I choose this cruise because of the destinations. I did not know this was the ship for retirees. The majority of passengers were above the age of 70. EMBARKATION was smooth and luggage arrived at your door quick ...

Sail Date February 2020

Mustering up again

6 Reviews Written

23 Helpful Votes

Thank You to The Staff!

We chose this cruise because Holland American offered us an amazing, discounted price. The Veendam was by far the smallest ship we have been on so far, but because we have sailed Holland ships before, the general ...

Sail Date January 2020

Hobbsey

5 Reviews Written

10 Helpful Votes

Relaxing Week with HAL

I wanted to experience once again the smiling and friendly service staff of a HAL ship in a reasonably sized vessel. The Veendam was the perfect choice for us. I cruised with my 86 year old father who has some ...

Sail Date January 2020

princeamy

1 Review Written

3 Helpful Votes

STAY AWAY FROM HOLLAND AMERICA- THIEVES PARADISE

Caribbean - Southern

I sailed with Holland America and I advise everybody to go with a different cruise line. During my ten day cruise, I daily saw passengers filing out incident/claim forms at customer service onboard. Two of the ...

Sail Date December 2019

Iplaceyou119

1 Review Written

2 Helpful Votes

This is my 3rd cruise with Holland America.

Baltic Sea

My exp. with Holland America was exceptional. The accommodations are great, the food is fabulous and the service is exceptional. I liked the laundry service as I only packed 7 days of clothing for lighter luggage. ...

Sail Date May 2019

jannycam2

1 Review Written

5 Helpful Votes

Classic small ship experience

If you are looking for a glitzy Las Vegas hotel on water, with countless shipboard activities, a booming disco, and an overactive cruise director shouting at you every 5 minutes - then this is NOT the cruise for ...

Sail Date January 2020

joedniceguy

4 Reviews Written

19 Helpful Votes

Outstanding

Cuba

I don't know what all the fuss is about, but I actually loved the Veendam. This was my 7th HAL cruise and the 1st on the Veendam. If you want a quiet relaxing cruise this is the one for you. I went with a group ...

Sail Date January 2020

Joe9596

1 Review Written

4 Helpful Votes

Very Pleasantly Surprised

Having booked this cruise on an exceptional deal around 6 months before sailing with a free drinks package for about £700 for 2 weeks, we jumped at the chance. However were very worried about the reviews as it got ...

Sail Date December 2019

viviansky

1 Review Written

7 Helpful Votes

A super boring trip lacking activities

If you are between 65-90 yrs old, then this slow paced ship is designed for you. It was super boring. Gym is spacious but outdated and needs to be renovated. Dining choices are very limited. Dining rooms are ...

Sail Date November 2019

MisElainieous

5 Reviews Written

20 Helpful Votes

Nice Relaxing Cruise

Received an inviting offer. We wanted to go on a relaxing cruise without making plans for excursions on a smaller ship. This was the perfect one. We did not wear ourselves out walking the ship. We did not have ...

Sail Date November 2019

Dancer61

1 Review Written

9 Helpful Votes

Every Day Was A Great Day

We did a 7 day Carribean cruise with ports of call being, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, and Key West. Yes the Venndam is an older ship but I think it's in lovely condition. Being a smaller ship there isn't all the ...

Sail Date November 2019

CJoy

1 Review Written

6 Helpful Votes

Very traditional relaxing cruise

We really enjoyed our cruise aboard the Veendam. The service was excellent and really made our vacation great. The cabin steward was fantastic, along with the dinning room staff. We traveled with children and the ...

Sail Date November 2019

amymorreale

1 Review Written

3 Helpful Votes

Boring!

I chose this cruise based on price, date and mostly because we are frequent HA travelers and know what to expect - mature cruisers, good food, good entertainment, nice staterooms. While most of those criteria ...

Sail Date November 2019

observer2013

7 Reviews Written

23 Helpful Votes

The BIG Sigh! ... Both Magnificent and Mediocre

I'm always curious to see if my assessment of a cruise ship matches the typical review of it I read here on Cruise Critic. Reviewers correct on the food, entertainment and things to do ... mostly pretty mundane. ...

Sail Date October 2019

laqn

1 Review Written

5 Helpful Votes

Researching your destination is not enough...research the ship also!

This was our second cruise with Holland America. The first was June of this year on the Niew Amsterdam. It was superb, so we decided to stay with Holland America and book another for October. For both cruises we ...

Sail Date October 2019

bobc1946

1 Review Written

10 Helpful Votes

High Expectations But A Huge Disappointment

We had high expectations when we booked this cruise! Unfortunately, the cruise was a huge disappointment due to extremely poor management primarily from Guest Services on the ship. First, let me inform you about ...

Sail Date September 2019

maryjanemarkle

5 Reviews Written

19 Helpful Votes

No need to look for smaller ship-Veendam has it all!

This cruise was a last minute decision and the most delightful surprise. A 1400 passenger ship now qualifies for a small ship experience.The Veendam was renovated in April and its classic charm updated into a modern ...

Sail Date September 2019

christojo58

4 Reviews Written

31 Helpful Votes

Consistent Holland America Quality

Transatlantic

This was a 12-day Transatlantic Cruise from Lisbon to Boston. I was a little ambivalent about going on this smaller and older ship. I knew it had recently been in dry dock for some sprucing up, so I was curious what ...

14 photos

Sail Date August 2019

pclifton1964

1 Review Written

11 Helpful Votes

Cruise on a dying ship

Holland America has some great ships and cruises. Unfortunately the Veendam cruise from Boston to Montreal is NOT one of them. The ship is scheduled to be decommissioned soon so it is in its lasts throws as a ...

Sail Date September 2019

Priscilla38

3 Reviews Written

5 Helpful Votes

Veendam Canada Cruise September 7, 2019

We flown in the day before and spent the night in Boston. The embarkation was rather smooth as we didn’t rush with the masses to get to the pier. We were offered an upgrade to the Neptune Suites and we jumped on ...

1 photo

Sail Date September 2019

NBekai

1 Review Written

4 Helpful Votes

Relaxing and Calm Mediterranean Cruise

Mediterranean

Chose this cruise for one major reason: its itinerary. We visited nearly 5-6 countries in the span of 12 days, and every city was more magical than the last. Major pros of this cruise include: quick and simple ...

Sail Date July 2019

Odysseer

1 Review Written

5 Helpful Votes

Fantastic itinerary and cruise line

Mediterranean

I’ve sailed on the Veendam before and really like the cruise line and the ship. The itinerary appealed to me since it provided five countries and only one day at sea. It maximized the time we had to spend. I ...

Sail Date July 2019

JellyRollJake

1 Review Written

13 Helpful Votes

HOLLAMD AMERICA IS THE WORST

Our cruise on the VeenDam was not a pleasant one. The food was terrible and the ship was dirty. We had dinner at our assigned table only 3-4 times. We just could not tolerate the food. After finding a hair in my ...

5 photos

Sail Date July 2019

Recpop

1 Review Written

4 Helpful Votes

Disappointing