Home from HAL and Veendam

We got home from the 14 day Veendam Caribbean circle cruise just fine.
The cruise was unlike any other we've been on. In a nutshell, we had an
acceptable time, but it was nothing to brag about or to try doing again.
HAL's food was the cheapest we've ever encountered on a cruise ship,
served tepid and unseasoned and the seating times were equally terrible.
The shows were adequate, the ship well laid out and comfortable. The
ports of call, except for the "private island" were good- particularly
the ABC islands off the cost of S. America.

The best way to describe their menu selection for any meal was to
imagine the chef being accustomed to spending $15,000 for food to cruise
on for a week. Then, tell him that the cruise is to last 2 weeks and to
not spend anything more. How about fish and chips as a DINNER
selection? I enjoy appetizers and on this cruise only ordered them 3-4
times because of the incredibly poor selection. The ship had much
better fare in the premium dining room, but I'll be darned if I'll pay
for a cruise and then have to pay more to get good food.

HAL's private island was OK, but the food was (again) bland, uninspired,
overcooked, cheap and sparse. I had a minute steak sandwich and
actually fed part of it to the chickens who were circling the tables
looking for crumbs. For people in scooters or wheelchairs, they do have
paved walkway, but don't offer amenities like beach wheelchairs.

I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings with the following comment, but
it needs to be said:

Several people had mentioned that HAL appealed to older cruising fans.
I'd guess that the average age of the folk on the Veendam was over 75.
Seriously. There's nothing wrong with being over 75, and I hope to be
able to enjoy it myself in not-that-many years. However, when it's the
AVERAGE age aboard a ship, expect a parade of walkers, canes,
wheelchairs and scooters at every function. HAL is geared for that, and
it could explain the selection of foods and bland preparation. There
was LOTS of help on the Lido deck with trays and the anticipated slow
elevators. We all age, many of us have physical limitations including
me and my family. However, when everybody seemingly aboard the ship is
handicapped, frail, sickly, deaf, crippled or confused, you feel like
you're in a floating nursing home. The food complimented that illusion.

IMHO, some of the better cruises we've enjoyed have had a blend of
passengers ranging from children to the infirm. When virtually
everybody is infirm, I just don't care for it. It's like going on a
single interest-type of cruise, where I don't feel I'm ready to join the
"interest," whatever it might be. Fortunately, we were eventually
seated with grandparents who had a 3-year old grandson along. It made
dinners a lot more enjoyable. At the pool, the only young people we saw
were staff or cast members.

On the plus side, the ship itself was very comfortable. We had a
typical inside (non-handicapped) cabin and the door was adequate for
Mrs. Nonny's scooter. Even inside the cabin, there was room for us to
walk around without having to step over the scooter. The bath was fine,
storage was very adequate and the cabin Steward efficient and invisible.
The ship appeared well maintained, and Purell was everywhere. Unlike
the NCL cruise we took, they left the dispensers up to the end of the
cruise, not just removing them in time for the incubation period to end.
The ship's Nurse was from an area I knew well from childhood and we saw
him frequently in the ship. He told me that they had several GI
problems, but that the cruise had been fairly trouble free with just one
emergency evacuation (by CG).

One of the best parts (outside of their "private island") was that the
ports of call were varied. None had aggressive vendors, and tendering
or docking was handled efficiently. There were many, many of the older
folk with scooters, walkers, canes etc. needing assistance, but the
Veendam had a large hydraulic dock that was lowered to give room to load
the devices into the tenders. Lines naturally moved slowly with so many
folk needing assistance, but there was also a long time in port. Folk
taking excursions had priority, which made sense.

I'm sure I'll catch flak from some for my observations of the passenger
age aboard the Veendam, but it was a part of the cruise that needed
mentioning. It certainly influenced the time getting elevators, getting
on-off of elevators, the speed of the Lido deck line, congestion in
hallways, speed of getting on-off tenders and most certainly the food
selection and seasoning. On the plus side, there were many good people
to chat with, little pretension and a sense of community. Personally, I
prefer a cruise with more families, teens, youngsters and working
people, since I like the variety and am not ready for a nursing home, yet.

