WHAT'S WRONG With The Statendam???

[Love Cruises]

We absolutely love the msSTATENDAM and have cruised on her 3 times. The last trip we had on her ended in March/2009. She is getting a little tired and I'm sure after she goes to drydock she will be as majestic as ever.

 

Our favorite room is the Piano Bar. We don't drink but love to just sit in there and listed to the Piano player.

 

Your going to love her!!!!

[Buddy01]

My DH and I do enjoy a good before dinner coctail and the piano bar sounds like an ideal place to go. We will try it out and of course we will check out the other lounges as well. I am sure our cruise will be wonderful. Thanks all for your responses.

[kayden]

It's an older ship for HAL (if not the oldest), so I think that may be a reason that some people don't prefer it.

 

However, since it's a smaller ship, you don't have to spend so much time navigating from front to back. The crew and captains are excellent. To me, it's a hidden gem. ;)

[durangoscots]

I just finished 28 days, San Diego/San Diego Panama Canal cruises. The Statendam?.... I love the ship. Small, comfortable, good service, great food, wonderful crew. Our cabin was one of the porthole cabins on deck 4, forward. Great!!! Ok, so some of the entertainment was not to my liking, but others liked it and there was some that I absolutely loved!!! Lots to do, or not to do as you might feel at the time. Tried the any-time dining and it worked for me ... made reservations to go at the set times on some days, hid out in the Lido other days, - whether Rotterdam dining or Lido, the food was very good. I would love to cruise on her again. And as for the Panama B2B .... that is a lot of fun and you see things second time through the canal you missed the first.

 

Susan

[Buddy01]

I just finished 28 days, San Diego/San Diego Panama Canal cruises. The Statendam?.... I love the ship. Small, comfortable, good service, great food, wonderful crew. Our cabin was one of the porthole cabins on deck 4, forward. Great!!! Ok, so some of the entertainment was not to my liking, but others liked it and there was some that I absolutely loved!!! Lots to do, or not to do as you might feel at the time. Tried the any-time dining and it worked for me ... made reservations to go at the set times on some days, hid out in the Lido other days, - whether Rotterdam dining or Lido, the food was very good. I would love to cruise on her again. And as for the Panama B2B .... that is a lot of fun and you see things second time through the canal you missed the first.

 

Susan

 

Thank you for your response. I really didn't expect such great reviews so I am thrilled and can't wait to board her! I would love to do a Panama Canal cruise and my DH would rather do the Greek Isles cruise. I told him "wonderful! Let's do both"!! LOL

 

Buddy

[lopakarob]

I just finished 28 days, San Diego/San Diego Panama Canal cruises. The Statendam?.... I love the ship. Small, comfortable, good service, great food, wonderful crew. Our cabin was one of the porthole cabins on deck 4, forward. Great!!! Ok, so some of the entertainment was not to my liking, but others liked it and there was some that I absolutely loved!!! Lots to do, or not to do as you might feel at the time. Tried the any-time dining and it worked for me ... made reservations to go at the set times on some days, hid out in the Lido other days, - whether Rotterdam dining or Lido, the food was very good. I would love to cruise on her again. And as for the Panama B2B .... that is a lot of fun and you see things second time through the canal you missed the first.

 

Susan

 

I'm sorry the CC'ers didn't get together on this cruise, but I'm happy to hear that you had a great time. Did you check out my pics to see if you recognized us (or were in any?) :) http://community.webshots.com/album/...host=community

[durangoscots]

I'm sorry the CC'ers didn't get together on this cruise, but I'm happy to hear that you had a great time. Did you check out my pics to see if you recognized us (or were in any?) :) http://community.webshots.com/album/...host=community

 

Will check them out. Thanks. We should have arranged a get together of some sort ... guess none of us were ready to take the initiative.

 

Susan

[Buddy01]

Will check them out. Thanks. We should have arranged a get together of some sort ... guess none of us were ready to take the initiative.

 

Susan

 

I started a thread for our cruise leaving Vancouver May 24th and I had a few people respond and some commented back a forth but there was no mention of a meet & greet until this week. I suggested just meeting somewhere and no one has really responded except one person who suggested I call and set up a M & G with HAL which I don't really want to do because no one else seems to want to meet, so I am just letting it go. I know which cabin a couple are in so I will check in on them at some point and introduce myself. I hope that's not too forward?! THe folks that are going to be on the Statendam don't seem to be very communicative so I hope that's not indication that our group on the cruise and tour are going to be up tight and standoffish. LOL. Just kidding. :p

[rxralph]

Now you all have made me excited! We're doing a B2B from Ft. Lauderdale thru the Canal on the Statendam in Nov/Dec..:D:D

 

Can't wait!

 

Cheers...:) Betty

 

Betty:

Are you embarking from Ft Lauderdale November 13?

 

ralph

[Cruiser809e8r09]

We did a big loop around the Caribbean on her last year. We thought she was a nice ship, comfortable, but just a bit tired in the decor. The refit will do her a world of good. We'd sail her again.

