My husband and I were very disappointed with a number of things on our 1 May Panama Canal cruise on the Veendam. Some of the problems were related to the fact that the ship had left dry dock not completely ready; however, many of the problems were totally avoidable simply by a bit of thought and good management.

Although our room stewards, dinner stewards and many of the bar staff provided very good service, these problems made it difficult at times to enjoy the cruise. When we arrived, after traveling for over 6 hours, there was at least a  3-hour delay in being able to board the ship. Two hot and stuffy terminals filled with people waited for hours until we could board. My husband and I finally boarded just before the lifeboat drill around 4pm. Some of the passengers were clearly seriously tired - in the terminal just before we got on the ship, we saw two seniors being treated by paramedics for heart problems and another being treated for an arm injury from falling on the escalator.

After the lifeboat drill we went to find something to eat only to be told that NOTHING was open until 5:30! After such a long day, we were very tired and hungry (I'd had a muffin and a tiny bag of peanuts since we got up at 3am for our flight and there was no food and limited water in the waiting terminals). At 4:30pm there were several people wandering around looking for anything to eat. This was definitely disturbing. As you would expect, the press of people at the 5:30 sittings and in the Lido was overwhelming! Why didn't somebody think ahead and, realizing the boarding was delayed, arrange for at least the grill or part of the Lido to remain open? Read more