Niew Statendam

[Iamthesea]

We live in Tennessee and our grandchildren's Spring Break does not start until April 1st.  We opted for the beach house instead of a cruise.   We did Disney for Fall Break.  Not quite ready to take the GK on a cruise.  They are only 9, and 6 years old.

17 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

School break and holiday cruises are the worst. The only way to avoid kids is to book the longer itineraries. We have a few kids on Rotterdam but the 10-11 day loops definitely limits the numbers. We made the mistake of going on Eurodam last year Christmas week. Never again. 
 

We move from Rotterdam to NS on Saturday. Hopefully the school break season is winding down. In any event we’re staying on until Rome. Transatlantic crossings tend to eliminate children completely 😀

I am surprised that a HAL has so many children onboard!  Normally, parents would pick a livelier ship.  Perhaps HAL had better pricing for the Caribbean.  Did they have a Kids Sail Free promo recently?

[FlorenceItaly]

4 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

We live in Tennessee and our grandchildren's Spring Break does not start until April 1st.  We opted for the beach house instead of a cruise.   We did Disney for Fall Break.  Not quite ready to take the GK on a cruise.  They are only 9, and 6 years old.

I am surprised that a HAL has so many children onboard!  Normally, parents would pick a livelier ship.  Perhaps HAL had better pricing for the Caribbean.  Did they have a Kids Sail Free promo recently?

There was a time when they did have a Kids Sail Free Promo but I don't remember when.

[Real NHDOC]

They do offer free 3/4 passenger in a cabin to mariners of a certain level. Lots of times it’s grandparents paying for their kids and grandkids to join them. Most families don’t choose HAL and I am sure most kids would prefer to be home or on another cruise line with more activities for them. 

[FlaMariner]

47 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Most families don’t choose HAL and I am sure most kids would prefer to be home or on another cruise line with more activities for them. 

 

Not us.

 

We began with HAL when the kids were pre teens and they preferred it over our previous numerous Carnival cruises.

 

They are now late 20's and have earned 2*s and they now choose HAL on their own. 

 

Also, our Thanksgiving Nieuw Statendam cruise was full of multi generation families...as were we.  It was good to see...Lots of kids and they never bothered us. 

 

[Iamthesea]

Sounds like our family experience with Celebrity when our own children were teens. 😉 They liked the grown-up feeling of the cruise better than their Disney cruises.  They received a lot of attention from the crew since they were only a hand full of children on the cruise.  Our oldest at the time was 19, and the youngest 11.  They now range from 35 to 42 years.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Iamthesea

[ukpylot]

On 3/10/2023 at 11:11 AM, PalmSprings said:

Embarkation on 11/17 was the worst we’ve ever experienced on any cruise line - slow, disorganized - a complete mess.  The shore excursion experience in San Juan was awful.  If HAL doesn’t find better vendors, their already-suffering reputation post-Covid will continue to fade.

Curious which port that was - we just got off the Oosterdam and the embarkation process in Valparaiso was an absolute disaster. Took us about 2.5 hrs to check in (and we had an 11am time), others more like 3-4, and no one from HAL present to sort it out, tell people what was going on.

 

We're on the NS in a month's time out of Barcelona, hoping for a much better experience.

[PalmSprings]

12 hours ago, ukpylot said:

Curious which port that was

We left out of Port Everglades, berth 26

[Real NHDOC]

20 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

 

Not us.

 

We began with HAL when the kids were pre teens and they preferred it over our previous numerous Carnival cruises.

 

They are now late 20's and have earned 2*s and they now choose HAL on their own. 

 

Also, our Thanksgiving Nieuw Statendam cruise was full of multi generation families...as were we.  It was good to see...Lots of kids and they never bothered us. 

 

I’ll stand by my statement about MOST kids. I’ll raise it by saying most guests choose HAL because there are typically few children aboard. The fewer the better. Our first night on Rotterdam last month was tainted by a 6 year old boy brought to BB King’s and who was allowed to play “chase the spotlight” through the whole first set. Not only is that not a kid-friendly venue the sight of that kid spoiling the dance floor for everyone else while the singer belted out the adult themed blues hit “rock me baby, rock me all night long” will be burned into my memory for a while. 
 

No need to say not everyone feels the same way I do. I already said MOST guests would prefer there be no children aboard. Not all. 

[rothbury]

We were on the 2/18-2/25 cruise.  I just wanted to add a little about the children onboard.  We had to listen to a screaming/crying infant in the MDR fixed seating.  Not exactly what we had in mind for a relaxing dinner experience.  On another night it is believed a kid took all of the room service hang tags so people expecting room service didn't get their food.  Saw a couple of 13-14 year old boys on the cruise and they were always looking to disrupt something from pressing all the buttons on an empty elevator to leaving plates of food in various plant arrangements.  

