NIEUW STATENDAM DRY DOCK

[true45]

Hi

Can anyone tell me what has been done in the November 2023 dry dock of NS?

 

We were passengers November 2022 and are sailing March 2024.

 

Thanks.

Linda ⚓️🩴🛟

[wdw1972]

The most significant thing is probably that they removed the staircase going from the casino down to deck 2 between Billboard & Rolling Stone Rock Room.  That means deck 2 doesn't have the stench from the smokers in the casino drifting into that area.  Also, for the gamblers the former staircase is now more floor space with most likely slot machines. 

 

Sue/WDW1972

[seagarsmoker]

The casino was remodeled with more floor space.  All of the card tables are in the middle, surrounded by slot machines. 

In the lido area, they now just have ice machines (which were always empty when we tried getting ice) and no longer have tea or lemonade in those machines were self serve.

We also noticed some of the areas had replaced the carpet since 3/23. 

They removed the adult only signs in the lido pool. 

Overall the ship looked brand new to us.

[true45]

9 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

The most significant thing is probably that they removed the staircase going from the casino down to deck 2 between Billboard & Rolling Stone Rock Room.  That means deck 2 doesn't have the stench from the smokers in the casino drifting into that area.  Also, for the gamblers the former staircase is now more floor space with most likely slot machines. 

 

Sue/WDW1972

Thanks 

Was hoping hoping that plan was done.

Linda

[Haljo1935]

There was actually a lot done - ship was brought fully ADA compliant, so a LOT of changes were made throughout the ship.

The bar at Explorations Central was redone (larger, rectangle w/a lower counter in a part of it).

Family friendly game room built into a revamped Kids Club.

Library installed.

Spa completely redone w/new hydro pool installed. 

Accessible cabins received buttons & eyes to open doors as well as the bathrooms in them.

We were on the last cruise before it went into drydock and the first cruise coming out of drydock so we were able to see the changes.

 

[Jiminny]

7 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

There was actually a lot done - ship was brought fully ADA compliant, so a LOT of changes were made throughout the ship.

The bar at Explorations Central was redone (larger, rectangle w/a lower counter in a part of it).

Family friendly game room built into a revamped Kids Club.

Library installed.

Spa completely redone w/new hydro pool installed. 

Accessible cabins received buttons & eyes to open doors as well as the bathrooms in them.

We were on the last cruise before it went into drydock and the first cruise coming out of drydock so we were able to see the changes.

 

Hi there, we met you on last cruise before dry dock (Adriatic Dream), so thanks for the update!  We'll be on this ship again in March out of Fort Lauderdale.  Ginny&Jim

[Jiminny]

8 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

There was actually a lot done - ship was brought fully ADA compliant, so a LOT of changes were made throughout the ship.

The bar at Explorations Central was redone (larger, rectangle w/a lower counter in a part of it).

Family friendly game room built into a revamped Kids Club.

Library installed.

Spa completely redone w/new hydro pool installed. 

Accessible cabins received buttons & eyes to open doors as well as the bathrooms in them.

We were on the last cruise before it went into drydock and the first cruise coming out of drydock so we were able to see the changes.

 

Glad to hear about library, missed having one onboard in October.

[Haljo1935]

27 minutes ago, Jiminny said:

Glad to hear about library, missed having one onboard in October.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to use it as the doors were locked and they didn't get it stocked until the following cruise, but it's open and ready for you to enjoy!

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, Jiminny said:

Hi there, we met you on last cruise before dry dock (Adriatic Dream), so thanks for the update!  We'll be on this ship again in March out of Fort Lauderdale.  Ginny&Jim

Yes!! The ship looks good - you are lucky to be back on her. I hope you have as good excursions as we had with you. 

[Jiminny]

14 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Yes!! The ship looks good - you are lucky to be back on her. I hope you have as good excursions as we had with you. 

Will most likely just do beach days as we have been to most Caribbean ports many times.  Tried to get to Ocho Rios several times but always have to reroute!

[leerathje]

11 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

There was actually a lot done - ship was brought fully ADA compliant, so a LOT of changes were made throughout the ship.

The bar at Explorations Central was redone (larger, rectangle w/a lower counter in a part of it).

Family friendly game room built into a revamped Kids Club.

Library installed.

Spa completely redone w/new hydro pool installed. 

Accessible cabins received buttons & eyes to open doors as well as the bathrooms in them.

We were on the last cruise before it went into drydock and the first cruise coming out of drydock so we were able to see the changes.

 

 

"Accessible cabins received buttons & eyes to open doors as well as the bathrooms in them."

