VEENDAM REFITTED: RETREAT Area

[Loves to dance]

The TV isa on 24 hours a day but will be hard to see te impct of the area until they do some caribbean cruises,

 

Ruth & Jim

 

What were they showing on the TV?

[JimVrhovac]

Basketball games last time I looked.

 

I think it was ESPN

 

Ruth & Jim

[JerseyJaguar]

Basketball games last time I looked.

 

I think it was ESPN

Probably because they don't have a sports bar anymore. Can't understand why they'd get rid of the Sports Bar.

[DFD1]

Jim, This is not for you. It's for HAL.

 

Throw the TV overboard! We see plenty of it in our everyday lives and in our staterooms.

 

Why in the world are you trying to remove every bit of charm and tranquility you possibly can from our cruises?

 

This whole retreat is a questionable idea and the TV is the worst of it.

 

HAL, in my opinion, if you keep up this nonsense, you'll finally kill the goose that has laid the golden egg of your success.

[Stakeout]

Jim, This is not for you. It's for HAL.

 

Throw the TV overboard! We see plenty of it in our everyday lives and in our staterooms.

 

Why in the world are you trying to remove every bit of charm and tranquility you possibly can from our cruises?

 

This whole retreat is a questionable idea and the TV is the worst of it.

 

HAL, in my opinion, if you keep up this nonsense, you'll finally kill the goose that has laid the golden egg of your success.

 

I couldn't have said it any better... my words exactly

 

" if it ain't broke.. don't fix it"..

 

I guess we should all blame Carnival and the twitnit bigwigs there... their ideas are just way off.. maybe they ought to ask the people who sail HAL to contribute their ideas... naw.. that would be the wise way... all they care about are the revenue coffers and how to generate more... heck in this economy their main revenue generators are not meeting their 'targets' per cruise... casino... beverage.. excursions.. are the top three money-makers... I can guarantee no one is hitting 'their targets' per cruise... not only on HAL but on most all the cruise ships...

 

I'm still trying to find the person who came up with the idea to add on a 'teen center' on top of the Lido deck.like on the Volendam and Zaandam.. that really went over big... they just don't get it ... HAL is not Carnival.. nor NCL.. or RCL.. they should stick to what they do best as in the past.. target the 'older crowd'.. they're never going to get young families to cruise HAL.. it has the 'seniors only' reputation and stigma... which is just fine with me... all the improvements are .. a waste of money to try to get people to spend more on drinks...not gonna happen...

 

if HAL is reading this.. no need to send me a consultant's fee.. save it..:D

[suse]

Baseball might be ok especially if Ortiz gets better, and football is fun but I wouldn't want tv on for anything else. I never watch tv at home except for the above so why would I want to hear it on a ship?

[kryos]

If you want a quiet area to relax and get a suntan this is not it as the television is on all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My point exactly.

 

This was a great concept that got fouled up in the execution. If not for the movie screen, this area might have actually gotten some great use. It would have been a wonderful spot to enjoy sunning and maybe reading a good book without all the noise of children playing that you would get at the main Lido pool. The area would have truly been a "retreat," because there wouldn't have been anything there to hold the kids' interest.

 

But now ... with the movie screen blaring all day long ... with what I would imagine will be "family-friendly" features during the daytime, that area will be anything but a retreat, as you'll have kids running back and forth all day long to watch bits and pieces of their favorite music videos or video features.

 

Not my idea of a great time. Thank God I stick exclusively to longer cruises right now. You don't get too many children on them.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Basketball games last time I looked.

 

I think it was ESPN

 

Ruth & Jim

Guess that might explain some of the reason for the overhaul of that area. Buckets of beer anyone? :)

 

Sales should be brisk on the shorter cruises. Noise level should get kind of high too.

 

Remember, anytime a cruise line adds a new venue, there is a reason ... and that reason often has to do with profit. Every square foot of that ship has to justify itself in terms of profit. My guess is that the aft deck simply wasn't profitable and HAL had to fix that.

 

Believe me, they have big plans for that area ... and those plans involve opportunities to generate lots of onboard revenue. How? I don't know. But trust me, revenue generation opportunities are in the making.

 

Now, am I criticizing HAL for wanting to generate onboard revenue? Heck no. That's business and if HAL didn't do it, they wouldn't be around well into the future. I just wish HAL would find other ways to generate revenue other than cater to kids and to what I call the "Carnival element" ... not a bad group of people, just not what I look for on a cruise.

