jbecker6469

Keep in mind that most verandahs don't have a table big enough to eat a meal on. Signature suites and up do have a table and chairs big enough for a meal, but even the Vista suites on the K'dam only have the little (basketball sized) short table between the two deck chairs.

In the past we have contacted Ship Services and requested that a larger, round table be "loaned" to our verandah. It was on the K'dam and it was there when we boarded. Worked out nicely.

Also keep in mind that you can order certain items from the Pinnacle Grill delivered to your room for a very reasonable price. Check with the Pinnacle Grill for details.

After the Rotterdam leaves Tampa in April 2019 for Rotterdam there are no HAL sailings shown on HAL's site or other online sites. Has anyone heard if HAL will assign a ship to Tampa to take over the itineraries that the Rotterdam has covered? The 14 day itinerary was one of our favorites, and would like to see it continued with a Vista class ship. We last sailed on the Oosterdam in November 2016 so know that a Vista class ship can "get under the bridge" out of Tampa.

Thanks.

Jim

Usually it is room size. A signature is 50% wider than a Verandah (Look at floor plans). If you take an "paid upgrade" or commonly called an upsell, you will not get the double Mariner points. Other than that, nothing of significance IMO.

We stayed at a Quality Inn (Choice Hotels) near the cruise port that had a package that included up to 14 days parking and free shuttle to/from the cruise port. This was in Nov 2016. Hotel was clean and shuttle was great. Parking, uncovered, seemed to be secure. Worked for us. Pretty sure it was Quality Inn and Suites near Fairgrounds Ybor City.

We just spent 10 days on the Zdam in a Signature Suite. Our first time in anything above a Veranda, and we are Spoiled! The extra room... bathroom, storage, two desks, room to walk at the foot of the bed, all make the Signature a great upgrade. For 199.00 I hope you get it before someone else does. Good Luck.

On a TA, you will likely spend more time in your room than on a port-intensive itinerary, so the extra room will be much appreciated.

Since it is a B2B, you will get 7 days on the first leg and spend some money that will get you some "spend" days, so you will most likely achieve the 75 days needed for 3 star. I would suggest that you email the Mariner Society and see if they could arrange for you to get your 3 start benefits for the second leg. Can't hurt to ask. I'm not sure, but I don't think this will not work if it is a "collector", meaning one booking number for the entire 14 days. Again, check with the Mariner Society, preferably by email so you have the reply documented. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

We have been in both a Veranda and a Vista on the K'dam. catl331 is pretty much right about a Vista being about 3 feet deeper / longer than a Veranda. The other noticeable difference is that the bed and sitting area / desk are flipped, with the bed closer to the balcony on the Vistas. It was nice not to have to squeeze by the end of the bed when going from the desk to the bathroom. Makes dressing a little easier. You do get the double Mariner points, but that may not be important to some. We took the Vista because the upgrade fairy offered us a good deal, otherwise we would not pay the rather large difference, especially on a short cruise (7-10 days). We were on a 21 day collector so thought a little extra room and the room config would be nice to have for what the upsell cost was.

The real suites, Signature and Neptune, are much costlier on the K. Since they only have 14 Signature suites, they get a pretty penny for them. We will stick with a veranda unless they offer an pretty good upsell.

Love the ship, especially the food venues. Service is top notch and we look forward to sailing her again.

Thanks so much for the review and pics. We sail on her next Sunday the 1st for the 10 day in the same type cabin. Good to hear the casino was good to you and the casino crew were fun and friendly. I just can't play if it isn't fun!

We were in 8099, a Vista suite, for a 21 day collector in November of 2017. We did hear some noise that sounded like rolling service carts late at night and early in the morning. The only thing we could guess was that carts for cleaning up and setting up the Dive In could be to blame. Wasn't really bad enough to mess up our sleep, but was a bit annoying. When we booked the room, we thought it would be totally quiet being under the aft end of the Dive In and a little bit of the Canaletto, but I guess not. I would not worry about it.

The larger verandah will be nice, but keep in mind that at cruise speeds you will catch a lot of wind.

