Veendam

[tommy]

Has anyone recently been on the Veendam 12 day or 14 day Caribbean cruise


Deb

[dramamama]

We returned today from the 12 day Southern Caribbean cruise and would return to the Veendam in a minute. We've sailed on Celebrity Century and the Caribbean Princess but the Veendam has been our favorite. This was our first HAL cruise and I hope to have many more.


The ship's size is perfect and its crew has been the most personable. The Indonesian waiters and room stewards always addressed us by name and had a welcoming smile at all times in spite of the recent tragedy. The food was the best I've had at sea with a nice selection to suit all tastes. The staterooms and balconies are quite large and the bed is so comfortable that it was the topic of conversation at dinner one evening. Because the ship is small it is not uncommon to see many of the same people each day and making friends is easy.

This particular sailing had a lot of elderly people who were having a delightful time. They apparently retired very early because after midnight you see very few people roaming the ship and the casino is almost empty by 1:00AM. We are in our mid 60's and love staying up late and not leaving our stateroom before 10:30AM but the people on this sailing were up a few hours after we fell asleep!

What specific questions do you have? Are you interested in hearing more about the ship or the ports we visited? I'll be happy to answer all questions and I know that there were other CC members on my cruise. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to meet any of them.

[tommy]

How was the service in the DR?Which cabin did you have,and what kind of entertainment was there?Thanks for answering TOM&DEB

[tommy]

Is there a Pinacle grill on board Does the movie theater show movies every night and were they first run movies

Where did you dock in Guadaloupe Was it right in town

Deb

[gizmo]

Dramamama,

Thanks for your comments. I enjoyed reading them.

Tommy,

Yes, the Veendam has a Pinnacle.

For a more up to date answer, Dramamama can answer about the movies since she just left the ship, but in the past movies are usually shown every night. They are not first run, but the ones that are ready to hit pay for view in the next month or so.

[localady]

What specific questions do you have? Are you interested in hearing more about the ship or the ports we visited? I'll be happy to answer all questions and I know that there were other CC members on my cruise. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to meet any of them.

Dramamama-
1st of all, Welcome Home!!!
Did you stay in a Tampa hotel before the cruise, and if so, would you recommend it.
Do you have any recommendations for "not to be missed" shore excursions?
We will be on the Veendam in November for a 14 day cruise, and appreciate any information you can give us!!

[dramamama]

Deb:
There are a variety of films offered on the cruise and they can be seen in your room the day following their showing in the theatre. Here is a sampling of the films on our cruise which are offered four times each day:
De-Lovely
The Forgotten
Wimbledon
Vanity Fair
Mr. 3,000
King Arthur
The Terminal
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The Manchurian Candidate
I, Robot
Collateral

Localady:
We usually see the ports on our own or hire a taxi. In Barbados we were able to get a tour for just $20pp. Just bargain with the drivers. We went to so many ports that they are all running together at this time! I believe the ship's port was within walking distance to town in Guadaloupe. We walked everywhere nearby and never ventured too far from port.

We stayed at the Marriott Waterside in Tampa which is very close to the port. It is a beautiful hotel with several excellent restaurants, a sports bar and Starbucks coffee. Check tripadvisor.com for reviews. The price was $139 with breakfast included.

The filet in the Pinnacle was the best I've had. I was surprised that it was not crowded each night. Yes, the service in the dining room is exceptional but don't miss this opportunity to have another elegant dining experience.

We were on the Veranda Deck (196) near the aft elevator and walked down one flight of stairs to the dining room. We loved the location.

Hope this helps. I must say that HAL needs to make improvements in their embarkation procedure. We arrived at the port before noon and stood in long lines, Once we received a number we waited another 20 minutes to board the ship. This is probably the only negative I could find.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

dramamama, Thanks so much for posting about your Veendam cruise sounds like you had a great time. Someday I would like to do the Southern Caribbean.
Wow, that is a lot of movies they are offering it does not seem that we had that many on the Ryndam in November.
I would be interest in hearing about the ports.

Welcome Home and thanks so much for posting.

[gizmo]

Dramamama,

It has been a long time since I have been to Gualadloupe but when I was there
it happened to be on a Saturday which was "Market Day for the locals". There was an open market area, that I think was under a pavillion, and I was wondering if it was still there.

[1cruiselvr]

If you don't want to stand in long lines during the embarkation process, then don't arrive to the pier at 11:30am or noon. That's when most of the pax arrive. We always arrive about 2:00pm, and breeze thru, not a person around. So I always get a giggle when I read reviews that say embarkation was a nightmare. It's really an easy fix. Get there later. Happy Sailing!