The crew was outstanding as usual.  Sometimes seemed to have problems communicating with waiters and servers.  Seemed their English wasn't too good.  Several times was served the wrong wine in the MDR.

Our meal at the Pinnacle convinced us we won't go there anymore.  Not worth the upcharge.  My steak was so tough it had to be cut into very small pieces and DW's scallops she said were like chewing rubber erasers.

If your cruise goes to Grand Cayman the tenders there are awful.  They are slow and the diesel fumes are overwhelming.  

[FlaMariner]

53 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

I’ll stand by my statement about MOST kids. I’ll raise it by saying most guests choose HAL because there are typically few children aboard. The fewer the better. Our first night on Rotterdam last month was tainted by a 6 year old boy brought to BB King’s and who was allowed to play “chase the spotlight” through the whole first set. Not only is that not a kid-friendly venue the sight of that kid spoiling the dance floor for everyone else while the singer belted out the adult themed blues hit “rock me baby, rock me all night long” will be burned into my memory for a while. 
 

No need to say not everyone feels the same way I do. I already said MOST guests would prefer there be no children aboard. Not all. 

 

Understood.

 

Enjoy the journey!

[PROCRUISE]

Cruised on the NS last December and the Rotterdam two weeks ago. Did do Orange Club on both and loved the separate dining areas. No complaints whatsoever on either cruise. Nice cabins, including the upgrades, really good food everywhere. Very professional and pleasant staff and crew. Evening shows on the NS were okay. Three of the shows on the Rotterdam were with The Knights (three gifted male singers) and received standing ovations each time. Shore excursions at the pier were a little disorganized but acceptable plus we took several private tours. Loved the Lincoln Center concerts that were very well attended - big mistake on HAL's part in making the upcoming Lincoln Center change. Enjoyed Billboard but not so much BB King but, to each his own. Felt that HAL is well on its way to recovering completely from the COVID shutdown.

[Real NHDOC]

28 minutes ago, rothbury said:

 

If your cruise goes to Grand Cayman the tenders there are awful.  They are slow and the diesel fumes are overwhelming.  

The one thing you can’t blame HAL for is this.  The explanation we heard is that the tender service at Grand Cayman is owned by a very well politically connected resident and when the cruise lines wanted to build a pier there the plan was scuttled and his exclusive contract to provide tender service was renewed indefinitely. They have to use the tenders there (not allowed to use lifeboats). 
 

Now, if that means you would rather not go to GC knowing that about how bad the tenders are it’s perfectly understandable. But HAL hasn’t got any say in it (other than avoiding the stop completely). 

[CvilleJane]

We just got back from the March 4th 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the NS. Overall excellent sailing, clean and beautiful ship with the same excellent service. It was a sold out cruise and was nervous about feeling packed-in or that service would be less than what it has been in the past. Thankfully we didn't find that to be the case. This was our 5th HAL cruise and our first sold out sailing. I will say that I agree with some previous posters about cups and plates lingering a little bit longer around the pools. But that was mostly at the beginning of the sailing when the sea day was the first day. I didn't feel like there wasn't enough crew for the number of people on board -- same excellent service but maybe with less time for a friendly chat. I would say the only exception to this would be the bars. It did take a while to get a drink. They definitely could have used more people behind the bars and servers around the busy pools. 

 

We have been sailing on HAL with our son since he was 8 and he loves it. We've done one Disney cruise for reference, and he of course loved that too, but interestingly, he likes Holland better. He's pretty athletic and has really enjoyed the pickle ball, ping pong and basketball tournaments (my husband has enjoyed this too). The teen club offered to curate some activities for the teens, but they mostly were at the sports court. I'm sorry to read that on an earlier cruise in February the kids/teens were not behaving. I didn't notice that on our cruise (hopefully no one else did either!). Our son had some great interactions and conversations with some senior ladies and gentlemen which as a parent I appreciate and value that opportunity and experience. 

 

I don't remember the exact number of guests on board but around 3100 is what I think I heard. There were several kids but we did hear this this current sailing was expecting "a ton" and it sounds like that's the case. I also noticed more young adults, too, on this sailing. Embarkation was definitely the most busy I've ever seen it and I'm wondering if that is because people come ahead of their scheduled time? We were Club Orange so we had priority embarkation and were thankful for it. 

 

We ate our breakfasts and dinners in the Club Orange space and they were all good to very good with an occasional excellent dish. We only had to wait five minutes for breakfast one morning and 20 minutes for dinner one evening (that was on the night we went earlier to catch a program). We did find the portion sizes to be much smaller but they were happy to let you order more than one appetizer or entree which made my 15 year old happy. Lunch was a Lido pick up and we did one night in Tamarind which was excellent as always.

