Statendam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Holland America Cruise Lines goes to wonderful places. However you might not want to travel with them. There are virtually NO activities aboard the ship except for their “lectures” which are mostly just stuff off the internet (from the tour director that gets some of the info wrong) or sales pitches for their various services or lectures on where to shop (given by someone paid for by the shops). As such there is nothing to do on sea days or after/before the ship comes into port. Also the majority of the people on-board are VERY senior citizens in fact the entertainer at the Red Dog Saloon in Juneau nailed it when he stated the average age is deceased. There are no opportunities for young people at all - no games/activities of any type. The DVD players in the room are ancient and work about half the time and In between every movie on the 4 movie channels is sales pitches for their products. They do have digital workshops but I did not go on a cruise to learn about how to use my computer which I already know more about than they do.
There is only one electrical outlet in the room so you can only charge one device at a time (yes one – not even a double one). The Lido deck has great food. They however have very strict hours which do NOT match the tours, so you may have to leave on a tour without breakfast or miss lunch/dinner when you return because they just closed the Lido buffet just prior to the tour returning the ship. You can get cell service at sea for a charge of 7 dollars a minute and they charge to use the internet (an outrageous price).
They clearly have the internet as they need it to communicate and navigate, but they will not allow you to use it without charging you a large fee. They charge for all the sodas/water in the room, but don’t tell you that. You have to read their on-board manual to discover that you are being charged for the drinks. Also if you buy a soda card, it only gets you sodas in a glass – no cans of soda. Again, they don’t tell you that – you find out from the beverage person when you go to get your first soda.
Cabin Review
Large Ocean-View Stateroom
Cabin was acceptable except for the fact that there was only one (not even a double) outlet in the entire stateroom. One plug so if you have two, three or four devices to charge, you have to let them take turns. Then if you are using the DVD player you can't charge anything as it uses the one plug. Other than that the room was okay but no mini-fridge to keep drinks cool.
Port Reviews
Homer
Homer is very small and not much there. Homer Highlights tour is okay, go to Lowell Gallery, Pratt Museum and Ocean visitor center. Had enough time at the first two but on the Ocean Visitor Center you were rushed in and out.