2025 02 May 31 – June 06 Nieuw Amsterdam Around the UK

My Lord and Master and I had decided some time ago to go on a Holland America Line cruise as retired as we are. It sounds like a REAL bus-mans holiday  going back to HAL but we thought we had a good excuse.  Holland America has decided to really push for the English market and now has come up with the idea of offering cruises from the UK as part of the same cruises departing from Rotterdam.

The way it works is as follows. The official cruise runs from Rotterdam to Rotterdam but for cruises going around the UK, the British (and maybe also Americans) have the option to join in Dover UK and end the cruise in Dover. The rest of the guests, American & Dutch then end the cruise in Rotterdam.  Way back in the grey mists of time (1996) Holland America tried the same with cruises to the Far East, starting in Rotterdam with the Rotterdam VI and then calling at Southampton to pick up 400 British.  That was not an universal success as the British like a few small things to make them feel at home (such as a tea kettle in the cabin) and Seattle Management did not really comprehend that.  So maybe that will go better now.

I had a few discussions with the Vice President Sales in Europe and he dropped the penny in Seattle. So now we want to see if it works better this time. I really hope os as Holland America could be a wonderful program for the British who might find Cunard too snobbish and “stuck in the mud”,  Fred Olsen too sedate and P &O too mainstream. Celebrity and MSC are around as well and are doing very well.

Once we had decided on the cruise, something else popped up. Next year, 2026, the old Head Office in Rotterdam, now hotel New York, will exist for 125 years so a company called Angle TV wanted to make a documentary about it for the Dutch market. Somehow they found out that I know a few things about the history of the company and I was contacted with the request to be part of it. The initial idea was for me to come to Rotterdam and share my “pearls of wisdom”.  Instead of doing that I proposed the idea how about doing it on the day the Nieuw Statendam is in Rotterdam ? Holland America graciously consented to have the film team on board to document the arrival in Rotterdam and then we can spend the day doing the interviews and shooting the sights. That will be coming Sunday,

As My Lord and Master bought a “have it all package” which includes WIFI,, I will have the option to upload my observations each day and hence this preliminary post to set “the scene” as movie people call it.

Driving from Cromer England to Dover is about 150 miles but it does not go as fast as on the wide ranging roads of the USA. Our motorways are constantly under repair and thus slow downs and holds up when you are on them are frequent. And around  London the capacity of the roads is not enough and the alternatives (railways) are not a real option. Then from Cromer to get to a motorway means first 2 hours of small roads, where the presence of “Farmer John” on the roads means that the average speed is not that fast and the frequent round-a-bouts take care of the rest. Another challenge is the River Thames crossing at Dartford. London has a ring road called the M 25 and if you want to go from the North of England to the South follows the east coast side, you have to cross at Dartford. Southbound it means going over the bridge, and northbound it means going through a tunnel. Both were designed without thinking about “future needs” and thus the capacity is not enough anymore. The bridge alone sees 160,000 vehicles a day.  We were lucky today, it was very busy but the traffic flowed slowly but steadily. This is a toll crossing and they note your license plate when crossing. You can pay in advance, or within 24 hrs. afterwards. We have opened up an account long time ago and keep some  money in it, so we will never be caught out, if we suddenly have to take that route. The other option is to go all the way around London, on the Heathrow airport side, but that takes an extra 90 minutes. (if there are no traffic jams or collisions)

This is the Queen Elizabeth II bridge. Looking at the traffic, it seems that the photo was taken on a quiet day sometime in the past. The pipes sticking up under the bridge top are part of the ventilation system of the tunnel for traffic going the other way.

In the end the 150 miles took us 4 hours to cover. To do that on the day of sailing is taking a gamble with the traffic and hence we go the day before and book a hotel with the option to leave the car behind there for 14 days.  Tomorrow we will have a short taxi ride to Dover port where the Nieuw Statendam should be waiting with behind her the Seabourn Ovation. As we all know Seabourn is a subsidiary of HAL and thus it will be a company day.  Weather forecast: 25oC inland, 21oC at the coast, and no rain. So all is well in the world.

And so the taxi dropped us off at the  cruise terminal in Dover at noon time. In the hotel we saw guests for our ship but also for the Seabourn Sojourn. As expected the Sojourn was at Terminal 1 which is the original terminal for cruises from Dover and built with  capacity of the small ships of bygone days in mind. Hence the Sojourn was docked there and the  NSDM was at the big terminal which is a sort of permanent marque/shed construction. Everybody arrived in a staggered way so embarkation took no more than 10 minutes.

We had booked a VISTA CLASS  cabin on deck 6 in the centre sandwiched between deck 5 and deck 7 which are all cabin decks so we would be sure not to be bothered by any noise from any public area. All the day information nowadays is on the HAL APP on the smartphone. But the login in did not work so we had to go to the front desk and there the lady had to reset the system. It turned out that the log-on instructions on the app to connect to wifi did not cover the “have it all package” we had bought. Lots of work for the front desk, as we not the only ones, that would not have been necessary if a programmer had put the option in the menu to start with.

We have now been using the “have it package” for 24 hrs. And it is worthwhile to have it for drinks, 2 included specialty  dinners, two shore-excursions, and all the tips.   We calculated  that with 4 drinks a day we are already breaking even. HAL prices in the bar are more reasonable than with Cunard but still more than at Fred Olsen or some other European Operators.

Then it was Boat drill time and nowadays that works very quickly. You watch the video on the TV (which I helped design in 2016 so nothing knew to learn) and then go to the muster location to be scanned. Saves the guest time and also saves the ship manpower. Once in awhile the ship is required to do a full boat drill with all the guests present at one time, to keep the crew proficient with handling the flow. Today each station only had one scanning person, tomorrow which is official embarkation day, there will be many more crew as they will be many more guests coming on board.  Today about 150 guests joined, mainly Americans who combined the cruise with a visit to London. Only 6 British joined and 1 Dutchman.  In the future the company hopes to get about 400 British joining in Dover but I do not think that many British were interested in sailing around their own island this time. On a previous cruise to the Canaries there were 150 on board so there is interest.

There will now be a 4 part (?) program on the British Channel 5  showcasing the company and hopefully that will perk some more interest. That camera team were on board in April but tomorrow the ship can be excited as my camera team comes on board for filming a documentary about our old head office in Rotterdam which will be 125 years old in 2026. I was asked to be part of that program, due to my knowledge about the company’s history but also because I was one of the last Officers having a job interview in the old office, before the company moved to the suburbs.

So tomorrow we will be in Rotterdam which will the the change over day for the majority of the guests and then the cruise will  start in earnest. Expected weather, overcast with temperatures around 20oC or 68oF., perfect travelling weather.

And so the good ship ms Nieuw Statendam arrived in Rotterdam at 07.00 in the morning. My movie team had been given permission to board with the pilot boat and film the arrival of the ship sailing from the pilot station to the dock. An early day for the movie people but an nice experience for landlubbers to climb a pilot ladder and see a cruise ship in full operation.

Then just before arrival they moved from the bow to the stern as the captain swung the ship around at the Waalhaven entrance and went astern a mile so the ship could dock bow out at the passenger terminal at the Wilhelminakade. That is a HAL tradition from the good old HAL days. Always dock nose out so incase the ship has to leave suddenly, there is no delay due to having to swing around. When the pier was still in use by HAL the ships could swing just off the dock but the NSDM is 300 meters long and that is too long to swing off the dock. Hence with such a length you to swing down river where the very wide “Waalhaven” entrance can handle ships for a swing of up to 400 meters.

