HAL aimimg for dead and dying.....read on

Item: Veendam
Rating: 2
Author: davids5829561

Veendam Cruise Review to Caribbean

davids5829561

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

2 out of 5

Verified Review

Amazon & Carnival Explorer

Sail date: February 02, 2017

Ship: Veendam

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 838

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Never to recommend HAL to another....two of the bars music was chamber music with low(at times only 2 listening) attendance....violins an piano in one bar and other added a drum...played all chamber concertos....only 2 days of music on deck.....it was well received, crowd singing and dancing .....lido buffet closed at 2:30 till 5:30...when sailing time was 4 passengers stayed on shore till that time then was forced to eat a selection of salad bar, hamburger, Italian, or pre made sandwiches which were not typically found in US(example LETTUCE, BUTTER, AND BRIE) but all other items on the buffet until 2:30 were not available ...never a change to allow carving station, seafood, chicken, vegetables etc to stay open....shows were not the quality we have experienced with other lines like Princess....many instrumentalist, repeat dancer shows and even one night just a movie even though a movie was in the theater every evening......sad excuse for a cruise...no more HAL for us

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

even main dining room offered very few "traditional" dishes....always a twist to the kinky side from chef

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

trivia and lectures was the main activities....only one true pool game in 48 days

Entertainment

1 out of 5

see previous comments

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

HAL is not keeping up the maintenance as we were told they plan to sell in the coming year or so....water turned off in stateroom several times, a/c out at times

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

HAL had booked two parties to this stateroom....had to wait in hall until they could move us to another room...838 was not our room

Ship tip

Don't go...itinerary is not worth it

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

1 out of 5

waste of time...only cruise ship items there and very few excursions otherwise

Thumbs Up 0

8 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Ejan 6 years ago

Nancy. Veendam's capacity is only 1350. By today's standards that is quite small.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

NGoemaere 7 years ago

I agree , also no more HAL , btw HAL is holland american line We also were on the Veendam Its sucks, food was awful Due to the itinery we had a decend cruise Never cruise again on big ships

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

davest 7 years ago

What is HAL. This blog is for RCL. no one is forced to eat anything. Next Time rent a yacht.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

willwork4cruz 7 years ago

I couldn't understand what you were saying about passengers on shore then forced to eat hamburgers and brie. I'm still smiling after picturing HAL guests singing and dancing on deck.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

picalo 7 years ago

what is chamber music?

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

eddiemac1 7 years ago

Have only been on one Hal cruise and enjoyed it. food and entertainment were very good

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

ItaVero 7 years ago

Yikes - only cruised HAL twice and liked it each time. Yes - demographics leaned towards the staid and stolid - but we knew that going in. Food served on your trip sounds poor - on the other hand - I like brie...

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Love to Cruise

Best cruise ever