Enjoy your trip

Used the unlimited laundry on the K'dam on our 21 day trip Nov '17. It was great! $7.00 per day charged for each segment, so 1st 10 day segment was 70.00 and second 11 day segment was 77.00. Gave bags to the room steward whenever we wanted and got the back usually the same day or early the next day. Neatly folded or pressed and hung on hangars. This does not include dry cleaning at that price. This is a great deal and cuts down on suitcases and clothes are clean when we get home. Wife loves that!

If you don't have that much to do on your sailing, you can do the "stuff a bag" at 20.00 each. You have to figure out what works best for you

That is true. Since they are US territories, the service is available just as if you were in the continental US. I have AT&T and use my cell phone when there with no additional charges.

Well Done! Having sailed on the K'dam twice now, I can say this is the best review I have seen anywhere. Pics are excellent and really gives someone who is not familiar with the K a good idea of what the ship looks like. Thank you for your efforts sharing.

Well how do you get the upsell offers? We are on the Kdam, and there seems to be a big difference between Vista(what we have) and Neptune in size of cabin and much better bath with tub, which I really want.

We are at the highest category we can be before going up will that make a difference?

We are still 55 or so days out. I see where they have dropped the price on Signature suites on the web site.

Any advice?

Upsells originate at a dedicated department at HAL. You will get notified of upsell offers by either your PCC at HAL or your TA, depending on who you booked through.

As far as sizes, the Vista suites, of which there are 104 regular and 38 spa vista suites, are a few feet deeper, but not wider, than a verandah. Big difference is the bed and sitting areas are flipped on the Vista so the bed is closer to the balcony. Not really much bigger. Signature suites are 1.5 times the width of a verandah. Neptunes are 2 X the width of a verandah. Use HAL's website to see layouts and square footage.

If HAL has need to fill the Neptunes, they will offer upsells, but I can't tell you what the criteria is that determines who gets the upgrade. One thing you can do is make sure your booking is tagged as "willing to consider upsells", or something to that effect. Some folks book a specific room and are not interested in being offered upsells, and can so indicate on their booking. You can check on this by calling you PCC / TA.

Good luck getting an upsell offer, but it could be as close as the final week or two before sailing, and you have to be ready to jump if it is offered. First come, first served.

We took an upsell on the K'dam for a 21 day last November for 449.00 pp. Probably wouldn't do it again as there just isn't enough additional room to make it worth it, especially for shorter bookings. You also are not eligible for the double mariner day bonus with upsells. There are a lot more Signature suites on the Vista and Signature class ships, and they have the dual vanity, tub/shower configuration you want. Vista suites on the K'dam are really not much more than a Verandah in size or amenities.

We like the K'dam, especially for the food options, but prefer the stateroom options on the four Vista and two Pinnacle class ships.

If it is any consolation, and having sailed in Neptune Suites on the TA's, we chose to decline an upsell from an SS on our 10-day cruise. Not worth it for that length of time. The SS suites are very nice.

I agree. For a longer cruise, or one with many sea days like a TA, a larger stateroom would be nice since we would be spending more time in the room. Shorter, port intensive itineraries we spend more time out of the room. On the 10 day partial Panama Canal sailing we will be out of the room most of the time, so a SS will be great! Could use the upsell dollars to pay for HSC, laundry and a couple of nice dinners.

We are also on this same sailing, and received the same offer yesterday. We also passed on the 499.00 upsell from SS to SA. I have been watching the stateroom availability for quite a while and the SS have been "sold out" on and off for several weeks, but there are quite a few Neptunes available. I believe we will get better upsell offers and have to decide what it is worth to each of us. If don't get a Neptune, we are perfectly happy in a Signature, so the price will have to be 200.00 or less. We'll see. Just happy that we are only about 5 weeks away from sailing!

You are correct. HAL determines which staterooms are "most desirable" and starts with "V" and goes from there. Rooms highest and furthest fore and aft will be the "VF" category. The exception to this general rule are the obstructed "VH" rooms on Deck 4 which have a great view of the lifeboats.

