Newbie Question

[rhinomike]

 

We are not first time cruisers but we are going to be first time Holland America Cruisers. We are going to book a 14 day European cruise on Nieuw Statendam. It sails out of the UK on August 2nd. We will be booking 2 cabins. One for me and my wife and one for our 3 adult children. Any tips on cabin selection or any other booking tips?  We are thinking balcony cabins but is an upgrade to a suite worth the money?  We did a similar cruise this last year on Royal Caribbean. We had balcony cabins and purchased their Key program which gave us priority/VIP access to activities and boarding/debarking the ship plus free premium unlimited WiFi access. Does HAL have a similar program on this ship?  Is it worth it or is it better to get a suite?  Is this a good ship choice?  I know it will be much smaller than some of the larger ships we have been on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.  

Edited October 2, 2019 by rhinomike

[3rdGenCunarder]

30 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

 

We are not first time cruisers but we are going to be first time Holland America Cruisers. We are going to book a 14 day European cruise on Nieuw Statendam. It sails out of the UK on August 2nd. We will be booking 2 cabins. One for me and my wife and one for our 3 adult children. Any tips on cabin selection or any other booking tips?  We are thinking balcony cabins but is an upgrade to a suite worth the money?  We did a similar cruise this last year on Royal Caribbean. We had balcony cabins and purchased their Key program which gave us priority/VIP access to activities and boarding/debarking the ship plus free premium unlimited WiFi access. Does HAL have a similar program on this ship?  Is it worth it or is it better to get a suite?  Is this a good ship choice?  I know it will be much smaller than some of the larger ships we have been on. Any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.  

 

HAL suites don't give extra amenities until you move up to Neptune Suite level. You can find description of those amenities on HAL's site under the experience, then staterooms. That will also take you to Club Orange, HAL's upsell package. It does not include wifi, but it does include some priorities and a separate dining room.

 

Also look through the first three pages on this site. You should come across several threads about Club Orange. Or do a search for "orange" on the HAL boards. Lots of discussion of CO. 

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/suites-staterooms.html

 

[rhinomike]

Thank you for that info. I think we will do club orange. Is that a good option on this ship?  What do there think of this ship?  We are 45 years old and our kids are 20, 21 and 22.  Any tips on booking?  We are thinking a Verandah cabin.  Thank you. 

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

Thank you for that info. I think we will do club orange. Is that a good option on this ship?  What do there think of this ship?  We are 45 years old and our kids are 20, 21 and 22.  Any tips on booking?  We are thinking a Verandah cabin.  Thank you. 

Imo you are too young for HAL . Better to go Celebrity  or Princess not just for you but your children 's ages .I think they could get bored on a HAL ship .Certainly the entertainment on both Celebrity & Princess is better 

 

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Imo you are too young for HAL . Better to go Celebrity  or Princess not just for you but your children 's ages .I think they could get bored on a HAL ship .Certainly the entertainment on both Celebrity & Princess is better 

 

 

OMG - good to know.  I was in my early 30’s when I first started to cruise and HAL was my 2nd one. We had a blast.

 

 

[rhinomike]

2 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Imo you are too young for HAL . Better to go Celebrity  or Princess not just for you but your children 's ages .I think they could get bored on a HAL ship .Certainly the entertainment on both Celebrity & Princess is better 

 

 

That was also one of my worries.

We went on RC this last summer out of the UK and we seemed to like the elderly crowd. We are kind of boring. We don’t drink or party.  But still like some of the activities. 

[doublebzz]

5 hours ago, rhinomike said:

 

 We are going to book a 14 day European cruise on Nieuw Statendam. It sails out of the UK on August 2nd. We will be booking 2 cabins. One for me and my wife and one for our 3 adult children. Any tips on cabin selection or any other booking tips?    

If you are talking about the Aug 2, 2020 Nieuw Statendam cruise, I see it sailing out of Amsterdam to UK and Iceland.  Like most European cruises, this cruise is port intensive with only 3 sea days.  In my opinion and because you will be in port most of the time,  cabin type is less important. Unless money is no object,  I wouldn't splurge on any cabin category above veranda. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

If you are talking about the Aug 2, 2020 Nieuw Statendam cruise, I see it sailing out of Amsterdam to UK and Iceland.  Like most European cruises, this cruise is port intensive with only 3 sea days.  In my opinion and because you will be in port most of the time,  cabin type is less important. Unless money is no object,  I wouldn't splurge on any cabin category above veranda. 

 

Good point. And the money that could have gone for a suite could go toward tours or buying CO.

 

The values for OP would be the great breakfast in the designated restaurant, the ability to make a dinner reservation at the time of their choosing (to grab the one table in CO that will seat them all), and for this itinerary, priority tendering. 

