Veendam vs Westerdan

[lais]

I just booked a cruise on the Veendam. My first cruise with Holland was last year to Alaska and although it was a good cruise I was not impressed with the Westerdam. first impressions were not good starting with ripped sheets and stained towels. The lido was a nightmare with a kijillion kids running barefoot from the pool inside and leaving puddles. We really like our room attendant but the poor soul was so overworked. It seemed like there were a lot of passengers and not enough workers to attend to everyone. Anyway, I now have booked the Veendam for a Panama Canal cruise and the reviews on this ship are so mixed up from best food to worst food and "the ship is in great shape" and "the ship is in terrible shape". I am going to go on this cruise with a much more open mind and hoping not to be shocked by a shabby ship.

Has anyone been on her recently and thought she wasn't ready to be retired? I really want to try Holland again.

[Bostonjetset]

I was on Veendam last year and loved her. Funny enough, I will be on Westerdam next month. :eek: I hope my experience is better than you described! haha. Usually she is one of the more beloved HAL ships [Westerdam that is] so your comments surprise me although I would not love a "kijillion" kids on any ship so you have my sympathy there.

 

Veendam is a lovely older gal and a perfect size. Her crew is fabulous. Food is subjective but we enjoyed everything we ate [other than the "Bermuda chicken" in the MDR one night which was terribly salty...you aren't going to Bermuda though so they likely won't even offer that]. All of the Indonesian and Filipino dishes in the buffet were outstanding.

 

She is older and as such does show her age in some areas but nothing dramatic and everything was always clean. Some people complained here on CruiseCritic about HVAC issues but we didn't experience that. Also, she doesn't have an aft pool like the most of the other HAL ships [except for Rotterdam] and a lot of people miss that but I actually don't mind since I'm not hugely into public pools.

[lais]

I was on Veendam last year and loved her. Funny enough, I will be on Westerdam next month. :eek: I hope my experience is better than you described! haha. Usually she is one of the more beloved HAL ships [Westerdam that is] so your comments surprise me although I would not love a "kijillion" kids on any ship so you have my sympathy there.

 

Veendam is a lovely older gal and a perfect size. Her crew is fabulous. Food is subjective but we enjoyed everything we ate [other than the "Bermuda chicken" in the MDR one night which was terribly salty...you aren't going to Bermuda though so they likely won't even offer that]. All of the Indonesian and Filipino dishes in the buffet were outstanding.

 

She is older and as such does show her age in some areas but nothing dramatic and everything was always clean. Some people complained here on CruiseCritic about HVAC issues but we didn't experience that. Also, she doesn't have an aft pool like the most of the other HAL ships [except for Rotterdam] and a lot of people miss that but I actually don't mind since I'm not hugely into public pools.

Thank you for your reply. I think the kid thing did take away from the ambiance but thankfully they weren't running around all night. I never saw so many kids on a ship.

We did have a wonderful aft facing balcony which couldn't be better for Alaska. Have fun on your upcoming cruise. :)

[3rdGenCunarder]

I think the timing (summer) had a lot to do with the kids on board. The Panama Canal cruise is likely to attract fewer families.

 

We were on Veendam last fall and were happy with the ship, the service, and the food. I think the Ocean Bar on that ship is nicer than the Vista layout and it had a good jazz duo, something you find on the ships that don't have BB King.

 

The only minus I can think of is the stupid soaking tubs instead of an aft pool.

[holacanada]

Hi lais !

 

I have been on both ships (Veen and Westy) and for me I can assure you that the size of the vessel (# of decks, # of elevators, size of the publics/dining area, etc.) may influence your opinion about your next cruise ship choice.

I prefer the Westerdam but again it's my very personal choice.

Regarding the condition of ships, it is more a maintenance issue than a question of age. It's like an airplane. Rough & Tough thing…

 

As a teacher, I prefer cruising without (or less) younger cruisers ( 0 - 30 y/o ).

 

Holacanada from Quebec City

Edited August 2, 2016 by holacanada

[liketraveling]

Personally, the Veendam is not one of my favorites.

 

I was on the Veendam last Feb/Mar through the Panama Canal. It was a great trip through the the canal. I did the westbound Fll to San Diego. The service and food were good (food is subjective).

 

When I was on her through the Canal there were some mechanical problems with the ship and the ship missed three ports. We were compensated for it.

 

I was on her 18 months ago. Hopefully all th mechanical issues are taken care off.

[Cruiser Andi]

I loved the Veendam when I sailed her in 2014. Just off the Westerdam this past Saturday and it was an awful experience. It was totally unorganized and running rampant with kids. I would hesitate to ever hop on the Westerdam again but would take the Veendam anytime.

 

 

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[SoCal Cruiser78]

...Just off the Westerdam this past Saturday and it was an awful experience. It was totally unorganized and running rampant with kids. I would hesitate to ever hop on the Westerdam again...

