HAL Niew Statendam 7 Night 11/12/22?

[Cruisegoer]

Hello, just curious if there are any other LGBTQIA+ on this sailing? Rates can’t be beat! 

[njfredd]

Hello Cruisegoer;

 

Edd and Frank here from Hamilton, NJ (Princeton/Trenton area- closer to Philly than NYC - but you are from Allentown PA so you should have a general idea). Hence NJ Fredd label. I am native Philly boy and husband has always lived in NJ. 

 

We are booked on the Nieuw Statendam for both this week and the prior week (11/4-11/11). Prior week goes to Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios Jamaica (will get off the ship only for photo op), Grand Cayman, and Key West (if Disantis is in a good mood and allows us to land without voting for/bowing to him).  We haven't ben to Key West in close to 20 years, so the one-day visit is what I am looking forward to - the rest of that week we will probably be "resting". 

 

This will be our first cruise since April 2019, and really looking to get away.  We had scheduled same cruise on the Rotterdam in January but decided to delay "in the interest of caution". Worked out better as deferred January trip had at last minute substituted Turks/Caicos and Bermuda for Grand Cayman and Key West. 

 

We were on the Koningsdam back in 2019 and really enjoyed that class of ship. Saw the flyer this week noting the great rates - wondering how the capacity will be, subsequent to the offer. Our carryover rate from our delayed booking was less for better accommodations than in January, so we are very happy.

 

Hope to see you in November! At least this cruise will not have heightened precautions (no pre-testing). We have a Panama Canal cruise scheduled in December and unfortunately testing still required. 

 

Edd and Frank

 

 

[Cruisegoer]

On 9/9/2022 at 5:55 PM, njfredd said:

Hello Cruisegoer;

 

Edd and Frank here from Hamilton, NJ (Princeton/Trenton area- closer to Philly than NYC - but you are from Allentown PA so you should have a general idea). Hence NJ Fredd label. I am native Philly boy and husband has always lived in NJ. 

 

We are booked on the Nieuw Statendam for both this week and the prior week (11/4-11/11). Prior week goes to Half Moon Cay, Ocho Rios Jamaica (will get off the ship only for photo op), Grand Cayman, and Key West (if Disantis is in a good mood and allows us to land without voting for/bowing to him).  We haven't ben to Key West in close to 20 years, so the one-day visit is what I am looking forward to - the rest of that week we will probably be "resting". 

 

This will be our first cruise since April 2019, and really looking to get away.  We had scheduled same cruise on the Rotterdam in January but decided to delay "in the interest of caution". Worked out better as deferred January trip had at last minute substituted Turks/Caicos and Bermuda for Grand Cayman and Key West. 

 

We were on the Koningsdam back in 2019 and really enjoyed that class of ship. Saw the flyer this week noting the great rates - wondering how the capacity will be, subsequent to the offer. Our carryover rate from our delayed booking was less for better accommodations than in January, so we are very happy.

 

Hope to see you in November! At least this cruise will not have heightened precautions (no pre-testing). We have a Panama Canal cruise scheduled in December and unfortunately testing still required. 

 

Edd and Frank

 

 

Nice to hear from you, still haven't booked but really want to do this ship and the itinerary seems great.  I've only done one other HAL so I know the pluses and minuses.  I'm a foodie so bit plus there, my friend and I also enjoy some nighttime atmosphere which can be hard to find on HAL, when I did a new year's eve cruise with my ex on the Eurodam a few years back there was hardly a soul awake past 10PM.

[njfredd]

The Nieuw Statendam is a newer ship in the HAL fleet (Pinnacle Class). Our last cruise in 2019 was on a sister ship, the Koningsdam. One of the advantages of this class of ship was the addition of the “Music Walk”, consisting of BB Kings (also used by Lincoln Center for classical early in the evening - zzz for me), the Rolling Sone Rock Room, and the Billboard room with a pair of singer/piano players. The bands in the rock room and BB Kings we’re good, and definitely kept the crowd going - much later than We experienced on the older, smaller ships. From what I read on CC, the quality can be variable (the piano players get the least love), and there seems to be a set playlist that one would notice during the course of the cruise. But if one gets the drink package, one might not notice as much😜. Disadvantage on the ship seemed to be the limited use of the Crow’s Nest - that seemed busier on the older ships (maybe because the nite owl/experienced drinkers congregated there, due to limited late night activity elsewhere.

 

The clientele on the Koningsdam seemed to be a mite younger than the older ships that we sailed, I think because of itinerary- Croatia, Corfu, Rome. We are kind of on the cusp of the “typical HAL” age range, but I enjoy later evening entertainment (huzzband on the other hand…). Similar to this Caribbean offering, that cruise was packaged for one and two week terms. I think that, plus the newer ship atmosphere, may help to bring the average age and potential later evening activity to a livlier potential.