Almost live: First cruise EVER, Nieuw Statendam Baltic Jewels June 8-18

[washiotter]

Hi! I’m incredibly excited to be one week out from our first-ever cruise. We’re flying to Copenhagen on Monday June 5 and boarding the Nieuw Statendam on the 8th for a 10-day Baltic Sea cruise. It looks like the cruise is fully sold out, so we’ll see what the crowds are like. 
 

We are a family of 4 from Maryland: Washiotter (me, 49, psychologist), Mr. Otter (56, accountant), and our two teens, Ms. 18 and Mr. 14. We are all history nerds and very excited about this itinerary. We appreciate good food and none of us are party people, so I think HAL will be a good match for our style. 
 

The closest any of us have ever been to a cruise ship is touring a navy vessel on its “open to the public” day, which is not very close at all! As the researcher in the family, I have been haunting this message board for months to pick up info. Feel free to regale me with first-time advice, Nieuw Statendam insider tips, and cocktail recommendations!

[Greysandy]

Have a wonderful time! We did this cruise about 10 years ago when it went to St. Petersburg. We absolutely loved Helsinki, Tallin and Stockholm. Tallin is easy to walk, as is Helsinki (we took a bike tour there first). We have spent several days in Copenhagen before, so hopefully you have a bit of time there also. It is a lovely city.

[djvand]

We are on this cruise leaving July 2 so you can provide great insight for us!  Looking forward to your "almost live" review.

[OlsSalt]

Think about your Keil - Warnemude port stops - choices offered to also visit Hamburg and Berlin - very packed day trips and you can try to do this on your own. These stops will take a lot more effort and costs since both require longer travel distances.

 

But certainly Berlin, for history buffs as yourself, should not be missed unless you plan to come back some day and spend much more time in this very diverse city. If you do decide to visit Berlin, it pays to do a lot of upfront homework to pick out the highlights not to miss. 

[QuattroRomeo]

Welcome to cruising! You have chosen a great itinerary for history buffs. It will be very port intensive, so likely lots of walking. Pace yourselves! It is so nice to just put your feet up when you get back from each port and not have to worry about making dinner! We've done the same itinerary as Greysandy. 

What plans do you have for tours? 

[OlsSalt]

Think about your Keil - Warnemude port stops - choices offered to also visit Hamburg and Berlin - very packed day trips and you can try to do this on your own. These stops will take a lot more effort and costs since both require longer travel distances.

 

But certainly Berlin, for history buffs as yourself, should not be missed unless you plan to come back some day and spend much more time in this very diverse city. If you do decide to visit Berlin, it pays to do a lot of upfront homework to pick out the highlights not to miss. 

 

The Kiel port stop also offers the option of a day trip to Lubek which is a much smaller but equally historic city than the sprawling Hamburg - again easy to arrange your own train travel from Kiel to Lubek -- the home of Marzipan cakes and pastries -so that alone was reason enough for us to visit Lubek.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2023 by OlsSalt

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Just got off the Nieuw Statendam Sunday. Dutch Cafe on Deck 3 was our favorite place for morning coffee. There is a charge for the coffees and bar drinks (if you don't have a package) but all the tasty goodies are included in your fare. Yummy pea soup and pastries. The Dive-In burger and hot dog location on Deck 9 by the Lido pool has great French fries as well as the main items. On Deck 10 above the Lido pool you can get good pizza and salads and panna cotta. One other trick that our table mates didn't know about-take an old hotel or similar card to use in the slot that turns the power on in the cabin. Your devices won't charge if you take the card out while you're out of the cabin. Just be sure to turn the lights out when you leave. And having a European adaptor will give you additional plug-ins if the device has a built-in transformer (just be sure it can handle 220v).

Have a great time. The crew is wonderful and I hope Captain O'Driscoll is still running the ship.

[OlsSalt]

You will be sailing into the heart of the old Hanseatic League towns, which can provide a historic theme to explore:   https://www.hanse.org/en/discover-the-hanseatic-cities/hanseatic-cities

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

You will have a great time.

[washiotter]

1 hour ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Welcome to cruising! You have chosen a great itinerary for history buffs. It will be very port intensive, so likely lots of walking. Pace yourselves! It is so nice to just put your feet up when you get back from each port and not have to worry about making dinner! We've done the same itinerary as Greysandy. 

