MS Nieuw Statendam inaugural Eastbound Transatlantic

[rafinmd]

41 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

 

Hope you don't miss any ports because of the winds.

We shouldn't.  We left Praia about 7:30 (90 minutes late) and it's only about 90 miles to Ponta Delgada.  Now If I could just get caught up on my posting (It's almost 11PM here).

 

Roy

[Happily@Sea]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Stay safe.

 

We are holding at Praia de Vitoria for a while waiting for the winds to subside some.  We have also called a tug.

 

Roy

 

We had our worst night [6 hours in the evening] just after we left Horta on P'dam on 2016 TA. No shows were cancelled - and if I was a bit steadier - I could have even made it to dinner.

[*Miss G*]

On 4/26/2019 at 8:19 AM, TriumphGuy said:

Does staff serve at the Lido buffet? We are not familiar with HAL as we have been Princess cruisers in the past. The buffet on Princess has always been a bit of a free for all, and we were always a bit leery of handling utensils that others had before us.
We are booked for a transatlantic a year from now on Nieuw Statendam, so your blog here is quite interesting to us. Thank you for sharing!

 

 

Sorry, I don’t think I saw where your question was answered so my apologies if it was.  Yes, staff serves at the Lido market.  (Thank goodness.)  There are also stations with some pre-made items which you can serve yourself, but the risk of germ transfer is kept to a minimum.  Enjoy your cruise!

[rafinmd]

Day NS7, Sunday, April 28, 2019, Praia Da Vitoria

Queen Victoria and QM2 are (or should I now say were) both in Southampton.  The next time they meet I will be coming in on Victoria and leaving on Mary.

I was a bit confused about Praia, a port which was not on the itinerary when I booked.  I was once in Praia, Cape Verde on the Amsterdam (a replacement for some African ports cancelled due to the 2014 Ebola outbreak) but Praia Da Vitoria is in the Azores further north.  I had never been to our scheduled port (Horta) either, and think that was a tender port so that was likely a positive change.

The day started semi-normally with about 2 miles of walking on the promenade deck (thankfully with a lull in Saturday's winds).  I had time between the end of my initial walk and sunrise to return to my cabin for a break, and our course had shifted just barely enough so I could just see the sun from the promenade deck.

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I got breakfast (an omelet) in the dining room.

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Praia lacks a cruise terminal and we docked at a general pier with a shuttle into town.  I left just after 10 for the 20-minute ride.  We were dropped off near the Mercado which was surprisingly small.

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At the foot of the street there's a promenade along the beach.  The winds had picked up again and sand was blowing so I did not linger.  Also nearby is the town square with what looked like the back of the city hall.

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The main church, Santa Cruz, was just up the street.

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On the shuttle into town I passed what looked like it might have been a grocery store.  It was and I bought a few snacks for my times ashore.  Praia's Island (Terceira) is not densely populated and there are quite a few dairy farms even close to town.

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On my way back to the ship I passed the other end of Praia Grande and got a nice view of the docked Nieuw Statendam.

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I had planned on getting lunch on the ship but plans sometimes change.  In Crystal's Bistro (probably the equivalent of Explorations Café on HAL and perhaps Carpethia Lounge on QM2) one of the favorites is "Portugese Tarts".  I did not find them in Brazil but I noticed a bakery in town (A good 800 miles from Lisbon) and just popped my head in to check.  They were there and I bought one.

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I walked across the street to a little garden area for a chair to eat and there was a group of scouts gathered under a tree.  It looks like Portugal's scouts are coed at all levels but this group appeared to be all girls.  They were selling cookies.  I asked the leader if I could take her picture and she countered "would you like me to take one of you with the scouts?"  Sure.  The cookie was freshly baked and delicious.

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I was back at the ship about 1 and just added skim milk to finish off my lunch.  There was a flurry of activity at 5PM.  The only show on the World Stage was Blue Planet:Underwater Adventure (3 and 5), plus the Interdenominational Worship Service and of course my scheduled dinner time.  I went to the worship service and had Canaletto reservations for 7:30.

Just as the service ended Captain deBoer came on the PA and announced the winds were too high for a safe departure and we were waiting but also had called for a tug.  I went up to the Canaletto about 7:15 and the tug had just arrived.  

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Canaletto was actually not ready for me a little early so I had a cup of coffee while waiting.  The special of the day was Chicken Parmesan, along with the Canaletto Salad and Pistachio Gelato.  I was pretty tired and did not do much in the evening but get started on the day's photographs.

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Sadly, for a Cruise Critic person active on the Holland America forum there can only be one parting shot today.  The community has lost one of it's strengths, the long time Moderator of that forum as well as some others.  Host Walt was always dignified and respectful, always ready to help when needed and a rock steady influence.  Rest in Peace, Host Walt.  You will be sorely missed.

