot room really is.  ...

One more time ... there is no such thing!  Whoever promised you that had no idea what they were talking about!  "Caveat emptor" certainly applies here.

 

p.s.  How much you paid for insurance, airfare, accommodations, gratuities and water has very little impact on the size of your room 🙄 We all pay that regardless of the room we wind up in.  It is part of the cost of "having fun".

Edited January 18, 2019 by taxmantoo

[Chuck]

22 minutes ago, taxmantoo said:

One more time ... there is no such thing!  Whoever promised you that had no idea what they were talking about!  "Caveat emptor" certainly applies here.

 

p.s.  How much you paid for insurance, airfare, accommodations, gratuities and water has very little impact on the size of your room 🙄 We all pay that regardless of the room we wind up in.  It is part of the cost of "having fun".

Taxmantoo;  Did I forget about the little computer sized 21" TV in the room.  Well now I mentioned it.   LOL

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Taxmantoo;  Did I forget about the little computer sized 21" TV in the room.  Well now I mentioned it.   LOL

Chuck, we’re in our mid 60s as well and if you don’t like much of what HAL has to offer, especially in the entertainment area, you may want to check out Princess and Celebrity. As you will notice in my signature, that’s what we’ve done and have been quite pleased with the value we get from booking verandas on their ships.

[Chuck]

16 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Chuck, we’re in our mid 60s as well and if you don’t like much of what HAL has to offer, especially in the entertainment area, you may want to check out Princess and Celebrity. As you will notice in my signature, that’s what we’ve done and have been quite pleased with the value we get from booking verandas on their ships.

Ken;  THANK YOU for your nice reply.  Yes, we will be checking other lines out carefully.  I do like the Upper Scale Lines but sometimes have a hard time justifying spending that kind of money.  Hope you can understand that.  People say the old cliche of "Well you get what you pay for".   But I have found in life after 68 years that is NOT ALWAYS TRUE.   Sometimes you spend alot of $$$$$$ and feel like you really did not get a good value.   Thank you again. 

[OlsSalt]

3 hours ago, Chuck said:

Let me just add this to OlsSalt and anyone else who cares to attack me for calling the room a "SARDINE CAN".   First of all I was promised a Mini Suite on the Verandah Deck 9.  I had NO IDEA just how small a 225 square foot room really is.  There is no place for your personal bathroom items except an EXTREMELY SMALL LAVATORY WITH 2 SMALL GLASS SHELVES HANGING ON THE WALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We truly were very dissapointed after spending $5,450 for the cruise, another $1,000 for the insurance, another $1,000 for airfare and another $221 for the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale, then add in another $850 at the tail end for the gratuities, drinks, water, etc etc.   Thats somewhere in the vicinity of $8,521 for the 10 day cruise.  HARDLY A BARGAIN IN MY OPINION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     I started out this post on a pretty optimistic note but after being attacked for calling it a sardine can I decided to counter punch.   LOL    The room in no other words was a "SARDINE CAN", and in the future I will do much more HOMEWORK regarding the room.   I have checked the square footage on our next room and that room is a GIANT 294 Square Feet.   Ha Ha  LOL.    We are thinking SERIOUSLY about CANCELLING the cruise that we have booked in SEPT. of 2019 on the ZUIDERDAM  FEARING THAT IT WILL BE MORE OF THE SAME.   RIGHT NOW I CAN CANCEL WITH "NO PENALTIES PER A HOLLAND AMERICA REP.     We are a couple that actually DOES spend a fair amount of time in the room so the room size is a BIG DEAL to us.  I fully understand to some its no big deal.  But we do not gamble, are light drinkers, and don't go to any of the shows.  We never went to one show on this last 10 day cruise as we just don't enjoy their lame entertainment.  Enough said.

 

Cancel the Zuiderdam. It will be more of the same and your sensibilities will again be highly offended. Don't do this to yourself.

[dogo88]

1 hour ago, Chuck said:

Ken;  THANK YOU for your nice reply.  Yes, we will be checking other lines out carefully.  I do like the Upper Scale Lines but sometimes have a hard time justifying spending that kind of money.  Hope you can understand that.  People say the old cliche of "Well you get what you pay for".   But I have found in life after 68 years that is NOT ALWAYS TRUE.   Sometimes you spend alot of $$$$$$ and feel like you really did not get a good value.   Thank you again. 

