Our anniversary cruise on the Neiuw Statendam : Is the honeymoon over ? Part 2

[AFNavigator]

On 2/8/2023 at 11:46 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

A lot of people like the loud music and party atmosphere of Margaritaville but not us so much

Noisy party atmosphere definitely wasn't a problem for us when we visited in December 2021.  Grand Turk had just reopened from COVID shutdown 4 days prior to our arrival.  I don't think more than about 200 passengers got off our Eurodam (the only ship there) and local's staffing the shops and only open restaurant were very much a skeleton crew.  The pool area in Margaritaville had maybe 10 people there and no music was playing.  No excursions were offered either...I don't remember if we were even permitted to leave the cruise port facilities that day.

[scubacruiserx2]

14 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

Noisy party atmosphere definitely wasn't a problem for us when we visited in December 2021.  Grand Turk had just reopened from COVID shutdown 4 days prior to our arrival.  I don't think more than about 200 passengers got off our Eurodam (the only ship there) and local's staffing the shops and only open restaurant were very much a skeleton crew.  The pool area in Margaritaville had maybe 10 people there and no music was playing.  No excursions were offered either...I don't remember if we were even permitted to leave the cruise port facilities that day.

 

I think that they were in the transition mode at that point as we were still wearing masks when we were there on New Year's Day on the Nieuw Amsterdam . We had made lunch reservations near the dive shop and did get to keep them . Earlier in 2021 just before you were there around Halloween ,  our stop there with our grandson was cancelled and we were given Key West instead . There were other ships there on that day on GT .

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

I took a nap after lunch and Pat went to try to redeem a $ 70 coupon at the Spa . She got a Fire and Ice pedicure for $ 9 with the coupon . On the way back to the room she saw our Cabin Attendants Arye and Octo near the Neptune Lounge and mentioned that we usually have a Neptune Suite so they introduced her to the concierge on duty . It turns out that she went to school with 2 of our previous concierges . She came and got me and a camera and she allowed us to take some photos . We like it better than the other lounges that we had been to .

 

Gone was the Big Mushroom that held the snacks and they had one of the fancy coffee machine instead .

 

 

Same breaking wave photos that we had seen by the pool 

 

 

 

 

Much different carpet inside

 

 

 

This was the first time that we were not in a Full Suite in about 8 cruises since covid . We booked a Signature Suite and hoped for an upsell but they kept the full price for an empty Neptune Suite which was more than double . We're in a saving mode for our 45th anniversary in March which we hope to spend about 5 days in San Francisco and 10 days in Hawaii .

[Real NHDOC]

Is anyone aboard the Nieuw Statendam now and knows what the happy hour drink special is?  Every ship seems to have a different policy and we'll be joining in March and were curious.

[scubacruiserx2]

Dinner at Rudi's

 

We had a corner booth this trip

 

 

Charger Plates

 

 

 

Free Mariner Cocktail and our go to Malbec

 

 

Starters 

 

 

 

 

 

Veggies - Haricots Verts , Ratatouille

 

 

 

Main Course - Grilled Shrimp Provencale , Tournedos Rossini

 

 

 

Feeling a little Crabby

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Did we forget dessert ?

 

 

 

There's a mouse in the house

 

 

Now where did that wicked witch in the cotton slippers go to ?

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Also on our previous day at sea was some watching the Boobies hunting for fish that the cruise ship may cause to surface where they became a quick bite for these birds .

 

 

 

Friday , January 20th watching the sunrise near Half Moon Cay 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[Bimmer09]

Sunrises worth getting up early for Joe!

Norris

[scubacruiserx2]

4 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Sunrises worth getting up early for Joe!

Norris

 

Yes sir , thank you and welcome aboard . The sun over HMC was a perfect wake up call . We had been there recently with our grandson on his 20th birthday cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam in late October . With the sun drying our wetsuits on the balcony we ducked into the uncrowded Spa as most people seemed to be go ashore .😎

[scubacruiserx2]

There was plenty of sunshine and business in our last port

 

 

This boat with a crane carries the food and drinks ashore . The Pirate Bar is behind them

 

 

A pano video of HMC

 

 

 

A single life boat being tested

 

 

The Cabanas are $ 499 for 4 people the Villa is $ 599 for 8 people . We rented one of these on the March 18th cruise for or friends and their family .

