Please Tell Me About Veendam

[MISSYLOU]

Thinking of booking on the Veendam and wondering what kind of condition it is in. Has it been well maintained? Also can someone explain the new dining times on HAL?

Thanks for your help.

[mare s.]

We just returned from Veendam. The ship is very well maintained and the cruise staff were fine. Food in the dining room was okay...food in Pinnacle was excellent. There are four dining times, two for upstairs and two for downstairs...I think the earliest is 5:45....we had the latest (8:30) and were in the downstairs portion. I personally don't like the four times...much preferred when there were just two. We did notice problems with dining room service (not as well organized as on our past HAL cruise) but our cabin steward was terrific and we really did have a wonderful time.

[Mariner05]

We sailed on the Veendam for a back to back from Tampa last November for the Thanksgiving Cruise and loved the ship. It is well maintained and lovely. We were in an outside cabin on Main deck and it was lovely. We went with our whole family and they all enjoyed it. I am on a special diet and the dining room made every effort to meet my dietary demands. You will love the ship. We loved is so much we booked on the Veendam again in September 2005 for a repositioning cruise from Vancouver to Tampa sailing to Brazil and the Amazon for 35 days. The service and food were wonderful. I am sure you will love the Veendam. We also took our own precruise and stayed at the Mariott hotel on the marina which was lovely. It was a short distance to the pier. Have a great time.