This was my sixth cruise with HAL and took it because that was the only time I was able to take vacations. The cruise was a ten-day Fort Lauderdale to Quebec repositioning in the Veendam. Last year I took a week long cruise on the Niew Amsterdam and wrote a review which presented how much the HAL service, ship ambiance and quality of food had decreased. Well, this time validated that I am done with HAL and next year will cruise on Celebrity or some other Cruise Line.
The Veendam is still a beautiful ship on the smaller side. Shamefully, there are areas that need to be cleaned in the verandas and others that need to be painted. Having transformed some of the “ocean view staterooms” with a sliding door into “verandah suites” was not a great idea for passengers as now the chairs obstruct being able to walk trough the only open deck that goes completely around the ship.
The interior of the ship was clean and still has the charm typical of the smaller ships.
The stateroom was clean, slightly larger than the newer ships but the flat screen TV was like 10 years old. Complimentary ice is “upon request” and passengers are not allowed to get their own ice from the machines. Sound isolation in the cabin was better than in the Niew Amsterdam. The fridge was an antique which did not cooled; was simply a storage for the sodas. The veranda is much larger than the one in the newer ships.