Live from Nieuw Statendam Premier Voyage, December 2018

[kazu]

7 minutes ago, sailingdutchy said:

I am just sitting behind my computer after returning home and reading this wonderful "Live from the Nieuw Statendam Premier Voyage from A to Z " and enjoying our wonderful cruise all over again and I will try to construct " The Credits " and pay homage to the deserving cast .

 

This of coarse has to start by thanking the very well experienced crew of The Nieuw Statendam. We were told they come from about 45 different nations all over the world , just to name a few that we encountered were of coarse starting for a large part with people from Indonesia , The Philippines and The Netherlands but also from Thailand, Brazil , Belgium , Serbia , Croatia ,the USA, Spain ,Hungary ,Tunisia  and many , many more , I wished I knew all of their countries , they all deserve credit . As always I met many great "Old Friends " from the crew from other cruises.

 

In comparison to the Premier voyage of the Koningsdam this "New Built " was totally ready for us , there were very few hick ups that I can think of thanks to the very hard working crew under the direction of the "New Built Captain " whose name escapes me , of Captain Sybe de Boer ( who almost nobody had tagged as the "Take out Captain " ) and a lot of other experienced people who were involved in Venice right from the start.

 

There were many high lights during these first couple of weeks for me and I will just mention a few . The coffee talks with the CD Ross and the Captain , the Chief Engineer and the Hotel Director were a lot of fun . The two talks from Captain Albert on the Main Stage , one on the history of cruising and the different ships and another on the 145 year HAL history were fantastic . For me the performances of the "Quintet " on the Lincoln Center Stage were wonderful and so were the performances of the dancers on the Main Stage .

 

Almost every evening we enjoyed one of the Specialty Restaurants and many had made changes in their menu's which is very nice specially if you cruise on the HAL ships 3 or 4 times a year and have a chance to try out different dishes , there were improvements and also a few losses of my favourites.

Critique I also have a little bit . On this New Class of ships there is very little or none of the rich history of Holland America to be seen , I find the dropping of  "The Halve Maen " out of the logo is totally wrong and there are no Captain Card's paintings to be seen only "Modern Art " . Is that celebrating 145 years of HAL ????

My other big criticism is the incredible loud voiume of music on the "Music Row " it sometimes just blows you away and at some venues it is hard to just sit , listen to the music and enjoy a beverage without getting a head or an earache . They almost chase you away ......

I know this is all my personal taste and feeling and I realize it is very incomplete so please take that as it is .

 

Last but not least  I would like to thank my friends Ann , Sherita and Tim who have taken the time and trouble to give a lot of information to CC'ers who will cruise on this ship in the future an inside . Thank you for all the beautiful pictures and all of the comments . 

Up to the next adventure in 2019 . 

 

Tony , Sailingdutchy 

 

 

 

 

Thanks kindly Tony, for sharing your impressions.

 

I was sad to hear there were none of Captain Card's art on display.  To me, they are part of HAL's tradition.

 

Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

 

See you in April at the Fado show 🙂 

[Btimmer]

Re: Stephen Card paintings I asked the question in the coffee chat with art person, but the answer was unsatisfying.

 

The character of the cruise changed dramatically in FLL on turn around day.  I continue to have billing issues with my account re: specialty restaurant dining charges.

[Vict0riann]

49 minutes ago, Btimmer said:

 I continue to have billing issues with my account re: specialty restaurant dining charges.

 

My main complaint (actually only complaint) on my survey I filled out today.  

[Copper10-8]

Perhaps Captain Card is no longer painting his large beauties.............

[Btimmer]

24 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

My main complaint (actually only complaint) on my survey I filled out today.  

Panka and John at the front desk have told me it's a system problem (running parallel systems)  and the discounts have to be manually adjusted.  Also Gelato was dropped from the specialty restaurant discount list for the 4 day cruise.

[Vict0riann]

1 minute ago, Btimmer said:

Panka and John at the front desk have told me it's a system problem (running parallel systems)  and the discounts have to be manually adjusted.  Also Gelato was dropped from the specialty restaurant discount list for the 4 day cruise.

