Need info re: HAL Veendam

[JWB]

DH and I will be on our 6th cruise on the Veendam Feb.26...our question is:
Having cruised with Premier, Carnival and Royal Carribean, what will we experience on HAL vs the other cruise lines?

[sail7seas]

On every HAL ship we have sailed (which is most of them), we have always received friendly, competent, professional service. We have always found friendly crews who (with only a very few exceptions) go out of their way to do their best to provide the best possible cruise for you.


You will not find wet t-shirt contests or party hearty types as fellow pax. You will find spotlessly clean ships that are lovingly cared for. Excellent food (of course, that is subjective) in both the dining room and Lido. Sure....not every course, every offering of every meal will ever be Perfect, but they sure taste good to me.

We just returned from a 12 day cruise on Veendam. We had not been aboard that ship for several years and were so happy to find her still very beautiful and still a great ship.

Hope you enjoy your first HAL cruise.

[JWB]

Thank you!! I guess I should have mentioned that DH is 68, and I am 57. Wet t-shirts aren't quite our style!!

[sail7seas]

:D One never knows!! ;)

If you have any specific questions....ask away.

[Hflors]

You will find a wonderful ship and an even more wonderful staff. I've cruised her twice. Once with my mother and sister. They treated my mother like a queen. The Matri'd insisted on wheeling her to our table every night at dinner. And Dining service served her her meal (lunch) in her room on one day my sister and I were on an island. She insisted we go. Then she called the dining room and they sent a waiter with her lunch to her room!

Our next cruise with my four sisters and I. What a hoot. The staff treated us like royality. We had our own table and they knew all our likes and dislikes. It was wonderful. The weather was pretty bad so the room steward in my sister's room made up the room for all five of us. It was just like when we were young and sleeping together.

ANyway here's hoping you have as wonderful a cruise as I have had.

[lipoppop]

To use an expression that goes back to my youth "The Veendam is a classy broad."


Not flashy, somewhat majestic but always dignified

[jessemon]

JWD,
My wife have sailed on the MS Veendam twice, also the Ryndaam once. We have just booked the Veendam for Christmas this year on the 20th of Dec. We have cruised with Carnival, NCL, RCI, Regal, Princess, Celebrity, and of course HAL.
Holland America is always a great time. The crew is always very friendly and attentive. The service is always great. The officers are professional and always friendly.
Food quality is good and better than (in my opinion) better than Carnival & RCCI. A note on this is that HAL has just employed a new chef to redo menus. this is a celebrity master chef named Rudi Sodamin. He has worked with Cunard in the past. He is on a standard with Michel Roux (Celebrity Cruises) and Todd English (Cunard). This should be interesting.
These are relaxing cruises on ships that are not so large that you never see the same people twice.
By the way, being the forth cruise we have booked on HAL it is obvious we like them. People have an unfortunate idea that only the elderly enjoy these ships. My wife and I have cruised with them starting 7 years ago and I just turned 50.
By the way. We live in Tampa so if you have a question about the town...just ask.