Live from Nieuw Statendam - Legends of the Fjords, May 28 to June 9

[Analog187]

10 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

I am enjoying reading your review.

 

We were on the Koningsdam in Alaska 1 weeks ago and while we did place a pizza order using Navigator, whenever I tried to use the app to place an order at Dive In it stated that it wasn't available.

Glad to here someone is enjoying it.  Feel free to check out my pics on my FB page.  Info is in my profile 

[waiting2retire]

14 hours ago, singleflyer said:

@Analog187 Random question; but are the milkshakes at Dive In an up-charge (or count against your 15 drink limit with Have It All)?  Or are they free for everyone?  

Upcharge of $6.49 but worth every penny!

 

[Analog187]

Day 4 - Molde

 

We woke up to very cloudy weather as we were pulling it but it really didn't matter because this town is just not exciting so I don't think there would have been much to see.  I'm sure there are nice places if you take a tour but we wanted to keep it simple this cruise since it was going to be a long trip.  Glad we did.  We had breakfast at the NY Deli.  I ordered a plain bagel and an egg and cheese bagel.  They were pretty good for a ship so that was a nice change of pace.  The OJ they have up there doesn't taste watered down like the stuff downstairs.  Kind of odd that it would be different. 

 

We went to explore Molde and it was pretty boring.  We walked several blocks on the main street and there really wasn't much to see.  The entire city burned down about 70 years ago or somewhere around there so the buildings are somewhat modern.  Looks like a generic small European town with not a lot of touristy stuff.  We went in a store or two and that was about it.  It was fine though because we can't have 10 amazing ports in a row.  We would just be too worn out.

 

Back on the ship, I went back and forth between the sauna and the hot tub for a few hours which was nice and relaxing.  I then took a nap for an hour which was awesome.  Nothing in the MDR excited us and we wanted to keep the theme of the day being relaxing so we went to the buffet for dinner.  It was mobbed.  These people really like to eat on this ship.  I don't remember another ship where the buffet was mobbed for dinner.  Usually not a lot of people are there since most are in the MDR.  The pasta was pretty good and I had to have more of those fries.  I also had some fruit and pretzel bread.  Good stuff.

 

We walked around a little bit and checked out the art which seems to have been recently moved to deck 1 as all the maps says its on 3.  That's now a part of the casino.  There's not much there but they had some nice Picasso stuff.  We tried to win a raffle but we always lose of course.  We don't like singing so we didn't even bother with the show tonight but there was a hidden identity game show.  That was fun.  After that we finished the night with some drinks and more time in the casino.  I'd have to check the room bill but I think we are still ahead by a little.  I've almost qualified for the slot tournament.  

 

Pretty chill day which we needed.  It's hard to believe that we'll be on this ship for another week.  

[Tigrou]

My experience of Molde yesterday was somewhat different.

 

Less than half a mile walk from the ship is the Romsdal Museum. It took me maybe 15 minutes to walk there, and then only because it was uphill and I was admiring some pretty houses and gardens in a residential area along the way.

 

The museum has some indoor exhibits but is mostly outdoor. It’s a collection of various historic buildings from the local area, from a few different periods. Some of it you can wander around for free but to see most of them, and the indoor exhibits, it cost 150 NOK (approx $14). In the paid area, buildings were open to explore and some had guides inside, demonstrating cooking and spinning, for example.

 

I explored the buildings and lovely grounds for over an hour. It may not have been sunny but for Norway the weather was pretty good and it didn’t rain, at least not while I was out.

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Tigrou

[Mike07]

16 hours ago, Analog187 said:

 

Back on the ship, I went back and forth between the sauna and the hot tub for a few hours which was nice and relaxing.  I then took a nap for an hour which was awesome.  Nothing in the MDR excited us and we wanted to keep the theme of the day being relaxing so we went to the buffet for dinner.  It was mobbed.  These people really like to eat on this ship.  I don't remember another ship where the buffet was mobbed for dinner.  Usually not a lot of people are there since most are in the MDR.  The pasta was pretty good and I had to have more of those fries.  I also had some fruit and pretzel bread.  Good stuff.

 

 

 

Yes, something is strange on this ship. This group really likes to eat and it's honestly been a turn off to the HAL brand and this tier of cruising. Too many people, everywhere, and we're 300 fewer passengers than last cruise.

