Just back from the Nieuw Statendam- a few thoughts

[Germancruiser]

Just back from a Cruise through the Fjords of Norway on board the Nieuw Statendam. A few thoughts:

Embarkation:

A rather long wait- but that might be because we picked a peek time – all in all well handled from HAL

Ship:

The Nieuw Statendam is just no our ship- to dark – to loud in some places. No deckchairs on the promenade deck- not even in some places. The wrap around pormmenade deck is nice - but the view blockes from the lifeboats.

The most irritating part  is the Lido – Buffet- Restaurant. The chairs and tables are  by the windows- the style of said chairs and tables – well that’s a kind of “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"- for us it was the 70´s gone very wrong! The most disturbing fact of the Lido- Restaurant is that the waiting area in front of the stations doubles as walkway to the aft poo ldeck- so there was always “ traffic”- lot´s of people bumped into each other- the ones carrying their food to the tables and others walking through.

The Dutch Café and Explorations – Crow´s Nest are both wonderful and nice places- nicely furnished too- both are self service- which is - in my book anyway- a deal- breaker.

Especially in the Dutch Café- which is a very nice place - but way to small- waiter service would be much better- I witnessed some passengers struggling carrying their coffee- tea or whatever to their tables- some spilling their contents,  some smashing vase´s in placing the stuff on the table.

 If you are so lucky to get a table, you had to put some stuff at the table- to mark it – “ in use”- ( so we turned into table- and chair hogs…)  otherwise you get your stuff at the counter and are at loss where to put it- if there is no table or seat – happened to us twice- and we ended up at the bar- not a problem-  but not very comfortable and not my idea of a Café! Oh just to mention it we are not yet in our dotting years- early 50s!

The food in all Restaurants and especially in  Rudi´s and the Pinnancle Grill were outstanding good. The service likewise. No complaints here!

We had a verandah cabin on Deck 5- 5051- perfect location - perfect and extra large balcony- wonderful- the best bathroom i ever had on boad a ship- with the exception of Queen Mary2´s new single stateroom bathrooms.

Would we sail HAL again- well- maybe on boad of one of the older ships- and if they change to table service  in the Dutch Cafe and Explorations- for the time beeing it is either Cunard or Celebrity.

[DeeniEncinitas]

I very much enjoyed the honesty in your write up!!!!

we are 4 stars and love the older ships with HAL where a promenade is a promenade where deck chairs are there and to be able to walk early morning for the sunrise which I love! Cramming more rooms with less square footage is a downer for me! Your deck 5 room is great.

I hate the hustle and bustle in a lido that is a traffic way🙄 HAL has done a lot of changes over the last 15 years. We love the R and S class ships👍 Doing Rotterdam in March but will be changing over to Oceania for our next 2 cruises in Europe!  Now we are booked on Koningsdam for 2021! Only doing it because it is doing a round trip out of San Diego to Hawaii And Mexico for 24 days otherwise it would of been on another Oceania or I wish a smaller HAL ship! I love Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam👍

Did the inaugural on The Nieuw in 2010 in Venice! 2 Europe cruises on her and 3 with Eurodam.

Denise😊

[Germancruiser]

Thank you Denise- i liked the Zuiderdam back in 2014 much better then the NS. The destinatons are better of HAL then those of X- the cruise line i did the most of my 30 something cruises with.

X changed too- and not for the better- so I tried different cruise lines.

What I could not remember from our Zuiderdam cruise was the menu in the Main dinning room is just a slip of paper handed over from the waiter! Nothing really important- but I prefered the nice covery with the menu.

I may give one of their older ships a try tough!

[DeeniEncinitas]

44 minutes ago, Germancruiser said:

Thank you Denise- i liked the Zuiderdam back in 2014 much better then the NS. The destinatons are better of HAL then those of X- the cruise line i did the most of my 30 something cruises with.

X changed too- and not for the better- so I tried different cruise lines.

What I could not remember from our Zuiderdam cruise was the menu in the Main dinning room is just a slip of paper handed over from the waiter! Nothing really important- but I prefered the nice covery with the menu.

I may give one of their older ships a try tough!

Oh please do!!!  We so enjoyed The Zuiderdam also!! Different ship completely from The Pinnacle Class ships now!

Again Thank you so much for such a

very honest opinion! There are people who love that class and I understand but I want the relaxing cruise where your not having to try and save a table to eat and all the traffic of large crowds!

Denise 😊

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to give us your impressions of the Nieuw Amsterdam.

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for taking the time to post your comments.

 

[ski ww]

Thanks for your review, we are cruising on her next summer in Norway.

[I like vacation]

4 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Thank you for taking the time to give us your impressions of the Nieuw Amsterdam.

 

Just back from the Nieuw Statendam- a few thoughts

[syesmar]

Germancruiser,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

What time did you arrive for Embarkation?

 

Thanks!

[Germancruiser]

I always get them " Nieuw " ships mixed up- LOL!

We arrived at the terminal at about 2pm- our time table was 3.30 pm- but our train arrived at 1.30- so we went directly to the port! I don´t know- if it would been a more swift check in had we aarrived at 3.30

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to review your cruise.

[ggarpss]

Does Nieuw Statendam still have the yum-yum man providing mints and ginger when exiting the main dining room?

[Sir PMP]

Thanks for the good review, you won't see me on that ship...