[peaches from georgia]

Interested in hearing more, Dramamama! How widespread was the Norfolk Virus? I don't think there has been any reports from other HAL ships of it this winter. How was the Lido food and Dining Room service?

[boards]

We have a departure time of 12:35 pm at TPA. Is that enough time to disembark at the Tampa Port and make it on time for departure?

[dramamama]

Peaches: We have no idea how widespread the virus was on the Veendam. Numbers were never mentioned by the Captain. He just gave us daily updates and told us what precautions the crew was taking to prevent additional illness. I knew only that a number of the performers were affected and another show had to be put together at the last minute.

The passengers I met rarely talked about it. It wasn't until I saw the crew busily cleaning the casino machines that I realized something was wrong. The waiters served the bread, sugar, salt and pepper which seemed strange because everyone handled the menus.

We only ate in the Lido the day of embarkation and visited the salad bar and sandwich station. Every report I heard about the food was quite positive and several people commented that it was much better than Princess. The dining room service by the Indonesian crew was exceptional. I've never had a better server. What a class act!

Gizmo: I did not see that marketplace in Guadeloupe. In fact, we went to so many ports that I have no clear memory of what we did. I believe it was a rainy day and the shops were closed. I don't recall hearing any French so we did not venture very far.

Laffnvegas: We just roamed around on our own in most ports. The most beautiful was Dominica. We arrived in San Juan after dark during the celebration of the Three Kings and thousands of people were in the streets for a festival. All stores were closed. We had been to St. Thomas before so we shopped and had lunch before being tendered back to the ship.
We did the same in Tortola and took a tour of the island of Barbados.

[dramamama]

Boards: We were off the ship before 9AM and took a shuttle to the airport instead of a taxi. We had one pick up at a Holiday Inn and got to the airport before 10 for a 1:30 flight. You will have no problem. Disembarkation is very well organized and luggage pick up is color-coded so it takes no time to find it. Porters are available to help. There were no lines at customs.

[gizmo]

Dramamama,

Thanks for your updates.

[boards]

Thank you, my wife says I'm a worry wort, but I say I'm just being careful and am checking things out, so that everything will go as right as possible. What do you think about that? eh

[dramamama]

I think you are one organized guy who leaves no stone unturned. I tend to worry too about every detail. Are you staying in Tampa pre cruise? I would strongly advise that.

[peaches from georgia]

..........We had been to St. Thomas before so we shopped and had lunch before being tendered back to the ship......

You had to tender in St. Thomas? I was thinking I had read somewhere you were docking at Crown Bay. And thanks for all the great info in your posts. :)

[dramamama]

Peaches: Yes, we were tendered in St. Thomas. Other ships were in port and this may have been a last minute change. This was very convenient because we were right in town.

[DFD1]

Dramamama: WELCOME HOME! Sounds like you had a fine time.

That's interesting about St. Thomas. I've been going there for 40 years and never tendered except from the Norway and she was so large that she anchored outside the harbor. The tender ride was long, but being put ashore right downtown was super.

We're booked on the Veendam for 11/26. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

[boards]

We were on the Norway in Oct. 99 and were tendered into St. Thomas, as was mentioned it was too large to dock. It was a great experience and best of all right in the heart of town. We had rain that day and were given plastic rain coats.

[tim agg]

The Veendam was one of 7 ships that poured some 14000 people onto St Thomas. We anchored in the harbor so the tender ride was short, and landed us conveniently downtown. Veendam was the smallest ship - dwarfed by the "Apartment of the Seas" types at Havensight. Our bit of disappointment came at Trunk Bay, which simply cannot handle the crowds of that afternoon - there were more snorkelers than fish! ... otherwise, it was a highly satisfying cruise on board and ashore. Cheers to all, especially those I didn't meet in person or did meet without making the CC connection.

[tommy]

Dramamama,Thanks for the replies.Sounds like you had a good time dispite of the virus.We are still thinking of doing the 14 day in Oct. Thanks again TOM&DEB

[Islandbuoy]

Boy does all this sound familiar.

Strange that they still have the virus on the ship(had it last spring on the panama canal repo cruise also).

How was the service in the crow's nest?

Did you see or meet Gene & Kaz(He looks like daddy wharbucks)??

St.T definitely too crowded, we tendered on the Z-dam this fall also--just like we did on the Norway!

[tommy]

Yea,Actually its the 3rd sailing since spring that I have read of the virus on the Veendam.Makes ya wonder. TOM