[Analog187]

8 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Yes, something is strange on this ship. This group really likes to eat and it's honestly been a turn off to the HAL brand and this tier of cruising. Too many people, everywhere, and we're 300 fewer passengers than last cruise.

 

Ok, so it's not just me.  I feel like this ship just wasn't designed for this many people and they aren't staffed up to handle the crowd. 

[cruising sister]

I found indoor food areas crowded but other places not so much. I found quiet places to sit and read. Cold weather cruises makes the inside busy. I was surprised more people  did not eat in MDR. This was my 3rd cruise since start up and on those sailings the buffet was dead at night. Maybe cold weather caused people to rethink changing to go to MDR or cruise mix is the reason. 

[Mike07]

8 minutes ago, cruising sister said:

I found indoor food areas crowded but other places not so much. I found quiet places to sit and read. Cold weather cruises makes the inside busy. I was surprised more people  did not eat in MDR. This was my 3rd cruise since start up and on those sailings the buffet was dead at night. Maybe cold weather caused people to rethink changing to go to MDR or cruise mix is the reason. 

 

 

Agreed.... I've been on multiple Princess, Celebrity and this is my second HAL cruise since restart.... People don't seem to frequent the MDR so much. Still getting people at first seating for sure ... Don't get me wrong everybody, but idk if it's a European thing or what and people just eat later here.

 

I've never seen a lido packed so much at night across the three mentioned brands above.

[billydog]

48 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

Agreed.... I've been on multiple Princess, Celebrity and this is my second HAL cruise since restart.... People don't seem to frequent the MDR so much. Still getting people at first seating for sure ... Don't get me wrong everybody, but idk if it's a European thing or what and people just eat later here.

 

I've never seen a lido packed so much at night across the three mentioned brands above.

Sound good!  More room and easier bookings in the MDR!

[washiotter]

I don’t really understand “these people like to eat!” as a complaint. Are you yourself showing up at the Lido at that hour for a different reason?

 

”The buffet seems understaffed,” okay, that’s a reasonable argument to make, but “these people like to eat”? Don’t we all like to eat at dinner time?

[Mike07]

1 hour ago, washiotter said:

I don’t really understand “these people like to eat!” as a complaint. Are you yourself showing up at the Lido at that hour for a different reason?

 

 

The issue is less on people being there, but more lack of seating and people being everywhere in lines. I mainly go for coffee or ice water. Rarely do I take the food.

 

[Analog187]

2 hours ago, billydog said:

Sound good!  More room and easier bookings in the MDR!

If you want a table for 2, the wait is long.  If you don't mind sharing, there's no real wait. 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Analog187
Typo

[Analog187]

Day 5 - Alesund

 

We woke up to a cold, cloudy day but the town still looked more exciting than Molde.  We got off the ship after breakfast and there was a ticket window for the hop on, hop off bus so we bought our tickets.  We were told the bus was coming at 10.  It was 9:30 so we walked around a bit and then as we were coming back, we saw the bus pull up - at 9:50.  There was already a line and only a few people got off so most people in line couldn't get on.  We were hoping that there was another bus coming at 10.  By 10:05 we realized this probably wasn't going to happen.  At this point, the line was over 60 people deep.  I went to go speak with one of the workers to find out what's going on.  They were very rude and the guy said "I didn't go on the ship and tell all 10,000 of you to buy tickets".  Of course, the ship doesn't hold 10,000 people but "it sucks to be you" was the message.  We would just have to wait for the next bus whenever that is.  The next bus finally came at 10:35.

 

We wanted to take the bus to the viking village but this bus doesn't go there despite the website showing otherwise.  We really shouldn't have done this but lesson learned to look at the map first.  Besides them selling too many tickets for the busses that they had, it really only went two places - up a hill for a great view and an aquarium, which we didn't have an interest in.  The other stops are about a 5 minute walk from the ship.  Kinda pointless.  A lot of the commentary on the recording repeats itself.  I cannot recommend this at all.  There's a little fake train thing that goes up to the viewpoint that is probably much cheaper.  

 

We were able to get out at the viewpoint, take some pictures and then get on the same bus.  We then just took it back to the beginning.  Took over an hour.  We then went back to the ship and had lunch.  After that, we got back off the ship and walked around for a while and checked out some shops.  At this point it was sunny so we got some good pictures.  Nice easy port stop but there wasn't a million things to do.  This is fine with us because there will be more to do in other ports and we don't want to be that tired.

