Great itinerary, not so great ship!

Item: Veendam
Rating: 3
Author: tlg1108

Veendam Cruise Review to Cuba

tlg1108

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 87

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

14 Night Eastern & Authentic Cuba Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 31, 2018

Ship: Veendam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 416, then 797

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

This was probably the least enjoyable cruise experience I've had, mainly because of the ship condition, cabin problem, and lack of entertainment. Would not recommend Veendam.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

There was no one in line when we arrived, so we walked right in, got our key cards and walked onto the ship!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The food was good. My only problem with the food was that there was very little fresh fruit available at breakfast in the Lido Market. Unless you like melons or like to peel/cut your own fruit, you would be just out of luck!

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

There was very little to do on the ship, unless you like art auctions and lame presentations (jewelry, tours, etc.). There was absolutely NO activities or entertainment in the pool area.....not even music! The shows at night were not the quality I have seen on other ships.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Non-existent in the pool area; shows not very good.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Our room stewards, Edward and Gede, were absolutely wonderful! However, we had a bit of difficulty with one of the guest services representatives, Albert, who basically was untruthful with us. The waitstaff in the Rotterdam was very good.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

The Veendam is just an old ship and needs a lot of work. For instance, there was all kinds of crud around the window in our cabin.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5

Our 1st cabin (416) had defective air conditioning. After 3 miserable hot nights, we were finally moved to a cabin that had working AC (797).