I wanted to share some advice and stories from my latest trip, which was to the Southern Caribbean, a few weeks ago. I’ve been on many cruises, mostly with Norwegian Cruise Line and once with Royal Caribbean. This was my first voyage with the Holland America Line and I travelled on the Nieuw Statendam.

I started off with the intention of sharing my thoughts about Holland America Lines or HAL as veteran Holland America Line cruisers call it, but found I had too much to say, so I will be breaking things down by different aspects of my HAL experience over the coming weeks. Today I wanted to share my thoughts on what I was most excited about besides the ports, which was the food!

Overall the food was excellent on HAL’s Nieuw Statendam. Probably the best I’ve had on a cruise ship. I was pleasantly surprised. As a vegetarian sometimes my choices are limited. I appreciated that they offered meat alternative products like Morningstar Farms Veggie links on their breakfast menu in the dining room as well as Beyond burgers at their poolside burger joint, cleverly named, Dive-In. It’s nice to get some extra protein, so I don’t get hangry and annoy my travel companions. LOL

There were vegetarian options at all their different dining venues. Although I did not try their seafood or steakhouse specialty restaurants, I have no doubt they would have accommodated me without a problem.

One evening my friend got on a roll at the casino and missed the window for dinner. Later we happened to be near an elevator, near the main dining room when the Executive Chef came out and asked how our dinner had been. My friend relayed that she had missed dinner and he offered to go whip something up for her. He had his staff make her a delicious plate of fresh gnocchi because I had raved about having it earlier. Now that’s service and class!

Breakfast – Formal Dining

I started off each morning at sea in the dining room for breakfast. There usually isn’t time on port days since most excursions leave around 8 or 9 in the morning. I love the white table cloths, fancy chandeliers and artwork they have in the main dining room. It’s a much more classy, relaxed and quiet environment then the buffet, the Lido Market which don’t get me wrong has it’s appeal too. I recommend getting there just after 8am to avoid the rush that seems to come later. We never had to wait for a table, but when we came out there was usually a line of 7-10 people.

The coffee was smooth and delicious. They also had a wider range of juice options than I have seen on other cruises. I chose pineapple each morning to compliment my Caribbean vacation. The Texas French Toast was my favorite entrée, however they had a wide range of breakfast foods to satisfy all types of preferences. No doubt trying to cater to travelers around the world. There were traditional English, American, European and Asian breakfasts. This is the first time I’ve encountered Asian options on a breakfast menu, so I thought that was really unique. The service could be a little slow, possibly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but hard to say since this was my first cruise with HAL. However, if you let them know you had early morning plans the staff did there best to speed things up a bit.

Breakfast – Casual Dining

HAL’s buffet is called the Lido market. If you need a quicker meal this is the place to go. They usually have all the same options available as in the main dining room, so if you have a jam packed schedule don’t worry you won’t miss your chance to have your favorite meal.

I usually opted for a made to order omelet on port days with a mini chocolate croissant on the side. Every meal should end with dessert! You don’t know me yet, but you will quickly discover I have a big sweet tooth!

They had a wide array of options from baked goods, fruits, cereals, eggs and don’t worry you carnivores there were many options for you as well. 🙂

Something different I noticed with HAL is that The Lido had staff to serve you at the different food stations. There isn’t as much of the serve yourself as I have seen on other cruise lines at the buffet. I asked around to others I know who have traveled the line and this seemed different from their experience. No doubt this is a safety measure due to the pandemic as well. While it was different from what I expected I appreciated that it felt like a more classy experience then you usually find at a buffet. I also appreciated HAL’S commitment to health and safety and that there seemed to be a lot less food waste. I didn’t see people with plates piled sky high and then half eaten food being thrown away like at other buffets on other cruise lines. My waistline definitely appreciated the normal size portions! Of course you can always go back for seconds or thirds. No one will tell 😉

Don’t waste your time with the bagels at the New York Deli & Pizza for breakfast. As a frequent traveler to NY I was really excited about this dining option when I was preparing for my cruise, but they are definitely not NY bagels and most of the options in bagels and shmear were not even available, even on day one of my voyage. Head to the dining room or the Lido Market instead.

Lunch -Formal Dining

Again, I opted for lunch in the dining room for a more refined experience. The dining room is open for lunch on at sea days only, so I recommend adding this to your schedule on those days, so you don’t miss out. It’s lovely to watch the wake of the ship out the window while you are enjoying your lunch. See if you can snag a table near the back of the dining room, so you can see it.

The service at lunch seemed a bit quicker. There are two servers assigned per table. One for food and one for drinks I suppose. I highly recommend having a nice glass of wine with your lunch. You are on vacation after all! My favorite was the Chateau Smith Cabernet from Washington. Remember I’m classy, but on a budget! LOL Unless your a big drinker I don’t recommend getting the drinks package. If you have 2-3 drinks per day it’s cheaper to just buy them by the glass.

Another big difference I noticed with HAL is that they had many options with some spice to them. Normally cruise food is a bit bland for me as I’m sure they are preparing food to suite the widest range of palates, but HAL offered options with good flavors and a bit of a kick if you enjoy that. I had the curried cauliflower appetizer and it was a surprisingly tasty way to get in some veggies. You have to eat some on vacation. Your best friend doesn’t want you to have uncomfortable tummy issues on your trip. Enough said!