Rotterdam is the official change over port for the cruise and disembarkation started at 07.00 hrs. with silent disembark which was very popular with the Dutch as a lot of them went home by public transport, which even on a Sunday, is very good here. Metro to the central train station and the train from there home. The North American contingent went by coach or taxi/limousine to the airport. There were a large number of coaches for the Belgians, mostly from the Dutch speaking Flemish side as Holland America is been very active in promoting the HAL cruises there. For a while the local trams (the ones you see outside the dock when you have a cruise that calls at Brugge/Bruges), sported a Pinnacle class ship over the whole length of the tram.

Captain in command of the ship is Captain Henk Draper. He joined Holland America in the 1990’s.  He came from the Rotterdam cargo company “Van Nievelt Goudriaan” which sailed to South America. I had him as second officer on the old N ships when I was chief officer there. He must have liked the change as he is still here.

Cafe Courzand in Rotterdam is an old Art Deco building, built in 1915 as the entertainment Hall for a nearby shipyard. It survived the years nearly unscathed and is now a successful cafe/restaurant. The water taxi stops there on its circle around the port. They proudly have the old Holland Holland America Line logo (1938 – 1973 and 1986 – 2016) on the backwall. This is the side wing where we had the interview. The main hall is much larger and full of Art Deco features. (Courtesy: https://courzand.nl/nl/impressie)

So while the captain was involved with turnaround of the ship, I was picked up by the movie crew to take them down memory lane in the port of Rotterdam. The idea behind it all is to make a documentary about our old head office, now hotel New York that will be 125 years young in 2026. The building was built in 1901 and then extended and embellished in 1919. So we went by water taxi through the port to an art deco cafe for the interview. The result of the interview will be as the connecting story through the documentary as there will be other experts providing inside in the construction, the Art Deco facades, and the history after Holland America left Rotterdam and the first squatters took over the building. After a short spell when there was talk about demolishing the building, it became a Hotel /Restaurant which it still is. Eventually it all it will be a documentary in movie style. Released during the Rotterdam Film Days in 2026 and then go for general release into the Dutch Cinema’s.

Transport in the port was by Water-taxi and is of interest in case you ever have a day on your cruise in Rotterdam. It is a good 30 minute walk from the cruise terminal to “down town” over the bridge. Options are the metro or a taxi. But there is also the water taxi. Across from where the ship docks at the other side of Hotel New York, is a terminal from where the water taxis leave. Cost is between Euro 3.50 –  12.50 depending on how many zones you travel in the port. That water-taxi can take you straight across to the “Leuvehaven” which is directly across from the main shopping area. It is a bit of a secret that you can also use the water-taxi as a sightseeing boat while it goes from stop to stop. But it goes very fast. A regular sightseeing boat leaves from opposite the ship and the Northside of the car bridge just behind the ship.

The ship left at 16.00 hrs. with an impatient Cruise Director urging all guests to go quickly to their muster station for check off, as otherwise the ship could not sail. We have a group (or maybe more than one) from Japan on board who rely on their tour agent for translation and it might have taken him sometime to round those up for check-off.   We were blessed with sunshine while sailing down from the port over the “Nieuwe Waterweg” or New Waterway, dug in 1865-1871 between the sea and the port, a construction which made it possible for the foundation of the Holland America Line. You sail through the largest port in Europe and the 10th largest port in the world.  It used to be the largest port in the world before “Made in China” became popular.

By 1900 hrs. we were back in the North Sea, heading north towards Scotland. Tomorrow will be a quiet day at sea and then we will be at North Queens Ferry on the west side of Edinburgh. Weather is supposed to be sunny, chilly but not too windy during our voyage on the North Sea.

2025 June 02; At Sea.

Today we are at sea crossing the North Sea going Northbound. The normal course for this is to cross the North Sea as quickly as possible and then hug the English East coast. That has the advantage  that you keep your ship away from the flow of traffic curving around the North of the Dutch and German Islands, traffic that is heading to the German ports, Scandinavia and the Baltic.  Traffic on the English side is much less as there are only a few ports there.

And today it was a cool day with temperatures around 12oC / 54oF, windy and sunny. So apart from the sheltered areas on deck and the enclosed Lido pool there was not much chance of sitting in the sun. Hence the ship was heaving with guests running all around the various activities made available. Since my last time on board the ship in 2019, the company has greatly increased the number of activities that are held by the cruise staff and the various Concessions on board. They have also changed the Captains Corner (portside aft Crows nest) into an Arts and Craft room. Not my cup of tea but it works and this week we have a complete group of Arts & Crafts people on board making the cruise from the USA so the place is heaving. I was glad to see that Bingo is still there, held in the afternoon in the Rock & Roll Lounge on Deck 2.

Last night a large number of guests used the Lido Restaurant as a lot of them were tired from flying in or travelling to the ship by means of other transport. This evening after a quiet sea day and maybe a nap in the afternoon everybody was out in force. Tonight was “Dressy Night” what in the good old days was called Formal or Gala night. Some company’s have done away with dressing up at all and have gone for “elegantly casual” for the whole cruise but Holland America decided on this hybrid name and as a result everybody gave it there own fill in. So we parked ourselves in the Billboard Bar with a pint and watched the world go by. And it was interesting to see what came by:  varying from those who went for “full gear”, Smoking/Tuxedo and long dress to those who thought that “dressy” meant a clean T shirt. My Lord and Master and I fall under the first category as we believe that dressing up is part of enjoying a cruise.  Everybody to his own but I live in the vain hope that one day Holland America will allocate a section of the dining room (or a specialty Restaurant) to those who still like to relive the glamour days of Ocean Travel.

By lunchtime the captain advised that it did not look good for South Queens Ferry due to the wind and he was exploring other options. Unfortunately there are not many ports nearby that can handle a ship the size of the Nieuw Statendam. Only Newcastle and it became clear later on that, that spot, had been taken by another ship. The rest of the ports like Aberdeen and Inverness are too small. I looked at the Shipping Forecast and Marine weather and it looked Touch and Go for arrival but getting better later in the day. And indeed the captain later on advised that he was going to try it as there was no other option anyway and he also hoped for an improvement during the day.

We went to the Captains Welcome Toast and I was disappointed to see that the Formal Uniforms have disappeared as well and they were all wearing the regular day uniform, except the Cruise and Travel director Karlein who was in a nice glitter dress. From there it was to dinner in the main dining room and as most of our evenings are in the specialty restaurants we had opted for “As You Wish” dining with the advise that 19.30 would not be so busy.  We were not expecting a dining experience as it is more a conveyer belt happening but  taking that into consideration it still was not great. It was  chaotic with slow service, lots of noise and food not cooked according to request. No complains about the hard work of the staff trying to make it work but the crew is pushed by a system that really cannot handle the influx of guests at certain times.   The Supervisors and Asst. Maitre’s were running around to put out the “mishap-fires” but it did not give a good feeling. Maybe the fixed dining on the upper level of the dining room is better. Tomorrow evening we have Canaletto so we ourselves should not see a repeat.

The show  in the World Stage was very good. Two male singers and 6 dancers took us through a journey of locations from Hollywood across the country to New York with an all  American song book. The 270o LED screen is so good that regular staging is no longer necessary although the cast used a few props.

Tomorrow we will be in South Queens Ferry and on arrival (0700 hrs.) we first have to see “His Majesty’s Border Force, Customs and Excise” before we are let into the country or in our case being let back into the country. Karlein the Cruise Director started plugging this today with good reason as it will take a while before the penny drops with everybody. It will be interesting to see how many guests have to be chased up. We are in group K with an expected time to be scrutinized of 08.40 hrs.