 

Much like yesterday, we took a nap.  Dinner tonight was Pinnacle Grill.  The candied bacon was great.  We were not impressed with our steaks at all.  Mine was cold and her's was cooked too much.  The taste was OK and we didn't think that was going to improve so we didn't bother having them remake it.  Cagney's on NCL is better.

 

The show tonight was the comedy magician again and again, he was a lot of fun.  None of his magic is that incredible but he's very funny so it's a really nice show.  I forgot to mention that the rock band on the ship sounds really good.  The only issue is that they are usually on when were are doing something else so we never get a chance to really sit down and listen to them.  They are very popular so seating can be hard to come by.  Hopefully we can see them at least once or twice this cruise.

 

After that we hit up the casino and after losing some money very quickly, we both found good machines and did pretty good.  My wife won $88 which was nice.  I now have enough points to get an entry into the slot tournament.  I'd have to do the math but I'm very sure that we are ahead so far.

 

One other thing I should mention is that it doesn't seem to really get dark here.  It's almost 10pm and it looks more like 6pm.  Midnight last night looked more like 8pm.  It's pretty wild.  The scenery is great so having a balcony is really nice.  We don't hang out there a lot because it's so cold but we like watching the scenery as we go by.  

[Native Floridian 26]

On 5/30/2023 at 10:21 AM, Analog187 said:

 

Today I went to Dive and could not use the app at all.  Had to stand in line.   I guess it just varies for whatever reason. 

We were on the 14 day Transatlantic on NS and there was no app ordering for Dive In the whole cruise.  Pizza was app or walk up.

[santrah]

8 hours ago, Mike07 said:

the

 

[Analog187]

Day 6 - Flam

What an amazing place.  Once again, I'm happy we have a balcony for this cruise.  Waking up to that view is incredible.  After breakfast we walked around for a bit and checked out the shops.  There's really not much of a town here as it's mostly tourist stuff.  There is a waterfall you can walk to but it's a bit of a hike.  We walked about halfway there to get a decent pic and headed back.  We went back on the ship to have lunch.  With most people off the ship, it was so much easier to get some food and actually get some service.  Huge difference from breakfast which is just a disaster.

 

The big thing to do in Flam is to take the train up to the top of the mountain.  I did see a bunch of people get on a boat to cruise up the fjord but the ship literally does that on the way out so I don't see the point of that.  The train ride is just amazing from the get go.  You get a better shot of that waterfall we walked to and then as you ascend up the mountain the views just keep coming one after another.  The train hugs the one side of the mountain which gives you amazing views into the valley.  There's so many waterfalls.  It's impossible to keep count.  Some are massive, some are skinny.  You want to sit on the right side of the train as that's where most of the views are.  There are some views on the other side but you can catch them on the way down by standing up and going over to the door.  There's not a ton on that side and you'll know when to get up.  No need to switch seats.

 

The only boring part was when we had to wait for the other train to pass.  It took about 10 minutes.  Other than that, it was great.  There was a 5 minute stop at the waterfall which is really cool.  The train literally stops right there.  Everyone gets right back on the train to get to the end just a few minutes away.  We didn't bother to get off the train so in a few minutes, it was time to head back down.  We stopped at the waterfall again but there was really no reason to get out since we just saw it.  The views were great going down as well.  I sat at a window that I could pull down which really helped with the pictures.  I highly recommend that.  We didn't have to wait where the trains pass but we did stop there briefly as it's a station.  Before I know it, we were back at the ship.  The whole thing took 2 hours.  It was really incredible and I can't suggest it enough.  We bought our tickets from vy(dot)no. If I had to nitpick anything it is that some people from other cultures have no concept of indoor voices or that singing in public is just not acceptable (yes, they were singing).  So we couldn't always hear the announcements which were helpful since they were about the history of the area and stuff like that. 

 

Back on the ship we relaxed for a bit in the room and then went to MDR at 5pm for an early dinner.  Decent amount of people at that time.  When we did that on our last cruise there was no one there.  Service was good but the food just seems cheap.  Had the chicken again which was low quality as were the mashed potatoes.  Cafeteria type stuff really.  Hopefully the prime rib tomorrow is better.

