We have enjoyed Holland America cruises and we liked the itinerary Nieuw Standendam offered. This ship exceeded our expectations. The rooms are nicely appointed, small, very functional and well laid out. Was great to be on a new ship, everything is in tip top shape. Our room stewart was excellent and very attentive, thank you Ajaz. We mostly had breakfast & dinners in the dining room, the food was excellent. Some dinners were a 10+. Loved the menu contributions from each Chef. Provided a wide variety of choice. Enjoyed the free style dining option. We never felt rushed to get to dinner. We decided to take the drink package, which made the cruise even better. From morning coffee's at the Dutch cafe, bottled water throughout the day, cocktails during the day & wine with dinner. Option of having an after dinner liquor or drink while enjoying the great entertainment the ship featured. We loved the new layout. We went to all the musical venues and preferred this to the old stage presentation entertainment. The ship felt like it was geared to our generation and not the senior senior generation. I loved the art throughout the ship. Felt the ship was well thought out. Found this cruise to be the most relaxing cruise we have taken.

Disappointment: Until the last day in the morning, we had an incident, maitenance was varnishing the railing where our lounge chairs were. I was sitting their for 5 minutes, when the maitenance worker pulled out an electrical mixer for the varnish, I decided to move out of the way and let maitenance complete this area of their work. I was gone for 25 minutes. The housekeeping staff removed our towels and belongings. When I came back with my breakfast in hand new people were in our chairs. I was not happy and were told we had been gone from the chairs for more then 30 minutes. I asked the housekeeping staff to call his supervisor & was told he would be there shortly. 45 minutes later, Sachin Houskeeping Supervisor arrived and after a 9 minutes conversation he did not have a solution, other then telling me he would have security review the tapes. We left feeling we were going to ignored. I asked our room stewart for the Manager of Housekeeping's name Mainz Lopez. By sheer chance I asked an officer where the Mangers office was and it was him. We sat down and explained the events. We asked for a solution which would make us happy, upgrade us to the retreat. Mainz was very professional, honest & said he would see what he could do. I am happy to say we were upgraded to the retreat for the day and Mainz included two monogrammed housecoats. We lost two hours of our last day...Holland America more then made up for this. We have nothing but excellent reviews to say.