Boarding the Veendam was fairly quick and easy. Perhaps a 15 minute wait to be called. Went directly to stateroom and then lunch at the Lido. The buffet was fresh and tasty – a huge assortment of food to eat.
Dinner first night was prime rib medium rare and it was excellent. We had open seating but called for reservations – times available seemed to correspond to either the early or late seating in the assigned dining option.
Key West was first stop. Took free tram to town, walked around, ate lunch at Sloppy Joe’s and then did hop on hop off bus tour. Lots of charm to buildings in Key West. So tired after all the walking in Key West, we ate dinner at the Lido buffet. Lots of options including same ones as main dining room menu. I had the weiner schnitzel – not particularly good.
Stateroom 078, deck 10 across the back was comfortable, balcony large, quiet – terrific! Cabin attendants were wonderful – did everything possible to ensure our comfort – even brought me an extension cord to plug in waterpick in bathroom. There was a large surge suppressor of outlets by the TV. Made charging ipods and iphones super easy. They also emptied out minibar for us and I bought case of water at Key West to put in.
Note, I had read a terrible review of this cabin before we left but I honestly did not experience any of the "problems" others noted. We were very happy in this cabin.