HAL Experience on Nieuw Statendam 12 dec to 19 dec

[nickel-and-dime-me]

Just got off the Nieuw Statendam southern Caribbean 12-12 to 12-19 sailing and thought I would summarize my experience for the benefit of those cruising in the near future.  We're newbies to HAL with our last cruise being a 2019 NCL cruise to Hawaii.

 

Overall we had a nice time but did see room for some improvements.  Below is a summary of our experience.

 

Embarkation - This went quite smoothly in port everglades, we were through pretty quickly and we were seated in a main waiting area.  Only issue was that, as suite guests, we were never told we could wait in an expedited boarding area on the second floor until we asked.

 

The ship

We thought the ship was really quite beautiful both inside and out and had a sort of understated elegance about it - a callback to the way I imagine cruising could have been in the past.  With the ship being only about half full we had expected it to feel empty, but the more popular areas like the buffet and music walk areas still felt crowded to us.

 

 

Our stateroom - Neptune suite 7090.  The suite was very nice, though it somehow seemed smaller than in the pictures.  Had a wonderful bathroom with large shower and big tub and a really nice balcony that we often had breakfast and afternoon tea service on.  Bed was comfortable and it had a large pull out couch. TV placement was odd being behind the couch.  Overall, we really enjoyed the suite.  We wished it had a real dining room table like our suite on NCL had, but we made due with our coffee table and a serving table the staff got for us.

Dining 

 

Club Orange - This one was a big miss for us.  The venue seemed like kind of an afterthought thrown in at the back of the ship.  It completely lacked any sort of exclusive feeling that we've gotten from suite restaurants on other lines.  We went there on the first night and it was absolutely packed - min 30 minutes for a table, so we left.  Tried again on gala night and found the place only half full.  After we ate there, we figured people realized it wasn't anything special and didn't come back.  No fuss was made on gala night at all, despite a special five course meal being mentioned by staff.  We didn't go back again.

 

Tamarind - We found this place lived up to the great reputation it has and we had a really nice meal here.  Fantastic desert "cloud passion" ( mango custard with a macaroon in center) which I highly recommend getting if you go there.

 

pinnacle grill - Nice steak dinner that I would say rivals that of a good steak house on land.  We both had fillets and manager gave us free drinks as the wait was a bit long.

 

buffet - This was kind of a mixed bag - the food was decent but it never seemed to change much day to day.  A few popular areas like the stir fry station were always very crowded.  Sweets were generally good but a few baked goods like the croissants were disappointing.

 

room service - We had a lot of service issues with our room service - we like to order breakfast to our room and they never seemed to be able to get the orders right.  Something was always missing in the order.  And as suite guests, we always had to explain to whoever we talked to that we were allowed to order from the main menu.  That became a little tiresome over time.

 

Neptune lounge

Nice area but a bit small. You couldn't fit more than a few people in here without it feeling pretty crowded.  The concierges did the best they could, but still didn't quite feel like the exclusive experience you'd expect at this level.  On debarkation day it was supposed to open early for breakfast but it didn't which seemed to irritate some fellow passengers quite a bit.

 

Entertainment

We actually really enjoyed the entertainment despite that being noted as a negative by many.  No big stage shows but the step one dance co shows were nicely done and incorporated the big screen effects well. 

 

Only issue is that, with the music walk areas all being congregated together, it was sometimes difficult to focus in on one show.  We went to see a comic perform at bb king's but couldn't hear him due to loud music from rolling stone room next door.  Also, even with a half capacity ship there didn't seem to be enough seats in music walk area.  I imagine with a full ship it would be extremely difficult to get a seat.

 

COVID protocol

The cruise was fully vaccinated and was supposed to require masks.in public areas when not eating or drinking, however a lot of people took liberties with that, especially in the music walk and theater areas.

