PDA

View Full Version : Veendam Christmas Review


gatorbaby1
December 28th, 2008, 05:06 PM
DH, DD, and myself just returned from a 7-day western carib. Christmas cruise. Some things were good, some things were better, but NOTHING was bad.
Cabin: Wanted a Delux verandah but ended up with just a verandah. The room was nice but a little small for three adults, who spent a good portion of the time in the room. (Note to HAl please get an actual table for in front the sofa, not a dinky wobbly little thing)

Dining/food: We had AYWD and after the mayhem of the first nights we were able to just walk down and get a table. Service was sometimes slow but the dining staff were always friendly and trying to do their best.The food was a B+ which is the highest I would rate any of the cruiselines I have taken in the past few years.Only complaint is that DD found the vegetarian selections to be few .The Pinnacle was food and service was fantastic(love the lobster mac and chese).

Ports: All the ports were nice and we took did not take any tours as we had been to all of the ports before.
Roatan: What a mess. Three tender lifeboats to shuttle all the passangers. Then came the blistering rain and winds and the breakdown of two of the lifeboats.While this is not all HAL's fault the situation could have been planned better( a backup for tender breakdown).

NOROvirus: Our sailing had the an small outbreak of norovirus and people were quarintined. This caused the lido to became crew served as opposed to self-serve. Hand sanitizer was also offered at every turn.

HOLIDAY: I found there not to be as many festivities as would have liked. There was SANTA for the little ones, and candy canes but I would have liked more holiday activities for the older ones.

Extra: bought the suite amenity package and would reccomend it to anyone who wants to make a cruise extra special.

Overall I would say this was a fun way to spend the holidays and plan to sail HAL again with pleasure.

Rabbitlady
December 28th, 2008, 05:18 PM
We were on the same cruise. Yes, I agree. I wish there were more festivities for adults.

Rabbitlady

trixiee
December 28th, 2008, 09:10 PM
Thanks for your review... could you explain more about the suite amenity package?

tia

InTheWASide
December 28th, 2008, 11:31 PM
Extra: bought the suite amenity package and would reccomend it to anyone who wants to make a cruise extra special.

Overall I would say this was a fun way to spend the holidays and plan to sail HAL again with pleasure.

I fully agree about the Suite Amenity Package...

Glad to hear you had a great time!

Riverfrontrobin
January 1st, 2009, 08:26 PM
My wife and I will be on the Veendam in March. We do not exactly understand the dining situation. We are scheduled for 8 pm dining. I have been reading quite a few reviews and it sounds like there is not assigned seating. Is this correct? We were talked into HAL by the travel agent we were dealing with (before I found this site yesterday and read bad reviews about the very ship we are sailing on). We sailed on the Carnival Inspiration with our three kids in December and felt that the ship was very outdated and much less enjoyable than others we have been on. I purchased the insurance this time and we are definitely considering switching to a newer ship. Any info would be appreciated.

sail7seas
January 1st, 2009, 08:31 PM
Riverfront:

If you are at 8 P.M. dining, you will have an assigned table and the same dining staff every night of your cruise. There are two forms of dining on HAL and yours is what is called Main Upper and it is Traditional Style Dining..... meaning same table and dining staff.

That is what DH and I always request.



Gatorbaby, Thanks for your review. So happy you had a good cruise.
We've had some really fun times on Veendam.