VEENDAM REVIEW: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

[sail7seas]

Melody: Guess "Handsome" is in the eye of the beholder. I do not find him the least bit good looking. The one I feel sorry for is Captain Mercer. He was the Veendam's first Captain during the innaugural run in the Caribbean. He was truly handsome then, so good looking HAL used him in TV commercials. He must be very sad about the condition of the Veendam now. Hope that bucket of bolts never makes it to the West coast.:eek:

 

 

Who is the current Captain on Veendam?

 

[sppunk]

Who is the current Captain on Veendam?

 

 

As of the last week of August, Marco Carsjens.

[sppunk]

Where is the link? I will add to it.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1681084

 

I wouldn't bother, the nastiness of certain individuals is too much to put up with IMO.

[localady]

And Hal's ultimate revenge is to put her on the west coast in 2014.:mad: Guess who is going to start cruising Princess again?:D

 

You won't be the only ones!! :rolleyes:

Perhaps we should plan a "Too bad HAL hates the West Coast" cruise in 2014 on a Princess ship on the Mex Riviera. ;)

I know just the travel agent to put that together!! ;) :D

[PathfinderEss]

Melody: Guess "Handsome" is in the eye of the beholder. I do not find him the least bit good looking. The one I feel sorry for is Captain Mercer. He was the Veendam's first Captain during the innaugural run in the Caribbean. He was truly handsome then, so good looking HAL used him in TV commercials. He must be very sad about the condition of the Veendam now. Hope that bucket of bolts never makes it to the West coast.:eek:

You betcha Gail, that Handsome is in the eye of the beholder. Thank goodness we all don't like the same men. I like tall, dark and handsome men but will say I'm not narrow minded in my choices. I just spent 2 weeks with Captain Mercer and can state he is still a very handsome man. He is very charming, courteous, polished and very fit. Really enjoyed being around him again on the Amsterdam.

 

Sorry Gail, the Veendam is going to come to the West Coast whether we like it or not. Can you imagine a ship with one pool doing Mexico and Hawaii, what is Hal thinking?

[PathfinderEss]

You won't be the only ones!! :rolleyes:

 

Perhaps we should plan a "Too bad HAL hates the West Coast" cruise in 2014 on a Princess ship on the Mex Riviera. ;)

 

I know just the travel agent to put that together!! ;) :D

Hey there you go, I'm game!:D

[sail7seas]

As of the last week of August, Marco Carsjens.

 

 

Thanks.

 

We haven't sailed with him...... yet. :)

 

[mariner]

Neither the captain nor the hot man redesigned what once was a wonderful ship

[solocanadian]

Sorry Gail, the Veendam is going to come to the West Coast whether we like it or not. Can you imagine a ship with one pool doing Mexico and Hawaii, what is Hal thinking?

That is not good news for someone like me who does not want to bother flying to Florida or Europe. I have the new Atlas but didn't look into 2014 yet. Cannot imagine no Sea View pool in Mexico. Perhaps Oceana will do something on the West Coast in 2014. I'd have to be pretty hard up to do Princess.

[PathfinderEss]

That is not good news for someone like me who does not want to bother flying to Florida or Europe. I have the new Atlas but didn't look into 2014 yet. Cannot imagine no Sea View pool in Mexico. Perhaps Oceana will do something on the West Coast in 2014. I'd have to be pretty hard up to do Princess.

Well your going to have 3 choices - Veendam - NCL or Princess for Mexico or Hawaii, so pick one. Ofcourse we could just do Alaska in 2014 and pick another Hal ship.

[Laminator]

Well your going to have 3 choices - Veendam - NCL or Princess for Mexico or Hawaii, so pick one. Ofcourse we could just do Alaska in 2014 and pick another Hal ship.

 

I am pretty sure everything will be back to normal in 2015. Carnival is investing millions of dollars developing a port in Magdalena Bay which is due to be ready in 2015. I am quite sure Mazatlan may be the loser when the Magdalena Bay port is operational.

[sail7seas]

Sorry Gail, the Veendam is going to come to the West Coast whether we like it or not. Can you imagine a ship with one pool doing Mexico and Hawaii, what is Hal thinking?

That is not good news for someone like me who does not want to bother flying to Florida or Europe. I have the new Atlas but didn't look into 2014 yet. Cannot imagine no Sea View pool in Mexico. Perhaps Oceana will do something on the West Coast in 2014. I'd have to be pretty hard up to do Princess.

