MS Nieuw Statendam inaugural Eastbound Transatlantic

[rafinmd]

54 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Is 5 PM the normal early time for dinner in the dining room?  Will the specialty restaurants also open at 5 PM?

I'm puzzled by the early hour.  That's my established dining time.  I guess it could be staggered and I just drew the earliest table but I don't think so.   All the other evening restaurants, even the Lido Marketplace, open at 5:30.  I haven't adjusted yet; I was working at my laptop, thinking it was the middle of the afternoon, when I looked at my watch and it was 5:40.  It was another dinner at the lido; the one good thing was I waited till near the Captain's toast to go up there and the sun was just about down when when I finished my desert (about 7).

 

Roy

[Caribbean Chris]

 

13 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

What did you think of the book?  I happen to have it in my Amazon cart, along with “The Day the World Came to Town.”  I don’t know when/if it will be available in the US but try to see “You Are Here:  A Come From Away Story” when you get the chance.  It is very moving.  I don’t know why but there are two versions.  One of them focuses on the more technical side.  It is the other one you want to see.

 

Roy and Miss G, I’m also a fan of the Come From Away Story because my late mother-in-law was born in Newfoundland. We were up there again last summer. I highly recommend a visit to the island - and a must-see is Gander’s Aviation Museum, which tells the 9/11 NL Story in great detail.

[rafinmd]

6 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

 

Roy and Miss G, I’m also a fan of the Come From Away Story because my late mother-in-law was born in Newfoundland. We were up there again last summer. I highly recommend a visit to the island - and a must-see is Gander’s Aviation Museum, which tells the 9/11 NL Story in great detail.

I haven't been in in Newfoundland in many years, 1999 and 2000.  As it was, I had fresh memories of Gander when I heard the stories in 2001 but they faded deep into my subconscious.  I will be returning in 2020 on the Crystal Serenity but to St. Johns and Corner Brook so I am still thinking of a road trip, perhaps in 2021.

 

The Gander aviation museum is on my must see list.

 

Roy

[Krazy Kruizers]

9 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I'm puzzled by the early hour.  That's my established dining time.  I guess it could be staggered and I just drew the earliest table but I don't think so.   All the other evening restaurants, even the Lido Marketplace, open at 5:30.  I haven't adjusted yet; I was working at my laptop, thinking it was the middle of the afternoon, when I looked at my watch and it was 5:40.  It was another dinner at the lido; the one good thing was I waited till near the Captain's toast to go up there and the sun was just about down when when I finished my desert (about 7).

 

Roy

 

Thank you Roy.  It just seemed weird to have such an early dinner.  We had a situation one time when we had to have dinner at 5 PM each evening in the Pinnacle and the Tamarind -- they were so flooded with so many free dinners.  Didn't like that time.

[wdw1972]

I book anytime dining but haven't eaten in the main dining room in years....perhaps a decade.  However, a friend traveling on the same cruise was surprised her early fixed dining on Nieuw Statendam this past January was at 5pm.  That's way too early, and I don't think the late seating was earlier than normal as a result.  She was much happier in April when our Rotterdam cruise had the early fixed dining at 5:30.  

 

I'm thinking it's a Nieuw Statendam thing - perhaps because the dining room is so large, they want extra time to get people through there?  If so, you'd think it would hold true on Koningsdam as well, which is our next HAL ship.  I didn't pay any attention to the fixed dining times on my previous K'dam cruises - anyone recent know what they are?

 

Sue/WDW1972

[rafinmd]

Sue, this is from the early days of the Koningsdam and my blog didn't mention my actual dining time but I checked the When and Where for my Koningsdam cruise (February 2017) and the dining room opened at 5 while the Lido was 5:30 so it may be standard practice for the Pinnacle ships.

 

Roy

[wdw1972]

Thanks for checking Roy - it does make some sense 😉  Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll look forward to your next update on your voyage!

