Veendam - Yay or Nay??

I'm not really "fishing" for anything, but recent experiences. I read Princess boards a lot and people always come on and ask questions about cruising on Princess. I try to give them my most recent experiences so they'll know what to expect. What's good and what's bad. I'm not a novice cruiser, but I haven't been on HAL in a long time and I'm giving them another chance. I went to the reviews page and the majority of them were fairly positive. Tell me what will be good that makes this a good decision. I guess I'm fishing for someone to tell me about HAL and the Veendam and things I should know before I go. I suspect I'll have a good time with or without advice, but that's what I come to Cruise Critic for.

 

Hlitner: BTW, thanks for responding. I'm glad to hear it was all OK for you.

Search this forum for the link to Gracecruisers' wonderful blog from their 35 day Voyage of the Vikings on the Veendam. We are booked on next year's 35 day cruise on the Veendam. There are food pictures and all around good reports on the crew. It is not a new ship and there were concerns before our 2007 cruise but all had been resolved and we had a great time.

The blog was from this July-August cruise and you will be pleased to know they hated to leave after 35 days!

We just got off the Veendam after a 35 day cruise, and I would take her again! We had the farthest balcony cabin on Starboard to the aft(it was perfect!) All but 2 crew/staff instances were very positive(one very surly security member that I witnessed treating a confused elderly lady with a lack of respect; one staff member who was also having a bad day was very abrupt/condescending)This was over 35 days, so I don't know where the negative commenters come from. The Captain was probably the best we have had in over 50 cruises! I feel the attitudes go down through the ranks, so with the positive attitude of a Captain and most officers we had, the experience we had was wonderful! If you look hard enough, you'll find the ship shows wear in places, but you really have to look hard. Food was decent to good. Service was mostly excellent. The Lido staff were some of the happiest and attentive we've experienced. Buffet normally ended at 2pm, BUT they had sandwiches until 5pm; Dive-in open until 5pm; pizza station open late. Many ships we've been on no food from 3pm-dinner--not the case here! Cabin stewards were outstanding! Outside entertainment was good to very good. The lead chef for the Lido and Dive-In were alert and supportive of my husbands GF needs. On and on I could go:-) Nothing is perfect,(at least 1 elevator always out of order; temp issue with the heat in our zone;some issues that administration compensated for immediately, etc) but our experience was overall very positive!! Go in with a good attitude, be realistic and you will have a great time!!:D

Thanks for the report! We are on next year's VOV. I hope lots of you from the VOV will write a review for us. I agree with you about leadership. On every ship of all the lines we've been on, I've found the captain and hotel director crucial.

Wasn't she the first to get the lanai cabins and then Retreat 1.0 with big screen TV? That may have something to do with it. Agreed she seems to have a bad rep here (with some big issues reported here leading up to the CDC inspection (which I thought was August 2012)

 

We had a pipe break and several cabins flood but it got cleaned up quickly. It wasn't my cabin but it would have impacted those whose it was. Others reported sewer back up when someone flushed a Depends. Stupidity can happen anywhere. I understand the netting in the diningroom is long gone and the ceiling fixed. I would take her again quite happily. Loved all the outdoor spaces and the crew was fabulous.

Veendam did fail in 2012. I was on the cruise. Here's are my posts about the mysterious delayed boarding and my review of our experience.

I have never been on a ship with such crew mistrust of the leadership. They would openly tell you they were putting in for other ships and it was a horrible environment for them. It was astonishing sad.

The hotel director/manager whatever was fired when we docked back in NYC.

Since you haven't sailed on a HAL ship since 2001, there are some changes.

HAL has fixed dining on the Upper Level of the dining room and Open Seating on the Lower Level of the dining room for dinner.

There is now the Explorations Café which is also the Internet Café and Library.

The sports bar is gone and has been replaced by the MIX which is made up of a small sports bar (1 TV), the Martini Bar, the Champagne Bar and The Piano Bar. It is one big open area with the bars flowing into each other. There is a small stand in the one end of the sports bar where is guitarist plays from around 5 PM until 9 PM when the piano man arrives at his end of the MIX.

In the Explorers Lounge there is the Adaigo Duo -- a piano player and violin player.

One part of the Lido is converted at dinner time for the Canaletto Restaurant.