Roy

 

[Happily@Sea]

I never had a need to interact with Host Walt, but he always seemed to be there when a thread needed him. I'm sorry to hear this.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Don't think I would like Praia.  Doesn't sound like there is too much there to see.

 

The Portugese tart does look good.

 

Enjoying your reports and pictures.

 

Yes, Host Walt will be missed by many of us.

[TriumphGuy]

9 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Sorry, I don’t think I saw where your question was answered so my apologies if it was.  Yes, staff serves at the Lido market.  (Thank goodness.)  There are also stations with some pre-made items which you can serve yourself, but the risk of germ transfer is kept to a minimum.  Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you Miss G, I appreciate the response. It seems like a much more sanitary method. Probably also helps with the overeating problem and food waste as well. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review. 

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for the Koningsdag pic Roy! Orange beer! Gotta love it 

[rafinmd]

9 hours ago, TriumphGuy said:

Thank you Miss G, I appreciate the response. It seems like a much more sanitary method. Probably also helps with the overeating problem and food waste as well. 

I may be something of a contrary voice here.  While I've never been on Princess, HAL does serve quite a few dishes in the Lido but there's still quite a bit you can get for yourself.

Most are one by one items, but there are some bowls of cut up fruit and the like as this:

 

Or glasses of juice:

 

 

We have cartons of milk:

 

And a case of dishes of fruits and other stuff.  Reach in and take a dish of something:

The other thing I've noticed is a tray of cookies at the ice cream stand.  If  you really want to avoid things people can touch it will limit your choice a bit but there's still a LOT that's strictly served by the staff.

 

Roy

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I may be something of a contrary voice here.  While I've never been on Princess, HAL does serve quite a few dishes in the Lido but there's still quite a bit you can get for yourself.

Most are one by one items, but there are some bowls of cut up fruit and the like as this:

 

Or glasses of juice:

 

 

We have cartons of milk:

 

And a case of dishes of fruits and other stuff.  Reach in and take a dish of something:

The other thing I've noticed is a tray of cookies at the ice cream stand.  If  you really want to avoid things people can touch it will limit your choice a bit but there's still a LOT that's strictly served by the staff.

 

Roy

 

Plus yogurt 😋

[RMLincoln]

I remember those excellent and unique Portuguese tarts from Lisbon, or more specifically, Belem.  Nice that you found one! 

And although I'm coming in late, I will add that we had the Cruise Planner on K'dam last November/December on our Caribbean B2B.  Very useful to us.  

Many thanks Roy, I love to follow your travels - I love train travel, have done more scouting stuff though more years ago... and I still work with a rural fire department... I hope our paths intersect one day.  Stay well and safe!  Maureen

[DeeniEncinitas]

Hi Roy!!

well I’m finally able to get caught up with your wonderful cruise. 

I’m in Paris Roy! DH had business here and 

I was able to come along for 10 days.

had a great flight and was able to go business class with him. Still look forward 

to your sunrises👍 

Appreciate all you do and never get tired of your reports.

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

7 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

Hi Roy!!

well I’m finally able to get caught up with your wonderful cruise. 

I’m in Paris Roy! DH had business here and 

I was able to come along for 10 days.

had a great flight and was able to go business class with him. Still look forward 

to your sunrises👍 

Appreciate all you do and never get tired of your reports.

Denise😊

 

10 days in Paris!!  Love it.

[rafinmd]

Day NS8, Monday, April 29, 2019, Ponta Delgada, Azores

Queen Victoria is at sea from Hamburg to Southampton.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

My walk on board was early and about 2 miles.  After the major turnaround ports of Ft. Lauderdale, Southampton, and New York this is my most visited port on this itinerary.  I was there in both 2008 and 2015 on the Crystal Serenity, and most recently on my next ship, Queen Victoria, on my segment of her 2016 World Cruise.  It was a busy day for the port with 3 cruise ships in town, us, N&O Oriana, and Celebrity Reflection.  There is a cruise terminal but it can only take one ship.  The Reflection, on an overnight stay, got that slot.  We were also supposed to be joined by the Zuiderdam but it got rerouted to Praia da Vitoria.  I don't know what they would have done with her as even the cargo ship docks were completely packed.

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I have only booked a couple of tours on this journey (both with Cunard) and on this visit just took a walk around town a bit.  We (as well as Oriana passengers) were required to use a shuttle bus to get away from the ship.  It dropped us at the port entry which was also in the heart of the tourist district.  Nearby was Jardim da Praça 5 de Outubro, one of the main squares in town with 2 churches (now or previously attached to convents), Igreja de Sao Jose to the left and Santuário de Nosso Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres on the right.

