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Note - this page contains multiple reviews.
Name: Caryn Erdberg
Email: ssbeagle@yahoo.com
Age: 48
Occupation: Civil Service
NumberOfCruises: 9
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Veendam
SailingDate: May 17 1998
Itinerary: Western Caribbean
Cabin: B101
FoodDiningRoom: 20
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 00
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 95
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 10
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets: 00
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 90
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 80
ShoreExcValue: 80
GoodForHoneymoon: 90
CasinoStaff: 75
PrivateIsland: 92
GoodForFamilies: 85
LoungeService: 70
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff: 90
EntertainmentLounges: 93
WheelchairAccess: 80
ExerciseFacilities: 92
EntertShowLounge: 94
OverallPortsofCall: 94
BeautySalon: 80
EntertainmentPoolside: 95
CruiseActivities: 80
Casino: 60
AirSeaProgram: 00
MedicalFacilities: 00
ShipCleanliness: 97
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 60
DeckSpace: 99
Stabilization: 100
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 98
OverallCruiseValue: 50
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 13 Sep 1999
Time: 21:01:34
Remote Name: twohundrednine.cyou.com
Remote User:
Comments
We went on Holland America's Veendam to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and treated
ourselves to a
balcony cabin. It was a very nice cabin and I really enjoyed the balcony mostly while we
were in port and I just wanted
to relax and still see what was going on down on the dock. It was a good escape from the
smoke filled areas of the
ship.
The Veendam is a beautiful ship. The show lounge had great sight-lines; the pools were
big; plenty of outside deck
space; and a two-story dining room which separated the smokers from non-smokers by putting
the smokers on the
upper level. However, we had to access the dining room from the upper level and go down to
our table. We had asked
for a table for 6-8 people and were placed at a table for 12. The service in the dining
room left a lot to be desired. Our
waiters could never get an order right. We complained to the table captain and maitre 'd,
but it didn't help.
The public areas were real nice, too, but we didn't spend much time in any of them. The
smoking policy on the
Veendam is almost non-existent. The smoke was so bad I couldn't even spend much time in
the shops on board as it
permeated the whole section of the lounges, casino, shops and hallways. The only public
room where smoking was not
allowed was the show lounge. I begin to cough when I am around a lot of smoke and this was
almost unbearable.
Our cabin was nice and comfortable; however, the cabin service seemed almost indifferent.
Our cabin was kept
spotless though; our steward just didn't go out of his way to add the little extra touches
we have gotten on other
cruises.
Our ports included Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios, and the private island of Holland
America. Cozumel was a
place we could have missed; however, we truly enjoyed Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios. In Grand
Cayman we took a
plane tour around the island. It was fascinating seeing everything from above. My husband
also took the Atlantis
submarine tour and enjoyed it immensely. Shopping in Grand Cayman is very good too. In
Ocho Rios, Jamaica, we
took the raft ride down the river. It was about 1 1/2 hours by bus to the tour, but it was
worth it. It was peaceful and
relaxing drifting down the river on a bamboo raft steered by a guide. The private island
was nice and clean and hot. If
you like the beach it was a good place to be.
As far as value of the cruise, I believe Holland America could lower their prices for what
they give you. It took us
forever to wait our turn to board ship. Disembarkation went fairly quickly though. We did
enjoy the option of taking a
tour during the time we waited for our flight. We had a late afternoon departure and
decided to take the Everglades
tour. Our luggage went with us on the bus which dropped us at the airport at the
conclusion of the tour.
I don't know if we will ever sail on a Holland America ship again. Maybe if they come out
with a smoke-free ship, we will
consider it.