Weather for tomorrow as far as I can glean from the local marine forecast: overcast with showers but also sunny spells. Approx. 25 – 30 knots of wind and that will give 2 feet of swell. The captain has ordered two shore tenders and thus I foresee not too many challenges as the Azi-pods can easily make a lee.

So we made it to South Queens Ferry  in the Firth of Forth to the West of Edinburgh. The wind had gone fully South West and was thus broken by the Scottish main land to the West and so it was easily do-able to safely anchor. At 07.00 there was a wind force 4 blowing which crept up to a wind force 5 to 6 by 09.00 but as there were no long waves, just a short chop, there was no issue with the tender service. So in the end we had a good day considering the chance of cancelling.  Also the compulsory meeting with His Majesty’s Border Force went smoothly, running 20 minutes faster than scheduled and the Lady officer looking at my passport had even picked up enough Dutch to say thank you and say have a nice day.  In the end there was only one moron who did not show up, even after repeated announcements , as it was we could go ashore without having to wait for a 100 % count, this one moron did not spoil  the day for the rest of the ship.

For Edinburgh you have three places you go to with a ship. New Haven, with tendering into the East side of  Edinburgh. Good terminal, good connection with the town but a long tender ride. Then there is Leith, but only for Prinsendam sized ships as you have to go through a lock to get into the small harbour. In there is also HMS Britannia the private yacht of Queen Elizabeth and a small shopping mall. Again good connections with downtown Edinburgh. Then you have Rosyth all the way to the West but also only for Prinsendam size ships as the Firth of Forth Bridge is too low for taller ships. Safe dock, not so good connections with Edinburgh. And then there is South Queens Ferry.

The ship has to anchor off the oil terminal as that is the closest point to the Firth of Forth Bridge and the ship does not fit under it. So you use a tender service to a pier just past the bridge at South Queens Ferry.  Tender run is about 10 minutes. The challenge with this anchorage is, is that you need a (compulsory) tugboat to keep the ship out of the fairway for the ships that can go under the bridge and go deeper into the Firth. So today we had a tugboat called “Camperdown” to keep the bow in place (with the help of portside anchor) and the Azipods kept the stern in place. Two ships tenders and two shore tenders kept a good service going.

We decided not to go to Edinburgh as we had been there multiple times but to walk into South Queens Ferry itself. This is only a small town and the name is derived from the 11th. century when Queen Margaret established a ferry to aid pilgrims in getting across the Firth of Forth from the North to the South. We walked up and down the High Street, inspected the local CO-OP supermarket: same as in England, only prices being much higher (transportation costs)  and then decided to have lunch in the Orocco Pier hotel which has wide ranging views over the Firth with the ship sitting behind the bridge.

They did a roaring trade there today as a lot of ships guests popped in as well , much to a certain dismay of the locals who lost their seats for a coffee. But such is commerce. They had good food and even better beer. The town is old with a large number of houses harking back to the 16th. century or even earlier. One house caused much interest among our American friends as it had a building dating from 1776 on the front gable, the year of American Independence. The pub nearby “the ferry tap” did even better being established in 1683. One wonders how many publicans have been in charge here through the centuries.

Once back on board  we went around the ship as the ship was very quiet, as nearly everybody was ashore, and those who were not, were in the Lido. So we got to the library which was originally not foreseen for the Pinnacle Class. President Orlando Ashford (2016 – 2020) saw the future as purely digital and only under pressure conceded to a small book section sb. aft in the Crowsnest with the Koningsdam. People power can do a lot and hence there is now a library room on Deck 2 wedged in between the Rock Lounge and the World Stage. It is a great  improvement but the book selection is limited to selections of 3 or 4 copy’s of the same books in a  dedicated theme location. Two days in the cruise and it was already nearly empty. Book lovers do not care very much for artistic approaches to a book set-up, they want BOOKS, old or new, but a varied selection and lots of them. Luckily they had re-instated the Book Exchange for guests. Holland America has seen the light here but could still do much better. To confirm that the library was really a library there was one guest happily submerged in a deep sleep in one of the comfy chairs, so all was well in the world.

My Lord and Master decided upon a Spa visit with the Hydro pool  which was great , except no clock in the space which can be irritating as the pool is so good that you can easily forget the time.  Then it was time for dinner in  the Canaletto, our Italian Restaurant at the starboard side forward of the Lido. When it all started out in 2016 on the Koningsdam, the menu was quite eclectic but has become much more main stream without descending to “Pizza Hut” level. The food was extremely good and the service friendly (we do have the friendliest crews on the high seas).  There was the Italian after dinner drink “Limencello” on the menu but it turned out not to be on board. Which puzzled me as the drink is easily obtainable ashore. Why not send a crewmember shopping if it does not come on board via the regular channels?

Then we went to the show at 21.00 hrs. by a classical pianist. And was she good !!. She was Very Good. You do not always need a revue show to have a good time and this was a worthy alternative. She was already a composing prodigy at the age of 12 and likes the cruise ships between Concert Hall performances. She is a regular with HAL and the standing ovation indicated that she will be back again.

In the mean time we got the announcement that our next port of call, Kirkwall was cancelled due to bad weather but the Captain managed to get a berth at Invergordon which is outside the bad weather range. That is nice as well and most tours can depart from here also.  I am now keeping an eye on Lerwick which is the day after. The winds are supposed to come down. but if enough remains to be seen. So keeping our fingers crossed.

Invergordon is a town and port in the area of Easter Ross in the county of Ross & Cromarty in Scotland. Then the town itself is part of the parish of Rosskeen. I have been here a few times during the past with the last time being in 2019. It did not look very appetizing then and today it looked even more forelorn. The weather is not  too great here for most of the year although with global warming, Scotland is now also experiencing heat waves and very unstable weather.  Apart from looking forlorn in the dismal weather, more shops had closed since last time. Invergordon blossomed during the North Sea  oil boom and that  is tapering off now. Around 2010 the Firth was full of Oilrigs and related ships waiting for repairs and overhaul. Now it was down to 2 rigs under repair at the docks and several that looked that they were in lay-up.

My Lord and Master decreed that that regardless the weather we were going ashore as the cruise could not continue without a new make-up brush.  The port had laid on a shuttle service as we were docked at a cargo pier, where you were not allowed to walk on. The main pier, normally in use by the cruise ships was taken up by a cargo ship and something else I could not clearly see. But they had lots of buses available for the 5 minute transfer into town.

And then the locals had the opportunity to see a 1000+ tourists marching up the High Street and then down the High Street. The General Store (and yes they sold everything except food and groceries) was doing a roaring trade and also the Charity Shops were full of people. And then it was quickly back on the bus again going home. One cafe/cake place was open and full of guests trying scones and other Scottish pastries and hopefully they were expecting us, otherwise they would have run out of food and drink for the rest of the week.

I might need to explain the phenomenon of an British “charity shop”. It is basically a shop that resells goods and are operated by a local or national Charity. There are about 16,000 charities in England alone and they sponsor everything from animal welfare to research into human diseases. They range from Nationwide such as the British Heart Foundation or the Salvation Army, to serving very local needs. They are  Business Tax exempt and mainly manned by volunteers. In many towns where the “mom and pop” shops have given way to supermarkets and other chains, they are often the only small shops left. In my home town with 5,000 people there are 7 of them. In Invergordon with 3,900 inhabitants there were 3.  Our crew love them so in each British port you see them making a bee line for them as often you can have great finds.