What plans do you have for tours? 

Thanks! Our strategy is to pick one or two things to do in-depth in each port, rather than trying to get anything like a comprehensive overview. The only HAL tour we’re on is the chartered train to Berlin (using our HIA credits.)

 

We have a few private tours planned:

Food tasting tour of the Central Market in Riga

KGB museum in Tallinn

Walking tour of medieval Tallinn

Berlin Underground tour (literally underground, bomb shelters etc.)

[washiotter]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

Think about your Keil - Warnemude port stops - choices offered to also visit Hamburg and Berlin - very packed day trips and you can try to do this on your own. These stops will take a lot more effort and costs since both require longer travel distances.

 

But certainly Berlin, for history buffs as yourself, should not be missed unless you plan to come back some day and spend much more time in this very diverse city. If you do decide to visit Berlin, it pays to do a lot of upfront homework to pick out the highlights not to miss. 

Yeah, we read a bunch of reviews saying that Berlin is too far, and decided to ignore them. My husband and I couldn’t imagine being that close and not going! I found an amazing tour that goes underground to explore attempts to tunnel under the Berlin Wall, but alas, they changed their schedule for the summer and it no longer worked for our train back to Warnemunde. We’re doing a general underground tour instead (Ms. 18 is an engineering student), visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial, and maybe the DDR Museum. 

[QuattroRomeo]

37 minutes ago, washiotter said:

Thanks! Our strategy is to pick one or two things to do in-depth in each port, rather than trying to get anything like a comprehensive overview. The only HAL tour we’re on is the chartered train to Berlin (using our HIA credits.)

 

We have a few private tours planned:

Food tasting tour of the Central Market in Riga

KGB museum in Tallinn

Walking tour of medieval Tallinn

Berlin Underground tour (literally underground, bomb shelters etc.)

 

So glad to hear you say that! Many tours are just so jam-packed that you barely remember anything. I call them "blur-tours"! And inevitably include a too-long shopping stop that can't be avoided and are such a waste of time. Focus on what you really want to see and/or eat, and you will have a great, and memorable, trip.

We opted to do our own train trip from Warnemunde to Lubeck and Schwering and had a great day. Will you have some time in Copenhagen?

[goody1]

You've picked a great Itinerary for your 1st Cruise. My Wife and I are also on this cruise which will be our 5th Baltic Cruise.

[washiotter]

1 hour ago, goody1 said:

You've picked a great Itinerary for your 1st Cruise. My Wife and I are also on this cruise which will be our 5th Baltic Cruise.

See you aboard! I'll keep an ear open for Scottish accents. 😉

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 5/31/2023 at 2:07 PM, washiotter said:

Yeah, we read a bunch of reviews saying that Berlin is too far, and decided to ignore them. My husband and I couldn’t imagine being that close and not going! I found an amazing tour that goes underground to explore attempts to tunnel under the Berlin Wall, but alas, they changed their schedule for the summer and it no longer worked for our train back to Warnemunde. We’re doing a general underground tour instead (Ms. 18 is an engineering student), visiting the Berlin Wall Memorial, and maybe the DDR Museum. 

 

We had a very long, but fantastic, ship's tour to Berlin on a Cunard cruise. None of the four of us had been to Berlin, and with a port intensive itinerary, we, we opted to let the ship take care of us for this one. We could never had worked out the logistics so well on our own. We visited several sites, but the one that I remember best is a museum about the Berlin Airlift. Absolutely fascinating to me, whose knowledge of 20th century history isn't the best. 

 

In Stockholm, we opted for an independent day. As soon as we could, we got off the ship and took a taxi to the Vasa Museum. Vasa was a Swedish warship from the 17th century, raised and preserved. The museum was quiet, and we had a leisurely walk past the exhibits, which are on a spiral balcony that goes around the ship. By the time we reached the top, the first tour buses were arriving. We looked down to the lowest level and it was like looking at Times Square on New Year's Eve (except it was morning and people were sober). We were so happy to be done and ready to leave! 

