Brief Nieuw Statendam review

[killsport]

32 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

we pay for our drinks

We paid individually for our drinks, too. Especially given that, I would have expected at least a standard 1.5oz pour.

We did buy bottles for the room as well. Seemed more reliable.

And since we hadn't been on HAL for over ten years, we didn't know about the Dam prize change 😀 The prizes were always a fun thing, and made for good (happy) stories about our cruise. Friends who would come over and visit would ask about them, so it was (low cost) advertising for HAL. Oh well...

[terrydtx]

10 hours ago, Himself said:

 enjoyed your review. One little point.  NO DAM wear.  HAL has changed the company that run the Shops on Board. The new company does NOT offer the DAM wear, at  least at this time..   

Does this mean we can not buy any HAL logo clothing any more or just the Dam logo ones? I was planning on buying at least one nice long sleeve HAL logo shirt or sweat shirt on our Alaska cruise in July. 

Edited April 1, 2019 by terrydtx

[killsport]

 

20 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Does this mean we can not buy any HAL logo clothing any more or just the Dam logo ones?

There were HAL logo items on the NS (I didn't look in detail to find out whether they had long sleeve shirts). But no Dam logo ones... of any type.

[WFBgal]

Our last cruise was last April & one side of the shops had tons of Oprah clothing. Bring back the DAM ship apparel. We have our priorities!

[DaveOKC]

Very well done review!  Balanced and fair IMO.

 

A couple of comments - I also do not understand HAL's logic on banning smoking in some of the older ship's casinos and then allowing it on a brand new one.  Makes no sense, as once you allow it, the smoke odor is very hard to remove later on if you go non-smoking.  Only thing I can think of is the decision is based on where the ship is programmed to sail primarily (some parts of the world are more smoking oriented than others).

 

As to the DAM merchandise - on our January cruise our ship (Amsterdam) was in the middle of a changeover to the new company.   It was very disorganized for the first several days and we never did get to see all the new merchandise, but we did purchase several clothing items (mens and womens).  After wearing them a few times, we both feel that they are "better" merchandise than previous.  Also, the items we bought have small HAL logos on them (2-3 inch one in the left corner on the shirt and a 1-2 inch one near the left pocket on the pants).

 

Sorry to hear of your bad experience in the Tamarind.  We have dined there on different ships and always loved it (going again next week!).  We would go there rather than to the higher priced Pinnacle.   Like MANY things on HAL, your experience does vary by ship - I wish HAL would address this issue.

[Himself]

You can purchase HAL Logo wear.  But I did not see logo wear with "DAM SGIPS< DAM GOOD CRUISE, DAM GOOD COOK and things like that.

[Wayfairers]

Thanks for the review.  We will sail the NS next year. My concern is the size because it is larger than the Dam ships we have sailed.   I’ve seen some ships handle the larger number of passengers well and on others it is a disaster.  Were there lines for lido and the MDR?  Were deck chairs difficult to get?  Did the ship feel big enough for the number of passengers?

[killsport]

1 hour ago, Wayfairers said:

Were there lines for lido and the MDR?  Were deck chairs difficult to get?  Did the ship feel big enough for the number of passengers?

We went to dinner in the MDR (anytime dining) around 7-7:30 each day. There was a line of about 12-15 people (approx 5 minutes) for those without reservations. Lido had lines at specific cook-to-order stations (ranging from 3-10 minutes). Dive In / NY Deli had lines at noon on sea days, but pretty much that was it.

Deck chairs... lots of hogs out by the main pool! Many chairs were not occupied for hours, yet "claimed". I have no idea about the adult pool. The ship DID feel decent sized. Only crowded during sea days at feeding times 🙂

[jimmy2x]

If all I see that is “claiming “ a lounger is a towel, I have no problem with putting said towel in the appropriate bin. There are still an unfortunate number of people who place a towel and think they own the lounger for the day. 

[trystran72]

We had the opposite dining experience.  The Tamarind was one of my favorite meals the whole week, and Pinnacle was just okay.  The service at Pinnacle was awful. The waitress kept telling us what we should have instead of what we ordered and not in a very nice way which was quite annoying. The Hostess was missing in action at the same time the Hotel Manager arrived so there was some flustered employees and things just seemed very chaotic.  But it was the only service hiccup the whole week. Otherwise outstanding service all the way around top to bottom on NS!

 

Happy to hear that you had a far better experience at Pinnacle!!

 

 

[killsport]

1 hour ago, trystran72 said:

We had the opposite dining experience. 

We only did Pinnacle at lunch, so it may have been a completely different staff.

And as I've heard so many people rave about Tamarind, I was looking forward to it. Maybe we just hit an off night? For us, both food and service were sub-par. Given that we're only cruising one or two times a year... I may have forgotten my poor experience the next time I cruise HAL.  Which will only be after they get rid of the casino smoking (or I go on one of the non-indoor-smoking ships)...

[Himself]

I had dinner in the Pinnacle and it was wonderful.  The  steak was great and the service was outstanding. 

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, killsport said:

 

Deck chairs... lots of hogs out by the main pool! Many chairs were not occupied for hours, yet "claimed". I have no idea about the adult pool. The ship DID feel decent sized. Only crowded during sea days at feeding times 🙂

Pool chair hogs has been a problem for as long as I can remember and HAL has no answer for them. In the past I have just taken a chair if I see it unoccupied for more than 15 minutes with only a towel left on it.

[Bgallay]

I was on the same cruise and agree the smoking was gross. My 15 yr old daughter was with us and hated walking through on smoking days. Even on non smoking days, it smelled weird. 

As for the pours, maybe I am a lightweight, but I was definitely tipsy with one drink. I felt the pours were heavy. I also don’t drink cocktails much and only had them on this sailing.