We are going on the Nieuw Statendam in November '26. Your review makes us even more excited, as everything I have heard says they are near identical layouts. I am also glad of a channel that can be 'brutal' like your prior HAL series without outrage, hyperbole, and odd camera angles. We are first time cruisers and we know that our attitude to the problems that crop up is KEY to how we enjoy the trip.
Yes, both ships are almost identical. I highly recommend the Pinnacle Class ships over the Signature Class as you have already heard. I appreciate your comments regarding the channel. I try to be honest but fair. I just finished a not so fun review of my most recent cruise but there were awesome aspects of the sailing that should not be overshadowed by a few shortcomings. It will be coming out at the end of the week. I still believe a day on a cruise ship visiting a new port or a day at sea is better than sitting at home! Enjoy your cruise planning and feel free to reach out with questions! Thanks so much for sharing and for watching!
We've done a Norway Cruise and a Mediterranean Cruise, both with the Koningsdam. In August we will do a British Isles cruise with the Rotterdam. Thanks for the insight. We are looking forward to the trip.
It's a great ship. If you can swing Rudi's Sel de Mar specialty restaurant, it was really amazing. Dive In burgers are also really great. I didn't get to try the NY Deli sandwiches but the reuben looked awesome. Enjoy the music walk and have a great cruise!
I was on Koningsdam to Alaska. I found the buffet to be only OK and preferred the MDR for all meals after the first day. I confess though, that I often visited the buffet after dinner to cherry pick the offerings there. Although I found Koningsdam to be beautiful with excellent staff and entertainment over all. But I have no plans of returning to HAL because of the drinks package. I am having a terrible time finding future cruises because of overcrowding and good prices for solo travellers is becoming nigh on impossible despite my preferences for very, very off season travel.
I tend to find myself supplementing at the buffet after MDR meals on most cruises too unless it was a huge specialty dining meal. I think that we are actually done with HAL for a significant period. The entertainment just does not match my type of cruising and I find it a bit uneventful. Cruises are in huge demand right now and many are sold to over capacity through 2024. Solo is still a challenge as you know on premium lines with recent announcements from some lines going in the wrong direction. Thanks for sharing as always!
This is an excellent review. Thanks. I always separate food, service and entertainment from the physical ship. maybe some aspects of a venue are important such as space, sight lines, sound system, and in restaurants the spacing of the tables and if the dining area is noisy or not, but the food itself and service are highly variable. I just read a comment on a cruise forum on social media from a repeat Princess cruiser who sailed the same ship 3 times last year and reported that the food was way different from one sailing vs. the rest. But the ship itself checks boxes for many cruisers. Whether you are a pool and deck type, spa type, restaurant type, activities type (to a degree), music type (my type), there's something for you. That's where these ships are vastly superior to Celebrity's Edge class and match Princess's Royal class. They have most of the spaces various cruisers would like. And I also like that Club Orange cruisers aren't "frozen out" of specialty restaurants and spaces. I don't like ship within a ship and I think that's just another phrase for class division. So, if suite passengers get perks at least give the options in public areas for non-suite passengers to gain access into certain pool areas and lounges for an extra charge. It's not ideal but better than having a piece of the ship off limits to you. Princess and HAL's ships are better than the Edge ships IMO because The Edge lacks the music spaces, library and card room that it should have. Also a basketball court. Concerning suites, I just don't focus on the stateroom that much to want a suite. I don't even use balconies. I wouldn't know what to do with a balcony so large. So I'm against the cruise lines offering more of a ship because you're in some room that's bigger and sometimes has more features than you need or are interested in using. I honestly think that there can be too many specialty restaurants. This ship has just enough. And I like the Music Walk. That's where I would spend most of my time, not at restaurants. I do a specialty restaurant one time during a 7-night cruise. In addition to those you have the Crow's nest and Ocean Bar. So there's plenty of music spaces, not just music in an area, on this ship. And I also think the fairly traditional decor won't fall trap to the trendy look that goes out of style in a few years that ships like the NCL Prima will fall into. Make them timeless and even somewhat traditional and they not only don't make the former class seem obsolete, they also aren't subject to feeling dated to a trend when they were made. Rotterdam is a ship that delivers and it sounds like it didn't have a higher level of entertainment when you were onboard. That's easy to change.
Mr Smith. I agree with everything you had to say. I spent a lot of time in the observation deck. That coffee shop up top felt like a hidden gem. Your whole comment was spot on!
Thank you so much! I am glad that you enjoyed the review. I completely agree with you regarding separating the various experiences of the cruise out when looking at it as a whole. HAL offers such a wonderful, peaceful experience in much of their open spaces. I love going to the specialty restaurants on cruises and HAL has some great ones. I don't personally enjoy the Music Walk that much since it is so compact and forced. I did like it much more when they also had Lincoln Center Stage as a much more relaxed music experience, presented in a modern way. I do miss the live music in the theaters and wish that HAL had performers other than the dance company. I find those performances very repetitive and somewhat boring. I have yet to stay for an entire performance on three different HAL sailings. I hope that they make some adjustments there and replace the huge live music gap that Lincoln Center Stage provided both on the Music Walk and in the main theater. Thanks as always for your complete, passionate and respectful opinion! I greatly appreciate you watching and sharing your thoughts! I look forward to more!
I love hearing this, it sounds perfect for us! I chose a Rotterdam Norway cruise for next year based solely on the date and itinerary because we can squeeze it into a longer trip. It’ll be interesting because we are doing a Rhine River cruise first with only 150 passengers, then time in Amsterdam and Belgium. Then leaving Rotterdam for the 7 night Norway cruise. We haven’t been on a cruise for over ten years so it’ll be an interesting contrast.
You will be spoiled from now on with the size of the shower. Do you remember if the Eurodam casino was smoking? I don't remember it as such and since I quit in 83 notice smoke much more than most. 🥴
I'll need to do stateroom reviews before booking so that I can confirm the shower size moving forward! The Signature Class (including Eurodam) does not allow smoking in the casino. Only the Sea View bar pool area (aft) is the designated smoking area.
My wife and I were on the same cruise! We had a great time. It was a beautiful Ship, the food was really good, especially the pinnacle grill. The staff was really friendly. The weather was kind of rough the first few nights 😂, but overall, it was a great cruise! It was really nice meeting you guys, i had no idea you had a youtube channel. I subscribed and look forward to your future videos. Happy sailing to you!
Thank you so much and it is always so great to hear from those I have met on a cruise! I think we had a wonderful time and I loved the ship. I think the entertainment could have been better but we enjoyed the week. I hope you check out the other reviews and videos on the channel. Half Moon Cay travel guide is coming out this week! I hope you like it and please share your tips and comments after watching that video! See you again hopefully on another cruise!