We have been in "V" , "VA" , "VD", and "VE" and liked them all just fine. We prefer Deck 7 or 8, port side, close to the aft elevators. If on deck 8, keep in mind what is above you on Deck 9 (Lido). Try not to have a deck 8 room under the decking around the Lido or Ocean View pool areas as it can get noisy from loungers being moved around.

As a rule of thumb, each step down from a "V" should get you about a 30.00 pp fare reduction.

The K'dam is a beautiful ship and you will have a great time.

Great food options, including Sel de Mer, Gelato, Grand Dutch Café, Tamarind, Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, and the standard MDR & Lido Buffet. Easy to get around and of course shiny new.

We have sailed on her twice now, including a 21 day Caribbean collector and a 7 day eastern Carib. Had an upsell to a Vista suite on the 21 day, and discovered that it was not much more than a Veranda with about 3 feet extra depth and the bed and sitting area flipped. They do give you binoculars and an umbrella! For what they are charging for the Vista Suite, I will stay with a Verandah. While you do get double Mariner points for booking a suite, I have a hard time considering this a suite. Just my opinion. Would rather be on a Vista or Signature Class ship and get a Signature Suite as they are 1.5 times the width of a verandah stateroom.

All said, the K'dam is a lovely ship with great crew. You will enjoy her immensely.

Booked an Alaska cruise for $2069 per person last July while on the Rotterdam (Viking Passage--great trip!!). When View and Veranda first came out in December, the fare was an additional $400 per person for a benefit of $250 (prepaid gratuities plus $150 OBC). Just checked today, and the increase is only $100 per person for a benefit of $250. Sent an email to our PCC who immediately refared us at today's V&V price. Love my PCC!! And shows how important it is to keep an eye on prices.

Prepaid Gratuities? We have a V&V booked for Nov 2018 and have never seen Prepaid HSC as one of the perks. Did we miss something?

Correction... my bad! We booked a Verandah, not a suite. Suites do include prepaid HSC. Sorry.

Well Done! Very professional review. We will be sailing on her Nov 2018, and will be looking forward to seeing how the drydock, I think done right after your cruise, updated her. Thank you for all the time you spent on this. From the look of your website, it is obvious that you love doing this.

Thanks for your review. We sailed in November '17 in stateroom 8099 (neighbors) and had Aris as our room steward. His partner was different, but Aris was perfect for 21 days. Never missed a thing, and went above and beyond to care for us. Agree that he is a good as you can hope for.

Can't imagine 4 adults in a Vista suite, which is what we both had.

Not sure why you ruled out off-site parking, but you might consider using ParkNGo. They give fantastic service, secure parking and it won't matter which dock you leave from or come back to. They are also less expensive. Just a suggestion from a satisfied customer.

Gratuities on V&V are a perk for Suite bookings.

Awesome review and pics! I believe this is the best review of a ship and cruise I have seen, on any site. Thank you for your hard work and sharing.

Loved your review and photos! We are glad that you had a good time and agree with you about meeting interesting people. Many of the folks in our roll call were fun to spend time with.

We were booked on the "flavours of Cap Cana" tour that was cancelled, and never was notified about the new tour in La Romana. Somehow the notification never made it to our mailbox. Anneke and Harlan said they just got a new set of tickets delivered to their room. Too bad. We really were looking forward to that tour.

Hope to see you again on another dam cruise.

Jim & Kay

On K'dam 11/8 to 11/29. We decided to try the unlimited laundry for 7.00 per day. The first time we filled out the laundry form we checked the "unlimited" box, filled two bags and our steward took them away in the morning. Had laundry back in the afternoon and was really impressed with the job done. Neatly pressed and hangered or folded in a basket with tissue paper.

This is maybe the best value service on the HAL ships! Will enable us to take less luggage and always have neatly pressed clothes for our cruise. The other major benefit is you come home with almost NO laundry to do! This is a huge deal after a 21 day cruise with 4 days of travel.

No need to book this ahead of time. Just fill out the laundry form when you are ready to send your first bag and the charge for the segment, if a collector, will appear on your statement.