Review (random thoughts) of Statendam-too long

[garydm]

We returned today from 10 days on Statendam, combining a RT Vancouver 7 day cruise with a 3 day Pacific Coast cruise which was proceeding on to Auckland. This was our 7th or 8th HAL cruise in the last 3 years, and our most recent 3 cruises have all been on Crystal, so I will note some comparisons where appropriate.

 

Arrival: We flew into Vancouver and Alaska Air lost our bags in Seattle where we connected. HAL ground staff could not have been more helpful in locating our bags and getting to the ship for us, even tho we did not have HAL transfers. They were great and the bags arrived just prior to departure. After boarding, there was no one to take us to our cabin so we walked up to the Neptune and Christine, the concierge, said she thought our cabin was ready and it was. Didi, our steward, happened by and greeted us by name. They both did a nice job for the seven days we were with them. The last 3 days we were one deck down in a B Verandah with Joe Ko as our steward and he was excellent and greeted us by name from day one. Rarely, if ever, did a crew person greet us by name on Crystal.

 

Cabin: Both cabins were nice but could use some fine tuning. Parts were missing, such as the "thing" that keeps the bathroom door open and a switchplate cover for a light. There were also alot of loose screws (not the passengers) that needed attention on hinges, etc. Decor was fine, but overall condition award would go to Crystal. We were in 002 for first part and it was very quiet. In 155, there was a tone noise that would go off for about 8 seconds every 5-7 minutes and the go away for a couple hours only to be back again. No idea what it was.

 

Ship Mechanical: This is a very nice riding ship with very little vibration. We have noticed real vibration problems on both Crystal Harmony and Symphony and noticed none on Statendam. There were no apparent plumbing issues, no obnoxious odors, or anything like that. Everything seemed to work except the bathroom near Explorations that was closed for the entire time. I think I noted on CC several months ago someone posting that it was closed then too. Nod to HAL for a nice operating ship.

 

Food/Dining: This was our 4th cruise and probably our 50th or so day on Statendam and I have always raved about their food both here and on the Crystal board. No more. It ranged form very good to not edible. Specific menu items to avoid include: lingcod, with the consistency of rubber, Osso Bucco, which tasted like meat boiled in lightly salted water, and Lamb Shank, which was served rare. Among the better items were the grouper served in the Lido, the rack of lamb (although the servings are quite petite), and the sirloin steak. As noted on this board, the quantity of food served has been cut and that was fine-I just ordered something from each category and that worked. It was very disappointing to see the quality in such a decline. Our waiters in the dining room were wonderful and did a very nice job, outclassing the food. We had an embarassing situation occur thanks to the dining room manager, K.A. We wanted to change tables after the first 7 days and sit with someone new. We had asked Christine to contact the dining room and arrange this. She contacted them and the "dining room manager" called me and said it was taken care of. Apparently it was the assistant dining room manager who called me. In any event, one evening the manager comes to our table with a clipboard and shouts out our name and that of another couple and demanded to know if we wanted to continue to sit together. To try and avoid embarassment I quietly advised him that our table arrangements had been seen to by Christine. He upbraided me by saying that she had nothing to do with his dining room and did we want to sit together or not-he just did not get it. My wife finally said, the table was fine. On the way out, I spoke with the assistant manager and he made the table change for us. Something like this would not occur on Crystal. The other tacky thing about the dining room is the sale of wine tasting tickets at your table. This was like having dinner at a nice place in Mexico but have a time share salesman come to your table and market his wares. They were trying to sell $35 tickets to wine tastings the next day of "premium wines" that were not premium wines. Wine on HAL is about 30% more expensive than on Crystal and of lesser quality. The whole dining and wine thing award goes to Crystal not only for quality, but value.

 

Attire: On casual nights, jeans and T-shirts were all over the dining room. On formal night, a man at our table appeared dressed in a collared shirt (no tie) and windbreaker and they let him in with no question. HAL-either enforce the dress code or eliminate it. Nod to Crystal as they do enforce the dress code.

 

Music Noise: I don't understand the necessity for loud music. I was in the gym one morning on the treadmill listening to my I-Pod when the female fitness person came in and turned on some very loud music. It was not for a class or anything and the other 3 people in the gym all had headphones on listening to TV or I-Pods. The music was so loud, you could not hear what was coming from your headphones. I went over and asked her if there was a time when one could exercise without the loud music and she simply said "no". I went out and walked the Promenade Deck. In the Explorer Lounge one afternoon, we went in to read and found the music so loud it was impossible. The crowning event however is the noon time "music" at the Lido Pool. We have enjoyed this on other cruises, but these guys were determined to make it as loud as they could. The keyboard player, who I think is the musical director, pounded away at some tunes that no one had ever heard and so loudly that my teeth hurt. We went inside and had lunch and avoided the area at lunch time.

