FlaMariner

I asked the cruise consultant on board the Nieuw Statendam last week: "When will Europe 2024 be released?" Answer...somewhat paraphrased: "We do not know, could be anytime or later or much later....we just do not know and they have been short staffed" (I felt like she had gotten this question a lot)

Her Majesty and I were on the Rotterdam TA October 2021 (maiden voyage) and we could not stop in the Azores due to weather so we went 9 days at sea and did just fine. Her Majesty is one that I was concerned about the reaction to that many sea days and all was well. Between the gym, thermal suite, trivia, different restaurants, promenade deck walking, reading, spa treatments, pool, hot tub, afternoon tea, EXC talks, casino, afternoon Lincoln Center, evening entertainment, naps, shopping, sunning on the top deck, movies on the lido at night, movies in the room.......so much to do but my advice is to go for variety and re-shuffle the deck of activities daily. Never the same ole same ole.... The days flew by.

Just got off the Nieuw Statendam after two 7 day B2B cruises. Awesome time. For week 1, we got our tiles. For week 2, we got a letter telling us no more tiles but hang on to this letter and get it on your next cruise. Makes sense that the tiles should be given to those who want them and just not handed out to all Mariners....Some Mariners do not value the benefit and others think the entire cruise depends on getting "my tile". We are somewhere in between. lol. We love them but can leave them.

Just off two weeks on the Nieuw Statendam.....("milk run" 7 day jaunts to the Caribbean) It's called "Dressy" night. Not "gala" anymore. There is no need for a jacket, tie or much less a suit or tux....unless you want to wear one. I saw it all in the MDR at dinner.....including shorts, tux, Hawaiian shirts, polo shirts, sports coats, long sleeve dress shirts and on and on. ......on dressy night and casual night....it seemed to not matter much anymore. My advice is wear what you want as long as you meet the HAL minimum standards and have fun......do try to get out of the shorts for dinner....even though that is not acceptable it was.

For cruise payment/deposit I email the gift card to my TA and she applies them. For onboard credit, I visit guest services and they apply it to my onboard account.

@Gardyloo That's an awesome alternative.....I found the website and going to play around with it.....From what I gather thus far, you have a year to fly around the world.....Need the trip around Earth to coincide with the bucket list and the Holland America Line cruises! Thanks for the suggestion. Now to get to a spreadsheet.

Flying from Tokyo to Orlando (or somewhere nearby..not opposed to MIA if a deal) in October after a trans-pacific cruise and a week touring Japan. We are newbies to Asia. Can I get some advice on how best to cross the Pacific in a plane? Points to consider: Looking always for best price....but not interested in flying for 2 days (economy coach is fine...we don't pay for extra legroom, sofa beds, fine wine, etc) Concerned about the long flight time....do folks consider a connection on the west coast to stretch your legs and then connect onward or just take the medicine and get there? Any stop over experience (like Icelandair offers to Europe) where we could hang out in Fiji or somewhere along the way? Use cruise air (already seeing a tempting $726 flight on Air Canada that routes us to Montreal, Toronto and then Orlando...yikes, see bullet one....oh Canada!) Doesn't have to be Tokyo for departure....perhaps other Japan cities are worth touring and then flying from? Good excuse to take a bullet train and add a city. Thanks for tossing your comments my way. Always benefit from the experienced folks on cruise critic who have already blazed the trail.

When we have been on 7 day cruises, the passes were for 7 days. When we have been on 14 day cruises, the passes were for 14 days.

Ask these guys....They were cheap enough for our 11/30/22 all day tour of Puerto Plata....from Amber Cove and I bet they could help you. https://www.rvtours.info/2017/01/puerto-plata-city-tour.html

Yes, use these guys...we did 11/30/22. Great price and great tour. https://www.rvtours.info/2017/01/puerto-plata-city-tour.html

We used these folks 11/30/22 to get around and have a great tour of Puerta Plata......Also met them "outside the gate" of Amber Cove....pre-arranged. Great price and great tour. https://www.rvtours.info/2017/01/puerto-plata-city-tour.html

Here is the link again for RV Tours...see if this works. They are great. We used them 11/30/22. https://www.rvtours.info/2017/01/puerto-plata-city-tour.html

We were just there last week.....11/30/22. We walked outside the gate to meet our tour (excellent, BTW, RV Tours. https://www.rvtours.info/2017/01/puerto-plata-city-tour.html) There were taxis and other tour companies there. Given the price we paid for an independent tour from RV Tours (very reasonable, IMO), you may want to reach out to them to pre-arrange your taxi/tour.