[Germancruiser]

Yes they still offer those good bye goodies when leaving the dining room! Slightly hidden- but still there!

[thunderbay]

I completely agree with your review. We also found it to be crowded in the Lido. And yes, the ship is too dark for my liking. We also were given an upgrade that we did not request. Ended up being a very noisy location due to the bands playing late at night. Our cabin was literally vibrating. We requested to be moved and ended up in the cabin you mentioned. We loved the extra large balcony too!  Much prefer the older class ships!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review. 

[BJzink]

On 8/4/2019 at 8:19 PM, Germancruiser said:

Just back from a Cruise through the Fjords of Norway on board the Nieuw Statendam. A few thoughts:

 

Embarkation:

 

A rather long wait- but that might be because we picked a peek time – all in all well handled from HAL

 

Ship:

 

The Nieuw Statendam is just no our ship- to dark – to loud in some places. No deckchairs on the promenade deck- not even in some places. The wrap around pormmenade deck is nice - but the view blockes from the lifeboats.

 

The most irritating part  is the Lido – Buffet- Restaurant. The chairs and tables are  by the windows- the style of said chairs and tables – well that’s a kind of “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"- for us it was the 70´s gone very wrong! The most disturbing fact of the Lido- Restaurant is that the waiting area in front of the stations doubles as walkway to the aft poo ldeck- so there was always “ traffic”- lot´s of people bumped into each other- the ones carrying their food to the tables and others walking through.

 

The Dutch Café and Explorations – Crow´s Nest are both wonderful and nice places- nicely furnished too- both are self service- which is - in my book anyway- a deal- breaker.

 

Especially in the Dutch Café- which is a very nice place - but way to small- waiter service would be much better- I witnessed some passengers struggling carrying their coffee- tea or whatever to their tables- some spilling their contents,  some smashing vase´s in placing the stuff on the table.

 

 If you are so lucky to get a table, you had to put some stuff at the table- to mark it – “ in use”- ( so we turned into table- and chair hogs…)  otherwise you get your stuff at the counter and are at loss where to put it- if there is no table or seat – happened to us twice- and we ended up at the bar- not a problem-  but not very comfortable and not my idea of a Café! Oh just to mention it we are not yet in our dotting years- early 50s!

 

The food in all Restaurants and especially in  Rudi´s and the Pinnancle Grill were outstanding good. The service likewise. No complaints here!

 

We had a verandah cabin on Deck 5- 5051- perfect location - perfect and extra large balcony- wonderful- the best bathroom i ever had on boad a ship- with the exception of Queen Mary2´s new single stateroom bathrooms.

 

Would we sail HAL again- well- maybe on boad of one of the older ships- and if they change to table service  in the Dutch Cafe and Explorations- for the time beeing it is either Cunard or Celebrity.

 

I keep seeing additional reasons that I have no interest in any of these "new" ships.  

[Tapi]

33 minutes ago, BJzink said:

I keep seeing additional reasons that I have no interest in any of these "new" ships.  

 

Our only HAL cruise so far has been on the Westerdam. While we had an absolutely memorable cruise, I didn't enjoy the ship as much. It kept me from wanting to book another HAL cruise for years. But the Pinnacle class piqued my interest which is why we are now booked to sail aboard Niew Statendam in a few months. We'll see what my thoughts are when we return.

 

For what its worth, we are a young family of 4, so maybe the Pinnacle class is designed to attract people that fall in my demographic. We have sailed on ships as large as Royal's Oasis class and MSC's Meraviglia class, and while we enjoyed those experiences, they were a bit over the top. We crave a more traditional cruise experience while still enjoying some modern touches. That's why the Niew Statendam caught our attention. 

[BJzink]

18 minutes ago, Tapi said:

 

Our only HAL cruise so far has been on the Westerdam. While we had an absolutely memorable cruise, I didn't enjoy the ship as much. It kept me from wanting to book another HAL cruise for years. But the Pinnacle class piqued my interest which is why we are now booked to sail aboard Niew Statendam in a few months. We'll see what my thoughts are when we return.

 

For what its worth, we are a young family of 4, so maybe the Pinnacle class is designed to attract people that fall in my demographic. We have sailed on ships as large as Royal's Oasis class and MSC's Meraviglia class, and while we enjoyed those experiences, they were a bit over the top. We crave a more traditional cruise experience while still enjoying some modern touches. That's why the Niew Statendam caught our attention. 

Yes, I have also sailed on several of the "gigundo" ships, but once I discovered the HAL small classical ships I was hooked. I am in the 60-70 age range, - probably adds to my preference.  Enjoy your cruise!!!

[ger_77]

Thanks for your review - did you take any photos of your cabin that you could share?  We'll be in an aft balcony in January, but might take a look at your cabin for a future cruise, if we could see some pics.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[Germancruiser]

In fact I did take some pictures- here we go:

[travelingla]

Quite a balcony!! We will be on the Midnight Sun cruise in 2020 & so excited.  I am curious since this is a new ship did your bathroom have a nightlight in it? I usually take one but have noticed some are now built in similar to hotels.

 

Thank you!

[Germancruiser]

No nightlight in the bathroom- but a wonderful cabin and bathroom- the balcony was awesome! We spent a lot of time there!

[travelingla]

Thanks so very much -- then I will pack as usual. 🙂