I booked the Veendam, 7 day Montreal to Boston due to time constraints. Having read the rather variable reviews, plus the somewhat unfortunate news of the CDC inspection failure, I had more than a few worries, that said, I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Embarkation and Debarkation: They have this down to a science. It was better and less congested than my last cruises which were on Oceania. If there is any caveat I found embarkation a tad "scattered" but it went quickly enough. I was there after 11 and on the ship by Noon.

The Ship: While clearly not new, I liked he Veendam. The decor to me is very "shippy" as opposed to the equally attractive but somewhat more Laura Ashley meets Ocean Liner of Oceania. It ship was clean and I did not see any signs of obvious wear. There are lots of nooks and crannies where you can grab a seat to read or relax and the size of the ship makes it very easy to get around. Read more