 

Just curious--was it the kids that made the Westerdam awful, or things that HAL was responsible for? I personally would avoid ANY cruise when school is out, unless it was a long one.

Edited August 2, 2016 by SoCal Cruiser78

[Cruizer Bill]

The Veendam is a sister ship to the Maasdam. Many people do not like the modification made to Veendam to add more cabins in the rear. I have not sailed on the Veendam but have on the Maasdam and really like Maasdam.

[jhsocal]

Cruiser Andi, please do not completely judge Westerdam by this cruise. Would not have been happy with children running rampant. We were on July 9Th Alaska cruise and had a very good experience. Believe there were only 30 or 35 children on board. In recent years, Alaska cruises have become very popular with families. Still, no excuse for that behavior. Believe you would enjoy the Westerdam on a cruise when most children are in school. Hope you give it another try.

[lais]

Just curious--was it the kids that made the Westerdam awful, or things that HAL was responsible for? I personally would avoid ANY cruise when school is out, unless it was a long one.

I know you directed this question to Andi but I'm going to chime in here. We also avoid cruising during school out times but this was our only opportunity to sail to Alaska and Holland wasn't known to me to be a cruise that attracted children. The kids took over both pools (adult pool) and there was no getting away from them. The Lido restaurant is narrow enough and made narrower by "wet floor " signs from the kids running through from pool to pool. There were just too many people on this ship overall. They fit the 10 pounds of potatoes in the five pound sack.

They also decided to fix the aft facing railings on this cruise and it was bang bang bang everyday starting early in the morning and we did complain about that.

I am hopeful that a longer sailing will be a much better experience and not over crowded and we will have the time to get to know the staff which we couldn't do on a short port intensive sailing. We prefer smaller ships and I really want to give Holland another try. Our good friends are 5 star mariners so they have influenced us to try again.

[Airnocker]

Veendam (S class) have issues such that I will not sail them. Veendam does not have a set of mid-ship elevators nor stairs. This limits getting about, especially for mobility impaired. The showroom balcony seating is IMO uninhabitable which forces overcrowding in the showroom. My answer to your question, sail Weaterdam.

[geoherb]

We've sailed on both and prefer the Westerdam. Fortunately, we haven't had the OP's experience of too many kids on board when we've sailed.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have also been on both ships.

Much prefer the Westerdam over the Veendam. Westerdam is newer.

You will find that even on the older, smaller ships, the crew still have many cabins to do and there is still less staff in the dining room. HAL has cut back on all ships.

[janmcn]

The OP has ALREADY booked the Veendam, so just wants reassurances that she has not made a mistake. I can assure you that you will enjoy your trip. I've recently sailed on both ships, and it seems we sail (due to itineraries) more on the Veendam so are quite used to it. Yes, it was an aberration caused by the type of cruise (short) and the season (school out) that caused the Westy to be noisy and more hectic. The Canal cruise will be less so.

 

As a note: if you had a "Verandah" on the Westy and have a Vista Suite (Verandah) on the Veendam, there is a big difference...much larger cabin with more storage and comfort on the Veendam. So, on the smaller ships, the Vista Suite (the only Verandah cabins below the Neptune Suites) are a great value.

 

On the larger ships (Westy) the Verandah cabins are a grade below the Signature Suites which are below the Neptune Suites....so the Verandah cabins, although sounding like the same as the ones on the smaller ships are actually quite smaller.

 

Try to get an Aft verandah on Deck 9 (Verandah) one of the 232, 230, 228, 226,217, 219, 221, 223)...only cabins above so are quiet...nothing below. FANTASTIC views.

 

Good luck...no worries about the Veendam...she is still fine! (All ships continually undergo maintenance at sea, so what you hear from one cruiser, may not be the same a few sailings later.)

[lais]

The OP has ALREADY booked the Veendam, so just wants reassurances that she has not made a mistake. I can assure you that you will enjoy your trip. I've recently sailed on both ships, and it seems we sail (due to itineraries) more on the Veendam so are quite used to it. Yes, it was an aberration caused by the type of cruise (short) and the season (school out) that caused the Westy to be noisy and more hectic. The Canal cruise will be less so.

 

As a note: if you had a "Verandah" on the Westy and have a Vista Suite (Verandah) on the Veendam, there is a big difference...much larger cabin with more storage and comfort on the Veendam. So, on the smaller ships, the Vista Suite (the only Verandah cabins below the Neptune Suites) are a great value.

 

On the larger ships (Westy) the Verandah cabins are a grade below the Signature Suites which are below the Neptune Suites....so the Verandah cabins, although sounding like the same as the ones on the smaller ships are actually quite smaller.

 

Try to get an Aft verandah on Deck 9 (Verandah) one of the 232, 230, 228, 226,217, 219, 221, 223)...only cabins above so are quiet...nothing below. FANTASTIC views.