Chuck,

Take a look at Celebrity Solstice Class ships. We got tired of HAL a few years ago, and branched out to try other lines. We were pleasantly surprised. We did the Equinox in 2017 and loved it. Nice size and excellent restaurants. Room was great. Price was not much different than HALs for a comparable  cruise. We are going on the Silhouette in March. We still do HAL cruises and was on their Alaskan cruise out of Seattle last May. Had an excellent time on that trip. 

There are some very nice alternatives out there. 

Dan   

[OlsSalt]

3 hours ago, Chuck said:

Let me just add this to OlsSalt and anyone else who cares to attack me for calling the room a "SARDINE CAN".   First of all I was promised a Mini Suite on the Verandah Deck 9.  I had NO IDEA just how small a 225 square foot room really is.  There is no place for your personal bathroom items except an EXTREMELY SMALL LAVATORY WITH 2 SMALL GLASS SHELVES HANGING ON THE WALL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We truly were very dissapointed after spending $5,450 for the cruise, another $1,000 for the insurance, another $1,000 for airfare and another $221 for the Hampton Inn in Ft. Lauderdale, then add in another $850 at the tail end for the gratuities, drinks, water, etc etc.   Thats somewhere in the vicinity of $8,521 for the 10 day cruise.  HARDLY A BARGAIN IN MY OPINION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     I started out this post on a pretty optimistic note but after being attacked for calling it a sardine can I decided to counter punch.   LOL    The room in no other words was a "SARDINE CAN", and in the future I will do much more HOMEWORK regarding the room.   I have checked the square footage on our next room and that room is a GIANT 294 Square Feet.   Ha Ha  LOL.    We are thinking SERIOUSLY about CANCELLING the cruise that we have booked in SEPT. of 2019 on the ZUIDERDAM  FEARING THAT IT WILL BE MORE OF THE SAME.   RIGHT NOW I CAN CANCEL WITH "NO PENALTIES PER A HOLLAND AMERICA REP.     We are a couple that actually DOES spend a fair amount of time in the room so the room size is a BIG DEAL to us.  I fully understand to some its no big deal.  But we do not gamble, are light drinkers, and don't go to any of the shows.  We never went to one show on this last 10 day cruise as we just don't enjoy their lame entertainment.  Enough said.

 

1. SARDINE CAN = two dozen flat fish filets in oil laying on top of each other  in a  compact zip can for easy portability and dense nutrition.

2.  BATHROOM There is a large shelf under the bathroom sink as well as places to hang toiletry kits and easy access to hall closets directly across from the bathroom door. Compared to other cruise lines including Crystal, HAL bathrooms are generously sized and often include a full tub.

3. $1000 insurance + $1000 airfare + $221 hotel, + $850 onboard purchases (minus HSC) are all purely discretionary choices and no excuse to malign HAL ships due to your own choices and circumstances.

4. Cuba is a desirable route - animal spirts rule the marketplace - why should HAL underprice them for your subjective sensibilities

5. Talk to your travel agent who materially misrepresented this cruise purchase to you. Use your local small claims court for recourse. 

6. Please cancel the Zuiderdam cruise  and move on.  

Edited January 18, 2019 by OlsSalt

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, dogo88 said:

Chuck,

Take a look at Celebrity Solstice Class ships. We got tired of HAL a few years ago, and branched out to try other lines. We were pleasantly surprised. We did the Equinox in 2017 and loved it. Nice size and excellent restaurants. Room was great. Price was not much different than HALs for a comparable  cruise. We are going on the Silhouette in March. We still do HAL cruises and was on their Alaskan cruise out of Seattle last May. Had an excellent time on that trip. 

There are some very nice alternatives out there. 

Dan   

Dan;  Thank You for your input.  I definitely will check it out. 

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

 

1. SARDINE CAN = two dozen flat fish filets in oil laying on top of each other  in a  compact zip can for easy portability and dense nutrition.

2.  BATHROOM There is a large shelf under the bathroom sink as well as places to hang toiletry kits and easy access to hall closets directly across from the bathroom door. Compared to other cruise lines including Crystal, HAL bathrooms are generously sized and often include a full tub.

