Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Just What We Expected

Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Veendam
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mek
First Time Cruiser • Age 20s

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Sail Date: Mar 2009

Background:  This is our 38th cruise and 3rd time on HAL.  It's been 10 years since we were on HAL - for no particular reason as we have always been quite pleased with our past experiences.  This cruise was chosen in part because the size of the ship provided my husband, who has a temporary mobility issue, less walking and also we had never been to Belize, Honduras, or Costa Maya.Pre Cruise - We flew in the day prior to departure and stayed at the Springhill Suites. The hotel provided a shuttle from the airport as well as drop off and pickup at the nearby mall where we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. The place was packed and there was a two hour wait, but we got lucky and snagged a high top in the bar area after 15 minutes. All we had to do was call the hotel when we were finished and the driver was there in 20 minutes -a very nice little extra service. Before leaving the next morning, we had a light breakfast at the hotel and then took a cab for $20 to the ship - a quick 15 minute ride.

Embarkation - We arrived at 11 am and after being quickly processed were on the ship shortly after 11:30. I liked the way HAL took the security photo at check-in rather than when boarding the ship, which made for a much quicker embarkation on the ship Cabins were not ready until 1:30, so we went up to the Lido for lunch and relaxed by the pool until it was time to go to our cabin. Our bags were delivered by 2:30, so I was able to unpack and relax before the life boat drill at 4:15 pm. By the time it was over we had a few minutes to go down to our cabin to freshen up for our early fixed seating dinner at 5:45, ( too early for me, but my husband prefers it.) I love anytime dining and he loves traditional. I usually give in and let him have his way on this one. Food - Overall, we were very pleased with the quality and selection of food in the dining room. On the first night we enjoyed what was probably the best prime rib we have ever had on any cruise - tender, juicy, and cooked perfectly - rare for me and med rare for my husband. He is a very picky eater and the majority of the appetizers did not appeal to him so he asked for and received a shrimp cocktail each night; and it was a very good shrimp cocktail - four larger than average sized shrimp and one night he had two. The second formal night we had surf and turf and the lobster tail was large and very tasty - he had two and I wished I had skipped the steak and had two tails myself. I thought the weak areas were the salads and veggies, but they offered Crepes Suzette twice for dessert, so I was in seventh heaven. Service was pleasant and efficient. We always had breakfast and lunch in the Lido and I loved the selection for breakfast which included a waffle and Eggs Benedict station. I personally enjoyed having servers in the Lido rather than everyone handling the serving utensils, but the service at the beverage stations never seemed to go smoothly all week and I would have much rather fixed my own tea or coffee. There always seemed to be a problem with the hot water, or coffee, or ice. On the last port day, there was a wonderful cold seafood buffet with crab legs, shrimp, and scallops in addition to the regular selections. It reminded me of the seafood buffet we enjoy so much on Princess for dinner, except we agreed that we actually enjoy it more for lunch. Regular and soft serve ice cream were available at the dessert station but I still I prefer Princess ice cream although I realize it not as readily available there as it was on the Veendam. My biggest complaint with the buffet was the short time they were open. IMHO, nothing beats 24 hour dining on Princess. It would have been nice if they had stayed open a little longer for lunch on port days. The small late buffet shut down promptly at midnight, which was early for us especially since we usually went to the 10 pm movie and would have enjoyed being able to get a snack until at least 12:30 am. I realize there is room service, but it's something we don't particularly like doing late. We did enjoy the Mariners lunch on the last day - it was a nice change of pace for us from the repeaters cocktail parties on other ships. I believe we went to all afternoon teas with the exception of one day. Everything there was nicely presented and served - I usually went to the Explorations Cafe in the morning for my daily latte fix.

Cabin - We had an aft outside on deck 4 - near the elevator for my husband. Even though the Veendam is going into dry dock soon, our cabin was in very good shape, especially the bathroom- no problems with the infamous pink tile! Everything looked clean and fresh. The only "flaw" I could find, was a chipped section along the edge of the laminate top on the dressing table. The beds were as comfortable as we had heard they would be. Overall we found our cabin to be spacious and well kept by our efficient cabin team.

Cabin Review

Well designed with good storage. Great bed!

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