Holland America Line

MS Statendam

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Operator: Holland America Line
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1993 / 2003
Length / Tonnage: 719 / 55,819
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 630 / 1,260
Officers / Crew: Dutch / Indo / Filipino
Operating Area: Alaska, Panama Canal
Telephone / Fax: Tel 130 2515 / Fax 130 2516

Ahhhhhh…the STATENDAM….Should I sum it all up in one word for you? I can, you know, the word is…. YAY!!!! I admit we had had a few problems with Holland America in the past, but those days are over…have you ever come away from a place with a list of minor complaints, avoidable irritations, the odd misunderstanding and a pang of regret that if only….? Well, e had, not only about the STATENDAM but about her equally beautiful sisters…Now how would you feel, once back at the source of those things, and found that every item on your list had been arranged to your satisfaction? I know, you’d smile in gratified serenity and welcome calm, sit back and enjoy yourself. That’s how it was for us when we recently cruised the STATENDAM again…She’s wonderful and Holland America’s refined sophistication, understated elegance and charming hospitality suits us just perfectly, and unless you have a number of rusting, perhaps tireless motor vehicles decorating your front lawn, unless you demand a constant loud thump of today’s questionably popular percussive noise that passes for music, unless you consider a clean t-shirt your formal wear, you oughtta LOVE the STATENDAM. We do!

Anyone lamenting the passing of the "Great Liners" of yesterday needs to open his/her mind to much of the passenger/cruise tonnage of today for never before have passenger carrying vessels offered so much comfort and utter luxury to so many for so comparatively few dollars. And to my mind and my experience as purser in eight ships (out of a total of over 80 that I have sailed in and hundreds I have visited), no ships afloat can touch the STATENDAM sisters for value ... comfort ... convenience ... accommodations. If only because the STATENDAM and her three sisters offer the best standard cabins in the business I would rank them near the top of the list but because of the wide range of their facilities, the high standards of their hotel services, their good food and even for the eclecticism of some of their interior decor....no ships afloat can touch this quartette in my eyes, except the similar, but larger ROTTERDAM class sisters.

Add to my tale of praise my memory of pampering by the ship's first rate Indonesian and Filipino hotel crew. These hard working, gracious people not only anticipate your desires... they make you think they exist to make you happy. From the crew in the STATENDAM SMILES are genuine and I like that...so should one of those inevitable inconveniences occur, keep calm...the STATENDAM crew is there and they will handle it for you.

To me the STATENDAM and her sisters are the new QUEENS of the SEAS! Though almost identical in lay-out and with cabins decorated in the same uniform good taste, different decor and color schemes in other areas give each of these four ships her own distinctive personality. I've sailed 'em all and though each one has something I like better than corresponding items aboard her sisters, in short order I find that I favor the STATENDAM, I always have...of the ships built in the 1990s, this ship is far and away my personal favorite, with a decor ranging from classic to eccentric, this ship is a honey. Maybe it’s her genuinely happy crew that has so much to do with it, but the atmosphere on this ship is truly welcoming and congenial, two items that weigh heavily when I judge a ship. In fact, with the venerable INDEPENDENCE and CARONIA, the STATENDAM is my favorite ship now in service...

Anyone who feared Carnival's purchase of Anyone who feared Carnival's purchase of Holland America Line should have known better because if nothing else, Carnival is run by some very smart people. Taking control of Holland America Line, their first order of business was to expand the fleet...and expand they did with the projection of a series of four big new ships. Signing a contract on November 29, 1989 with Italy's fabulous ITALCANTIERI, shipbuilders extraordinaire, construction of the first of them was set into motion. Just over a year later on December 10, 1990 the first steel was cut and on January 7, 1991 the first unit fabrication began at the shipyard at Monfalcone, near Trieste, Italy. Unnamed as yet, she had a number...5881...and as such her keel was laid on July 22, 1991. Because this brilliant new cruise ship was built in a drydock instead of on stocks, there could be no traditional launch...no gala running down the ways. Instead, a "coin under the mast" ceremony was held on April 2, 1992 and on the following day in lieu of the traditional launch, the new ship was floated out of her drydock. From that moment until her contract delivery date of January 7, 1993 was not all that much time for workers to fit the interior and turn the newly named STATENDAM into one of the finest ships ever seen. And that is just what they did because in my opinion, this ship and her sisters are ships so passenger friendly I have not a moment's hesitation in telling you I think these are the finest ships ever built for passengers! In the following paragraphs I expect to make clear my reasons for such blanket praise.

As was the case with the new COSTA CLASSICA and COSTA ROMANTICA, a pair of new cruise ships of very similar particulars and more than a few shared design features, not everyone in the American travel market was prepared for this new ship...or for the sisters scheduled to follow her the MAASDAM, RYNDAM and VEENDAM and some people were frankly puzzled by some elements of the great liner's interiors...especially her Crows Nest...a room designed and executed by Joe Farkas and maybe not his best work...I can tell you that some décor items of somewhat eccentric taste have been replaced with more aesthetic choices, and there is nothing jarring to the eye…Call her atmosphere soothing, as well.