 

Oh Thank God!  In February, my DF was going through the door with his scooter and scraped his arm on the door jamb and was bleeding quite badly because they were not automatic doors.  That was one of my comments in my post-cruise survey.  Glad to see they are taking care of that.

[Moriah]

Oh, I'm so happy about the library!  Rotterdam is the only Pinnacle ship I've sailed on and I have back to back cruises on N.S. coming up next month, and had assumed there would be a library... found out that N.S. didn't have one, and now this thread saying N.S. has just come out of drydock with a library!  Doing the happy dance!  I assume it is in the same location as on Rotterdam?

😀

[winky12]

New booking today, Ron & Helen formally from Virginia Beach, now Williamsburg, VA. Excited to learn we are going, thought the ship was full. Ready to plan hotel for the 16th, have air booked, any ideas from anyone would be welcome. We have done the itinerary in the past but it will be nice to get warm again. Helen 

[cruisn71]

Was the Notes whisky bar by Billboard Onboard removed?  I had heard that was also going to be going away.

[POA1]

1 hour ago, cruisn71 said:

Was the Notes whisky bar by Billboard Onboard removed?  I had heard that was also going to be going away.

Still there, but not nearly as nice as the one on the Rotterdam. They held both whiskey and wine tastings there in December.

[cruisn71]

12 hours ago, POA1 said:

Still there, but not nearly as nice as the one on the Rotterdam. They held both whiskey and wine tastings there in December.

I was talking to the Beverage Manager on our last cruise and he had said the concept was great, but the execution was lacking and the space wasn't utilized well so they were going to change it up.

[ajgobucks]

Thrilled to hear that they added a library while in dry dock.  The one on the Konigsdam was my happy place and such a unique feature.  Now if we can just convince HAL to bring back Lincoln Center Stage performances or at least some acoustic music option...

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

On 1/17/2024 at 10:29 PM, POA1 said:

Still there, but not nearly as nice as the one on the Rotterdam. They held both whiskey and wine tastings there in December.

Did they add more chairs in Billboard?

[POA1]

1 hour ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Did they add more chairs in Billboard?

I don't know, as we weren't on prior to drydock. We never had trouble getting a seat.

[Ready2go11]

Below is a pic from a presentation the Cruise and Travel Director Betty Ann did while we were on the NS the week of Jan 7th regarding the dry dock. I did not take a photo bit she showed the hull before and after dry dock. What a dramatic transformation that was. She stated the hull was especially mucked up because the boat sat for so long during the pandemic in warm waters. 
 

She painted a picture of the dry dock experience, noting about 800 of the 960 crew remained on board during dry dock. While it was happening, every floor, piece of furniture, chandeliers etc were covered in plastic.  There were intermittent electric and water shut offs to accomplish the work, which made it very challenging to feed the crew and workers. Basically, it was like being in a 24 hour construction zone so sleeping was challenging too. 
 

In her talk, Betty Ann also clarified that her job is managing cruise itineraries like port info, shopping, etc and not to be a comedian.  It is the entertainment host’s job to do trivia, game shows and all the “fun” stuff. I had never heard it explained quote that clearly. 
 

She also commented that they were phasing out live port talks and instead would substitute stateroom videos to provide destination info so people could watch anytime. 
 

Finally, she again confirmed the message that classical music would be brought back on board by contracted musicians, rather than via the expired partnership with Lincoln Center Stage. 

[POA1]

Thank you for that info!

[cruisemom42]

3 hours ago, Ready2go11 said:

Finally, she again confirmed the message that classical music would be brought back on board by contracted musicians, rather than via the expired partnership with Lincoln Center Stage. 

 

I sincerely hope the contracted musicians -- whenever they finally appear -- are vetted carefully. 

 

While I really enjoy the classical quartet on Oceania (which plays during tea and usually for 3 sets each evening), their quality is far below what I was experiencing with the LCS musicians on HAL previously.  

 

I also remember the previous "incarnation" of a classical music group on HAL being quite variable in quality.... 

 

[So Cal]

On 1/6/2024 at 1:15 AM, Haljo1935 said:

There was actually a lot done - ship was brought fully ADA compliant, so a LOT of changes were made throughout the ship.

The bar at Explorations Central was redone (larger, rectangle w/a lower counter in a part of it).

Family friendly game room built into a revamped Kids Club.

Library installed.

Spa completely redone w/new hydro pool installed. 

Accessible cabins received buttons & eyes to open doors as well as the bathrooms in them.

We were on the last cruise before it went into drydock and the first cruise coming out of drydock so we were able to see the changes.

 

Thanks, good info.

[Zeno]

Really happy to hear about the classical music returning. My husband and I enjoyed it a lot on our last HAL cruise and were disappointed to hear that it had gone away.