Veendam Review
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We have cruised 17 times with multiple lines and chose this cruise primarily due to the departure port as we live less than 20 miles from the Boston cruise port. It was the first time we've sailed from Boston and it was a pleasure to just drive 30 minutes and embark!
Embarkation was a pleasure. It was no more than 15 minutes from the car to our cabin where we dropped our carry-ons and headed for lunch.
Our primary disappointment on this cruise was probably due to the age of the ship. While quite well maintained, at 21 years the Veendam is showing its age. The number one complain is the poor air conditioning. Almost all locations of the ship were warm -- uncomfortably warm in some instances. And this was the case all week, not sporadically.
Cabin Review
Large Ocean-View Stateroom
While not a reflection of the ship's age our cabin was located below the galley and between the hours of about 5am and 10pm it sounded like we were below a bowling alley. If we were to take this ship again I'd avoid deck 6 (except far aft) at all costs.
Our cabin also had an annoying sound that is best described as sounding like rain dripping on an umbrella. An annoyance more than anything.
And lastly the water level in our bathroom toilet had a habit of rising at night. Had the cruise been at all rough there surely would have been spillage by morning. We've never seen a toilet that didn't maintain its water level but likely due to the "evac" nature rather than gravity this one just filled. We're guessing it leaked water internally and just filled but it was a "surprise" each morning. Enough said!
We did notify guest services of all of these issues and they gave an appearance of responding. In fact it did not appear as though much was done to rectify them other than to send us a very small dish of chocolates with an apology note. Not much consolation!
So be careful with your cabin selection and avoid most of deck 6 and don't have high expectations of the Lido buffet as its less impressive than other lines. If you live within driving distance of Boston the value is probably worth it for the Veendam. We'd have been less pleased had we flown to Boston for this cruise.