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Lisbon is noted for it's superb mosaics.  While that level of detail is not in the Azores there are still some streets with nice mosaic patterns.

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Walking parallel to the waterfront but a couple of blocks back there was the Tribunal of Commerce with a nice garden across the street.

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Turning to walk further inland I lost track of anything on the map.  The next thing I was able to recognize was the Church of the Jesuit College, initially dating from the late 16th century, but with the building in it's current form dating from the early 18th century.  The Jesuits were expelled in 1759 and the building went through several transitions but is once again an active church.

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Wandering back to the center of town I arrived at Sao Sebastian, the city's primary and lovely church.  

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Nearby there was a bakery "Mascote" where I bought another of those Portugese tarts.  A couple of blocks later I found another supermarket where I bought a few cartons of UHT milk for later times ashore.  There is a Burger King in the cruise terminal complex and I stopped there for coffee as well as enjoying my tart at a bench on the marina part of the complex.

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It was 17C (about 53F) on the thermometer as I returned to the shuttle landing.  The port entrance is also marked by an old fortress (Sao Bras).  It is an active military base but also has a museum including some bunkers built for protection during World War 2.

It was just starting to drizzle a bit as I returned to the ship.  By 1 it became a steady rain that lasted most of the afternoon.

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There were just 2 of us at table 232.  The menu selections didn't really appeal to me but I chose the Orange and Radicchio salad, the always available strip steak, and the Cherry Crisp.  Our waiter also warned us that we would lose another hour, leaving us just one hour short of Amsterdam time.

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The entertainment in the World Stage was comedienne Jo Little.  She was pretty good but not great.  We were due to leave at 6 and I thought I saw lines dropping but when I returned to my room after the show and the TV was on the bow channel we were still docked.  We started moving about 8.

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It was still daylight then and about 8:30 I went out to look for a sunset.  The lifeboats were hiding my view from the front of the ship so I walked all the way to the stern and it was just settling to the horizon.

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My parting shot will be partly "the rest of the story" and partly about weather in general.  I had seen little presence of wind during the day but learned Thursday morning that we actually had pulled away from the dock about 6:30 but the winds picked up and we had to make an emergency controlled return to the dock until we could get a tug assist.  Always be ready for the weather to pull off a surprise.

Roy

 

[DeeniEncinitas]

Hi Roy!

Ponta Delgada’s architectures I didn’t care for all the gothic greys and blacks but inside the church was pretty. You got that sunset👍 Hope your having a wonderful journey Roy.

Denise😊

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you got to enjoy your walk and get something to eat and back to the ship before the rains really moved in.

 

Love the pictures.

[rafinmd]

Queen Victoria is in Hamburg.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

 

I'll start with a couple more photos of venues around the ship.  For years people derided Cunard for the "caste system" of separate dining for the Grills.  Now it's pretty common including "Club Orange" on the Nieuw Statendam.  It's on deck 2 immediately forward of the main dining room.  I expect Cunard will create a new space for the Grills on their new ship as they did for QV/QE, but this could become the new Britannia Club restaurant.

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Midship on the promenade deck we have the Dutch Café.  The food is free but most if not all the drinks have a surcharge.

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This may have been my final long morning walk, depending on conditions on the Bay of Biscay.  Either the promenade deck is longer than advertized or I am really slowing down.  I am taking about 8 minutes per lap, which would be a 24 minute mile. I completed my 5-mile walk by about 7:30 which was also sunrise (but not much).

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The day's activities started with a coffee chat with Pim, the Navigation officer.  I enquired about why we were using a rhumb line and he indicated that for our route it was only 32 miles longer than a great circle route and kept us further from storms.

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The Mariner awards ceremony was held at 11:15 in the lower dining room.  Many people were presented bronze medallions (100 days) and a few silvers (300 days).  Most of the larger tables were hosted by crew members; mine had Willem, the Safety Officer.  There were 3 entree choices, I took the pork Medallions as well as the lemon tart.

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The ship largely redeemed itself for the snafu on the Behind the Scenes Tour.  I was invited on a bridge tour and met a member of guest services at 3.  He escorted me and one other person up to the bridge where we were greeted by Martin, one of the cadets.  The bridge on this ship is extremely wide and spacious.  

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Martin took care of us extremely well, showing us first the bridge wing console and answering questions, explaining the several different ways of controlling the azipods, either individually or ganged together.

