Holland America Line ms Veendam

Page 6

Dining

In general, our dining experiences aboard Veendam were above average for the mainstream cruise industry. Meals in the main dining room, the Rotterdam, were very good, with just a few items we were less impressed by. We liked that there was a full vegetarian menu available (though selections needed to be ordered ahead of time), and the selections each evening from Holland America’s “Culinary Council” were mostly very satisfying. The ship’s buffet, the Lido Restaurant, was not large, but we enjoyed most of what we had here.

There are two surcharge restaurants on Veendam. Pinnacle Grill was the place for a very satisfying steak lunch (at just $10), and we returned for the once-a-week dinner tributing New York’s Le Cirque restaurant. At $39, this was on the pricey side and the service was unpolished, but the meal was good (normal dinners at Pinnacle Grill are priced $25). Canaletto, the Italian eatery tacked onto the Lido buffet, was formerly a no-charge dinner option but a $10 surcharge was instituted after our cruise, with a menu upgrade—the jury’s out on this one for now.

	Rotterdam Dining Room	Comfort Food, Vegetarian, International
	Although we had a few misses, most of our meals here were satisfying.
	Lido Restaurant	Comfort Food, Vegetarian, International
	Though crowded at breakfast, Vendam’s buffet restaurant offered a satisfying range of food.
	Canaletto	Italian	$10
	Presto chango—one corner of the Lido buffet is converted into a cozy Italian restaurant each evening.
	Pinnacle Grill	Steakhouse	$25
	The ship’s steakhouse offered the best food of our cruise.
	Terrace Grill	Comfort Food, Mexican, Cookout
	The pool grill was usually a pretty lonely spot.
	Slice and Bar at the Retreat	Pizza
	Veendam’s dedicated pizza parlor was a pretty basic affair.