The Veendam was several hours late arriving at the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal on April 24, 2014 because of delays getting out of dry dock. We finally left around 2:00 AM instead of the scheduled 4:00 PM departure. This meant that we basically missed one complete day of the cruise and the first port of call. I can understand that any large organization can have unforeseen problems, but the way Holland America handled the delay was very poor. As a result, I will never go on another cruise with them. We have been on several cruises with most of the major cruise lines, but have never been treated so poorly.
Holland America offered to give all passengers a 15% discount on the next cruise with them instead of a more reasonable 15% refund on this cruise. They basically turned an unfortunate problem into a marketing gimmick. After several attempts to complain about their poor customer service, I was told by Holland America that their offer for a future discount was very fair. I find their offer disingenuous and certainly not "providing their guests with the highest level of customer service".
We had other problems problems with our cabin - such as no water in the bathroom when we arrived. It took several hours to get someone to fix the problem. When the plumber arrived he said the toilet was leaking and needed to be fixed before the water could be turned on. He fixed the problem and left around 1:30 AM. Next morning we found water all over the bathroom floor - so we had to find someone again to fix it.
Cabin was very nice. Room stewards, Frans and Amellia, did an excellent job. Had problem with no water in the bathroom when we first arrived. Took several hours to get a plumber to turn on the water, fix the leaking toilet, and then fix the leak again before we have water in our cabin bathroom.