Alaska Cruisetour review- Statendam July 2013

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[sppunk]

Tip: From an iPad, use Photobucket to upload pictures. :)

[tamsocal]

They are not over the size limit, it seems to be an iPad issue?

[PathfinderEss]

I think I would give up on the pictures for now. Have no idea why they are coming in upside down. Kind of a shame as they look like really nice pictures.

Looking forward to the review of your Statendam cruise.

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DAY 4 now DAY 1 of cruise

VANCOUVER/SAILAWAY

The kids voted to stay close to the hotel today. I had wanted to go to Queen Elizabeth park and see the botanical gardens but we ran out of time day prior. We all had experienced enough walking for the past 2 days so I was ok with their vote. I could have persuaded them but opted not to. We had a quick breakfast in-room. Lucky Charms, pop tarts, chocolate chip cookies- left over from night prior, and mini muffins. Woohoo we are on vacation, don't tell dad what mom let us eat.

FAIRMONT: we really enjoyed our stay here. Excellent staff, excellent food, excellent location, can I take the bed with me on the cruise ship? Love, love, love the bedding- similar to westin for me and similar to mine at home, i dont think HAL will be as nice but i can only hope for now. The bee and herb garden tour was great for myself as well as the kids. The kids were given an art painting project, bee story book and coloring book, backpack and a stuffed sea-otter. The kids wore their backpack to the ship and hugged their sea otters all morning.

CANADA PLACE: walked around and souvenir shopped then returned to the hotel to checkout.

CHECKOUT was quick. We left 3 bags with the bell desk. The Fairmont transfers luggage via their truck at 1pm to Canada Place cruise terminal. We ended up taking 4 carryons with us, plus 1 duffle bag, which I had a case of water in. We have many port excursions, hiking, etc and needed the water and didnt need to pay $3-5 on ship per bottle, i bought a case for $5. It was awkward to carry but I would hate to have it tossed on someone else's bag and leak on their belongings, so I took with us. Previously we have just placed a luggage tag with tape on top of the water case and no bag so at least they can see it is obviously water but I didn't have tape and didn't bother asking for it at the Fairmont.

EMBARKATION: We left the Fairmont just before noon and we were in our room by 12:30. We unpacked our carryons and then went to Mariners lunch in Rotterdam DR at 1pm.

Lunch for me was excellent. The kids not so much..... Oldest DS doesn't eat lunch routinely so he wasn't an issue. The little ones: server asked what do they want? Me: can I see a kids menu? Server: We don't have them. Me: do you not have at all for the entire cruise? Past cruises HAL has had them. Server: no just at dinner. me : ok what are their choices? Server: pizza. Me: Ok they will have cheese pizza. Then I noticed that angel hair pasta was on the main menu, I order a serving with butter only. About 20 minutes later he returned to say pizza was not being served today. Ok what else can they have? What do they want? I didn't want to continue this painful conversation any longer..... I Tried thinking of something simple.... How about grilled cheese. Ok. So next the pasta comes and I divide it in 2 since the grilled cheese had not arrived. After we had finished eating the pasta (although they were still hungry) the grilled cheese arrived but I could quickly see that the kids would not eat it. Bread, mayo, Swiss cheese, more mayo, bread. Sandwich was sitting on top of coleslaw. I didnt think to give instructions on how we wanted our grilled cheese prepared , so i take fault for that! ;)

Never occurred to me how differently items are prepared but makes sense. Although I do find it interesting that many upscale restaurants will add garnish, etc to a toddlers meal, maybe my kids are just weird and everyone else's kids love the parsley drizzled all over a pizza and mayo oozing out of the side of the sandwich with lettuce. Mine said no thank you to me and stuck their tongues out. We opted for ice cream as a replacement for the sandwich. Is ice cream safe to order?

NUTRITIOUS MEALS for my kids : I get a "C-" for the day. Will try to do better tomorrow! Kind of strange ...... we haven't had this issue on HAL before? I think it will be resolved next meal, otherwise it will be frosted flakes and ice cream for lunch and dinner all week, my kids will be thrilled!

Afternoon:

Explored the ship

Club HAL registration

Table tennis, hockey, tennis. Poolside live music- loved it!