Before going ashore, there was suddenly an announcement in the cabin by a very Dutch voice from a Bridge Officer advising us that there was a full crew emergency drill. Then it was a sort of trip down memory lane, listening to the texts that I had co-written in 2016, as Fleet Master,  when the first Pinnacle Class ship came into service.  That took up a good hour of the crew’s time as it was a full drill as the rules say that once a month a crew member will participate in a full drill. Even of this means just standing around as not all crew has a function on board but are “as directed”. Then the new crew and a part of the crew already on board for some time had to go through a SOLAS refresher which entails watching ” movies” about lowering lifeboats etc. in the Main Show Lounge.  The drill was not announced in the daily program so I think that the captain grabbed the chance to do the drill now in fairly sheltered waters instead of hoping for good weather in a future port. (A port that might be cancelled with the current uncertain weather)

So after an exciting hour of marching up and down the Main Street and visiting Boots the Pharmacy, for the necessary purchase of a makeup brush we were back on board again and visited the Lido. I can only say the choice is very good. Cunard who has the 4th. Pinnacle Class ship (Queen Anne) does not even come close here. Nearest most likely the Apex Class of Celebrity but they tend to close sections down, even during rush hour, and that does not help a hungry chap.  On the last day I will post a comparison between Cunard and HAL now they both operate Pinnacle Class ships.

This evening we had an invite to a Mariner Society party in the Lido Pool area, for 3,4 & 5 star mariners and Presidents Club. I estimated there were about 300 people there and I had the privilege of meeting several of my blog readers and some members of the HAL Retired Association “De Lijn”. I even bumped into another old HAL captain (Captain Groothuis) albeit one who only sailed for a shorter period with HAL, as he was one of three who was asked to come in sideways (after retirement from the pilots) as we were short of promotable Staff Captains with enough experience.  Also the party has changed through the years as there were no nibbles served, no announcements  and as it was right in the middle of departure also no Deck and Engine Deck Officers. Hotel Department was out in full force with a meet and greet line-up on both sides of the Lido.

Based on our previous “As you Wish” dining experience we opted for testing the Pizza New York outlet on Deck 10, above the Lido pool area. Pizza on the portside and the Panorama Bar on the starboard side. The pizza freshly hand made was very, very good. They also do other food during the day, and comfort food in the evening for watching a movie on the big screen. Tonight there was a soccer game between Germany and Portugal for the European Championships and there were about 60 to 70 people watching, most of them happily stretched out on the sun loungers.

Tomorrow we are in Lerwick, part of the Shetland islands. In the morning there is still supposed to be a lot of wind blowing, but Lerwick is located in a bay sheltered by surrounding islands on most sides, so it might be sheltered enough for a good call. The SH (Swan Hellenic) Diana will be in and with a length of 125 meters docking, we will be anchoring and using our tender service. Expected weather, Four seasons in one day with an average temperature of 12oC / 50oF.

Yesterday afternoon it did not look really good for Lerwick but it would all depend how much lee there would be at the anchorage.  And it turned out that the wind was from the South South West and Lerwick has a nice hill in that direction to provide good shelter.  And it turned out to be the case. The captain anchored the Nieuw Statendam nicely close to the shore and with wind was at sea level about 16 knots, making for happy tender drivers. It was also only a 5 minute tender drive from shore and that helped as well.

Lerwick is blessed with one of the best tender docks on the British Coast and can handle 3 tenders at the same time. Two ashore, two at the ship and in between and the tender service was perfect. The port was dominated by the ms S.H Diana alongside. Which is only a small ship of 12,000 tons and 125 guests but as she is only  125 meters long, she fitted alongside the pier with the bow lines tied up to a mooring buoy. S.H stands for Swan Hellenic and Diana comes from Crown Princess Diana of the UK.  This is an upscale expedition ship with very high quality lecturers and while most cruise ships will do a show in the evening, S.H will do another lecture. So they have a very dedicated following with a high repeater rate.

We made it ashore by 11.00 and were greeted by a long line of returning guests who had already done the walk up and done the High Street and were now dreaming about hot coffee and cakes. We were on a mission again has Her Ladyship now needed a scrubbing sponge for her shower. Lerwick has both a Boots and a Super Drugs so a price comparison needed to be carried out and in the end Super Drug won the contest beating Boots. In the mean time I was drawn to Harry’s Department Store, 3 floors high, 2 shop fronts wide and 30 meters deep, full of general merchandise. I collect in my non shipping movement Britains Farm models (size 1.32) which is the highest quality farm models out there and they had a lot of them and quite a few for sale. But Alas………… no more room left in the suitcases, so I had to let it go by.

Lerwick was founded long, long time ago by Norse people normally described as Vikings, but that is not the full truth of their history. But still they feel more Scandinavian than Scottish but definitely more Scottish than British /English. It has a shop with kilts and other Scottish souvenir stuff but everywhere traces of a Norse heritage come peaking around the corner.

It is 229 miles from Lerwick to Bergen in Norway and 768 miles from Lerwick to London, so it gives you an idea about where the focus lays. We have been to Lerwick many a times, so we have visited the local Fort (built by King Charles II) against the Dutch. They held the Dutch off during their first attack (2nd Anglo-Dutch war) but they burnt the place down the next time (3rd Anglo-Saxon war). That was in 1673 and since then it has been silent here.  So I wonder what the locals thought of today’s Dutch invasion as more than 50% of our guests on board are Dutch. For the rest of the area you have to use tours and many of our guests did. Most of the tours are half day, so at 12.15 many buses deposited their contents at the dockside, but with two tenders being able to do at the same time, the waiting times were very short.

Although Lerwick is quite a large village, tourists, unless on tours, normally do not stray from the Highstreet where the more touristy shops are located. But it also has three national banks for normal life. Outside the village there is a shopping center as well.

We had done all our sightseeing tours in the past, and settled for a cup of coffee in a local coffeeshop as all the returning tours arrived on the pier at that time, must have been a few hundred guests. But thanks to the excellent tender pier, two tenders could be loaded at the same time and the line was gone very quickly.

Back on board we had made a booking for the Tamarind at 19.00 hrs. and thus went for early cocktails. On the daily program it said the Classical Trio would be playing in the Ocean Bar, but only the violin lady was there (The full trio only showed up for the 2nd set) As the only venue with live music at that time, it was way too small, but half the people having pre dinner drinks and the other half sitting there waiting for the Sel de Mer to open. So we went to the Billboard and waited until the Duelling Pianos had their first session  an hour later. Good excuse to have 2 cocktails.  As usual the Tamarind was very good. The menu is varied enough to have 4 nights there, so we might book another one, if our “As You Wish” tomorrow night turns out to be not that good again. A dinner in the Tamarind takes about 2+ hours so you have to forget about a show or anything else. But is worth it. The Indonesian Waitresses have been replaced by Philipina Ladies but the smiles are the same.

Tomorrow we are in Stornoway on the island of Lewis and Harris in the Western Island also called the Outer Hebrides. Weather is supposed to be windstill and sunny….. And that for Scotland ?????..

Today it was Stornoway and recently they have constructed a large dock here, big enough to receive the largest cruise ships. The surface had only just been finished and they are still working on developing the larger dock area which I assume will eventually be used for containers and maybe storing windmills as the latter is the up and coming industry in the area. Weather was supposed to be sunny, wind still and 12oC / 54oF but by 11 am. it clouded over and then it dripped  water for the rest of the day. Like drizzle but in big drops. The wind went up from none to about 12 knots just adding enough wind chill to feel right Scottish.

