VEENDAM REVIEW: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[irisheileen]

Sorry that it’s been a month since our wonderful Bermuda cruise on the Veendam and I am just now posting my review- life has been a bit hectic since our return. We had a wonderful time that we will enjoy reminiscing about forever. We are blessed to be able to vacation and the good far outweighed the bad. We would cruise on the Veendam again IF I could have cabin 082 again because then I would be reasonably assured of a “good” cabin. Thank you to ALL who helped in our planning.

 

The Bermuda itinerary is complete and I now see that there is even more recent conversation about the plus and minuses of the Veendam, so I’ll limit my comments to the ship itself for the most part.

 

As a reminder, we got a GREAT upsell 1 week prior to sailing! We went from a K548 sideways inside to 082 corner Aft for only $299 each more! I decided to surprise my DH with the news.

 

THE GOOD:

 

• Husband’s face when he walked into the Aft balcony cabin!!! He was thrilled with the luxury of a Verandah! And an Aft cabin to boot!

 

• My face when I walking onto the Verandah—it wasn’t just the larger Aft Verandah that could accommodate a chaise lounge that I was expecting/had seen pictures of. Unlike the deck plans online, the verandah extended all the way to the side, double wide! I couldn’t contain my excitement! It was huge and had two lounge chairs, two chairs and a table. Very private Verandah. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED. What a blessing.

 

• Sitting at all hours of the day on our Verandah watching the wake. I loved just hearing it. Sigh…..Heaven. Reading my kindle late into the evening with the outside light on. Setting alarm to see sunrise, especially pulling into the Hudson on last morning= awesome.

• Very comfortable bed. Pillows not so much.

 

• Signing up for the week long Thermal Suite package $149 for a couple. Sign up the first day-they go quick. Even though we were in port for 4 out of the 7 days, we used it every day and LOVED IT. This was a splurge for us. I had been dreaming for years about lying on those warm tiled chaise loungers; I even tore out one of HAL’s pictures of them and put it on the front of my 3 ring Bermuda binder. It was never crowded and we got to take naps on them often. If there were other people in the room, we limited ourselves to 20 minutes. The thermal pool, while hot tub size, was good for my sore body. LOL. I “endured” the steam room. There is also access to the lookout deck above the bridge and an outside lounging area for sunbathing, if desired. Very nice, unexpected, “quiet room” with comfy padded loungers facing the sea. Beverage and tea service station was appreciated.

 

• Massages….I repeat…Massages. Yes! We held out for the 20/20/20 for $99 on Saturday. I chose facial, foot and ankle massage and neck and shoulder massage. DH loved his full body massage for $99.

 

• Snagging ressies for MDR on the first day. ( Go to desk outside of Cannaleto ASAP on first afternoon) We mostly chose 5:30 but once 8pm.

 

• Choosing to eat at the wonderful Cannaleto. The wait staff, including the awesome, pleasant, professional Manager, Hery did a great job. Meal was delicious and prompt service.

 

• Choosing for the first time to treat ourselves to the Pinnacle Grill. It was extremely good. Enjoyed the Lamb Sizzle, Lobster Bisque and Caesar Salad, all prepared tableside. What fun!

 

• The perfect size of the Veendam. Just right for us as we don’t like a lot of walking to get around. The ship was homey and very convenient. Loved the layout of the ship. Elevators always available. Staff wonderful. Beautiful sedate Atrium. Great Front Staff.

 

• Wonderful Explorers Café Coffee and Library. Library had fabulous leather swivel chairs and ottomans. We snagged these whenever possible to just relax and read (and nap, so it happened lol). The chairs were positioned to view the water. Pleasant comradery watching card games being played and puzzles ongoing. Nice shipmates. Coffee and Cappuccinos very good here.

 

• 082 had NO AIR CONDITIONING PROBLEMS AT ALL. (shame I have to even mention this)

 

• No toilet trouble at all. (shame I have to even mention this)

 

• Public areas clean and temperatures pleasant.

 

• Cabin always clean, nice attractive bathroom, enough shelves (for me!) Never used the Whirlpool tub (much too short)

 

• Plenty of closet space

 

• Preordered breakfast room service pretty accurate to requested time frame.

 

• Catholic Mass Daily= thank you HAL. I went several times, the Priest, Fr. Bill was awesome! Up to 12 in attendance on any given day. 8am on at sea days and 5pm on port days.

• Movies offered each day, we went one day.

 

• 100% of the CREW greeted us with a “good morning”, etc. or at least a smile and a nod. Loved the crew.

 

• MDR prompt with our reserved time. We always had a 2 top and just politely asked to be out by a certain time if we needed to get to show. Always prompt, if not done way ahead of time. Thank you! We liked all of the food.