Name: Doug MacPherson
Email: DougMacP@AOL.com
Age: 44
Occupation: Attorney (gasp)
NumberOfCruises: 10+
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Veendam
SailingDate: 10/6/99
Itinerary: Pacific Coast Repositioning
Cabin: 010
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 85
CabinComfort: 100
FoodRoomService:
CruiseStaff: 85
CabinAmenities: 100
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 100
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 99
ShoreExcVariety: 80
FoodVariety: 85
DeckService: 97
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon: 93
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies: 80
LoungeService: 98
TenderService: 80
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 99
WheelchairAccess: 99
ExerciseFacilities: 89
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 93
CruiseActivities: 91
Casino: 85
AirSeaProgram: 95
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 97
EmbarkDisembark: 99
DiscoNightclubs: 90
DeckSpace: 100
Stabilization: 80
ShopsOnBoard: 92
SpaceRatio: 100
OverallCruiseValue: 98
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 01 Nov 1999
Time: 16:25:31
Remote Name: spider-tf013.proxy.aol.com
Remote User:
Comments
Veendam Pacific Coast Cruise Vancouver to Acapulco November 6th to 11th 1999 By:
DougMacP@AOL.COM
I have read a lot of reviews on Internet sites that seem to focus on the physical aspects
of cruising. The size of the
cabins, quality of the food, and condition of the ship, are all important in researching a
trip. However, the overall 'cruise
experience' is greater than the sum of the physical parts. A cruise has an attitude,
rhythm, and a texture. It is a mind
set, and a psychological experience. It is the combination of those elements that can make
people have a wonderful
cruise, even if the physical elements leave something to be desired.
I have cruised many times before, but not in the last eight years. Between work, and a
cruising impaired partner, the
brochures I collected always ended up in the recycle bin. One word changed that. Cancer.
In January 1998 I was
diagnosed with a rare malignant tumor. Fortunately, if you're going to get cancer,
Seattle, is a good place to live. After
an operation, twenty chemotherapy treatments and six weeks of radiation, I was pronounced
cancer free. For cancer
survivors there is no such word as 'cured,' we achieve remissions, hopefully long term,
but there is no guarantee.
Because of that, time seems to take on a different quality. If I survive this, I thought
at the time, I'd start cruising again. I
also decided that instead of having a reluctant or resentful cabin mate I would do the
trip solo.
Why Holland America Lines? It is the ships themselves. They are the right size. They look
like ships, not guady floating
Hotels. They have more or less a traditional decor, with wood, polished brass, extensive
art collections, and real
promenade decks. They have larger than average size cabins, with extremely good sound
insulation. Knowing what you
want is as important as knowing what you don't want when picking a cruise line. What I
didn't want was a mega ship with
three thousand other passengers. I didn't need a golf course on top, or a skating rink. I
don't want to see Katerina Witt
try to land a double axel in a rolling sea. It would be a blood bath. I didn't want
gimmicks, endless announcements over
the public address system, or too much glitz. I wanted a ship, and a beautiful one. The
Veendam fit the bill.
I chose a repositioning cruise, where they take the ship out of Alaska waters to the
Caribbean for the number of sea
days in comparison with the number of port days. Out of eight days, five were at sea. You
also can't beat the value of a
repositioning cruise.
The Veendam physically has been described in numerous reviews. I won't rehash that. After
a short and efficient
embarkation procedure in Vancouver, I was led by a porter to my stateroom. My cabin was
#10, a full blown suite, with a
huge verandah. When my Travel Agent first told me of the upgrade I was rather shocked. I
had cruised in outside and
inside cabins before, but I'd never been on the top of the ship, as they say. I was still
skeptical during check in, half
expecting them to discover their error and send me to the bowels of the ship where I
belonged. I didn't believe it until I
walked through the door, past the marble and smoked glass bar; past the long curved
sectional sofa, coffee table and
two arm chairs; past the king size bed; past the wall of Birdseye maple drawers; past the
changing room with its mirrored
closets and bathroom with Jacuzzi tub. I believed it when I noticed the toilet was leaking
and running onto the tile
bathroom floor and that the carpet was wet from the closet into the other room. The water
had even seeped onto the
marble floor tiles by the bar, making my first trip across it as close as I want to get to
a skating rink at sea, after all I'm
not Katerina Witt. The cabin steward introduced himself and indicated that he had already
reported the problem.
Before my bags arrive in the room, I walk the perimeter of the ship from the very top deck
to the lowest public deck.
That way you get the feel for the layout and the location of public rooms, and burn off a
few calories in a preemptive
strike against the deluge of food you know will follow. The Statendam Class Ships (the
Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam,
and Veendam) are identical in layout, with minor decorative differences I'm told. They
really do seem vast when you're
standing on the top decks. They are well laid out, with excellent traffic flow from the
public rooms. During the tour you
also get a feel for your fellow passengers. The passenger age was much younger than I had
expected, the average
seemed to be about forty-five. There were even couples with young children. Certainly
there were 'seasoned' citizens
on board, but on the whole this was a fairly lively bunch.
