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

[washiotter]

Wrap-up thoughts:

I was very pleased with our family's experience on the Nieuw Statendam, and so were my husband and kids. I'm pretty sure that we'll be cruising again - Mr. Otter and Ms. 18 are particularly enthusiastic about the idea of a Panama Canal transit, so that might be next. I think we've learned some things that will make the next cruise go more smoothly.

 

Highlights:

• Our port strategy of finding one or two things to experience deeply, rather than trying to get a general overview of all the tourist sites. I did a lot of research, and I'm really happy with how that paid off. The interactions we had with locals went over particularly well with the family.
• The itinerary - this was a well-chosen variety of cities.
• Food quality in the MDR, Pinnacle Grill, and Tamarind. We had many excellent meals.
• BB King All-Stars. Mr. 14 and I never got tired of listening to them.
• The crew - almost universally kind, warm, helpful, and attentive. Our room stewards did a great job at looking after us and the kids.
• Have It All worked really well for our family. It was particularly nice for the kids to be able to order all of the smoothies, mocktails, sodas, and coffee drinks they wanted without having to ask us for permission. I tend to penny-pinch and was glad to be relieved of that responsibility - for them and for myself. 
• Cruising worked really well for Ms. 18, who is autistic - it helped to have some things stay the same (the room, the restaurants, not having to pack and repack) while we also experienced a lot of new things. She had a fantastic time.
• Nice variety of activities onboard, with an energetic and personable cruise director (Claire) and entertainment host (Jose). We tended to be pretty tired in the evenings because it was such a port-intensive cruise, but it always felt like there were things we were missing!
• The ship was sold out, but didn't seem excessively crowded. It was a very international crowd, which we enjoyed.
• At 49 and 56, Mr. Otter and I felt like we were in the middle third of the age range. This was a 10-day cruise during the school holidays, and so there were a bunch of parents in their 30s and 40s on board and a fair number of younger adults as well.
• Everything was very clean and well-maintained.

 

Mixed Feelings:

• The quality of food in the Lido varied, with some things very good (especially the made-to-order crepes, omelets, and eggs Florentine) and some things just okay.
• The quality of the evening entertainment on the mainstage was a little uneven.
• We had interior staterooms. We turned out not to be bothered by the absence of windows, but I would have liked to have had someplace to sit other than the bed. I never wound up ordering room service for breakfast because there was nowhere to eat it. The room did have an impressive amount of storage, though.
• We thought that our meal at Rudi’s Sel de Mer was nothing to write home about. It was fine. 
• I sometimes thought "I mix a better cocktail than this at home."  

Edited June 19, 2023 by washiotter

[Florida_gal_50]

The drinks used to be so much better.  It didn’t matter where you got them.  They were identical.  I love a Bloody Caesar and Hal’s were delicious but it was a real difference on my last cruise.  Every one was different.  I’m pretty sure I got a Bloody Mary I few times.  The care taken is not the same.  

 

I hope you do a Panama Canal cruise.  I find it fascinating and I’ve been several times.  Thanks for your live thread once again and your final thoughts.

[Learningtocruise1]

2 hours ago, washiotter said:

Wrap-up thoughts:

I was very pleased with our family's experience on the Nieuw Statendam, and so were my husband and kids. I'm pretty sure that we'll be cruising again

 

Selfishly, PLEASE cruise again!! I've been following your posts since Day 1, and have had the time of my life traveling with you vicariously! I love your writing style, appreciated your photos more than I can convey, and your transparency and sincerity with each post kept me returning day after day.  Thank you. Looking forward to your family's next cruise!! 😀

Edited June 20, 2023 by Learningtocruise1

[oakridger]

Your wrap up was so well thought out and I got a few points to consider for my next cruise even after the many cruises I have taken.  Well done! I'm so happy to hear your family had such a good time. 

 

The Panama Canal transit is so interesting.  Please come back and share with us when you are on that one. 😉

 

Thank you,

~Nancy

[washiotter]

There's one other thing I want to talk about, that I am worried is not going to go over well!

 

A little context on this trip, for us: we're a middle-class family and Mr. Otter and I both work full-time. The last time I traveled (other than visiting my mom for the holidays), I was on a Red Cross disaster relief deployment. The last time we vacationed together as a family, we rented a cottage in the mountains and did a lot of hiking. This trip was a special experience for us.

