Veendam to Bermuda

[cruisincorgi]

Hi. I am a NCL fan who is booked with my wife and 13 year old on the Veendam to Bermuda in June 2010. My question is, given my liking of the NCL ships, will I be happy with the Veendam? It isn't so much the size, but it seems limited in its offerings. Does the one pool get crowded? Are they working to remedy the issues with the Sanctuary area aft? Thanks. Any feedback would be appreciated.

[family cruisers]

We've taken the NCL ships to bermuda the last three years and loved it. I too would love to hear as much about Holland America as I can.

[ziggypup]

Hi. I am a NCL fan who is booked with my wife and 13 year old on the Veendam to Bermuda in June 2010. My question is, given my liking of the NCL ships, will I be happy with the Veendam? It isn't so much the size, but it seems limited in its offerings. Does the one pool get crowded? Are they working to remedy the issues with the Sanctuary area aft? Thanks. Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

I can't help you with you question since I have not sailed on NCL. We are also sailing on the Veendam in June. It will be our first cruise on Holland.

 

I was interested in your name. Do you have a Corgi? If you look at my picture, you will see my Cardigan Corgi.

[jtl513]

I don't recall ever seeing what I would call a "crowded" pool on any HAL ship. True, there is now only one swimming pool (and one wading) on the Veendam, but remember there only 1260 guests, and the aft pool didn't get a lot of use when we were on her in the Caribbean anyway.

[Bakincakes]

HAL is a much more "sedate" line.

 

The one cruise we took on NCL drove me to distraction.

 

It just seemed to be one convoluted mess on NCL. :eek:

 

The evening party atmosphere is quite different on HAL, as well.

[fann1sh]

HAL has a very different "personality" (if I can call it that) than NCL. Hard to define.

 

Even though cruise lines are more alike than different these days, HAL and NCL are pretty different. HAL is still a traditional line, still has fixed time+table dining (as well as open), still has formal nights (and the Maitre D sometimes turns people away re: dress code), still has deck chairs on a wrap around promenade deck. Although there are two small alternative restaurants (Canaletto - Italian - no fee but reservations required; Pinnacle Grill - steaks and seafood - $20 pp), and a casual buffet, most people eat in the main dining room.

 

While these are for a different ship (Ryndam) and a different itinerary (Alaska), here's a link to some daily activities schedules to give you a general idea:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1048418

 

I hope you like HAL. The big advantage Veendam has is docking right in Hamilton and St. Georges, rather than at King's Wharf. That should make your days in Bermuda more fun. ---Patricia

[nana nancy]

We are going to go Veendam because of where she docks and departs from. This will be our 5th. cruise to Bermuda, and prefer to dock in St George and Hamilton. Also, NYC, Red Hook and Bayonne are easy for us. NCL, RCL, Princess all dock at King's Wharf. And it is IMO more difficult and costly to see Bermuda from there. We first sailed to Bermuda on Celebrity Zenith, but now they are docking at the Wharf, too. Our group will not sail on NCL anymore, as we are senoir's, 2 handicapped, and the freestyle thing does not work for us. We had to wait way too long while dining, not just for a table. The service was always an issue. Cruising is the vacation as well as the destination, and we enjoy all of it. So we will try HAL, and plan on having a great time, we always do. A bad day of cruising is better then a good day at home!

[A.S.]

We are thinking of taking the Veendam to Bermuda also. I have a few questions maybe someone can answer.

 

If the price of the cruise goes down, will they adjust the price up until final payment?

 

Do they allow you to carry on bags as long as they fit into the X-Ray machine?

 

Can you cash in your OBC in the Casino?

 

Do they serve Lox at the Breakfast Buffet?

 

We have been on several lines, but not Holland America. Hopefully someone can answer these questions. Thanks

[sapper1]

We are thinking of taking the Veendam to Bermuda also. I have a few questions maybe someone can answer.

 

If the price of the cruise goes down, will they adjust the price up until final payment?

 

Do they allow you to carry on bags as long as they fit into the X-Ray machine?

 

Can you cash in your OBC in the Casino?

 

Do they serve Lox at the Breakfast Buffet?

 

We have been on several lines, but not Holland America. Hopefully someone can answer these questions. Thanks

We were able to get a major price reduction on our Eurodam European cruise. Our TA delivered the good news when we went in to make final payment.