 

Front Office/Back Office: We received our statement for the first seven days and I asked my wife what she had found nice for $395 in the jewelry shop. She had purchased nothing. I went to the front desk, asked to see the receipt and noted that the signature was not mine with which they agreed and took it off the statement. On the second statement, we had what turned out to be someone's bar tab charged to our account. Once again, a visit to the front desk and it was reversed. Check those statements!

 

They had a nice briefing for in transit passengers and advised us that we had to go ashore and check in with U.S. Immigration in the terminal in Vancouver and told us both orally and in writing to bring either a photo ID or your passport. We went ashore and checked in only to be denied reboarding by the US Immigration staff. We explained our passports were on the ship, and he finally agreed to let me go onboard and retrieve our passports but that he would hold my wife there until I returned. I told the Guest Relations person what had happened based on the information she had provided and she did not seem to care and said that things were always changing. I sent a note to the hotel manager but received no response. This was awkward and a pain and completely avoidable had they simply told us to bring our passport.

 

Internet Service: Either no connection or slower than molasses. Painful. The manager was nice guy tho.

 

I didn't mean for these comments to sound so negative. Many things were done right each day. The staff in the dining room and those serving the cabins were wonderful. We had a nice time, but I am no longer recommending HAL and specifically Statendam to friends. Will we sail on HAL again sometime-probably, given a nearby departure port. But, we have been able to sail Crystal and Silversea at prices comparable to HAL, and you can too if you search for specials they both run.

 

Gary

[hammybee]

garydm,

Thank you for making the time to share your balanced observations with us. I am sorry that your cruise did not live up to your expectations.

 

I am curious about your final comment on pricing and will check this out.

[Tinknock50]

Thanks for the honest review.

 

I am going to check out that pricing too.....

[Tinknock50]

Gary,

How do I see those specials you are refering to?

[hammybee]

May I buy a vowel, please.

[Copper10-8]

May I buy a vowel, please.

 

Yes, you may! How 'bout an “A” for astronomy, aviation and anthropology for $5?;)

Thanks for an honest review, Gary! Sorry about the mishaps! :(

[kakalina]

Sorry to hear this about the Statendam. She has always been our favorite ship it is a shame to hear that she is no longer the grand lady we remember. We haven't been on her in several years. Maybe we will take a look at Crystal also.

[fann1sh]

...do you sail? Are the Crystal balcony cabins comparable to HAL suites? Please, tell us more!

[garydm]

Sean-Silversea often has 50% off sales. Is it prime time for some locales-no. But, we were able to get a great price on a Mexico cruise in late September with them. And remember, Silversea is all inclusive, including wine, drinks and gratuities. On our 3 Crystal cruises, my recollection is we paid around $220 per day per person for the first one (outside, mildly obstructed view), $320 per day for a verandah cabin, and $140 per day for another verandah cabin. The latter was so inexpensive because if you took the one at $320 per day, and then cruised again that year, you got about an additional 30% off and it was a bargain to start with. And, on Crystal you don't pay for the coffees my wife likes, soft drinks, bottled water, or specialty restaurants. We were also fortunate enough to spend 13 days on The World by Residensea 3 years ago at only $175 per person per day. Again, all inclusive. I think they now run more than $1,000 per day for the cabin but at that time I believe they were trying to generate interest in purchasing the cabins.

 

Crystal is down to two ships, having pulled Harmony to serve the market in Japan under the parent company. There is therefore more limited availability to sail from US ports which we like to do. HAL could have stepped up their product and made some inroads into this niche, but it seems they opted not to. Must be working for them as the ships seem to always sail fully occupied.

 

Gary

[garydm]

Fan-The Verandah "suites" on Crystal are similar to the Verandah "suites" on Holland America, but a little smaller. Tough to beat the Deluxe Verandahs on HAL for size and comfort including that huge balcony. They are very nice.

 

Gary

[amusea]

The choice of music over speakers as well as the volume of that music in many ways determines the atmosphere of a ship. Since it costs nothing to oversee this properly, I am confounded to understand why HAL and many other lines do nothing to supervise this element, especially considering the age demographic on most HAL ships.

I have never found the food on Crystal to be on an exalted level so your comparison to Statendam is not good news to my ears.

[garydm]

Amusea-I had the same experience and have often stated (including on these boards) that the food on Statendam was on par with Crystal. This was not our experience on this cruise.

 

Gary

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your wonderful review.

 

WE were on the Statendam in June -- when we got home and our final bill appeared on our AMEX Statement -- we too had extra charges which were not on there when we left the left with our final bill - took a month to get thhat cleared up.

 

We weren't pestered by anyone at dinner trying trying to sell tickets to the Premium Wine Tasting -- guess they knew we didn't drink a lot of wine as we never ordered any. So now the price has gone up to $35??? It was $28 on our cruise.

 

They must have someone new in the gym. DH would be the first to tell me if anything were too loud there -- first week they were allowed to use the headphones on the treadmills, but because the ship was in Code Red the second week -- no headphones -- had to listen to the TV.

