Statendam - any reviews, Tips, etc

[KK11]

Will be travelling from Vancouver inside passage, Juneau, Skagway and ketchikan.

 

Anyone with review of their cruise on Statendam, or any tips, watch out for, etc

 

THANKS for all the wonderful info made available by the various people who contribute to make the cruises of others that much more memorable.

[Alexat2]

I wish I could rave about my recent cruise on the Statendam - I was on the Statendam in March, however several people onboard nicknamed it "The cruise from Hell". Several also cancelled upcoming cruises and swore off HAL.

 

:D The cabin staff were wonderful, as were the waitstaff. The food was pretty good to but the menus were very uneven (5 great entrees one day and 0 the next) - the on deck barbecue was wonderful!

 

Unfortunately, that's the extent of what I can say that's good, here's the rest:

 

:mad: The shore excursion staff, especially the manager are RUDE beyond belief. (A lovely couple on their first cruise thought "all cruise lines" treated their passengers this way).

 

:mad: The cruise staff are almost as bad, and the Event Manager is a complete B****. They literally told approximately 100 passengers that had been in line for 1 1/2 hours (since 6:30am) for tender tickets to leave and comeback in an hour because they weren't going to be handing them out until then, and NO they weren't going to guarantee anyone's place in line. They almost got lynched.

 

:confused: The Hotel manager didn't even bother responding to serious complaints - but he did tell everyone at the Cruise Critic get together that the Statendam had the #1 service rating in the fleet (I highly doubt it, I've been on other HAL ships and they don't treat their passengers like crap).

 

:mad: The ship had (on several occassions) one of the WORST COORDINATED immigration procedures and TENDERING procdures I have ever encountered on any cruise ship. Tendering took 3 1/2 hours in Bay of Islands for everyone to get off the ship. I don't think the Hotel Department and the Shore Excursion staff EVER coordinate with one another - it was a complete cluster...... (to quote another passenger)

 

:( The Captain, Captain "Jack", was non-existant, he didn't even show up for the memorial ceremony onboard when we passed Iwo Jima. Maybe it's his attitude reflected in the crew?

 

The ONE jacuzzi that works they can't control the temp, it's either too scalding hot (literally) or cold.

 

Several passengers had problems with the AC - they couldn't regulate it.

 

I really hope there's a whole different crew onboard for your cruise. My advice - avoid the shore excursion desk.

 

Lydia

[KK11]

Thanks for that ..... I was hoping someone would give me a review for Alaska, since lots of reviews for Princes cruise and lots of bouqets for HAL.

 

- I haven't booked anything thru the cruiseship/HAL but booked my own excursions, and informed them that I will be on HAL and statendam ... and I think they also have other bookings from other passengers.

 

I will let you know how my cruise works ... I really hope it is not that bad.

 

Keep me informed if you hear anything else, from other people or other websites.

 

THANKS again.

[curlyj]

You can read my Statendam May 2008 review to Alaska in the member review section of Cruise Critic. (The second in the list) I would go on her again in a heartbeat.

 

It seems that not many Statendam passengers write reviews, which is too bad when you are looking for info. I did not experience any issues with crew or ship. If you have a specific question regarding a certain area, I will try and answer. I still have all the daily programs, etc. handy.

 

You will enjoy your trip. Alaska is beautiful on any ship!

[jtl513]

We had a delayed-reaction toilet. Nothing would happen for 10 to 15 seconds after pushing the button - or sometimes longer when we were docked - and then it would flush.

 

Other than that we had no problems, and a fine cruise on her ... and this was before the drydock last October. :)

[KK11]

Thanks, CurlyJ .. I know Alaska will be beautiful, but having a comfortable environment on the ship is also important, in making the cruise memorable

[Alexat2]

We had a delayed-reaction toilet. Nothing would happen for 10 to 15 seconds after pushing the button - or sometimes longer when we were docked - and then it would flush.:)

 

I had one of those too - sometimes it took an hour...

 

 

As for Alaska - it's beautiful, you'll love it. The inside passage is definately the way to go. The only dissapointment we had was doing the Denali portion - we saw NO wildlife. It's really hit or miss.

 

Lydia

[curlyj]

One thing I don't think I mentioned in my review was that the common areas were cool, as they had AC running. A sweater was usually necessary.

 

Re comfort: anything we asked for we got. The ship is small and seemed very uncrowded, with the exception of the show lounge on a "one show only" nite. Chairs were always available around the pool, the gym & spa were never busy.

