Aboard Statendam Today

[Bellair]

Happy Chriostmas from the Statendam currently in Melbourne Australia.

After a rough night at sea we arrived late at 9am. The Captain introduced himself & his crew last night for the first sitting (us) but at the 2nd sitting 10pm everyone waited for 30 mins & they were told that due to the rough weather, he had to remain on the bridge.

 

Two Great days in Sydney.

 

The decorations are all up and many Christmas trees are at various locations.

 

The meals are wonderful although HAL have cut back on courses with now 3 in place. Sadly when you go to the explorations cafe they do not have little touches like cinnamon sticks for your coffee anymore.

 

Railing have been removed from the Veranda deck for around a week not as they are still doing maintenance on the supports. I would have thought that all this & the carpet rolls stowed on thw Lower Prom would have been taken care of during the 2 week dry dock in Brisbane.

 

Overall it is a fairly full ship & I can see that a lot of new carpet has been fitted. Thet staff are wonderful as usual & we are all looking forward to a great Christmas & New Year on board.

 

Regards

 

Noel & Pat

[onthegogirl]

Noel,

 

When we board on March 1, I'm sure all the carpet will be laid, the railings installed and hoping the seas will moderate. Maybe I'll bring my own cinnamon sticks. :D Enjoy your cruise.

 

Carole

[GarrieLynn]

Hi

How fun to have someone actually on board on the trip we will be taking on Feb. 16. We all await your further adventures.

GarrieLynn

[ZSandy25]

Happy New Year,

Thank's for taking the time from you holiday to report in, like GarrieLynn we will be boarding on 2/16. We are booked on the Verandah Deck, when you say the railing has been removed does that mean we will not be able to use the verandah?

I know they need to do maintance but thought this type of repair would be done in drydock....I have visions of workers outside our cabin on the verandah, might as well welcome them in for coffee....:):)

Hopefully things will be in good order when we arrive,,,,keep us informed and have a wonderful cruise.

We were on the Oosterdam last New Years Eve, lots of fun and festivities. Real quiet on deck the next day...

Sandy

[Bellair]

Hi,

 

Just arrived home from Auckland after a wonderful 18 night trip...Yesterday we were in the Bay of Islands & complimentary shuttle busses laid on as with most ports.

 

The rail is now on the Veranda deck but missing on most of the right top deck so be careful.

 

The Chef's gala dinner last night where all the staff & entertainers do their dance 7 song & every passenger has their own Chef's hat was just a great finish.

 

A new entertainment team joined the ship today in Auckland.

 

All of the shows were great as were the meals.

 

The Lido now has full tablecloth service at evening meals as there have been a few hiccups with Freestyle dining as they settle into this.

 

We had the 5:45pm confirmed seating which suited us.

 

I will post an edited video highlight of the trip in the next few weeks on youtube.

 

See the video of the Syd Hong Kong trip here:

 

Statendam SE ASia cruise video 2007

 

The disembarkation in Auckland this morning was the best & smoothest I have ever seen.

 

Yawn...time for bed as it is late here in Melb & it's been a long day...

 

Regards

 

Noel

[model lady]

Hi,

 

Just arrived home from Auckland after a wonderful 18 night trip...Yesterday we were in the Bay of Islands & complimentary shuttle busses laid on as with most ports.

 

The rail is now on the Veranda deck but missing on most of the right top deck so be careful.

 

The Chef's gala dinner last night where all the staff & entertainers do their dance 7 song & every passenger has their own Chef's hat was just a great finish.

 

A new entertainment team joined the ship today in Auckland.

 

All of the shows were great as were the meals.

 

The Lido now has full tablecloth service at evening meals as there have been a few hiccups with Freestyle dining as they settle into this.

 

We had the 5:45pm confirmed seating which suited us.

 

I will post an edited video highlight of the trip in the next few weeks on youtube.

 

See the video of the Syd Hong Kong trip here:

 

Statendam SE ASia cruise video 2007

 

The disembarkation in Auckland this morning was the best & smoothest I have ever seen.

 

Yawn...time for bed as it is late here in Melb & it's been a long day...

 

Regards

 

Noel

 

Hello Noel,

 

Never saw you aboard and very few came to our Crows Nest gatherings.

 

Cruise was great - as you like dining, not so good for solo travellers - disembarkation was smooth and off by 9.30 a but rooms not ready in Hilton Hotel - oppsite gangway - until after 3pm and 4.45 pm for friends.

A long day, being followed by another - been here at Auckland airport for 3 hours waiting for delayed Qantas flight, after getting out of comfy bed at 5am.

 

Ports on this cruise were also interesting and enjoyed all HAL tours.

[ZSandy25]

Thanks for your input, I sent a direct e-mail to HAL concerning the missing rails etc. They promptly responded that there were no reported problems on the Statendam and I should check out my sources. They said I could send them the source, which I pasted to an e-mail to them. I have not heard from them since. They were very polite with their response to me with assurances of a great cruise etc.

 

We have sailed with HAL many time and love having a verandah, but don't know how safe I would have felt without a railing. Glad to hear they are up, we sail 2/16 so maybe all will be "ship-shape" by then.

 

Glad you all enjoyed your holiday, we are getting excited as time draws near.

 

Sandy

[Bellair]

Hi Sandy,

 

Sorry I mis-led you as I meant the Veranda deck area at the rear of the ship, this is where the rail was being serviced & now all fixed.

 

But not the veranda cabins!

 

Regards

 

NB

[ZSandy25]

NB,

Thanks for clearing that up for me,

Sandy

[GarrieLynn]

Hello Bellair,

I just watched you video again which was again great fun.

I was not aware that the Bay of Islands was a stop. I had thought we just cruised. What did you see?

On one trip you stopped in Hong Kong. What pier do they use?

Thanks for your postings.

Garrie Lynn

[Bellair]

G'day,

 

Yes the stop at the Bay Of Islands is only 2 in the whole cruise season I believe. This was an 18 night Brisbane to Auckland with 2 full days in Sydney & the last day in the Bay of Islands with tenders used to ferry all ashore on a continual basis with free shuttle buses into the local town. Many dolphins in the area...just great!

 

The next cruise we are on is the final for the season & departs from Auckland to Taurunga & Bay Of Islands before heading to Osaka 25 nts.

 

The pier in Honkers is the main cruise port (Ocean Terminal) on Kowloon. It's not so bad getting off & grabbing a taxi (make sure you don't get ripped off) but I believe is a bit of a bun fight boarding there as some have had to wait for hours before boarding as I heard last March.

 

Regards

 

NB