Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Veendam needs rehab.

Review for the Panama Canal & Central America Cruise on Veendam
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grammy119
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Oct 2015
Cabin: Verandah Suite

We previously sailed with HAL to Alaska. That was almost flawless so we were disappointed in the Veendam and some of the shore excursions. The cruise began with electrical problems on the ship which delayed our departure from FL by over 5 hours. Thus, our shore time in Cartagena, Columbia was cut short by 2 hours. Our guide was an independent and she did her best to give us a good tour in less time. Transiting the Panama Canal was fantastic, what an engineering marvel. Our cabin was on the fantail so we could see both sides of the canal from our balcony. Our tour in Costa Rica was OK but too much time on the bus. The tour in Nicaragua was by an independent and he did a fantastic job. The tour in Guatemala was so-so and 3 hours on the bus round trip to Antigua. The street vendors were very pesty. One lady followed us all over town. Our stop in Huatulco, Mexico was great. Again, we had an independent tour guide, just 4 of us in his air conditioned SUV. What a nice place!

Lastly, we stopped in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We should not have taken a tour and just walked around town or taken a taxi. The tour was in a run down bus, the guide San Jose Del Cabo for over a hour. He and the bus driver were almost 1/2 hour late picking us up. The town leaves a lot to be desired unless you wanted to eat somewhere. The tardiness caused us to have a 10-minute stop at the glass blowing factory and we just made it back in time for the last tender back to the ship. (This was one of Holland's recommended tours.)

We had a broken shower line in the cabin that flooded the bathroom floor, there were some air conditioning problems in the cabin and around the ship....showroom was like a refrigerator. One of the dining room staff was the worst waiter ever. Disembarkation was horrible and we missed our train home and had to wait another 3 hours for the next train!!

Cabin Review

Verandah Suite

see above

Port Reviews

Cartagena (Colombia)

Good tour since there were two hours less for us to see the city because the ship left FL late.

Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera)

Too much time on the bus.

Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera)

The guide was very good, lots of history.

Cabo San Lucas

Terrible bus ride and the guide wasn't very good. Nothing to really see in San Jose Del Cabo.

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