Veendam Cruise Review by anchor-tanker

It seems every time I depart out of San Diego, there is a different format on the pier. I must say the authorities are slowly improving since 9-11, but there still is a great deal of confusion .. There were people telling us: Take your bags over there.. No... Over There!!... Unfortunately, the baggage depot had not been set-up yet, so a few of us were walking around like headless chickens...

On HAL,I prefer the suite life, so as a preferred guest, I was relegated to the "disabled" section of the waiting room. Nevertheless, I was the 2nd. passenger to board the ship. The woman that was leading us onto the ship, however, was something else. She treated everyone as if they were total idiots ...Definitely someone, who should be doing a different job.

Once on board, we had the usual couple of hour wait for the cabin, but it's a lot better relaxing on the ship, than sitting on those hard seats on the pier. This was my first time on the Veendam, and I was quite impressed by the different arrangement on the back pool deck.. (In contrast to what I had experienced on the Ryndam and Statendam) This new layout gives a lot more room for deck chairs.. And this is the first cruise that I have ever been on where I never had any problem finding a deck chair!! Something unheard of on the larger ships.

I am a solo cruiser, but I prefer the luxuries that the suite life affords... Such as the Neptune lounge. I was quite surprised, as usually, (with so few suites available), one must book months in advance. I booked my cruise only a month before sailing, and there were still three suites available at this time. That was shock!!

I have to echo what the other reviewer of this cruise said about the food. ...It was excellent!!.. Especially the fillet mignon, and the prime rib. The soups left a bit to be desired, and I still miss the dover sole... And the oyster rockefeller, but I'm sure I packed on a few pounds.

I had requested a table for two, but due to my late booking I was relegated to a table for eight, and the late sitting. I opted to have all my meals in the room. ... First time I had tried that. It was great!! No more waiting twenty minutes between courses... Rather, my entire meal was brought at the same time, and right on the button at 5:45. By 6 pm, I was out of the room!!

I normally like the room service that you get on HAL, but on this cruise, it was pitiful!! I tried to get through on the phone for 3/4 of an hour for both Sunday and Monday night... No luck. I talked to the concierge, and instead had a standing order delivered to my room at 9:30 every night. This solved the problem.

Once again, I was really disappointed with the lack of conformity to the dress code.. In spite of eating in my room, I still donned my tuxedo, for every formal night. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the passengers dressed as if they were heading down to the local bus depot. This is a shame. I really hate to see the "class" disappear.. Especially on the HAL ships. IN fact..On the first formal night, I felt completely out of place walking through the casino, as I thought I had miss-read the dress-code.. The few of us who did take the time to dress up, on the formal nights, tended to all congregate (like Lepers), in the Ocean bar. And by the way...I was really disappointed with the live music in the ocean bar. It consisted of an Australian on the piano.. Some guy with a weird looking electric bass... And a drummer. ...I still like the groups with the singer. ...And co'mon, even the older crowd like to get up and move a bit on the dance floor... I thought they were going to burst into "nearer my God to thee", for most of their songs, but perhaps that would have been a little too physical for them to handle.

The cruise director was pitiful... I think the Captain did more towards entertaining the passengers than this guy did. And the entertainment was pitiful too. Like 2 dancers!?!...What was this ? Cut-back week? Jesus, one show consisted of only 2 singers: A rather lovely girl, and a gentleman who had a great voice, but adopted the facial contortions, as if he was suffering from a severe case of constipation. ...And my God... My ears are still ringing from the broadway show. What do they think? Everyone over 50 is deaf?

All in all though, I had a great cruise. And the weather was something else. I don't ever remember it being so warm on the stretch of water between San Diego and Cabo san Lucas. Some cruisers were complaining the seas were a little rough, but i found no problem here... In spite of the fact that myself and the ocean don't usually get along too good.

I took this cruise, mainly to relax, soak up the sun, and eat lots of good food... In this respect, it lived up to my every expectation. ..In fact.. I wish I back on the ship, right now!!