In the good days I came here with the ms Prinsendam, and if there was no wind (seldom) I could float in the inner harbour and run a short tender service into the port. If the wind popped up I had to move to the area where they have now built this new dock. It is called the Deepwater Terminal.  Once during such an anchorage, the anchor got fouled and when it came up some thick steel cables were stuck around the flukes of the anchor. It took well over an hour for the 2nd engineer to cut through the three inch thick wires. It turned out that in the 2nd World War, Stornoway outer anchorage was a place for the American air craft carriers to anchor. They were attached with wires to large anchoring stones and when they left, the wires were just left on the sea bottom. Just waiting for the Prinsendam to fish them up again. When I complained to the pilot later on, the answer was, I thought you would have known that. Obviously being convinced that I was intimately aware of Stornoway’s more recent history. While he was the one in the first place who indicated the corect anchoring spot to me. I assume now that when they filled in the whole area for this dock, all the 2nd world war hardware was left and is now  buried under thick layers of rock.

Instead of a short tender shuttle it is a now  a 2 mile hike (they have laid out a very nice nature pad from the ship to the town) or bus trip into town. The town had laid on a shuttle service and they must be used to the larger ships by now as they had set up a “Disney swivel” in both waiting area’s to avoid mayhem in trying to get on the bus. They used double decker buses so each load was close to a 100 people. It worked well but they could not really schedule against the fact that everybody went ashore at the same time (11.00 after lunch) and coming back at the same time(12.30 for lunch).

Stornoway is for the area a large town but not that touristy so the number of special -tourist- shops was rather limited for cruise guests hunting souvenirs but the jewelry outlets did rather well. The locally made jewelry is all based on Celtic folklore and there are some well-known names such as Shetland Jewelry, Sheila Fleet, Ogham etc. etc. The designs are quite intricate an although I am not an expert (My Lord and  Master is) I still think those are the best souvenirs to buy as it is something that lasts and can be admired for a long, long time.

A large number of tours leave from here, most of them focusing on the rugged landscape and ruins, left over from the Neolithic days (standing stones etc.) and churches. Of the latter there are lot, with downtown Stornoway already counting 7 of them. That was for use too many to choose from so we decided to go back on board and enjoy a Lido lunch.  The Lido market was  fairly quiet by 13.00 hrs. and thus I could get at the Italian station which is extremely popular but as all is cooked while waiting (one cook, one hot plate) it takes some time and thus I normally avoid it, as even now being retired, I still feel that guests go first.  (I do not think that you can ever beat that out of a Holland America Employee)

We managed this evening to get a seat in the Ocean Bar (with the number of Dutch on board the ship does not have enough cocktail capacity) as a couple left and we squeezed straight in. A guitar /piano player from Tennessee was playing from 18.45 to 19.30.  It was the second “dressy” night and the variation in dress code was even more apparent.  We sat in a corner with an ex-hal employee couple ( from the 1970’s) and a group of Finnish all dressed to the hilt with two  tables down a group of what I would describe as “summer labourers” in a nice way. Nobody took very much notice of the other but it dumbed down the glamour of the rest somewhat.

Dinner was “As You Wish” again and now we walked in at 19.30 which seems to be for the 2nd sitting flow the busiest time. Not much you can do about it as with the 2nd show starting at 21.00 hrs. there is not option to come in later. If they would start the show at 21.30 then I think it would take some pressure away from the Dining room as more guests would have another cocktail to avoid an over crowded dining room.

For us the good thing was that with so many tables taken, we were almost in the center of the dining room and thus it was far less noisy, than during the first night, as all the noise could disperse upwards towards the 2nd level ceiling. So if you decide on “As You Wish”  dining (deck 2) try to wiggle a seat more in the center not near the windows. Service was friendly and fast but again not all the dishes or drinks were served as requested and there was not much attention to detail.

Then it was time to go to the Show. The 2nd cast show of the cruise and it was very good again. Now the 2 singers and 6 dancers had teamed up with the band of the Rock Lounge and thus there was a live orchestra.  They just fell short of a standing ovation but they did run to the exit doors of the World Stage and received a lot of complements. Unfortunately I cannot show photos as any form of recording is prohibited although I saw some guests ignoring this.

If I had been able to do so, I could have showed you the “side show” during the show, performed by by two ladies on scooters who came in around 21.30 and rolled into the front area near the stage. Then they leisurely started parking themselves and then hoist themselves out of the scooters into the chairs. This caused some guests to have to re-locate as now the crutches, stuck in holders on the scooters, were marring the view. This was irritating but also quite surreal to watch. Again had the show started at 21.30 they would have probably rolled in on time and avoided hampering those sitting now behind them from enjoying  the show.

Note: for those who read the “lemoncello” remark some days ago. We got to the bottom of it all. There was a bottle on board but it was stored in one bar as there were not enough bottles for the whole ship.  (Full supply is supposed to come next call in Rotterdam) Somebody forgot to advise those in the other outlets were the bottle was.

Tomorrow we are in Belfast Northern Ireland. That means we will cross from the North West top of Scotland (Western Isles) down to the Green Isle.  Then the day after we are in Glasgow which means we cross the Irish Sea back to Scotland. Then the day after we cross back again, now to Dun Loiaghaire for Dublin. Then we cross partly back again to visit the Isle of Man in the middle of the Irish Sea before we head southward and cross again to get to Cobh at the southside of Ireland, Why all this crisscrossing, well it is the easiest way to get a night at sea with the ship, so all the amenities can stay open. I expect that between Belfast and Glasgow the Casino will remain closed as you have to be 12 nautical miles off shore to comply  with British gambling rules. The Irish sea near Belfast is only 20 miles  wide so you cannot get 12 miles at either side,

2025 June 07; Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom.

During the night we sailed south wards along the west coast of Scotland and then entered the Loch of Belfast at 08.00 hrs. and picked up the pilot at 09.00 hrs. From there is was another hour to get to the dock as the port of Belfast is located deep into the Lough. By swinging around on arrival (always a wise move incase there is a lot of wind later on ). The good ship Nieuw Statendam was docked just before 11.00 hrs. being the official arrival time. By 11.10 hrs. shoreside had  installed two gangways and those who wished could go ashore. A long line of shuttle buses were waiting ($ 18,— for the day) and also two Hop-on-hop-off busses arrived as HAL is now selling tickets for those as well. They pick those with prepaid tickets up from the ship but do not return them so you have to come back with the shuttle bus (included). We had booked an afternoon tour going to the outside of Belfast.

A very popular tour is  the Titanic museum and we have been there twice, the last time last year, so not much reason to go again. Still for those who might visit Belfast in the future, it is really worth to do this tour as recently  they added this cable car circuit which takes you through the process of constructing the Titanic. And its done in a very good way. (For more information see the write up under the Silver Spirit review elsewhere on this website) We also have done the city tour and thus we decided upon a Panoramic ride into the country side.

As we had bought the “Have it All” package, it included two tours and today we took the first one.  A scenic drive to a Peninsula with a visit at a pub (for a free Irish Coffee) and a destroyed monastery (free rain included). Meeting at 11.30 am which is a decent time for a boy who after 40 years of getting up early likes to take it easy.  So we all trundled, at the announced time, to the “World Stage” for assembly and stickering. It gave me a chance to see how much tour dispatch had improved since Covid. Gone were the paper tickets. It is now a bar code on your phone (Holland America App) and the tours are on the big screen with departure times like in an Air Port.

So this scenic tour took us from Belfast first to Donaghadee for an Irish Coffee in an authentic Irish Pub. (Not very authentic but then a real one  would not have been able to take a 50 strong busload. It gave me the chance to taste a local beer as I do not drink coffee. (Not even with alcohol).  Then to the Grey Abbey in the town of Grey Abbey. Called the  grey from the tunics of the monks.

