Nieuw Statendam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We believe that excursions could have been better organized and giving us more "free time" to shop at the different stops. For example in Turkey we stopped at a rugs handwoven place we spent two hours there but at different stop we asked to give us 15 min ... No we do not have time .... but had 2 hours at a rug making place that cost thousands of $$$$$ ... also in Egypt we stopped at a historic library for one and half hours to do what "read history books" way to much time again at different places same answer we DO NOT have time

If you want to see the greek islands and turkey, this is the way to do it. HA parked on the docks on all of our stops except two, the cities were easily accessed from the pier, the people were friendly and we felt safe in all of the ports except Egypt. HA has a video presentation on the TV describing the ports and how to get around and it made it easy for us. The food on the boat far exceeded expectations. The crowd was a little old and quiet for my taste. There wasn't a lot of dances or music events. By 10:00 the boat was quiet and most people went to bed. The TV had a great selection of movies and things to watch. The wifi was typical for a cruise ship (weak). The boat had so many bars that waiting for a drink was rare. The main dining room is set up for tables of 4-8 and they encourage people to sit with others. You could get a table for 2 with a wait. That was new for us. There was not a show every night and the shows were not as spectacular as we were used to, but they were adequate and worth attending. Everything was in English, which is something we don't always see. The elevators were appropriate for the size of the boat and waiting for an elevator was rare. We did get confused on what direction we were walking frequently (even after 4 weeks). Norwegian puts the fish on the carpet to always remind you which way is forward. On HA you have to be at an elevator bay to see which direction is which.

Great cruise--wonderful ports but you need to get out on excursions to see it all! The sea days to port time was great, good relaxing days mixed with day long tours.

If you are recent to cruising, you will think the cruise was great, but being a long time cruiser it’s not what it once was.

Enjoyed the cruise overall. Might have underestimated how cool and rainy it was. The verandah was great, except for most days it was too cool to sit outside.

Had a fantastic time on the ship and in the ports! I highly recommend doing this cruise.

A wonderful experience overall. The staff and crew were very friendly and courteous. I great vacation.

I couldn't see Greenland, which I wanted to see, because Holland America canceled and changed the schedule. According to the letter from Holland American, the weather in Greenland was changed due to ice conditions for the safety of our customers. However, it was 8 degrees Celsius (46.4 F), which is typical summer weather in Greenland, and there was no unexpectedly heavy ice conditions as Holland American said. If we had not sailed to Greenland from the beginning and only went to Iceland, we would have taken a plane to Iceland instead of taking the cruise. That would have been more cost-effective and time-efficient. This time, Holland American should provide grounds for why we couldn't go to Greenland due to technical issues and provide compensation for this. Not only me, but also the other people who were on board said that they had no idea about the schedule change before boarding. In conclusion, I forgot to trust Holland American and my vacation was ruined. I am just glad that I was able to return home safely and in good health.

When we boarded, we were informed that there had been an itinerary change due to unsafe ice conditions in Greenland. Initially, we were very sad about this change because we wanted to see Greenland. We were provided alternate ports, though, including the Faroe Islands. These ports were a wonderful addition to our cruise. We appreciate the captain making the decision to keep us safe and allowing us time at other locations. Some other ships simply had more sea days, but our captain did the work to make sure that we could go to more places.

While having good points, overall our cruise was disappointing and endangered our health. First the good. The staff were awesome, and went out of their way to provide excellent service. Our veranda stateroom was spacious and clean, with an efficient and easy-to-use heating and cooling system. Neutral The food was adequate, though nowhere near the quality and selection of the Holland America cruises we took in 1998 and 1999. While having staff serving food in the Lido buffet looks good on paper, it creates significant bottleneck, in that one has to wait for a server to become available, while one’s food is getting cold, for even for simple things like getting jam or a piece of fruit. While several music venues were great, the main stage entertainment for the most part was mediocre. The Bad First of all, even when we booked online, we could not secure a reserved time for the main dining room. When we were on board, we could not even make dinner reservations on a daily basis for the main dining room. I finally went to guest services and managed to secure a set dining time. Our table mates had the same problem, and knew of multiple cases of other guests being unable to secure a set dining time. Yet in the deck 3 level of dining room there were plenty of empty tables. Obviously Holland America’s reservation system does not work. Limited public spaces relative to the number of passengers, for example the small dance floor was very overcrowded for the line dancing lessons and there would be no place available unless one got there early. Hot tubs also had very limited capacity. Up charges for things that are free on other lines, such as no free lobster night and a limited selection of free beverages. Orange night was not free, requiring guests to purchase a 4-drink set package. Tendering even in deep-water ports and an overly short stay in Liverpool with a 3:30pm all aboard. Poor quality tours sold through Holland America, such as our disorganized whisky and cathedral tour which used an over-crowded standing room only public shuttle, scheduled the whisky tasting first at 10am! As well having the guide abandoning us outside the cathedral, with no guided tour of the interior, and no escort back to the shuttle pickup point. However, the most egregious thing was the Captain failing to inform the guests that there was a COVID outbreak, which resulted in us getting COVID. We found out that many passengers were sick from other passengers and staff, though too late for us to take precautions such as masking in public spaces and tenders. As we caught COVID, this lack of being informed in a timely fashion that there was an outbreak significantly endangered our health and ruined the last four days of our cruise. We had decided to give Holland America one last chance and they failed to deliver, therefor we are unlikely to cruise with them again.

Delta MISREPRESNTED- They indicated GRATITUTIES INCLUDED-- STILL Holland Cruises charged 38 DOLLARS DAILY FOR ' STAFF APPRECIATION"-- I request a refund !!!

The places we went were great, but the ship did not have good activities or any night life (if you're under 65). We did have really rough seas (25' waves) so it was a rough trip.

This was a great cruise, with incredible views of fjords, mountains, waterfalls, and more. We loved the food (except the weak coffee) and especially loved ballroom dancing on the ship.

One of the best cruises ever. Excellent ship, cabin, and itinerary.

The views and scenery of the ports that we visited are magnificent. The ship is very stable, even in a rough sea (just one night between Norway and Scotland.) The ship is relatively new and clean, and is a good size (not so large and not so small) for efficency (of going onshore and coming back) and variety of activities (shows, and etc.)

Nieuw Statendam is truly an amazing experience. It is worth following this ship's itinerary for a superior cruise.

I have been on numerous Holland America cruises and already have 2 more booked for 2025. I love the way you take care of us and the amazing staff I’ve encountered at every level. Your system is efficient, the crew is well trained, and they stay friendly and helpful no matter how hard they’ve worked or how tired they must be. I love the ship design, smaller ship size (but still with stabilizers), great services like acupuncturist for sea sickness and other issues, the spa services, the entertainment, etc.

First trans Atlantic crossing. Met all expectations. Love all the days at sea. We will do another one ( maybe east to west next time ).

My husband and I would cruise again with Holland America's Nieuw Statendam class ships. We were once again pleased all around.

I really enjoyed this cruise and I'm already highly recommending this to my friends and family. Looking forward to my next trip.