By the time I returned from my ships tour, the toilet was no longer leaking and towels had
been placed all over the floor.
A minor inconvenience. My luggage had arrived so I unpacked using approximately one
quarter of the available closet
and drawer space, and I over packed! As we sailed from Vancouver in the mist and gray and
I did something every solo
traveler should not be afraid to do, ask someone to take your picture, with your own
camera.
Returning to my stateroom I prepared to shower for dinner, and found how they had solved
the toilet leaking problem.
They had turned off the cold water to the cabin. A rather creative approach, but not
conducive to safe bathing. I called
down to the front office, grabbed my shaving kit and headed up to the men's sauna/steam
room where they had two
showers. See, it pays to check out the ship doesn't it? By the time I returned, a crew of
workmen were tearing the toilet
out, which gave me a unique perspective of the ships vacuum waste disposal system.
The first dinner, is a moment of great anticipation, especially for a solo traveler. My
Travel Agent and I had discussed
this at length prior to me leaving. I was leaning towards a round table for eight, because
of better conversation
dynamics. He liked the placement of the six person tables in the room better than the
eight, so that is what I signed up
for. What I got was a table of four, #35. On the second level, next to the stern windows,
by anyone's estimation a power
table. I anxiously awaited the exhilaration of good conversation, the sharing of life
histories, and finding common
ground. Good table companions is one of the key elements of the cruise experience. It is a
bonding process, your
safety valve for the rest of the voyage and in many cases a place to make long term
friends. I arrived promptly at
8:15pm and waited for my table mates. At 8:25 I was still waiting, people were still
filtering in but hope was fading. At
8:30 other tables are getting their appetizers, and I was in the midst of the solo
travelers nightmare. This is when you
paste on the game face. It is a bemused expression, a rye sort of a knowing half smile
with a touch of whimsy in the
eyes. It says, I'm enjoying just watching the world go by. But, I do have to check my
reflection in the windows now and
again to make sure it doesn't slip into a psychopathic mass murderers glare. The waiter
finally brings the menu, 'where
are your friends?' 'I'm traveling alone,' I reply, and only then do I fully realize what
that means. With the lights of Victoria
BC ablaze in the stern windows everyone naturally turns to take in the view. They can't
help but notice me there alone,
like the kid on the sidelines that never gets picked for a game of football. I gamely mug
for the ships photographer with
the stooge pirate, who swoops in during the salad course. After the entree I discreetly
slip out, and corner the maitre'd.
While mentally I would have liked to take him by the lapel's and slammed him against the
wall, I was polite and asked to
be assigned to another table. Later, when I looked at the photos in the gallery I notice
that in all the other picture the
pirate is smiling. For me, he wore a sad expression, I had achieved the pinnacle of pity.
Part of the texture of cruising is finding where you fit in, and who you relate too. For
me one of the most important
aspects of cruising is meeting people, and the under appreciated art of conversation. Like
the saying goes, everyone
has a story to tell. Perhaps I'm an intellectual vampire, but I've never walked away from
a good conversation without
feeling energized. Where is the best place to do that is the question? Like Goldilocks,
tasting porridge and test sleeping
beds I went from bar to bar after my dinner of humiliation. The Explorers Lounge with the
Rosario Strings was a too soft
(classical) the Crows Nest too hot (couplish) and the Ocean Bar, the it's white slacked
dance hosts, too cold (scary).
Don't get me wrong, I don't view dance hosts as moral Neanderthals. They provide a
valuable service to the women who
are traveling alone, or whose husbands don't dance. Perhaps it's the white slacks and
white shoes they are required to
wear. It is a tough look to pull off, even for a poorly dressed golfer. Need I say more? A
few twists and turns later and I'm
in the Piano Bar. 'Just right' says Goldilocks. In there I find conversation,
companionship, laughter, and perhaps the
most pleasant surprise of all, not just a good piano player, but an exceptional one by the
name of Ron Van Dyke.