This ship's public rooms all make bold design and decor statements and admittedly little of it save perhaps the Fountain Terrace is neutral or muted. From its base on Lower Promenade Deck, the 26-foot-high statue "Fountain of the Sirens" dominates the three-deck atrium around which much of the ship's public spaces flow. In the impressive, balconied van Gogh Lounge performers dazzle you, and some of them even outshine the $35,000 sequined stage curtain patterned after Vincent van Gogh's painting called Starry Night. Not only a show lounge, but a Main Lounge, too, the van Gogh Lounge is a modern exponent of the traditional hub of social life aboard the traditional Atlantic liner. High atop the ship on Sports Deck is the Crow's Nest. Admittedly not done to everyone's taste (the senior Mr. Arison is rumored to have whispered to HAL president Kirk Lantermann "do what you want with this room once you get the ship to Florida)..the décor of the room has been altered twice since the ship's debut but those amazing marble clad inboard walls remain. But who comes up here to look at walls? With a 320 degree view forward and to the sides if not directly aft, this is an ideal observation lounge by day. In the evening it's also a great place for cocktails where those in the know come for drinks and hot appetizers. Others take their pre-dinner refreshments in the Ocean Bar where a quartet plays dance music both during cocktail time and after dinner. No longer is cigar smoke tolerated inside and the traditional after-dinner smoke in the Explorer's Lounge is now a memory but every night at 9:00 PM the Cathedral Strings, a Hungarian Salon Orchestra, and one of the most capable ensembles I’ve ever heard, begins to play and anyone who likes the refined atmosphere of an evening salon of an upper class home comes here for cognac, specialty coffees, fresh chocolates and good conversation. And need I mention that there is also a library, a separate card room, a gymnasium and fitness center as well as the usual beauty salons? The sauna and steam rooms are great and on the top deck is a jogging track.

One reason I so much like to cruise in the STATENDAM is that entertainment goes far beyond the standard cruise ship fare...Since cruises generally begin with an early evening sailing I begin with evening entertainment... What to do after a typically fine STATENDAM dinner? Not fond of the lavish Broadway/Vegas glitzy shows replete with thousands and thousands of feathers and constellations of sequins? ...NO MATTER....for here aboard STATENDAM you will be able to enjoy any of a number of evening entertainments from throwing your coins into the slots or playing cards with a professional player in the ship's airy Casino to dancing to the combo in the Ocean Bar to a first run movie to the classical quiet of an evening in the Piano Bar or the Explorer's Lounge with its string orchestra and fresh coffee. Or you could attend the screening of a movie in the cinema or even watch one on your in cabin TV... Daytime offers well...with so much deck space ... and those classic wooden deck chairs topped by padded cushions...a nap on deck is just the ticket once in a while...or maybe a snooze on deck near one of the ship's pools... The daily program spells it out for you on the STATENDAM and the choice IS yours. While it's true that the company allows cruise directors little leeway in initiative and you won't see too much original thinking in the daily program...this company has been around for over 123 years so you MUST know they do it right!

Two decks high and with windows on three sides on both of them is the Rotterdam Dining Room. Under a canopy of Venetian glass flowers, this dramatic room has elicited comments like "The most beautiful ship's dining room I've ever seen" to "I wonder why they chose to paint the frames of the chairs that color", this is a classy room...a modern classic. Seating over 600 happy diners at a time (hey NO ONE eating here is unhappy! never happened! never will!), there is never a bottleneck at the doors because the designers provided entrances on both decks the room occupies and a pair of curving staircases just inside on the upper level allow those seated on the lower level but entering above to make a true grande descente. Because this place is so roomy, tables are quite well spaced so you don't need to whisper when you bill and coo in here. And that glass canopy really keeps the noise down! Smokers are usually segregated (sic!) in the upper level of the dining room but if you prefer a table up there, the ventilation system is so efficient, you will not notice any hint of burning tobacco...Need I remind you that with floor to ceiling windows on both sides and aft...views are MAGNIFICENT! From the rolling cart bearing freshly baked goods for breakfast to the last savory at dinner, the food is good... Remember my introduction above where I mentioned how pleased I was to discover some items that had previously irked me have now disappeared? Two things that used to drive me around the bend continuing them now...The voice on a PA calling out: "Ladies and Gentlemen...welcome to the Rotterdam Dining Room"…Happy to tell you, they didn’t do that on sailing night. Maybe they listened when I said: hey...WAKE UP HOLLAND AMERICA... this is a classy cruise ship here...NOT A SUMMER CAMP for teens..." Yes, a parade of Baked Alaska adorned with sparklers signals dessert at the finale after the farewell dinner, but the concurrent presentations of staff, both dining room and galley is no longer a tacky event…it’s handled so graciously now…Kudos!

