Just off Nieuw Statendam this past Sat

[VermeulT]

A few initial observances:

 

• The ship was full.  This was my first cruise in forever where we were at capacity and I didn't really feel it.  The only issue was finding a deck chair sometimes.
• I was impressed with my fellow passenger complement.  Kids were well behaved.  Gala night everyone looked nice.  Far from formal, but everyone was presentable [side note - in 2011 when it was still "formal" night - we had someone in the main dining room in jeans and a F&%# You T-shirt and others in street clothes].  My last two cruises people looked very nice.
• Drink package - very few bar staff were sticklers to the one drink at a time.  If 3 of us were together - they took one drink card.  If you asked for a drink and to take a soda back to the room, no problem.
• Getting drinks took FOREVER.  It wasn't just if the bar was busy. Since SO many people had the package - maybe this was their was to slow down people from over drinking.  But even if there wasn't anyone at a bar, just to get a can of soda could take 2 minutes.  Their computer system seemed really slow (perhaps leading to my above point of one receipt for 3 drinks instead of running 3 transactions).
• Dining Room - this was the first cruise in several that I ate in the MDR - twice. The food was spot on.  Service was quick (no 2 hour dinners).
• Food - overall good.  Nothing was mind blowing, but it was all yummy.
• We had cabins 1104 (inside) and 1106 (outside). These were pretty much under BB King.  We could definitely hear the drum beat at night.  You couldn't hear music or singing. Just the pulse of the rhythm. They ended by 11pm usually.  It was not enough to keep us from sleeping.\
• Crew was fabulous as always.  It never will cease to amaze me how they are able to learn our names so quickly.  Week after week new people and by day 2 they know who we are.  That's just fantastic.

 

If I think of other things - I'll add to this thread.

[Bruinboy]

Thanks for taking time to write this. Even though I do not have a cruise planned for the NS, I appreciate you sharing your HA experience. I will be on the Koningsdam for an extended time next February and hope my experience will be as good as yours.

[Sea42]

Thanks for the review. I'm looking forward to our upcoming cruise on NS. It will be our first on a Pinnacle class ship so I enjoy reading about others' experiences.

[Nickelpenny]

Thank you for your review.  I board her this Saturday.  Hoping that Spring Break for most people was this week NOT next!! 😆

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, VermeulT said:

perhaps leading to my above point of one receipt for 3 drinks

So, NSD is issuing receipts?  Do they ask for signatures?

That is certain to slow service down.

[Live4cruises]

@VMax1700, On our January Koningsdam trip, receipts were always presented. The only reason seemed to be for added tips. After my initial surprise, I decided I was OK with it, since I could reward a favorite bartender, and I seemed to get faster attention since I became known to include an extra dollar or two. 😀

[Banditswife]

thanks for your review, we spent 2 weeks on NS last Nov/Dec & are spending 2 weeks on her in a couple of weeks.  We thought service, especially cabin steward, was great last time. Glad to know that hasn't changed.  We were on deck 1 last time, so you may have had same cabin stewards as we had last year.  We didn't eat in dining room very often last time, maybe we'll make more effort to dine there this time.  We found bar service to be pretty good, except in casino where no one ever offered a drink for 2 weeks.  Glad you had a good cruise.

[albingirl]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

So, NSD is issuing receipts?  Do they ask for signatures?

That is certain to slow service down.

you can ask them to omit the receipts and they will honor your request.

[KroozNut]

On 3/13/2023 at 6:55 AM, Nickelpenny said:

Thank you for your review.  I board her this Saturday.  Hoping that Spring Break for most people was this week NOT next!! 😆

See you onboard Saturday! 😃

[Overhead Fred]

Hey @KroozNut, can you check on drink prices when you get on board? There have been some talk of increased prices that have moved some drinks out of the Sig Bev package range...

 

Thanks in Advance!

[CvilleJane]

We were on that sailing and as a parent with a 15-year-old that was onboard, I'm glad to hear that you thought the kids were well-behaved 🙂 We felt the same with your summary -- I just posted one under  the "Nieuw Statendam" thread!

Edited March 14, 2023 by CvilleJane
grammar/sp

[KroozNut]

50 minutes ago, Overhead Fred said:

Hey @KroozNut, can you check on drink prices when you get on board? There have been some talk of increased prices that have moved some drinks out of the Sig Bev package range...

 

Thanks in Advance!

 

I'll be paying close attention to that, as we do have the SBP. I won't be posting anything here while onboard, but will try to report back on this after we return. 🙂

[VermeulT]

Receipts were always presented.

[sfocruiser]

On 3/13/2023 at 8:07 AM, VMax1700 said:

So, NSD is issuing receipts?  Do they ask for signatures?

That is certain to slow service down.

we were on a few weeks ago and full receipt mode.   Table of 4 four receipts and waited for them to be signed       Definitely slowed down service esp in the music venues

[aliaschief]

Thanks for sharing your cruise experience.