 

We were refused the gelato discount on the 14-day...  We were told the original problem was the new system of tapping the cards, instead of swiping, but Explorations and Dutch Cafe had it figured out.  The internet discount appeared without asking, but we had to bring the laundry, and all the specialty restaurants to their attention, multiple times.

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

we had to bring the laundry, and all the specialty restaurants to their attention, multiple times.

 

As I prepare to embark the Nieuw Statendam in early January, his news does not sound encouraging.

[Vict0riann]

Someone said it would just take a couple of lines of code to make the program recognize the stars!

 

  Another problem as part of it was that the Navigator app was hard to decipher and it was much easier with a printout- but the kiosk was not on board, so you had to go to the Front Desk to get a printout, figure out what was wrong, and then go back to the Front Desk to let them know what needed to be done.  Then when it wasn’t done, you had to go back the next day to remind...

 

I hope those lines of code  have been installed and there is a kiosk on board now.  

[taxmantoo]

45 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

 

I hope those lines of code  have been installed and there is a kiosk on board now.  

 

The kiosk on the Koningsdam is not really an improvement to the system either.  If you compare your onboard account folio as per the kiosk print, the Navigator application or a front desk printout, you will notice they are ALL different ...  It is often impossible to reconcile them all (... even for a retired tax man ...).

Edited December 22, 2018 by taxmantoo

[Vict0riann]

16 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

 

The kiosk on the Koningsdam is not really an improvement to the system either.  If you compare your onboard account folio as per the kiosk print, the Navigator application or a front desk printout, you will notice they are ALL different ...  It is often impossible to reconcile them all (... even for a retired tax man ...).

 

Just eek!

[VitaminSea53]

Following.... 🙂. We are on her this coming May. 

[VitaminSea53]

Does anyone have pics of the MDR menu for several nights so that I can gauge whether I will want to do Specialty restaurants instead?

 

Also will be traveling with a Vegan. Any comments on the food choices available in Lido or MDR for Vegans?  (Vegetarian but no dairy)

 

Thanks. 

[Sir PMP]

On 12/21/2018 at 3:01 PM, Copper10-8 said:

Perhaps Captain Card is no longer painting his large beauties.............

 

Now you have Appie talking, that'a a piece of art too...

[Vict0riann]

18 hours ago, VitaminSea53 said:

Does anyone have pics of the MDR menu for several nights so that I can gauge whether I will want to do Specialty restaurants instead?

 

Also will be traveling with a Vegan. Any comments on the food choices available in Lido or MDR for Vegans?  (Vegetarian but no dairy)

 

Thanks. 

Sorry, I only have the menus from two of the gala nights, and they were pretty much what they always have, an abbreviated choice.  We had a vegetarian in our group, and she was usually given a copy of the following day's menu so she could choose, and frequently a chef would discuss with her what would be suitable, or what they could modify for her.  Vegan is a bit more difficult, I know because our son is vegan and he's a nuisance!

 

We ate every evening in a specialty restaurant, except those two gala nights, and one evening in the Lido.  I would say Sel de Mer only has one vegetarian dish, a cheese soufflé, but you might get some vegan stuff in Tamarind, also Lido, probably.  Dutch Cafe had a quiche, eggs and cheese again.  

 

I would suggest your vegan might have to discuss with the chef!

[Vict0riann]

A suggestion - you might have a look at Crew News' scans of the menus on the Koningsdam that are on his report on CC - they will probably be similar.

[anaco_angler]

VictOrian, welcome home to the Great Pacific Northwest. We are neighbors, living in Anacortes. I want to thank you, scluvsrain and btimmer for the wonderful, informative blogs. You all spent much time posting photos and commenaries and you were extremely patient answering questions. We will not be on NS until Sep '19 but you have certainly whetted our appetite. You have provided so many details but I tried not to get too lost in them, wanting to save things to be discovered. Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas season and good health in the New Year.

Dennis

[Vict0riann]

Thanks, Dennis, and everyone, for the kind words.  It was fun doing my first "live from", but I think it is also my last, DH says he felt very neglected, and I'm not to do it any more!

 

Merry Christmas to all, and a Happy Cruising New Year!