This is the smallest ship we have cruised on. Thus far I am liking the smaller feel. I told the kids we needed to explore our new ship. DS said mom we don't need to stop playing tennis yet to explore the ship, we have plenty of time to keep playing. It will take us like 5 minutes to explore the 4 decks and maybe 15 minutes if we walk slowly:D. A little of an exaggeration but essentially correct. Ship exploration did not consume a great deal of time. Essentially there are mainly 4 public decks. 7/8/11/12.

SAILAWAY: or lack thereof....... :(

Celebrity cruise ship was probably under lions gate bridge a few minutes before 5pm. They untied at about 4:45. We dropped mooring lines shortly after "X" but had to tie back up immediately due to a medical evacuation . :(

BUMMER. I hope all is ok soon for the passenger, fortunate at least that it happened dockside vs a medical evacuation at sea via helicopter and basket.

Sail away party was delayed. We didn't drop mooring lines for the second time until ~5:40. SAILAWAY from Vancouver is always beautiful, especially under Lions Gate Bridge. This SAILAWAY didn't disappoint. Slightly breezy, beautiful blue skies, float planes taking off and landing, Stanley Park to the left and the Lions gate bridge.

We missed first slack tide and had to take second slack tide thru Seymour narrows.

We met GG our server. Dinner was excellent except they don't seem to bring the kids food out with 1st adult course so the kids ate LOTS of bread!

Service was great although it appeared to be a heavier workload from prior cruises but GG was fantastic!

7p -10p Club HAL for the kids.

GREENHOUSE spa: excellent 75 minute treatment. Therapist was from So Africa: More Blessed, today is her 12th day on the ship and this is his her first cruise assignment ever. She's still adapting to cruise life, wonderful attitude and i enjoyed chatting with her.

THERMAL SUITE: enjoyed as always. Wrote in my journal as usual. Stayed until the very last minute before having to go pickup the kids at club HAL closing.

I purchased in a package but for anyone who wants to know cost :

$99 single/$149double

STATENDAM first impressions:

Beautiful ship. You can definitely see the wear and tear, but nonetheless the ship was clean in almost 90% of the areas we saw. They have wood cleaning equipment up on deck 12 that had the caution tape up and it appears that it has been hanging for quite some time. I'll let you know at the end of the cruise if it lives there permanently. One of the teak benches in same area is broken, and not taped off and is a little bit of a safety issue if some one tried to sit without noticing. The hinges are broke and the seat fell into the box. Lots of rust, and paint layered on railings, etc but not a big deal for me. I Somewhat expected this with her age and nonetheless the ship is beautiful. Teak railing on deck 12 was just missing with no apparent work being done and again the tape hanging didn't appear to be fresh but maybe they recycle caution tape :)

The atrium fountain is disappointing. No water and looks like an aged old statue, not a breathtaking atrium. Crows nest is comfortable and beautiful. The leather upholstery on the bench seating up front in crows nest appears new.

Although the ship is small it has all of the public areas I need to have a wonderful cruise experience.

CLUB HAL first impressions: excellent. Stephanie, Michelle, and Megan seem outstanding. The area is small but exactly what I anticipated. We sadly arrive to registration earlier in the day when a parent was getting a little frustrated with the staff. She wanted her 12 yr old to be able to be with the teens. The staff member tried explaining the rules to her but she just kept saying no my "Suzy" wants to be in with them, look she is tall for her age, she is mature for her age. Mykid is special, so this is why the rules can be broken for them was a little painful to listen to. I felt bad for the staff, they were really trying to be nice. I can only imagine it happens every cruise. I do feel bad for the parents if they have no clue as to how everything works but they need to take responsibility as well. If you see age groups are posted, it could mean that the kids have to go within a certain age group possibly?? The mom stated that on website it says 12-17 not 13-17. Which tells me she did have awareness ahead of time. Hhhhmmm? The staff member said she would be sure to look into the website issue. I think the mom was mistaken but I have no idea, I didn't look at club on the website before this cruise.

Kid statistics:

3-7: 5 kids, 2 of which are mine

8-12 ~ 30 kids

13-17 ~35 kids

Total ~ 70 kids: 3-17

CLUB HAL

1-3pm explore Club HAL registration

7-10pm Welcome Aboard Party

[tamsocal]

So I have fixed several problems..... Unable to access wifi from iPad..., upside down iPad pictures but still have not sorted out how to force ipad to upload more than one picture. I select 5 and only the last one selected actually uploads. So each of my posts will only be allowed to have one picture....