 

Thanks again for your review.

[Sea King]

very straight forward and unbiased review IMO

 

can't agree with you more about "loud" anything

 

IMHO you were very nice in the gym .. had someone spoken to me like they did to you, I would be at the desk of the GRM or HM recommending that person receive an immediate lesson in "courtesy 101" .. I'd also make sure there were some very definite bold letter comments in my survey

 

haven't been on the Statendam in a "while" .. as I'm sure you know, the is the oldest sister of the S class and is probably in need of a tune-up or 2

 

as for trying Crystal or Silversea, a "lukewarm" maybe from this voter:)

 

each cruise line has its strong points .. don't believe though that the service or friendliness of the HAL crew can be outmatched:D

[happy cruzer]

On to the soapbox, as I have stated previously, I own a small business. Regarding music and thermostats, we kept it simple.

 

The temperature will be 72 degress for our clients comfort period. There are two thermostats, both are off a little in the setting matching what the temp actually is, there is a thermometer right by the thermostat to read the actual temp. Occasionally when a door has been closed too long in a small area the thermostat must the adjusted for a brief period. The adjuster is responsible to resetting the thermostat. That's it.

 

The music volume control is never touched. the player is turned off and on, only.

 

If a manager explains and enforces the policies, the employees will comply or find a new work environment either voluntarily or involuntarily. there is no flexiblity when it comes to customer comfort.

 

Off soapbox, HAL and any service business needs to standardize their rules and enforce them. they will not please all the people all the time but they won't whipsaw around and end up pleasing nobody.

[hammybee]

 

Off soapbox, HAL and any service business needs to standardize their rules and enforce them. they will not please all the people all the time but they won't whipsaw around and end up pleasing nobody.

 

Similar song being played out on another thread. You are right. It really comes down to the policy and regardless of what it is, it is going to make some passengers unhappy.

 

Regardless of cruise line, it often seems that much is left to the discretion of the crew onboard at a given moment in time. I always thought that most cruise lines preferred to leave things to the judgement of the management of the ship to avoid the Mc Donaldizing effect. Temps and noise are always hot buttons which is why most businesses have a policy and know they can't please everyone.

[Lefty Bob]

This reminds me of the time several of my friends and I went to a mid level chain resturant. It was lunch. The music was so loud we could hardly talk. We asked the waiter if he could turn down the music. He said he would ask the bartender since the control is at the bar.

 

He came back and said that the waiters liked it that way. The place closed after only 5 months.

 

LB

[kryos]

He came back and said that the waiters liked it that way. The place closed after only 5 months.

LOL ... and I'll bet those waiters are making do with their music these days at a much softer volume. Doubt their next employer cared very much about how *they* like *their* music. It's the customer ... i.e., the person paying the bills ... that counts.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[starysacz]

Thank you for the report. It has been several years since we have been on the Statendam and the service was excellent,etc., on several cruises. Will watch out for the extra charges appearing on our bill. Scheduled for the Noordam in Feb. 07 and it will be our second cruise on the ship. A fine ship.

[alsas]

My wife and I were on the Statendam for 32 days from april to may and the food was fantastic.Who was the Head chef ? can't wait to hear your response. I know if you say it it is so, but I would be unfair to the kitchen not to give them my support. Happy sailing Alsas

[haras]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

[garydm]

The executive chef was Franz Shaunig and the culinary operations manager was Jason Hale.

 

Gary

[Juanita462]

Your experience parallels ours when on the Statendam. First time there was a strong sewer smell all through the ship for 11 of the 17 day cruise. They kept telling us that they didn't know what it was and were doing their best to fix things. Found out a couple of years later from a staff member that they knew all along what was causing the smell and were lying to the pax. Noro on that cruise.

 

Second and third were back to back cruises and the food was just as you describe it. My husband could not get a steak that was cooked as he liked it or that tasted good. One table mate said it was like eating a piece of cardboard. This was their first - and last - cruise with HAL. There was rotten food served, black areas in the baked potatoes, spoiled fish etc. etc. The service was not good as there wasn't enough staff and those poor men were run off their feet. There was Noro for a long time on both cruises.

 

We also had loud music in the Explorer lounge - I always asked a staff member to turn it off - or at least down, and they usually complied. At the evening entertainment I asked the man controlling the sound if they ever measured the decibals of the music and he said "no" I told him they should as they could be destroying people's hearing. It was the loudest music of any cruise we have been on.

 

We also had extra charges on our Visa after getting home.

 

My husband is adamant that we will never sail on the Statendam again no matter how enticing the itinerary.

[RJBC]

Hi Alsas, Sounds like you were on the Asia back to Vancouver cruise. My wife and I have it booked for next April/May. Haven't read a lot about it. Would like to know more. We are always most pleased with HAL and had a 55 day cruise on the Volendam last spring that was magnificent. Is the Statendam going to be a disappointment??