 

 

Busy boats coming and going

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Patty went down to the lido and grab a quick bite for us for breakfast . As the spa opened at 8 we were the only ones in the changing rooms and spa area .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

After the spa we met back at the room before lunch

 

 

 

Looking for our last lunch

 

 

The least busy place on the ship it seemed was the hand washing station near the Lido

 

 

The view from above

 

 

[Iamthesea]

I have really enjoyed your review and getting to know the ship ahead of time.  Please refresh my memory on what type of stateroom category you have and the location?  Thank you in advance!

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

I have really enjoyed your review and getting to know the ship ahead of time.  Please refresh my memory on what type of stateroom category you have and the location?  Thank you in advance!

 

Well thank you . We were in Vista Suite A 7079 midship .

[scubacruiserx2]

As we were leaving HMC I wanted to listen to some old music on headphones but I decided to film it so I got the idea of playing music on my little machine in the background as a soundtrack . I chose a song that I liked and played and recorded it . This little machine also can amplify a phone or a laptop . I choose a song that I liked from the year that my wife and I met and the song also has a story behind it .

 

 

 

 

I hope that you like the music but we think one of our neighbors is not a fan of  Wild Mountain Honey as he slammed the door 4 times during the song . The story of the Sitar/Guitar is that Steve Miller paid $ 125 dollars for it and he's been offered $800,000 for it - and refused !

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

It was our last dinner for this cruise and we were back in  the Tamarind . We had chatted with Vanessa on our previous visit and it turns out that she knows a lot of the other folks from the Tamarind on the Nieuw Amsterdam that we spent so much time on .

 

 

After placing our orders I went out back to the Seaview pool area for some pix .

 

 

A large conversation pit and a lighted outside stairway

 

 

I guess that I half expected  to see a Delft Warrior

 

 

 

[Caribbean Chris]

Here’s your Delft warrior (sort of) from Captain Albert’s Blog in 2018:

 

[scubacruiserx2]

On 2/15/2023 at 6:18 PM, Caribbean Chris said:

Here’s your Delft warrior (sort of) from Captain Albert’s Blog in 2018:

 

 

It looks like a reasonable facsimile thereof - Thanks Chris .

[scubacruiserx2]

 Let's eat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yikes !

 

[scubacruiserx2]

Well if it's Saturday morning then we're back home . A photo and a video of back in our home port .

 

 

The port in the early morning

 

 

 

We will publish a wrap up later . Meanwhile , we are writing and completing another thread where we spent a Trip on the Nieuw Amsterdam went from Alaska and the Left coast , thru the Panama  Canal ( Where 41 people were left behind on the HAL zipline Adventure tour ) , which is also a current thread . We then picked up our grandson in Ft. Lauderdale for a 5 day cruise which we are almost done with  . We will have another SCUBA trip on the Nieuw Amsterdam which we haven't written about yet but plan on writing after we complete the trip with our grandson . We hope that you enjoyed the Nieuw Statendam trip and will continue on the next trip with us also . 🙂😊

 

 

 

[oakridger]

Thanks Joe!  I do enjoy all the pictures, videos and commentary!  Lots of work to do these trip reports!

 

~Nancy

[scubacruiserx2]

13 hours ago, oakridger said:

Thanks Joe!  I do enjoy all the pictures, videos and commentary!  Lots of work to do these trip reports!

 

~Nancy

 

You're welcome Nancy . It as a pleasure to meet and cruise with you . The hardest part of the trip reports is remembering everything . Fortunately the cameras have a better memory than we do ! There is some overlap as I can have 3 different photos from 3 different cameras - sometimes with the same number as we download them .

