Just off N Statendam-brief thoughts

[pirate cruiser]

Hello-we were on our first holiday cruise 12/27-1/7. I will try and make this brief as I don't want to do a full blown review.

Several firsts for us on this cruise-it was my 3rd HAL cruise and first time with an aft cabin, first time eating in the Pinnacle, first time with the HIA package and first time cruising during the holidays-here goes,

- Absolutely loved the aft cabin-deck 6 and the views are awesome, the wake is so relaxing and we were surprised how quiet it was at night-loved the decorations all over the ship. She was beautiful and clean and actually looked new I thought.

- Like the muster drill procedure-very quick and easy-we got that out of the way within the hour after boarding.

- it's been discussed here before and there were signs at all the bars about now just paying the difference in the price of drinks if you go over your price limit-we had the SBP and all my drinks are less than 11 anyway-will definitely do the SBP next time.

- We had the interactive TV-probably a 46 inch which was very nice.

- Ended up eating most meals at Lido-so much variety IMO and loved the stir fry-we ate in the MDR once and we just don't like eating dinner for 1-2 hours-ordered room service breakfast 3 times and it was on-time and good each time. Tried Dive-In for the first time and liked it especially the fries. Still amazes me to hear people complain about the food with so much to choose from-if you can adjust the time to eat breakfast or lunch you can really avoid the crowds.

- Pinnacle Grill-very impressed with the service and pace of the orders-we were in and out in less than an hour and a half-the clothesline bacon may have been the best thing I had on this cruise-yes they charge extra for appetizers but not for sides so we had plenty to eat.

- Another reason we decided on this cruise was we visited 5 new ports for us-have wanted to visit St. Maarten for a long time and it did not disappoint-the Sunset Grill and Bar was awesome and we were surprised how busy the airport was and would definitely go back here.

- Thoughts on the other new ports-St. Lucia was ok but not a must see again. Went to Copa beach in Barbados and it was the clearest water I have seen and would do this again-was told the Boatyard is even better but it was full. Martinique was nice and went to the ruins of Pelee which was cool to see. St. Kitts was our least favorite-nice shops in the port area but very dirty in town and almost felt unsafe-again not a must see for us.

- A little surprised at how many kids were on board-a lot of them were unsupervised especially in the Sea View pool-we like the thermal spa pool and never got in the outdoor pools Good luck with finding a poolside lounger anyway-people must hog them overnight.

- Went to St. Johns on a catamaran and it was windy and pretty rough but enjoyed anyway-would like to go on a calm day.

- Beautiful day at HMC-the beach and water this day was gorgeous but I can't believe the all-aboard is 2:30-not enough time to really enjoy the island.

- Overall had a great time-met some new friends and the crew and staff were amazing-even got a chance to talk to Captain Eric for a few minutes. BB Kings and the Rolling Stones Room bands were great. Not sure we will do the holiday thing again as there were just too many kids running around (literally) !

 

[leerathje]

Thank you for this!  I will be on the same itinerary on the Rotterdam  on February 4.

 

Leanne

Edited January 8, 2023 by leerathje

[pirate cruiser]

It's a nice itinerary-let me know if you have any questions-thanks

[Cybercsp]

Thanks for posting.  We board next month.  Very happy to learn of the option to just pay the difference for a drink that exceeds the SBP price.