 

Good luck...no worries about the Veendam...she is still fine! (All ships continually undergo maintenance at sea, so what you hear from one cruiser, may not be the same a few sailings later.)

Thank you and maybe you can help me on the cabin selection. I booked 223 aft corner and the choice was that or 095. I did a ton of research but couldn't determine if 095 had any cover at all or if 223 was fully covered or half covered. My husband likes sun and I like shade. Do you know the answers to that inquiry? Also I didn't know if privacy would be a consideration with 095 especially through the canal with everyone wanting to stand on the deck watching the locks.

We did have an aft facing cabin on Westerdam and that was the saving grace and we thought the room was a good size. The cabins on the Veendam look smaller to me. I checked on Halfacts and it looks like a tight squeeze but I don't care because we only care about a larger balcony.

[avian777]

I just booked a cruise on the Veendam... Has anyone been on her recently and thought she wasn't ready to be retired?

 

We were on Veendam from 6/4/16 - 6/11/16 on the Canada-New England cruise. This was only a couple of months after Veendam came out of dry dock but I thought she "felt tired". Not as tired as she felt to me when we did the NY-Bermuda cruise in 2010 but still tired, especially when compared to Oosterdam which we cruised on in January of this year and to the Westerdam which we cruised on in June of 2015.

[Cruiser Andi]

Just curious--was it the kids that made the Westerdam awful, or things that HAL was responsible for? I personally would avoid ANY cruise when school is out, unless it was a long one.

 

 

Too many kids was only part of the problem. The crows nest was closed 4 out of 7 days with private events. The elevators were out of order often. I actually was trapped on one for awhile. We received an invitation to an event that we had signed up for and the invitation told us to go one place and the event was actually taking place elsewhere. The spa attendant gave my husbands key card to another passenger. The card was with another person for at least 75 minutes (the length of his spa treatment) so this unknown person could have easily accessed our room if wanted. On gala nights people were wearing leggings and flip flops and the attendants didn't say anything. Our gala night menus were printed upside down and backwards so the were illegible. This is just the short list of things. The ship is also in need if repairs. There were holes in our verandah curtains that were very noticeable with all the sunlight. The "x" on the explorers lounge is missing. The carpet was coming up in places on the stairs. It was as if I had packed Murphy in my suitcase and he unleashed all of his laws.

 

 

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[Cruiser Andi]

I know you directed this question to Andi but I'm going to chime in here. We also avoid cruising during school out times but this was our only opportunity to sail to Alaska and Holland wasn't known to me to be a cruise that attracted children. The kids took over both pools (adult pool) and there was no getting away from them. The Lido restaurant is narrow enough and made narrower by "wet floor " signs from the kids running through from pool to pool. There were just too many people on this ship overall. They fit the 10 pounds of potatoes in the five pound sack.

 

They also decided to fix the aft facing railings on this cruise and it was bang bang bang everyday starting early in the morning and we did complain about that.

 

I am hopeful that a longer sailing will be a much better experience and not over crowded and we will have the time to get to know the staff which we couldn't do on a short port intensive sailing. We prefer smaller ships and I really want to give Holland another try. Our good friends are 5 star mariners so they have influenced us to try again.

 

 

Yes, I absolutely agree with this and noticed all of what you've said. 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound sack was right [emoji4]

 

 

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[3rdGenCunarder]

Too many kids was only part of the problem. The crows nest was closed 4 out of 7 days with private events. The elevators were out of order often. I actually was trapped on one for awhile. We received an invitation to an event that we had signed up for and the invitation told us to go one place and the event was actually taking place elsewhere. The spa attendant gave my husbands key card to another passenger. The card was with another person for at least 75 minutes (the length of his spa treatment) so this unknown person could have easily accessed our room if wanted. On gala nights people were wearing leggings and flip flops and the attendants didn't say anything. Our gala night menus were printed upside down and backwards so the were illegible. This is just the short list of things. The ship is also in need if repairs. There were holes in our verandah curtains that were very noticeable with all the sunlight. The "x" on the explorers lounge is missing. The carpet was coming up in places on the stairs. It was as if I had packed Murphy in my suitcase and he unleashed all of his laws.

 

 

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Yikes, what a list of bad things. Any one of them you might shrug off, but taken all together that's a lot of mismanagement going on! The card key thing is scary, but the card doesn't have the room number on it, so the person who had it probably couldn't have used it. But that's no excuse for security-related sloppiness.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...The crows nest was closed 4 out of 7 days with private events...

 

This is a pet peeve of mine. IMO, unless a group has chartered the entire ship, they should not be allowed private use of common areas. The other passengers are then not getting full use of what they have paid for.

 

I have experienced this more on Celebrity than on HAL, and not at all on Princess, but that may be just coincidence.