"Scandinavian Capitals" on ms Veendam

[CruiseAddict58]

My parents (age 70+) are interested in booking this cruise for June or July of 2007 and have asked me to do some research for them. They have recently returned from an Alaskan cruise on the ms Zaandam. They enjoyed their trip, but were not overly impressed with the ms Zaandam.

 

Has anyone been on this "Scandinavian Capitals" cruise? Has anyone sailed recently on the ms Veendam? If so, has it been refurbished lately?

 

Any information you can give will be greatly appreciated! :)

[dakrewser]

What was it about the ship that they didn't like?

 

The cruise itself is the classic 10-day Baltic cruise. It's fairly port intensive, are your parents "sprightly"? It could be very easy to become quite tired on this itinerary, especially for those of a more sedentary lifestyle.

[RuthC]

The Veendam will feel like a slightly scaled down version of the Zaandam---at least in terms of layout. The mid-ship staircase/elevator bank is not there, and the location of the Pinnacle is different, but otherwise the deckplan is very much the same.

The atmosphere of the ship would be similar. If your parents didn't the like the "style" of cruising on the Zaandam, then they wouldn't like the Veendam, either. The food, service, decor is similar.

This is a great itinerary. I loved cruising there and would like to go back someday.

[Aussie Gal]

As Dave mentioned it is a very port intensive cruise and you can become very tired in fact we went home for a rest!

 

We were on the Maasdam in 1999, which is the sister ship to the Veendam and loved the ship so much we have been on her again plus we are going on the Veendam in four weeks time for a long cruise of 34 days.

 

The ports are most interesting and are very easy to do by oneself except for St. Petersburg where I would suggest they use a private guide or one of the ship's excursion. There is so much to see in this city and you usually only have 2 days to see it all.

 

If your parents didn't like the Zaandam then I don't think they will appreciate the Veendam. Perhaps they need to go with another line.

 

Jennie