Ship ratings

[P1]

Recently sailed on Zaandam and found it very much to our liking. It was our first cruise with Holland America.

Now ready for another cruise, this time around the Horn, but I am concerned about the rating of the Veendam being lower than the Zaandam and other HAL ships.

Any ideas why ? (I mean why the lower rating not why my concern <g>)

 

Scozzer (aka P1)

 

P&O-15, Princess-6, Celebrity-5, Windstar-3,

Cruise West-1, Royal Caribbean-1.

[Cruzman]

Whose "rating"? Read reviews with a degree of skepticism. I have yet to sail on a HAL ship that wasn't a wonderful experience.

[JimVrhovac]

A lot of the Veendam's problems and rating dives are probably related to the renovations that were recently doneonher. We were on the first cruise out of drydock and corporate needs to be crucified for sending that ship out too early.

 

We have cruised on that ship over 15 time and it has long been our favorite ship but it will be a long time before we cruise her in her current state. What they did with the back deck with that wading pool is a discrace.

 

 

Ruth & Jim

[P1]

Well ...... ratings on Cruise Critic for one.

Even Vacations-to-Go slap it down a few points.

It will be the oldest ship I have ever cruised upon.

I was hoping the answer would be: "Any negatives (wear and tear) have been resolved by the recent upgrade".

Seems like that might not be the case

[JimVrhovac]

They did a lot of upgrades during the last drydock.

 

New carpeting

The drinks area

Remodeled suites and a lot of other cabins

Lot of furniture upgraded.

 

The ship really looked nice it was the behind the scenes things that were not finished that screwed up the cruise. AND the fact that they were given insufficin=ient time to finish the woerk.

 

Ruth & Jim

[Krazy Kruizers]

In Feb the CDC the Veendam scored well:

VeendamHolland America Line2/8/200998ScoresReportCorrective Action

[whogo]

"As You Wish will be phased in gradually. In fall/winter 2007, look for its introduction on Noordam, Ryndam..." This quote from Cruise Critic's professional Veendam review shows how dated it is. I would not trust their rating.

[Protseq]

We are just off the Veendam, and it has problems, some I have read on here already, and some that I have experienced personally. I will write up a review in the near future.

Bottom line, it won't affect my decisions in the future to continue sailing on HAL ships, but I won't be sailing on the Veendam. Tom

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are just off the Veendam, and it has problems, some I have read on here already, and some that I have experienced personally. I will write up a review in the near future.

Bottom line, it won't affect my decisions in the future to continue sailing on HAL ships, but I won't be sailing on the Veendam. Tom

 

Will be looking forward to your review.

[Himself]

I guess it is rated low, mostly because of the recent "upgrades:" I think if they just raise the pool up to the Lido deck and scrap the wading pools you will not get as much negativity on the other "S" Class ships and on the Rotterdam (The one R class ship that has the sea view pool on the Navigation deck. I had been on the Veendam three times and I liked her but these were in the pre-enhancement days.

[raskul]

I will certainly be looking for your review!

 

candy

[P1]

Wish I hadn't asked the original question <g>

There are only two cruises that fit my dates and that particular South America itinerary. The other ship is the Insignia (Oceania) and that cruise is 3 days longer and a good deal more expensive.

[fann1sh]

P1: the popular travel agency you mentioned, which rated Veendam as 4.5 stars, also rates Prinsendam at 4.5 stars. The reason doesn't seem to be ship condition or desirability, but "amenities". All of the S class vessels (pre or post SOE refit) get 4.5 stars versus 5 stars for R, Vista and Signature class.

 

It will be interesting to see whether the Rotterdam rating changes post SOE refit.

 

I'm also returning to the S class ships after cruising the Vistas. I'm not worried by the half star difference.

[brucory]

We are just off the Veendam, and it has problems, some I have read on here already, and some that I have experienced personally. I will write up a review in the near future.

Bottom line, it won't affect my decisions in the future to continue sailing on HAL ships, but I won't be sailing on the Veendam. Tom

 

Please post your review to this board...

 

Look forward to hearing how it was for you, what worked and what didn't...

 

:D:D:D