LAFFNVEGAS

Good Afternoon, disembarkation was easy We were off the ship at 8:30 and on the bus shortly after on our way to Miami Airport. We were fortunate we could ch click bags right away despite being almost 7 hours till flight. We have American Airlines Lounge access so the wait is at least comfortable and so far time is going quickly Overall the cruise was great and service and food quality started improving about 3 days into the cruise. Yes definitely some things that could improve but overall I found the Nieuw Statendam to be better than my two previous Pinnacle class ships. I am still in awe at how much better the Pinnacle Grill was last night. In the mornings in Club Orange the Host for Rudi’s helps Siri the Hostess for CO, so I ask him about the rumors about Rudi’s, he said that yes Rudy has ended his personal Contract with Holland America but has separate contract with each of the three Rudi’s Sel de Mar. The first contract to end is Koningsdam in May 2024. They will just be removing the Rudi’s name on Sel de Mar, menu will most likely be revamped. Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam are 2 and 3 more years respectively. Although Rudy and HAL could agree to end those contracts but for now that is not the case. And no none of these locations will be Morimoto and Morimoto will only be on the one location for now. But there is talk of doing regular pop up in Tamarind as well as talk of making a separate location for seating in the Main Dining Room for Morimoto. They are still testing this. Well only about 3 more hours to wait till we board our plane home 😂

I have to say this was one of the best Pinnacle Grills in a very long time we all agreed the quality was excellent, tasty from Appetizers to Dessert. Actually a shock since I have often not been thrilled with Pinnacle I started with a glass of Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling like I have done every night. I had the Wedge salad, then the David Burke Tenderloin with Lobster Dumpling, Mashed Potatoes and finished with Key Lime Pie which was exactly how it should be and a cup of coffee. Then Tom had Shrimp cocktail but he ate half of it before i could get pictures 😂 then he also had the Clothes Line Bacon and the Pork chop and the 12 oz Lobster tail, this was excellent a far cry from what he had on the Koningsdam. He also had a Baked Potato and the Chocolate Soufflé. I realized I forgot to take a picture of the key Lime pie but the crust was crunchy not soggy and perfect. After dinner we saw James Cielens second show which was very good. We are now packed luggage out in the hallway. Another cruise coming to an end but with the holidays coming up and more cruises in 2024 for Tom and I we are excited. We have 4 booked for 2024. We will return to HAL for Alaska on the Westerdam for last week of August.

Good Evening from our last night on the Nieuw Statendam. I will say a lot of the food and service as improved in recent days. As I know many have read already we did not make it to Half Moon Cay. I actually do not think it was a surprise to many with what the weather was doing. Our last night is in the Pinnacle Grill for a What's For Dinner.? Let me know what you would order. Our next Whsts for dinner will be March 2, 2024 onboard the Windstar Wind Surf.

Just like the Green M and M Holiday commercial….. They do exist😂 We had breakfast with Brian and Michelle aka @POA1 @Huskerchick It was a great get together with excellent conversation!!!

Brian we will be going to C O for breakfast between 8 and 8:30 😉

It was a fun night, latest I have stayed up in a long time , we gain an hour tonight and we go back to Eastern time. We are really rocking and rolling tonight so few people were out dancing despite the lounge being full and the band excellent. We stayed for their last set. Got my money’s worth of the drink package or at least broke even tonight 😂

Enjoying the Music Walk tonight, the Band at a Rolling Stone Lounge is very good. Enjoyed my first went Weng Weng in at least 10 years , forgot how good they are are although strong 😂 Getting ready to order a second

Dinner was actually excellent tonight and great service as well. We had a mixture of appetizers at our table tonight, Tom and I had Shrimp Cocktails, Marcia had the escargot. Entree Tom and I each had the Peppercorn Filet Marcia had the Duck and dessert Tom had the Chocolate Lava Cake her sister Teresa had the Tiramisu. Marcia, her Mom and brother in-law and myself all had Orange Sorbet. We are now waiting for tonight’s show Tyler Bryce.

It’s that time of night for What’s for Dinner in Clu Orange.

Tom’s Navigator app on his iPad is still not working so he checks the TV screen daily for the menus, I actually caught it on the tv for Pinnacle lunch.

Yes it is a Gala night, but oddly on our past cruises such as Westerdam in September we had Club Orange entree every single night. One of the Gala nights was an excellent Short Rib entree. That is why we were surprised there was none.

Brian, it was on the TV screen from our stateroom this morning under Appetizer.

Good morning from a Sea Day on the Nieuw Statendam. We slept in this morning and just grabbed a very light breakfast in Lido. We are having lunch in Pinnacle at noon so did not want a big breakfast. I have not even had my coffee. Tom was just looking at the lunch menu for Pinnacle and the extra charge of $5.00 was a surprise. I had not seen that before, I had seen the $10 extra for lunch for entree. I would almost rather have two appetizers and no entree. I am going to see if they will give me the Pinnacle lunch for our complimentary 5 Star meal. We are already going to Pinnacle tomorrow night under HIA. Seas were rough again last night but great for sleeping. But also very normal for this time of year. Also in looking at the Club Orange menu tonight it will be the third night of NO Special CO entree. This just seems odd to me since our previous CO dining every night had a special that was different.