I also loved the tomato bisque and the quinoa salad. The salad is more of side salad portion, even though I believe it shows as on the entrée part of the menu. My waiter pointed this out to me in advance when I ordered, which I appreciated. My favorite entrée on the lunch menu was the vegetarian pasta dish. The lunch menu is a set menu, so you have the same options each day. Remember the dining room lunch is only available on at sea days, so you won’t get bored with menu. You can reorder your favorites or try different things each day. Each lunch also ends in dessert. I opted for a chocolate tart or the ice cream sundae.

Dinner – Casual Dining

I didn’t find any of the vegetarian options on the rotating dinner menu particularly appealing, so I opted for the more casual dining options for dinner most days. However, you could easily swap my suggestions and head to the dining room for dinner and the casual options for lunch, or skip the casual options all together and dine with class for every meal in the dining room. Keep in mind that some dishes are only served at certain times of day in the dining room.

I loved that HAL’s Navigator App allowed you to view all the rotating dining option menus each day including the Lido Market buffet, so you could plan your schedule with the tastiest options.

My favorite meal in HAL’s Lido Market was a gnocchi dish with mushrooms. I rushed from a late afternoon nap that went a bit too late to the Lido Market just before the dinner window ended, just to enjoy it and I’m so glad I did! It was so delicious! This was the dish I referred to and raved about to the Executive Chef at the beginning of my post.

I ate several times at the New York Deli & Pizza. I loved that they prepared individual pizzas for each guest, so they were fresh and tasty. I’ve been disappointed by most pizza on other cruise lines as it sits out at the buffet and just tastes old and not particularly great.

I’m a frequent visitor to New York and have travelled to Italy several times, so I will admit I’m a bit of a pizza snob. LOL These pizzas are decent. I would say they remind me more of the woodfired pizza’s I’ve had in Italy, although the toppings may be a bit more NY.

The staff will take your order and provide you with a buzzer which will vibrate and flash when you’re order is ready. You will have to provide your room number when ordering, but this dining option is complimentary.

I also tried the Dive-In for several early dinners because they close around 5pm I believe. As I mentioned earlier they have vegetarian options such as Beyond Burgers and a brown rice and veggie burger. They can be ordered with a variety of toppings which I thought was fun. The Dive-In also serves Nathan’s hot dogs. Although I did not try them, I was also surprised that Dive-In offered veggie hot dogs. Ah, too much food, too little time! The Dive-In also has great fries. They are crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft and steamy on the inside. No soggy fries here!

Desserts – Formal Dining

The desserts on HAL is what I was most disappointed with. They look beautiful and delicious, but most are sadly disappointing. That being said I did have a delicious chocolate tart in the main dining room and a tasty ice cream sundae.

HAL also has something called a Chocolate Surprise which is one evening towards the end of the cruise where you gather in a specific area and an endless array of wait staff comes out with trays of different desserts, all chocolate as the name implies.

They had chocolate macaroons, cupcakes, cocoa dusted almonds and my friends favorite which were the chocolate covered cheerios. If you love chocolate don’t miss this event!

Desserts – Casual Dining

My favorite dessert on HAL’s Nieuw Statendam was the Gelato. There is a gelato shop near the pool that offers a wide selection of gelato flavors such as biscotti, chocolate, cherry, dulche de leche and others. You can also get them with several different toppings, in a cup or waffle cone and they also make milkshakes.

The chocolate and the biscotti were my favorite afternoon treat. There is an extra charge of $2 plus 18% service fee, but I felt it was a well worth it.

I was also extremely excited that one day in the Lido Market they offered Dole Whip! If you are a Disney fan you will will recognize this sweet treat. It’s basically pineapple flavored soft serve ice cream. Delicious and refreshing! I’m not sure how often Dole Whip is served. My friend and I noticed another passenger with it one afternoon and quickly asked where they got it. We tried again the next day, but sadly only vanilla and chocolate soft serve were the options. Keep your eye out for it!

Snacks

You will never go hungry on a cruise ship. That’s why so many people gain 10 pounds in a week. At any given time there is always a wide variety of food options. HAL offers in between meal and late night menus in case you miss one of the breakfast, lunch or dinner windows. They also offer 24 hour room services with many delicious options. I also thought it was fun they had soft pretzels and popcorn by the pool for movie nights.

HAL also has a Dutch café with coffee and pastries. The coffee is extra, but they have several food options that are complimentary.

Specialty Restaurants

I had read another blog before I traveled on Nieuw Statendam that said the specialty restaurants weren’t worth the extra charge. I was willing to try them out, but in reviewing the menus I didn’t find any vegetarian dishes I was especially crazy about trying. I found so many wonderful food options that were complimentary I didn’t feel the need to pay extra for specialty dining.

If you are craving a nice juicy steak, fresh seafood, Asian cuisine or have a special celebration I have no doubt the specialty restaurants would be just, if not more delicious than the complimentary options.

I hope you enjoyed my review of the food on HAL’s Nieuw Statendam. If you take any of my recommendations let me know. I’d love to hear from you! Happy cruising!