[rhinomike]

10 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

If you are talking about the Aug 2, 2020 Nieuw Statendam cruise, I see it sailing out of Amsterdam to UK and Iceland.  Like most European cruises, this cruise is port intensive with only 3 sea days.  In my opinion and because you will be in port most of the time,  cabin type is less important. Unless money is no object,  I wouldn't splurge on any cabin category above veranda. 

  Yes. That is the one. Departing from Amsterdam. In my original post I said UK. I was not correct. You are correct. It departs from Amsterdam. Thank you. And I agree. I am thinking Verandah and the CO package will be great. 

Have you been on this ship?  I know nothing about it. We chose it b abuse of a good itinerary. Our other option is a similar itinerary on the NCL Star. We narrowed it down to those two. We think the HAL ship might be a little nicer and service might be better. . 

[doublebzz]

4 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

  Yes. That is the one. Departing from Amsterdam. In my original post I said UK. I was not correct. You are correct. It departs from Amsterdam. Thank you. And I agree. I am thinking Verandah and the CO package will be great. 

Have you been on this ship?  I know nothing about it. We chose it b abuse of a good itinerary. Our other option is a similar itinerary on the NCL Star. We narrowed it down to those two. We think the HAL ship might be a little nicer and service might be better. . 

I have not sailed on Nieuw Statendam yet;  Nieuw Amsterdam 2 or 3 times and thought it was a great ship.  I did a 18 day Southeast Asia cruise on NCL Star about 3 years ago.  In my review of the Star, I likened it to the Staten Island ferry.  I realize that cruise line comparisons are very subjective but in terms of food quality, shipboard amenities and design and service, my experience is that Nieuw Amsterdam is vastly superior to the Star and I'd expect the same would hold true for Nieuw Statendam.

[Daisyloo]

We sailed on the Nieuw Statendam in December and really liked her.  We also like her sister the Koningsdam - we will be on her for the fourth time in October.  We find the service to be very good and we have always enjoyed the food.  Lots of choices and good quality.  The cabins are well laid out and have good storage.  The interactive TV's in the rooms are nice. The showers are the best of any ship we have sailed on. 

I would not hesitate to sail on the Nieuw Statendam again.

[mcrcruiser]

51 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

OMG - good to know.  I was in my early 30’s when I first started to cruise and HAL was my 2nd one. We had a blast.

 

 

 The  general age demographics on HAL cruises are  just retired  on up . Yes ,there will be a very small amount of people younger ;however in general HAL has always been known as a older age  cruise line .This is all I was  advising the OP about .  Certainly , the entertainment  on HAL ships does not compare with Princess or Celebrity cruises . We took into consideration  3 young  ages  children & what they might be looking to do on a ship 

Edited October 2, 2019 by mcrcruiser

[mcrcruiser]

38 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

If you are talking about the Aug 2, 2020 Nieuw Statendam cruise, I see it sailing out of Amsterdam to UK and Iceland.  Like most European cruises, this cruise is port intensive with only 3 sea days.  In my opinion and because you will be in port most of the time,  cabin type is less important. Unless money is no object,  I wouldn't splurge on any cabin category above veranda. 

 You are 100 % correct for port intensive cruises . Only if money is of no consequence  would a person elect to to be a large suite  ,imo

[rhinomike]

Does anybody’s know how the showers are on the Nieuw Statendam?  How small are they?  I’m a big guy. 6 feet 1 inch and 250 pounds. I hate small showers. Most ships are ok but we had one shower on the NCL Sky that was horrible. 

 

What about the gym?  I can’t find much info on that either. 

 

Thank you. 

[doublebzz]

8 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

 The  general age demographics on HAL cruises are  just retired  on up . Yes ,there will be a very small amount of people younger ;however in general HAL has always been known as a older age  cruise line .This is all I was  advising the OP about .  Certainly , the entertainment  on HAL ships does not compare with Princess not Celebrity cruises . We took into consideration  3 young  ages  children & what they might be looking to do on a ship 

If this was a Caribbean or Mexico cruise, I would tend to agree with you.  OP's children are 21+ and I'm sure they would be more attracted to the interesting ports this itinerary provides than entertainment that may be offered by other lines.  Also, a 14 day European cruise does not attract the demographics of their age group on any line.

[mcrcruiser]

9 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

Does anybody’s know how the showers are on the Nieuw Statendam?  How small are they?  I’m a big guy. 6 feet 1 inch and 250 pounds. I hate small showers. Most ships are ok but we had one shower on the NCL Sky that was horrible. 

 

What about the gym?  I can’t find much info on that either. 

 

Thank you. 

