Just off Nieuw Statendam

[cruising sister]

I think they have vitamin water on NS. I am in a spa verandah room and it says it comes with 2 bottles. I don’t know if they are vitamin water zero. 

[KroozNut]

14 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Thank you!  Vitamin Water Zero isn't a plain water.  I like to drink the Lemon on a cruise, or on any vacation, for that matter.  Helps with the GO, if you know what I mean. 😁  I did find a powdered version that mixes with plain water, but they do not appear to carry the Lemon flavor.  Although I do support the move to go "plastic free", it is also cutting down on many products that were once available.  Oh well!

 

 

 

 

There is always fresh lemon available that you can add to available fresh water from the tap.

[KroozNut]

7 hours ago, albingirl said:

How were the ports.  Wish you did a full review so we could get a better sense of your experience, including cabin selection and ports.

The ports were awesome, cabin selection is something that is unique to each and every cruiser. We were very satisfied with our inside cabin on deck 6 aft. 🙂

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, cruising sister said:

I think they have vitamin water on NS. I am in a spa verandah room and it says it comes with 2 bottles. I don’t know if they are vitamin water zero. 

It used to come with the vitamin water.  I’d be very surprised if it still does.  I haven’t seen any vitamin water.

[Florida_gal_50]

27 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

There is always fresh lemon available that you can add to available fresh water from the tap.

That’s not the point the poster was making.  It’s not the lemon they are looking for.  It’s some “additive” n the vitamin water itself. 

[Iamthesea]

It's OK.  I will live!!! 😁

[Sendez1]

I got off Statendam on sat 3-25 so I will add my comments to those above:

    Although some things not good, important to remember all the hardships in the world today. So I say these things not as complaint  but just to inform others who want to prepare etc

     Vitamin water: I was in spa veranda cabin on panorama deck. I was promised vitamin water along with other amenities to upgrade to that cabin, but amenities did not happen. I asked about vitamin water & was told they no longer have any Vit water. All I got was 2 small cans of water. 
     Food I’m sorry to say the quality has diminished. Some things were still good, but I agree with another review on this site that said the food is slowly being lowered to the standard of carnival. Every menu at every meal contains selections that u must pay extra for as well as items not charged extra for. Some of my fave items have disappeared. Lobster as many prob know is now only available at extra charge. 
   Ports: were as expected but had to wait till about 2pm to board tender in grand cayman due to the ticket system & who knows what. Then had to be back on board by about 430 I think. It was ok w/me, I don’t care so much about the ports, but seemed to be ridiculous to the crowds of people everywhere waiting for their ticket number to be called. 
    Cabin: as everyone prob knows, only 1 a day cleaning, so no turn down, so not used to seeing the cabin unclean from 1 morning till next day. I was told in the spa cabin I would have a choice of 1 or 2 times a day but never happened. Was given 2 tiny chocolate squares the whole trip. 
    Worst part: I got very sick day before cruise was over.  have seen 2  doctors since returning, still sick a week later, still taking meds, even though I made it thru the entire epidemic w/o ever getting sick, not a cold or anything for 4 years. 
 

   Illness no surprise, cause a lot of coughing by passengers & crew.  Only saw 1 person wash hands at lido buffet. Also at lido they still leave the napkin-wrapped silverware on all the tables even if not used by the current guests who constantly touch it to move it out of the way, til next guest uses it. And of course they still have at least half the food items on buffet self serve with spoons, tongues, set on a container that stays there for the duration of buffet, unchanged when empty food container is replaced with more food. So the spoon sits out for hours at a time with everyone touching it. 
   I say just be cautious so u can enjoy your cruise. Next time I will wear mask & be careful where & what I consume. 
thanks
 

[albingirl]

59 minutes ago, Sendez1 said:

I got off Statendam on sat 3-25 so I will add my comments to those above:

    Although some things not good, important to remember all the hardships in the world today. So I say these things not as complaint  but just to inform others who want to prepare etc