 

Yes you can carry on bags that will fit through the scanner.

 

You don't exactly cash in your OBC. It is just added to your bill at the start of the cruise so your account starts out in a plus situation. Charges, including casino, are just put on your bill and when you run out of OBC the charges start to add up. Your $11pp per day hotel charges are just automatically added to this account as well.

 

I can't help with the lox question as I have never had the occasion to ask.

[sapper1]

There seems to be a roll call for every trip to Bermuda except June 6th. Is anyone else going on that one? I am beginning to think I will be the only CCer aboard. ------Colleyberry??????

[mamaofami]

I don't think I've ever seen lox in the buffet. In fact, I'm sure I haven't.

[Flyingfish]

I have seen/eaten lox in the lido on most HAL ships. But, that was awhile ago. However,you could always get lox for breakfast in the dining room.

[chapulina]

Our family has sailed on Princess and Carnival before, this year I could not make it but they just came back from the Sea of Cortez on the Veendam and even though they enjoyed it a lot they did notice the following:

The ship seemed old and not as cared for compared to Dawn Princess or Carnival Spirit.

The service was amazing, everyone was always smiling and helping out, service was the best of all.

The majority of the people on board were seniors, my family member’s age ranged from 39-45 with the exception of a 7yr old and my Dad 62 who felt young compared to the others. They truly didn’t mind this; we actually love cruising with older crowds.

The 7 year old loved the activities on board, she spent most of the time in the kids and teens club. The ladies there were absolutely amazing, always kept her busy, she had the most fun, in her opinion this was the best club of all 3.

They didn’t really get to use the pool at all, it was always crowded.

There was really no night life, everyone seem to go to sleep at 9pm, no one really watch the movies out in the open, the the activities outside were not that appealing and the music was mostly jazz and piano. The piano music was beautiful.

The food was ok, breakfast was always the same, open seating was a fiasco, waiting times were too long and once seated it took forever to get the food. They ended up in the buffet most of the nights. If you have confirmed early or late dinning it won’t be as bad. The desserts were awesome and they had free ice cream every day.

Shopping on board is almost nonexistent, not many stores, not many items.

They suggest checking your stateroom floor, from comments of other people the 4th floor was noisy, maybe from people working on lower floor and 5th floor had a lot of screeching .

They had computer and cooking classes= ok

They had some beautiful pictures taken, packages start in the $300s, if you love pictures make sure you save just for pictures, we totally recommend them, they are one of a kind. I’m not sure if you’ll have the same photographer, his name is Michael, he’s the best.

I have some of the daily papers if you want let me know and I can email them.

Would they bookwith Holland America: yes

Book the Veendam again: No

[sail7seas]

Yes, you can get smoked salmon (lox) for breakfast in Lido, Room Service, Neptune Lounge and Main Dining Room to enjoy with your bagel and cream cheese.

 

[A.S.]

We were able to get a major price reduction on our Eurodam European cruise. Our TA delivered the good news when we went in to make final payment.

 

Yes you can carry on bags that will fit through the scanner.

 

You don't exactly cash in your OBC. It is just added to your bill at the start of the cruise so your account starts out in a plus situation. Charges, including casino, are just put on your bill and when you run out of OBC the charges start to add up. Your $11pp per day hotel charges are just automatically added to this account as well.

 

I can't help with the lox question as I have never had the occasion to ask.

 

Thank you for your response. When you say there are $11pp per day hotel charges, are you talking about prepaid gratuities?

 

Does everyone on the ship have to prepay, or do you have a choice?

 

Also, how are the shows at night?

 

Thanks again.

[fann1sh]

The $11 pp per day charges are gratuities. They are pooled and divided. You *can* remove the charges. However, if you do so, staff will be given your name/cabin number. If you then tip in cash, the person receiving the tip MUST turn it in instead of keeping it, and it's added to the pool.

 

Many people on this board (I'm one of them) consider it bad form to remove the service charge without a reason; and only then after giving the staff/front desk a chance to remedy the problem. It's just a cost of cruising, IMO.

 

As for the shows....they vary. In general, I find the production number shows boring, and no longer even stick my nose in to see. Musicians, comedians, magicians tend to be somewhat better. However, on my last cruise, I found these performers stale too, and didn't stay at any shows. (Maybe I was tired from touring in Alaska? :cool:) Veendam has no piano bar - removed - replaced by The Mix. No idea how this venue compares to the good ol' piano bar.