By the way.. Breakfast and lunch are served at open sitting. Though in a cost cutting move a couple of years back, most of the busboys were cashiered, but they are back now…but Holland America still likes passengers to take lunch in the Lido Restaurant where an elaborate buffet offers more extensive selections than the Dining Room menu... Out by the Lido Deck pool is the Terrace Grill where burgers, franks and sausages are cooked for you (if you like rare burgers you are OUT of luck - they will NOT make it for you...health risks, you know. PLUS there is an outstanding selection of cold cuts, Mexican, Chinese or Italian food...and sometimes either a selection of Indonesian style satays or a Curry Bar (try the seafood curry, it’s delicious) o your only lunchtime problem ought to be that you haven't enough room for as much as you would like.

I know I didn’t at the farewell lunch buffet served at sea, one day out of San Diego. Now I know it doesn’t always feature the same seafood items, but poking around for something marvellously tasty, I spied what looked curiously like a 5 pound tin of Sevruga caviar and the expected accompaniments…Man, you should have seen MY eyes light up as I placed a heaping mound of that gorgeous fishberry jam on my plate! After munching a pair of caviar sandwiches, I had a taste for cold shrimp…guess what, unseen by me when the caviar attracted my eyes like a magnet takes iron filings, just to the side was the seafood buffet and THERE were two bowls of cold, peeled jumbo shrimp! There was also cold lobster and crab legs. I was in hog, or perhaps better said, whale, heaven! I hear this seafood buffet doesn’t happen on every cruise, just the longer ones (we were on a 16 night Circle Hawaii trip), but if they don’t let you spoon your way to caviar heaven if you are on a shorter cruise, I doubt it will occur to you that anything is lacking.

Dinners are served at two sittings and menus offer great selections of Continental, American and other specialties ...sometimes Asian delights... Food here gets better and better as Holland America strives to win top honors for its food and I think it's only a matter of time before it will get them! Not that many were able to save room for the midnight buffet...so the former wide selection, again...of foods..and usually ethnically themed...one night French, another German...even Japanese...has been somewhat reduced in the number of offerings. But nobody goes hungry. Unquestionably, though, the rivalling the buffet highlight here is the INDONESIAN lunch buffet... WONDERFUL but for the novice, watch it...it's VERY spicy! But there is also an ice cream bar should you need to cool your palate...

A hotel service charge of US $10 per passenger is automatically added to each guest's shipboard account on a daily basis. Passengers can adjust this amount at the end of the cruise by visiting the hotel manager's desk. A 15% service charge is automatically added to bar charges and dining room wine purchases.

My readers already know that I care more about cabins than the next guy...maybe it's because I spend so much time traveling that ship's cabins and hotel rooms are my biggest concern. Kym Anton chose fabrics reminiscent of Indonesia to compliment warm earth tones in the 633 cabins and suites aboard the wonderful msSTATENDAM. At the top of the price list is the 1,100 square feet penthouse, an apartment whose decor is not at all to my taste but is very popular with moderns... Many people LOVE the STATENDAM's twenty-eight 563-square foot suites for their wide, long balconies and sitting areas as much as for the line's suite amenity package. Suite passengers get their laundry done...free of charge...personalized stationery, afternoon canapes, use of terry bath robes while aboard...and an invitation to the Suite Dinner... a special dinner taken in one of the two small dining rooms off the upper level of the Rotterdam Dining Room. But for all that it's the 284 square feet (including verandah), deluxe category A and Category B cabins that do it for ME! I had a suite on my last trip, and I STILL like the minisuites better! Each of these 120 rooms comes with its own VCR, minibar, sitting area and bathroom complete with whirlpool tubs (and DON'T put bubble bath in and turn it on...unless your life is an "I LOVE LUCY" episode - in which case go ahead). But there is not a thing wrong with any of the 336 outside and 148 inside standard cabins. I think they are the best standard cabins at sea, designed for living and long cruises. At almost 200 square feet, each one has a sitting area and all of them have plenty of closet and drawer space. This is one company that takes comfort seriously and when the Dutch say "WELTERUSTEN" - Have a pleasant (night's) rest - they mean it so the fluffy pillows for the beds and the blankets will speed you on your way into the arms of Morpheus.

Preferred by experienced cruise passengers the STATENDAM is also VERY first-timer friendly. Because most of her Caribbean cruises are longer...she attracts a lot of older folks, too, but Alaska cruises get a wide range of ages and with the line's new shore excursions for kids as well as for teens...look for increasing numbers of families...both in Alaska and during school holidays. This is not really a ship for any of the loud action crowd though the two I met aboard told me they LOVED it. I didn't blame them!

While cold winds and winter snows blanket northern climes, the STATENDAM operates cruises to MEXICO’s Pacific coast as well as 15 day cruises to HAWAII. Come late spring, STATENDAM crew and intending passengers think ALASKA for that's where she heads. In the year 2000 another series of her popular 7 day cruises will once more make her a familiar sight on the route from Vancouver to Seward, or back, through September. I LOVE Hawaii, and most others do, too. If you are even THINKING about a Hawaii cruise, the STATENDAM’s Hawaii cruises are the ones to consider…ask for the special Hawaii cruise brochure.

The STATENDAM is my favorite (new) ship...ENOUGH SAID!!