review of Nieuw Standendam 11-12 to 11-19-2022 with pictures

[kangforpres]

Overall, it was a great cruise. I was solo on a casino offer which I upgraded to a V category cabin, 7131, which one of the angled balcony Verandah's. Service was good everywhere especially in the MDR where I ate 6 nights of the 7. I had early fixed seating table for 2 just for me. Quick service by my MDR stewards and I was done eating every night in about 45-50 minutes. 

 

I've given up on anytime dining and always go for early fixed and have had no problems with MDR service this way. My Pinnacle Grill dinner was excellent. Wi-Fi was horrible, I had the premium Surf plan, and I could never use my phone at Sea, maybe because I have a Samsung and Navigator app is designed for iPhone? Wi-Fi at Internet Center on HAL PC's was horrible too, had to wait forever for popular webpages to load,  HVAC varied throughout the ship, either really cold or really hot depending upon your location. Luckily my cabin was very cool, probably coldest cabin on any of my 22 HAL cruises, which is a very nice oasis during a Southern Caribbean cruise.

 

I saw outside contractors on board working on both the HVAC and Wi-Fi issues during the cruise, although neither had gotten better by the end of the cruise.

 

No Mariner Bruch, and no Mariner Tile delivered to my room thanking me for my 4 star loyalty. Oh well.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by kangforpres
spelling

[johnlcruise]

Anything else to report?

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your adventure.

[kangforpres]

9 minutes ago, johnlcruise said:

Anything else to report?

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about your adventure.

I wish I had done better in the Casino.

[KroozNut]

Wondering why you didn't get a larger table, say 6-8 top, so you could meet some new people?

[kangforpres]

1 hour ago, KroozNut said:

Wondering why you didn't get a larger table, say 6-8 top, so you could meet some new people?

 I was the youngest of 7, and I've always had a public facing, public service job so I relish my solitude when I can get it.

[kangforpres]

Oh, the ship had 2500 passengers, the most I've seen on a HAL ship since cruising re-started. The Casino was always busy every night and Sea Day. There were lots of Casino offers on board.

 

[vicd1969]

Thank you for your review - your experience closely matched mine on the same sailing as well, except for the MDR experience. Then again, we had to use Anytime dining since we had two kids who would have a very difficult time sticking to a set time (naps, swim time, etc).

 

I did notice my internet connection (also premium) was a bit better sitting towards the bow. It was pretty horrible during daytime in my cabin, which was located not far from the internet center. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by vicd1969

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, kangforpres said:

 I was the youngest of 7, and I've always had a public facing, public service job so I relish my solitude when I can get it.

 

Gosh, I've never had an issue finding solitude on a HAL ship when I wanted it. To each their own I suppose..

[Balliett]

how was the angled veranda cabin?

[oakridger]

On 11/21/2022 at 1:59 PM, KroozNut said:

 

Gosh, I've never had an issue finding solitude on a HAL ship when I wanted it. To each their own I suppose..

 

Some solo cruisers are like me.  I love meeting new people out around the ship, at bars and excursions, just not at dinner.  When I meet people around the ship that are fun to be around, we then agree to meet for dinner together at a later date.  I prefer to not go through the "first date" type questions at the dinner table. Works great for me!

 

~Nancy

[510picker]

We were on the cruise with you. The internet was hit and miss throughout the cruise. One thing that was consistent was our warm cabin. We reported the issue to the front desk early on. Someone was working on it the next day. Nothing changed and the front desk never followed up. With that being said, we had a great time! We were on the NS in April of this year at less than 50% capacity. We enjoyed the reduced capacity, but we’re pleased to see a full ship. People are finally cruising in full-force again, which is great for the future of cruising. 

[RClark6369@aol.com]

Hi,

Do you have pictures of the angled balcony ?

 

I agree Nancy, dinner is not enjoyable when it is spent answering interview questions.   But I do enjoy chatting with folks around the ship.

