What an amazing cruise on Holland America’s Nieuw Statendam. This has been the best cruise experience so far.

Guests were very well traveled. World Cruises, Segments Voyages, Antarctica and other interesting destinations. Even though clients were very loyal HAL clients (there were 1,500 Mariners on board) they have also sailed on Celebrity, Azamara, Seabourn and Regent Seven Seas. The majority of the guests, about 1,500, came from the US, followed by Holland, Belgium, Germany, Canada and Australia. Every announcement was in English and Dutch.

And yes, there were wheelchairs and scooters and many guests with walkers but they were active in their own way - always out in the ports and a gentleman was even dancing on the dance floor.

Staff wore nice uniforms with name tags depicting different flags but these didn’t mean where they came from but what additional languages they spoke. We were always addressed by name even if a staff member only met us once before. Never did that happen before.

The average age on this cruise was 62. In the Caribbean it tends to be a bit younger with an average age of 52. There were 60 kids onboard but on the next itinerary they were expecting 300. These numbers come from the Hotel Manager.

There were three Gala nights and I already noticed on my Alaska Fam Trip last year that guests were not dressed in gowns or tuxedos but still looked very nice with a jacket or dress/skirt.

To me this was the most beautiful ship I have ever been on. Others argued that the Celebrity Silhouette is the most beautiful ship. Good thing we all have different opinions.

The longest cruise I had taken before this one had been an 11-day cruise on the Celebrity Millennium and I knew I could continue on. This was a 14-day cruise and I could have spend more days on this cruise.

There was something about it. My friend and I felt we came home to visit family.

The guests were so friendly, the staff was absolutely AMAZING and things happened that I have never ever experienced on any other cruise line. For example, we had Hyperion Knight, a renowned concert pianist on board. All of a sudden he just played piano in one of the lounges where I was enjoying a drink and starts talking to everyone. Hyperion starts playing a Les Miserables song and the singer from Runaround Kids walks by and starts singing. In another performance by The Runaround Kids, they asked the singer from the Rolling Stone Room to join them on stage. The Lincoln Stage Performers - all five of them (two from Toronto and one from Victoria) the Runaround Kids, Hyperion, the comedian Mike Palmer attended each other’s performances - it was just such a camaraderie between them. Just great.

The next innovation coming to HAL will most likely be the transformation to Medallion/class ships.

I don’t need any more belly flop or hairy chest competitions so for me the Entertainment was fantastic! If you have music lovers this is the ship from B.B. King’s Blues Club to Lincoln Center Stage, Billboard and Rolling Stone Rock Room and musical performances at the World Stage Theatre with no bad seats - there were no posts in anyone’s view. Hologram technology was used in some performances - just cool.

The Enrichment was also amazing from Microsoft classes to port talks and talks about the country. It was so refreshing not to hear about what shore excursions to buy or what jewelry store to go to.

On deck 12 is Exploration Central with interactive maps and ship information, screens about the location of the ship inc.l longitude and latitude, engine power and speed used. Here one could also find puzzles, atlases, etc. This venue was always busy.

From an environmental standpoint I was also happy to learn that the Nieuw Statendam is plugging into the grid of the town/city whenever they can. Other cruise lines have also the ability but won’t use it because it’s cheaper to burn fuel.

My friend and I had Open Seating and mostly shared a table with other guests. Food was great and tuna was cooked to perfection with just a sear on the outside.

Lido Market on deck 9 was good even though it served the same items every day - the omelettes and crepes were cooked to order. What I really liked was that most items were served and not self service. The Dive In on the outside offered delicious burgers and hot dogs and were freshly prepared. One received a beeper to be alerted once the order was ready. There were also three bars set up in the Lido Market.
On the opposite site was a self-serve station for draught beer. Also soft serve and scoops of ice-cream in sugar cones were available on the Lido deck and at a cost on deck 10 - more flavours were offered there.