 

A lot of things that really seem to bother other people on this board are... not even on my radar. Like, there were times that I had to get out of my chair and walk over to the bar to order a drink. Once my cocktail was missing an ingredient. There were a bunch of kids on board, and they weren't silent. Sometimes other people's used dishes sat on tables for a while. Once there was a spot of what looked like chocolate on the edge of our tablecloth in the MDR. There was a charge for lobster tails and for ordering more than one appetizer in the Pinnacle. Our stewards asked us if we wanted turn-down service, it wasn't automatic - and because we said no, that meant that sometimes when I went to pour myself a glass of ice water in the evening, most of the ice in our bucket had already melted.

 

These things didn't make it into my daily recaps because I just didn't care about them. I don't have the kind of history that makes me expect everything in my surroundings to be precisely to my liking. And because I don't, I had a fantastic time.

 

The level of service on HAL is more luxurious than 99% of humanity ever gets to experience. I kind of feel sorry for people who get upset about it not being enough! I felt really grateful to be able to have people catering to my pleasure to this extent, and so did my family. 

[Lido deck main]

11 minutes ago, washiotter said:

There's one other thing I want to talk about, that I am worried is not going to go over well!

 

A little context on this trip, for us: we're a middle-class family and Mr. Otter and I both work full-time. The last time I traveled (other than visiting my mom for the holidays), I was on a Red Cross disaster relief deployment. The last time we vacationed together as a family, we rented a cottage in the mountains and did a lot of hiking. This trip was a special experience for us.

 

A lot of things that really seem to bother other people on this board are... not even on my radar. Like, there were times that I had to get out of my chair and walk over to the bar to order a drink. Once my cocktail was missing an ingredient. There were a bunch of kids on board, and they weren't silent. Sometimes other people's used dishes sat on tables for a while. Once there was a spot of what looked like chocolate on the edge of our tablecloth in the MDR. There was a charge for lobster tails and for ordering more than one appetizer in the Pinnacle. Our stewards asked us if we wanted turn-down service, it wasn't automatic - and because we said no, that meant that sometimes when I went to pour myself a glass of ice water in the evening, most of the ice in our bucket had already melted.

 

These things didn't make it into my daily recaps because I just didn't care about them. I don't have the kind of history that makes me expect everything in my surroundings to be precisely to my liking. And because I don't, I had a fantastic time.

 

The level of service on HAL is more luxurious than 99% of humanity ever gets to experience. I kind of feel sorry for people who get upset about it not being enough! I felt really grateful to be able to have people catering to my pleasure to this extent, and so did my family. 

Well  said.  Great review.  

[Iamthesea]

1 hour ago, washiotter said:

There's one other thing I want to talk about, that I am worried is not going to go over well!

 

A little context on this trip, for us: we're a middle-class family and Mr. Otter and I both work full-time. The last time I traveled (other than visiting my mom for the holidays), I was on a Red Cross disaster relief deployment. The last time we vacationed together as a family, we rented a cottage in the mountains and did a lot of hiking. This trip was a special experience for us.

 

Thank you for your service to the Red Cross.  You are indeed a special person. 😉 

 

Although my DH and I travel a lot as a couple, my favorite vacations are the simple beach or mountain trips when we are with our family.

 

1 hour ago, washiotter said:

 

A lot of things that really seem to bother other people on this board are... not even on my radar. Like, there were times that I had to get out of my chair and walk over to the bar to order a drink. Once my cocktail was missing an ingredient. There were a bunch of kids on board, and they weren't silent. Sometimes other people's used dishes sat on tables for a while. Once there was a spot of what looked like chocolate on the edge of our tablecloth in the MDR. There was a charge for lobster tails and for ordering more than one appetizer in the Pinnacle. Our stewards asked us if we wanted turn-down service, it wasn't automatic - and because we said no, that meant that sometimes when I went to pour myself a glass of ice water in the evening, most of the ice in our bucket had already melted.

 

What...you had ice?  I don't even remember seeing an ice bucket in our stateroom. 😁  I always thought a bucket full of ice was a waste because we never use it. Most of the above does not bother me, but charging extra for an appetizer that used to be included does.  Not that we needed that extra food...we had more than enough to eat.

 

1 hour ago, washiotter said:

The level of service on HAL is more luxurious than 99% of humanity ever gets to experience. I kind of feel sorry for people who get upset about it not being enough! I felt really grateful to be able to have people catering to my pleasure to this extent, and so did my family. 

