djhsolara

We were just off NA last week and it was very good and a nice experience. To us, much better than LeCirque.

Our only “complaint” was that they don’t serve the entire menu from Sel de Mer on Koningsdam. This is their own concept restaurant, so we thought the menu would be the same everywhere, but the pop-up was missing a few things (and they just happened to be things that we really enjoyed). If you’ve never eaten there on Koningsdam, you won’t know what you’re missing, so that shouldn’t matter.

Happy sailing...and more importantly, happy eating!!

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I can tell you from recent experience that if you create enough waves, they will respond personally...and this is from the Office of the President.

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Clearly this topic has taken the HAL board by storm! :rolleyes: I love to talk about new ship changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, the Nieuw Statendam general information page does mention Billboard On Board, so I think the graphic artist merely neglected to add the label. I do notice, however, that the Explorer's Bar, which formerly was at the rear of the Lincoln Center Live space is now missing entirely. That will leave more space for the BB King audience. I'm guessing the logic behind this change was to keep the loud band in a confined space and keep the more quiet performers in the open spaces. This seems like a logical solution to the sound bleed that has been a complaint on Koningsdam.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The text descriptions of the ship seem to be more reliable than the deck plans at present. That said, there are hash marks on the Lido deck plan to indicate Lido cabanas. This is true on the plans for both Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam. I'm assured by ships services that there are, in fact, no Lido cabanas on either ship. So I wish they would correct the deck plans, please.

We asked the same question before we boarded K-dam and indeed there are no Lido cabanas. They are, however, set up that they could so easily add them.

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If you are a big soda drinker, the Freestyle package is the way to go on K-dam. It’s as much as you want and there are so many flavors (as long as they keep it filled up).

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We’ve had the soda card and if you order something not fountain, they open a can and fill your glass. They do not have Coke Zero Sugar on fountain, but we got it by the glass from cans. Same with Ginger Ale. I’m pretty sure it was Seagrams Ginger Ale.

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Good news on the ship. You will be off in no time.

 

 

 

I can't remember which level it is on your ship - but the atrium should have it - if not, ask the front desk.

 

 

 

After my many days on HAL, I only discovered it a couple of cruises ago, when someone kindly pointed it out to me.

 

 

 

I didn't realize the options were there:eek::)

I’m pretty sure it is on level 2 just by the mid-ship elevators. If you’re walking the main hall from the PG toward the QL, it will be to your left just beside the elevators.

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I understand your wish for the full menu. I wish every HAL ship had Sel de Mer and the Tamarind. Unfortunately it's a function of the facilities. On the new ships, Set de Mer has its own kitchen and can easily prepare the full menu of seafood oriented items. Without a dedicated Sel de Mer kitchen, the older ships simply cannot provide the full array of Sel de Mer offerings. The same holds true for the Tamarind. Without a full dedicated kitchen, none of the ships other than the NA & the Eurodam can offer the full Tamarind menu. We just got off the NA and even without the full menu, thoroughly enjoyed our pop-up evening of Sel de Mer. Soon, HAL will have two ships with all three fine dining options!

When you say you just got off NA, do you mean last Thursday in San Diego? If so, we were likely at the same dinner.

I get what you’re saying, but the two things missing for me were a soup and a chicken dish. Other than the fresh fish, mostly all of the rest of the menu was there.

That all being said, we had a great dinner (actually the first time I could not finish a dinner in a specialty restaurant). And how about those plates?? Pretty spiffy and fun.

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The reason that I asked for the current Koningsdam menu is that we went to Sel De Mer on Koningsdam in January so we were excited to see it being offered as the pop-up on NA. However, we did discover that the menu is a bit altered. Not all of the dishes are offered.

I know they can’t do everything, but I find it difficult when it is their own restaurant concept that they are recreating on other ships but do not offer the same menu. We had a few things that we liked on K-dam that we were looking forward to on NA, but they weren’t there. Took a little away from the experience for me.

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Does anyone have a copy of the current Sel de Mer menu being offered on Koningsdam now (not the pop-up from other various ships)?

Thank you!!

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I have no idea. I was so tempted to order room service just for the mimosa on one of our sea days and take it to the PG. But of course, DH wouldn't have it :loudcry::')

 

I think it's because it is on the room service menu and the stuff that is "extra" for others is free for NS category & above. Who knows? HAL is not always logical.

Seems like it would be more cost effective to offer in the PG as you’re not taking someone to deliver to the room.

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I know this isn’t the place for this question, but we cannot understand why the complimentary mimosa is only for in-suite breakfast. Why can’t you get it in the Pinnacle too?

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So...no cards at all for Pinnacle (regular or Sel de Mer) but we did get a Tamarind reminder this morning. Hmmmmm...

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We’re on Nieuw Amsterdam. We’ll see if we get it for Tamarind tomorrow night.

I honestly don’t care either way, it just made us question whether something happened to our reservation between the time that we confirmed it upon embarkation and the day of the dinner.

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We’ve gotten nothing. In fact, the morning of the Pinnacle reservation I called to confirm since we didn’t receive anything.

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Do they no longer send out the specialty dining reservation reminder/confirmation cards to your staterooms? We did not get one for Pinnacle two nights ago and have not received one for tonight at Rudi’s Sel de Mer.

Thanks!!

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We’re sitting in the terminal waiting to board Nieuw Amsterdam. What a smooth and seamless process here. They really have it down.

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Yes. It was cloudy on the way in but beautiful when we landed. A very nice taxi ride to our hotel.

Because of the flight issue this morning, we were about 4 hours late getting into Vancouver. We are exhausted because we’ve been traveling since 3:55AM EST. It’s been a long, long travel day.

Very excited to board Nieuw Amsterdam in the morning!!

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This was our first time booking air through HAL because we usually fly free in Southwest (with points). It has worked out well.

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By the time we landed in Minneapolis we had missed our connection but had already been rebooked by the airline. We leave at 2:30 for Seattle then flight from Seattle to Vancouver.

Luckily this turned out well for us with really no effort on our part.

Hopefully the gentleman with the medical emergency will be okay.

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We are in the process of flying out to Vancouver for our cruise tomorrow. We have a connecting flight in Minneapolis that we’re likely to miss because we turned around due to a medical emergency right after takeoff.

We purchased our airline through HAL. Should we be talking with the airline or calling HAL to get us on another flight for our second leg?

Thank you!!

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Does airfare booked through HAL count as well?

That was my question as well as I was reading this thread.

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No DVD player as on other ships. They had a pretty good selection available directly on the tv.

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Coke doesn't make Coke Zero anymore, so probably not. It's CokeFree now, in similar packaging. It tastes similar here in Ontario Canada though.

It is now called Coca Cola Zero Sugar here in the US now.

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We're staying at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront pre-cruise in Vancouver. Is the port walkable from this hotel?

What is the best/easiest way to get downtown from the airport?

Thank you!!

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Sounds to me like you'll have no issues.

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