 

No question tho'- evening entertainment isn't what HAL does best.

[A.S.]

Pre paid gratuities are fine.

 

We were on the RCCL Explorer this Summer and their shows are nothing to write home about either.

 

This was a great cruise, but docking in Kings Wharf is a turnoff. Love the itinerary on the Veendam.

 

I'm sure we will adjust to the smaller size. The NCL Crown did the Bermuda run very nicely, and that was probably about the same size of the Veendam.

 

If you any more info to share about this line, would love to hear it.

 

Thanks

[galliegirlie]

I too am debating NCL verses HAL for Bermuda next June. I've sailed with NCL 3 times, and Princess twice (as I enjoy the freestyle aspects of these lines), but I'm thinking about giving the Veendam a try based on the direct docking in St. George and Hamilton and the extra day in Bermuda. For this trip in particular I'm way more excited about the port destination than the cruise boat, but I would still like to have an enjoyable cruise experience at night and on sea days. I'm in my upper twenties and I usually cruise with my mother who is in her early fifties. We are not dance and party people, and we rarely order more than one drink each night, so I'm not worried about the lack of lively after hours activities. However, we definetely enjoy the nightly theater productions and game show type acts such as the Not so Newlywed Game, Liars club, the Quest, etc. Does the Veendam offer these types of passenger participation shows? Are the nightly shows coordinated for late dinning people to attend? How lively is the Cruise Director and his staff? Are there any exciting random activites like karoke or trivia if the night is dull.

 

A few other questions:

- For Bermuda is there any advantage for booking Port side verses Starboard in terms of photo views from windows/balconies?

- I've grown accustomed to grabing an ice cream cone any time of the day on my past cruises, does the Lido Buffet offer this?

- I keep hearing awful things about anytime dinning with HAL. We've never experienced fixed dinning before, so I don't know which would be the better option.

- We have always been balcony or min-suite type people on NCL/Princess, but HAL is too expensive. I would hate to go down to an Interior (I like to have a view of the outside to plan my daily outfit), but prices for the lowest picture window are pretty high as well. I plan to spend as much daylight as I can touring around Bermuda during the day, but depending on the lack of activities available in the evening or on sea days, more time might be spent in the room that first planned. What are your thoughts about INT verses OV based on experience with the Veendam and Bermuda?

[sail7seas]

What are your thoughts about INT verses OV based on experience with the Veendam and Bermuda?

 

 

 

 

Veendam has never done this itinerary before. HAL has not had a regular schedule of Bermuda cruises in many years. :)

 

[fann1sh]

Thanks, Sail. I tried to post the same thing, but the board ate my post --again.

 

GallieGirlie, for my money, the J's on lower promenade deck are great. Steps from the wrap around promenade, same side as the OV's on that deck, but with shower instead of tub. (Minimum 182 square feet)

[A.S.]

From what I am reading, my OBC will not be applicable to services, which I am assuming means gratuities.

 

Does HAL, as does NCL & RCCL, have the option of cashing out any leftover OBC in the Casino for a small fee?

 

Thanks again.

[fann1sh]

Thanks, Sail. I tried to post the same thing, but the board ate my post --again.

 

GallieGirlie, for my money, the J's on lower promenade deck are great. Steps from the wrap around promenade, same size as the OV's on that deck, but with shower instead of tub. (Minimum 182 square feet)

 

GallieGirlie, that's what happens when you post the same thing three times - your typing gets screwy. Above in bold is my correction to prior post. The pricing for balconies is high, because Veendam balconies are much larger than Princess regular balconies, but a bit smaller than a mini suite.

 

I did a comparison with RCI junior suites (at post 24) on this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=21723332&highlight=#post21723332

 

BTW, ice cream isn't 24/7, but I'm not sure of the exact hours. My visits are always in the afternoon between lunch and dinner services, and it's always been open then.

 

I've never seen unscheduled activities added, except on days when a port is missed/held up by weather, etc. There are audience participation games. I've attended HAL's version of Quest in the middle of a sea day. However, I believe they tend to be in the show lounge just before the main show begins...I *think*. So, if you want to go to the shows/audience participation, you'll probably want to fit dinner in so you can. Which leads to open vs. fixed dining.

