We boarded the Veendam late due to the previous cruise running behind and also as the Veendam had been infected with a shipboard virus. This resulted in several hours delay, but obviously this was beyond HAL's control. The entire ship had to be decontaminated prior to boarding, but this at least meant that the ship was possibly healthier than any other cruise! All self-service of food was banned and we were asked to minimise personal contacts during the cruise. The crew served us our food using plastic clad hands and the food counters were glad-wrapped to prevent us from contaminating the food. There were various other health related precautions, but we took this in our stride as it was for our own protection.

The cruise itself was as per previous cruises with HAL and we were happy with most aspects. The ban on self-service meant that we had to rely upon the crew giving us reasonable portions, and sometimes this was not the case as they served somewhat smaller meals than perhaps I may have served myself. However, one can always go back for more, or ask for more - so this wasn't a huge problem. they did tend to run out of peppermint tea, but that's a comparatively minor issue.

I had read on Cruise Critic how the recent refurbishment had resulted in an uglier ship, and I do have to wonder about people who made those comments. One only sees the ship when on dry land, and the external aesthetics are irrelevant anyway - it's the comfort and amenity that counts! Read more