This cruise through Holland America was wonderful. We were not disappointed or dissatisfied with anything.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
We flew in a day before our cruise. At checkin we signed up for the shuttle service to the port the next morning. The lines moved quickly and our wait to checkin was not long.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Once again, the food on Nieuw Statendam did not let us down. Dive In was great and provided appetizers during Super Bowl. The Lido Buffet has such an incredible selection, there was something for everyone. We dined in the main dining room for lunch and dinner. Both food and service was wonderful. We also took advantage of the new Club Orange Dining Room. Our host, food and beverage servers were awesome! The menu selection in the Club Orange Dining Room also has more options, which was nice.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Both pools and surrounding areas were wonderful. Very clean and beautiful. My husband attended, by invitation m, a behind the scenes tour which he really enjoyed.
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Outstanding dance company and 2 different comedians on the Main Stage. Billboard Onboard was awesome as usual. BB Kings blues band was very good as well. The band in The Rolling Stones Room was good.
Children's Programs
We didn’t have any children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Tama, our steward on deck 10 was wonderful. The waiters on the Lido deck and in the Club Orange Dining room remembered our names, which was impressive to us. Just an overall great experience.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The ships design wonderful. The casino was one floor above the musical entertainment bars and rooms. A beautiful winding staircase took you from one to the other as well as elevators. The ships decor was just beautiful. Being a new ship, there was no evidence of wear and tear anywhere. Everything was fresh looking. clean and spotless.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Beautiful, spacious, clean with lots of storage and a wonderful bathroom with big, wonderful walk in shower
The port itself is beautiful and clean. Enough to do there with zipline, pools, etc you could just stay there.
We did the Mega Truck Excursion. Our guide Super Mario was great! We went outside the port on dirt roads with big crevasses that winded up the countryside. We saw little hut homes, and communities. An experience to see how locals really live, and poor conditions. We stopped and sampled homemade coffee and hot cocoa from an older woman, which was wonderful and available to purchase. Also saw demonstrations on how they made their own cigars, which were also available for purchase. We stopped to take scenic overview pictures. Also stopped and sampled their homemade rum which locals make for both men and women. We then drove to private beach, Coconut Beach which was beautiful and were provided a Dominican lunch buffet which was wonderful. Chairs and umbrella were included. Bar available for drinks, wonderful frozen banana drinks! Staff played frisbee game with those interested. After about 2 hours we boarded open truck and went back to port. Outstanding excursion
We were met at port by guide for excursion and saw important buildings in San Juan, had 1 hour to do self guilt our of the Fort. We boarded air conditioned bus and drove to Carolina where we stopped to get drink, snack and use restrooms before we headed up mountain to the rainforest. The rainforest was hit hard by hurricane. Most foliage and fauna grows back after 4 months, but due to lack of funding this state park still has camping, hiking trails, restrooms and restaurants above where we drove that are still closed. We drove to a big tower which most climbed to take in the breathtaking views! It’s amazing how clouds do form, it rains, then stops. We drove back to port where we could eat, shop etc before returning to ship that evening.
Wonderful excursion
We did highlights of St Thomas, which took us on open bus up steep hills to highest point of St Thomas. Huge gift shop with great frozen drinks and back balcony for outstanding views of world famous Megens Bay. After time to shop we drove back down to the beach, where we spent 2 hours. Take your towels if you don’t want to pay for chair. There was a very nice restaurant and bar there as well. Take snorkel! We saw several sea turtles and we told day before some saw spotted rays.
Our favorite place! Wonderful lunch provided. Free chairs. Covered shells to cabanas available for rent as well as water floats, boards or paddle boats. We did the tram excursion last year but walked the paths this year instead. We stopped and watched the Stingray Encounter and walked the garden paths. Beautiful private island with lots of beverage stations, bars and shops. Your choice to sit and take in the beautiful turquoise colored water scenery or choose from many excursions.
Things were going smoothly with disembarkation being called by color groups. Lined stopped moving and an announcement was made that the system to scan key cards was having problems and it was running slowly. By our designated color, they were running 45 minutes behind. The lines started moving faster and we were off ship. We got our bags, went right through customs and onto awaiting bus we paid for through the cruise line
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