 

The sad thing is that maybe HAL is trying to change the profile of their typical passenger. Maybe they are trying to become another Carnival. Maybe Carnival is far more profitable than HAL? I honestly don't know. But you are right ... HAL will eventually lose the niche market they now enjoy if they keep up with this stuff. But, then again ... maybe that's what they want? Maybe we are just not that profitable to them?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RedmondCruiser]

Guess that might explain some of the reason for the overhaul of that area. Buckets of beer anyone? :)

 

Sales should be brisk on the shorter cruises. Noise level should get kind of high too.

 

Remember, anytime a cruise line adds a new venue, there is a reason ... and that reason often has to do with profit. Every square foot of that ship has to justify itself in terms of profit. My guess is that the aft deck simply wasn't profitable and HAL had to fix that.

 

Believe me, they have big plans for that area ... and those plans involve opportunities to generate lots of onboard revenue. How? I don't know. But trust me, revenue generation opportunities are in the making.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

I think that there is a limit to adding new venues to the ship. HAL ships were known for elegance and many of us gravitate to HAL for that reason. HAL should stick to a middle age and the older well traveled crowd and stop trying to be NCL, Carnival or Disney. The retreat pool is a good example of a concept gone bad. We have an open sports bar where you can't get too drunk and drown because your in a wading pool, which is a wading pool so that they can add 5 additional inside cabins on the Navigation deck. I can see HAL getting alot of push back once the Veendam gets into warm weather cruising.

The tragidy is that they are paying big money to ruin the ships with misguided concepts.

[lettienets]

The fact that water will slosh around and over the edges of the wading pool is something I didn't anticipate and obviously neither did HAL. Doesn't take too many sea waves to create movement. They have created a real safety and nuisance problem and maybe that is why they are not going to continue this project and the Rotterdam will get some changes but not completely the same.

It seems to me they could have just put a nice bar out by the pool if they wanted a money area. There are bars on the bigger ships by the seaview pool. As far as TV goes, it depends if it is a visual or if sound is blaring whether this will be popular or not.

 

As far as hoping to change the demographics, that won't happen. The megaships being built for the retiring baby boomers, well by the time the economy picks up and they have enough cash to do multi cruises and their kids are gone, these people will be on HAL older and enjoying the quiet life. :D Well if it is still an elegant and refined place as it used to be. It is clinging on by its nails at the moment.

[ldog]

The odd thing is that Veendam isn't going to be in the Caribbean next winter. It's going to South America and Antarctica so there will be very little sunbathing anyway. I can't imagine viewing icebergs and penguins with a TV blasting. :confused:

[lettienets]

The odd thing is that Veendam isn't going to be in the Caribbean next winter. It's going to South America and Antarctica so there will be very little sunbathing anyway. I can't imagine viewing icebergs and penguins with a TV blasting. :confused:

But Veendam will be in Bermuda 2010 all summer, lots of sun and warmth and no seaview pool.:(

I found it warm enough to go in the pool when the Rotterdam was in the Brazil-Argentina area on the way to Antarctica.

The outdoor bar in Antarctica could sell hot toddies and hot cider, mulled wine. That's money generating while people are watching icebergs. To go along with the pea soup! It may look ridiculous laying on a sunbed but not so bad with a hot toddy! ;)

[ivoryboi]

At a recent Mariners' Brunch one of the HAL Captains described the expected sensation of lounging in a chair in the new Retreat Pool as..

 

'similar to what happens when the ship lists while you are eating lunch on the aft deck and the hottubs overflow..'

 

I think he got it right;)

[jan can]

I was up by the pool when it overflowed. The ship's movement was so slight I wouldn't have felt it if I had heard the crash of water. There were a couple of people sitting in the pool on chairs. These chairs shifted too. The one lady looked shocked. Fortunately others grabbed her possessions so they didn't get soaked. Hope she or others didn't have a camera in their bags.

 

While waiting for disembarkation, we wandered around the aft area. One of the red benches had been removed for repairs. Some of the red ceramic tiles they are made of had fallen off and shattered on the deck. Think of glass splinters. Felt sorry for the staff trying to clean up that mess.

 

During a question and answer with the capitan he said that some of the materials used in the reno in this area weren't condusive to fast drying in a wet area. Bad planning on the part of the architects. These ceramic benches may be more of the same.

[karenem]

I was there too. We had just started moving--the ship was turning but I for one couldn't feel any rocking *at all*. Suddenly a big whoosh of water and everyone on that side went scrambling out of the way as a huge amount simply sloshed over the edge.

 

The giant TV didn't bother me--I was always looking outward rather than forward, and IIRC whenever I was there the sound was off.

[RuthC]

I found it warm enough to go in the pool when the Rotterdam was in the Brazil-Argentina area on the way to Antarctica.

