Veendamm to Hawaii

[Hope to Cruise]

Veendam Circle Hawaii 11/16-12/3/13

 

Embarkation in San Diego was easy at about 11:30. Being Four Star we were sent directly to check in and made part of Group One. Quite a crowd was already seated waiting for their group to be called. Rooms were ready and we were able to take part in the Mariner's lunch in the MDR. That was a relaxing way to start the cruise. The emergency drill went pretty well but they used the usual method of yelling out room numbers, no check in via cabin cards.

 

We spent the next five days crossing the Pacific. We had arranged early dining with friends we met on the Asia Grand Voyage in 2010. Food in the MDR was generally good to excellent. Service was good although somehow our table for four seemed to always be last to finish in our area. Our friends used the wine package and enjoyed their choices.

 

Kainoa gave daily lectures on the ports as well as separate lectures on Hawaiian culture. He handles this on both Hawaii and Alaska cruises and is excellent. Harry Strong did interesting talks about the ocean. The shore excursion, shopping and future cruise staff had daily lectures.

 

We played duplicate bridge every afternoon directed ably by Winston. My husband also played poker most evenings. The casino was very smoky. The Mix Bar next to it picked up a lot of smoke too but was busy as the guitar player/ singer Charlie was very popular.

 

Entertainers Matt Marcy (magic), Jeri Sager (singer) and Dan Horn (ventriloquist) were all good. The male singers did a great show.

 

We had lunch in the Pinnacle one day. Only five tables were in use. They had several special dinners set up including a seven course Indian dinner near the end of the cruise. We attended that for $25 each and our four star discount was applied.

 

Next we spent five days in Hawaii with a different port each day. Terrific weather, never rained. In Honolulu the Aloha Tower shopping center is a shell of its former self. Many empty stores, only one restaurant left. The complex has been purchased by University of the Pacific. The upper floor is all empty and they had planned to make it into a dormitory. But it is not zoned for residential and no change in zoning has been forthcoming. It is a sad complex to be next to a major cruise terminal.

 

Return to San Diego takes six days at sea. Kainoa continued his interesting talks on Hawaii's history and customs. Tom Goltz also had sessions about Hawaiian history as well as an interesting talk on Frieda Kahlo. Daily bridge games continued.

 

Entertainers were pianist Stephen Kane, vocalist Sean O'Shea, comedy by Kermet Apio, all very good.

 

The obligatory stop in Ensenada took place, for the first time, in the daytime, 12-6 pm. This made it an actual port with things to do, a nice addition. The gigantic appearing Golden Princess greeted us.

 

Overall ship in good condition. No problems with A/C, plumbing, elevators. Day of the week mats present in elevators, hand towels in public restrooms. Retreat on Lido Deck stern with several hot tubs and a peculiar wall is hideous and seemed to be rarely used.

 

The CD Alex went on the PA three times a day to tell us what we already knew from the daily schedule which was very annoying. The schedule no longer has biographical info on the key people which I missed.

 

The FCC couldn't get anything right, she had to redo one trip three times. In the process she cancelled the trip we are now on so I got an email planning to refund the shore excursion we had already taken. Maybe they will refund the entire fare. That would be great!

 

Live music at the Lido pool, either HAL Cats or guitarist, was so loud that conversation was impossible. It even overwhelmed us in the Lido every time the door opened. We used room service for a light breakfast three times, order was wrong once, a first for us.

 

The few things that I criticize were minor. The trip was terrific. Disembarkation was smooth. We had wheelchair transport all the way to the rickshaw which we took to the Amtrak station.

 

 

Vicki in sunny Redondo Beach, CA

[Spendogirl]

Thank you very much for the report.. We will be on her on the January 21st sailing. It's good to hear there wasn't any issues with the A/C or plumbing.

 

We sailed on the Zaandam to Hawaii with Kuanoa (sp) and he is an excellent speaker.. I hope he is still on the ship in January. :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise and all worked well on the ship.

We can't stand the HAL Cats on any ship -- all have been way too loud for us.

On our recent Nieuw Amsterdam they also still used the old system of calling out cabin numbers.

[SilvertoGold]

Thanks for the review. Glad you had a great time on a super cruise.

 

I nominate that FCC for the prize for poorest performance by any HAL FCC. We've had a couple of tyros in our time, making all sorts of minor mistakes but this one must take the prize!

[Hope to Cruise]

"The FCC couldn't get anything right, she had to redo one trip three times. In the process she cancelled the trip we are now on so I got an email planning to refund the shore excursion we had already taken. Maybe they will refund the entire fare. That would be great!"

 

And so it begins. Now we have two things credited to our CC - the excursion we took and another $251 of some type, port fees perhaps. It will be interesting to see how long it takes HAL to sort this out. And I think they owe me some future OBC for the trouble is is already causing me.

 

Needless to say I have not received my online satisfaction survey since HAL thinks I did not take the cruise!

[Thebes]

Thanks for the review :)

[madera1]

Thanks for writing your review and glad you had a great cruise.

[Keith1010]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise and thank you for taking the time to write and share your trip report.