Bon Voyage!!! 🧑‍🎄⚓️🛳️

Unfortunately I am not sure, I do not believe any of us has ordered a chicken dish yet this week. But it sounds like something they would do.

As I mentioned before, Marcia Tom and I did a tour today that took us to St John’s USVI, and a drive through the National Park. This was actually a nice tour. While the boat ride over was a bit rough, it was smooth sailing on the return. I only wish we would have had more time after the tour in St John’s

Tonight all 6 of us had Caesar Salad, then Marcia and I had the Lemon Shrimp Fettuccine and Marcia and I also both got the No sugar added Almond Fruit cake. Tom had the 10 oz NY Steak and Chocolate Sundae. Marcia’s who we all call Mama tried the Morimoto Lobster. I think Mama was ok with it but it certainly was not what I expected. The taste of Red Peppers was extremely strong . I would definitely not order it. The first picture is the Lobster Morimoto here on NS I will also post a picture of our little group.

Good Evening, sorry been missing in action. i will write a review of our excursion to St John, Which was excellent 👍🏻 Right now it’s that time of night to play What Would you Order for Dinner?

As I mentioned No Club Orange Entree. Menu seems more limited than previous Culinary Council dinners. Tom was able to order a Ceasar Salad with his plain Prime Rib and a Hot Fudge Sundae. I had the Sushi Trio but forgot to get ale pictures. I did get the Prime Rib which had more flavor than Koningsdam. I also ordered a Creme Brûlée not on the menu. I did include the pasta that Marcia had and her dessert. Dinner did take two full hours and we were finished with dessert before our coffee arrived. I have not written a new te in Navigator yet may do so this evening. Someone asked if I was not returning to HAL, our next cruise will be on Windstar Wind Surf on March 2nd out of St Maarten. The April 14 we sail in The Haven on the Norwegian Joy to Bermuda out of NYC. We will return to HAL on the Westerdam late August 2024.

It’s that time of night for What’s for Dinner? Second night on Club Orange and NO Close b Orange Special??????

Greetings from Holland America Nieuw Statendam as we are approaching San Juan PR Very rough seas and high winds, we have had this since last night. The Christmas Winds are a blowing. We all met for Club Orange Breakfast this morning but have to admit I am not impressed, my yogurt dish I always order with the chia seed and mango was not at all cold , actually warm and the yogurt did not come taste good. Then ordered French toast that was cold, the syrup was molasses and the ham and sausage was also cold and the French Toast all dried out. I am tempted to just eat in the MDR or Lido. Could not get them to give us a second mimosa or flag someone down to get it, nor to get second cup of coffee. We are far from impressed with Club Orange. We plan to have lunch in the Lido once the crowds disembark in San Juan. We are just staying on board. As you can see from the pics some rough seas and very hazy.

Internet was down again but just came back up. I started with the Wasabi Cocktail, then had the Lobster and Shrimp Potstickers, then I had the Crispy Duck and The Trio of sorbet. I have to say I was very pleased with the Duck, I had this last on the Rotterdam in July last year and was not impressed. This was totally different and very delicious. Tom had his usual of two appetizers, the Tempura Shrimp and the Chinese Five Spice Baby Back Ribs, then had the Filet with out the Wasabi and he also had the Sorbet Trio. I am also adding pic of Marcia’s dessert. Overall we had a very good meal everything was very good this evening.

It’s that time of night for What’s for Dinner? Tamarind version 😃 sorry for the delay but the Nieuw Statendam WiFi and Navigator was down for several hours and just came up.

Doesn’t surprise me we are not getting much of any thing delivered to us.

As you can see we were up early to is morning watched us sail into Grand Turk. Had a very good massage with a therapist who has been at the Spa for over 13 years and husband is in the Engineering Department for even longer. Her name is Maricel After the massage I walked through the Lido was surprised to see a section that would make up your yogurt parfaits. They had one that was a Chia seed with mangos which as excellent but I then added extra fruit and nuts and too it back to our stateroom where I made up a coffee from the espresso maker in the room. Then we took off so see the shops at Grand Turk. It has grown quite a bit since we were last here it was on the Nieuw Amsterdam March of 2011. That cruise we went to St Maarten instead of St Thomas. After some looking around we headed back to the ship for some Dive In Burgers and fries, a beer for Tom and a Mango Margarita for me. Tonight we have reservations at Tamarind. Too funny just a bit ago saw James Cielen who is the Magician on board who is performing tomorrow night and Saturday night. He sat down with us for a while. We met in many years ago and have many mutual friend plus he lives not very far from us in Vegas.He is just on the Nieuw Statendam this week then to Seabourn for 3 weeks to Antarctica. It was fun catching up with him.