 

Which I guess is ok as the iPad doesn't take phenomenal pics, and we are still traveling so I can't upload the other camera pictures.

 

SAILAWAY party on Deck 10, kind of fizzled out due to medical evacuation but it was a beautiful day!!

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Our cabin.

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Well actually not for us..... This was a picture of Celebrity cruise ship sailing away :D

 

They went thru first slack tide

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We visited the Deck 12 aft often. At first portion of cruise tennis and hockey were on port side together. There seemed to be more people wanting to play hockey and tennis vs basketball, so HAL moved hockey goals to the starboard side with basketball. THANKS HAL, we didn't ask but you read our minds!

[LSEA]

Fun read, great photos! Wow, I don't even want to take my 2 kids to the grocery store today. So, impressive.

[tamsocal]

Fun read, great photos! Wow, I don't even want to take my 2 kids to the grocery store today. So, impressive.

 

Thanks!!

They have been great most of the time. We have had to talk about manners here and there and have called it quits at the pool and out and about sightseeing. They know the rules. On vacation there are sometimes second chances and warnings but when I tell them no warnings before they get in the pool and explain the rules, if they don't follow the rules. It is bye-bye pool time.

 

I feel like I have been gone 2 weeks and we aren't even finished with our travels, I hope all continues to go fabulously.

Overall experience.....There have been some minor road bumps along the way, some amusing and some not so funny......:D

[tamsocal]

DAY 2

SEA DAY. FORMAL NIGHT

Early morning start. Whale spotting between 5-6am x3 from our balcony (port side). This morning after ?(can't remember) passage we saw killer whales and also saw humpback whales.

GYM STRETCH CLASS: stretch time in the spa. The personal trainer invited the kids to participate as well, as long as they stayed in one corner area. Only 1 kid wanted to participate. The other 2 sat and watched quietly. The kids take yoga at school, so this was fun for the one that wanted to participate. The other 2 were still half asleep. Next pinnacle grill for breakfast. I had to double check my watch as there was not a single person seated. Confirmed, it was 8am and we were welcomed in. Service was quick for a brief period of time and then it slowed some but still excellent. By the time we exited there were at least 12-15 tables occupied. The maitreD or whomever was in charge promptly called for assistance once about 5-6 tables were occupied. Nice!!

DS was super excited that the French toast was yummy. Will he order it every day for the rest of the week? He ordered chicken fettuccine Alfredo almost everyday for 3 weeks on our South America/Antarctica cruise. Creature of habit..... :D

Today's events:

The kids wanted to go to Club HAL promptly at 9am.

CROW'S NEST: spotted at least 6-8 whales. Beautiful area forward on the ship. i wish the chairs were a little higher, you sink so low that the viewing of the waterline isn't as optimal for me as on other ships. however, we still managed to find whales. I didnt find any pool chair hogs but it appears that on this trip to Alaska we have Crow's Nest chair hogs. they plopped their book in the chair and some did not return the entire time i was there and others not for nearly an hour! :eek:

THERMAL SUITE. Wonderful!

 

Met up with the kids at 11:30- brief snack in the Lido. We all agreed that we would have Lido for lunch and dining room meals for breakfast and dinner. Buffet is too much work for me fetching food for 3 kids!

CULINARY ARTS SEMINAR x2 preparing halibut, #2 creme brûlée and lobster salad. I don't love to cook, but do enjoy the culinary presentations.

With the kids: Table Tennis, shuffleboard and chess.

ALASKA PRESENTATION by the naturalist on board Patrick. Excellent and great for the kids.

NAP!!

BINGO: the kids came with me. we LOST. we were so close. Final card we needed one number for the last 6-7 balls called and then someone else won. Boohoo. Cost $15/25/35 for # cards: 1/3/6

Returned to the cabin to get tuxes on. This was our best yet for getting dressed for formal night. One did 100% on his own and the 2 little ones ~75% independently. I know this is boring reading for you..... But so exciting for me!

