Live from the Nieuw Statendam

[DrKoob]

On 1/25/2022 at 11:54 AM, iflyrc5 said:

Thanks so much for taking us along on your cruise.  We are boarding on Feb 2 and plan to be on for 6 weeks.  If you get an opportunity please ask the number of guests they plan on having for the next cruise.   I do have a couple other questions if you don't mind.  What is the "early" fixed dining time and is there one or two shows on the World Stage each night and what are the times?

 

Looking forward to your reporting as we will be doing these same ports twice over our 6 weeks - we can't wait to join the ship!

 

I have been told it should be about the same number next cruise. 750 new people getting on and about 150 staying on board. It sometimes feels like a ghost ship. I worked out in the gym this morning and was all by myself for an entire hour. 

 

We aren't eating in the MDR but the When & Where shows that anytime is available from 5:15 to 9:00 and the only other time is 7:30 to 9:00. 

 

As to the big stage shows, with so few people they are only doing one show per night, usually at 7:30.

 

Hope this helps.

[DrKoob]

On 1/25/2022 at 12:12 PM, mocruzer said:

Has HAL provided masks and if so, what kind?  

Yes! They gave us each two KN95 masks. You are asked to wear them anytime you are out of your stateroom and inside except when eating or drinking. As I mentioned earlier, we have not seen that many unmasked. I am feeling totally safe from COVID this cruise. 

We (my bride and I) also brought a dozen N95s ourselves and we recommend you do the same.

[DrKoob]

On 1/25/2022 at 12:53 PM, AKJonesy said:

I just read several very lengthy threads on other HAL cruises with people talking about the testing and then those turned away at the pier and those tested positive on board and had to move to the covid wing.  For those who tested positive at the pier at least they didn't have to find out onboard and then get moved to quarantine, IMHO.  We are trying to gather as much intel as possible to make the best decision for us on whether to book soon or to wait things out a bit.

 

Can you comment:

1. Was there pre board testing at the pier

2. Was there mandatory on board testing

 

Thanks and enjoy your cruise.  

There was NO pre boarding testing at the pier. We had to do either a PCR or Antigen test ourselves no less than two days prior to sailing. We chose to do the online monitored Antigen test with E-Med and it worked great. Had results in 15 minutes from our hotel room the day before. Results showed on the their app and we showed the app at check in. That was it. You can get tested at the port on the day you sail but it is $100 per test and takes a little while. Do it in advance.

 

There is no testing (mandatory or otherwise) on board unless you are feeling sick and go to the Medical Center. Then they test you and if you come up positive you are moved to deck 6.

 

[DrKoob]

23 hours ago, smlnd said:

I was really hoping that someone would do a LIVE thread on the current NS cruise.  Thank you for starting it and I look forward to your posts.  We board Feb. 13th with the same schedule of ports (in reverse order).  If you don't mind, would you be willing to say how much the upsell to the Neptune Suite was?  We are already in a Vista Suite and we felt like the upsell to Neptune they offered us was too high (and our travel agent agreed).  Enjoy your large cabin and bathroom (with tub).  Have a wonderful cruise!

Not that comfortable giving you an actual $$$ figure but it was less than if we had just bought Club Orange separately which we now get included. A great deal. We have seen the Vista Suites and the upgrade in size and Club Orange and FREE laundry are really worth it.

[DrKoob]

23 hours ago, gdy0354 said:

If you happen to go thru the casino, could you please ask what the Black Jack table minimum $ bet is.

Thx

I will see what I can find out but I try to avoid the casino if at all possible. It's really not on the way to anywhere. 

[DrKoob]

19 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

This post concerns me.  There have been many, many posts on this Message Board about the inconsistency of the cruise experience on the ships of Holland America Line.  Has such inconsistency of the management expectations of "usual cruise experiences" now extending into the procedures to mitigate Covid issues for guests and crew currently sailing?  

Again, we have not seen this. We are totally impressed with how HAL is handling COVID. Easily as well as Celebrity did in the Galapagos in July. 

[canadianbear]

Thanks for your update.  Have you tried the Dutch Cafe yet for lunch or snack?  I love their lattes!

 

I looked at your blog & photos today but only on my phone so will have to log on to the laptop later.  
 

We haven’t been on the NS yet, but loved the Koningsdam.  

[iflyrc5]

Thank you so much for all the reporting and answering questions.  We are really looking forward to getting on this DAM ship next Wednesday

[ottahand7]

I love your wide angle photos of the ship!  I am a whiskey nut and loved doing a tasting on the Konigsdam.  If you would take a picture of the Notes Whiskey tasting line up.   Many thanks!  You have the best photo of the Tamarind bar that I have seen!   