3. $1000 insurance + $1000 airfare + $221 hotel, + $850 onboard purchases (minus HSC) are all purely discretionary choices and no excuse to malign HAL ships due to your own choices and circumstances.

4. Cuba is a desirable route - animal spirts rule the marketplace - why should HAL underprice them for your subjective sensibilities

5. Talk to your travel agent who materially misrepresented this cruise purchase to you. Use your local small claims court for recourse. 

6. Please cancel the Zuiderdam cruise  and move on.  

Have you ever heard the old line of "something smells kinda fishy here"???   LOL   Iam getting the impression that OlsSalt either works for Holland America or there is some relative or some connection to the line.  Regardless if he is or isn't Iam going to look into other options.  

[Aquahound]

On 1/17/2019 at 11:06 AM, Chuck said:

I am not married to H A and at 68/67 respectively we are young enough to switch to the other posters recommendations of RCCL/CELEBRITY/AZAMARA.    I have checked out all of them and pricing seems to be pretty comparable with the exception of Azamara which seems to be "VERY PRICEY" in my opinion.  But I will still consider it seriously. 

 

Good idea.  Those are 3 great cruise lines and to answer an earlier question of yours, they have the best loyalty programs in cruising.  Plus, like someone else said, they recognize each others status.  For example, if you make Elite on Celebrity, you'll be automatically be awarded Diamond on RCI.  

 

Celebrity is widely considered to be in the same category as HAL but having done several cruises on both, it's my opinion Celebrity is MUCH better.  RCI has the best entertainment and most awe inspiring ships at sea.  Yes, Azamara is expensive, but it is also a higher category of cruising, and more inclusive.  

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Aquahound said:

 

Good idea.  Those are 3 great cruise lines and to answer an earlier question of yours, they have the best loyalty programs in cruising.  Plus, like someone else said, they recognize each others status.  For example, if you make Elite on Celebrity, you'll be automatically be awarded Diamond on RCI.  

 

Celebrity is widely considered to be in the same category as HAL but having done several cruises on both, it's my opinion Celebrity is MUCH better.  RCI has the best entertainment and most awe inspiring ships at sea.  Yes, Azamara is expensive, but it is also a higher category of cruising, and more inclusive.  

Thank You very much Aquahound.  I truly appreciate your input and feedback.  I definitely will check those lines out.  As I mentioned earlier in this post at ages 68/67 I feel we are still young enough to build up some seniority with a new line.  Plus it gives you something to work towards and look forward to.  After reading very carefully thru H A's rewards Mariner program I truly feel it doesn't amount to a "HILL of BEANS"  in all honesty.  I had to laugh as some folks on the last cruise that told us at lunch "Oh we get free Laundry".    The reason I find humor in that is we are only 1 Star Mariners and we could fill the H A bag Plum Full of dirty clothes for only $20 bucks.  So you spend $7 to $12 thousand dollars and you get free laundry a $20 value.   Whoopdedoodledo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   LOL

[OlsSalt]

What a shame with all your careful prior research, so many here intentionally deceived you about the Veendam:  Indeed, something is fishy. Nary a soul disclosed you had signed up for a SARDINE CAN instead of a verandah suite.

 

[OlsSalt]

For the record - full disclosure, photos including TV monitor and floor plan including bathroom of the Vista Suite - Veendam Vista Suite -Cuba - $1899 - https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/C9A10A/E914.html

 

 

Edited January 18, 2019 by OlsSalt

[Chuck]

2 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

For the record - Veendam Vista Suite -Cuba - $1899 - https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/find-a-cruise/C9A10A/E914.html

Key Word being "FROM" $1,899.  We paid $5,450 for the 2 of us.  I learned that they charge by location and sometimes you can move back a couple of cabins and save a few hundred dollars.  All kinds of "little tricks" they play on you.  I asked a employee on the ship "why do we only get about 6 TV channels and 4 of them are worthless"???  She said the "Honest Answer" is they don't want you to spend anytime in your room watching TV as they want you out on the ship spending money in the bar or the casino.  Like Old Steve Martin in the movie called The Jerk " Ah its a profit deal"!!!!!!!   LOL again.  I don't want to hurt your feelings OlsSalt but we actually had a pretty NICE TIME all things considered.  It was great to get away from our city and the hustle and bustle of the traffic and we did indeed meet lots of really great people from all over the country including lots of Canadians.  My wife even exchanged phone numbers from a nice couple from Philly and we may cruise in the future with them.  So all was not for naught.