 

Keith

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[earljr]

Hi all

We were also on this cruise having boarded in Fll. I agree with most of the OP's comments

but have my opinions/comments to add---- (see COMMENTS below)

 

Veendam Circle Hawaii 11/16-12/3/13

 

 

We spent the next five days crossing the Pacific. We had arranged early dining with friends we met on the Asia Grand Voyage in 2010. Food in the MDR was generally good to excellent. Service was good although somehow our table for four seemed to always be last to finish in our area. Our friends used the wine package and enjoyed their choices.

 

COMMENT: We do not use the dining room and have our meals in the Lido or specialty

venues. We did however hear many, many complaints about quality and service in the dining rooms. In addition we were not totally satisfied with the Pinnacle Grill, especially since one must consider the sur charge. The Lido food was not great all the time but

mostly comparable with restaurants at home

 

 

 

We had lunch in the Pinnacle one day. Only five tables were in use. They had several special dinners set up including a seven course Indian dinner near the end of the cruise. We attended that for $25 each and our four star discount was applied.

 

COMMENT:

We also attended and found it to be lacking and the one 5 course we attended was a

waste.

 

Next we spent five days in Hawaii with a different port each day. Terrific weather, never rained. In Honolulu the Aloha Tower shopping center is a shell of its former self. Many empty stores, only one restaurant left. The complex has been purchased by University of the Pacific. The upper floor is all empty and they had planned to make it into a dormitory. But it is not zoned for residential and no change in zoning has been forthcoming. It is a sad complex to be next to a major cruise terminal.

 

COMMENT: Truly a shame Hopefully someone will save the complex

 

Overall ship in good condition. No problems with A/C, plumbing, elevators. Day of the week mats present in elevators, hand towels in public restrooms. Retreat on Lido Deck stern with several hot tubs and a peculiar wall is hideous and seemed to be rarely used.

 

COMMENT: There were several problems with the A/c on the main deck (our deck)

these problems were present from FLL. where we boarded. Our cabin was worked on several times and we were aware of at least 7 others having problems. There were 2 cabins relocated due to plumbing problems and there were at least 2 elevators that did not work or were out of service on several occasions..

 

The CD Alex went on the PA three times a day to tell us what we already knew from the daily schedule which was very annoying. The schedule no longer has biographical info on the key people which I missed.

 

 

COMMENT: I agree

 

The FCC couldn't get anything right, she had to redo one trip three times. In the process she cancelled the trip we are now on so I got an email planning to refund the shore excursion we had already taken. Maybe they will refund the entire fare. That would be great!

 

COMMENT: We booked, cancelled and rebooked 2 cruises without any problems.

 

Live music at the Lido pool, either HAL Cats or guitarist, was so loud that conversation was impossible. It even overwhelmed us in the Lido every time the door opened.

 

COMMENT: I agree. In addition the canned music was very loud and took several calls to the front desk to get turned down.

 

The few things that I criticize were minor. The trip was terrific. Disembarkation was smooth. We had wheelchair transport all the way to the rickshaw which we took to the Amtrak station.

 

COMMENT: We also enjoyed our 41 days and cruise with a mind set that requires out with the bad and in with the good:)

 

 

Vicki in sunny Redondo Beach, CA

[OlsSalt]

Great news about the Veendam. We were going to book our next cruise to New England 2013 while on board, but ….uhhhhh …... I think we will wait until our later Volendam one. Hope it won't be too late since there are only a few cruises for Fall. :cool:

Edited December 8, 2013 by OlsSalt

[Iwant2BatC]

I, also, was on this cruise and would add the following comments:

 

- Kainoa, the location guide "made" the cruise IMO. He did a fantastic job with the cultural and geographical aspects of Hawaii.

 

- I thought the wait staff in the dining room was very good. The food was not the best. This was my third Holland America ship this year and the food quality was a very week third

 

- Something was definitely wrong in the Pinnacle. The manager was very rarely seen and things didn't seem to run smoothly. We had three dinners in the Canaletto and while the service was good for two of them there seemed to be a hiccup on the third and we waited forever for our food. I understand he got off in San Diego.

 

- We really missed the biographical information in the programs. When someone is presented as an expert in a field it would be nice to know his or her qualifications. That includes the never seen around the ship Captain!

 

- This was my first cruise on the Veendam and after all the fuss last year I was curious. My overall impression of the physical aspects of the ship was that while clean and neat- she really needs a good makeover. The stairwell art doesn't compare to other ships. They were mostly filled with plaques, etc. The kind of thing that typically gets hung down by the theatre. Just some cosmetic changes would really help.

 

- For anyone who is curious about the BQ spa cabins ( as I was) - the ones closest to the bridge are excellent for watching what is going on during docking and sail aways. Not so much in rough seas! I am a good sailor and on the return crossing we had several rough days. I was wishing for midship!

-

[Sue from Canada]

Thanks for your review. I sailed on the Zaandam to Hawaii last April. Kainoa was the best and IMO made this a wonderful and informative cruise. I'm thinking of going back to Hawaii next September but only if Kainoa is still the port ambassador. It's a shame the Aloha Tower shopping area is going under. Last April there were still quite a few outside and inside shops and I bought a beautiful sterling silver bracelet.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Sue from Canada

[annick]

Thanks for the trip report, very helpful. We are on the same itinerary on Jan 4.