Statendam Review
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The Statendam is incredibly well maintained and the crew is constantly working on it. While it has been 5 years since its last dry dock update, you would never know by walking around the ship. The crew is skilled, proud and enthusiastic about their work in taking care of passengers. No member of the crew disappointed us. Unlike most passengers, we took a 10 day land tour through Alaska Railroad prior to sailing - visiting Anchorage, Seward, Kenai , Resurrection Bay/Fox Island, Denali National Park. So we had seen lots of natural beauty and wildlife pre-cruise. The night before the cruise, we stayed in the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Downtown Seattle, which allowed us to visit the Seattle Space Needle pre-cruise. The HAL transfer from the hotel to Pier 91 was convenient and went smoothly. Our luggage went directly to our cabin, sparing us the hassle.
A week before the departure, we were offered an upgrade from our balcony cabin on deck 9 (130) to a Neptune Suite which doubled the size of our stateroom and balcony and afforded us many extra services, including the use of the Neptune Lounge , breakfast at the Pinnacle Grill every morning a, free laundry/dry cleaning every day, priority embarkation, tendering and disembarkation. If you get the chance to buy this upgrade, take it. The service is phenomenal.
Fellow Passengers: varies with each cruise but on our sailing over 900 of the 1250+ passengers were repeat customers (Mariners) with many in their 80's and many in wheelchairs, scooters or on oxygen. Most were in good spirits but many seemed to resent the presence of children aboard "their" ship. I suspect that our sailing was "older" than most and certainly older than two prior sailings on HAL. Be patient and considerate and you will enjoy yourself. I am 63, my wife is 48 and our son is 12.
Cabin Review
The Neptune Suites on deck 10 are at least 550 square feet with cabins and balconies that are double the size of regular balcony cabins. The bed is a king and the sleep sofe is a queen. plenty of closet space, a DVD player, fridge/mini-bar and lots of drawer space. The bathrooms are large and the bathrobes are a nice convenience. Hair dryer works fine and the toiletry articles - shampoo, conditioner and shower gel from Elemis are great. The slippers in the suite are also very nice to have. The Neptune Lounge is a real star. Continental breakfast, midday snacks, afternoon teas and canapes in the evening are convenient just down the hall. Fresh fruit was always available. The expresso machine and a wide assortment of teas aded to the ambience. Duca Botic and Miss lovely in the lounge can handle anything that a guest needs - front desk services, concierge, dining and shore excursion arrangements, luggage assistance and so much more. Free laundry and dry cleaning services saved us after the 10 day land tour. Everything was cleaned in under 24 hours and stayed that way until we packed clean clothes into our luggage for the trip home.
Port Reviews
Seattle
Seattle offers many attractions including the Aquarium, Space Needle, Chiluly Glass and Gardens, the Seattle Underground and much more. We enjoyed each of these before the cruise and upon disembarkation.
Homer
Norman Lowell Art Gallery was incredible. This 92 year old artist has painted many beautiful works which are well displayed at his gallery near his home. We also liked the Pratt Museum.