Here volunteers took all of us around the ruins of the monastery and explained the high and low deeds of those involved in the Abbey and when the Abbey became a Christian church under the ownership of the Montgomery family. One of them was involved in the American Independence (on the American side)  and the town of Montgomery in Alabama was named after him.  The family still owns the church/ ruin and although they are now buried somewhere else, they still install plaques of remembrance in the grounds.

Once back on board we had to get a move on as we had reservations for the Pinnacle Restaurant. This was the first “Specialty” restaurant installed on  board the HAL ships in 2008. It was to focus on North West Pacific Fusion Cuisine, featuring Alaska products, such as Salmon related dishes. Adding the world “Fusion” made it possible to add beef dishes and Thai chicken soup. I did/do not understand this bit about fusion at all but the food was great, especially that chicken soup in those days.

So it was interesting to go back and see what they had done with the menu in the recent years. The word fusion had been dropped a long time ago but  the designers were still at it and had now added Norwegian dishes to the menu. Service was friendly as expected but not faultless. Most of the waiters had sailed with me in the grey mists of time and thus when the rest of the guests were gone, it was a trip down memory lane.

Tomorrow we are in Glasgow any my Lord & Master has booked a trip to the town of Stirling and the Falkirk Wheel, so we have to be in the show lounge by 08.30. Weather is as usual 4 seasons in one day so the umbrella has to go with us, Expected temperature around 14oC / 58oF which is acceptable for Glasgow.

2025 June 08; Glasgow / Greenock, Scotland.

2025 June 11; Irish Sea.

Today we continued with the “warp speed” of 5 knots towards Cobh on the south coast of Ireland. The weather was overcast but with sunny periods and the temperature rose to a balmy 16oC/ 61oF. Hence the guests were out in force on the outside decks with a lively pickle ball competition going on on the top deck and several groups trying to study the finer details of shuffle board. With the latter it still amazes me that it is still around and attracts attention. Shuffleboard was first documented around the 1870’s on the P & O ships going to Australia but is still going strong.   The weather turned back to its usual rainy self by early evening and we have been advised it will be real Irish Weather tomorrow. 20% chance of rain all day.

In the grey mists of time I once had a conversation with an Irishman during an excursion to Waterford, while visiting the local pub. He explained to me how an Irishman dealt with the wet weather apart from having a stiff drink at times. He said we just avoid the word “bad weather”. If it is raining, it is ” a  GOOD DAY”, if it is not raining it is “GRAND DAY”.  If it storms we do not talk about it. So today we had a grand day sailing along the Irish coast.

Main navigational highlight of the day was passing Tuskar Rock with its lighthouse sticking out as a sore  thumb from the sea. During to our 5 knots speed, nobody could miss it when looking out of the window as it took hours to get passed it.  Turskar Rock is famous/ notorious for guarding 176 wrecks in the area. So the bridge of the Nieuw Statendam will have been keeping a close eye on the movement of the ship as there can be a considerable current running here and a 2 knot current relative to a 5 knot speed can have a considerable impact if not counter acted upon.

The day on board was filled with all sorts of on board activities and we decided to attend the Cooking Demonstration in the World Stage. These demonstrations are always a bit of a hit and miss as it very much depends on the “outgoing” personality of the chefs. The Nieuw Statendam is currently lucky in this respect as the Exe. Chef and the Pinnacle Chef both have outgoing characters and apart from cooking up a nice salmon dish, where also good at providing a humoresque narration.

The next thing was attending the Mariners Society meeting as my Lord and Master has 624 of her own and was thus invited. (I have 8,927 professional sailing days with Holland America but those do not count) Unfortunately also here  things have been reduced in scope as only the top numbers were invited, no appetizers served, no speech from the Captain (he was only there to “assist” with handing out the medals according to the Cruise Director) and the whole happening lasted no longer than 15 minutes. But I got two glasses of wine out of it, so I can not complain.

This was followed by a fashion presentation at 12.00 (according to the shops) or 12.15 (according to the daily program) and the poor lady from the shops had only  just started when she got the un-expected support from the Captain with the Voice from the Bridge.   By the time she was supposed to start (12.15) it was all over and at that moment the audience walked in following the time mentioned on the HAL Navigator App. But as there is hardly anything for sale in the shops anyway, (although yesterday suddenly some logo ware popped up on day 10 of the cruise) and quite expensive, nobody missed much. (The shops have a new concessionaire called EFFY). They are plugging jewelry sales very hard but not many people are going in as: a. for the prices but b. for the fact that the sales team is hovering in front of  the doors  of the jewelry shop, and if you walk in, they do not leave you alone to peruse the merchandise.

With the nice weather we increased our walks on the deck. A jogging track is available on deck 11 around the Dome but one can also walk on Deck 3. On the older ships this is the wide sweeping deck that HAL was renowned for, but here it has been reduced to just a walking path as the public room size has been optimized as much as possible. Understandable and not really a problem but it gives the peculiar situation (especially around the dining room at the stern) where the deck is single file wide, that it creates a real bottle neck for walkers. If Grand Dad with his rollator is just going around the corner, it all comes to a standstill at the stern of the ship. 3 laps around the deck is a mile and that gives the excuse that one must have lost some weight now and then can safely return to the Grand Dutch Cafe for “bitterballen” and a pint.

Cocktail Entertainment meant once again visiting the Classical Trio in the lounge and then there was the idea of going to the show (very talented singer and music player, 2nd show of the cruise) but we had received a complimentary dinner in the Pinnacle from Captain Timmers, who is currently on leave. I must commend and compliment the kitchen chefs for still being able to churn out a perfect dinner while the Pinnacle was heavily overbooked. In 2016 when I was part of the Koningsdam start up team, I was told by the Hotel shoreside team, that the specialty restaurants would operate on a 60%  table fill capacity, so “gracious and relaxed” service could be delivered. Fast forward to 2025 and then occupancy rate was 90% and the service reduced to “delivering and putting food on the table” and not without constant mistakes.   It seemed that a lot of guests were cashing in on their un-used on board credit and there is nothing the waiters can do about that. So we felt a pity for the serving staff, who could not deliver of what was the expected HAL standard and great admiration for the kitchen staff who still delivered. The waiting staff tried and this included running over to the Ocean Bar to get drinks for their tables as the wine steward & runner could not cope either.

Tomorrow we are in Cobh, formerly Queenstown. The Captain announced that he would swing on arrival, nose out, and we are the only cruise ship in port.  We are looking at our 20% chance of Irish rain again and I am waiting for an answer from the Cobh Maritime Museum, whether they have anything from the Holland America Line calls  in the 1960’s. on file.

For ships that made short stops, there was the sheltered anchorage at the entrance of the bay and shore tenders would come out to transfer passengers, mail, cars and a lot of other things that could be done while at anchor. (Think about 2 hrs. at anchor)  A fun fact is that the people of Cork call themselves the “Guardians of Ireland”. Meaning they protect “the cork” because if it gets pulled out the island will sink……………… With other words, without Cork, Ireland does not come to much…………….

So today we were in Cobh/Cork. We had a 20% chance of rain and we got the 20% as it drizzled and misted on and off all day long. Still about 90% of our guests made it ashore, either on tour or independently, by going into Cobh itself or by taking the train to Cork.  My wife and I had a good look at the weather and decided to stay on board as we have been to Cobh and Cork many a time .

