Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Outstanding cruise!

Review for Cuba Cruise on Veendam
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ladyhawkjamaica
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Mar 2018
Cabin: Verandah Suite
Traveled with children

I chose this cruise specifically to be on board the Veendam. We cruised Alaska last year on the Zaandam, which is a sister ship to the Veendam. We enjoyed it much more than our Mexico cruise the year before on a much larger Carnival ship. There was nothing wrong with the Carnival cruise but it was very much a party ship compared to the last time we had cruised on Carnival about 12 years before. The Zaandam was our first HAL cruise and we very much enjoyed the more sedate attitude of the cruise. No obnoxious drunks or poorly supervised kids.

The Veendam was great and I would absolutely cruise aboard her again. We had our 13 year old daughter aboard and it was her first experience with the teen program on the ship, and being over Easter there was a large number of kids on board (160). She made a couple of friends and enjoyed herself, but I think she is still young enough she would have liked the more structured atmosphere in the 9-12 age group but she wasn't allowed to go there anymore. It would be nice if HAL allowed an overlap between the age groups. Being 13 is very different from being 16-17, and she would have had more fun hanging out with 11 & 12 year olds. Not a big deal...in a year or two she will much prefer the teen Loft.

I originally booked an inside cabin but eventually upgraded to a balcony vista suite. It was quite roomy and we very much enjoyed having a balcony. I know next time we cruise without a balcony we will miss it.

Cabin Review

Verandah Suite

Cabin A

Comfortable beds, spacious cabin, nice sized balcony. My only complain is that twice the ventilation system brought in cigarette smoke. It was coming from somewhere else in the ship, not someone in a nearby balcony. In fact, when it happened we found that opening the balcony door and the cabin door did a very nice job ventilating the smoke from the room.

Port Reviews

Half Moon Cay

We rented a clam shell and played on the beach. Lunch provided on the beach was delicious.

San Juan

We visited both the forts and walked around Old San Juan. Had tapas at a local restaurant and it was good but cost about twice what it was probably worth.

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