Heck, you were in the Rotterdam aft pool while we were IN Antarctica! :eek: And it was snowing at the time! :D

[Loves to dance]

 

The giant TV didn't bother me--I was always looking outward rather than forward, and IIRC whenever I was there the sound was off.

 

Good to hear it! I can ignore it if the sound it off...

 

I wonder if there will be water in the "pool" for very long this summer? If they have too many of these incidents in chilly Alaska, they may decide to drain it.

[ScottishMaid]

For the 3 day trip the TV was on ESPN, not very loudly, but who wants to hear ads on vacation??

My husband was trying to read. He saw one of the head crew/ an officer and expressed his views (coming for peace on the cruise). The employee was very responsive and indicated they are getting the customer reactions. They intend to see what "works"with their passengers. So I guess maybe the Retreat is the idea of Seattle but the ship can control how it is used and maybe change use for different types of cruise??? It would be a nice area for a special occasion event on a warm night.

[hammybee]

I like it and suspect it will be quite popular.

 

Time will tell if the majority do not care for TV. That's an easy fix.

[lettienets]

Heck, you were in the Rotterdam aft pool while we were IN Antarctica! :eek: And it was snowing at the time! :D

Oops, I forgot the Antarctic dip!

Only goes to show how many of us love that pool! :D

[JerseyJaguar]

I just wish HAL would find other ways to generate revenue other than cater to kids and to what I call the "Carnival element" ... not a bad group of people, just not what I look for on a cruise.

The funny thing is, I was on the Carnival Fantasy (one of their smaller ships) right after it's big refurb, and they took out the kiddie pool and put in two big hot tubs and made that area a "serenity" area for adults only. It had a small bar area, lounge chairs, tables and hot tubs. Very quiet and relaxing.

[gentlemancruiser]

More

 

This pool has a special recirculating system which recirculates pool water every 5 minutes.

 

Given how shallow the pool is, how warm the water would be on a hot sunny day, and the number of people who have their feet in that water, I'd want to make sure it was really recirculated!!! I'm not a germ freak, but it kind of looks like a health problem waiting to happen.

[mamaofami]

Can anyone tell me where the shis go for drydock?

[deck chair]

Hi Gang!

 

I've written about this several times on various boards. HAL, under the direction of Stein Kruse, is quickly losing its way to the point the old HAL is harldy recognizable. (I first sailed with HAL on the ROTTERDAM in 1981. I know how HAL used to be.)

 

The butchering of the VEENDAM is just one example. HAL is now trying to be all things to all people to the point that it is losing its identity and many past passengers. In Stein's misguided plans to be more youth and family oriented, HAL is losing his core market: Older folks and baby boomers such as myself who appreciate a quiet nice elegant experience. And I guarantee Kruse will never ever attract in large numbers the passengers he is seeking . RCCL, NCL, DISNEY, CARNIVAL are just too strong in that market.

 

In addition, one can easily see the cutbacks. Fewer waiters in the dining rooms which of course, stresses out the staff and slows service. Menu cutbacks. And they have cut back on cabin stewards. The discount musicians they hire are largely a joke. There is noise about the ship in almost every corner and it is hard to find a quiet place to just read or watch the sea go by.

 

Stein's questionalbe judgement is greatly on display with the poor design of the so-called RETREAT which eliminated a nice area and eliminated more outdoor deck space. Come this Bermuda season you will no doubt be reading many negative reviews concerning this area with the water sloshing all over the place with a TV blaring in the background and passengers packed in like sardines. This is the same stein Kruse management which allowed the VEENDAM to sail out of dry dock before it was ready causing major inconvenience to the passengers. He should be held accountable and fired. But hey Stein, don't worry. I'm sure you can get a job with Chrysler.

 

I was thinking about doing the 35 day cruise on the MAASDAM out of Boston in Late July, a cruise I have done before in 2005. (A great number of wonderful port calls,) But there is no way I'm getting stuck on the MAASDAM for five weeks with stressed out waiters, overworked cabin stewards, noisy public rooms/decks and crummy musicians. But I'm sure Stein isn't worried. No doubt there will be all those families and young people on the cruise taking up the slack.

 

Deck Chair

[GatorV]

and finally some right on honest comments about the musical entertainment! excepting the string groups which are about the only ones we and travel friends listen to and enjoy regularly.....we can hardly stand to listen to most of it, Please, the Yellow Rose of Texas every set or two in the ocean bar

 

What a steady decline even since the early 90's

 

The piano bar entertainer on our last Maasdam of trip 10 days was gifted BUT the most rebald, gross person to listen to as he mingled with guests in the pool area.... seriously off color remarks and gestures. even my husband was astounded he carried on so, and we found him difficult to enjoy after hearing him "relax"