 

We ate early because we wanted to watch the sail out of the fjord.  We started to pull away around 6:45 so we headed for the bow.  This was probably the best experience of the cruise so far.  The fjord is like another planet.  Just amazing.  This is the whole point of this cruise and the weather was perfect although it does get cold on the bow.  We stayed on there for about a half hour until we made a turn and the wind really hit us.  From there we went up to the Crow's Nest and we're surprised to find two seats right by the starboard side window (where the good views were).  We stayed there for two hours just watching the fjord go by.  The pictures don't even look real.  I'm sure people think I photoshopped them or something even though I don't even have photoshop.  

 

We then went to the 9:30 show which was the dancers again.  The bass was still up too high which is annoying.  Guess they're not gonna fix that.  The dancing was good but it wasn't the style that I like from the other day.  There was a singer this time for some songs and we weren't into that so we bailed about halfway through.  The wife went upstairs and I went to the casino for a bit.  Didn't do so well this time but I suppose my luck had to end.  Pretty sure we are still ahead though.

 

It's now 11pm and it looks more like 6pm.  We are still sailing by the fjords with snow-capped mountains so I've been typing this and glancing out the windows to watch the scenery at the same time.  If you are looking to do a Norway cruise, make sure Flam is on the itinerary.  

[bandrproductions]

Hello, 

Thank you for writing this review. I have been learning a lot from reading it. I don’t know what these are called on Holland America, but would you be able to please post whatever the daily paper is for one day. I am just trying to decide on times of specialty dining for a cruise in August. Thanks! 

[Analog187]

14 hours ago, bandrproductions said:

Hello, 

Thank you for writing this review. I have been learning a lot from reading it. I don’t know what these are called on Holland America, but would you be able to please post whatever the daily paper is for one day. I am just trying to decide on times of specialty dining for a cruise in August. Thanks! 

 

I'll try to do that when I get home.  The internet here isn't the best and we are really busy this trip.  I have a lot of blog stuff to get caught up on still.  

[bandrproductions]

2 hours ago, Analog187 said:

 

I'll try to do that when I get home.  The internet here isn't the best and we are really busy this trip.  I have a lot of blog stuff to get caught up on still.  

 
Thank you! Enjoy the trip! 

[Analog187]

Bergen is Norway's second largest city but it's still a scenic port to be in so we enjoyed waking up to that.  We went to the NY Deli again for breakfast.  It's just such a better experience than the chaos one level down.  Food is better too.   We got off the ship with no real plan but we got a map from the hop on, hop off bus company. Much like the other day, there's no real reason to buy this since you can walk to almost everything.  The map however is handy since it helps you figure out what you should do.  Even though I had my phone, we liked having this paper map as well.

 

We walked through the fish market which was really interesting.  They had some very unique things like whale, these giant scallops and fish I've never seen before.  I wasn't brave enough to try whale but it was cool to look at.  We then walked over to the fortress which looked cool but based on the Google reviews, we didn't bother paying to go in.  There's some really cool architecture here including these old wooden buildings that you can walk through.  Several contain shops but we just liked walking all around them.

 

Then we go to the funicular and debated whether we should do it.  The line looked really long but it moved pretty fast.  The one line was actually to buy tickets but you could buy them online which we did right there.  That got us to go in front of about 40 people which saved some time.  The funicular holds a lot of people and like many others we've been on, there's two.   So there's one every few minutes.  Roundtrip tickets were $8.  We got on in just a few minutes and got a great view from the front.  It's only a few minutes ride to the top.

 

The top of the mountain has amazing views of Bergen including the ship.  It was about 10 degrees colder up there so I'm glad I brought a light jacket.  We then walked to a lake and then headed back down.  We walked through the fish market again and came upon some type of parade.  It looked like a ROTC type thing.  No real idea what was going on but it was cool to see.  We also stopped at a bakery to get this really good cinnamon roll that was more like a type of bread.  Still good though.

 

Not that we walked about 6 miles, we got back on the ship.  We didn't really eat lunch so we went to the Dutch cafe to grab some food.  We finally got the giant cream puff thing which was good.  It's like an eclair the size of a softball.  The two of us almost finished it.  We also had an order of fries.  These were steak fries so different from the others you get elsewhere. Kind of interesting that the ship serves three different types of fries.  They were really good.  They also made us a good iced coffee.  We figured out that one person makes it better than the other people so we make sure to order it from her.  