     Vitamin water: I was in spa veranda cabin on panorama deck. I was promised vitamin water along with other amenities to upgrade to that cabin, but amenities did not happen. I asked about vitamin water & was told they no longer have any Vit water. All I got was 2 small cans of water. 
     Food I’m sorry to say the quality has diminished. Some things were still good, but I agree with another review on this site that said the food is slowly being lowered to the standard of carnival. Every menu at every meal contains selections that u must pay extra for as well as items not charged extra for. Some of my fave items have disappeared. Lobster as many prob know is now only available at extra charge. 
   Ports: were as expected but had to wait till about 2pm to board tender in grand cayman due to the ticket system & who knows what. Then had to be back on board by about 430 I think. It was ok w/me, I don’t care so much about the ports, but seemed to be ridiculous to the crowds of people everywhere waiting for their ticket number to be called. 
    Cabin: as everyone prob knows, only 1 a day cleaning, so no turn down, so not used to seeing the cabin unclean from 1 morning till next day. I was told in the spa cabin I would have a choice of 1 or 2 times a day but never happened. Was given 2 tiny chocolate squares the whole trip. 
    Worst part: I got very sick day before cruise was over.  have seen 2  doctors since returning, still sick a week later, still taking meds, even though I made it thru the entire epidemic w/o ever getting sick, not a cold or anything for 4 years. 
 

   Illness no surprise, cause a lot of coughing by passengers & crew.  Only saw 1 person wash hands at lido buffet. Also at lido they still leave the napkin-wrapped silverware on all the tables even if not used by the current guests who constantly touch it to move it out of the way, til next guest uses it. And of course they still have at least half the food items on buffet self serve with spoons, tongues, set on a container that stays there for the duration of buffet, unchanged when empty food container is replaced with more food. So the spoon sits out for hours at a time with everyone touching it. 
   I say just be cautious so u can enjoy your cruise. Next time I will wear mask & be careful where & what I consume. 
thanks
 

Too bad you didn't have a good cruise. I personally avoid the Lido for some of the same reasons. I have gotten respiratory illnesses after a cruise but that could be from anywhere, including ports. Hope you feel better by now.

[Sendez1]

Actually despite all, I personally did have a good cruise, which I mainly base on all the interesting & fun people I meet in my travels. My comments are informational only. True that illness can come from anywhere but I base my assessment mainly on 2 facts:  1, I saw unsafe practices on the ship, and 2nd fact:   I live in an international city in south florida with people from all over the world, in a community full of “snowbirds” from all over the world, so I always am in contact with foreigners, travelers etc. & I stay healthy. I appreciate your comments…..stay safe too. 

[KroozNut]

18 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

That’s not the point the poster was making.  It’s not the lemon they are looking for.  It’s some “additive” n the vitamin water itself. 

Okay, I must have misunderstood. It seemed to me that she was emphasizing the lemon flavor that she liked in her water.. my bad. 🙃

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, Sendez1 said:

Cabin: as everyone prob knows, only 1 a day cleaning, so no turn down, so not used to seeing the cabin unclean from 1 morning till next day. I was told in the spa cabin I would have a choice of 1 or 2 times a day but never happened.

 

Only saw 1 person wash hands at lido buffet.
 

 

When we met our cabin stewards on embarkation day, we asked them for turn down/tidying up service 2x/day, and that happened every day without a glitch. 👍

 

That was probably me you saw washing my hands at the Lido buffet. I used the hand washing stations every time I visited the Lido to eat. 🙂

[Sendez1]

Good job krooz nut washing your hands LOL…..so u were that handsome guy washing up LOL….just kidding …never had chance to meet u….next time.. the guys cleaning cabin were nice but didn’t ask about 2nd cleaning but were always walking in my cabin when I es in bed. Lol.   Whatever…things happen.  The first day I was out very late & told them don’t worry about cabin I’m easy so they prob thought never worry bout cabin.. I mean it was all ok I was busier trying to straighten out my credits etc that they claimed to know nothing about etc etc , took days for them.  
but maybe others reading this will know ask right away if u want more service & don’t say ‘I’m easy’.  LOL.   THAKS & glad u enjoyed cruise!