 

• Lido food good. As usual, loved the Bread Pudding!

 

• Singers at Showroom at Sea very talented.

 

• Microsoft interactive coffee tables a lot of fun. (Except DH always beat me at checkers)

 

• General area around Piano bar fun and active with people enjoying themselves. Evening entertainment nice.

 

Next the Bad......

[irisheileen]

THE BAD:

 

• Bad drainage on our Verandah while docked in Bermuda. When it rained, we sometimes had standing water, puddles really, just outside our slider. It was because the ship was slightly tilted Starboard and we were Port corner. Our drain was on the far Port corner and higher than the accumulated water. We needed to have it swept into the drain a several times, it got to be about 1-2 inches deep at times. A couple of mornings I couldn’t have breakfast out there because of deep water and waiting for staff to come and sweep it :( Yeah, I know, poor me! (get over it Eileen LOL)

 

• One out of two Spa steam rooms out of service the entire week. Turned out it wasn’t really a problem as it wasn’t crowded. Loud volume on ship’s loudspeaker in Spa. Lower volume in spa would be better so that my nap isn’t interrupted by cruise director’s announcements ;) LOL Had to leave spa area alot to walk back out front and alert staff that again there weren’t any towels in thermal suite. Seemed surprised each time. More annoying than anything else…But hey, I’m not at work!

 

• Room service coffee= waste

 

• My coworker who went the week before us needed a fan 24/7 due to AC trouble. A lot of cabins near her did as well. She was in 128. While at Front desk towards end of week, I overheard a Pax saying his AC still wasn’t working. Staff kept straight face. They must be SO SICK OF THE COMPLAINTS.

 

• Whirlpool tub too short, slow drain issues often.

 

• Lido beverage service station always short on lemons, spoons, sugar, clean glasses etc. All week.

 

• Seating at showroom at Sea not comfortable at all. Sightlines upstairs not good.

 

Next the Ugly....

[irisheileen]

THE UGLY:

 

• Ressies for open seating MDR and Canneleto only available 5, 5:15, 5:30 OR not until 8pm- 9pm = STUPID We wished that we could have had the opportunity to request the in-between times as well. While we ate each night in open reserved seating, we could see PLENTY of available tables and seats while we dined. Every night. Why then when we exited the MDR between 7-730pm did we see LONG lines waiting to get a table? We would overhear staff explaining 40 minute wait?!? Who were they SAVING the tables for if not those in line? It was PAST the ressie time. Pax getting upset every night. Even formal night. Why weren’t they being seated at all the empty tables that were not reserved at that time of evening? Bizarre. Poor, poor management of dining room. MDR reservation system needs overhaul…fast!

 

• Dreadful, slobby shipmates who thought it was appropriate to TRASH the movie lounge with their leftover popcorn bags, and popcorn etc ALL OVER EACH ROW’S FLOOR. I am not kidding, when the lights went on, we were disgusted and EMBARRASED seeing all the trash strewn around. What’s wrong with people?! I found the crew and apologized for their behavior. I was told it was common. Hats off to the crew member who at first tried to smooth over the passenger’s carelessness. I could see that he had great customer service skills. He finally did say that it happened all the time. Shameful.

 

• NOT ONE OFFICER ACKNOWLEDGED US THE ENTIRE CRUISE. It was the exact opposite of the hardworking crew. Just one example: One time we came across two officers at the top of the stairs while we approached the bank of elevators. Neither of them even looked at us and we walked just feet away from them. We said hello= no response from either officer. We were ignored. A third staff member, not officer, came by and smiled and greeted us and ran down the stairs. We bumped into him again on the next deck. HE greeted us again! I complimented him and asked who the officers were above who were so rude. Apparently it was the Hotel Manager Mr. Hernandez!! ( he said with a sheepish smile) Please don’t flame me, but this just annoys the He** out of me when management expects great customer service skills from the “underlings” and are too above it all to practice what they preach. This is a pet peeve of mine.

 

Later, I came across an officer coming out of the purser’s office and I approached him to speak.

 

Here is my (very polite) conversation:

 

Me: “Hello, my name is Eileen”-- I put out my hand to shake, I get a limp wristed weak tip of fingers handshake in return and no introduction of himself. “May I offer some constructive criticism?”

 

Him- “of course”

 

Me: “I notice that every one of your wonderful crewmembers are very friendly and greet us with a smile or nod or speak to us wherever we go on the ship”. We really appreciate that.

 

Him: (some polite acknowledgement)

 

Me: “Please take this kindly, but we are surprised that not one of the officers have even looked at us in the eye or greeted us when walking by each other, not even a nod of the head. (I then gave the example from above)

 

Him: “I am sure that is because they have a lot on their minds” Really?!?! I am not exaggerating, these were his exact words.

