SOMEWHAT LIVE!! — MS Koningsdam — Southern Caribbean Seafarer

[*Miss G*]

Pics taking a long time to load.  Will try loading more after breakfast!

[puppycanducruise]

Looks like a beautiful day.

We're hoping we only get flurries today, not too much snow.  See what you're missing?

[jimbri]

On 12/9/2018 at 12:23 PM, VMax1700 said:

 

i think it's perspective and that they are drinking cups in plastic bags sitting on the housekeeping trolley between two rooms!  But I have been known to be wrong! 

I thought they were stairs too and wondering why there was plastic on them. Sigh.  Thanks for explaining. 

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, puppycanducruise said:

Looks like a beautiful day.

We're hoping we only get flurries today, not too much snow.  See what you're missing?

 

Oh yuck.  Don’t remind me.  Lol

 

I am not having as much luck with internet as Crew News is.  For me it is excruciatingly slow.

 

Some random things I hadn’t mentioned:

 

The 2nd day of our cruise the toilets stopped flushing on our side of the deck.  That was fun.  They got it fixed in a reasonable amount of time though.  Some problem with the tank.  

 

I finally disconnected the VERY BRIGHT LIGHT phone after 3 nights and put it under the bedside table.  The next day they had managed to fix the problem and it was reconnected.

 

Oh, and we also received our missing fleurs on the 3rd day!

 

Tonight is our last night at Club Orange.  Tomorrow and the next night is the Pinnacle Grill.  The Grill has been packed every night (except the first) so we went on a wait list.

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

DAY TWELVE - CHARLOTTE AMALIE, ST THOMAS, USVI

 

We have just docked in St Thomas and so has Yacht Transport:

 

 

Here is that same ship offloading the boats.  I took some videos and will try to upload but I am having difficulty with the connection so will post later if I can’t upload now.

 

[terrydtx]

25 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Tonight is our last night at Club Orange.

I have enjoyed reading your about your cruise. We have been to all the islands that you visited and I agree Dominica was the worst of all. There is another long thread in CC about the new Club Orange concept and I am interested in your overall opinion of it. Many who love Neptune Suites are so very disappointed that they can no longer have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill  They also have posted that  the CO seems to be so sterile looking, more like a Denny's than an upscale dinning venue for Suites and those willing to pay $50pp per day for the CO privilege and benefits.

 

[*Miss G*]

19 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I have enjoyed reading your about your cruise. We have been to all the islands that you visited and I agree Dominica was the worst of all. There is another long thread in CC about the new Club Orange concept and I am interested in your overall opinion of it. Many who love Neptune Suites are so very disappointed that they can no longer have breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill  They also have posted that  the CO seems to be so sterile looking, more like a Denny's than an upscale dinning venue for Suites and those willing to pay $50pp per day for the CO privilege and benefits.

 

 

I did let the CO Manager know that I preferred the PG breakfast over CO.  I was told that it was the same breakfast but let him know it was the serene ambiance I was missing.  In CO you are on display to all who pass by. 

 

My first impression of the CO dining room was that I didn’t really care for it but I was withholding final judgement until the end of the cruise because first impressions usually change.  I don’t think it is as bad as a Denny’s; more like an upgraded version of a cafeteria.  It is nice to have a small venue to go to so I like that part about it. 

 

The chef comes over every once in a while to chat. He is a very nice young man from Columbia. 

 

Overall, thus far, and because I am not impressed with the overall Neptune Suite experience on the Koningsdam, I would go back to a verandah cabin if I am sailing her again. 

Edited December 18, 2018 by *Miss G*

[*Miss G*]

Can’t load videos so here are more pics. Love the sparkler lights above the Queen’s Lounge:

 

[*Miss G*]

Don’t ever ask your Concierge about Gala night chocolates or you will get this in your room ever after:

 

[*Miss G*]

The Pitons in St Lucia:

 

[*Miss G*]

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Love the sparkler lights above the Queen’s Lounge

 

Much nicer than the old disco balls that hung in the Queens Lounge (that wobbled significantly if there was any movement of the ship)!

[fatcat04]

On 12/7/2018 at 3:24 PM, Divine Miss J said:

Blanket man actually stayed like that for the rest of the trip, not even coming out for the mid-afternoon snack, puppycanducruise.

 

I just shook my head, took one of the other two blankets out of its wrapper and used that. I figured he wasn't bothering me so, as long as he sat there nice and quiet in his blanket fort, I'd be fine.