 

Although I hated the idea on my first cruise, I've become a real fan of fixed time/table dining. So, I've never tried HAL's version of open. I guess I have a question for you: what time do you usually want to eat on a cruise ship? If you want to get to the shows, and you usually eat around one of the 2 fixed times anyway...maybe ask for fixed, and see how it works for you? Disclaimer: early fixed seating books out fast. You might get waitlested.

 

From what I am reading, my OBC will not be applicable to services, which I am assuming means gratuities.

 

Does HAL, as does NCL & RCCL, have the option of cashing out any leftover OBC in the Casino for a small fee?

 

Thanks again.

 

As far as I know, an OBC is an OBC, and applies to the service charges. Of course, I always have enough other charges to eat up the OBC anyway! :o But, it's been reported here you just go to the front desk to get the refund, no service charge.

 

There were a lot of "I thinks" and other "kinda sorta" in my answers above. I'm pretty confident I'm right. However, I'm always confident I'm right at team trivia :eek: (which IMO is as much fun as you can have on a cruise ship with your clothes on!) So, I hope someone reads this and corrects me if any of this isn't accurate. ---Patricia

[FIRELT5]

We are going to go Veendam because of where she docks and departs from. This will be our 5th. cruise to Bermuda, and prefer to dock in St George and Hamilton. Also, NYC, Red Hook and Bayonne are easy for us. NCL, RCL, Princess all dock at King's Wharf. And it is IMO more difficult and costly to see Bermuda from there. We first sailed to Bermuda on Celebrity Zenith, but now they are docking at the Wharf, too. Our group will not sail on NCL anymore, as we are senoir's, 2 handicapped, and the freestyle thing does not work for us. We had to wait way too long while dining, not just for a table. The service was always an issue. Cruising is the vacation as well as the destination, and we enjoy all of it. So we will try HAL, and plan on having a great time, we always do. A bad day of cruising is better then a good day at home!

 

The Celebrity Zenith has been gone for the past 4 years and is in Europe with a different company. The Celebrity Summit will commence sailing to Bermuda from Cape Liberty in May 2010 and stay at the Dockyard.

[nana nancy]

I know, and I don't feel the Dockyard is the best port. We so enjoy St George and Hamilton, especially when we are docked overnight, can walk off the ship, go to Harbor Night in Hamilton, and gewt to any of the beaches easily. The Veendam will give us the Bermuda we love!

[Sunshine91]

A.S. - You keep asking about "prepaid" gratuities. The gratuity, now called a hotel service charge, is applied to your onboard account at the rate of $11/per person per day. Whether you actually pre-pay it or not in the form of having OBC is irrelevant. At the end of the Bermuda cruise you'll need to settle up $77 per person for that charge, plus whatever else you've purchased onboard.

 

Also, you've mentioned the casino a few times. Please be aware that as of right now, when in port, the ship's casinos are closed. Veendam will be tied up at the dock for a few overnights during that cruise, so at those times, no gambling.

 

GallieGirl - Just a few thoughts:

1. Check out the D-category cabins on Deck 6 aft. These are the 4 OV cabins that face the stern instead of port or starboard. Outside your cabin door you'll have another door to the wraparound teak deck. Our cabin was a bit wider than expected, the bed is under the window & really, during the day, folks outside can NOT see in. The glass is mirrored. At night though, you'll have to close the curtains. It's the next best thing to a balcony. :( (We love our Vista-class balcony).

2. I'm just guessing here, but which side you book is likely irrelevant. How the captain parks the ship against the dock depends on many things - weather, time of day, who else is in port that day, tide & current, etc. etc. etc. He may cuddle up portside in St. George one week & starboard the next.

3. Ice cream available in the Lido until maybe 5pm-ish.

4. The nights you're in Bermuda, you may not even eat dinner or attend shows onboard. You may find a nice restaurant or club or other entertainment in port. Its quite possible the ship will only offer a deck BBQ or some other very casual meal. (It's happened before when we've been in a Caribbean port until midnite) :)

5. On the sea days, there will be PLENTY of activities. But since HAL hasn't had a Bermuda itinerary in.............forever? Who knows what will be on the port-days schedule.