Cancelling cruise

January 19, 2010

Dear Sir,

I am very disappointed to hear that the Veendam will not be docking in St. George, but will rather be ferrying passengers in.

When I booked this cruise one of the big attractions was the fact the MS Veendam would be docked in St. George. We have no desire to take a 40 minute ferry ride each way. That is not what Holland America promised us.

Holland America caters to a older crowd. We don't want to stand around in lines for a ferry. I would much rather see the Veendam dock in Hamilton for the duration of the cruise. We can take a cab or a bus to St. George and not have to worry about a ferry with 698 other sardines.

It seems like Bermuda would want to welcome cruise ship tourists, not make it more difficult for us. That is what is being accomplished by this ferry idea.

My husband and I are going to cancel our Bermuda vacation because of this. We will go spend it on a different cruise to another destination.

Thank you Bermuda and Holland America.

DEBORAH BRUNING

Carmel, New York

No interest in tender

January 14, 2010

Dear Sir,

I read the opinion of Kim Swan today and felt the need to share my thoughts regarding cruise ships.

My family and I have a reservation on Holland America's MS Veendam for a seven-night cruise to Bermuda in June of this year.

Approximately a month ago the local government in Bermuda told Holland America that the Veendam cannot dock in St. George's because the ship won't fit. Give me a break. Now they want to send us on a 40-minute ferry ride from Murray's Anchorage into St. George? Forget about that nonsense. In addition to the actual travel time, how long do you think it will take to load and unload 700 passengers? What if the weather is bad? Then we will be stuck on board for the whole day.

This option is totally unacceptable, especially for the older passengers that Holland America caters to.

My family and I will be cancelling our reservation soon unless Holland America and the government of Bermuda come up with a reasonable alternative to tendering.

Originally we were to spend a day and a half being docked in St. George before the ship repositions to Hamilton. Why not just dock in Hamilton for the whole cruise and throw this dumb tendering idea out the window? I have no problem getting over to St. George at my own expense from Hamilton. I probably will spend more time and money in St. George this way.

Who was the brain surgeon that said the ship would fit through the channel in the first place?

ADAM M. LEVINE

Franklin Square, New York