There is a rhythm to a cruise, you can fill your day with organized activities, or do
nothing. You can eat in the dining
room for breakfast and lunch or choose the cafeteria on the Lido, or pool side hamburger
and make your own taco bar.
You can go to a show, dance, work out in the gym, watch movies, gamble or do a hundred
other things. The rhythm is
time, and how you spend it.
I rise early, and have coffee on one of the side tables on the Lido deck, by the pool. In
the rolling seas of the North
Pacific crossing the Lido deck for the older passengers is a death defying act. Rumor has
it the ships fin stabilizers are
not functioning properly. Although fully deployed there is something wrong with the
computer control that makes the
micro adjustments. In any event, the ship was really rolling, and would do so the entire
voyage. I meet up with (okay,
barge in on, crash, however you want to put it) a Canadian couple, Jim and Joyce who I
bonded with the night before in
the Piano Bar (all right, who I unmercifully attached myself to). They would become my
anchor, reality check and brain
trust for the rest of the journey. We share a few observations then I continue on with the
day. I steer clear of the
organized activities, preferring to walk the lower promenade deck for an hour, continue my
exploration of the ship, read,
watch people, chat, and write. This was to be my routine in the days that followed.
The food is about what I expected. The marks fall generally in the good category. As I had
read in other reviews the
salads at dinner seem to be a weak link, generally slightly wilted and bitter.
Back in suite #10, I do the Cha-cha over the towels on the floor, thinking it will help
absorb the water faster. I know if the
white shoed dance hosts could see me they'd be impressed. Every time I leave the room for
more than thirty minutes
the room steward has placed down new towels. I begin to wonder how he knows when I'm gone.
I notice an envelope on
the coffee table, revised dinner assignment, table 166. I do some checking, 166 is a table
of eight.
This particular Pacific Coast Cruise is broken into segments. Four days to Los Angeles,
where six hundred Canadians
will disembark, and four hundred people will join the cruise, then four days to Acapulco,
with stops in Puerto Vallerta,
and Zihuatanejo. At Acapulco, more people will join the cruise through the Panama Canal
which ends in Ft. Lauderdale.
The Canadian contingent is why the average age is so young. It coincides with their three
day Thanksgiving weekend
and is bargained priced. It is also the reason why Holland America Lines didn't do a
formal night the second night at
sea, which would have been logical and traditional. Instead of having a formal dinner and
the Captains reception they
do an informal night, with sort of a reception. The line I heard was that one particular
tour group of four hundred didn't
have 'appropriate attire.' I'm not sure I buy that, in any event I think they've cheated
the Canadians to an appropriate
Captains reception. This also means they will double up the formal nights out of LA, with
the second being after a port
call in Puerto Vallerta, which is very unusual.
The reception is little more than a photo opportunity, with three separate shots being
taken, one by the atrium glass
sculpture, one with the captain, and one in the lobby of the show room. After that they
hand you a glass of cheap warm
champagne, and take you to a seat while the band plays, no introduction of the bridge
crew, zip, zero, zilch. I take the
three photo's, after all my mother needs something for Christmas, swill the champagne, and
head out the back door, to
brace myself for my second attempt at dinner.
I come in later this time, 8:20pm. If no one is there, I'll look like I forgot something,
turn and flee. Dinner in my room is
preferable to being alone at a table of eight. What I find is one vacant seat, and
everyone engaged in happy
conversation. Yes, I've hit pay dirt. #166 is a great table and the main attraction is a
lovely woman from Vancouver. She
is a widow, who emigrated from Denmark years ago. She speaks with a charming accent,
dresses beautifully and has
jewelry worthy of a Harry Winston advertisement. Her traveling companion also a widow from
Denmark would
occasionally lament, 'butz I never getz to talk, she doez all zee talking.' Some people
have an undefinable power, a star
quality, as if they travel with their own spot light. Later, in the Piano Bar I dub her
'The Queen of Denmark.' The title will
stick throughout the voyage. She is also the reason I was alone at table #35 the night
before. She had received two
dinner assignments, and decided to go too the larger table. Perhaps, I should have slammed
the maitre'd against the
wall.
Ship board friendships grow exponentially the first days out. You make acquaintances, they
introduce you to their
acquaintances, and so on. The fabric of who you know and talk to grows and grows. For the
intellectual vampire, this is
heaven.
