Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

Great cruise, enjoyed this ship

Review for the Mexican Riviera Cruise on Veendam
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BJzink
10+ Cruises • Age 20s

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Value for Money
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Sail Date: Mar 2014

Since we live fairly close to San Diego, we don't have the hassle factor of air travel to and from the cruise. We arrived at the port around 11:00 AM, and were greeted by "Sherry", a wonderful person at the pier who coordinates the "wheelchair assist" passengers. HAL's embarkation and disembarkation for mobility impaired passengers is so far & away above the other cruise lines we have used. Very organized. We arrived in our cabin around 11:45, dropped our hand luggage and proceeded to the Main Dining Room for the Mariner's embarkation luncheon. We tend to avoid the Lido buffet just because we like to be seated and served our meals. Our cabin was a category A, Vista Suite, deck 10. It was a tad smaller than we had anticipated, especially the veranda, but there was plenty of closet/drawer/shelf space for everything we had brought. Bathroom was OK, there was a "bubble tub", which makes the tub wall fairly high to get into it, but we had requested a small step stool and it was in place when we arrived. The ship staff all went out of their way to assist us, so many happy greetings, and we always felt welcome anywhere we were on the ship. This is a smaller, older ship which is our preference - doesn't take so long to get from one place to another and it never felt crowded. It's decor reflects the Dutch sailing history - many interesting paintings, sculpture, etc. So many of the newer ships are decorated like Las Vegas on steroids. Not very soothing to us. The entertainment was mostly good - we liked the classical violin/piano duo (used to be the Adagio String Trio), Went to listen to them after most every dinner. There were 2 production shows, the one titiled "Encore" was fabulous, one of the best we have seen on any cruise. Also a "Piano Man" who was really good, we missed the comedian. The dining experience was very good. We had the early fixed seating, always get it whenever possible. It is so nice to have a waitstaff who knows our preferences by the second day and call us by name. Of all the different dishes we ordered, there was not one that we didn't like. We try to order unusual food that we don't have at home. There was a varied menu each day, temperature of food was hot or cold as appropriate, and very well presented. We ordered room service breakfast each day, again very well done. There was a long list of activities in each daily program, if one wished it was possible to be busy every hour of the day/night. We tend to like the relaxation that comes with a cruise - to do nothing at all is a luxury. We only got off the ship at one port - Mazatlan. This cruise line has only started calling there within the last month. We remarked at how clean the pier area was, so many local tourist information volunteers to asssist us, and that the town looked a lot cleaner than years ago. Overall a great time on a great classic ship.

Cabin Review

Nice cabin, located on deck 10 (Navigation), port side, aft. Smaller than we anticipated, but still lots of storage space. The veranda was decidedly small, had one lounge chair, 2 regular chairs, and a tiny table. Definitely not enough space to have room service outside. The couch was regular size, and actually comfortable. Close to the aft elevators and stairs. Not much noise from inside the ship, but some noise from the tables & chairs being moved on the "Retreat" area directly above. This was mostly in the early morning & evening when the staff was rearranging them. Comfortable temperature, easy to regulate, and we had no problems with any plumbing.

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