My favorite HAL ship

Item: Nieuw Statendam
Rating: 3.9
Author: Chomps

Nieuw Statendam Cruise Review

Chomps

Contributor Level: Second Mate

172 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 105

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

7 Night Southern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 10, 2022

Ship: Nieuw Statendam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8199

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Overall, it was a very nice and relaxing cruise. We loved the updated ship design and aft balcony stateroom. The port calls could have been a bit longer, as we wanted to explore more of Aruba and Curaçao. HAL’s private island is a disappointment if you haven’t booked an excursion, as there is very little to do or see. Still, one of my favorite HAL cruises.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

A bit disorganized, but we all made it aboard!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Complimentary food options were decent. Tamarind was delicious!

24-Hour In-Room Dining

1 out of 5

Ordered room service twice and it arrived incorrect both times. (We didn’t mention it to anyone, as it was a matter of scrambled eggs vs. fried eggs - not a big issue to us) What was annoying was that our room stewards neglected to leave room service order cards for about half of the cruise.

Tamarind

5 out of 5

Excellent service! The food was top notch!

Explorations Cafe

5 out of 5

Friendly staff. We enjoyed it a latte!

Dive In at the Terrace Grill

4 out of 5

Hot dogs & burgers were pretty good. We had lunch here more than once. Being able to order via app is a nice addition!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Lido Pool

5 out of 5

Very relaxing area to spend lunch or catch an evening movie. I love the addition of the upper deck above the pool, which the Eurodam & Westerdam don’t have.

Movies by the Pool Deck

4 out of 5

Movie night was so relaxing that I fell asleep!

Sun Deck

4 out of 5

We enjoyed this area, but the smoke wafting from the large smoking section made us limit our time here. The added upper deck area was nice, but always crowded.

Sea View Pool

4 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

B.B. King's Blues Club

3 out of 5

The band was good, but we prefer the club-like setting of BB Kings, rather than the open area setup this ship has.

World Stage

4 out of 5

Great venue. The show selection is in need of updates.

Rolling Stone Rock Room

4 out of 5

Band was good, but pretending to pull someone out of the audience to join the band was cheesy and didn’t really add anything to the experience.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Wait staff and bar staff were very good. Our room stewards were just okay.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Love the design updates on this ship!

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Loved the large balcony and the bathroom updates

Ship tip

If you enjoy Starbucks style coffee, it is available at the Explorations Cafe. Several passengers weren’t aware of this until several days into the cruise.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

1 out of 5

Totally manufactured. Not enough spaces on any of the excursions. Everything we were interested in was booked well in advance. Tip: Book your excursion for this port of call months in advance! There’s not much to do here otherwise.

Thumbs Up 1

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5

Didn’t do anything here other than a bus transfer from the airport to the cruise terminal.

Thumbs Up 0

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5

We booked a UTV excursion through a 3rd party vendor. Both the excursion and the island were very enjoyable. Aruba is a bit like Tucson, AZ, but with pretty beaches. 😂

Thumbs Up 0

Willemstad, Curacao

5 out of 5

We booked an underwater walking tour through a 3rd party vendor. The excursion was fun and we were able to see a bit of the suburban areas while traveling to/from the tour location.

Thumbs Up 0