In Los Angeles the tone changes completely. I go ashore to make a few phone calls and look
around in San Pedro. Not
too much too see, the little tourist trap village on the waterfront is about fifty percent
vacant and the downtown core
itself is small and unremarkable. It is also blazingly hot. I really didn't hear wonderful
things from the people that took the
tours, and I watched as one man crucified a staff member about how bad the LA tour was. I
don't know how the staff
takes it, especially when the passengers keep repeating the same thing over and over,
thinking they're making some
other point. I thought this particular passenger could have used a little creative
visualization relaxation techniques.
Personally, when he repeated himself for the fourth time I visualized him in the ships
vacuum waste disposal system. It
worked for me, I felt much more relaxed.
Some people rent cars and go on their own, they seem to have a better time. After taking a
long nap, in the company of
a roaring turbo fan (yes, we're still drying the carpet), I go up on deck, and suddenly
wonder if I'm on the right ship.
As of the Canadians have disembarked and many more 'seasoned' travelers get on, along with
a large contingent for a
floating Panama Canal Star Trek convention. George (not quite sure how to spell the last
name here) Tekaki who
played Lt. Sulu is the main draw. The line William Shattner uttered years ago during a
convention keeps coming back to
me ' why don't you people get a life?' I don't understand the Star Trek phenomena, but I
am determined to.
I get my chance at dinner. Since the bulk of table 166 were Canadians we had a new group
after LA. As it would happen
two are with the Convention. 'How many conventions do you go to a year?' I ask one of
them. ' Well, let me preface this
by saying sometimes I work at the merchandising booth with for a friend, but about 40 per
year.' The Queen of Denmark
utters under her breath, 'zhat is a lot.' However, the Trekkie is bright, articulate, well
dressed, and funny. When the
photographer and stooge pirate comes by (for the LA people) she poses like a pro. These
people have a life it seems.
They have good jobs, families, and friends. It is not so much that they live and relive
episodes of a show that went off
the air thirty years ago, but that they have created an extended family and social network
with each other. They are
science fiction fans, like some people are sports fans, opera buffs, or art collectors.
This is their texture, the fabric of
their cruise.
As we head down the Mexican Coast, the heat intensifies, as does the humidity. My verandah
is now rendered almost
useless to me. If I go outside my glasses fog, as does my camera. I'm a northwest boy,
born and raised, when it gets
about eighty degrees I start wilting. The Lido pool even with the Mega Dome open is
stifling. I escape to the salt water
pool on the Navigation Deck. If I'm going to be outside I have to be in the water. I start
to consider the prospect of
extending my trip even if it means giving up my big fancy-smansy suite after Acapulco. The
process puts me between
two worlds, staying on or leaving.
I talk with the Guest Relations Manager, Michelle, about pricing and availability. She
said she would e-mail the Holland
America Lines main office. Being a frequent visitor of the message boards along with
reading every review on Holland
America Line ships, I had seen some less than glowing remarks about the front office
staff. I had made it a point to
observe them interacting with the passengers on this cruise. Now I was in the fray myself.
I began the process of
alerting my office to the possibility of staying on, along with my partner. By the time I
reached Puerto Vallerta, I was
leaning towards staying.
The Puerto Vallerta port call was a study in heat and humidity. I have been many times
before, but the last time was
eleven years ago. There were more large American Hotels, but little else had changed in
the main town itself. I opted
out of the organized tours again, and took a friend I met on board to the beaches in the
old section of town. The high
season for North American tourists doesn't really begin until the middle of November, and
the beach vendors desperate
for dollars were predatory. It is a terrible feeling, the constant assault. They try to
take advantage of your the good
manners, and in the end you have to be flat out rude. It makes you appreciate the ship,
and its protected environment
even more. When I returned to the pier I tried to use the land telephone lines to call
home. They have them set up so
you can't do anything but call collect at six dollars per minute. I realized I should have
used the pay phones in town,
where I could have reached the AT&T operator. Finally, tired and sweating bullets I
went back on the ship to call from
my room. At approximately eight dollars a minute from the ship verses six from shore the
air conditioning in my cabin
more than made up for the two dollar difference. The path was clear, if I wanted to stay
on.
The figures to extend the trip finally arrived. They seemed high to me at first,
considering how little I paid for the first
eight days. Panama Canal transits are much more expensive I'm told. I make another call to
the office, and have my
Administrative Assistant call my Travel Agent, to see if this is the bargain price. I
receive word back that it is. They
showed the room I would have if I stayed on #637, and outside cabin, aft on the main deck.
Certainly not my suite I had
come to know and love but a very well laid out cabin with a love seat and a large window.
I had actually seen a mini suite
and inside cabin of friends I made on the cruise. Frankly, they are all good, well
decorated and larger than you would
think. But once you've been on the top of the boat does that set your expectations? If I
remained on would it be a let
down? Would I be constantly second guessing myself? I continued on with the process
completely torn. My friends Jim
and Joyce thought I might have gotten everything out of the cruise I was going to. Okay,
the brain trust is con. What
does random chance say? I take out a quarter, heads I stay, tails I leave, best three out
of five. I flip five tails in a row.
Okay, I try another five. Four out of five come up tails. I quietly calculate the odds of
that happening with math skills so
deficient I can barely divide. I conclude the odds to be very, very, very high that random
chance says leave. The final
straw, as they say, is that I cannot get a flight out of Ft. Lauderdale until Monday
afternoon, the day after the ship
docks. Since I have an important meeting out of town on Tuesday, staying on is out of the
question.
Throughout the whole 'stay or leave' exercise, I was very impressed by the Guest Relations
Manager. She handled
every question, request and inquiry quickly, courteously, accurately. She took the
initiative, checking available rooms
options, and possible flights. She couldn't have been more polite or professional.
The unintended consequence of 'stay or leave' dilemma was to interfere with the rhythm of
my cruise. When you know
you have a certain number of days of vacation you can time yourself. There is a beginning,
middle and end. For two
and a half days I wasn't sure if where I was, or how to pace myself. If I stayed on there
was also a good chance my liver
would not have made the first lock of the Panama Canal. The end was in sight now, and
mentally you start winding
down. After all I was staying over in Acapulco for a few days after the cruise, so I had
other stuff to look forward too.
Zihuatanejo, is a tender port, since the small fishing village, does not have a pier for
cruise ships. Ten kilometers away
is Ixtapa with it's huge luxury hotels. The morning is again blazingly hot, perhaps ninety
degrees and rising. The
humidity must have been close to one hundred percent. By the time I think about going
ashore, many of the early
tendered passengers are returning, soaked in perspiration. The temperature inside the
tender, which is covered, was
nearly a one hundred ten degrees. Walking around a quaint fishing village might be a
pleasurable experience, but it's
not when you are verging on heat stroke. I stay on board, write, chat with friends, and am
glad I did, as the shore
excursion passengers return to the ship and head straight for the pools in an attempt to
lower their core body
temperature.
This was my last night on the ship, and I pack before heading down to the Piano Bar for my
before dinner ritual. I also
did my notes and tips to those members of the staff that had made this an extremely
pleasurable experience. I DO NOT
LIKE HOLLAND AMERICAS LINE POLICY OF NO TIPPING REQUIRED. You either have tipping, or you
don't. If the tip is
built into the price of the trip, at least you know you are done with it. If not, then you
can use the guidelines of Berlitz
Cruise Guide Book, or what the ship recommends, (which usually is the amount listed in
Berlitz's). What no tipping
required does is either make people think tipping is not allowed, or gives people an
excuse to feel morally justified for
not rewarding good service. Either way, from what I witnessed, the staff is punished. Then
there is the question is it
appropriate to tip the entertainment? In my case the Piano Bar and Ron Van Dyke had been a
mainstay of my voyage.
Although I had bought his C.D. (which is wonderful by the way), I would have preferred
that the trusty old snifter were on
top of the Piano. In this case, I tried to figure how much I would have put in it, in
various level of sobriety and intoxication
and that's what I tipped.
