Review: Statendam Dec 6-21,2004 part 2 (very long)

Just as the weather had delayed the Statendam's arrival in port on our embarkation day, it continued to affect the first days of our cruise. We had seas rough enough to cause the swimming pools to remain closed for a good part of the time. We did however enjoy dancing our way down the corridors. Come now, you have all done it! The step is a cross between the Cha Cha and the Rhumba as you gently sway back and forth, side to side down the hall to the rhythm of the ocean as the ship rolls and pitches. :D It's what being at sea is all about! :D Chimera said he walked 5 miles on the first day- 15 feet forward, the rest side to side. :D

We had room service breakfast every day. In a suite, we were able to order from the full dining room menu and we took full advantage of it. We also asked for an empty coffee pot and got our coffee from the Neptune lounge. Our breakfast was delivered by the same steward each day so he came to know our preferences. We had guests for breakfast on several occasions and those breakfasts were coordinated by the concierge. Weather permitting we ate on the verandah. We tipped the steward daily.

We really enjoyed the sea days. We are generally amuse ourselves types and really do not look to the daily program for activities. This trip, however, Sacdr and his lovely wife got us hooked on team trivia and once we started we were definititly addicted and really enjoyed ourselves. I enjoyed a "stones" massage in the spa and would highly recommend it for relaxation. We enjoyed the daily quiz but did not win once. (We also did not use any references for the answers) We watched some movies. I must admit, we spent most of our time socializing. We met and enjoyed talking with so many really nice people. It seemed that everywhere we went there was someone interesting to talk with. I must confess, I just love talking with people and learning about them. If I could, I would love to hear the story of every person's life. And I mean every person who lives or has ever lived on this planet. That's why I love my my job. But I digress.

It seemed to me that the Captain, Maurits Groothuis, really likes to socialize. He hosted every social event possible on this cruise. We had all sorts of suite events. A welcome aboard party (in the afternoon) Suite dinner and sit down Indoniesian lunch. Captains Welcome party, Black and White Ball,and two Mariners brunches. The captain's wife was aboard and she was in attendance and served as hostess. They are a gracious couple.

We really enjoyed this leg of our journey. We relaxed. We took full advantage of all the ship had to offer us as far as we were concerned. The service for us was good. Our room steward, Uzer, served us magnicently. Our bed, was supremely comfortable. Everything worked just as it was supposed to have worked in our suite. Number 007, by the way. (Go ahead, say it. Now hum a few bars of Goldfinger...I'll wait) The concierge, Lilibeth, seemed to grant our every wish. She arranged our parties, and even arranged to have my wheel chair welded. Our dining room stewards were obviously overworked. The number of stewards were signifigantly reduced. We chose to look at it as a leisurely meal. AJ the steward and Chandra, his assistant (his first cruise) were clearly stretching. They did however find the time to learn our preferences, smile and even chat a bit.For those of you who are interested we left the auto tip in place and tipped over and above to all we felt were deserving. Some of these people were included in the autotip and some were not.

Kathy, the server we met on the Rotterdam, said she was happy on the Statendam. When we parted on the Rotterdam, the ship was about to go into wet dock. The hotel manager was sending the entire crew to Disneyworld. Kathy said they all had a great time. She also said life was good for the crew on the Statendam.

We just lazed about. The days blurred. We had a great time. Next time I'll tell you about our port days. Please ask me questions about the days out to Hawaii if you have them.

To be continued..

Linda :)

Linda,I just read your review and remember our Statendam Hawaii Holiday cruise three years ago, when we were "forced" to learn those dance steps, due to rough seas. We will be sailing again on the same ship and destination in about five weeks. We are booked in Cabin #005 next to the 007 you were in. Your review is shedding light on what we should be looking for and has given us some ideas. Incidently, my DW is also in a wheel chair. Hope our embarkation goes better than yours and is as good as our last three HAL trips. Looking forward to your next installment. Thanks, Al

Linda, Did you get my earlier reply relative to the fact we will be sailing to Hawaii on the Statendam on Feb. 4th? We will be in S005 and my wife is also in a wheel chair. We enjoyed your two reviews and look forward to the third chapter. We've done this trip before a few years ago and quickly found we had to learn the corridor dance steps. I assume the waters will be the same next month. I had better get our seasick patches out! Al & Isabel

You had a different captain than the one we had.

We had almost the same number of parties as you did - the only 2 we didn't have were the 2 extra brunches.

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, Ryan and Emily were here. We celebrated Chanukah and slept over. Thanks for your patience. I hope to get to part 3 later today.

Alvin: I know you and your wife will enjoy 005. We got to see a lot of the island because we did dock with the starboard side to the dock. We had lots of breakfasts on our verandah. One of the things we did that we really enjoyed was to ask for an empty coffee pot with our room service breakfast. The steward brought cups, cream and anything else we needed to get our coffee the way we wanted it to be. Then we my husband zipped down to the Neptune Lounge and filled the pot with that wonderful coffee. There is a pot setting on the machine.

Here is my email address. Please email me with any questions you may have. Ryansmemom@aol.com.

KK: Who was your captain? Was the Hotel Manager the same?

Linda

Hi Linda

We were on the Infinity one day ahead of you to the Islands & what rotten weather all the way to Oahu! It wasn't bad for us coming from Arizona, but I felt bad for all the Midwest and Eastern folks who looked forward to the sunshine on the sea days. There is a real excuse now to come back to the Islands for a lot of people!

You mentioned a suite dinner & sit down Indonesian lunch. Where were they held? We had understood these great perks were discontinued. The last time we were on the Ryndam in a suite, we had a buffet lunch with fish & beef and there was not dinner at all. It appears that perhaps it is left to the Captain what is provided as part of your passage in a full suite.

We are booked along with you on the Veendam in Nov. but got a minisuite because we thought all the wonderful things provided in the suite had been done away with! Oh well, we will still enjoy our veranda & the crew will be great!

See you & Lou VERY soon!

Faith

Quendryth: The suite dinner was held in the Half Moon Room. We had cocktails served in the Java Cafe area first and then dinner in the Half Moon Room. The room was decorated and we sat at large round tables set for 10. Couples were seated together and the service was white golve. The menu was very nice and the actual menus were signed by the Captain and Hotel Manager and delivered to our suite the following morning. The dinner was held on the second formal night and we had enough time afterward to join our wonderful tablemates for dessert in the dining room, so you could say we had our cake and ate it too that evening.

We did not attend the Indonesian Lunch because we had a scheduling confilct. I do not remember where it was held.

I am looking forward to seeing you on the Veendam.

Linda