New to Holland America questions

[tigger54]

My husband and I have cruised about 25 cruises but never on Holland America. We just booked a 7 day cruise out of Fort Lauderdale next February on the Nieuw Statendam. I just have a couple of questions.

we don’t drink alcohol but love sparkling water such as Pelligrino and others. Do they sell that on the ship?
Can we buy a case of water to be delivered to our cabin?
Are there small refrigerators in the cabins.

It says we have open dining. We like to eat early. Is there a way to set this up ahead of time or do we just go to the dining room when it’s time?
What time does dining begin?
Are the dining rooms open for breakfast and lunch each day?
No self serve laundry I take it. Could not find it on the ship.

I know I can look up a lot of these questions but this is so much easier to ask my fellow cruisers that have cruised on this ship.

we are excited to try a new cruise line. We are fairly quiet people and don’t need a lot of hoopla. We enjoy meeting new people, watching evening shows and listening to music.

[Chickadee910]

Yes to the water.. click on all the icons on the Holland page that has your itinerary and you will find all the packages from beverages to on board credit to laundry. When to load your navigator app. You can read daily menus for all the restaurants and room service. Dinner starts at approx.5:30. Hope this helps.

[crystalspin]

51 minutes ago, tigger54 said:

Nieuw Statendam. I just have a couple of questions.

we don’t drink alcohol but love sparkling water such as Pelligrino and others. Do they sell that on the ship?
Are there small refrigerators in the cabins.

It says we have open dining. We like to eat early. Is there a way to set this up ahead of time or do we just go to the dining room when it’s time?
Are the dining rooms open for breakfast and lunch each day?
No self serve laundry I take it. Could not find it on the ship.

Yes there is sparkling water. DNK the brand. It may come in cans or metal bottles as all the Carnival brands are moving away from bottles (glass or plastic) to reduce (non-compressible?) waste.

 

All staterooms on Nieuw Statendam have mini-fridges (probably stocked mini-bars, but you can request your steward empty it).

 

It's possible that early fixed-time seating is already booked full, but you (or your travel agent) might see about getting you that or wait-listing you. I understand that open-seating passengers can reserve a time (maybe three days at a time? have never done it myself, we have just gone whenever and let the Md' sit us with others, pre-COVID anyway). Others will give you the specifics!

 

I understand the MDR is always open for breakfast and sometime for lunch. We like to eat both of those in the Lido (buffet), with occasional sea-day Dive-In burgers!

 

No HAL ship has self-laundry. But the ships' laundry does a very good job. You can buy unlimited laundry for $7/day (you will be charged for all seven days, no matter which day you send in your first bag), by the bag (nice sized cloth bag, current price is still I believe $20), or by the piece. There is also "eco" dry-cleaning for prices not much more than shore-side. Not only will they observe written in notes like "warm wash/cool dry", I just found out they will actually AIR DRY garments, you just get them returned a day later.

 

There are other Nieuw Statendam FAQs mid-way down this 'page':

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/cruise-ships/ms-nieuw-statendam/1.html

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, tigger54 said:

we don’t drink alcohol but love sparkling water such as Pelligrino and others. Do they sell that on the ship?

This photo of the available beverage packages shows that, at least as of 2021, the ships were stocking Perrier 330ml.

https://rogerjett-photography.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Beverage-Packages-2021.pdf