[scluvsrain]

2 hours ago, anaco_angler said:

VictOrian, welcome home to the Great Pacific Northwest. We are neighbors, living in Anacortes. I want to thank you, scluvsrain and btimmer for the wonderful, informative blogs. You all spent much time posting photos and commenaries and you were extremely patient answering questions. We will not be on NS until Sep '19 but you have certainly whetted our appetite. You have provided so many details but I tried not to get too lost in them, wanting to save things to be discovered. Wishing everyone a blessed Christmas season and good health in the New Year.

Dennis

It was a labor of love!!

[Tennessee Titan]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 12:58 PM, sailingdutchy said:

I am just sitting behind my computer after returning home and reading this wonderful "Live from the Nieuw Statendam Premier Voyage from A to Z " and enjoying our wonderful cruise all over again and I will try to construct " The Credits " and pay homage to the deserving cast .

 

This of coarse has to start by thanking the very well experienced crew of The Nieuw Statendam. We were told they come from about 45 different nations all over the world , just to name a few that we encountered were of coarse starting for a large part with people from Indonesia , The Philippines and The Netherlands but also from Thailand, Brazil , Belgium , Serbia , Croatia ,the USA, Spain ,Hungary ,Tunisia  and many , many more , I wished I knew all of their countries , they all deserve credit . As always I met many great "Old Friends " from the crew from other cruises.

 

In comparison to the Premier voyage of the Koningsdam this "New Built " was totally ready for us , there were very few hick ups that I can think of thanks to the very hard working crew under the direction of the "New Built Captain " whose name escapes me , of Captain Sybe de Boer ( who almost nobody had tagged as the "Take out Captain " ) and a lot of other experienced people who were involved in Venice right from the start.

 

There were many high lights during these first couple of weeks for me and I will just mention a few . The coffee talks with the CD Ross and the Captain , the Chief Engineer and the Hotel Director were a lot of fun . The two talks from Captain Albert on the Main Stage , one on the history of cruising and the different ships and another on the 145 year HAL history were fantastic . For me the performances of the "Quintet " on the Lincoln Center Stage were wonderful and so were the performances of the dancers on the Main Stage .

 

Almost every evening we enjoyed one of the Specialty Restaurants and many had made changes in their menu's which is very nice specially if you cruise on the HAL ships 3 or 4 times a year and have a chance to try out different dishes , there were improvements and also a few losses of my favourites.

Critique I also have a little bit . On this New Class of ships there is very little or none of the rich history of Holland America to be seen , I find the dropping of  "The Halve Maen " out of the logo is totally wrong and there are no Captain Card's paintings to be seen only "Modern Art " . Is that celebrating 145 years of HAL ????

My other big criticism is the incredible loud voiume of music on the "Music Row " it sometimes just blows you away and at some venues it is hard to just sit , listen to the music and enjoy a beverage without getting a head or an earache . They almost chase you away ......

I know this is all my personal taste and feeling and I realize it is very incomplete so please take that as it is .

 

Last but not least  I would like to thank my friends Ann , Sherita and Tim who have taken the time and trouble to give a lot of information to CC'ers who will cruise on this ship in the future an inside . Thank you for all the beautiful pictures and all of the comments . 

Up to the next adventure in 2019 . 

 

Tony , Sailingdutchy 

 

 

 

A pleasure to see that we are not the only ones who think this way I agree 100% with your comments!

Thanks to all who contributed to this great blog, and. again, Happy Holidays!

[bakcd]

I always enjoyed the Tomato broth with spicy lemongrass chicken and the Pinnacle soufflé.  Sorry to see them go.  

[frankc98376]

9 hours ago, bakcd said:

I always enjoyed the Tomato broth with spicy lemongrass chicken and the Pinnacle soufflé.  Sorry to see them go.  

I'm hearing that the soup is still available at PG lunch.  I will miss the lemon brulee

[wdw1972]

12 hours ago, frankc98376 said:

I'm hearing that the soup is still available at PG lunch.  I will miss the lemon brulee

I tried the soup for the very first time at lunch on Nieuw Statendam this past January - it's definitely there, and it's very good.  

 

Sue/WDW1972