 

Overall impression

We have to say we enjoyed the cruise quite a bit despite some service shortfalls.  We feel the staff was excellent and really went the extra mile to help where they could.  Not sure if some service shortfalls were related to the long COVID pause or inexperienced staff but hopefully they iron those out over time.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

Thank you for your review.  I still feel the ships are crowded as well in spots even with lower capacity.  I found the same thing about the buffet on the koningsdam.  While some stations changed daily it was same old, same old for others.  Club orange was an afterthought.  It held 2 others restaurants before it became club orange.  Gala nights are nothing special on hal.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Thanks for your review.   On of the Club Orange features used to be that you could order the nighty special from Rudi's.   Don't know if this is still an option.  

 

While concierge  service is nice in the Neptune lounge, I found that the lounge itself was not much of an attraction.   It has no natural light and always feels a little dark.   I would just end up going to the Lido for snacks.     

 

It sounds like you phoned in  your breakfast order.   Did you try using the special breakfast hang tag?

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

9 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks for your review.   On of the Club Orange features used to be that you could order the nighty special from Rudi's.   Don't know if this is still an option.  

 

While concierge  service is nice in the Neptune lounge, I found that the lounge itself was not much of an attraction.   It has no natural light and always feels a little dark.   I would just end up going to the Lido for snacks.     

 

It sounds like you phoned in  your breakfast order.   Did you try using the special breakfast hang tag?

 

 

They do have a daily special but that’s the first I’ve heard about it being from Rudi’s.  I can tell you for sure that wasn’t an option on the koningsdam.  Why go to rudi’s if that’s the case? Can I ask where you heard this?  This is the first time I’ve heard of this.  Thanks.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Florida_gal_50

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Duplicate 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Florida_gal_50

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[nickel-and-dime-me]

10 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks for your review.   On of the Club Orange features used to be that you could order the nighty special from Rudi's.   Don't know if this is still an option.  

 

While concierge  service is nice in the Neptune lounge, I found that the lounge itself was not much of an attraction.   It has no natural light and always feels a little dark.   I would just end up going to the Lido for snacks.     

 

It sounds like you phoned in  your breakfast order.   Did you try using the special breakfast hang tag?

 

 

We initially phoned in our orders since the breakfast tag didn't have what we wanted on it.  The staff seemed confused by this and we always had to explain why we were doing it.  Also tried writing it down on the tag but with similar results.

 

This was where we felt NCL shined in comparison with the suite butler always making sure the breakfast order was right.  With room service on hal we were always dealing with a different person each time.

 

A small detail for sure, but something that definitely stood out for us.

[DaveOKC]

Interesting comments.  We were on the NS in a Neptune (7084) the week prior and had some different thoughts/experiences.

 

We liked Club Orange, for the great service, being done with dinner in one hour exactly, and the quieter enivronment.  The daily "Club Orange Specials" were also very good.  And the food came out warmer.

 

We thought that the Neptune cabin was very nice and large.  We have been on other HAL ships in Neptunes, so our expections were likely different.  The bathroom was especially nice, with huge bathtub and shower (separate).

 

The Neptune Lounge was not used much we found (and we were right across from it so could see in), to me the Lounge has gone downhill and is not worth much anymore IMO.

 

Embarkation was a breeze for us and we were immediately seated upstairs.  Ended up being one of the first people onboard.

 

We also loved the Tamarind and would go there instead of the Pinnacle (we did both).  The Pinnacle service is VERY slow and the steaks have been downgrade IMO.  Better steak in the Tamarind actually!

 

[*Miss G*]

15 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said:

 

Embarkation - This went quite smoothly in port everglades, we were through pretty quickly and we were seated in a main waiting area.  Only issue was that, as suite guests, we were never told we could wait in an expedited boarding area on the second floor until we asked.

Unfortunately, a lot of the terminal staff aren’t familiar with the intricacies of HAL policy and process so it’s left to the cruiser to supervise.  I hope you were able to move to the second floor before boarding.