We just did this 11/30/22. Fantastic tour w/RV Tours. And very reasonably priced especially for an independent tour. There were 4 of us and we had a friendly guide and driver. They took us to the skylift, the Jesus statue, the rum distillery ($9 bottles to take home!), the chocolate factory (brought home a huge bag of organic coco for a few dollars), the jewelry factory, the cigar factory, the downtown area w/the church and to a fun beachside restaurant with $7 Pina coladas....LOL... They were willing to change the tour up to whatever we wanted. They also knew how to avoid the ship buses at each spot and seemed to have an in with the establishments to get us in and to the front of any queue. We did request a grocery stop and they took us to a local grocery store where you can load up on the Santo Domingo coffee for $6 a pound...the same thing they sell for double that at Amber Cove. Tip them well....They are good...Fun time had by all!

Just returned from two great weeks cruising the Caribbean on the Holland America Line Nieuw Statendam. In St Thomas..... thought I would "pay it back" to cruise critic and pass along the great experience we had with Catania Yacht Charters. I did find him from this board. There were 6 of us (ages 26 to 81) and Capt Ocean Petersen hosted us on his wooden sailboat. Fantastic sail from Red Hook to St John. Learned lots from the Capt about the area...geography, pirates, Epstein (ugh), St John's, wooden sailboats, pirates, etc.. Also, the drinks flowed (great Pain Killer cocktail) with a variety. He had all the snorkel stuff and took us to an isolated St John's beach. Plenty of room for the six of us and I got lots of "way to go Dad/son/husband"for this excursion. We did the half day tour and it came with a great price and fun adventure. Just right for us. Great captain. Reach out to him at www.cataniacharters.com

Yes.

MDR was available from 12 to 1pm embarkation day on our just completed 11/19 and 11/26 Nieuw Statendam sailings. We enjoyed it both sailings. As @FlorenceItalyexperienced, it was not advertised except on the "when and where" section where events are listed by time of day.

We dis-embarked yesterday from the Nieuw Statendam (11/26/22). I paid $178 for 7 days (bought onboard). Her Majesty paid $290.60 for a combo deal they were selling during the embarkation spa tour. She got the 7 day thermal pass and a facial treatment (the 18% tip for the treatment was included). She said it saved $135 vs buying the thermal pass and facial treatment stand alone. BTW, the spa (and cruise) were awesome. Everything in the spa worked. Went at least 1x sometimes 2x.....It's our fun splurge. Never had difficulty securing a heated lounge or having room in the pool. She said it saved $90 bucks.

at Port Everglades on 11/19 we boarded the Nieuw Statendam. Our boarding time was 1:40pm. We arrived at 9:30am and and were in boarding group 1 and boarded at 11:30am. Boarding time did not matter nor was it referenced. No sitting at the curb in Port Everglades......They are happy to see you and welcome you onboard.

Was on the Nieuw Statendam 11/19/22 cruise and we docked at Havensight.

We were on the Nieuw Statendam with our 20 something daughter for two weeks (all over the Caribean)...dis-embarked today (12/3) She is a blogger and her life seems to depend on the internet and she seems to need it to exist. She did fine. Said it was slow sometimes but she was able to post and do whatever it is that she needs the internet to do. And she was attached to it a lot. I think if it did not work I would have heard about it and she would have probably jumped ship. She was fine.

Don't come that early.....go to brunch or whatever and then when you are ready to board the ship just show up and board the ship. Just do so before final boarding! (We are all about getting onboard early and getting settled in......and enjoying lunch)

Boarded the Nieuw Statendam in Port Everglades on 11/19. Our boarding time was 1:40pm. We arrived at 9:30am and were welcomed in and received boarding group 1. We never waited in a line. Kept walking until we found our seat. Boarding began at 11:30am and that was the time we boarded. As is with HAL, our room was ready upon boarding. Lunch in the MDR at noon. Awesome cruise. We are "regular" passengers with no early boarding perks or suites......Inside cabin. Welcome back onboard Holland America Line.

888.628.8107 But you must follow the rules.... 1. Have booking number 2. Have credit card 3. Have deck plan 4. Be ready to make a decision (calling back after checking w/the spouse may mean not available anymore) 5. Do not dilly dally on the phone as others are waiting Good luck!

We use the same TA as OP and our experience is they do not routinely forward upsells...(You may get in trouble for mentioning the TA name on here....that is a big no-no so just be aware) ....I did plead with the TA to be on the lookout for upsells and she did call us on our recent booking. Nevertheless, I'd follow @Mary229advice above....and follow her directions. That is what we do and we sometime get a good deal. Welcome to Holland America Line. You picked a great cruise line and awesome ship........