 

You are right about that!  When we cruise, I feel lucky that I don't have to worry about cooking, making a bed, or cleaning house.

 

I am really surprised that the Statendam had so many young couples and children onboard.  Such a big difference in passenger demographics from our May 14-28 cruise where even DH and I (65 and 70) felt young.  😀

 

Thank you again for the review.  Here's wishing you another cruise in the near future!  The very best way to see the world!

[montythecat]

On 6 June I put in my sixpennyworth and hoped you would

have a wonderful time on my favourite ship. Not only did

it all work out but you wrote so well about your trip. Then,

to cap it all, your wrap up thoughts provided an insight

into not just your enjoyment of the cruise but into your

own humanity. I hope that doesn’t sound too gushing, 

but I do wish more people had your perspective on life.

 

I will keep a lookout for your next cruise so that I can

enjoy more of your lovely writing.

[Lazonia]

On 6/19/2023 at 9:04 PM, washiotter said:

There's one other thing I want to talk about, that I am worried is not going to go over well!

 

A little context on this trip, for us: we're a middle-class family and Mr. Otter and I both work full-time. The last time I traveled (other than visiting my mom for the holidays), I was on a Red Cross disaster relief deployment. The last time we vacationed together as a family, we rented a cottage in the mountains and did a lot of hiking. This trip was a special experience for us.

 

A lot of things that really seem to bother other people on this board are... not even on my radar. Like, there were times that I had to get out of my chair and walk over to the bar to order a drink. Once my cocktail was missing an ingredient. There were a bunch of kids on board, and they weren't silent. Sometimes other people's used dishes sat on tables for a while. Once there was a spot of what looked like chocolate on the edge of our tablecloth in the MDR. There was a charge for lobster tails and for ordering more than one appetizer in the Pinnacle. Our stewards asked us if we wanted turn-down service, it wasn't automatic - and because we said no, that meant that sometimes when I went to pour myself a glass of ice water in the evening, most of the ice in our bucket had already melted.

 

These things didn't make it into my daily recaps because I just didn't care about them. I don't have the kind of history that makes me expect everything in my surroundings to be precisely to my liking. And because I don't, I had a fantastic time.

 

The level of service on HAL is more luxurious than 99% of humanity ever gets to experience. I kind of feel sorry for people who get upset about it not being enough! I felt really grateful to be able to have people catering to my pleasure to this extent, and so did my family. 

Thank you for being a Red Cross volunteer! 

[VMax1700]

@washiotter  By any chance can you remember disembarkation times in Copenhagen? What was the latest time offered?

We have a very late flight home and I am trying to organise the day.

[Haljo1935]

Hey @washiotter first, Welcome to HAL!! Second, a tad late to the party - sounds like it was a great party, too! I kept passing by this thread b/c I have not been to and have no plans to go to the Baltic, but finally decided to read as I really like Nieuw Statendam and am curious about first-timers insights.

So glad your family had a complete experience - from absolutely amazing to the bucket o' tears, that's a complete experience! 🥳

Panama Canal was on my very short bucket list; was able to go at the Covid restart and it was everything I hoped. I hope you will go and take Mr14 & Ms18 - based on their reaction to the Baltic cruise, I think they will really like it. Especially for a budding engineer, it's pretty amazing. If you do go, be sure to attend the pre-port presentation as it does a great job of describing the locks, what to expect and shows videos of previous visits. I got so much more out of the passage through the locks b/c I had been to that presentation. 

The day of crossing the canal is a looooong day, though. I spent 5 hours on the bow (some of it in the rain) beginning at 5am to experience the locks before getting off the ship to go on an excursion. Completely worth it, no regrets, would do it again, just be prepared.

Also want to mention for your next cruise, please be sure to complete the medical form for Mr14. That alerts the chef and service staff of his peanut allergy. On nights you're in MDR, they will bring him the menu for the following night and will note his allergy on it after he makes his selections. He can always change when y'all order if he wants, so not set in stone, but sure helps prevent (or at least minimize) the potential for disaster. You may already know to do this, but having read the "don't eat that" experience,  thought I'd mention it.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pictures and hope your next adventure is even better than this one!

[REDSONJAMN]

I loved your recap and and you can tell it was honest and from the heart----I am so glad both kids had the best time--CRUISING as family usually everyone has fun-----