[mocruzer]

Thanks for the updates and the excellent pictures on your blog.  Its been a few years since we were on NS, but agree about the wonderful treats at Dutch Cafe and recommend Rudi's as well - the Dover sole and the Salzburger souffle were some favorites.  

[DrKoob]

41 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Thanks for your update.  Have you tried the Dutch Cafe yet for lunch or snack?  I love their lattes!

 

I looked at your blog & photos today but only on my phone so will have to log on to the laptop later.  
 

We haven’t been on the NS yet, but loved the Koningsdam.  

So yesterday we were out late and got back around 3:00 pm. Had totally missed lunch. Decided to go to the Dutch Cafe and split a sandwich and grab a beer (they have AWESOME beers). So Andre at the DC takes our order for a ham and cheese and then asks me if I have ever tried the veal croquette sandwich. I say no. He talks me into trying it, saying if I don't like it I don't have to eat it. So I take it. 

 

It is delicious. And when he brings it out the ham and cheese wasn't quite ready so he brought us this huge plate of fries with three kinds of dutch sauces. They were amazing. He then brings my wife her sandwich (I ate the entire croquette) and then brings us a buckwheat crêpe full of berries. The food there is PHENOMENAL and we can't wait to go back. 

[DrKoob]

27 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

Thank you so much for all the reporting and answering questions.  We are really looking forward to getting on this DAM ship next Wednesday

I really hope you wave to us as we are getting off. We will be the ones in tears because they are making us leave. DAM them. 😂

 

[DrKoob]

2 minutes ago, mocruzer said:

Thanks for the updates and the excellent pictures on your blog.  Its been a few years since we were on NS, but agree about the wonderful treats at Dutch Cafe and recommend Rudi's as well - the Dover sole and the Salzburger souffle were some favorites.  

OMG! That Dover Sole was amazing. And the ratatouille we got as a side was the best ever. My brother and I split the shellfish tower as an appetizer. WOW! 

[DrKoob]

23 minutes ago, ottahand7 said:

I love your wide angle photos of the ship!  I am a whiskey nut and loved doing a tasting on the Konigsdam.  If you would take a picture of the Notes Whiskey tasting line up.   Many thanks!  You have the best photo of the Tamarind bar that I have seen!   

Thanks so much for the compliments on the photos. I work hard to take them. On the blog, check the posts from July 2021 for my pics from our Galápagos Islands cruise. Probably the best I have ever posted.

 

PS: I will make sure and get you that pic. We are going to do a tasting with our buddy Seth Wayne before we get off.

Edited January 26, 2022 by DrKoob

[rkacruiser]

10 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

The food there is PHENOMENAL and we can't wait to go back. 

 

The Dutch Cafe's beverages and food offerings are excellent.  The pastries are very good and the Dutch Pea Soup is also very good.

  

 

6 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

That Dover Sole was amazing.

 

Agree!  Just simply delicious!  

Edited January 26, 2022 by rkacruiser

[Queen of DaNile]

On 1/25/2022 at 3:40 PM, gdy0354 said:

If you happen to go thru the casino, could you please ask what the Black Jack table minimum $ bet is.

Thx

$10.00

[optimistic1]

28 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

So yesterday we were out late and got back around 3:00 pm. Had totally missed lunch. Decided to go to the Dutch Cafe and split a sandwich and grab a beer (they have AWESOME beers). So Andre at the DC takes our order for a ham and cheese and then asks me if I have ever tried the veal croquette sandwich. I say no. He talks me into trying it, saying if I don't like it I don't have to eat it. So I take it. 

 

It is delicious. And when he brings it out the ham and cheese wasn't quite ready so he brought us this huge plate of fries with three kinds of dutch sauces. They were amazing. He then brings my wife her sandwich (I ate the entire croquette) and then brings us a buckwheat crêpe full of berries. The food there is PHENOMENAL and we can't wait to go back. 

We were on a back to back cruise on the same ship.  We also had an awesome experience at the Dutch Cafe and Andre made the world of difference in our enjoyment of the 21 day cruise.  We discovered “drip” coffee and made a habit of it every morning with Andre making the perfect cup. We also had several sittings of testing the various Trappist beers and settled on the Chimay Red to be our beverage of choice in the afternoon after a tiring excursion.  Andre is a wonderful conversationalist covering many topics and time flew by while we sat at the bar drinking Chimay and trying various appetizers.  If anyone else has had similar experiences with Andre at the Dutch Cafe, please fill out a comment in the passenger feedback to inform HA about his extra effort to delight the passengers.

