Sea Dayswith Holland America Nieuw Statendam

Love sailing and that is unequivocal. There are a lot of great things on the Nieuw Statendam, that is for sure. And like everything in this ongoing post-covid era so many things have changed. It just isn’t the same.

 We sailed Viking in January and there were some changes but this seems more of a let down. Comments in the dining rooms that we have made and that we have heard from others are very strange. “That was pretty good.” “This isn’t too bad.” “the spaghetti in the specialty restaurant was a big clump!” These have never been words spoken on any cruise ship that I have ever been on.

 Holland America, a 150 year old ship line which has a long history of pleasure cruising, should be listening and figuring out what is causing these comments. One complaint, or more of a statement on what people like and dislike, is that the buffet – often the crown jewel of cruising – is difficult to maneuver. There are many stations. Great. If you know exactly what you want and it does break up the crowd. But if you want, for example, beef but don’t want the rolls or sides at that station, then you are in line at two or three places. By the time you have assembled the meal you want, the one you chose to buffet instead of dining room, your hot stuff is cold. It might have been warm when you started but it can take 15 or 20 minutes to just get meat, potatoes, some vegetables, a roll, and maybe a salad. Yes, of course, start with the cold stuff but then you will go back and forth, up and down the line several times. 

The ship has had very good entertainment. Cantare, a really good quartette with a very structured dance routine for every song, has had shows on two different nights. We were glad they were performing again tonight but it is a reprise of their first show. Really. They can’t come up with three different sets to perform! The same with the only speaker onboard. Did two great talks on fjords, volcanoes and such where we are traveling, Dr. Michael Douglas (not the actor) and then a reprise. Hyperion Knight, same story although the very entertaining pianist did also do an afternoon Name That Tune concert. Such a good personality and fine musician. 

There is not much going on onboard. Trivia is at 6:30 p.m. Hello, you are either at dinner or getting ready for dinner or cocktails. Maybe that is why no one shows up. 10 a.m. on port days and none on sea days! Who made up the game schedule? 

There is a lot of, and I mean a LOT of nickel and diming here. By that I mean, sample spa sale. Yellow diamond raffle. During the scenic cruising of the sound there were 13 separate opportunities to support the shops and studios on board. Thirteen! They must make some money off this but I have yet to see anyone come out of a shop with anything. 

The Music Walk is a feature of this new ship. Sailed first in 2019 and then had a long rest. All along the center of Deck 2 open to Deck 3 are venues featuring bands and singers. We enjoy the jazz and pop tunes of B.B. Kings space. Even had a cocktail there one evening while they played and sang and we watched couples dance. You can immediately tell who has been together a long time! Rolling Stones, not so much. Way too loud! It is across from BillBoard OnBoard with its twin baby grand pianos. Of course they don’t all play at once but have a rotation that includes the strings quartette on Lincoln Center Stage. Small bands play in various locations with lots of chairs and tables for drink service. What is really different is there is no loud music in constant rotation by the pools. 

The Crows Nest, forward on 12, is our after dinner go-to most nights. We meet friends there for a chat or even a game. One night we taught Carol to play Sorry! The bartender there, Jamaica, will serve up delicious drinks but also my favorite Earl Grey Tea in a large go-cup. No go-cups at the Lido for do it yourself service which is luckily 24 hours. But try carrying a small mug down four flights of stairs on a rolling ship in the North Atlantic at midnight!(Yes while sailing we do a lot of walking. Back and forth and up stairs and always down!)