The television show, The Love Boat, has never done justice to the cruise experience. Life
is more than three plot lines
with everything being resolved in one hour. On the Veendam there are literally hundred of
plot lines, fascinating
characters, and a buffet of personalities. Bill, the kilt wearing (for a formal dinner,
but hey, he had the legs for it) Nova
Scotian traveling with his butler Patrick, who, if not one of the ten most sociable people
in the universe, is certainly in
the top twenty. Robert, from LA, with a jet black mustache in contrast to his gray beard,
and living on borrowed time
from cancer with courage and humor. Gill and Rita whose appearance at the formal dinner
after their margarita pushing
catamaran cruise in Puerto Vallerta took herculean fortitude. The list goes on, and on.
Yes, everyone does have a story
to tell, but at sea the stories seem better.
With my bag's packed and outside my stateroom I prepared to leave. At 8:00am the next
morning I dutifully vacated my
room, knowing that at least for the next inhabitants the floor would be dry. Were there
things that were less than
perfect? Of course. But if you have an attitude that focuses on every minor defect, what
kind of cruise are you going to
have? So what if they run out of towels in the men's sauna room at around 4:00pm? Will the
world end because the
shows are amateurish? Will you drop dead if they bring you potatoes at dinner, when you
asked them not too? That is
not what I'll remember. I'll remember the kindness, humor, and insight of the passengers
and crew, for it was the people
that made the cruise memorable.
I disembarked around 9:30am and took a taxi to my hotel, along with a friend who was
staying on until Ft. Lauderdale,
but with whom I would spend the day and go watch the cliff divers of Acapulco. I went up
to my room to drop off my bags
and was somewhat horrified. It was your basic hotel room, no Birdseye maple drawers, no
marble bar. The windows
were steamed over from the air conditioning, which smelled like a flawed system spewing
Legionnaires Disease.
Welcome to the real world.
Name: H. A Holst
Email: Hank1235@aol.com
Age: 63
Occupation: Retired
NumberOfCruises: 3
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Holland-Veendam
SailingDate: 10/31/99
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean
Cabin: 148/B
FoodDiningRoom: 90
CruiseDirector:
CabinComfort: 95
FoodRoomService: 95
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 80
DiningRoomService: 95
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 95
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety: 90
DeckService: 85
ShoreExcValue: 75
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff:
PrivateIsland: 95
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 85
WheelchairAccess: 95
ExerciseFacilities:
EntertShowLounge: 85
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 85
CruiseActivities: 95
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram:
MedicalFacilities:
ShipCleanliness: 95
EmbarkDisembark: 95
DiscoNightclubs: 85
DeckSpace: 90
Stabilization: 75
ShopsOnBoard: 85
SpaceRatio: 90
OverallCruiseValue: 90
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 08 Nov 1999
Time: 13:59:34
Remote Name: spider-wg031.proxy.aol.com
Remote User:
Comments
This was our first cruise on Holland American, as well as the smallest ship (1,266) we've
been on. The first 3 nights out,
primarily in the Atlantic, were a bit uncomfortable due to the unanticipated rolling. We
didn't mind it so much during the
day, but sleeping amid the shuddering of the stabilizers got to be tough. Once into the
Caribbean, it was like sailing on
glass. I'll be paying more attention to sea routing from now on. I can't say enough for
the unobtrusive attentiveness of
our cabin steward. His radar was so finely tuned that if I stopped into my cabin and
flicked an ash into the ashtray, it was
gone by the time I got back. The only cabin complaints I have are the scarcity of
electrical outlets in the bathroom (only
1), and the fact that the fridge ran off of the dresser outlet via an extension cord. We
felt the food quality, variety and
service in the dining room were very good, although so-indicated 'spicy' dishes were
anything but spicy. Meals on the
Lido deck buffets were a disappointment overall, but their pastry/dessert buffets are to
die for. St. Kitts was our first
stop. Our reaction? Why bother. St. Thomas was, as always, a fun place (once my wife
finished shopping). One thing
we did this time was take a 45-minute seaplane ride over the US and British Virgins - Just
fantastic! Great pilot -
Knowledgeable, great sense of humor. Bring the video camera. Half Moon Cay was great. Lots
to do, or if so inclined,
walk that rarest of commodities - a secluded stretch of beach. Entertainment is geared
more to an older crowd (Don't
say it - I know I'm one of them, I just don't feel that way yet). Art auctions and
afternoon tea are just not my style. All in
all, we enjoyed the relaxed, less-crowded atmosphere, and would definitely cruise with HAL
again on a different
itinerary.
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