There is no aft pool -- the rear end of the ship had more cabins added to it and in place of the pool a "retreat" was put in place with several whirlpools, a movie screen (many people say it is rarely on) and the Pizza place called Slice.

One night in the Pinnacle is set aside for Le Cirque -- $49 per person -- limited menu.

There are probably some other changes I have forgotten.

We had very few kids on our trip and table availability was a problem with ATD at almost any time we went.

We sailed on the Veendam during the spring of this year. It was fine as long as you are generally OK with the older and smaller HAL ships. Problems previously mentioned by others have been fixed. We had no issues with the ship, crew, odors, bathroom, AC or food.

Enjoy your cruise.

igraf

Hello everyone! I just booked a Canada/New England cruise on the Veendam. I haven't been on a HAL cruise since 2001. I primarily cruise on Princess, but this cruise worked out for me the best with dates and such. Anyway, I'm wondering if people who have recently been on the Veendam can tell me about her and about your experience? Was it good? I'm a pretty casual cruiser and often eat dinner in the buffet. I've heard that HAL has much more restrictive buffet hours than Princess so I'm prepared for that. I like reading and watching movies. Mostly I like to relax and watch the ocean go by. I read she was recently refurbished. That's good! Please just fill me in on your basic experience on this ship. Thanks so much!

If you are mostly sailing newer Princess ships the Veendam may something of a letdown. We were on her several years ago on the cruise prior to the failed inspection, there were lots of mechanical issues with plumbing and AC, the ventilation system was poor, there was fish netting holding up the light fixture in the dining room. My understanding is they put a fair amount of money into the ship shortly afterward.

My full service cruise travel agent told me she hesitates to put new clients onto the older Holland America ships unless they request them, including the Prinsendam. My opinion is the older ships cab be a good value depending on price paid but I would not overpay for the cruise.

Holland America buffet does have shorter hours, especially at lunch. I get irritated coming in mid afternoon from a port day and the main buffet is closed. The salad bar, pizza and grill areas and a sandwich area stay open all afternoon. The buffet seems to totally close down about 8pm.

You have it backwards. Cruise fares on the smaller ships are often more expensive than the newer and larger ships. Particularly so for any type of verandah stateroom.

There is food available all day, a late night buffet, afternoon tea services and free room service is available 24 hours. Not seeing the problem here.

igraf

....My opinion is the older ships cab be a good value depending on price paid but I would not overpay for the cruise.

 

...Holland America buffet does have shorter hours, especially at lunch. I get irritated coming in mid afternoon from a port day and the main buffet is closed. The salad bar, pizza and grill areas and a sandwich area stay open all afternoon. The buffet seems to totally close down about 8pm.

We have gotten good pricing on the smaller older ships run by Holland America, with the exception of the Prinsendam which was pricey. Pricing also reflects supply and demand and is not solely based on the ship size. The mega new builds command very high per diem pricing, supply and demand sets the pricing.

I've always felt the lunch buffet should be open longer on port days.

Just off 35 day vov on the Veendam. We had not problems and would take her again in heartbeat. Our cabin was inside, we were next to crew area and had some noise. Our AC and bathroom were fine. The ship was in great shape. We found seat on the promenade deck easily.

The main dining room food was very good for dinner. They were not long and drawn out and had good selections. We did the lido for breakfast and lunch. Loved the lido for breakfast. Everything was hot and fresh (always ask for fresh off the griddle french toast, a 4 minute wait but worth it). We ate at the Dive in way to many times. Could not get enough of it!

I was worried about the Veendam based on everyones neg reviews, but not a problem. I do agree that the Captain makes a world of difference. Captain Eric Van der wal was amazing and it did flow down to the crew. we saw him all over that ship.

I did post some Veendam pics in my VOV blog kingleVOV.wordpress.com

Thank you to everyone for your opinions. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me get a feel for the ship. I really am looking forward to a smaller ship and I prefer the older Princess ships over the new ones, so maybe the Veendam will be good for me. I am very laid back and easy to please. For food, I just like a good salad bar for the most part, but enjoy a decent meal here and there. I don't do pools, so I'm good there. I like having a good library and I think I read that they have a decent library. I probably will miss the on deck movies, but is there a movie theater? Does anyone see movies on board? Booking late, I got an awesome price for an inside cabin for 14 days. I usually book a balcony or mini-suite on Princess, but I'm trying an inside again just to see how it goes for me. I used to do inside cabins a lot and then got spoiled with balcony cabins. I'd like to cruise more and going with an inside could make that happen. I'll have to wait and see how I like it. I'm glad to hear there are more casual dining options than what I expected. I'm sure I'll be fine. Looking forward to trying HAL again. Thanks!