 

 

Actually it is quite a smart move to put Veendam there IMO

 

Put the ship that folks seem reluctant to book on an itinerary that does not have lots of competition. When there are fewer choices, more people are opt to say, "Okay, we'll sail Veendam given we don't like the other choices". If there were lots of other great ships there, Veendam might not be first choice.

 

If people want to sail, don't want to fly, want to sail to Hawaii or Mexico, they will ultimately book Veendam despite Retreat 2.0 and the other issues.

 

Same reason they assigned Veendam to do Voyage of the Viking. A once a year itinerary, very popular and in demand. They took it away from Maasdam and gave it to Veendam to 'encourage' bookings on a ship people seem to want to avoid. At least on that itinerary, there often is less demand for the second (outdoor) pool because of all the touring and weather/temperatures.

 

If they put Veendam in the Caribbean for the winter, forget it. She'd be a hard sell. So many other choices, so many cruise lines, so many ships.

IMO

 

[PathfinderEss]

Actually it is quite a smart move to put Veendam there IMO

 

Put the ship that folks seem reluctant to book on an itinerary that does not have lots of competition. When there are fewer choices, more people are opt to say, "Okay, we'll sail Veendam given we don't like the other choices". If there were lots of other great ships there, Veendam might not be first choice.

 

If people want to sail, don't want to fly, want to sail to Hawaii or Mexico, they will ultimately book Veendam despite Retreat 2.0 and the other issues.

 

Same reason they assigned Veendam to do Voyage of the Viking. A once a year itinerary, very popular and in demand. They took it away from Maasdam and gave it to Veendam to 'encourage' bookings on a ship people seem to want to avoid. At least on that itinerary, there often is less demand for the second (outdoor) pool because of all the touring and weather/temperatures.

 

If they put Veendam in the Caribbean for the winter, forget it. She'd be a hard sell. So many other choices, so many cruise lines, so many ships.

IMO

 

Your probably right Sails but Princess is doing alot of great cruises out of LA. Their coastal is quite popular, besides their prices are better then Hals. I may love Hal but I'm not so foolish to spend my hard earned money on a ship that is literally falling apart, and apparently Hal does not have the where for all to fix her on going problems. I sailed on her 6 months after her refit (Retreat 2.0) and she was a mess then and it sure sounds like things have not improved, in fact has gotten worse. I don't know but eating in the MDR, having a net over the ceiling, protecting me from falling glass just does not sound very appealing to me.

 

[sail7seas]

Your probably right Sails but Princess is doing alot of great cruises out of LA. Their coastal is quite popular, besides their prices are better then Hals. I may love Hal but I'm not so foolish to spend my hard earned money on a ship that is literally falling apart, and apparently Hal does not have the where for all to fix her on going problems. I sailed on her 6 months after her refit (Retreat 2.0) and she was a mess then and it sure sounds like things have not improved, in fact has gotten worse. I don't know but eating in the MDR, having a net over the ceiling, protecting me from falling glass just does not sound very appealing to me.

 

 

 

The West Coast Competition has to be less than Port Everglades. :D Just about anywhere in the world is less busy cruise ship port than FLL. :)

 

There are those of us like DH and me who walked off our last Princess cruise saying it is likely our last Princess cruise. We had such a negative experience the last time we sailed them that it would be a very extreme circumstance that would ever get us back aboard. We likely are not the only people who don't wish to sail Princess. The question remains, are we/they willing to sail Veendam?

 

We and our friends who are booked to sail her are mulling over that question and have not yet reached a decision.

I agree it does not sound like conditions aboard have made any substantial improvement.

 

[Cruzin Terri]

That is why I have suggested for months that someone start a specific thread on Veendam where people can list the cabin they were in, date, and any issues with a specific cabin good or bad. It is probably the same staterooms that have a continual problem.

 

I did re-read your review and you are right that the first time that I read it, I missed the irony regarding the Hotel Manager.

 

When we were onboard in April I thought the Cruise Director on Veendam was the best one we had had on any HAL cruise.

To Each his own, Jade. I thought the CD, Carlos Mendoza was awful. He is one person I could have done without. He drove me crazy! However, the HM on our cruse was great. David Wood, I believe.

Terri

[PathfinderEss]

I am pretty sure everything will be back to normal in 2015. Carnival is investing millions of dollars developing a port in Magdalena Bay which is due to be ready in 2015. I am quite sure Mazatlan may be the loser when the Magdalena Bay port is operational.

 

Laminator that is very interesting. I actually like Mazatlan and am sorry we're not cruising there anymore. I will be interested in seeing Magdalena Bay when its done.