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I was a bit surprised looking out the forward window is our bow appears to have several levels, much like that on Queen Mary 2.  Martin presented a little slide show where he explained all the mechanics of the ship and we talked some about life on the ship and the bridge team as well as sailing in general (the other guest has a sail boat).  Martin has one more semester in school and then plans to return as a 3rd officer.  From what I have seen he will be a fine addition, both technically and temperamentally, to the HAL officer corps.

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It was close to 4 when I returned from the tour and about time to prepare for dinner.  It was again just 2 of us at table 232 and my choices were the Jicama and Mango salad, pasta, and mixed berry crisp.  There was another orange card on my bed after dinner, our final lost hour as we will now be on Amsterdam time and I should not lose another hour until about May 13 or 14 as QM2 stops in Zeebrugge.

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The World Stage entertainment was one of my favorite acts from the Prinsendam Grand South America.  The MacDonald Brothers sing and play a plethora of instruments.  Their roots are Scottish but they also do quite a bit of pop music (Elton John, Everly Brothers), all presented with a Celtic influence.

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My parting shot will be a bit sad and about the MacDonald Brothers.  I looked at their web site and as of now they show no future HAL bookings although I expect that will change.  They do have several on Crystal and one on QM2, but the closest they come to my schedule is being on the ship about a month ahead of me.  For people who happen to be booked on QM2's Hamburg Short Break in September I will strongly recommend that they not miss that show.

Roy

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

That was very nice that they arranged for you to have a tour of the bridge.  It certainly is very large.

 

Love your pictures.

 

Hope you aren't slowing down and it is just a miss calculation for walking purposes.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Good afternoon Roy!

Found a nice place on The Seine to have lunch and good WiFi so I could catch up on your journey. Still a sunrise and remember it’s not a marathon walk and you are so dedicated than most to get up and relax with a wonderful walk !! Most of the souls are still sleeping😏

Denise😊

 

[Copper10-8]

Roy, you've got to try a "Broodje Kroket" at the Grand Dutch Cafe; you'll like it, promise!

 

[rafinmd]

Day NS10, Wednesday, May 1, 2019,  At sea, MS Nieuw Statendam

Queen Victoria is at sea from Hamburg to Copenhagen.  QM2 is at sea from Southampton to New York.

With On Deck For a Cause coming up later in the day I held my morning walk to 2 miles.  With the 2 hours we have lost since the Azores sunrise and sunset got pretty late.  Sunrise came about 8 and I went up to my usual perch just in time before starting my first stage of breakfast.

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Walking from my forward sunrise spot to the lido I found a veritable menagerie of towel animals, many quite elaborate, on the pool deck.

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My main event of the day (11AM) was "On Deck For A Cause", the 5K walk for cancer research benefitting key organizations internationally.  The Grand Dutch Café was pretty full as we assembled.

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It was likely close to 100 walkers who filled up an extensive section of the promenade deck as we started off at 11.  We started walking on the starboard side towards the bow and by the time we finished our most of our first lap and got to the really narrow part of the deck people were pretty well spaced out and the walk went off quite smoothly.  There was one really fast walker with trekking poles who was a bit of a hazard but for the most part it was pretty smooth walking.  Fortunately, there was no music blaring at the start/end point.

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At the end of the walk there was a nice array of treats set out on a table.

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The afternoon was quiet except for Karlijn's talk on Cherbourg.  The World Stage gets really full for her talks and there really should be a way to simulcast them remotely either to staterooms or another lounge.

There were 4 of us present at table 232 for our final Gala night.  My choices were the apple, pear, and cucumber salad, steak from surf and turf, and almond and orange cake.

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The World Stage show was pianist Kyle Esplin.  He plays mostly boogie woogie but dabbles in quite a wide variety of music.  A highlight was his medley of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" with Billy Joel's "Piano Man".

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After the show I stopped for a little while at Billboard Onboard where the show is a piano duo.

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I returned to my cabin after sunset (9:45PM) and got a little bit of packing done before calling it a night.

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As a parting shot it sounds like we had a reasonably (although not completely) peaceful May Day.

Roy

 

[ski ww]

We had those towel animals laid out on the Lido on our cruise in Mar. The cabin stewards started putting them out at 0400 and then had to clear them all out in the afternoon. Laundry must of been very busy that day. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Nice turnout for the "on Deck for the Cause" walk.  Have to admit I have never seen anyone use trekking poles at this event.

 

Lovely sunrise and sunset.

 

Love the towel animals out by the pool.  Some of them are really different.

 

Enjoying your reports and pictures.  Can't believe that part 1 of your newest adventure is coming to an end.

[rafinmd]

12 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Roy, you've got to try a "Broodje Kroket" at the Grand Dutch Cafe; you'll like it, promise!

 

 

Can you believe they ran out?  Must have stocked for a Caribbean cruise.

 

Roy