I had heard a lot of negativity about the Veendam before sailing so I thought I would set the record straight; she is a lovely ship with a WONDERFUL crew and I would not hesitate to sail on her [or on any HAL ship] again! I realize that many things like food and entertainment are subjective so please take my opinions for what they are worth; I am simply sharing my own views and likes/dislikes.
FOOD:
I found the food on Veendam to be of really high quality overall. I would say that I found the entrees on Princess to have a slight edge [maybe one point above on a scale of 1-10] and the desserts on HAL to have the slight edge over Princess [again, one point above]. The menu on HAL did not seem to be as varied as on Princess but the pastries/breads/desserts really blew me away on HAL! Both lines are a notch above Carnival and totally blow Norwegian's included food out of the water! Another thing I really enjoyed was the Indonesian/Filipino buffet for dinner one night. I NEVER eat in the Lido for dinner on any cruise and this night was the only exception I've ever made [and glad I did!]; the menu was incredible and you could see the pride the crew had in sharing their culture with us. Granted, I like both Indonesian and Filipino food anyway so it was not much of a stretch for my taste buds but I truly would advise everyone to try this uniquely HAL feature.
Midship, large inside on Deck 5 [Main Deck]. Very spacious and bright for an inside stateroom. Having a sofa was a nice touch that many lines omit in this level of accommodation. Deck 5 was a great deck for embark/disembark as well as fast access to the outdoor wraparound promenade one deck up. Cabins are above and below this stateroom so noise was never an issue.
Bermuda is one of the best warm-weather destinations around! Docking in Hamilton rather than the Naval Dockyards is a huge plus as it puts you right in the center of everything. No need for ship excursions here as the island is safe and easy to get around [however, the extremely elderly and those with mobility issues may find an organized excursion useful as there are narrow roads and sometimes steep inclines].