 

 

The West Coast Competition has to be less than Port Everglades. :D Just about anywhere in the world is less busy cruise ship port than FLL. :)

 

There are those of us like DH and me who walked off our last Princess cruise saying it is likely our last Princess cruise. We had such a negative experience the last time we sailed them that it would be a very extreme circumstance that would ever get us back aboard. We likely are not the only people who don't wish to sail Princess. The question remains, are we/they willing to sail Veendam?

 

We and our friends who are booked to sail her are mulling over that question and have not yet reached a decision.

I agree it does not sound like conditions aboard have made any substantial improvement.

 

Again your point is well taken. Our last cruise on Princess was good but it has been several years ago. Things certainly could have changed as they have on Hal. We did a coastal on Princess Sapphire and it was quite good. Very port intensive doing Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - San Francisco -Astoria - Seattle - Victoria - Vancouver. They have another one that does Los Angeles - San Francisco - Santa Barbara - Catalina - San Diego - Ensenada - Los Angeles for those who do not want to fly.

So in answering your question, yes I am willing to try Princess again before signing up to do the Veendam, and then ofcourse there is NCL. Oops, I forgot we now have Disney sailing out of San Diego. No, there is no way that were busy here like Ft. Lauderdale. They have to be the biggest cruise ports around.

 

It will be interesting what your final decision is going to be regarding your cruise with your friends. I know what mine would be :D:D

 

[sail7seas]

I'm sorry now we didn't take the opportunity to sail Oosterdam when she was doing Mexico. It didn't interest me enough to fly cross country to sail Mexico for a mere 7 days but there's a little niggling piece of me that wishes we had done so. It was awfully long travel days for a short cruise including a few ports that didn't sound that great. My 'bad'. :o

[PathfinderEss]

I'm sorry now we didn't take the opportunity to sail Oosterdam when she was doing Mexico. It didn't interest me enough to fly cross country to sail Mexico for a mere 7 days but there's a little niggling piece of me that wishes we had done so. It was awfully long travel days for a short cruise including a few ports that didn't sound that great. My 'bad'. :o

Yeah, you 'bad' Sails :D, heck you could have come and done 7 day Mexico and then 15 day Hawaii, that would make it worth the trip, I think. That's my problem going to Ft. Lauderdale, has to be a long enough cruise to make it worth the travel. Though I've been thinking about a back to back Panama cruise, that would cut out all the airline travel, now I'm 'bad'. :D:D

[Jade13]

To Each his own, Jade. I thought the CD, Carlos Mendoza was awful. He is one person I could have done without. He drove me crazy! However, the HM on our cruse was great. David Wood, I believe.

Terri

 

Interesting. We did not care for David Wood. He wasn't very friendly from our experience, and compared to other Hotel Managers from other ships. I don't even remember if he showed up at the Meet & Greet. (Maybe he was dealing with the plumbing & heating problems.) For whatever reason Carlos was always very friendly to us.

 

PS. I just mentioned to my DH regarding Carlos. He said you may have been annoyed by him singing for us to "Wash our hands". I think for someone who understands Spanish it could have been very annoying to have everything repeated in both English and Spanish.

 

What did you think about the condition of Veendam seeing how that is the main topic of this thread? You spent a month on her. Would you go back on the ship?

[Jade13]

 

Our last cruise on Princess was good but it has been several years ago. Things certainly could have changed as they have on Hal. We did a coastal on Princess Sapphire and it was quite good. Very port intensive doing Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - San Francisco -Astoria - Seattle - Victoria - Vancouver. They have another one that does Los Angeles - San Francisco - Santa Barbara - Catalina - San Diego - Ensenada - Los Angeles for those who do not want to fly.

So in answering your question, yes I am willing to try Princess again before signing up to do the Veendam, and then ofcourse there is NCL. Oops, I forgot we now have Disney sailing out of San Diego. No, there is no way that were busy here like Ft. Lauderdale. They have to be the biggest cruise ports around.

 

 

We have friends who love Princess, and invite us every year to cruise with them, They also have cruised on HAL and have a copper medal, have been on Celebrity and Azamara. But Princess overall is their favoritte. (Their very favorite cruise was on Azamara). They always mention the past passenger benefits with free internet as one reason they prefer this cruise line.

[sammiedawg]

Actually it is quite a smart move to put Veendam there IMO

 

Put the ship that folks seem reluctant to book on an itinerary that does not have lots of competition. When there are fewer choices, more people are opt to say, "Okay, we'll sail Veendam given we don't like the other choices". If there were lots of other great ships there, Veendam might not be first choice.