 

Our two favorite crew were: Carlos in the Crow's Nest and the fellow at the beginning of the (now defunct I guess) tray line in the Lido who was constantly singing snatches of popular songs. We'd check what lineup he was on and take that one if we had the choice. :D Very pleasant fellow to start the day with every morning. The Captain and Hotel Manager came by our CC meetings twice and talked for quite a while about many things.

 

The one thing we weren't too pleased about was they changed the sailaway time in St. Lucia from 5pm to 2pm, then sat there at anchor in the harbour for three hours. We all had to cut our tours short, no explanation or apology was offered. Other than that, things went rather well.

 

Eurodam and Statendam. Eurodam was there for a medical emergency, transfer of pax to US coastguard chopper.

 

Port side deck of the Statendam.

 

Mermaids in the lobby. Cover your eyes kids!

[Buddy01]

dscruisin..thanks for the pictures! I really appreciate your review. When we signed up for this particular cruise I couldn't wait to get on the boards and start chatting about HAL and the Statendam, so I was kind of surprised that there were not vey many comments, questions or reports regarding the ship. It started getting me worried like "oh oh, this is not a popular ship!" type of feeling. I am so much more relaxed now because folks have come back with pretty good reports and how much they enjoyed their cruise. Whew! 2 weeks today, we'll be on her! Whohoo!!!:D

 

Lynne & Steve

[gentlemancruiser]

dscruisin..thanks for the pictures! I really appreciate your review. When we signed up for this particular cruise I couldn't wait to get on the boards and start chatting about HAL and the Statendam, so I was kind of surprised that there were not vey many comments, questions or reports regarding the ship. It started getting me worried like "oh oh, this is not a popular ship!" type of feeling. I am so much more relaxed now because folks have come back with pretty good reports and how much they enjoyed their cruise. Whew! 2 weeks today, we'll be on her! Whohoo!!!:D

 

Lynne & Steve

 

Buddy - I hope you will have a very nice time, as someone has previously said, she's a wonderful ship but just a bit tired around the edges. There were a few minor things that should be changed, but we still had a nice cruise.

Some CCr's prefer not to go to M & G gatherings or like me they like to wait and see what happening around the ship. I'm sure you will have a nice group of passengers on board, Captain Frans in quite the character.

[Buddy01]

Buddy - I hope you will have a very nice time, as someone has previously said, she's a wonderful ship but just a bit tired around the edges. There were a few minor things that should be changed, but we still had a nice cruise.

Some CCr's prefer not to go to M & G gatherings or like me they like to wait and see what happening around the ship. I'm sure you will have a nice group of passengers on board, Captain Frans in quite the character.

 

gentleman...thanks for the well wishes. We are looking forward to our cruise and I am sure it will be wonderful. We like the thought of sailing on a ship that has served so well and if she is a little "tired", well you could probably say that about DH and I. LOL:p We don't mind that at all as long as it's clean and I don't think we'll have to worry about that. As for the M & G, we are going on our dream vacation so we are not going to worry about getting a get together planned at this point (it is 2 weeks to cruise time). Whoohoo!:D

 

Lynne

[dizzy1949]

I just left the Statendam in San Diego on Friday after sailing through the canal from Ft. Lauderdale. It is, indeed, a beautiful ship. I also agree with the other posters about how wonderful the staff and crew are, and I very much enjoyed the captain. We had an outside cabin on deck 4 that was very clean and comfortable. The food was great, the library was one of the best and biggest I've ever seen at sea, and the bars and lounges were always spotless. Small gripes include many out of order washer/dryers, erratic elevators (was trapped twice, once for 15 minutes), and not so good entertainment (but I know that's subjective). I have many pictures of the interior of the Statendam, and will gladly share them if you contact me. I will try to post some here on the boards.

I'm sure you'll love the Statendam like we did!

Didn't realize we had access to those things. Since we'll be doing 4 days land before cruise, we may need to use laundry facilities. Are those available to cruisers?

[jer_l]

Didn't realize we had access to those things. Since we'll be doing 4 days land before cruise, we may need to use laundry facilities. Are those available to cruisers?

Yes, there are coin operated washers and dryers on the R and S class ships. I believe there is also an ironing board with iron in each of the laundry rooms.

[RuthC]

Yes, there are coin operated washers and dryers on the R and S class ships. I believe there is also an ironing board with iron in each of the laundry rooms.

The Prinsendam also has self-service laundry, which is complimentary.

On the S- and R-class ships the washer is $2.00, and the dryer is $1.00. Detergent is included; bring your own dryer sheets.

 

Yes, there is ironing available in all the self-service laundries.

[diann744]

Just got off the Statendam a couple of weeks ago and had a marvelous time. Don't miss Lee in the Piano Bar. I've heard people say she's a bit worn but I always find her to be a lovely, elegant ship. Here's a link to my latest review.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=993238

 

I'm sure you'll love your Statendam cruise!

 

Diann