Dinner was excellent. GG was great again. The food for the kids hasn't been served quickly or with course #1 like on other cruises but we managed. No dessert and off to the early theatre performance Northern Lights singer/dancer show. The kids and i typically love the review and theatre shows. Sadly i was not impressed today. the pitch at times was a little hard on the ears, i wont say male or female. the stage backgrounds/sets seemed like they belonged in a junior high school play vs a Luxury cruiseliner but i imagine that the size of the ship plays into this. Shows from prior cruises: Princess last cruise 5*, Disney 5*, oosterdam 4*, Statendam eek 2*, maybe I am being to hard on them? But it really wasn't enjoyable, I will say we woke up on the wrong side of the bed and i am judging too harshly.

Then to CLUB HAL.

THERMAL SUITE. Was interesting tonight. Prior : peaceful x2. This time, first the noisy couple. There are 5 beds. They were in bed #2 and 5 they kept yelling to each other. Just normal communication chatter but loud and in the middle of the thermal room. When they first arrived the wife walked halfway thru the room which is only probably 20x30 feet -and squealed "excuse me are you done with this?" She was addressing a guest 5 feet away from her with her back turned, she woke up the man next to me with her loud voice and then yelled back at her spouse, she's not using it. I would think that her spouse heard the other guest answer but maybe they are hard of hearing. My guess is they were early, 40's. the loud talking continued from bed 2and 5. I then leaned over and quietly said to her sshh ( no words sshh, just my finger to my mouth) , people are trying to relax, do you maybe want to move to the other bed that is closer to him. They seem super sweet and I think just weren't realizing how noisy they were being.

Whew, she quiets down and then they leave 20 minutes later. Next a different lady comes in, asks me where to change, I tell her at the lockers, she said she doesn't want a locker, I asked her if she wanted me to show her where the locker area is as that is where she can change. No! then she starts complaining..... about "RCL has this thermal area for free, its ridiculous that all of this is so confusing and she has to pay for it. i went there everyday for 40 days and it was free, and then starts telling me how wasteful people were with towels everywhere? " Huh? Why did we start talking about towels? Thought to myself: I am sorry that it was free with RCL but its not here and my peaceful blissful evening has seriously been tampered with tonight. She ultimately goes to get locker and then comes back and asks me if men and women share the thermal suite. I tell her yes and that there is one of them in the sauna, she starts complaining about that too and on RCL it isn't like that. She panics a little as it appeared she was naked with towel only. Now she just asked me, when you came in did they take your sea pass? Yes they take your key to the world, key card in exchange for the thermal card pass. "I hate that, I don't want them to take my card" she continues to whine and complain about the temperature of the mineral pool, she wants a lukewarm, ice cold, and super hot pool. I guess that is what they have on RCL.......

SURPRISE: my thermal suite visit has concluded:eek:, I must evacuate the premises. This is not enjoyable, although if I weren't trying to relax it might be a little funny. She asked me about the cold water fountain as I was trying to escape and if she could drink from it. No - you should get a drink from the drinking fountain, and I pointed to it. That is a nice cold water fountain that you can splash yourself with. It feels great after sitting on the stones for awhile. She actually had a positive comment for once and splashed herself. I said goodnight and enjoy!:D

CLUB HAL 3-7

Art portfolio, duck duck goose, funky freeze dance, puffy putty fun

Mid: coloring contest, red light greenlight, elephant ball, ice cream, ports of call

PM: Camp Statendam

CLUB HAL 8-12

AM: name art, gaga ball*** they didn't play which frustrated the kids as they love this but they did play in the evening as i told the kids to just ask, Jenga, apples to apples.

Mid: wii, bingo, PAC man, mosaic marvels, ice cream, Disney scene it

PM: Brave the night

[tamsocal]

HAHA,!

 

You would have to lean over and squish your head in between the basin and water spout.

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Never did it have caution tape around it, and was not fixed until day 5

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These items were left out for several days with caution tape.

 

PS the rails on deck 14 I mentioned earlier, were nicely varnished by mid cruise and then they were working on the other side, so this was usual maintenance.

 

I have never seen items stored liked this though for multiple days.

 

Looked silly but didn't tamper with our cruise enjoyment. Except I wish there was additional seating on deck 12 maybe they could put seating where they use as a storage unit

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