Koningsdam 11-nights 11/8-11/19/17 Review

This was just my 3rd HAL cruise but 31st overall since I started sailing in 2001. I have 27 Carnival sailings and 1 RCI.

I didn’t write a review of my January Zuiderdam cruise. First time I didn’t write anything since I first found Cruise Critic. Not sure why. Probably because I don’t typically cruise in January and when I returned, it was straight into tax season and I just never found the energy.

So, I got a casino discount (think it was 30%) which made this affordable as a solo although it was at the top of my price range. I’m just tired of the same old/same old on Carnival and really liked the ports on this, so I booked.

Of course, thanks to the hurricanes, there were port changes. Our first POC was to be St Martin, which was changed to St Croix, and then changed to Antigua. Our last port (other than HMC) was originally St Thomas, which was changed to Cap Cana, which ended up being changed while onboard to La Romana.

There were sizable price drops. I received a couple of upgrade emails but didn’t want to spend another $200 x 2 to upgrade. I ended up upgrading myself from an inside to a verandah (5044) but, of course, I lost my prepaid gratuities and $50 OBC.

I hadn’t flown down the morning of sailing for at least a decade but in my effort to keep costs down, I booked a 7:40 nonstop on SW so figured I had plenty of time. For the first time in ages, SW did not give me TSA pre-check. Got to the airport at about 6:10 and then managed to move while in the scanner and had to get the pat-down. Whatever. Not sure why so many people find it so humiliating. Then her wand went off so they had to go through my bags and took me into a room to do a second pat-down. All I wanted was to get some caffeine and food. When they were finally finished with me it was about 6:45. Decided that after that, I needed a mimosa. Except the bar didn’t start serving alcohol until 7! Had to settle for a Starbucks.

Uneventful flight. Was starving so got a great bagel down in the baggage claim area at FLL. Retrieved my bottle of wine out of my checked bag and put it in my carryon. Out on the curb, I decided it was finally time to give Uber a try. While I was trying to make my selection, it told me there were no cars but I could do a shared ride. Sure, why not? Driver picked me up then on to the next terminal to pick up another couple who were in town for a conference. Driver headed to the port first and proceeded to take several wrong turns while in the port area. Finally got to Pier 21. Dropped my one big case with a porter and headed into the terminal. The line was long (I’m spoiled by being Platinum on Carnival and missed having priority check-in). Was on the ship before noon. Dropped my carryon in the cabin and took a few photos.

Cabin 5044

Headed up to Lido for my first beer and Dive-In Burger.

Toured the spa and just wandered around the ship. Checked to see if my bag had arrived but it still wasn’t there. Finally, when we were told to return to our cabins for muster drill, it was waiting. I unpacked while listening to the instructions on the TV. My muster station was in Billboard Onboard.

Your cabin looks great. Looking forward to reading your review-we board the Koningsdam on Wednesday for 21 days.

I had read muster is inside at various locations-only time we've had that was on Princess.

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Starboard, Deck 10 above Lido pool, taken at approximately 7:30 am

We had our Meet & Greet on the first sea day. Our Roll Call had included those on the 21 day sailing. It was nice to meet so many and put faces with the CC names. I had mild issues with motion, which rather surprised me. I’ve always suffered from motion sickness and it was a factor when I first started cruising. After discovering CC, I read about Ginger Root and it has pretty much cured me. But I wasn’t feeling quite right so took ½ meclizine which helped but also made me a bit drowsy. Plus, the light seeping in the windows caused me to wake very early, which is one reason why I love inside cabins. I’m a morning person and tend to wake early anyway, but when I cruise I stay up later so was feeling sluggish for much of the cruise.

Received a note to go to the casino for a free drink for me and my traveling companion. Since I was solo, I got two. At some point later in the cruise the bartender came by and gave me another freebie.

Met an interesting man at dinner on Gala night. We ended up going straight to BB King’s and dancing the rest of the night. I had anytime dining and unlike last cruise, opted to dine with others and I’m so glad I did! I met a lot of really great people.

Great start.

I always love pictures as people write their reviews.

Looking forward to the rest of your report.

Antigua

I had planned to go to BeachLimerz in Antigua but no one wanted to join me and I wasn’t feeling great anyway. All that rich food, alcohol, meds, and little sleep didn’t help. I found my shop (Noreen Phillips) and dropped off a top that I’d purchased last time and that needed some repair.

Stopped in a little open-air cafe/bar and had a Wadadli beer and used the wi-fi. NOTE: CD and Captain and just about everyone pronounces this as An-tee-gwua, but those on the island pronounce it An-tee-gaa. Just saying.

Went back to the ship for lunch, then back out to pick up my shirt. Went back for another beer.

If I don't take notes throughout a cruise, I completely forget the sequence of what I've done and where I've done it and after a couple of days, it's all a blur. Sorry.

St Lucia

Martinique off port side as we approached St Lucia. If you zoom in you can see a sailboat out there.

Several of us had booked with Cosol. This was my 3rd visit to St Lucia and my 3rd time taking his excursion. Walked out the terminal building and checked in with him and immediately saw Baptist, who had been my driver in May 2009 on my first stop there! It’s a great tour and I highly recommend it! Lots of food, beer, and the special MammaJuana near the end of the tour.

