Statendam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Statendam - Australia/New Zealand

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Statendam

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Sail Date: Jan 2007
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom with Porthole

The two of us had traveled on two HAL cruises in the past 10 months(Volendam in the Caribbean and Maasdam in Canada) and had good vibes about service from HAL( our sixth HAL cruise) so we sought Australia and New Zealand on the Statendam. HAL offered 14 days and more stops than the Princess itinerary. WE failed at getting air through frequent flyer miles and holiday blackouts pushed us to HAL air arrangement. HAL never notified the airlines of our contact information so our travel started with a day of departure air cancellation we were not contacted about. WE hustled and went to another airport and rearranged drastically and frantically to get to our SFO to Sydney arrangement. The air as arranged by HAL proved problematic in both directions we found. Arriving in Sydney at 9AM, we were told the Statendam was "late" and "dirty from a spring vacation party" and we were hustled off for a gratis tour of the city to delay our embarkation to 2PM. The tour was a bonus on a fantastic sunny day. We arrived at the ship to find the Christmas decorations removed and our luggage in the cabin.

As earlier writers stated, there was unnecessary chaos in the embarkation in Sydney for those pre registered. Unnecessary delays. We were eager for lunch as our 36 hour travel we had a gap of no meal for 10 hours. The Lido as usual was welcome and ample. Our cabin at 182 sqft was adequate although smaller as oceanview on the Lower Promenade, level 6. We enjoyed using the open deck without verandah prices for the many days the weather was wet/tough or we wanted to watch departure from ports and such. From the start the captain Peter Bos expressed his fears over the PA system for Norwalk virus, fire, ship evacuation, bad weather and such. Our safety drill in Sydney was bizarre with an antismoking lecture and fire control lecture by the captain while dressed in our life vests. Terror tactics! The turnover of staff seemed excessive with a new hotel manager, cruise director, chief chef , etc. The band started the day of our cruise with the Chef! Much transiency .

Our itinerary had been altered by HAL and many guests grumbled from the start about going to geelong rather than melbourne. We had picked an excursion to see the great Ocean Road south of geelong. On the way we found out HAL had never sent a ship to geelong and no ship our size had ever entered the geelong mooring. Weather worsened and our day in melbourne-geelong approached. After our breakfast dressed for our excursion the captain announced he had decided not to risk doing the harbor. No excursions. no shore. The turmoil among passengers rose as we faced more days at sea. Most passengers would not see Australia, only its Tasmania stop. Burnie was not a significant city to walk but the excursion to the caves and wild animal park filled in some of the lost animals of Australia made an interesting morning tour. yes even Tasmanian devils The heavy seas of the Tasmin Sea appeared routine to the staff at gale force 9. Some china fell to the floor, flowers toppled and many passengers disappeared to bouillon and dramamine. We did not miss a meal or sea day activity we wanted. seasickness was rampant. we washed our hands at every opportunity as the captain warned of Norwalk virus as possibly quarantined on the ship.??Was it for real?

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom with Porthole

Cabin H
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