 

15 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said:

 

Dining 

 

Club Orange - This one was a big miss for us.  The venue seemed like kind of an afterthought thrown in at the back of the ship.  It completely lacked any sort of exclusive feeling that we've gotten from suite restaurants on other lines.  We went there on the first night and it was absolutely packed - min 30 minutes for a table, so we left.  Tried again on gala night and found the place only half full.  After we ate there, we figured people realized it wasn't anything special and didn't come back.  No fuss was made on gala night at all, despite a special five course meal being mentioned by staff.  We didn't go back again.

Club Orange rush hour is between 6:30pm and 7:30pm so we go earlier.  The staff will confirm the best time to arrive for a more pleasant experience.  I am sorry that you did not enjoy your time there.

 

15 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said:

 

room service - We had a lot of service issues with our room service - we like to order breakfast to our room and they never seemed to be able to get the orders right.  Something was always missing in the order.  And as suite guests, we always had to explain to whoever we talked to that we were allowed to order from the main menu.  That became a little tiresome over time.

This won’t be any consolation, now, but room service is not generally like this.  We were on the same cruise and had the worst room service experience ever!  It literally took two hours for our order to arrive.  Instead of doing the BBQ at Half Moon Cay we came back onboard and ordered a couple of club sandwiches to the room.  We were told 25 minutes.  An hour and a half later we called to see where our order was and we were told it was on its way.  Ten minutes later someone called to say they had sent it to the wrong room and what was our order again?  Twenty minutes after that the order arrived with no apology.  Absolutely unacceptable at the best of times.  We will definitely have something to say about it on the guest survey.

 

15 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said:

 

Neptune lounge

Nice area but a bit small. You couldn't fit more than a few people in here without it feeling pretty crowded.  The concierges did the best they could, but still didn't quite feel like the exclusive experience you'd expect at this level.  On debarkation day it was supposed to open early for breakfast but it didn't which seemed to irritate some fellow passengers quite a bit.

I do not like the Neptune Lounges in the Pinnacle-class ships.  They are much nicer and a better setup on the other HAL ships. 

 

15 hours ago, nickel-and-dime-me said:

Entertainment

 

Only issue is that, with the music walk areas all being congregated together, it was sometimes difficult to focus in on one show.  We went to see a comic perform at bb king's but couldn't hear him due to loud music from rolling stone room next door.  Also, even with a half capacity ship there didn't seem to be enough seats in music walk area.  I imagine with a full ship it would be extremely difficult to get a seat.

We didn’t go to see the comics at BB King’s for those very reasons.  When they moved them to the World Stage on the final evening we went.  Drew Peterson was hilarious.

 

Thanks for your review.  I have tried to respond to some of your comments in red.  I hope it works!

 

Edited to Add:

I see my responses in red posted but it looks like you’ll have to click on “Expand” in order to see them.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by *Miss G*

[*Miss G*]

12 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

The Pinnacle service is VERY slow and the steaks have been downgrade IMO.  Better steak in the Tamarind actually!

 

 

Oh!  I am surprised to see this comment because people are reporting that the steaks are now better quality at the Pinnacle Grill since the restart.  Yours is the first post otherwise.  Darn it.  I am sad to read that.

[DaveOKC]

1 minute ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Oh!  I am surprised to see this comment because people are reporting that the steaks are now better quality at the Pinnacle Grill since the restart.  Yours is the first post otherwise.  Darn it.  I am sad to read that.

Perhaps I am just spoiled by the great steaks in the past!  I had the petite Filet.

[Caribbean Chris]

15 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Thanks for your review.   On of the Club Orange features used to be that you could order the nighty special from Rudi's.   Don't know if this is still an option.  

 

While concierge  service is nice in the Neptune lounge, I found that the lounge itself was not much of an attraction.   It has no natural light and always feels a little dark.   I would just end up going to the Lido for snacks.     

 

It sounds like you phoned in  your breakfast order.   Did you try using the special breakfast hang tag?