[Crew News]

6 hours ago, iflyrc5 said:

Thank you so much for all the reporting and answering questions.  We are really looking forward to getting on this DAM ship next Wednesday

Please stop by the Dutch Cafe and say hello, from Roger, if you get a chance when you pick up your almond cookies.

[jbecker6469]

17 hours ago, Queen of DaNile said:

$10.00

Sorry, but min bet on BJ is $6.00

[DrKoob]

Day Three Report: Grand Turk and some other things.

 

After missing our first port (which should have been HAL's private island, Half Moon Cay) due to weather conditions and not COVID, our first stop became Grand Turk Island. Grand Turk is the Turk part of Turks and Caicos. This was our first time on this island so we had no clue what we were in for.

 

On past cruises we hardly ever do ship's shore excursions but using HAL's Have It All program, we not only received a drinks package, two nights in specialty restaurants and complimentary Wifi but we were able to sign up for some HAL shore excursions for free. With that said, we chose "Charming Grand Turk by Open Air Tram." This was just one of those overview tours where we would see the island and hear from a guide who would tell us a little about the island, their country and its history.

 

Sometimes things go wrong on a cruise and you just hope it's not a big deal. This turned out to be one of those times. We had arrived at the correct time for the afternoon tram ride and after they signed us in they told us that the morning tram group had not come back yet and we would have to wait 15 minutes. No biggie. But the 15 minutes turned into 30 and then almost an hour. The shore excursion team offered us a full refund or we could wait another 15 minutes. In fact the tram never showed up (they might still be there 😜). Some people chose to take refunds and headed back to the ship. We had decided to wait the full hour and then take the refund.

 

But when an open air bus (not our tram) came in after their second tour, the HAL shore excursion people asked the guide if he would take us. We were totally impressed with their efforts and he agreed to tour us around. We were thrilled because he had a higher and larger open air bus than the tram would have been, which made it much easier for me to get the photos I ended up with (that I am thrilled about). The shore excursion manager did her job that day, totally coming through for us. Not only that, when we got back to the ship and checked our accounts we found that she had reimbursed us for the entire tour because it was late and we handled it so well. Going above and beyond—HAL's service is blowing us away.

 

Once we got out on the road with our guide Nate we knew we were in a very fun tour. He was hilarious. He had two teenage girls working with him and they took great care of us as we drove all over the island. We learned a lot about Grand Turk and its history (for instance, did you know this where John Glenn landed after his first orbit of the earth?). Nate was also great about stopping for photos. I am going to tell you a little more about Grand Turk in the captions of the photos on my blog. Again, to see the pics you will need to Google Jim Bellomo and look for my blog. It should be the first thing that comes up. Cruise Critic will not let me post a link to it from here.

 

Not sure what more I can tell you about Grand Turk but I will say that this cruise is almost making me like the Caribbean. (For those new to this blog, this has NEVER been one of my favorite places—too warm, not a beach person, etc.) We loved Grand Turk, we had a great day in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic yesterday that I will write about later this afternoon or later this week and the weather has been near perfect. Yes, it has been hot when we are out and about and I think wearing a mask makes it about 10 degrees warmer but I am writing this on a sea day, sitting outside on our verandah. The temperature is 79 degrees Fahrenheit, the seas are flat as a lake and the breeze is awesome. I could get real used to this, really fast. We are already talking with our buddy Seth about doing another Sail with Seth in a warm climate. We will keep you updated in case you want to join us.

 

One more thing to mention about the Sail with Seth part of our cruise. This morning he arranged a special Coffee with the Captain just for the group and the captain verified that there are 895 passengers on board and a little more than 800 crew members. That means we have almost one crew member per passenger. No wonder the service is so awesome!

 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

9 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Again, to see the pics you will need to Google Jim Bellomo and look for my blog. It should be the first thing that comes up. Cruise Critic will not let me post a link to it from here.

I have seen many add a link to their blogs so not sure why you can't. Would make looking at your photos much easier.  And you missed a lovely Seattle area day today-warm enough to be out without a coat😊.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Thanks for your reports from the NS.  Found your pics on your other blog which are beautiful!  Will Seth be on next week?

[smlnd]

 Do you know what they charge for a one day rental of the Retreat?  Different price for port day versus sea day?

[BellKat]

8 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

Thanks for your reports from the NS.  Found your pics on your other blog which are beautiful!  Will Seth be on next week?

No, Seth is only on for this cruise.

[CruiserBruce]

9 hours ago, smlnd said:

 Do you know what they charge for a one day rental of the Retreat?  Different price for port day versus sea day?

If the OP is not in a Retreat Cabana, they would have to do a bit of footwork for the info you seek. Or you could do a search on the board, and find this recent thread: