Holland America Line Veendam Cruise Review

Western Caribbean on the Holland America Veendam

This cruise was a nightmare. In over 20 years of cruising we have never had a bad time, until, of course, we took our entire family on a Thanksgiving cruise to celebrate our son in law's safe return from a year in Iraq. Instead of a relaxing stress free journey of pampered luxury, we felt like we were held hostage on broken down tug boat. The Holland America Line (HAL) knew when we left port that one of the two propellers on the Veendam was not working and the ship would not be going to all the four ports as expected. As if that wasn't bad enough, the air conditioning in all three of the cabins we booked was not working (a suite, balcony, and inside stateroom). If we went out in the hallways, the stench of backed up toilets permeated the air in many places since the sewage lines were not working correctly either. Except for the last day, our suite was not cleaned until almost 2pm daily. We had to beg to get our water and iced tea glasses filled in!

The dining room and the entertainment was so bad we left early from three of the shows. The compensation offered passengers for the two missed ports was $150 per person and 25% off a future HAL cruise. As if we will ever entrust ourselves to their judgment again! What if the other propeller had quit? We would have been marooned, or if there had been rough seas, I am not sure we would have been safe at half power. Had they offered us a choice before we got onboard, I would have taken a full refund and spent the ten grand for a really good time at Disney World instead of suffering through a week on their awful "DAM" ship. The saddest part of this experience is that my son-in-law never wants to go on a cruise again. Shame on Holland America.