Specialty Restaurants I checked out:
Lunch at Pinnacle Grill $15.00 USD per person/ steak over done but otherwise great

Indonesian Rijstafel at Tamarind $30.00 USD per person - pop up restaurant featuring Indonesian cuisine and the Indonesian waitresses wear their beautiful Indonesian handmade kebayas. Food was delicious!

Rudi’s Sel de Mer - I went by myself and spent about $31.00 USD for smoked salmon with blinis, and excellent Bouillabaisse and dessert.

De Librije, The Pinnacle Grill hosts pop-up De Librije dinners from time to time. It's inspired by the land-based De Librije, a Dutch restaurant with three Michelin stars that's regularly listed as one of the best restaurants in the world. For $49.00 USD per person plus $20 USD for complementing wines. This was out of this world- very creative menu!

Afternoon tea served at 3:00 pm every afternoon, free of charge. What a delight!

The Grand Dutch Cafe, sums up this Holland America ship, with a menu inspired by the brand's Dutch heritage. The space is gorgeous on Nieuw Statendam; navy blues trimmed with white, mirrors that reflect various angles and quaint tables accompanied by an adjacent seating area with natural light and counter/ tops that contain miniature Dutch villages framed in glass. Beers and coffees, and Dutch specialties are offered here.

Blend - create your own wine, thought about doing it but didn’t want to spent $47.00 USD on this one

Negative Points:
1. Holland America is known for its wrap-around teak Promenade Decks and on the Nieuw Amsterdam they were really wide. Here the Promenade was narrow at some points you had to go single file and the view was blocked by life boats for the majority.
2. The lowest priced glass of wine in any of the bars/lounges and dining room was $9.00 USD yet in any of the specialty dining rooms nothing under $18.00 USD was available.

I was hosting this cruise by Ensemble Travel Group and we were guaranteed an Oceanview - Category D cabin. A few days before we were “upgraded” to a FA- Family Oceanview. Unfortunately, as a host I wasn't allowed to pay for an upgrade or I would have booked a balcony. On this itinerary, you absolutely need a balcony to appreciate the scenery.

Once again, it shows that an “upgrade” is not necessarily an upgrade; location wise we were now located on deck 1, with the galley above us and we were in the fifth cabin from the back. The upgrade was in the bigger cabin size and that we had two bathrooms and lots of closet space that we appreciated. Also, the Entertainers were all around us and we talked to them many times.

Ports of call were awesome. This Ensemble Hosted cruise was only confirmed a few weeks prior to the cruise so the shore excursions to choose from was very limited.

You can read more about the individual ports under Sightseeing.

Eidfjord - booked a HAL excursion “Ultimate Eidfjord, and Norwegian Lunch in Partnership with Food & Wine Magazine.”

Bergen - belonged to the Hanseatic League and.we walked around the old Bryggen Warehouses, we skipped the Fløibanen Funicular and walked up Fløyen Mountain for a nice view over the city

Ålesund - cute little town at the entrance to Geiranger Fjord known for its Jugendstil buildings.

Trondheim - we walked to the Gothic Nidaros Cathedral features and up to the Kristiansen Fortress

Honningsvåg - Ensemble Experience we went to a little village called Kamøyvær were we visited and Art Studio, we then continued on to the world most northern fishing village in Skarsvåg where we learned about King Crabs followed by a King Crab luncheon.

Hellesylt - a small village located at the head of the Sunnylvsfjorden, which is a branch of the Storfjorden. A pretty waterfall is located in the middle of the village.

Flåm -Most people here booked the Flåmsbana, voted as one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. My friend and I however hiked up to the Brekkevossen waterfall. It was not an easy hike with really steep sections.

Haugesund - Capital of the Vikings and an important trade city. We walked around and I bought my last souvenirs from Reindeer Sausage to Cloudberry Jam and of course hats, etc.

Amsterdam- booked Edam and Windmills with Airport drop off $80.00 USD

Can't wait to book my next Holland America cruise.