 

After a nap we went to dinner at the MDR.  There was a pretty good line at 5pm this time.  Still can't get over that compared to other cruises.  I wasn't that hungry so I just got the prime rib.  It was good.  Not amazing but good.  The baked potato is weird.  It's really small and the inside is dark.  Not sure what type of potato that is but it's not my favorite.

 

After dinner I learned how the slot tournament worked.  Turns out I had it all wrong.  All the signs say you need 300 points, which I have, but you need to earn them all in one day.  Not sure how you're supposed to know that.  So I didn't qualify.  Although there are times for the slot tournament listed on the app, you can just do it whenever.  It lasts just one minute.  Seeing as some people have tens of thousands of points, I'm never going to be able to compete with them anyway.  We then went downstairs for are you smarter than a 5th grader trivia.  We got almost all of the answers right but none of this is stuff I learned in 5th grade or any grade for that matter.  

The show tonight was the Pianist with the Hair.  Had no idea what that was so I had to google it.  Turns out it's a really cool guy that plays all over the world with a very unique twist on classical piano.  Several people showed up late and had to stand.  The guy looks like a younger Howard Stern which is even referenced.  He's incredibly talented and this was a really unique show for a cruise ship.  He plays a song and then he talks in-between so it's not just someone playing piano for 45 minutes straight.  He's funny so it's very entertaining.  

 

One of my issues with HAL is that the timing of things doesn't really mesh well.  The show started at 7:30 and went on about 50 minutes.  Problem is, there was a game show at 8:15 that a lot of people wanted to see.  If you stay for the show, you won't get to the game show until about 8:25.  So you'd miss 10 minutes of the show and you wouldn't get a good seat, or any seat for that matter.  I left a few minutes early since I knew it was almost over to get us seats.  It seems like the crew figured a lot of people were still in the show so they delayed the start by several minutes.  Thus, I didn't really accomplish much.  They should space things out better.  I've been on dozens of other ships where it was very easy to go from one thing to the next without having to leave early.  Not sure why they don't do this here.

 

Anyway, the show itself was really good.  It was a To Tell the Truth type of game.  Jose was one of the contestants and he really is such a talent.  He makes anything really good.  Can't say enough about him.

 

After that we went to the casino for a little bit and we didn't do that great so we called it a night pretty early.  The app hasn't worked for most of the day and as a result, we haven't had internet on our phones.  For some reason it works on my computer.  Not sure why there's a difference but there is.  While the internet may not be important for everyone, it makes a lot of the app impossible to use as you can't buy an excursion, chat with other people, order food, etc.  Not sure what's going on or when it will get fixed as no one has said anything about it.  

 

Another fun day.  

 

[kwar]

thanks for your daily reviews. Not taking this ship but like to keep up on Holland's doings.  We are on the Westerdam in January for 28 days.  Disappointed the food is going down hill.  We were on Princess last year and thought Holland's food was better, who knew.  I will follow you til you disembark.  Keep up the good job.  Does the crew seem happy?

 

Rita kwar

[Florida_gal_50]

Why not go to the mdr for breakfast? I don’t know why people love the cafeteria so much.  It’s a zoo.  The mdr is so civilized.

[omago4th]

oh wait Florida don't tell our secret. I agree a real pleasure to start your day with breakfast in MDR, being waited on.

 

I will never understand people leaving when they are 10 minutes till open, to go up to the crowd  upstairs,

[Analog187]

7 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Why not go to the mdr for breakfast? I don’t know why people love the cafeteria so much.  It’s a zoo.  The mdr is so civilized.

If we had time we would but we don't have the time.  Trust me, I want nothing to do with that place in the morning.  

[Analog187]

9 hours ago, kwar said:

  Keep up the good job.  Does the crew seem happy?

 

Rita kwar

 

Thanks, I would say somewhat.  Some seem to be happy, others are just sort of there.  It's very hit or miss.  This morning one of the crew at the buffet filled our drinks twice and asked at least two other times if we needed anything.  Other mornings, no one came up to us at all and there was a massive pile of dirty plates on the tables near us.  No one ever got them.  Inconsistency seems to be a theme this cruise.  Same with getting a drink.  Some areas will have more waitstaff asking if you need a drink, other areas you won't see anyone.  I'm not really an NCL fan but you would have thought those people got commission for giving you drinks.  They were always right there asking everywhere you were.  Not the case here.   Drinks aren't perfect on this ship but they are way better than NCL so you take the good with the bad.