Veendam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We sailed the Adriatic and Aegean Odyssey 10 day cruise on the Veendam, 5/9 - 5/19/07. I highly recommend this time of year as our cruise had sunny weather about 75 degrees every day. We'd heard the cruise just before ours had rained everyday and so we all felt extremely fortunate.
Embarkation: We took a water taxi from our B&B in Venice (Al Teatro - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). With a lot of luggage (plus my 4 wheeled walker) in Venice it was simply easier to have a water taxi come right to the door of the B&B and take us to the Maritima port. The HAL reps are right there directing you. Hint, the line is shorter for those who don't pre register on the internet. Take this line. We stood in the longer line of those who pre-registered online, when I got to the HAL rep to register he said I needed to complete the paperwork anyway. After that, it was through security and on to the ship. Note: once on the ship I didn't use the walker, it is mainly for helping to carry the luggage. I am able to walk a few steps and use my husband's arm the rest of the time.
Booking and Cabin: I booked this cruise with an online cruise agency. It has its advantages and disadvantages and am not sure if I will do this again. I originally booked an inside I category cabin on the Navigation desk and was 'upgraded' to C category (only after I contacted the agency to tell them the price on my category had gone down) on the Lower Promenade deck, cabin 381. I was very happy to have the bathtub and did not mind too much about the desk outside our window. The windows are such that you cannot see inside from the deck. Though, in the future I would probably choose a different category. I was very happy with the location of 381, somewhat in the middle - toward the aft, but close to aft elevators, and same row as laundry which we did use toward the end of the cruise. I used the iron in the laundry room a few times. I opted for HAL's pressing for a few other items. A note: I booked this cruise as I liked the fact that the ship only holds 1258 guests. I find that it is cozier and just more relaxed. I knew to expect an older crowd, was not disappointed, but found everyone onboard to be very nice, and happy to be on the cruise.