 

Not sure if helpful, but I think someone was asking about happy hour. The Daily Program listed it daily from 3-4p in Billboard Onboard and 25% off all listed cocktails, wine by the glass, beers and entry level spirits. It seemed like most people had the Have it All package on our sailing which also explained Pinnacle being mostly booked up each evening. If you have an upcoming sailing and want a reservation at Pinnacle before 8:30 or 9p, I would recommending pre-booking.

 

Completely agree with one poster who is on the current sailing that the lead male vocalist in BB King's is outstanding. The ensemble was first-rate. We had two comedians, Leonard Chan and Alvin Williams. We didn't see the first but Alvin Williams was very funny. We also watched Unity, a four-person vocal group comprised of theater and broadway vocalists. They were very good. The other show we watched, which I think the Cruise and Travel Director, Gage Griffin (who is excellent), said was being done only for the 3rd time, was A City on the Sea: A Behind the Scenes Look at Life Onboard. From the Captain, to the Head Chef, Hotel Director and other cameos, it was very informative, well done and I would definitely recommend it. The movies by the pool were Black Adam, Devotion, The Fabelmans, and The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry.

 

Apologies for my long post -- I wanted to try to summarize our week in case helpful for anyone with an upcoming cruise on NS!

Edited March 14, 2023 by CvilleJane
fix grammar/sp

[don731]

We were on NS for two weeks, just off a week ago Saturday. We won’t consider HAL in the future.  The line has been positioned closer to a Princess or Carnival level product than we experienced on several great HAL cruises about ten years ago.  Just not a good value for us regardless of the price point.  Our TA has found that in the last six months or so, Celebrity knocking it out of the park at a similar or slightly lower price point.  We booked this cruise to be with friends, rather than going with our TA’s recommendation.  We have submitted a review to CC. 
 

[KroozNut]

17 minutes ago, don731 said:

We were on NS for two weeks, just off a week ago Saturday. We won’t consider HAL in the future.  The line has been positioned closer to a Princess or Carnival level product than we experienced on several great HAL cruises about ten years ago.  Just not a good value for us regardless of the price point.  Our TA has found that in the last six months or so, Celebrity knocking it out of the park at a similar or slightly lower price point.  We booked this cruise to be with friends, rather than going with our TA’s recommendation.  We have submitted a review to CC. 
 

 

Not much detail here to support such a strongly negative conclusion to your experience, so we'll have to consider it a one-off, since nearly all recent reported experiences are very positive.

[don731]

Just now, KroozNut said:

 

Not much detail here to support such a strongly negative conclusion to your experience, so we'll have to consider it a one-off, since nearly all recent reported experiences are very positive.

Simply our opinion.  As stated, we have submitted a detailed review to CC.  

[wdw1972]

On 3/13/2023 at 10:32 AM, Native Floridian 26 said:

Can you tell me what the Happy Hours are on your cruise from the daily program?  I've seen different offers now from Bogo, 1/2 off 2nd and now 20% off second.  Thank you!

It's 3pm in Billboard and the program says 25% all drinks.  I have the beverage package included so I've not bothered with happy hour at all.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[floridababa]

Are the cabin. Stewards coming in twice a day? Some lines are cutting to once a day

[Real NHDOC]

36 minutes ago, floridababa said:

Are the cabin. Stewards coming in twice a day? Some lines are cutting to once a day

They will do twice a day service. During the restart it was hit and miss and they would ask what you preferred. Sometimes you have to ask for it on the first day but recently it’s been the default again without having to request it. 
 

Just talk with the steward and they’ll note that you want it. No problem at all once you request it. 

[Quo Vadis?]

On 3/12/2023 at 10:34 PM, wdw1972 said:

 

 

I'd gladly sail NS again, but I'm finished with 7-night cruises, especially when many schools are out!

 

Sue/WDW1972

Our Thanksgiving and Christmas cruises will not be repeated for the same reasons.  

It's amazing but we smell smoke more in Billboard than when passing through the casino.

 

[FlaMariner]

32 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Just talk with the steward and they’ll note that you want it. No problem at all once you request it. 

 

Our experience as well on the Nieuw Statendam this past November.

 

We opted for once a day but they were ready, willing and able to visit 2x a day.

[Riversedge]

4 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

They will do twice a day service. During the restart it was hit and miss and they would ask what you preferred. Sometimes you have to ask for it on the first day but recently it’s been the default again without having to request it. 
 

Just talk with the steward and they’ll note that you want it. No problem at all once you request it. 

We were on the same week as you.  We were told default for room service is once a day unless you request twice daily.  But then we also had a very lazy room steward.   

[floridababa]

Thank you for the insight