 

Me: “Well I’m sure that your hardworking crew always has a lot on their minds too, but they ALWAYS at least have the time to nod.”

 

Him: “Well, may I ask if you know who the officers were?”

 

Me: (looking over at his name tag) “Actually, one of them was you Mr. Hernandez.” (the Hotel Manager) ……….Dead silence………

[tjcletsgo]

:D..................love it!

[kakalina]

Quite a review Eileen. Thanks for taking the time to finally post it. I am glad that you had an overall great time. Your cabin sounds great.

 

I was surprised to hear about the officers ignoring folks, this is not what we've encountered on our cruises. One would like to think it was just someone having a bad day but you make it plain that was not the situation. I think you handled it quite well with the HotMan. Good on you girl!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your wonderful review.

We have sailed quite a few years and many cruises on HAL and we have also noticed that the crew is way more friendlier than the officcers. Rarely do any of the officers speak to us either.

Of all our cruises the last 3 or so years, the officers (hotel manager, beverage manager and a couple of others) were the friendliest we have encountered.

So glad that you did not experience any air conditioning or plumbing problems.

[0bnxshs]

Thanks for the review! We had the room directly below yours (232) in December 2010 and couldn't have been happier with the room and especially the veranda! We too loved it. We did like that ours was better covered than your veranda (by your veranda, in fact); when it did rain we never got wet or had any standing water on our veranda floor.

 

Glad you had such a nice time. It is sad to hear of all the trouble people have had on Veendam as we came to think of her as our favorite ship on our favorite cruise.

[Jade13]

 

Me: “Hello, my name is Eileen”-- I put out my hand to shake, I get a limp wristed weak tip of fingers handshake in return and no introduction of himself.

 

I guess you have not been on a lot of cruises. They don't do hand shakes any longer so as not to spread any illness.

[irisheileen]

Thanks for the review! We had the room directly below yours (232) in December 2010 and couldn't have been happier with the room and especially the veranda! We too loved it. We did like that ours was better covered than your veranda (by your veranda, in fact); when it did rain we never got wet or had any standing water on our veranda floor.

 

Glad you had such a nice time. It is sad to hear of all the trouble people have had on Veendam as we came to think of her as our favorite ship on our favorite cruise.

 

I looked at your Veendam signature pics and was glad to see "my" Aft again. They were wonderful, weren't they? I guess we got lucky to have 2 chaise loungers? I see that yours had just one plus two chairs? DH and I didn't have to fight over it! I hadn't realized that your cabin had more coverage, great benefit.

[CtheW0rld]

nice review. your story about meeting the hotel manager had me laughing. good for you. sounds like something i would do.

[irisheileen]

nice review. your story about meeting the hotel manager had me laughing. good for you. sounds like something i would do.

 

Meant to be! ( I have to say I did enjoy the irony of it :D )

[sppunk]

Enjoyed your review. We weren't as fortunate as you (we had the leak) but everything ekes you say was spot on.

 

The HM was Douglas Hernandez. After the Cooking with Stripes show I told him I enjoyed a pizza he made. No one was around and he just stared at me and didn't say a word either.

 

He came across as smug during that show. Your comments don't surprise me.

 

The captain however was a wonderful man, very social. Odd stuff.

[0bnxshs]

I looked at your Veendam signature pics and was glad to see "my" Aft again. They were wonderful, weren't they? I guess we got lucky to have 2 chaise loungers? I see that yours had just one plus two chairs? DH and I didn't have to fight over it! I hadn't realized that your cabin had more coverage, great benefit.

 

We were told that if we wanted a 2nd chaise that they would bring one to us but we didn't find it necessary. While we did spend a lot of time out there, it was mostly for viewing the incredible scenery as, despite some of the photos to the contrary, generally it wasn't the sort of weather that encouraged spending lots of time laying out. Even with the 5 of us using it, there wasn't much sitting done as we all wanted a spot at the rail. This wrap-around veranda suited that perfectly! Yes, they were wonderful.

[irisheileen]

Enjoyed your review. We weren't as fortunate as you (we had the leak) but everything ekes you say was spot on.

 

The HM was Douglas Hernandez. After the Cooking with Stripes show I told him I enjoyed a pizza he made. No one was around and he just stared at me and didn't say a word either.

 

He came across as smug during that show. Your comments don't surprise me.

 

The captain however was a wonderful man, very social. Odd stuff.

 

Exactly! Snug is the work I was searching for!