My initial plan was to go to the Maritime Museum but the Curator advised that he would not be able to pull out the files that I was interested in so that will come next time and then I will give a bit more notice. But I appreciated the quick answer from the Curator as that is not always the case with other museums. The Maritime Museum (2nd street up) from port level is worthwhile to visit but the collection is much wider in scope than at the port itself with the Cobh Heritage Center on the pier. But I always hope that the guests do go through the heritage exhibition as it gives an excellent overview about emigrating in the old days. (Although it is about the Irish, you could easily think Polish, Jewish, Russian, German, as the way of transport did not vary that much in those days).

So we stayed on board and did our emails in the Crows nest where I had the surreal experience of overlooking misty Cobh while listening to Jewish Klezmer music over the speaker system. I love klezmer music  but had sort of expected Irish fiddle to enhance the visible scenery. But such are the un-fathomable ways of the HAL entertainment policies.  By lunch time we moved to the Dive Inn. During busy times, waiting times can be up to 20 minutes (you get a beeper) but with 90% of the guests ashore service was instant. And here I got my “smile” for the day.

A large American gentleman (cowboy hat included) complained to the staff serving at the counter, that what he got was not a real “American Hamburger”. It was not “the same as at home”. The answer from the staff was worth its weight in gold.  “Sir there is no American Hamburger. There is the McDonalds Burger, The Burger King Burger, the Wendy Burger and every Diner in the USA has its own version”.  Great puzzlement appeared on the face under the Cowboy hat and he disappeared into the Lido. The Dive Inn still produces the best burgers and hot dogs that I have ever tasted, so Kudo’s to the very cheery staff working there.

Fast forward to evening dinner. After yet another Classical Trio Recital, this time the focus was on pieces of music that featured sunrise or the sun. During the 45 minute set, more and more guests came in, finally realizing that it was not just highbrow but good fun as well. They ended with the Blue Danube and they got a well deserved standing ovation.

Evening dinner was in the Tamarind. Holland America advertised a “Rijsttafel” experience during the cruise, which means an evening with sampling Indonesian food. Every Dutch person grows up with it and will visit a restaurant on a regular basis as it is quite addictive. A good “Rijsttafel” takes all evening. It is something from the Dutch Colonial days when the Dutch stationed in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) came across the Phenomenon that you could sit down, have a drink, and then every 20 minutes or so a new dish/nibble appeared out of the kitchen to keep the momentum going. So good food combined with good conversation would give a very sociable evening. It is difficult to do that with a regular restaurant  setup but it can work even when condensing the time period somewhat. (Cost is US $ 41.30 a person including the 18% service charge and I found it very good value for money)

And the Tamarind delivered. It is a set menu and everything is delivered step by step at the pace that you are eating or conversing. Some guests managed to get through in an hour and that is up to them but we took 2 hours to enjoy it all. Looking at my observations about the Pinnacle -rush- service the other night, none of that over here. The occupancy rate was about 70%, the restaurant was fully staffed and the service was flowing nicely. The staff had time to explain each dish, time to come back to ask if everything was to satisfaction and even have time to stop at all the tables by for a little social chat. This was the way HAL set it up in 2016 with the arrival of the ms Koningsdam and here it was still the same.

It was  a WONDERFULL evening with EXECELLENT food and EXECELLENT service.  Thank you Mr. Hendra (Maitre in charge) and thank you Michelle (Sommelier behind the bar) and thank you Ann and her colleagues for the service. (and of course the chefs in the galley) Your performed admirably and as expected.

That took up most of the evening but Lesley managed to catch the last 30 minutes of the show  the 2nd appearance of Russ Parsons an English Singer and Instrumentalist. He was very good during his first show and still good during his 2nd show, so hopefully Holland America can keep him on.  Then there was the chocolate surprise after the show which consists of chocolate nibbles on trays by waiters trying to march forward through the Music Walk from the Atrium and see how far they get.  It is not an elaborate affair but a cute thing to do and it did not take long before the Stewards could return to base with their plates now empty.

Tomorrow we have a sea day. During the night we will sail straight down from Cobh, go around the corner at Lands End and then then sail eastbound under the English Coast to Dover. We will have following seas (coming in from the West or South West Atlantic) and we should have an easy ride.  Weather is expected to be overcast with again a 20% chance of showers. But now it will be the English 20% so it might only be the occasional drip.

Today was our last sea day with the ship was sailing under the south coast of England. For the guests leaving in Rotterdam there is still the port of Dover with its hinterland to enjoy but we will be leaving in Dover. Collect our car from the hotel and then drive home. Depending on the vagaries of the British Roads (welcome to the United Kingdom of pot holes) we should be home in the early afternoon.  But we still had this day to enjoy, although it was slightly marred by the fact that we had to pack. At home we had packed in stages and after each session put the 3 suitcases on top of each other, to press out the air (and to provide room for even more stuff) but now we have to do it in one afternoon so I am sitting on the suitcases while writing this blog to speed up the ‘de-airing” process somewhat.

The last sea day, even if it is not the last day of the cruise, is always reserved for tying up loose ends and saying goodbye to the guests.  So the main highlight this morning was ” a look behind the scenes”. A multi vision presentation in the “World Stage” This is a presentation combining the old “Crew Farewell” and the old ships interviews with the Captain. Chief Engineer and Hotel Director.  Now  the visual presentation took all of those present through the ship, through the departments and gave quick explanations of the how and the what of the various shipboard operations. It ended with a number of ships crew marching onto the stage as a farewell. Standing ovation as usual. It was done very smoothly without taking up too much time from everybody.

Then in the Lido it was Cake Day, Three corner stations of the Lido were giving over to Cakes. Think “Big” cakes and thus also big portions being handed out. The “traffic jam” started at 11.30 and lasted until closing time. Extra crew was  in place for traffic control and extra cooks were behind the counter to serve all those who were eager for a slice of cake ( a Big slice of cake). One would think that after 12 days of food abundance, the interest in cakes would be somewhat muted but this was far from the case. I had not seen this before but this is a Bulls-eye shot of the companies evolving ideas of continuous upgrading of the product; although I wonder with the amount of cake going through (big cakes) if it will not severely endanger the yearly profit margins.

We decided to go to the “Hal History talk” by the Cruise Director another interactive multi media event called  “Origins” about the history of the company. I was involved in the original conceptual plans and provided most of the photos.  Although offered, the producers never let me review the final draft so in version 1 there were a number of mistakes. They got a nice report from me after the first showing and I then I could only hope for the best.  They are now at iteration nbr 3. and I hoped that all had been updated. Well they had made the presentation a lot more slick than it was before but the mistakes were still there.  Would the average guests have noticed it? No, and would they still have enjoyed it? Yes. Karlijn the Cruise Director did a very good narration but unfortunately the World Stage was not full. The presentation was at 14.00 hrs. while many guests were still in the Lido (eating cakes…….. big cakes)

Before “Origins” started we saw Miss X (from orange night party fame) in action on the stage with the presentation/ quiz show “Deal or No Deal” which was fun to watch. The Lady playing did not win the big price but hopefully somebody on the HAL ships will do so or might have done so already.

For our final evening we decided on going back to Pizza- New York on Deck 10 above the Lido Pool. When working on the Pinnacle Class ships, I always avoided the place as it was extremely popular and under the HAL motto “the guest always comes first”, I stayed away. Expecting the Dining room to be extremely busy tonight (many guests want to be there to say farewell to their waiters) and thus the Pizza Place to be more quiet we went for our 2nd visit during this cruise. It was indeed very quiet.

Tomorrow (14 June) we will be driving home  with the expected temperature to be around 19oC or 67oF and partly cloudy skies. Once at home I will write the final blog of this series, with my final personal verdict and a comparison with the Queen Anne of Cunard the 4th. Pinnacle ship. As you can see from the two reviews on this website we have had some experience there, so it might be of interest to the readers to compare a American-Dutch- HAL product  with an British-American-Cunard product on the same class of ship. All a personal opinion ofcourse.