We hope to be in your neighborhood next month as a stopover as we fly to Hawaii . We plan on going to Big Sur and wine country on March 14-17 and Kauai after that . After Kauai we hope to return to SFO on the 26 to the 28th and spend the night of the 27th in Yosemite . If you know of a nice hotel near the airport we would love a recommendation or 2 if you know any for the nights of the 26th and 28th . We guess that our next cruise report after April will be on the ports of San Francisco and Nawiliwili . In the meantime we took a bonus trip on the Nieuw Amsterdam in November to go SCUBA diving in Grand Cayman and Cozumel with our favorite divemaster who we haven't seen in years . That Report will begin soon - we hope , but we have been very busy with housework that we do in the cooler time of the year . But it's expected to be in the mid to upper 80's this week . Yikes !

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

You're welcome Nancy . It as a pleasure to meet and cruise with you . The hardest part of the trip reports is remembering everything . Fortunately the cameras have a better memory than we do ! There is some overlap as I can have 3 different photos from 3 different cameras - sometimes with the same number as we download them .

We hope to be in your neighborhood next month as a stopover as we fly to Hawaii . We plan on going to Big Sur and wine country on March 14-17 and Kauai after that . After Kauai we hope to return to SFO on the 26 to the 28th and spend the night of the 27th in Yosemite . If you know of a nice hotel near the airport we would love a recommendation or 2 if you know any for the nights of the 26th and 28th . We guess that our next cruise report after April will be on the ports of San Francisco and Nawiliwili . In the meantime we took a bonus trip on the Nieuw Amsterdam in November to go SCUBA diving in Grand Cayman and Cozumel with our favorite divemaster who we haven't seen in years . That Report will begin soon - we hope , but we have been very busy with housework that we do in the cooler time of the year . But it's expected to be in the mid to upper 80's this week . Yikes !

 

Hope you have a great time in Kauai. We're heading over there in September and are very excited about the trip! 🤙

[scubacruiserx2]

22 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Hope you have a great time in Kauai. We're heading over there in September and are very excited about the trip! 🤙

 

Thank you , and wow another amazing coincidence ! You're very lucky to live so much closer to the islands than we do . We did a cruise to Hawaii from Vancouver on the Rhapsody of the seas in September of 2001 a couple of weeks after 911 . It went to Hilo and Kona just before Ironman , Lahaina for an overnight , Nawiliwili , Kauai and a couple of nights in Honolulu . Jim Nabors who we met later was the entertainment on the ship . We then returned to  Kauai and stayed a week in a condo that we rented again for next month . The strangest thing that happened was we were called aside twice for a full luggage inspection and kept separate from the others until boarding time . We had booked 2 one way flights , one from home to Vancouver and one from Hawaii to home . The people who brought down the Trade Centers had only booked one way flights so with everybody still on high alert our one way flights fell under a profile of suspicious behavior . We loved the Helicopter ride in Kauai and hope to do it again !

[KroozNut]

36 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

Thank you , and wow another amazing coincidence ! You're very lucky to live so much closer to the islands than we do . We did a cruise to Hawaii from Vancouver on the Rhapsody of the seas in September of 2001 a couple of weeks after 911 . It went to Hilo and Kona just before Ironman , Lahaina for an overnight , Nawiliwili , Kauai and a couple of nights in Honolulu . Jim Nabors who we met later was the entertainment on the ship . We then returned to  Kauai and stayed a week in a condo that we rented again for next month . The strangest thing that happened was we were called aside twice for a full luggage inspection and kept separate from the others until boarding time . We had booked 2 one way flights , one from home to Vancouver and one from Hawaii to home . The people who brought down the Trade Centers had only booked one way flights so with everybody still on high alert our one way flights fell under a profile of suspicious behavior . We loved the Helicopter ride in Kauai and hope to do it again !

 

Yes, another coincidence. This will be our first visit to Kauai. We've been to Oahu (Honolulu) and Maui twice. We're staying at the south shore in a rented condo in Poipu. Our highlight for this trip will be a catamaran trip along the Napali coast.