The Northern Isles cruise was a great 14 day tour of Nordic country and history in Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Shetland Island and Scotland. The cruise had 5 full days in Iceland, longer than most tours. My husband and I went early to tour Copenhagen/Sweden. Copenhagen has so many wonderful things to see you could easily spend 5 days just in that site alone. We took a fjord cruise and shopped in ...
This cruise had an amazing itinerary--the wonders of the Norwegian fjords, charming little ports, the Arctic with its eerie light, and the fascinating little medieval stave church at Urnes. We loved all the sights, were very lucky with the weather (just missing the weeks and weeks of rain), and enjoyed experiencing Holland America's newest ship.
The Nieuw Statendam is stunning. We thought our ...
I joined this HAL-branded cruise for 2 reasons. Firstly, to sightsee and enjoy the Norwegian Fjords and its culture. I am happy to achieve what I wish for and rated it a 9 out of 10.
Secondly, the HAL experience onboard Nieuw Statendam (prior, I cruised with Zuiderdam, Nieuw Amsterdam and Koningsdam). This is the worst programming/events I encountered. The quality of the World Stage ...
If your primary interest in cruising is to make short visits to a variety of sites without having to unpack or worry about checking in/out, arrange transport between cities, etc. , then the Nieuw Statendam is the ship for you. If you also see cruising to foreign lands as an opportunity to learn through onboard lectures and enjoy yourself, then this is not the ship for you. We did a 14-day cruise ...
We chose this cruise because of where it was going. Have not ocean cruised for over 10 years. The ship is lovely & new. We thought the staff was great. The emphasis was on music and we enjoyed the Lincoln Center stage concerts so very much! The World Stage was a mixed bag for us. The acts varied from classical vocals, to comedy, to dance. For this stage I would have liked to see group scenes, ...
I am a loyal HAL fan, not the most experienced cruiser, but have completed 3 back to back cruises and one re-positioning cruise, covering the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, Western Europe, Baltic countries, Japan to Alaska and most recently from 2 June to 23 June the Norwegian fjords on the Nieuw Statendam.
My purpose in this review is not to deal with every aspect of the cruise on NS, as ...
Our adventure started with our first visit to the city of Amsterdam. We enjoyed a two day sojourn there packed full of things to do and see on both days starting on the afternoon of our arrival with a visit to the Van Gogh Museum. (See the heading below for full details on Amsterdam, though it is not part of the Cruise it really deserves our comments.)
Itinerary
Excellent, learning ...
This was our fourth Holland America cruise and our second HA cruise this year. We last sailed on the Westerdam around Japan which was fantastic. As this was also a vista class ship and we had also been on the Oosterdam we expected similar levels of service. Sadly that wasn't the case.
The embarkation from Copenhagen was managed well as was the disembarkation. We only did the 14 night section of ...
Chose the cruise because of the advertised itinerary. HOWEVER, port times were on the average 3 hours shorter than stated in sales brochures. Four ports were on holiday or Sunday-nothing was open, and experiences were limited. Worst--Cherbourg, France docked on Sunday no rental cars were available all tours had been booked before we purchased the cruise, So my plans to visit the DDay beaches ...
We choice this ship, because we wanted to do the Baltic Cruise and see St. Petersburg and Amsterdam was a good place to start and end since I was born in Amsterdam.
We have done plenty of cruises, but this one was the worst one ever. The electrical outlet in the bathroom was not dual electricity, so I ruined my Waterfloss Pick. We went up the buffet restaurant sat down and I asked one of the ...