Just off 35 day vov on the Veendam. We had not problems and would take her again in heartbeat. Our cabin was inside, we were next to crew area and had some noise. Our AC and bathroom were fine. The ship was in great shape. We found seat on the promenade deck easily.

The main dining room food was very good for dinner. They were not long and drawn out and had good selections. We did the lido for breakfast and lunch. Loved the lido for breakfast. Everything was hot and fresh (always ask for fresh off the griddle french toast, a 4 minute wait but worth it). We ate at the Dive in way to many times. Could not get enough of it!

I was worried about the Veendam based on everyones neg reviews, but not a problem. I do agree that the Captain makes a world of difference. Captain Eric Van der wal was amazing and it did flow down to the crew. we saw him all over that ship.

 

I did post some Veendam pics in my VOV blog kingleVOV.wordpress.com

I have found your blog and am going to sit back for a nice long look at it. Thank you.

Since you haven't sailed on a HAL ship since 2001, there are some changes.

HAL has fixed dining on the Upper Level of the dining room and Open Seating on the Lower Level of the dining room for dinner.

There is now the Explorations Café which is also the Internet Café and Library.

The sports bar is gone and has been replaced by the MIX which is made up of a small sports bar (1 TV), the Martini Bar, the Champagne Bar and The Piano Bar. It is one big open area with the bars flowing into each other. There is a small stand in the one end of the sports bar where is guitarist plays from around 5 PM until 9 PM when the piano man arrives at his end of the MIX.

In the Explorers Lounge there is the Adaigo Duo -- a piano player and violin player.

One part of the Lido is converted at dinner time for the Canaletto Restaurant.

There is no aft pool -- the rear end of the ship had more cabins added to it and in place of the pool a "retreat" was put in place with several whirlpools, a movie screen (many people say it is rarely on) and the Pizza place called Slice.

One night in the Pinnacle is set aside for Le Cirque -- $49 per person -- limited menu.

There are probably some other changes I have forgotten.

Thanks for reporting changes. Most helpful.

GRACECRUISE

Could you tell me how you found seats on the promenade? when we were on the Veendam we could not get one chair on the promenade deck as it was reserved for the Lanai cabins and we sat in the very back staring at a wall of metal. We even asked one of the deck crew about chairs and he said the only ones on the promenade were for the lanai cabin passengers and wouldn't get any for us to squeeze in somewhere.

We had planned to do the VOV but didn't book as we can't afford a lanai or balcony and since there are 11 sea days - I couldn't see sitting at the back or in a lounge looking through a window for that many days.

thanks for any info you can give me!

The Veendam does have the Wajang Theater located on the Promenade Deck where you can watch movies -- the times and name of movies will be listed in the daily "On Location" program. The Wajang Theater is also used as the Culinary Arts center where they have free cooking demonstrations and cooking classes that you pay for.

The Wajang theater usually offers bags of popcorn. DVD's can be checked out for no additional charge.

I am happy to say we never had a problem. There were lots of chairs without reserve plaques. We were not behind a steel wall. When we sat out on port days and sail aways not many of the lanai people used them. It may be different if it was a warmer cruise.

The library on the Veendam was great. They had a nice selection of large print books which meant I could read more of them. Keep checking the library, they put more books out as they are checked out. I left a couple hard cover Alex Cross books there in the book exchange.

Hello everyone! I just booked a Canada/New England cruise on the Veendam. I haven't been on a HAL cruise since 2001. I primarily cruise on Princess, but this cruise worked out for me the best with dates and such. Anyway, I'm wondering if people who have recently been on the Veendam can tell me about her and about your experience? Was it good? I'm a pretty casual cruiser and often eat dinner in the buffet. I've heard that HAL has much more restrictive buffet hours than Princess so I'm prepared for that. I like reading and watching movies. Mostly I like to relax and watch the ocean go by. I read she was recently refurbished. That's good! Please just fill me in on your basic experience on this ship. Thanks so much!