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, Sendez1 said:

so u were that handsome guy washing up 

 

the guys cleaning cabin were nice but didn’t ask about 2nd cleaning
 

 

Yep, I was that handsome guy... Lol.

 

You have to be proactive and ask for the second cleaning/turn down service, else they will default to just once per day, so that's on you.. 😉

[floridababa]

What time are the shows?  Also what times are the music on BB and also the Rock and roll?

[Nickelpenny]

3 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Yep, I was that handsome guy... Lol.

 

You have to be proactive and ask for the second cleaning/turn down service, else they will default to just once per day, so that's on you.. 😉

You can also request it on the Navigator app.  I was also on that cruise and when I met my stewards, I said just once a day but ice in the morning and evening.  Sometime between meeting them and embarkation evening, I changed my mind.  I put my request through the app and - Poof! - I got service twice a day.

[CruisinNana]

6 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

You can also request it on the Navigator app.  I was also on that cruise and when I met my stewards, I said just once a day but ice in the morning and evening.  Sometime between meeting them and embarkation evening, I changed my mind.  I put my request through the app and - Poof! - I got service twice a day.

Where on the Navigator app do you find a place to write requests such as cabin service twice a day?

[Nickelpenny]

2 hours ago, CruisinNana said:

Where on the Navigator app do you find a place to write requests such as cabin service twice a day?

If I remember correctly it was under "Experiences" and then "Order Now".

[AFNavigator]

On 3/31/2023 at 12:49 PM, Sendez1 said:

 Only saw 1 person wash hands at lido buffet.

We were on the NS in December and that was pretty much our experience too--more than one person but still not very many.  The staff didn't help the situation either by jamming so many paper towels into the wash station towel dispensers that those thin paper towels (essentially large tissue paper) were almost impossible to get out.  I also was surprised that HAL didn't really have much signage encouraging passengers to wash their hands.  I've read about some other lines having a washie-washie guy stationed near the buffet entrance encouraging passengers to wash their hands.

 

I do like how HAL has tissue paper dispensers and trash cans available at the bathroom exits encouraging passengers to use the tissues to open the door.  Unfortunately, I saw most people exiting the bathrooms with their bare hands instead of using the tissue paper..

[Sendez1]

Thank you AFN for verifying what I observed. I appreciate that. I feel an obligation to let readers know about these things, but for some reason ( maybe employees of cruise industry) some people want to blame passenger. Someone told me it was “on me” for not “asking” for 2 x day cleaning. As if I should know that when no one informed me that this is the “new rule”, asking for service they charged you for.  Thank u so much, we all need to look out for other passengers 🙂🙂

[cruzer0007]

Thanks for sharing your recent experience. I saw some mention about the Rolling Stone band, could you share any feedfback about other live music around the ship, in particular the Lincoln Center Stage.  I know HA is in the process of revising that program in a significant way (at least in my point of view).  Were they still having the Lincoln Center shows with 3-4 musicians playing a variety of instrumental music ??   How about the piano players in the billboard lounge ?  Any other live music opportunities that I didnt mention ?

[CruisinNana]

7 hours ago, Nickelpenny said:

If I remember correctly it was under "Experiences" and then "Order Now".

Thank you!

[Sendez1]

1 hour ago, cruzer0007 said:

Thanks for sharing your recent experience. I saw some mention about the Rolling Stone band, could you share any feedfback about other live music around the ship, in particular the Lincoln Center Stage.  I know HA is in the process of revising that program in a significant way (at least in my point of view).  Were they still having the Lincoln Center shows with 3-4 musicians playing a variety of instrumental music ??   How about the piano players in the billboard lounge ?  Any other live music opportunities that I didnt mention ?

Hi cruiser0007.   I will upload photos of one days schedule so u can look at the music and or other options to do from the ship. I did not seek out the Lincoln stage music so I can’t comment on it. I also did not see ‘billboard”. I saw bb king group several times…excellent band, very compelling & had the dance floor rocking’. Same thing w/ the rolling stone band…top notch pro musicians…the room was fired up, dance floor full, everyone lovin it. I don’t know if all the music venues were open every night or not.