Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

Still a wonderful cruise.

Review for the Mexican Riviera Cruise on Veendam
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pgreif
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
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Entertainment
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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2015
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

This is our seventh cruise, fourth on Holland, second on Veendam in one year (that is how much we like this ship.) We would define this cruise line as one for relaxed mature passengers who value an elegant and quiet experience over being constantly entertained. A perfect example of the ambiance is the lack of frequent blaring announcements that assault you on other lines.

Cons:

This ship is getting long in the tooth but still is impeccably maintained. However there is evidence of some wear and tear. The only very negative aspect of this cruise was the fact that there were three cruise ships in Cabo, and FIVE in Mazatlan. This detracts greatly from the overall experience due to having upwards of 10,000 tourists descend on a small city at the same moment. Ridiculous! There was not a lot of live music provided outside on the deck. The casino always stank of cigarette smoke, as do most casinos it seems. Gone are the chocolate extravaganzas, numerous ice carvings and elegant lunches in the main dining room. This cruise consisted of a huge number of people in wheelchairs and scooters but fortunately there were few children disrupting the relaxing nature of the cruise. There was a mix of different aged passengers, most were elderly. No problem there, much more pleasant than a bunch of drunk and obnoxious younger passengers or hordes of uncontrolled children as often occurs on other cruise lines.

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin DA

Clean and comfortable, but showing some wear. Quiet other than people who insisted at yelling at each other in the hallway. Some odors you seem to frequently find on cruise ships. We were contented with our stateroom.

Port Reviews

San Diego

Overpriced and homogenized. Every port, it seems, has a zip line excursion, swim with the dolphins excursion, pirate ship excursion ad nauseum. We find it much more fun to just walk around and explore the true culture of a country rather than go on a canned excursion.

Mazatlan

A pretty and authentic Mexican city. Great for walking around the old downtown section to experience true Mexico, something that is not possible in Cabo San Lucas.

Puerto Vallarta

Nice shops located in the cruise ship area, and nice beach walking next to that. There is a large and fun grocery store nearby.

Cabo San Lucas

Pretty from the sea but a homogenized, standardized, touristy cruise port found in spades around the world. Nothing Mexican about it, just a crowded little town full of trinket shops and Mexican chain restaurants. Pretty beaches, however.

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