Settling Into Life on New Ship; Touring Scotland’s Outer Hebrides
Days 30-31, 2025 European Odyssey
Monday and Tuesday, July 28-29, 2025; At Sea and Stornoway, Scotland.
What is it like to cruise on one of Holland America’s largest ships for the first time? Mind you, these are not large ships. The Nieuw Statendam is 975 feet long, just shy of 100,000 gross tonnage and carries 2,666 passengers at two per stateroom. On the other hand, 61 cruise ships weigh in at 140,000 gross tonnage or more, and the largest carry 7,000-plus passengers.
Still, my first impression of the Nieuw Statendam is that it is noticeably bigger than I’m used to on Holland America. After four weeks on board, there are still a few places I haven’t explored. And I’m really enjoying the expanded eating options.
Everyone said I would love the Grand Dutch Café. I particularly like its vegetable quiche and salad for lunch or even a light dinner.
The thinner-crust pizzas of New York Deli and Pizza are more to my liking than the standard pizza slices at the Lido Market. And there’s something about toasting their bagels in the pizza ovens that makes them too tempting.
For specialty dining, these larger ships add the Asian-focused Tamarind and Rudy’s Sel de Mer with a new Mediterranean focus. Smaller ships only offer occasional pop-ups of those restaurants. For each of these 14-day back-to-back cruises, I have between two and four complementary specialty dinners, so perhaps I eventually will try everything on their menus.
Even after four weeks I still find the buffet sections of the Lido Market a bit confusing after spending most of the last two years on a Vista-class ship. I can’t tell that the Nieuw Statendam’s buffet has different options. It just has lots more people wandering around checking out the selection, so going to more than one station to build a meal takes too long. As a result of the chaos, I seldom eat there. And I’m not a fan of the chairs in the Lido Market. They are heavy and not very comfortable, so are difficult to slide up to the table once I am seated.
Monday was the first full day – and one of just three sea days – of this 14-day cruise. I believe the ship is full, with about 200 more passengers than the previous one. I’ve already noted that this cruise has more children than the last, which isn’t surprising as the last cruise was twice as long.
Early Tuesday morning we arrived in Stornoway, Scotland, marking a return to the United Kingdom and thus another face-to-face meeting with the U.K. Border Force. Being on a Holland America shore excursion, I was among the first for what seemed a perfunctory process.
Stornoway is the largest town in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides and my first port in this western Scotland Island chain. The area has a rich history, having been settled as long ago as 6500 BC. We were unable to visit the Callanish Stones as the visitor’s center is under renovation, so we were limited to taking zoom photos from the roadway. These standing stones are in the shape of a cross and were built around 3000 BC, making them older than Stonehenge as well as the Egyptian pyramids.
Dun Carloway is said to be one of the best-preserved broches (Iron Age hollow towers, circa 1st century AD) in Scotland. It is set on an easily accessible hill in the midst of sheep pastures, so we had to watch where we stepped. The heather has just started its colorful blooming.
Jumping far ahead in history, we explored Gearrannan, a reconstructed blackhouse village dating back to the late 1880s. For hundreds of years people and their animals lived together in blackhouses built of stone walls with thatched roofs. The dark smoke of peat fires darkened the thatch. Chimneys and windows were added in the later 20th century.
In recent years a trust has restored this village by the Atlantic Ocean. Some are open to visitors and others are holiday rentals.
Back on the ship I dined with a couple who follow my blog and also will be on board the Nieuw Statendam until November. I love having dinner companions with similar interests in cruising, so don’t be shy about reaching out if your cruise schedule coincides with mine.
We are on Nieuw Statendam now and will be until August 10. I’d like to meet 🙂
I would love to. I just sent you a chat message on Navigator.
Thanks, Jo! I’m looking forward to meeting you on our cruise!
Glad to see that you agree that the NY Pizza is better than the Lido pizza offering. The quiche and salad (yummy dressing) at Dutch Cafe is my favorite for lunch too. I always look forward to your blogs.
One major difference in the Lido on Pinnacle ships is the Asian station will create an individual stir fry for you. Try it, they are healthy and delicious.
Great suggestion, Tina! I have enjoyed the individual stir fry here. They also have offered it on the Zuiderdam, but that may have been because it’s been a world cruise when I was on it.
I agree, the Lido Market can be a bit hectic, and those chairs are awful. I feel trapped once I finally get the chair pulled up to the table.. I do enjoy breakfasts and the Asian stir-fry option at lunch.
It sounds like I’ve missed out on the Grand Dutch Cafe. We’ve cruised on the N.S. twice, and the only things I’ve ordered have been my daily large Americano coffees.
Our next HAL trip won’t sail until August ’26 on the Nordaam, round-trip from Seattle to Anchorage. Jane and I would love to share a dinner table anytime!
Thank you Jo for your insight and informative comments.😊
Most enjoyable reading. Thanks Jo.
I had the same reaction to Pinnacle Class ships when I first was on the K-Dam April 2024. I loved the Royal Dutch Cafe and New York Pizza and Deli but disliked the Lido even more than I do on their other ships. (I dislike shopping and the Lido market is shopping.) But I would go on one of them again. What I didn’t like was deck 3 prom. Too narrow and no views because of the ways the lifeboats were arranged. Also the metal deck was less kind to my feet. Travel well and thanks for the blog.