The beautiful Pitons

The drinkable Piton

View from my lounger on Jalousie Beach between the Pitons

La Soufriere volcano

Last look at the Pitons as we sailed to Barbados

Barbados

Having only been to Barbados once, I wanted to take another island tour to refresh my memory. I booked online with Glory Tours. Tour was pretty good. Stopped at Bathsheba where I had a Banks beer.

Bathsheba

St John's Parish Church

Most of us had selected the beach option and were dropped at Pirate’s Cove. It was just OK. And they didn’t have Banks! I had to settle for a generic Caribbean beer (don’t even remember what it was). At least there was wi-fi.

I’m not a huge fan of Barbados. Like Aruba, it has nice beaches but is way too developed and commercialized (and expensive) for my taste.

Martinique

It was hot.

Had only been there once before, on a Carnival cruise that was the first time they’d called there in years. This was 2 years ago and it was virtually impossible to book an independent tour since no one in our Roll Call was fluent in French. This time, I found Karambole Tours and it was great! On couple didn’t show so there were only 5 of us in our guide’s nice Mercedes van. She had baked and at every stop she brought out little tasty treats and something to drink.

Unlike the ship tours offered, we stopped at the "little" Sacre Coeur, did a short hike to a waterfall, St. Pierre, the Lepaz Rum distillery, and a beach stop. It was a very good tour.

Beautiul and deadly Mt Pelee

Rebuilt manor house at Depaz

I encourage everyone to do some reading about the 1902 eruption.

When we returned to port, I had her give me directions to the nearest ATM (a couple of blocks away). I have a B2B TA booked for next spring and wanted to supplement the Euros I had left over from a Med cruise. Off I went and then realized once I reached the bank that I didn’t have my ATM card with me! So, back to the ship, up the stairs to the cabin, get my ATM card, then hiked back to the bank.

St Kitts

Definitely hotter than this by the time we headed out!

Have been several times. Found somewhere near the pier once that sells day passes that gives access to their infinity pool and gardens. There’s a bar and restaurant. It’s not a resort but is a great place to just hang out. A couple from our Roll Call joined me. Met several people who were on the X ship in port with us. Nice day just relaxing in the pool and having several local beers.

Nevis in the distance

Thanks for the extensive review. Please tell us more about the ship/dining/entertainment etc... We will be boarding on Jan 3 for 32 days.

Great report - we're boarding on January 3, too. Looking forward to it.

Thanks for all the pictures!

Loved all your pictures.

Dominican Republic

We were informed after we sailed from St Kitts that we wouldn’t be making our stop at Cap Cana. Apparently this is not uncommon due to the location and the strong winds and currents in that area. But HAL was able to get us in at La Romana. My only other DR stop had been there and I wished we had been booked there originally as there’s a great tour with Seavis to Saona Island that I would have loved to do again. I ended up booking a tour through the ship that went to a coffee & cocoa plantation, then to a little cigar-making place. It was in open-air safari buses. Would have loved to have stopped in the city we went through. It was so lively and vibrant!

Roasting coffee beans

Hand-rolled cigars

Had a more of these than I should have!

Ran into my dance partner on the ship as we were both heading to our cabins to get some cash and go back out to have a drink. Got drenched getting back to the ship (we were probably some of the last people back on board) but it was nice to have someone waiting on the ship with nice dry towels for us!

HMC

Have been several times but this was the first when there were two ships, so it was quite crowded. I walked down to just past the last cabana and found a lounger in the shade and relaxed and read. Disappointed in the lunch this time. I couldn’t find any jerk chicken, which is my favorite. Oh well. Not like I was going to starve!

Eurodam on the left; King on the right

Paradise

Food

Overall pretty good. I typically eat a big breakfast of mostly protein, but after the first day with a huge omelet, I usually had just some bacon, some chunks of brie, and a pain-au-chocolat with a couple of cups of tea. I didn’t eat in the MDR for breakfast or lunch. I also did not order room service on this sailing. After that first burger, I went another day and asked for a cheeseburger with bacon and guacamole. What I got was a plain burger w/guac but no cheese or bacon. Since I’d taken it up to Deck 10 and had settled in, I didn’t bother to go back and have them correct it. Got a club from the pizza place a couple of times which was fairly good. Had pasta in the Lido twice, which I really enjoyed. Also stopped at the Dutch Cafe twice and had a mid-afternoon “snack” of the grilled ham & cheese. Got iced coffee a couple of times up at the Explorations Cafe. Most dinners in the MDR were quite good but there were nights when I just wasn’t overwhelmed by the selections.

To be honest, I don’t think HAL’s MDR food is any better than Carnival’s. On my first HAL cruise (Zaandam to Hawaii, 11/2010) that was not the case. I thought their food then was fantastic. I did the Culinary Arts basil menu one night. I thought I took photos but apparently I didn’t push the button when I thought I had. My steak was at least 2” thick and was YUGE! And it was possibly the best steak I’ve ever had in my life! I took myself to the Pinnacle Grill for lunch on the last sea day (my birthday). Unfortunately, I had celebrated a bit too much the day/night before and couldn’t really do it justice. :o

Love reading about your adventures. More, please. We board Koningsdam December 20. Looking forward to cruising on this new ship.

