The Nieuw Statendam is an elegant ship and it's a pleasure to walk around and observe the design and the decor. She is the second in the new Pinnacle Class of Holland America cruise ships. The first was the Koningsdam. The Nieuw Statendam has been in service for about a year and the third ship the Ryndam is due to launch in 2021.

Since I was coming onboard to dance in the New Year, my initial exploration of the ship was focused on checking out the dance spaces on deck 2. So while I was waiting for my luggage to be delivered to my stateroom, I set out camera in hand to familiarize myself with the ship.

The last dance cruise I took was on the Noordam, also Holland America. See Flying There Dancing Back, Cruising Honolulu to Vancouver.  The group dance lessons were mostly held in the Northern Lights Night Club, a small floor with the old style night club floors and a pole in the centre of the space. The group was smaller so it worked reasonably well. We also danced in the B.B.Kings Blue Club on the Noordam, a larger space with a curved configuration around the bandstand.

The dance floor in B.B. Kings Blues Club on the Noordam has been reconfigured on the Nieuw Statendam to resemble a smaller version of the Queens Room ballrooms on the three Cunard Queens, Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. This is a nice dance area but I am not sure how many other dancers are on board, and how crowded it could become.  

For this New Year’s cruise I am travelling with Dancers at Sea, a group with whom I have cruised many times previously. Since we were a large group, Wendy had arranged for a private dance space where she could play her ballroom music playlist. She arranged to have a dance floor laid down in the meeting rooms on deck one.

There is also a smaller dance floor in the Rolling Stones Rock Room which some of the dance pros used when giving their private lessons. Have not had occasion to dance there yet.

So those are the primary locations. More to come about the program and the experience.