 

Sue/WDW1972

[rafinmd]

Day NS1, Monday, April 22, 2019,  At sea, MS Nieuw Statendam

Queen Victoria is at sea from Walvis Bay to Gran Canaria.  QM2 is at sea from New York to Southampton

I'm slow getting into walking as I try to catch up on other things.  I did walk about 5 laps or 1 2/3 miles.  One disadvantage of the Promenade deck on the Nieuw Statendam (as well as most HAL ships) is that on an eastbound traffic the ship is heading directly into the sun so the only way to see a sunrise from the outside is to go up to the very top deck (deck 14).  I made it just in time.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/dawn0422.jpg

Some of the real estate on the Nieuw Statendam is off limits without paying extra.  Much of deck 12 is devoted to cabanas that come at extra cost.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/cabanas.jpg

On the way down I walked through the Crows Nest (will be the Commodore Club on Cunard's new ship).  The expanse of glass and views are breath taking.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/crowsnest.jpg

The library is this one shelf in the Crows Nest.  I thought it was a little bit better stocked than the one on the Koningsdam.  I am virtually certain it will be somewhere else on the new Cunarder and much bigger.  I don't have photos but the library on Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth is much better than what is on the HAL's Vista and Signature ships.  I think with the advent of e-readers HAL is seriously cutting back on libraries while I have not witnessed that on Cunard.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/library.jpg

The large pool deck has a moveable cover.  I'm not sure as that will transfer to the new Cunard ship as I don't remember the pools on QE or QV being covered as they are on all HAL ships except the Prinsendam.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/pooldeck.jpg

We had our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet at 10 in Billboard Online.  It was quite a large group, but I did not see any representation from the ship.  I talked to a couple of refugees from the Oasis of the Seas.  They indicated that the Nieuw Statendam worked well for them as the dates are exactly the same as the Oasis crossing and they were able to easily get flights to the next stage of their journey in Ireland.  They were taken care of quite well when their cruise was cancelled and were happy to find a suitable replacement.  After the Meet and Greet several of us went on to a cabin crawl.  I'll have photos later once I catch up with daily events.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/meetgreet.jpg

There was a 12:30 performance at Lincoln Center Stage which was essentially a pops concert entitled "Bernstein to Buble".  The opening piece was the prelude to West Side Story which was quite an interesting take arranged for just piano and strings.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/lincoln.jpg

EXC Guide Karlijn had her first talk  "The Real Pirates of the Caribbean", at 3.  I guess that should have set off a red flag for me but I'm having trouble adjusting to dinner at 5, and lost track of the time.  When I finally started thinking about dinner and looked at my watch it was already 5:40.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/karlijn.jpg

Of course that meant another dinner in the Lido, but with minimal adjustments.  I had planned on Rack of Lamb for the first Gala night and I only needed to shift to lamb chops.  Not bad.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/dishes22.jpg

The nice thing about missing the dining room is that I took my food out on the back deck and the sun was just starting to set.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/dusk0422.jpg

The Captain's welcome toast was held on the pool deck around 7:30.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/capntoast.jpg

HAL's Pinnacle Class ships do not have a movie theater.  Instead movies are shown on the pool deck where there's a big screen (it is not used as a distraction at other times.  I had been thinking of watching the evening movie "The Basis of Sex" but it didn't happen.  Captain Jeroen on the Prinsendam always alerted us to time changes in his noon announcements but Captain DeBoer is not doing that and I only learned we were losing an hour when I returned from dinner and there was a little card on my bed.  I decided I needed the sleep and called it a night about 10 (11 Atlantic time).

As my parting shot there is one thing I regret missing being on this cruise.  The touring version of Come From Away opens Tuesday evening in Baltimore's Hippodrome theater.  Having seen this cast in Pittsburgh I know I'll be missing a great show.  In absentia I say "Welcome to Baltimore"

Roy

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

Hi Roy!

First Thank you for the picture of the sunrise👍 I didn’t realize going east bound

cruise ships are heading into the sun. I’m glad you got to get a picture way up on deck 14! (BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE)

How is the walking on the promenade? Is it that narrow where a deck chairs are few? 

Have a good day Roy.

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love the sunrise and sunset pictures.

 

Enjoying the reports and pictures.

 

It is hard to adjust to the 5 PM dining time.  We often arrived at the Pinnacle and Tamarind restaurants a few minutes.

[sppunk]

Roy we are Broadway in Baltimore season subscribers and see Come From Away Sunday. I’ll tell them you say hi. 