 

If they put Veendam in the Caribbean for the winter, forget it. She'd be a hard sell. So many other choices, so many cruise lines, so many ships.

IMO

 

 

Totally agree that the Veendam has been carefully positioned having the South American and Bermuda routes. The ship also sailed out of Tampa Florida for a while.

I've been on the Veendam twice, 5 years ago in the Med and this past March in South America. We were blessed with functional cabins both times, thank God. We talked to some new HAL passengers who had AC problems, which is totally unacceptable.

 

Regarding the Princess comments, we sail both HAL and Princess, next up for us is Princess. Their West Coast based ships, Diamond and Sapphire are a cut above, their Alaska Panama Canal ships, Island and Coral, are definitely premium quality. We avoid the newest ships Caribbean Princess and her sisters, too many people shoved in a public space designed for fewer passengers. Their Grand, Golden Star class ships are all nice and reasonably priced. I would avoid the Sun & Dawn Princess but I'm pretty sure these were moved to the Australian Pacific markets.

[Cruzin Terri]

Interesting. We did not care for David Wood. He wasn't very friendly from our experience, and compared to other Hotel Managers from other ships. I don't even remember if he showed up at the Meet & Greet. (Maybe he was dealing with the plumbing & heating problems.) For whatever reason Carlos was always very friendly to us.

 

PS. I just mentioned to my DH regarding Carlos. He said you may have been annoyed by him singing for us to "Wash our hands". I think for someone who understands Spanish it could have been very annoying to have everything repeated in both English and Spanish.

 

What did you think about the condition of Veendam seeing how that is the main topic of this thread? You spent a month on her. Would you go back on the ship?

I found Carlos very annoying both over the PA system and personally. Very condescending. I know that I am not alone in my feelings. David Wood was very pleasant every time I met him as was the Captain and other officers. I had the pleasure of having dinner with both the chief engineer and the First Officer, both of whom were very pleasant and friendly both at the dinner and whenever we met them at other times.

 

I think the Veendam is getting a very bad rap on this board. I am not saying there are no problems nor am I calling anyone a liar. However, we had a wonderful cruise and were blessed with no functional mishaps in the 31 days that we were on her during March and April. I also have to say that I heard very few complaints in the time we were on the ship.

 

Would I sail on the Veendam again? I sure would. Would I go to South America again on her an extended cruise as I did this past spring? In a heartbeat.

Terri

[sail7seas]

 

<snip>

 

 

I think the Veendam is getting a very bad rap on this board. I am not saying there are no problems nor am I calling anyone a liar. However, we had a wonderful cruise and were blessed with no functional mishaps in the 31 days that we were on her during March and April. I also have to say that I heard very few complaints in the time we were on the ship.

 

Would I sail on the Veendam again? I sure would. Would I go to South America again on her an extended cruise as I did this past spring? In a heartbeat.

Terri

 

Therein lies the dilema those of us deciding about sailing Veendam are facing. I believe both those who say they had problems on board and those who enjoyed the ship and her crew. I have no reason to not think both are reporting exactly what they experienced. So.... there are several cruises going on at the same time and that is not totally unique. We know that happens.

 

Those who have properly functional mechanicals in their cabins are a lot happier than those who do not have the same.

[innlady1]

I found Carlos very annoying both over the PA system and personally. Very condescending. I know that I am not alone in my feelings. David Wood was very pleasant every time I met him as was the Captain and other officers. I had the pleasure of having dinner with both the chief engineer and the First Officer, both of whom were very pleasant and friendly both at the dinner and whenever we met them at other times.

 

I think the Veendam is getting a very bad rap on this board. I am not saying there are no problems nor am I calling anyone a liar. However, we had a wonderful cruise and were blessed with no functional mishaps in the 31 days that we were on her during March and April. I also have to say that I heard very few complaints in the time we were on the ship.

 

Would I sail on the Veendam again? I sure would. Would I go to South America again on her an extended cruise as I did this past spring? In a heartbeat.

Terri

 

I totally agree with everything you've said, Terri...right down to Carlos and also David Wood....

[Cruzin Terri]

I totally agree with everything you've said, Terri...right down to Carlos and also David Wood....

 

Thanks, Sheila. At least I'm not alone out there. I have been wanting to post my thoughts but hesitated because of all the negativity about the ship.

I am sure there are those who have had problems, but there are others who jump on the bandwagon and add to the hype who have never been on the ship.

Terri