So today we drove home after a very nice 14 days on board the ms Nieuw Statendam. We would prefer a smaller HAL ship (hence we are going to try Viking next February with 900 passengers) and we hope that HAL/Carnival will build some as HAL is losing customers to Viking as they have 12 midsized cruise ships that can call at smaller ports. That will also make it easier to find another port during inclement weather. Something I was used to when I was with the ms Veendam (now still laid up in Greece) and ms Prinsendam (now ms Amera) in Europe.

Will we be back ???. YES. My Lord and Master has already booked a 14 day cruise in  2027 in the Baltic (September 17) with the Nieuw Statendam. There are some ports there, that were not visited by HAL during my days of sailing (Klapeida, Gdansk, Riga etc.)

The only real two complaints were:

A. the noise in the dining room in the “As You Wish” part. It could be quite easily fixed by HAL (egg shell sound proofing of ceiling, something I have seen at other companies). But for ourselves it also was easily avoided. Being married to an (almost) 700 day Mariner gave an extra Specialty Restaurant visit (plus extra one that came with the “Have it All package”) and made it that the dining room  was easily avoided, But my greatest respect for Host Fernando and his team to make it all work during the rush hours of serving. (We went twice to New York Pizza as well when we knew it was quiet)

B. The overbooking in the Pinnacle Restaurant near the end of the cruise. There is really no excuse for that and it is not nice to expose the staff to this, when all they want to do is deliver the service that Holland America indicates, is famous for and expect them to deliver.

What would be nice:

A part of Crows nest that could be used for cocktails in the evening (the portside and midships), with a proper ambience and with all broken equipment removed. And maybe a small stage in the corner for a guitar player??

The late show to start at 21.30. It would relieve congestion (between 19.00 and 19.30) in the dining room and just give everybody enough time to enjoy a “good dinner experience”, instead of a rushed “going to eat”.

For the rest many compliments for our cabin stewards (hardly ever to be seen as usual), the cheerful Lido staff and the very had working Bar Staff, who did earn their money with soo many cocktail loving Dutch on board. Same for the Kitchen staff who kept up the best Lido afloat and delivered in the specialty restaurants even under high pressure circumstances. We liked the shows and the Dualling Piano’s and also the classical trio  but we stayed away from the Rock lounge and BB Kings as the volume is way too high for people with good ears.

A pity was the sudden ending of the Orange Party, that was just gearing up (under the infectious enthousiasm of Miss X) and then it went back to BB. King, what a bummer.

This time we had a Vista Suite but her ladyship found it too small so next time we go for a Neptune Suite. As ex HAL I can get discounted fares but with the danger that it all gets cancelled at the last minute, if the ship is fully booked or they can do an up-sell. Hence we book in the normal way via a travel agent. We do not have children so there is no excuse for not spending  our inheritance anyway.

On day 3  (4 if counted from Dover) I promised a comparison between HAL and Cunard now they both operate Pinnacle class ships (Costa Cruises has some as well).

This is a personal rating and the one that wins is in bold. 

HAL                                                      Cunard:               ,

Capacity 2600                                Capacity 2900

Deck 1 Atrium                                Grand Lobby

Cunard has this wonderful space with a sitting area, coffee bar,  drawing room, games room and in the corner the Pursers  office. HAL has changed a previously completely lost space  into the Park West art gallery. The Front desk is on desk 3,  which is  prime space now handed over to offices. Cunard has Shops here and open walking space for the guests.

Meeting Rooms                            ?????

For incentive cruises, HAL has 3 nice meeting rooms here.  Could not find anything on Queen Anne except two small  rooms.

Note: Meeting Rooms versus Pursers Desk location is a money decision to attract more groups. But I wonder with Cunard if the extra guest space provided does not generate a lot of  revenue per square foot to offset the use of the function rooms. Cunard Shops and Barista bar where was always doing a good trade, when were there. (Ad I do not know if the knitting group we had on board this cruise were drinking very much)

Dining room                         4 venues

Cannot compare as with Cunard as their restaurants are connected to your cabin class and get better with the size of  the cabin, But Cunard has the same problems with “As You Wish” dining as HAL in the main dining room.

World Stage                     Royal Court

Cunard has a conventional setup and no LED screen. It is oke, but for lectures and shows the HAL LED screens knocks spots of Cunard.

CrowsNest                      Commodore  Club

Cunard has a setup that HAL used to have back in 1992 with the arrival of the S-class, with comfy chairs and tables, an extensive bar and cocktail music.

Tamarind                           Sir Samuels         Cunard’s expensive steakhouse looks like a cafetaria.

Library                                Library                   Cunard has many more books and a librarian.

Club HAL                          xxxxxx                     Cunard has a space but it is not as elaborate as HAL.

Grand Dutch Cafe     Carinthia

The menu options and service are much better with Hal. Cunard took away the mid partition and thus created more tables. The GDC is too small between 1000 and 1400 hrs.

Ocean Bar                        Chart House Bar

Cunard has this beautiful round bar instead of a row of  chairs backing into the Music Walk – walkway and half of the sitting area  used by guests waiting for the Sel de Mer or Pinnacle.

Queens Lounge             Queens Lounge.

For HAL, the most beautiful lounge on the high seas. For Cunard,  they have a nice orchestra and dance floor in there, with good  secondary shows, but only one (small) pathway on the starboard  side, causing congestion and people standing in the way, while watching what goes on when going from one lounge to the other. The “Music Walk” flow works much better.

Pinnacle                            Space taken up by the Cunard Club Class Restaurant.

Rudy’s Sel de Mer       Space taken up by the Cunard Club Class Restaurant.

Canaletto Lido              Tramonto / Lido

At Cunard the space looks like a road restaurant with  pretensions.

Regular Lido space       Indian / Lido

At Cunard, the space looks like an road restaurant   with  pretensions.

Lido Restaurant             Lido Restaurant.   (Lido Market versus Artisans Food Hall)

HAL has much more variation and longer opening times.

Dressy nights                  Formal nights                Cunard has formal and enforces it. And we love dressing up.

HAL service                     Cunard Service

Although the service at Cunard is very good, we always get the feeling that the Cunard crew serve us to do us a favor, instead of HAL “being happy to serve”.

HAL bar Prices              Cunard Bar prices        Cunard is very expensive.

HAL Drinks Package  Cunard Drinks Package. This is a bit more complicated but:

Hal top package = $ 65.95 a day (with drinks to a maximum of 15 at $ 15,– each)

Cunard top package = $ 72,– a day (with drinks to a maximum of 15 at $ 13.50 each)

But if you book “Have it all ” (which Cunard does not have) then you get included WIFI, Drinks, Tips. $ 200 shore excursions and 2 x Specialty Restaurants .  AND THAT MAKES THE HAL DRINKS A VERY GOOD DEAL.

So in general AND THIS IS US PERSONALLY, we like Holland America better as a whole. Regardless of having worked for HAL a very long time. But we are going on the ms Queen Victoria for the Christmas Cruise as it has more style and everybody dresses up. We are not going back to Queen Anne.

Looking a the number of hits, in the last 14 days, and the numbers of comments (thank you very much, much appreciated) I will do another blog for our next cruise in July. ms Amera (ex Prinsendam) of Phoenix Reisen in Germany. It will be a seven day cruise to Norway.  I was 3 years Captain on the ship so we want to see what the Germans have done with it.

In the mean time, I will continue to add information to the Captain’s bio’s.

Thank you for your continued interest.