MV Van Gogh - 12th July

[dorisday]

Has anyone ever cruised on the MV Van Gogh?

Booked on her July 12th for a short cruise & would like any reviews or info about this ship.

I have ran a search but come up with no results.

[dorisday]

Any one,

 

surely someone must have been onboard the MV Van Gogh before :confused:

[bluecrush]

hi im booked on this boat for norway and am leaving in about half hour and will be in norway tuesday so i will let you know all about the boat. this is the link someone gave me

http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/yourfav/yfc_ts_vangogh.asp

[bluecrush]

heres another link

http://www.ruderhaus.de/travelscope-vangogh-visit/index_e.htm

[bluecrush]

It was really lovely and i would recommend it to anyone.

[Mixed Up]

Unfortunately it features in today's "The Times" in the UK. It has been detained in Harwich due to an outbreak of severe viral infection and about 500 passengers have not been able to board.

 

I feel some empathy for the cruise operators when this happens as it must be painfull for their business. According to the report, health inspectors have audited the ships cleaniness routine and found it to be up to standard, so it seems to be an unfortunate case. The most unfortunate are the poor passengers affected, whether by the virus or by a cancelled cruise.

[bluecrush]

We where on that boat a week before and picture where not well, they were cleaning and wiping stuff down. so they knew before that the virus was on board the boat. Becasue i got it on the last day and lost a stone in weight. oNE of the papers said it was shrimps, it was the bug on the boat before had. at least i got to enjoy my hoilday.

[KiwiIan]

Has anyone ever cruised on the MV Van Gogh?

Booked on her July 12th for a short cruise & would like any reviews or info about this ship.

I have ran a search but come up with no results.

This ship is visiting New Zealand early in 2007 and we have a visit here in Tauranga scheduled for the 16th Feb, this will be its first visit to NZ. Lets hope more come and join the cruise to one of the Worlds best cruise destinations. Regards Ian [Tauranga] a local.

[Iduna]

Have just returned from the Baltic Cruise on MV van Gogh with both my wife and myself becoming very ill. The crew have constantly wiped and disinfected the ship but the problem seems to lie in the air conditioning/plumbing system of the ship, which emits foul, sewage-like odours. The doctor on board barely speaks English and only administers imodium in large and uncontrolled quantities. Over and above the "entertainment" offered is of very low Holiday Camp standard and really only suitable for either child-minded or senile gereatrics. Even the "Comedian" made use of the conditions on board for his repertoire, ridiculing the fact that many passengers had fallen ill, adding words like "have you got the virus yet? Don't worry...you will get it". Not a cruise company I would recommend, unless you enjoy being ill and bored on the high seas.

[dorisday]

thanks for all your messages regarding the Van Gogh.

 

Luckily Im only onboard for a three day short Summer Gardens cruise, it was so cheap I had to take it & Ive always want to visit Monets Water Garden & Tresco. Ive been to the Eden project a number of times but there is always so much to see there & new plant species to find.

 

My group are all informed of the problems onboard & will be taking every precaution not to become ill.

 

Ive just been told my allocated cabin is 4314, does anyone have any links to deck plans of this ship.

 

I used to work for a cruiseline many years ago so this age & size of ship will be like old times for me.

 

Any more info on this ship will be handy, keep it coming, the good, the bad & the ugly...all information is better than none

[dorisday]

embarking the Van Gogh in less than a week & still no posts.

 

Still a cruise is a cruise & Im looking forward to visiting the gardens & chillin out onboard

[middy]

Have cruised on Van Gogh twice, had a great time both times. Staff very friendly many of whom return year after year. What did you want to know ?

Middy :)

[dorisday]

off on my short cruise today,

tell you all about it when I get back :) :) :)

[sparkieplug24]

I have been on this ship a few times and have never had any problems regarding cleanliness as I have said time and again the problem isnt the ship its the people on the ship who spread the virus.

 

The ship crew take cleanliness so seriously that on one of my trips i was standing at the poolside buffet and accidently lifted two plates the waiter immediately removed one of the plates to be washed as I had handled. Not because he was saying that I was dirty but because he new that this is how this viruses is spread.

 

As for a smell from the airconditioning it was probably those disinfecting sprays that you find in air conditioning systems in most hospitals, toilets etc as some of them are foul.

 

I love this ship and would highly recommend it to people. The crew are friendly and helpful and cant do enough for you. Although some of the entertainment in the evenings could be better as sometimes you do feel like its the same show with different costumes but your holiday is what u make of it and you dont have to go watch the show.

[dorisday]

Im back after my 4 day Summer Gardens Cruise on the Van Gogh.

 

After a nightmare journey from the Midlands to Harwich we finally arrived 6 hrs later at Harwich port. We chose the self drive option, which I prefer however the coaches were caught up in all the bad traffic too so sailing was delayed 1 hr.

Boarding at Harwich went smoothly although if we had arrived on time we would have had to wait around as they board coach passengers first.

The ship is lovely, traditional & very easy to find your way around. I love the small ship, this one reminded me of the original Island & Pacific Princess that I used to work on in the 90's.

We had an inside cabin on deck 4 which was very spacious for our needs, there was even room to keep my Mothers wheeled walking frame inside. There is only one elevator on this ship which is towards the front so if you cant do stairs I recommend a mid-ships or fwd cabin. We had cabin 4314 which was very well placed for the stairs & elevator.

First call was Honfleur & we took the Monets Water Garden tour, it was a long coach drive but the garden & lily pond made up for it.

Next day we tendered for the Scilly Isles, the tenders are local open top boats, take a waterproof jacket if the sea is rough. Tresco Abbey gardens was breathtaking, I want to go back there so badly.

Eden was just a quick tour, we had less than 2hrs there which is not long enough to go round the shop let alone the biodomes.

 

Back to the ship, the food was good although breakfast was disappointing, only the Brits can do a proper full English Breckie.

The choice on deck for Breakfast & lunch was also good & the coffee was fine, Im a big coffee drinker, I like it strong & black & the onboard coffee was ok by me. I would recommend if you drink lots of tea & coffee you pack a large travel mug as they only have small paper cups on deck.

The crew were very friendly except one head waiter in the restaurant who was very rude. Never used Club Live so I cant comment on the entertainment but met most of the entertainers & cruise staff in the nightclub later, they were good fun & we party'd quite late by Van Gogh standards.

 

The ships crew are very vigilant regarding the recent outbreak of the Norovirus & take very precaution to prevent it happening again. The ship is extremely clean & well maintained.

 

We really enjoyed our time on the Van Gogh & would recommend it to everyone who likes to sail out of the UK

[MMSmith]

Good to hear the positive comments!

How about the food? good or very good?

How is the port Harwich? Would you recommend to drive to the port or take the coach?

[dorisday]

the food onboard the Van Gogh was alright, nothing too fancy by cruising standards but we enjoyed it & the wine list was very reasonable too.

Harwich Port is very easy to find & the trains pull up right where the ships dock if you want to travel there by train.

They do board coach passengers first, so if you are travelling there by your own transport, dont get there too early.

 

Hoping to do a longer cruise on either the Van Gogh or Athena in November, this time sailing from Falmouth.