We were on for 7 days in 2012, and loved it. Our room was nice (inside cabin) and clean. The crew friendly and helpful, and we found the food very nice. Yes it is an older ship, but I liked its feel. You will have a good time. We had as you wish dining, and often didn't go to the dining room till after 8PM and there was never a night that something on the menu was not available at our table.

Have fun,

Terri

This wasn't your question, but thought I'd let you know that just becuz you may book an Inside or OV, doesn't mean you can't see the sea from another deck or even an upgrade to a balcony. There are many open decks to view the sea from(other than the lanaii cabin deck) Also, we were on the VOV, had originally booked FF category(oceanview on A deck), but were offered an upsell to BA balcony the week before for $10 per day extra.:D Much less than the lanaii(which we also thought was ridiculously priced) We had our own balcony(starboard)AND next to a "public" balcony on port side. Great location. So you never know!

GRACECRUISE

We had planned to do the VOV but didn't book as we can't afford a lanai or balcony and since there are 11 sea days - I couldn't see sitting at the back or in a lounge looking through a window for that many days.

thanks for any info you can give me!

Veendam did fail in 2012. I was on the cruise. Here's are my posts about the mysterious delayed boarding and my review of our experience.

 

I have never been on a ship with such crew mistrust of the leadership. They would openly tell you they were putting in for other ships and it was a horrible environment for them. It was astonishing sad.

 

The hotel director/manager whatever was fired when we docked back in NYC.

Interesting. We were on a 17 day Antarctica cruise on her in January 2012. At that time the crew was happy & upbeat, the food and service was great, and the hotel director very personable in the two interactions we had.

That was our first HAL cruise, and it hooked us on the line. (21 before then, and three HAL trips since. ) Just booked a 14 day Australia trip, and would have been MUCH happier if the ship had been the smaller (and cozier) Veendam.

I love reading the positive reports. Good news about the library and the movies. I just booked and made all my arrangements. Happy I'm going on a cruise.

Have a great time. Hope you get Peter as your dining steward, he was fantastic.

If you are cabbing it from the ship to the airport (after the cruise) and you look across the cab line and see big yellow buses there check them out. For our cruise, they were running a FREE shuttle to the airport. They put your luggage underneath and got it out at your terminal. It was a fantastic service. We were the second stop. Only about 12 people got on. People in the cab line which was long were told but no one would follow us.

No charge but we did tip the driver. The city of Boston sponsers this.

Krazy Kruisers covered the changes very well. We were on Panama Canal cruise this winter and found the crew pleasant and responsive. Had late set seating, food and service was very good. Definitely, an "older" crowd, not much activity after 10:30 except at the Piano Bar. The big negative was major norovirus issues which could occur on any cruise.

We just got off the Veendam after a 35 day cruise, and I would take her again! We had the farthest balcony cabin on Starboard to the aft(it was perfect!) All but 2 crew/staff instances were very positive(one very surly security member that I witnessed treating a confused elderly lady with a lack of respect; one staff member who was also having a bad day was very abrupt/condescending)This was over 35 days, so I don't know where the negative commenters come from. The Captain was probably the best we have had in over 50 cruises! I feel the attitudes go down through the ranks, so with the positive attitude of a Captain and most officers we had, the experience we had was wonderful! If you look hard enough, you'll find the ship shows wear in places, but you really have to look hard. Food was decent to good. Service was mostly excellent. The Lido staff were some of the happiest and attentive we've experienced. Buffet normally ended at 2pm, BUT they had sandwiches until 5pm; Dive-in open until 5pm; pizza station open late. Many ships we've been on no food from 3pm-dinner--not the case here! Cabin stewards were outstanding! Outside entertainment was good to very good. The lead chef for the Lido and Dive-In were alert and supportive of my husbands GF needs. On and on I could go:-) Nothing is perfect,(at least 1 elevator always out of order; temp issue with the heat in our zone;some issues that administration compensated for immediately, etc) but our experience was overall very positive!! Go in with a good attitude, be realistic and you will have a great time!!:D

Do you remember the name of the lead chef for the Lido?

I'm so sorry, I do not. Included his name in our eval, but that's online now and no copy. "Aurora", who is a server there until next year and also a great help, reported to him, so if you found her, she could help you. Will you be on the Veendam soon?

Do you remember the name of the lead chef for the Lido?