Holland America has extended their cruising itineraries to include the island of Bermuda aboard the ms. Veendam. I was excited about taking this cruise and had planned for it for several months--reading, researching and looking at many videos and photographs. I also read several Member's Reviews about this ship, the food, accomodations and staffing. My trip began from Cleveland, Ohio to LaGuardia on the day of embarkation. A minor glitch was at the airport where the ground crew "forgot" to unload the luggage. Thanks to Maria, the Holland America airport representative and the staff member from the Lost Luggage Dept., the luggage finally appeared 90 minutes later. The Veendam embarks on Sundays for the Bermuda trip and the bus ride to the ship's terminal took us through Manhattan on a very hot afternoon. All of us on the bus cheered up as we spotted the Veendam in the distance. Our checked luggage was immediately off-loaded and the check-in procedure was very quick--there weren't too many people left in the terminal and the ship's photographers were packing up their equipent.

I booked a Lanai Stateroom and it was nicely furnished and ready for my arrival. I noticed it was very warm in the room as I entered and one of my cabin stewards, Teguh assured me that once we were underway, the temperature would be fine. He was absolutely correct. The air-conditioning worked very well for the full duration of the cruise. Besides the under-bed storage, there was ample closet space. Elemis products were available in the bathroom.

Because of my late arrival time, the Lido buffet was closing but I was able to enjoy some pizza and iced tea at the Retreat. The ship departed on time and passengers enjoyed the New York skyline as we moved out of the harbor. Read more