 

We saw CFA in DC at its broadway tryout and have seen it twice in NYC. It is, as you say, incredible,

[rafinmd]

Day NS2, Tuesday, April 23, 2019,  At sea, MS Nieuw Statendam

Queen Victoria is at sea from Walvis Bay to Gran Canaria, QM2 is at sea from New York to Southampton

Like most of my sea days this one started with a morning walk and it's probably time to talk a little bit about the promenade deck.  I'll preface this by saying that my first love in cruising is Crystal and many of my values mirror theirs.  Both of their ships have a lovely promenade deck but while wide and expansive it is a place for walking (NO loungers) and that is what I'm accustomed to so the absence of the loungers on HAL's new ships doesn't bother me in the least.  I've assembled a couple of collages representing a lap around the ship.  

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/prom1.jpg

The top row of the first one runs from the door outside the dining room (like Vista/Signature/QE/QV there is only an aft door on the starboard side with the galley on the port side).  To me the amount of walking space is about the same as the other ships given that much of the space on the other ships is taken up with loungers.  The middle row on that collage continues across the bow and back to the port door by the world stage.  The bottom row of that collage continues back the port side to midship.

The top row of the next photo continues back from midship to the point where the dining room begins.  The accumulated plaques are in the midship doors.  It seems like quite a collection for a ship less than half a year old but many right now are duplicates.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/prom2.jpg

The area where things get a bit touchy are the sides past the dining room.  On the port side there is one wide space which I assume is mainly the emergency exit leading to the aft lifeboats.  The aft passage across the stern is wide enough for easy passing or meeting another walker.  Finally, the section past the dining room on the starboard side is again narrow.

I walk early in the morning and rarely encounter a need to pass or be passed by other walkers, and have not yet had an encounter at the narrowest points.  The surface is imitation teak rather than real which I like on Cunard as all it really needs is a little touch up with a damp mop.  Spraying huge amounts of water every morning seems to be deeply imbedded in the HAL culture.  While that does tend to make the walk a bit more treacherous it does have the slight advantage that I can hear anybody approaching from behind squishing well before they get to me.  I'll have more to say about the promenade deck when we have On Deck For a Cause (Group walk for cancer) on May 1.

I got in 7 laps (2 1/3 miles) before heading up to deck 14 at sunrise, but there was no sun; I don't think I ever saw it in the morning.

There are 2 lecturers on the cruise.  The first. Tim Calvert was a lecturer on the first leg of my Grand South America cruise in January, but it looks like only one of his talks matches what he did then.  His first (10AM) talk was on the great Atlantic ocean liners.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/calvert.jpg

Cruise director Jairo had his first coffee chat (11AM) in the Lincoln Center stage with Step 1, the dance company for the World Stage.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/step1chat.jpg

In his noon update Captain deBoer indicated he expected improving conditions over the next 24 hours.  I continued wandering a bit taking a few more pictures, starting with the aft pool.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/aftpool.jpg

There is a specialty restaurant (Tamarind and Nami Sushi) behind the aft staircase above the aft part of the lido deck.  I'll speculate that it could be extended a bit and become the Grills Restaurants on the new Cunarder (it's fun to speculate not really knowing anything).

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/10aft.jpg

The fitness center is in the usual place at the forward end of the lido deck.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/fitness.jpg

I did not do a lot in the afternoon but did some writing and some file organization.  Holland America sells a "soda card".  It costs $25 and has a value of $50, good for about 21 sodas.  On most ships you get a receipt on each use but on the Nieuw Statendam it's all electronic.  I stopped by the front desk to get a statement on the card and at the same time signed up for the behind the scenes tour.  It will be 1PM Friday.

There were only 2 of us at table 232.  It was what they call the Culinary Council dinner; not a favorite of mine but I chose the carrot salad, pasta, and raspberry tart.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/dishes23.jpg

When I returned to my room there was another orange card, indicating another hour forward on the clocks.  Fortunately the show on stage was at 7 rather than 8.  Jon Stetson is a mentalist ("mind reader") whose observations are quite astounding.  He is said to be the inspiration for the US TV show, "The Mentalist".

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/stetson.jpg

After the show I stopped out on the promenade deck just in time to get a little glimpse of the setting sun.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/dusk0423.jpg

I'll finish off with a picture of the World Stage.  I don't think there is much of a back stage area but hopefully I will find out more on Friday.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/worldstage.jpg

My parting shot originates from the Cruise Critic roll call for the planned Oasis of the Seas transatlantic that was cancelled due to a shipyard accident in the Bahamas.  Several of those peoples are "refugees" on Holland America ships, and one is on the Rotterdam.  He reported being stranded again, this time due to severe storms in the eastern Atlantic.  According to Marine Traffic, the Rotterdam is still waiting out the storm in Ponta Delgada, almost 24 hours past when she was due to leave.  May the weather subside in time for the Rotterdam not to miss too many ports and especially before we are to go there (Monday).  JUST moving, 23 hour delay

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

16 hours ago, sppunk said:

Roy we are Broadway in Baltimore season subscribers and see Come From Away Sunday. I’ll tell them you say hi. 

