Veendam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We departed Fort Lauderdale and headed Northeast. We traveled for 2.5 sailing days in very calm season, with the exception of a lightning storm that began in the early morning hours. The balance of our time at sea was wonderful, with few white-capped waves and a clear sky above.
The ports of call were very quaint and charming but with a strong wind blowing with temperatures in the high 40s in the day and upper 30s in the late evening. The only negative we had on the different cruise ports were many shops, restaurants, and different attractions were STILL CLOSED. This greatly limited the venues on the shore, and to make things worse the cruise line charged us fill price for excursions that had less than 1/2 of the venues open, I did complain about it and I was rewarded with a refund of the excise taxes for the excursion(s).
The MS Veendam is a good ship but has a lot of upkeep needed in areas that passengers can see but can not access. Paint is in some areas 7 or 8 coats deep with rust flowing from the different paint layers, Door hinge plates on the deck will catch your feet when you walk from the pool area The cabins or suites are wonderful, we were on the Veranda Suite deck 9 on the starboard side, Our veranda was large and comfortable with 2 chairs, a lounge and a small table. Our cabin attendances were excellent, and provided a clean and inviting "HOME" for us on our 9 days adventure.
Cabin Review
Great cabin, with excellent views from the Veranda patio. Cabin has a whirlpool bath tub, and as with all HAL ships the bathroom is large and comfortable. We have some maintenance items that required the ships crews attention; broke patio door dampener and non working electrical outlets in bathroom.We always bring Lysol wipes to give the cabin that EXTRA satiation, ie; door handles, bathroom counters, toilet paper holders, shower knobs, etc.The cabin is very quiet except when the wind is right and the piano music in the lounge two decks above wanders into our cabin. The music is calming and ends at 11:30PM.It is interesting that HAL moors their ships in alternating positions to the docks. One port will have the starboard side moored nearest to the dock, and this makes the view of the city work, the next port will have the port side moored at the dock, and the starboard side will be looking out over the waterway or bay that you just cruised thru.