Veendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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High Expectations But A Huge Disappointment

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Veendam
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bobc1946
2-5 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Sep 2019
Cabin: Verandah Suite

We had high expectations when we booked this cruise! Unfortunately, the cruise was a huge disappointment due to extremely poor management primarily from Guest Services on the ship.

First, let me inform you about the positive aspects on the cruise! Virtually all of the ship's staff that we encountered went above and beyond attempting to make the cruise enjoyable! In particular, our cabin attendants were excellent in attending to our needs the entire cruise! The staff in all the of the eating and dining areas of the ship were very good and all were very helpful and seemingly always had a smile on their face! Food was OK with the food in the dining area lacking but made up in the Lido Market by having a tasty variety of dishes and desserts. The on board entertainment was good with a couple of shows that were fun. We went on four shore excursions with the highlights being the Quebec and Charlottetown tours. We were thoroughly impressed with Charlottetown as it very much reminded us of Ireland! Absolutely the most enjoyable aspect of the entire cruise were the great people we met! We traveled with friends and we participated in a couple of events (Music Trivia and Team Pictionary) in the evening that turned out to be great fun! Also met a couple from Oregon that were lots of fun!

Unfortunately, all of the above positive aspects of the cruise were negated by the following debacle! Upon boarding the ship at 4:00 PM on Sept 21, we proceeded to our cabin. As soon as we entered the hallway we observed some type of machine down the hallway which was making quite a noise. As we approached our cabin, we realized this was a large blower that was right outside of our cabin door. Opening the door we were greeted by another of these large blowers in the entryway of the cabin. I quickly recognized the blower as a large industrial type used to dry out wet areas. The room was configured with two twins pushed together to make a queen size bed. On either side of the bed was suppose to be a night stand but the right side nightstand was removed and placed in front of the dresser on the other side of the room. This was necessary because the first 10 to 12 feet of cabin carpet was soaked in water. As we entered the room, water pushed up around our shoes.

Cabin Review

Verandah Suite

Cabin BA

Except for the flooding issue, the cabin was OK but dated. We were on the Veranda Deck in a Vista Suite. The balcony was nice and offered very good views throughout the cruise. The bed was comfortable. Most of the room contained rather outdated furniture. Our dresser had a large burned spot from a cigarette. No attempt had been made to repair it. Also, the television was an antique with a sticker on the rear stating it had been manufactured in 2006. TV reception was also poor most of the time. Obviously the room seemed very bad from the wet carpet. It is difficult to be positive concerning a cabin that was wet from flooding.

Port Reviews

Sydney (Nova Scotia)

Not much to see or do in Sydney. Went downtown but few shops. Nice coffee shop!

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