 

We saw CFA in DC at its broadway tryout and have seen it twice in NYC. It is, as you say, incredible,

Awesome.

Roy

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, rafinmd said:

..........................................

I walk early in the morning and rarely encounter a need to pass or be passed by other walkers, and have not yet had an encounter at the narrowest points.  The surface is imitation teak rather than real which I like on Cunard as all it really needs is a little touch up with a damp mop.  Spraying huge amounts of water every morning seems to be deeply imbedded in the HAL culture.  ............................

 

HAL uses, what's known as API, a teak-like panel, for its promenade deck as well as around the Lido and aft pools. Don't know if you've seen this doohickey on Nieuw S. Her older sister K-dam has one and it's a first on HAL ships to clean the deck

 

 

[rafinmd]

Copper, I have not seen that.  I wonder if it's on order.

 

Roy

[DeeniEncinitas]

Thank you for the pictures of the promenade. I was curious from a lot of CCers not too happy with the narrow promenade when she had her maiden voyage.

Nice sunset picture also Roy.

Denise😊

[sppunk]

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

HAL uses, what's known as API, a teak-like panel, for its promenade deck as well as around the Lido and aft pools. Don't know if you've seen this doohickey on Nieuw S. Her older sister K-dam has one and it's a first on HAL ships to clean the deck

 

 

 

I saw this on Kdam and told my wife the scooters people are traveling with have gotten out of control. 

[rafinmd]

Cabin Crawl

 

These are photos from out cabin crawl the first sea day.  While the furnishings will certainly be different on Cunard's new ship I expect that the cabin positions and categories will be mostly the same.

 

Our crawl started on the top full passenger deck (there are a couple of higher decks with cabins around the forward staircase but no higher full passenger deck.

 

Cabin 8180 and 8038 are both regular verandah cabins.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/8180verandah.jpg

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/8038verandah.jpg

 

The cabin on deck 7 was a Neptune Suite, I think likely a Queens Grill suite.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/7109neptune.jpg

 

Cabin 6212 is a regular verandah cabin but facing aft.

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/6212verandah.jpg

 

Cabin 6126 is called a "Vista Suite". 

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/6126vista.jpg

Cabin 4217 is another example of a "Vista Suite".

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/4217vista.jpg

 

We then went down to deck 1.  Cabin 1038 is a regular Ocean View cabin.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/1038ov.jpg

The other 2 cabins we looked at were also on deck 1.  We looked at my Family Ocean View but I'll cover that in another post.  The final one was one of the solo cabins.  I forgot to get out my camera but had a similar one on the Koningsdam and will include a  photo of that.  These are the 12 forward most cabins on the first deck.

 

https://getawaysfrom21044.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/1014solo.jpg

Roy

 

[travelqueen101]

Roy - you are awesome!!  Thank you for taking the time for the review and pictures from your cruise!!

[*Miss G*]

There are FAR too many people in those pics!  😂

 

Thanks for posting these, Roy!  I LOVE the Neptune Suite bathroom.  The verandah cabins look exactly like the ones on the K’dam.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Thanks again Roy! Liked the NS cabin.

Looks like the Oceania Penthouse bath room.

Nice being able to see the cabins appreciate it!

Denise😊

[Happily@Sea]

I appreciate the cabin pictures. That solo cabin is really something I wouldn't want. The window very inconvenient and inaccessible for some one like me. That tells me I would not like it but any of the others are fine.

 

I had a minimum veranda on the K'dam when I went.in 2017.

[*Miss G*]

Isn’t that funny because I was thinking I would do quite well in the solo cabin.  🙂

[Happily@Sea]

5 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Isn’t that funny because I was thinking I would do quite well in the solo cabin.  🙂

 

That's why there are so many choices. My problem is mostly my physical limitations.

[Caribbean Chris]

7 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Isn’t that funny because I was thinking I would do quite well in the solo cabin.  🙂

 

Me, too, Miss G!