I am a bigger guy than you & had no problem with  these new showers  .They are excellently designed using  non spot plexi glass  . Think that you will find the gym very adequate unless you are  a body builder going into a major competition  ,LOL

[mcrcruiser]

7 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

If this was a Caribbean or Mexico cruise, I would tend to agree with you.  OP's children are 21+ and I'm sure they would be more attracted to the interesting ports this itinerary provides than entertainment that may be offered by other lines.  Also, a 14 day European cruise does not attract the demographics of their age group on any line.

Good point being that those interesting ports  is all the entertainment they need, so to speak

[rhinomike]

2 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

I am a bigger guy than you & had no problem with  these new showers  .They are excellently designed using  non spot plexi glass  . Think that you will find the gym very adequate unless you are  a body builder going into a major competition  ,LOL

 

Great. Thank you so much. I really appreciate t. 

[rhinomike]

12 minutes ago, doublebzz said:

If this was a Caribbean or Mexico cruise, I would tend to agree with you.  OP's children are 21+ and I'm sure they would be more attracted to the interesting ports this itinerary provides than entertainment that may be offered by other lines.  Also, a 14 day European cruise does not attract the demographics of their age group on any line.

 

Yes. I agree. My kids don’t drink or party either. We do stuff as a group. We love all of the ports. 

[iflyrc5]

24 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

Does anybody’s know how the showers are on the Nieuw Statendam?  How small are they?  I’m a big guy. 6 feet 1 inch and 250 pounds. I hate small showers. Most ships are ok but we had one shower on the NCL Sky that was horrible. 

 

What about the gym?  I can’t find much info on that either. 

 

Thank you. 

Showers on this ship are very large and the gym has lots of equipment.  All the standard weight machines, free weights and many different aerobic pieces of equipment.

[iflyrc5]

27 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

Does anybody’s know how the showers are on the Nieuw Statendam?  How small are they?  I’m a big guy. 6 feet 1 inch and 250 pounds. I hate small showers. Most ships are ok but we had one shower on the NCL Sky that was horrible. 

 

What about the gym?  I can’t find much info on that either. 

 

Thank you. 

If you go to halfacts.com you will find photos of many locations and cabins on all the HAL ships

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, rhinomike said:

Thank you for that info. I think we will do club orange. Is that a good option on this ship?  What do there think of this ship?  We are 45 years old and our kids are 20, 21 and 22.  Any tips on booking?  We are thinking a Verandah cabin.  Thank you. 

 

Our first cruise on HAL we were the same ages as you.  (Husband, myself, kids.) We all had a blast. When the kids weren’t with family they were out making friends with other passengers their age, as well as the performers. They were very sad to leave.

 

I would book two verandahs side-by-side.  That way you can have the steward open the divider between the balconies to make it easy to move back and forth.  There are also adjoining cabins with a door between the rooms if you want that option.

 

The showers on the Pinnacle-class ships are Amazing!!!  They are HUGE in the verandah rooms (not so in the Neptune Suites) and have great water pressure.

 

The TV’s are large and interactive with the ability to view your account and the days’ menus so you can make your dining decisions in advance.

 

24 hour room service is free with the exception of specialty items as noted.  Dining venues are varied and many.  The Explorations cafe is a great place for small bites at lunchtime if you want to avoid the congestion in the Lido.

 

Speaking of the Lido... most stations the serving is done by the staff.  There are small bites available in between stations (around the corner) where you can help yourself.  Bagged potato chips are available at the end of the sandwich stations, which my husband loves.

 

There are popcorn and blankets available for movie nights at the Lido Pool.  It’s like going to a Drive-In movie.

 

Your room stewards will drop off striped beach towels for you to take with you if you visit a beach.  Just drop them on the bathroom floor if you need a fresh one.

 

Club Orange on a Pinnacle-class ship is fantastic.  I think you are making a wise decision there.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[mcrcruiser]

We post to Google : Cruise ship deck plans . Here you will find all the cruise lines & for each line all their ships .Then you can see all the decks with the various amenities for each deck & photos of cabins & cabin & v the veranda sizes 

 

 For starting research on ports use :whatsinport.com l;which  gives you videos & you might want to print out a port map . also ,the ports section here on cruise critic for rack port has a lot of good info .you can also ask tripadvisor.com what are the 10 best things ro see & do in each port  .

 We jope that you & your family have a great holiday on Statendam 

 

[bEwAbG]

There are lots of photos of this ship on Cruise Critic

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/photos/ships/nieuw-statendam-1179/

 

 

[bEwAbG]

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

Imo you are too young for HAL . Better to go Celebrity  or Princess not just for you but your children 's ages .I think they could get bored on a HAL ship .Certainly the entertainment on both Celebrity & Princess is better 

 

I'm in my 40s and like HAL just fine.  I disagree that Celebrity's entertainment is better.  Quite the opposite, in fact.