[3rdGenCunarder]

Cocktail suggestion--try the Tamarind Bar. Tamarind is HAL's Asian restaurant. (I love the crispy duck!!!) The bar for this restaurant has some special cocktails. I don't know if they're available in other bars. The cucumber mojito is wonderful as is the drink with the lychee in it (forgot the name). 

[washiotter]

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

In Stockholm, we opted for an independent day. As soon as we could, we got off the ship and took a taxi to the Vasa Museum. Vasa was a Swedish warship from the 17th century, raised and preserved. The museum was quiet, and we had a leisurely walk past the exhibits, which are on a spiral balcony that goes around the ship. By the time we reached the top, the first tour buses were arriving. We looked down to the lowest level and it was like looking at Times Square on New Year's Eve (except it was morning and people were sober). We were so happy to be done and ready to leave! 

I am definitely going to go into drill sergeant mode to get my family to the Vasa Museum right when it opens! We’re all excited about seeing it, but it’s apparently the most popular museum in all of Scandinavia. They can go back to bed AFTERWARDS. 

[washiotter]

13 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Cocktail suggestion--try the Tamarind Bar. Tamarind is HAL's Asian restaurant. (I love the crispy duck!!!) The bar for this restaurant has some special cocktails. I don't know if they're available in other bars. The cucumber mojito is wonderful as is the drink with the lychee in it (forgot the name). 

Can you just visit the Tamarind Bar for a drink, or do you need to be dining in the restaurant? It does look like they have some really interesting craft cocktails!

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, washiotter said:

Can you just visit the Tamarind Bar for a drink, or do you need to be dining in the restaurant? It does look like they have some really interesting craft cocktails!

 

You can go for a drink. Although some people do go there for a pre-dinner cocktail, it isn't usually full and nobody asks if you have booked dinner. The bar isn't open all day. IIRC, they opened around 5:00. I don't know where Tamarind is on your ship, but it's often tucked away in a place that people don't stumble upon. Worth seeking out. And even during the day when the bar isn't open, it can be a quiet place to sit.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

On the Nieuw Statendam, Tamarind is on Deck 10, Aft. The easiest way to get there is to use the AFT elevators. We didn't when we went ahead of time to check on the location and had to walk outside and climb a set of stairs and then hope someone notices you at the outside door-or keep walking around the aft to find a set of stairs to go down and then the aft elevator back up to 10. A real hidden gem???

[OlsSalt]

How is your "first cruise" packing coming?

 

I think many of us tended to overpack on our first cruises, but over time found a few extra things well worth packing along. But most of the "must haves" I thought I would have to pack along, were not ever needed or could be purchased in port anyway, if really needed. 

 

Worst early mistakes - (blush🙄) - a new outfit for every day, with matching shoes. Gulp.

Edited June 2, 2023 by OlsSalt

[QuattroRomeo]

Don't feel too badly, OlsSalt- we used to bring lots more clothes, too. But of course it was affordable to add an extra suitcase when flying back then!

[Nodakboiler]

Buy a set of heavy duty magnets that you can use on the cabin walls for hats, backpacks, etc.

[washiotter]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

How is your "first cruise" packing coming?

 

I think many of us tended to overpack on our first cruises, but over time found a few extra things well worth packing along. But most of the "must haves" I thought I would have to pack along, were not ever needed or could be purchased in port anyway, if really needed. 

 

Worst early mistakes - (blush🙄) - a new outfit for every day, with matching shoes. Gulp.

My final client will be over tomorrow at 4:30, and then I can turn my energy to laundry and packing. I have already completed the immense hurdle of helping Mr. 14 select some button-down dress shirts for our specialty dinners, and having done that I feel like I can do most things!

 

in general we plan to bring 8 days worth of clothes and send out laundry in the middle. Only one pair of walking shoes and one pair of dress shoes!

[QuattroRomeo]

Magnets and adapters mentioned earlier are definitely good suggestions.

Also, drug store items tend to be either scarce or extremely expensive onboard. So bring a few bandaids, analgesics, allergy meds, tums, sunscreen, eye drops and the like. And whatever anti-nauseants you prefer.

 

You may have booked some specialty meals already, but if you haven't, book them now- especially for sea days- they are very popular on sea days. Same for spa stuff. 

 

We usually book a specialty restaurant on embarkation night, when they tend to be quiet. The MDR (main dining room) can be hectic that first night!