[OlsSalt]

7 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Key Word being "FROM" $1,899.  We paid $5,450 for the 2 of us.  I learned that they charge by location and sometimes you can move back a couple of cabins and save a few hundred dollars.  All kinds of "little tricks" they play on you.  I asked a employee on the ship "why do we only get about 6 TV channels and 4 of them are worthless"???  She said the "Honest Answer" is they don't want you to spend anytime in your room watching TV as they want you out on the ship spending money in the bar or the casino.  Like Old Steve Martin in the movie called The Jerk " Ah its a profit deal"!!!!!!!   LOL again.  I don't want to hurt your feelings OlsSalt but we actually had a pretty NICE TIME all things considered.  It was great to get away from our city and the hustle and bustle of the traffic and we did indeed meet lots of really great people from all over the country including lots of Canadians.  My wife even exchanged phone numbers from a nice couple from Philly and we may cruise in the future with them.  So all was not for naught.

 

Location, location, location ..... is not a little trick they play on you. It is a fact of cruising on virtually any ship. You did an admirable degree of  homework up front, and yet you still felt bamboozled? You are a tough customer.

 

BTW - the sardine can photo was from the Museo Leon in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic on another HAL cruise stop at Amber Cove. As a play on their geologic heritage, the museum also had  a motor bike. encased in acrylic "amber" for archeologists to dig up later and ponder the enclosed artifact. Saucy humor in this country. 

[kazu]

Chuck,

 

I am amazed to hear you complain about cost and other issues after reading just a few of your posts in this thread:

New forum won’t copy the full comments for whatever reason but they are there to be seen.  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1974127-ironing-prices-on-emerald-princess/?tab=comments#comment-41774762

 

By the way, PH rooms on Oceania are quite roomy if you don’t mind paying the cost and the additional costs that are much higher than HAL.

[Mickb]

I cannot understand why the OP should be shot down in flames for voicing his opinion. He obviously paid a great deal of money for this cruise and is disappointed. Veendam is an older ship and had problems some years ago that do not seem to have been fixed. 

I cannot understand why people who have obviously had a good experience on a ship cannot accept that just because they enjoyed it everyone else must too. 

Of our 17 cruises, we have sailed 4 times with HAL, 2 were excellent and 2 were not. When I commented on this board ( much like the OP) I was shot down by someone who had sailed on the ship in question and told me I was wrong!

Perception is reality!

Chuck - your opinion is a valid as everyone else’s!

you might like to consider Celebrity, Cunard or Oceana ( the bigger new ships).

Good luck

 

[Chuck]

26 minutes ago, Mickb said:

I cannot understand why the OP should be shot down in flames for voicing his opinion. He obviously paid a great deal of money for this cruise and is disappointed. Veendam is an older ship and had problems some years ago that do not seem to have been fixed. 

I cannot understand why people who have obviously had a good experience on a ship cannot accept that just because they enjoyed it everyone else must too. 

Of our 17 cruises, we have sailed 4 times with HAL, 2 were excellent and 2 were not. When I commented on this board ( much like the OP) I was shot down by someone who had sailed on the ship in question and told me I was wrong!

Perception is reality!

Chuck - your opinion is a valid as everyone else’s!

you might like to consider Celebrity, Cunard or Oceana ( the bigger new ships).

Good luck

 

Thank You for the kind words Mickb.   I appreciate that.   I did not complain about the price of the laundry by the way.  But I will say its a little bit like DISNEY.  They have a "Captive Audience" and they certainly do take advantage of the situation.  But before somebody comes out with a new attack, YES,  I fully knew that going into the situation.  I think anymore what Iam looking at is the Total Cost including everything and if it is a good value or not.  There is nothing low cost about cruising and while it is fun and enjoyable a person has to look carefully at everything and see if its really worth it to them. 

[OlsSalt]

Statement: "There is nothing low cost about cruising"

 

Cruising is one of the most cost effective forms of travel and vacation out there. Particularly on HAL ships, that continue to offer the range of cabin categories that allow a great deal of cruise passenger entry price choice, while having full access to ship amenities available to any other cabin category (with the on small exceptions for the Neptune Suite cabins - access to the Neptune Lounge)