 

 

We’ve had Club Orange when we sailed on Rotterdam in 2021 and N Statendam in 2019, and I don’t recall any option to order Rudi’s daily special. Just the CO Chef’s special.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

9 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

We’ve had Club Orange when we sailed on Rotterdam in 2021 and N Statendam in 2019, and I don’t recall any option to order Rudi’s daily special. Just the CO Chef’s special.

We were on the NS in Jan 2019 and back then Rudi's menu was ala carte.   I have attached a copy.   As you will see, there was a daily special in Rudi's  - those daily options no longer appear on the current Rudi's menu.   Back in 2019 Club Orange advertised a daily special (menu attached).   When I asked I was told that Club Orange daily special was the same as the daily special in Rudi's although it wasn't labeled as such on the Club Orange menu.    But at least for the days we were onboard, they were the same - but since Rudis no longer has the daily special, CO probably has a different strategy.   

 

 

 

 

Club Orange Mennu.pdf Rudis Menu.pdf

[The-Inside-Cabin]

15 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

They do have a daily special but that’s the first I’ve heard about it being from Rudi’s.  I can tell you for sure that wasn’t an option on the koningsdam.  Why go to rudi’s if that’s the case? Can I ask where you heard this?  This is the first time I’ve heard of this.  Thanks.

It was like that in Jan 2019 on the NS, but the Rudi's menu changed since then.   Back in 2019, the CO daily special was the same as Rudi's daily special, but it was never labeled as that.    That is what I was told when I asked the CO person what the special was.    I never investigated beyond that and it's possible I was misinformed or misunderstood what I heard.   

 

Sounds like its no longer the case today regardless. 

[Florida_gal_50]

7 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

It was like that in Jan 2019 on the NS, but the Rudi's menu changed since then.   Back in 2019, the CO daily special was the same as Rudi's daily special, but it was never labeled as that.    That is what I was told when I asked the CO person what the special was.    I never investigated beyond that and it's possible I was misinformed or misunderstood what I heard.   

 

Sounds like its no longer the case today regardless. 

Ok thanks.  That’s the first time I’ve heard that.  No, it’s no longer the case.  

[nickel-and-dime-me]

On 12/20/2021 at 8:59 AM, *Miss G* said:

 

Oh!  I am surprised to see this comment because people are reporting that the steaks are now better quality at the Pinnacle Grill since the restart.  Yours is the first post otherwise.  Darn it.  I am sad to read that.

Thanks for the detailed response to my original post.  As hal first timers it's difficult to tell what might be an ongoing issue vs a one time thing

[Crew News]

22 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

It was like that in Jan 2019 on the NS, but the Rudi's menu changed since then.   Back in 2019, the CO daily special was the same as Rudi's daily special, but it was never labeled as that.    That is what I was told when I asked the CO person what the special was.    I never investigated beyond that and it's possible I was misinformed or misunderstood what I heard.   

 

Sounds like its no longer the case today regardless. 

That was not the case when I was on the NS Dec 2019. 

 

I have reviewed my 2019 NS Club Orange menu collection and could find no similarities on the CO daily specials and the Sel de Mer daily specials.  You were obviously misinformed.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

36 minutes ago, Crew News said:

That was not the case when I was on the NS Dec 2019. 

 

I have reviewed my 2019 NS Club Orange menu collection and could find no similarities on the CO daily specials and the Sel de Mer daily specials.  You were obviously misinformed.

Did your CO menu list a specific entree for the special or simply state that 

 

"CLUB ORANGE DAILY SPECIAL
ask your server about our daily special created specifically for Club Orange"

 

My CO menu never listed a special - only the words above...

[Crew News]

9 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Did your CO menu list a specific entree for the special or simply state that 

 

"CLUB ORANGE DAILY SPECIAL
ask your server about our daily special created specifically for Club Orange"

 

My CO menu never listed a special - only the words above...

Every menu had a printed Club Orange special entree, for example:

 

 

All of my 2019 Club Orange menus were posted on my website until last week when they were replaced with the 2021 Caribbean season 7-Day menus.

Edited December 22, 2021 by Crew News