I also want to mention how nice the Tampa port is, compared to Miami and
Ft. Lauderdale. Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth, the
facilities were nice and spacious and there were things to do (food and
aquarium) just outside the port facility.

Well, that's the report on the Veendam. For my future reference, I
heartily endorse Tampa as a port facility, but think we'll stick with
RCCL, Carnival and the other "middle aged" ships for the forseeable future.

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

snipped

I'm sure I'll catch flak from some for my observations of the passenger
age aboard the Veendam, but it was a part of the cruise that needed
mentioning. It certainly influenced the time getting elevators, getting
on-off of elevators, the speed of the Lido deck line, congestion in
hallways, speed of getting on-off tenders and most certainly the food
selection and seasoning. On the plus side, there were many good people to
chat with, little pretension and a sense of community. Personally, I
prefer a cruise with more families, teens, youngsters and working people,
since I like the variety and am not ready for a nursing home, yet.

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

Personal observation of Hal, We noticed the prunes was the first item to
disappear from the buffet in the mornings. Being able to get a stretcher at
the pool at any time of the day was no problem at all.

James

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
We got home from the 14 day Veendam Caribbean circle cruise just fine. The
cruise was unlike any other we've been on. In a nutshell, we had an
acceptable time, but it was nothing to brag about or to try doing again.
HAL's food was the cheapest we've ever encountered on a cruise ship,
served tepid and unseasoned and the seating times were equally terrible.
The shows were adequate, the ship well laid out and comfortable. The
ports of call, except for the "private island" were good- particularly the
ABC islands off the cost of S. America.

The best way to describe their menu selection for any meal was to imagine
the chef being accustomed to spending $15,000 for food to cruise on for a
week. Then, tell him that the cruise is to last 2 weeks and to not spend
anything more. How about fish and chips as a DINNER selection? I enjoy
appetizers and on this cruise only ordered them 3-4 times because of the
incredibly poor selection. The ship had much better fare in the premium
dining room, but I'll be darned if I'll pay for a cruise and then have to
pay more to get good food.

HAL's private island was OK, but the food was (again) bland, uninspired,
overcooked, cheap and sparse. I had a minute steak sandwich and actually
fed part of it to the chickens who were circling the tables looking for
crumbs. For people in scooters or wheelchairs, they do have paved
walkway, but don't offer amenities like beach wheelchairs.

I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings with the following comment, but it
needs to be said:

Several people had mentioned that HAL appealed to older cruising fans. I'd
guess that the average age of the folk on the Veendam was over 75.
Seriously. There's nothing wrong with being over 75, and I hope to be
able to enjoy it myself in not-that-many years. However, when it's the
AVERAGE age aboard a ship, expect a parade of walkers, canes, wheelchairs
and scooters at every function. HAL is geared for that, and it could
explain the selection of foods and bland preparation. There was LOTS of
help on the Lido deck with trays and the anticipated slow elevators. We
all age, many of us have physical limitations including me and my family.
However, when everybody seemingly aboard the ship is handicapped, frail,
sickly, deaf, crippled or confused, you feel like you're in a floating
nursing home. The food complimented that illusion.

IMHO, some of the better cruises we've enjoyed have had a blend of
passengers ranging from children to the infirm. When virtually everybody
is infirm, I just don't care for it. It's like going on a single
interest-type of cruise, where I don't feel I'm ready to join the
"interest," whatever it might be. Fortunately, we were eventually seated
with grandparents who had a 3-year old grandson along. It made dinners a
lot more enjoyable. At the pool, the only young people we saw were staff
or cast members.

On the plus side, the ship itself was very comfortable. We had a typical
inside (non-handicapped) cabin and the door was adequate for Mrs. Nonny's
scooter. Even inside the cabin, there was room for us to walk around
without having to step over the scooter. The bath was fine, storage was
very adequate and the cabin Steward efficient and invisible. The ship
appeared well maintained, and Purell was everywhere. Unlike the NCL
cruise we took, they left the dispensers up to the end of the cruise, not
just removing them in time for the incubation period to end. The ship's
Nurse was from an area I knew well from childhood and we saw him
frequently in the ship. He told me that they had several GI problems, but
that the cruise had been fairly trouble free with just one emergency
evacuation (by CG).