 

Is there anything specific you are concerned about?

[baanmaan]

We had a wonderfull trip,the ship is not new but very clean,we had a K cabin inside and were happy with it,The food in the Lido was OK,the open seating was fantastic,we came in when we wanted, always there were seats and one of the most importing things is that you don,t have to dine with people you don't want.

the food and the service in the Rotterdam diningroom where OK.We did a few tendering,everything goes smooth and easy, but always there were people who want to be first,first in the bus,first in the tender,firsts to be served in the Lido etc etc.

We liked Captain Jack, who was day and night bizzy to fix all the paperwork in the old communist states.Again we were satisfied overall.

[KK11]

Thanks, everyone for taking the time to write and help me out.

 

I will post my review and experience, once I get back.

 

Thanks.

[Tampa Girl]

I was on the same cruise in March as was Alexat2. However, my take on the cruise was very different. Yes, there were some problems, but the ship's crew was quick to take care of them. I have no recollection of the tender problems at Bay of Islands, probably because we chose to go over later. Although she ship is older and "smaller" - not "small"!, it is very well maintained. Again, some people had air conditioning problems, but that is to be expected in a ship of any size, let alone one with 1280 passengers. And the staff tried their best to accommodate them. As for the immigration problems, that was not HAL's fault. It was the inexperience of the land staff that caused a delay in boarding. Rather than 20 minutes, it took an hour.

One thing I do agree, however, is the hotel manger - or whatever he is called. Unpleasant and unaccommodating. When I asked about the problem of running out of produce, his response was: "What problem?"

It certainly was not the cruise from hell for us - it was the trip of a lifetime and one we were so grateful to have made. The ports were fascinating, and we enjoyed the ship. I hope that you enjoy your cruise as much. Cheers!

[Alexat2]

I have no recollection of the tender problems at Bay of Islands, probably because we chose to go over later.

I went off late too and still had to wait 45 minutes - there's no excuse for a ship the Statendam's size still giving out tender tickets and passengers having to wait 30-45 minutes before they can leave 3 1/2 hour AFTER they started tendering. She's simply not that big.

 

Although the ship is older and "smaller" - not "small"!, it is very well maintained. Again, some people had air conditioning problems, but that is to be expected in a ship of any size, let alone one with 1280 passengers.

I like older and smaller (and these days 1200 is small) - the Marco Polo (865 passengers) is my favorite ship... but come on, only 1 jacuzzi works and it doesn't work right, and they've been like that for over a year? The AC and plumbing stuff happen on any ship.

 

 

And the staff tried their best to accommodate them.

The staff - except for the shore excursion staff and the cruise staff were great, I said that.

 

 

As for the immigration problems, that was not HAL's fault. It was the inexperience of the land staff that caused a delay in boarding. Rather than 20 minutes, it took an hour.

 

I wasn't talking about embarkation - I was talking about clearing onboard in Guam and Osaka, and that was HALs fault. That was a complete mess both times. Everyone received 3 sets of instructions and the 2nd and 3rd sets told certain groups of people to ignore the 1st set, and then they contradicted each other... The Hotel Department/Cruise Staff gave out 1 set, the Shore Excursion Staff the other 2 and no one coordinated with anyone else. No one knew what was going on and it was a complete unorganized mess that again took hours and shouldn't have.

 

The ports were interesting, and despite the crap I did enjoy the cruise, and the Statedam is a nice ship - but I did seriously think about cancelling the Veendam cruise in Sept. I can guarantee this - if I find the same bad attitude and rudeness from the Shore Excursion Staff and the Cruise Staff toward passengers on the Veendam, I won't be cruising HAL anymore.

 

Lydia

[Alexat2]

 

:eek: I meant Naha, not Osaka.

[kayden]

I just got back from the AK cruise on the Statendam. I will post a review shortly, but in the meantime I must say that as a small ship with maybe more elderly passengers, we got the best mooring at the 3 ports of the 4 ships (incl. the Statendam) that were there at the same time. :)

 

And the staff was wonderful....so friendly and nice. Like someone else said, the only time there was a crowd was at the nightly entertainment.

 

Apparently we were the first cruise in the history of HAL to have a sanctioned "imitate the captain" contest. It was hilarious - too bad that captain is on vacation now or I am sure they would repeat it...it was one of the highlights of the cruise. :)

[KK11]

THANKS for that update .... looking forward to your review.