Our cruise on Holland America veendam

Item: Veendam
Rating: 4.5
Author: ChrisBeth

Veendam Cruise Review

ChrisBeth

Contributor Level: Second Mate

296 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

4.5 out of 5

7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 12, 2020

Ship: Veendam

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 785

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

We absolutely love to cruise, Holland has us as loyal customers, when we saw the Holland rep standing there at the airport we knew they thought we were important!

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Our flight was delayed 5 times due to fog leaving pensacola Florida arriving in Fort Lauderdale We were supposed to leave @ 7:30 am arrive @ 10:30am. We finally arrived @4:30 (@ airport) The whole time my husband has been in contact with Holland informing them on our progress and we were told 4:30 was the latest we could arrive, so my husband got us on a flight for the following day from Fort Lauderdale-to key west ( our first stop) Holland said we could board there if we couldn’t make it to Fort Lauderdale in time. At the Fort Lauderdale airport as we were coming down the escalator mind you we are running through the airport, I see a man standing there with a clipboard that says Holland American.... my mouth dropped, I said out loud are you???? I turned in back of me saying to my husband Chris is he here for us??? The man said are you Mr. & Mrs. Coone? We couldn’t believe that they sent a rep. There for us, he called Holland and informed them we were there and retrieving our bags and will be at port in less than 10 minutes.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

The food as always was fantastic in the main dining room. The staff goes out of their way to be Accommodating and always friendly.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Not a lot to keep you busy on the ship, we gamble and shop it’s a smaller ship and it’s one of the reasons we book with Holland.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

The waiters are always top notch. Our room was always clean. However it seemed the room steward just walked in when he wanted, 3 times he walked in while I was in there with out knocking, once while my husband and I were laying on the bed, once while I was in bed and my husband was gambling and once when I was packing, that was the 3rd time and I said no need to come in you have already set the luggage canvas on the bed and I wasn’t planning on leaving the room. The next morning was Debarkation and we emptied out our safe and had one bag we were carrying off the ship we put the privacy card in our door went to breakfast and as we were walking down the hall back to our room a Stewart was coming out of our room?? This was our 5 cruise with holland and never experienced this

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Definitely fly the day before.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5

Absolutely loved key west, we payed for the all day trolley and toured around town a bit and went to the aquarium and had a few drinks at hogs breath.

Thumbs Up 1

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

5 out of 5

We took a taxi and a tour to furn gully, and to some water falls, and our driver recommended a river raft ride & so went and he waited for us! Beautiful river amazing guide he stopped on the way to pick me a flower and another stop to pick some almonds. Very very nice guys I have to say, this was our 2 on time coming to Jamaica and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Thumbs Up 1

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

We love it here, no excursions, we went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and cocktails and did a little shopping.

Thumbs Up 11

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

4 out of 5

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5

We always love this on our itinerary, so so beautiful lots of places to sit relax walk eat drink No excursions needed this place is truly beautiful.

Thumbs Up 2

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Went as expected no rush, if you wait until your color is called all goes very well.

Traveler Photos

3 Comments

DirkMel 4 years ago

What was your room stewards name ?! We are cruising the Veendam in a few weeks. We are both law enforcement and are traveling with 7 friends. Would be helpful to keep our eyes appealed for suspicious activity and have a name to go with. I’m curious to know if you found anything missing when you returned home. Glad everything worked out for you aside from that shady character !

Thumbs Up 0

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Cruiserike0322 4 years ago

Great review, thanks

Thumbs Up 0

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cruisereckoning 4 years ago

It does make you feel important doesn’t it. We are getting on the Oosterdam a week from tomorrow.

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