overall good to fair; great staff

Item: Veendam
Rating: 3.3
Author: GailandJohn

Veendam Cruise Review to Cuba

GailandJohn

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 75

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5

Verified Review

14 Night Summer Cuba (Boston Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 04, 2018

Ship: Veendam

Cabin type: Suite

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Even though my comments as I reread them are pretty negative it was a good cruise. We gambled every night (and lost every night:-) but the dealers and pit bosses and the manager, Corina were all very pleasant- It is a small casino but if there was not a table open (blackjack) they would open one for us. Minimum smoking in the casino - by certain slot machines only. Food in the Pinnacle was cold at breaKfast but, again staff very pleasant. Dinner in the Pinnacle (filet) was very good. Our room stewards, Romy and Agung were EXCELLENT and our suite was kept immaculate. Our concierge, Mary, was very helpful in many ways (We never know how much to tip) And, Fatima, who we did not see that often was also very nice. Our waiters at night Jimmy and Moises were also very good even though they had too many people to care for. And even though we don't drink we met Micky, the wine steward, who would come over and talk to us each night. Again, a very pleasant staff with the one exception that I mentioned - Albert, the Executive Housekeeper)

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

The staff was excellent except for the exeutive housekeeper who we met as we were attempting to get on a tender. My husband tried to get his attention to get help by saying"Excuse me" to which he rudely, sarcastically replied "You're excused" and continued pushing his way through the crowd

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Boston, Massachusetts

4 out of 5

This is, of course, where we boarded, and the young women who took our bags was very friendly and helpful. I know she is not part of the Veendam staff but I thought I should mention her.

Thumbs Up 1

Key West, Florida

3 out of 5

We've been to Key West before. We couldn't find a nice, upscale restaurant for lunch. Ended up walking to D.J.'s a walk up and order and sit at a picnic bench-type eatery. Food ok - nothing special.

Thumbs Up 0

HAVANA, CUBA

2 out of 5

Havana is very poor (which we expected) and very dirty. We did an excursion on our own usingoldcars.com and they were excellent! They charged 80 cucs for two of us for a 2-hour tour (which was plenty because it was HOT). We got to select our car (which you can't do through the ship's excursion) and we chose a 1956 Ford Fairlane convertible. We ate at Nao's which is just a few blocks from the cruise port. My husband had a red snapper which he said was delicious.

Thumbs Up 3

CIENFUEGOS, CUBA

1 out of 5

dirty and nothing to see; bought some T shirts at a reasonable price...tried not to haggle since those people certainly need the money more than we do.

Thumbs Up 2

George Town, Grand Cayman

2 out of 5

It was Sunday and everything was closed. We ate a Sharkeys which was nothing special.

Thumbs Up 2

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

1 out of 5

We docked at a different port than we were scheduled for. Only transportation available was taxis so we stayed on the ship. (My husband got off, looked around, and returned immediately.)

Thumbs Up 2

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

4 out of 5

Tendered to this island. Beautiful beach and sandy water (NO ROCKS:-) Color of the water was fantastic. A lady was feeding the fish and they (the fish:-) were jumping around all over us. Nice excursion

Thumbs Up 17

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

1 Comment

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

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