Entertainment

I went to the show lounge twice. The first was to see a musical duo (Five O’Clock Somewhere) - a husband/wife team that was just weird. Went the last sea day to One World because I wanted to see the use of the wall backdrop. Thought the singers and dancers were good and the lighting display impressive.

The BB King’s band was very good - not quite as good as the group on Zuiderdam, but good. A few of my new friends and I were just about the only people who stayed in the Queen’s Lounge after they were done and danced to DJ Warren’s music. I don’t do piano bars and the few times I stopped for a few seconds to listen just reinforced why I don’t do piano bars!

But the Lincoln Center performers? Fantastic! What a shame about the neighboring noise. They really must do something about it as putting out “Quiet Please” signs didn’t help. What a stupid idea to have an open area like that, especially with the an open staircase directly up within the casino.

I did go to trivia a couple of times but it always seemed to be during the rare times I was actually doing other things, which is a shame because it’s fun.

Casino

Wasn’t very kind to me. I actually came home with a little of my gambling cash. There was a guy who became a bit of a pest after a few nights. One of the men at the roulette wheel finally told him to go away. It’s such a shame that a solo female can’t just do what she wants without the unwanted attention. And we’re SO indoctrinated to think we have to be polite because heaven forbid you tell a man to leave you alone because then you run the risk of antagonizing him. Sigh. So I ended up not even playing on the last night which is usually when I have my best luck. My dinner companions said they'd go and protect me, but I just didn't have any desire to return. Shouldn't need a 'posse' to guard you!

But, to be fair, I didn't spend as much time in there as I usually do when I'm solo simply because I met fun people and was off doing things with them most evenings.

The smoke didn't seem to be too bad, which is nice. Maybe a lot of it floats down the central staircase! Loved that there was a non-smoking night! The hostess and the dealers (and even the girls in the cage) were all very nice.

Service

My cabin steward was Seno. Nice guy but I did ask for more wine glasses but never received them. No big deal. I just used the other glasses in the cabin for my getting-ready-for-dinner glass of wine.

I did have a small issue early on. I had pre-purchased $100 OBC and 2 $100 drink cards. The OBC was not on my account and the cards were not in the cabin when I boarded. The OBC was applied by the 2nd afternoon, but it took another couple of days to get the drink cards. Once they were delivered, I stopped back down at the service desk and requested that the drinks I’d purchased be credited to my room account and charged against the drink card. I’m not sure why I thought I needed the cards since I knew I’d buy a wine package in the MDR. The unused balance of the one card I’d been using was credited to my account on the last day, but the full card I didn’t touch is supposed to be refunded back to the credit card I used when purchased. That hasn’t shown up yet.

Overall, the service was very good, as expected.

I swear I’m homesick. Not so much for the ship, although I did think it was beautiful and found it very easy to navigate, but for the delightful people I met. I had such a wonderful time and I miss them all! You know how it is when you meet someone new and you immediately just feel comfortable with them, like you’ve been friends for years? They’re what made this possibly the best cruise yet.

I have unique B2B TAs planned for the spring - 14 nights Miami-Barcelona on NCL Star, 4 days/3 nights in an Airbnb in Barcelona, then 14 nights Miami-NY on Carnival Horizon. There will be several people on at least one leg that I’ve met on other cruisers, including the couple I’m staying with in Barcelona. I have no plans after that. I celebrated my 65th on the cruise (Welcome to Medicare!) and would like to do a similar sailing next November (Welcome to Social Security!). I typically book well in advance because I need to get my schedule approved at work (I swear I was the only person on the ship who had to be at work on Monday morning), and I’m not going to fully retire at 66. I’d like to be able to wait until last minute. If prices do what they did this year, I could book last minute and pay much less. Of course, then air would probably be much higher! I’ll have to wait and see. Would dearly love to sail again with some of the people I just met but several live in other countries so I don’t know how often they’ll be sailing from the US.

Overall it was a great vacation. Beautiful ship, good food, good fun, great ports, wonderful new friends. Can’t ask for anything more!

What a wonderful review! Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.

Great review. Thank you for taking the time.

I did have a small issue early on. I had pre-purchased $100 OBC and 2 $100 drink cards. The OBC was not on my account and the cards were not in the cabin when I boarded.

This was a wide spread issue. I pre-paid for the Dynamic Dining package and they had no record of it. On both sides of me at Guest Services were people who also did not get credited for pre-paid packages. It was day 2 that they finally called me to say it was validated.

I swear I’m homesick. Not so much for the ship, although I did think it was beautiful and found it very easy to navigate, but for the delightful people I met. I had such a wonderful time and I miss them all!

I know your feeling quite well. This cruise was right up there with my best cruises. And like you, it wasn't really about the ship. We met a lot of really great people. DW and I were decades younger than the average passengers, but it did not hinder us from becoming friends with a lot of people.

Great review, thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.

Lovely review- thanks so much for taking the time to write it!!