Living in Florida we've been on several Carribean cruises and looked forward to the Panama Canal and it's Pacific ports. The size of the Veendam was great. Easy to get around on and not too crowded. The ship does show it's age. The crew for the most part was very efficient and polite. The head office staff not always so, more on that later. The main dining room food was good but nothing special. They stressed presentation. The service in the main dining room was spotty and on the slow side. The food in the casual dining area was quite good and there was always a nice variety.

The main showroom was ok on the lower level but the seating on the upper level was very uncomfortable. The seats were worn out and very hard to sit on plus the backs are very short and hit you in a very uncomfortable place. The ships singers and dancers were very good but the rest of the entertainment was very spotty as were the daily activities. Kitchen tour was nothing more then a quick walk through with no narrative. The gym was clean and adequate. I used it almost every day.

Back to our issue with the main office staff. We had two issues with our room. 1, an inconvience. The tub drained very, very, slow. When you finished your shower you were standing in 2 inches of soapy water. It took 3 calls to get it corrected. All the front desk would say was that they reported it to engineering. The 2nd is was a health issue. A substance was blowing out from the air conditioning vent in the room . It appeared to be dirt or mold. Dark particles covered the area beneath the vent. My wife has asthma and was having breathing problems a few days befor I discovered the particles. The discovery was a fluke as the room stewards really were doing a great job taking care of our room. One morning after the room had been cleaned, I had placed a sheet of white paper on a shelf under the vent when I went to retrieve it I noticed it was covered with particles. I notified room service and the front desk. The area was cleaned but the problem was not resolved. I contacted the front desk once again as my wife had to visit the ships Doctor, where she was treated for her breathing issues. I took pictures of the area covered with the particles and actually collected some to show the staff. The didn't seem interested but did send engineering once again who put a filter behind the vent. The next morning the particles were back again and back to the office I went. I stated I thought it woul be right for them to pick up the charge for the ships doctor but they stated the couldn't be sure that's what caused the breathing problem. They then upgraded our room. They never seemed to take me seriously that there was a real issue. Just another complaining customer. Read more