[canadarocks]

Lovely photo @510picker! Those cocktails look delicious. 

[KroozNut]

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

Some solo cruisers are like me.  I love meeting new people out around the ship, at bars and excursions, just not at dinner.  When I meet people around the ship that are fun to be around, we then agree to meet for dinner together at a later date.  I prefer to not go through the "first date" type questions at the dinner table. Works great for me!

 

~Nancy

 

I think you're missing out, and unnecessarily isolating yourself from wonderful dining experiences onboard. We've met and still correspond with so many people that way.

Your 'first date' questions reference happens in all the other scenarios you mention (meeting new people out around the ship, at bars and excursions).

IMHO, people that demand a dining table just for themselves are losing valuable cruising experiences that they will never get back.

[KroozNut]

1 hour ago, RClark6369@aol.com said:

I agree Nancy, dinner is not enjoyable when it is spent answering interview questions.  

"interview questions"? I've never experienced that, and if something even remotely related to that ever happened, it would be over in the first 10 minutes. 

The rest of the multiple day, month cruise would be spent enjoying and conversing with new found  friends!

[Lazy_Triathlete]

19 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

"interview questions"? I've never experienced that, and if something even remotely related to that ever happened, it would be over in the first 10 minutes. 

The rest of the multiple day, month cruise would be spent enjoying and conversing with new found  friends!

You care an awful lot about how and why people like to spend time alone.  The last thing I want to do on my vacation is maintain the small talk I find myself always having to make at work. 
 

A vacation to me is spending the evening with my wife, who I don’t get to see as often as I would like since we are both pilots and are rarely home together.  
 

It’s enough for me to have a quick 30 second conversation with the guy standing next to me at the bar when ordering a drink.  I don’t want to spend 2 hours with a stranger.  
 

My wife is the same way.  And we aren’t young millennials either.  We are both 46. 

[REOVA]

"I could never use my phone at Sea, maybe because I have a Samsung and Navigator app is designed for iPhone?"

 

I have a Samsung and no problem using Navigator app on phone. Obviously you wouldn't want to call at sea from cell phone unless using internet calling or a video calling app through wifi (when wifi works) but, my guess,  it probably wasn't due to Samsung. Glad you had a good cruise and thanks for reviewing. 

[REOVA]

5 minutes ago, Lazy_Triathlete said:

A vacation to me is spending the evening with my wife, who I don’t get to see as often as I would like since we are both pilots and are rarely home together.  
 

 

I applaud you to be able to find (take) that time as I know how precious time can be with active work schedules. For DW and I we are now retired and spend most of our time together at home. We will either vacation or travel. The former is when we like to relax and mainly stay together and the later is where we like to experience places, people and excursions (which we mostly do separate since I am more adventurous outdoors and she likes the tourist or walking tours). I can appreciate both styles as we have met numerous people around the world that we still keep in touch with as well as learned different perspectives from these people, as well as from each other. Each of our adventures work differently. 

[dwc13]

On 11/21/2022 at 11:24 AM, kangforpres said:

I wish I had done better in the Casino.

 

Don't all of us who gamble, lol. 

 

Glad you had a very enjoyable cruise overall. HAL internet is (too) often a bad joke, so no surprise it was disappointing on your cruise. If you have a smartphone that supports 802.11ac/ax, the problem likely isn't with your phone. Internet service on Zaandam in October was problematic even with an iPhone 12 Pro. 

[kangforpres]

On 11/24/2022 at 10:13 PM, Balliett said:

how was the angled veranda cabin?

Pictures of angled balcony and cabin

[RedneckBob]

22 minutes ago, kangforpres said:

Pictures of angled balcony and cabin

Thanks for the review and the picture of your balcony. We sail on NS on Saturday and have the diagonal balcony on the even side of ship

[joedirticus]

We cruised the following week 11/19-11/26 and the wifi still wasn't fixed. Some of our extended family purchased the premium wifi packages and most of the time it wouldn't work.