One of the best parts (outside of their "private island") was that the
ports of call were varied. None had aggressive vendors, and tendering or
docking was handled efficiently. There were many, many of the older folk
with scooters, walkers, canes etc. needing assistance, but the Veendam had
a large hydraulic dock that was lowered to give room to load the devices
into the tenders. Lines naturally moved slowly with so many folk needing
assistance, but there was also a long time in port. Folk taking
excursions had priority, which made sense.

I'm sure I'll catch flak from some for my observations of the passenger
age aboard the Veendam, but it was a part of the cruise that needed
mentioning. It certainly influenced the time getting elevators, getting
on-off of elevators, the speed of the Lido deck line, congestion in
hallways, speed of getting on-off tenders and most certainly the food
selection and seasoning. On the plus side, there were many good people to
chat with, little pretension and a sense of community. Personally, I
prefer a cruise with more families, teens, youngsters and working people,
since I like the variety and am not ready for a nursing home, yet.

I also want to mention how nice the Tampa port is, compared to Miami and
Ft. Lauderdale. Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth, the
facilities were nice and spacious and there were things to do (food and
aquarium) just outside the port facility.

Well, that's the report on the Veendam. For my future reference, I
heartily endorse Tampa as a port facility, but think we'll stick with
RCCL, Carnival and the other "middle aged" ships for the forseeable
future.

---Nonnymus---

Well, I have to say this review surprises me more than a little. We did our
first HAL cruise in 1990, when my wife was 44 and I turned 48 on that trip.
Since then we have done 9 more HAL cruises (124 more days), and it's fair to
say that we are slowly growing into HAL's demographic.
But the high average age never bothered us. The upside is fewer
over-boisterous booze-absorbing extroverts, less noise in the cabins, and a
general civility that is missing on some of the others.
As to the food, maybe you were just unlucky, or maybe you have a taste for
highly spiced and seasoned foods. There is little doubt that HAL's food is
a little more bland than on cruise lines that are geared toward the
30-somethings. In our 10 HAL cruises, we have always liked the food,
including our most recent HAL cruise on the Ryndam in 2006. But then, I'm
just a meat and potatoes guy, and I'm put off by the startling amount of
garlic and hot spices that so many restaurants seem to put in everything
these days. And I have to say, HAL can do a prime rib roast or a steak
better than most.
Our most recent cruise was on the Celebrity Constellation. We booked
Celebrity because of the constant reviews that extolled their food, but I
have to say their food was mediocre on that cruise. Sometimes it was
excellent, and other times inedible. The inconsistency, especially in their
preparation of beef was amazing... melt-in-your mouth medium-rare one night,
tough as shoe leather then next. We socialized with a large number of
repeat Celebrity cruisers who were not thrilled either, telling us NOT to
judge Celebrity by this admittedly below-par experience. So we have booked
another Celebrity cruise and we'll see. I'll give them another chance.
Maybe your refusal to consider HAL in the future is somewhat hasty based on
one experience.

I have no idea what your previous cruise history has been, but if you think
about it, you are much more likely to find an older demographic on longer
cruises as well as on cruises that take place during normal school periods.

I also was somewhat taken aback by your vocal intolerance of being delayed
here and there (or even everywhere) by disabled people, especially since one
of your group was apparently in need of a scooter. I can understand your
frustration sometimes, as we have experienced it too, but your comments
strike me as NIMBYism at its worst. I don't know why you go on a cruise,
but I go on a cruise to relax, so what's the big deal about some slow lines
and delays?

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
We got home from the 14 day Veendam Caribbean circle cruise just fine. The
cruise was unlike any other we've been on. In a nutshell, we had an
acceptable time, but it was nothing to brag about or to try doing again.
HAL's food was the cheapest we've ever encountered on a cruise ship,
served tepid and unseasoned and the seating times were equally terrible.

Did you have problems with the Depends leaking in the hot tub this
trip?

