Veendam Review
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This was our second cruise on the Veendam. Our last one was two years ago, and the decor was looking old and worn out. I was pleasantly surprised when we boarded this time and everything was shiny and new.
Holland America has really stepped up their evening entertainment. Their in-house singers, dancers and band were fantastic. The music and choreography was beautiful, very professionally done, and at times breath-taking. The performers actually looked like they enjoyed what they were doing (unusual for cruise ship entertainers). One evening the show was a BBC Earth presentation with live music - also wonderful.
Other favorite activities of ours were trivia and the piano bar. Majority Rules trivia-type game is one you don't want to miss - very funny. Barry from Boston in the piano bar is amazing. I also liked the flower arranging demonstration by the on-board flower guy.
Cabin Review
Port Reviews
Salerno
We went for a little walk to waterfalls, and it was very nice. The lemon trees were cool to see. We wished we had booked a lemon tour - we could not get in because they were full and we had not pre-booked.
Santorini
We took a ferry to Oia and hiked 6 miles (10k) back to the ship along the rim of the island. We had to tender in from the ship, then wait a long time for the ferry, then wait again for the bus to take us up the hill to Oia. Although we were one of the first off the Veendam, it was almost 11:00am by the time we started our hike. It was extremely hot and miserable! There was no shade, no vegetation, and this was in the middle of a heat wave. My experience on Santorini was not good.
Crete (Heraklion)
We walked a couple miles to a beach and played in the waves. Very fun.
Athens (Piraeus)
Took a taxi (20 Euros each way) to the Acropolis as early as possible and stood in line for the tickets. Extremely hot day - they actually closed the Acropolis at 1:00pm due to heat, but we were gone by then. We had returned to the AC of the ship by 11:30am.
Nafplion
We went to a pretty little beach. There was no charge. A restaurant there had some lounge chairs, but they were taken very early.
Argostoli (Kefalonia)
We took a tour with Avalon - Highlights of Kefalonia. They started 45 minutes late, then rushed through everything. The monastery was not open to us, so we looked at the grounds - unimpressive - just regular buildings. Drogarati Cave was interesting and Melissani lake was very nice.