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TotallyCruzin

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About Me

  • Location
    Hawaii
  • Interests
    Crusing
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Holland America
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Alaska and Mexico

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  1. I love the Koningsdam, best ship in the fleet, been on her 6 times and love it when she come's to my home...went down to see her and take her pic... Enjoy the cruise.
  2. Why don't you just find another line to cruise on. While Holland America may not be perfect I love cruising with them!
  3. Great job on your review...I love the Koningsdam and can't wait to go in September and then again in November. I'm so glad you enjoyed the ship and the cruise.
  4. i brought up this subject back in September after doing an Alaska cruise on the Westerdam that someone else called the "Testerdam" because it seems that this ship is one of the test ships for HAL. I didn't like the $7 dollar upcharge then and I don't like it now. However, when we were on the Westerdam Singapore roundtrip on Feb 3rd last month the waiter politely told me there was a $7 dollar upcharge per additional appetizer; although I already knew this from the previous Westerdam cruise, it was thoughtful for him to mention it because the note of the upcharge is in the smaller type writing on the bottom. I asked the food and beverage manager about this upcharge during the cruise and he said 80% of the diners at the Pinnacle usually order only 1 appetizer so the higher ups made a decision to charge all the others if they order more than 1; Poor excuse but he was only the messenger. This is unfortunate and I don't agree with the decision for the charge ; however I was not going to let that $7 dollar upcharge ruin or taint my holiday on HAL. It still was a great cruise.
  5. I was on the 11 day Asia cruise roundtrip from Singapore on Feb 3-14 on the Westerdam. Canaletto was served on the first 6 nights and then it became Tamarind with a reduced menu at the Canaletto for the last 5 nights.
  6. Aloha Again, We ate a late breakfast and late lunch in the Lido or we ordered from the Deli, on sea days the Pinnacle is open for lunch I believe from 12 till 1pm, The menu is simple but looks pretty good. Others are telling you to get the Club Orange which I believe comes with your Neptune suite that way you can eat there for Breakfast too. Because the MDR dinner had a little wait, I would drop by the bar to grab a glass of wine for my wife and myself then check in the the MDR desk we usually waited at one of the tables in the corridor outside of Club orange watching the ocean right out of those windows, or sit in the bar area just beyond the corridor; it was always a pleasant affair. Please enjoy you journeys ... aloha again.
  7. I was on the same cruise without the fixed dining. We went to the MDR 3 times; during the 2 "Dressy" nights and the "Culinary council" menu night, they seemed to have better selections during those evenings. We went to the MDR between 6-7:30pm and although we were told 20-30 minutes for a table of 2, we only waited from 10-20 minutes, not bad at all. The other four evenings were spent in the specialty restaurants on the Koningsdam which you will have to pay a per person fee; Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, Tamarind and Rudy's. Rudy's was fantastic they serve mostly seafood, Tamarind is also great with the asian flair, Canaletto has fantastic Osso Bucco served on Monday's unless you give them advance notice of 24 hours for non-Monday reservation, and Pinnacle Grill is their steak house which is acceptable but the Beef is more like a subpar "Choice" cut and you have to pay $7 per additional appetizer(the nickel and dime HAL practice) . I highly recommend you try some of these specialty restaurants and go the the MDR during the evenings I noted above. I hope you enjoy your next Cruise.... Aloha and safe travels
  8. We were on the Westerdam to Alaska this past August. Some of the workers said that they were indeed going into drydock I believe in Singapore and the crew was staying on the ship during this time. The first cruise after drydock will be the February 3rd cruise. I hope they can complete the tasks by that date.
  9. Zhuang, I was also on this cruise that arrived back in San Diego yesterday Dec 3rd. Although I've been on it 3 times; Last Dec 2021 and Mar 2022 with 900 passengers and 1300 passengers; this cruise i think had 2500 passengers according to "Ask the Captain". First off when you check in online they have paper tickets that you print out or email to yourself, you must read this information; on page 5 under Luggage and tag information it explains the luggage policy and the outside drop off for your luggage. This isn't just 16 pages of nothing it really helps to read through and become knowledgeable about your trip. If you see someone making your food especially with seafood incorrectly you have to say something, call for the Lido cook manager on duty and explain what happened this could endanger you and others in the future; you are not being rude or mean this is really important so they can correct these errors and make it better as a whole. Although its not a perfect cruise I do agree with some of your points. I love the music walk and I love those cabin attendants they work so hard and the crew always seem to smile and wish you a nice day. The food in the MDR isn't great that is why we only eat there during the 2 dressy nights and the Culinary nights with the chefs choices, then we eat in the other 4 restaurants during the other nights. Yes you have to pay a bit but I believe they are all worth the money. The 3 nights that we went to the MDR we checked in for anytime dining between 630-700 we were given a pager and told it'll be 15 to 20 minutes for a table of 2, it never took that long to be seated. What I miss the most is the that the MDR was the key to the ship you would have a waiter and asst waiter and a wine steward and a wine runner the restaurant asst managers and so forth and you would get to know all of them usually having the same table each evening. As you walk around the ship you would see them and it would be nice to always have time to converse and learn about them. Now with anytime dining and missing that camaraderie and watching these waiters without an ample supply of help it is very different, disappointing but this is the economy we live in and these guys that are left to do the work are really working their butts off. I feel the HAL management in their offices really need to see what is happening to this product. I still love HAL and with the amount of monies paid for these HAL cruises it is still such a great deal. Overlooking these short comings I still love to cruise on HAL. We're retired and loving it!
  10. I love the Koningsdam; great musical venues like Bill Board onboard 2 pianist alternating songs with different genres every evening, BB Kings nightclub, Lincoln Center Stage usually a quintet or quartet performing chamber music and The Rolling Stone Rock Room. I love the different food venues like The Grand Dutch Cafe for snacks like split pea soup and sandwiches, New York Pizza and Deli, the awesome Tamarind* and Rudi's Sel de Mer* which you have to pay additional fee* but well worth it. This is the largest category of ship that HAL sails; however it is still about half the passenger capacity of the other newer 5000-6000 behemoths that the other guys sail... Whichever HAL ship you choose I'm sure you'll enjoy it! PS. I think Hubbard Glacier is the best Glacier of all however its not on the Koningsdam itinerary. It's Glacier calving city there at Hubbard.
  11. We are also awaiting our tiles from Nieuw Amsterdam Sept 2021 and Koningsdam March 2022. Whom should we call...Mariner Society?
  12. Sorry Canada rocks.. Yes this screen shot was from the Westerdam navigator app... And yes the waiter did mention at that time of ordering that there would be a $7 charge for each additional app, wife had bacon and crab cakes I had crab cakes and steak tartare... We were charged $16.52 for both extra apps and the service charge... the next night we went to Rudys with No upcharges unless you want multiple entrees. We also went to Canaletto with No upcharges for multiple apps... We really enjoyed it all except the surprise upcharges at Pinnacle.
  13. We just ate at the Pinnacle Grill on the Westerdam last night and are now charged $7 for any additional appetizer. If you order lobster bisque, crab cakes and a Caesar salad you'll pay and additional $14. Ps... Also getting tired of all the up selling. Lobster for $20, prime ribeye $20 add a 5 oz lobster tail for $15.
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