Anyone currently on Nieuw Statendam?

[HALrunner]

Just wondering what the "word on the street" is regarding missed ports, covid cases onboard, etc? Oh, and other fun things we used to worry about.....who is the cruise director, captain, hotel manager, etc? We are hoping/planning to come onboard in a few days....

[Corby114]

My family and I are curious too. Also boarding in a few days. Tracking the ship and hopefully she will be heading to the Cayman Islands next. Nervous until our “Negative” Covid test on Friday morning. Hope to see everyone on board on Sunday. 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Venture to the Caribbean with Bill & Mary Ann on the Nieuw Statendam & Nieuw Amsterdam 12-18-21 to 4-26-22

 

Read this thread further down. Bill and Mary Ann post every day with very detailed information.

[HALrunner]

10 hours ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

Venture to the Caribbean with Bill & Mary Ann on the Nieuw Statendam & Nieuw Amsterdam 12-18-21 to 4-26-22

 

Read this thread further down. Bill and Mary Ann post every day with very detailed information.

Thank you! I just found it, a great resource! 

[HALrunner]

10 hours ago, Corby114 said:

My family and I are curious too. Also boarding in a few days. Tracking the ship and hopefully she will be heading to the Cayman Islands next. Nervous until our “Negative” Covid test on Friday morning. Hope to see everyone on board on Sunday. 

We are literally in the same boat;) The roll call is so tiny for our sailing and I have never seen so many available cabins just before sailing. We might have the ship to ourselves (if we all pass our covid tests!)

 

I just read on Bill & Mary Ann's thread that Grand Cayman was dropped from their current sailing. I really don't care where we go or don't go, I just want to go!

[Corby114]

Cruisemapper showing NS bypassing Grand Cayman. We feel the same way. After two years of no cruising, we can’t wait to be back on a ship. We booked this trip in May 2021 never thinking that we would now be in this situation. I also noticed all the cabin availability. We have our Walgreen’s testing appointments tomorrow morning and keeping our fingers crossed. 

[smlnd]

How do you tell how many cabins are still available?

[landrews]

We are currently onboard the NS and believe there are roughly 1600 passengers onboard, at least that is what I’ve heard from the staff. Zero mention of covid cases onboard in any announcements. Mask wearing by passengers is very good. All crew are in N95s and there is constant cleaning of surfaces. We are intentionally avoiding the more crowded areas of the ship but even those don’t feel as tightly packed compared to our last cruise in 2018 on Koningsdam. We are currently en route to Cozumel after GC was canceled a couple days before we left. Having a great time, delicious food and cocktails and very smooth sailing. Wishing the same for others on this ship in the future! 

[HALrunner]

6 hours ago, landrews said:

We are currently onboard the NS and believe there are roughly 1600 passengers onboard, at least that is what I’ve heard from the staff. Zero mention of covid cases onboard in any announcements. Mask wearing by passengers is very good. All crew are in N95s and there is constant cleaning of surfaces. We are intentionally avoiding the more crowded areas of the ship but even those don’t feel as tightly packed compared to our last cruise in 2018 on Koningsdam. We are currently en route to Cozumel after GC was canceled a couple days before we left. Having a great time, delicious food and cocktails and very smooth sailing. Wishing the same for others on this ship in the future! 

Thanks so much for chiming in on this thread, especially while on vacation! On the Eurodam recently we noticed deck 4 forward cabins were the quarantine zone. Any chance you have noticed where the quarantine zone on the NS might be? (Hoping to avoid that area on an up-sell we are considering;)

Also, any hints on the expected passengers sailing on the 1/2/22 sailing?

[landrews]

18 hours ago, HALrunner said:

Thanks so much for chiming in on this thread, especially while on vacation! On the Eurodam recently we noticed deck 4 forward cabins were the quarantine zone. Any chance you have noticed where the quarantine zone on the NS might be? (Hoping to avoid that area on an up-sell we are considering;)

Also, any hints on the expected passengers sailing on the 1/2/22 sailing?

We think the quarantine cabins are on deck 5 aft as there is a closed off section back there. Many others have shared their helpful tips and experiences on their cruises so thanks to those who’ve helped us plan better for our cruise! I can try find out about capacity for the 1/2 sailing. 

Interestingly, the New Year’s Eve party tonight has been moved to the lido decks 9 and 10 and the live music from the rolling stone rock room and BB King’s will be played out there instead of indoors. I personally feel that’s a smart move on HAL’s part. It may be crowded but I suspect they may move all the sun loungers out of the area for the evening. We’ll see! 

[NengEuis]

21 hours ago, landrews said:

Interestingly, the New Year’s Eve party tonight has been moved to the lido decks 9 and 10 and the live music from the rolling stone rock room and BB King’s will be played out there instead of indoors. I personally feel that’s a smart move on HAL’s part. It may be crowded but I suspect they may move all the sun loungers out of the area for the evening. We’ll see! 

That is a good move on their part for sure - I imagine they'll stack and move the loungers for sure. We disembarked on the 26th. I wished there had been more outside live music and the Lido 9/10 is perfect for that, and we had beautiful sunny weather every day of that week! My husband and I liked the Rolling Stone and the Comedy, but that was the one place I felt the most uncomfortable indoors.