Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Veendam - Alaska

Review for Alaska Cruise on Veendam
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ocpeach
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: May 2006
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

This was our second Alaskan cruise; first was 12 years ago. This time we booked a cruisetour that began in Fairbanks, went to Denali, Anchorage, and to the ship at Seward. We were generally pleased with the hotel accommodations, though had a problem in Denali because I brought a scooter along. The Holland America staff at Denali were good to work with, and once my special needs were identified we ended up in an unexpected suite in Anchorage. All arrangements were made directly with HAL.

This was our second HAL cruise. HAL has upgraded the bedding--wow were we comfortable on ship!! Our previous HAL cruise was during a stormy Atlantic autumn. This was so SMOOTH!! The weather gods were with us--unusual for Alaska, but we generally had sunny, clear days--wonderful for cruising College Fjord etc. We were initially dismayed that my scooter would not fit into my room; I'd checked with the HAL Access & Compliance office prior to the cruise. We'd booked a "modified accessible" room--which essentially provided only grabbers in the shower with a fold-down shower seat. However, once we removed the arms from my scooter, all was well. This room had plenty of closet space, though we needed to get the steward to stash our largest suitcase under the bed.

When we booked, we were wait-listed for the dining room--something like #233 or so; but when we got to the ship, we had assigned seating, though did not meet our table companions until the last night. They missed the first few nights, then we decided to skip the second formal night and had a couple of excursions that had us off the ship for our very early dining time. We usually eat at 6:30-7, so NONE of the assigned times fit our "normal" dinner time. Perhaps HAL should consider open dining as other lines have done. Our waiter was very attentive and quite concerned when I needed to leave a meal. In the buffet, there was always a waiter to help me with my tray, since I either used my scooter or walked with my cane. My only complaint re food was a lack of granola and fresh fruit for breakfast; I would have preferred more fruit choices, including fresh berries.

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin C
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