Mrs NONNY'S scooter was one of the ones rolling around on the ship.


cruise lover

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
We got home from the 14 day Veendam Caribbean circle cruise just fine. The
cruise was unlike any other we've been on. In a nutshell, we had an
acceptable time, but it was nothing to brag about or to try doing again.
HAL's food was the cheapest we've ever encountered on a cruise ship,
served tepid and unseasoned and the seating times were equally terrible.

Jean....

What's up with this? This is the HAL you've been trying to get us on????

Hmmm.... LOL...

Hey Nonny... did you find out where they hide the old people... that's what
Charles says they do.

--Tom

"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
We got home from the 14 day Veendam Caribbean circle cruise just fine. The
cruise was unlike any other we've been on. In a nutshell, we had an
acceptable time, but it was nothing to brag about or to try doing again.
HAL's food was the cheapest we've ever encountered on a cruise ship,
served tepid and unseasoned and the seating times were equally terrible.
The shows were adequate, the ship well laid out and comfortable. The
ports of call, except for the "private island" were good- particularly the
ABC islands off the cost of S. America.

The best way to describe their menu selection for any meal was to imagine
the chef being accustomed to spending $15,000 for food to cruise on for a
week. Then, tell him that the cruise is to last 2 weeks and to not spend
anything more.

Hey Nonny... with you on board, maybe that was their attempt at "Fiscal
Conservatism" just for you.... LOL!!!

--Tom

Tio Pedro wrote:
"Nonnymus" wrote in message
...
We got home from the 14 day Veendam Caribbean circle cruise just fine. The
cruise was unlike any other we've been on. In a nutshell, we had an
acceptable time, but it was nothing to brag about or to try doing again.
HAL's food was the cheapest we've ever encountered on a cruise ship,
served tepid and unseasoned and the seating times were equally terrible.

Did you have problems with the Depends leaking in the hot tub this
trip?



Nope- I switched to the swim Depends, and they held up well. Thanks for
remembering.

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

"Tom K" wrote in message
...

Jean....
What's up with this? This is the HAL you've been trying to get us on????

Hmmm.... LOL...


Hey Tom! Not this way on any of the HAL cruises that we have taken....I KNEW
I would hear from you or Charles! ;-)
Seriously, we have never experienced this and the food has always been
excellent on HAL...I just think Nonny did not have any of us around to keep
him hopping and happy! That will teach you, Nonny....next time come along
with Erm & us and the cruise buddies with whom you have always sailed!!!

I think the 14 days and right after the holidays may have been the reason
for more elderly passengers. But no matter...I still like HAL...especially
to Alaska! And Tom, I STILL will try to get you and Charles on one...Jeff
has been on several and he can tell you the same!

--Jean---thinks Nonny was just tired and having post cruise blues. vbg

Jean O'Boyle wrote:

--Jean---thinks Nonny was just tired and having post cruise blues. vbg


Hi, Jean. I actually waited a day after typing my comments before
sending them, since they were possibly controversial and also went
against what some others had said about HAL. Yes, it could have been the
time of year or the fact that it was a 2-week cruise. Nope, it wasn't
just my personal observations, but those of the others in our group and
the (few) fellow passengers our age. It wasn't so much an "age" thing,
but one of very cheap food, food with little or no flavor/seasoning,
terrible dinner seating and show times, ho-hum entertainment and a ship
that seemed to be filled with some very infirm people and very few even
our age.

As I mentioned, I don't enjoy any type of single interest cruise. Nope-
HAL is probably off my playlist for the time being. We've done HAL in
Alaska before, and prefer Princess over HAL there as well. It was the
only cruise we've taken in almost 20 years where we have agreed that we
wouldn't care to return. We'd be happy to join the gang on about any
other cruise, but not likely HAL anymore.

To give you an idea of the attitude of some other passengers, one lady
commented to Mrs. Nonny, "Only 3 days left," when she passed by on the
way to her table. Mrs. Nonny asked what she meant. She wasn't saying
it with sadness, but a desire for the cruise and bland food to end. She
said that the first thing she planned to do upon returning to FL was to
visit a Mexican restaurant or any other restaurant that had some spices
in the food.

On the plus side, the ship was quite nice and the ports of call interesting.

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son