[kazu]

Loved your review - you owe me $$$ - you copied the title of my review of the prinsendam:p (kidding) - loved it - loved how you dealt with things and it sounded like you had a great time overall - heck - who cares if the Hotel Manager talks to you? or rubs elbows:p:D

 

Welcome home - and thanks for taking the time to share - glad your experience was a good one - and congrats and the wonderful upsell:D:D

[sail7seas]

The ultimate irony is that Hotel Manager Hernandez is actually a very friendly, outgoing man with an great sense of humor. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience as we have sailed with him a number of times and always smile when we hear his name or think of him. Maybe he was just having a bad week...... (Yes, I get it.... in the hospitality business one should never have a bad day let alone week. :D )

 

Thanks for sharing with us about your cruise.

Welcome back.

[sppunk]

The ultimate irony is that Hotel Manager Hernandez is actually a very friendly, outgoing man with an great sense of humor. I'm sorry you had such a negative experience as we have sailed with him a number of times and always smile when we hear his name or think of him. Maybe he was just having a bad week...... (Yes, I get it.... in the hospitality business one should never have a bad day let alone week. :D )

 

Thanks for sharing with us about your cruise.

Welcome back.

Chalk it up to the Curse of the ms Veendam.

 

I'm being honest with that saying too, not sly or provocative. Many crew members are counting days to jump ship and get a different contract, when you are responsible for the infrastructure that is failing it has to take a significant toll on your attitude.

 

Stil not an excuse, but it is what it is.

[sail7seas]

We have plans for dinner with the friends we are booked to sail Veendam with and I suspect that will be one of the subjects of conversation during our dinner. I am so on the fence about that booking. I love the itinerary, I love sailing with these friends again, we have wonderful memories of fabulous cruises on Veendam from years past.......

 

What to do? :confused: :D

 

[irisheileen]

I guess you have not been on a lot of cruises. They don't do hand shakes any longer so as not to spread any illness.

 

Actually, it was the type of handshake to which I was referring. Quoting sspunk, "He came across as smug ". I've been on countless cruises.

[irisheileen]

Loved your review - you owe me $$$ - you copied the title of my review of the prinsendam:p (kidding) - loved it - loved how you dealt with things and it sounded like you had a great time overall - heck - who cares if the Hotel Manager talks to you? or rubs elbows:p:D

 

Welcome home - and thanks for taking the time to share - glad your experience was a good one - and congrats and the wonderful upsell:D:D

 

But after the cruise, and my upsell, I don't have and $$$ left!

Maybe the HM was so awestruck that "I" was will to rub elbows with him he was mesmerized into rudeness? LOL

[sppunk]

We have plans for dinner with the friends we are booked to sail Veendam with and I suspect that will be one of the subjects of conversation during our dinner. I am so on the fence about that booking. I love the itinerary, I love sailing with these friends again, we have wonderful memories of fabulous cruises on Veendam from years past.......

 

What to do? :confused: :D

 

Can't help you other than say we would wait a year - which we are doing for South America.

 

If you like to gamble, go for it. After all that's what it is, a complete crap shoot.

[irisheileen]

We have plans for dinner with the friends we are booked to sail Veendam with and I suspect that will be one of the subjects of conversation during our dinner. I am so on the fence about that booking. I love the itinerary, I love sailing with these friends again, we have wonderful memories of fabulous cruises on Veendam from years past.......

 

What to do? :confused: :D

 

 

What to do?...book my cabin!

[sail7seas]

Can't help you other than say we would wait a year - which we are doing for South America.

 

If you like to gamble, go for it. After all that's what it is, a complete crap shoot.

 

 

They haven't done the itinerary we booked for three years, are only offering it one time next year and only on Veendam. Sigh......

 

[localady]

In all honesty, I'd be disinclined to invite friends to cruise on the Veendam in her current shape. We once invited dear friends to join us on the Rotterdam and it was truly the most disasterous cruise. I am gun shy these days.

I really am a HAL cheerleader, but I would be hard pressed to explain the hanging wire mesh in the dining room and why the ship has not been taken out of service in all this time to make adequate repairs to such eyesores as well as the additional problems with the A/C system. It really is a shame.

[irisheileen]

In all honesty, I'd be disinclined to invite friends to cruise on the Veendam in her current shape. We once invited dear friends to join us on the Rotterdam and it was truly the most disasterous cruise. I am gun shy these days.

I really am a HAL cheerleader, but I would be hard pressed to explain the hanging wire mesh in the dining room and why the ship has not been taken out of service in all this time to make adequate repairs to such eyesores as well as the additional problems with the A/C system. It really is a shame.

 

If you remember, I helped a coworker with their booking on the Veendam the week before we sailed. I have to say I was a bit nervous that all might not go well for them on board. As it turned out they DID have trouble with a warm room and needed a fan all week. To my surprise she didn't really complain to me...she took it in stride and loved the vacation, her first in 2 decades and her first cruise.