 

However, he did take my landing card for some reason. Luckily I'd left it blank, waiting till I'd finished reading my book to complete which means he has none of my personal details. I wouldn't like an odd man to know anything about me!

Well, God love Blanket Man's heart... as Granny would say, "He is touched!" 

[Divine Miss J]

CRUISING DAY ONE - EMBARKATION 

 

My apologies, the only time I managed to find t'internet access this trip, I did not have my iPad with me. So a little late but nonetheless, here is the start of my report ...

 

After entrusting our luggage to a man called Brian, we are directed into the cruise terminal. A little old lady carefully checks our boarding pass and sends us to the left. Oh dear, those crowds simply will not do! We turn back and advise little old lady that our passes say PRIORITY BOARDING IN BIG LETTERS. She missed that as she was only looking for the date and ship name. We head to the right and after going through security are escorted to the head of the queue as other people waiting in line shoot daggers at us with their eyes. 

 

After picking up our cabin keys and beverage cards, we are directed into an upstairs waiting room. We don't even have time to warm up our chairs when we are allowed to board. Approximate time from handing our luggage to Brian to going to the Neptune Lounge is 18 minutes. I like this. 

 

Next stop is our cabin. We are super excited. It is about double the size of a regular cabin on the inside and a bottle of champagne awaits. I have no issues with the bathroom or shower though that bath is probably just big enough to wash socks. 

 

Our luggage arrives within 15 minutes. Priority service is very good!

 

Our twin beds are as ordered except we request to have the two bedside tables separating them instead of on the left. We've found it best. 

 

Miss G asks our room stewards for a bed topper (you know, the sort of egg carton shaped piece of foam which goes under the sheets) and I get one too. Despite the fact that an extra inch or two are always welcome, this has now resulted in a bed height which necessitates a running jump. The three pillows look big and fluffy but I am unsure of their stuffing. It feels like cotton batten because I can't shape it to the contours of my head to allow lying down to read and they sort of smoosh out behind your back if you want to sit up. However, they function well as intended for sleeping.

 

We also have a big flat screen TV on the side wall of the bathroom with a couple of chairs and a table of fruit in front for a screening area. However Miss G and I prefer to lie in our beds and watch the telly. The screen comes out on somewhat of an angle, slightly inhibiting the viewing of the bed closest to the cabin door. I learn how to position myself to counteract it.

 

Dinner that night was the Pinnacle Grill where I received surely what must have been double the normal size portion of king crab legs. Miss G's petite fillet was exactly how she liked it. The only thing which marred our eating pleasure was the (adult) family beside us who moaned through the entire meal, even though they were given a prime location beside the window. The mother even sent back her ice cream because "it was too cold". Seriously. I am not making that bit up!

 

The chief complainant seemed to be the father who wanted speedier service. We overheard him say that he has walked out of an expensive restaurant before because the service wasn't fast enough. Daughter made the mistake of asking where. They ran though the names of what I can only assume are the local eating establishments in their general area before he remembered it was the Olive Garden. Insert your own joke here.

 

On the way out, they complained to the manager. On our way out, we contradicted everything they had moaned about the service, suggesting that perhaps they were unfamiliar with fine dining because as far as we were concerned, the pacing was just right. We like the Pinnacle, we'll be back.

[puppycanducruise]

The ice cream was too cold?  You're right, you can't make this stuff up.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Divine Miss J]

CRUISING DAY TWO - AT SEA

 

We've reserved a cabana today. There aren't very many booked so it's just our rotten luck that we have a very noisy (adult) family beside us who like to complain. Loudly. What are the chances! I find one of the butlers and ask to move. I let Miss G make the final decision from the three being offered. 

 

It's mildly moist outside the cabana but we have blankets and recliners and rather enjoy the weather. Up until about 3pm when there's a howling gale outside which sends in torrents of rain and deluges my blanket-wrapped feet. I give it up as a lost cause. Since we've paid for the privilege, Miss G hangs in till our entire allotted time has elapsed.

 

After the day we've had, we don't feel like gala evening, despite the fact that we've been given a corsage each to wear with our fancy clothes. Instead, we get into our pjs, pin on our corsages, order from room service and watch some films. 

 

Ok, I made part of that last bit up. We put the corsages in water.

[puppycanducruise]

I thought you would have pinned the corsages on your bathrobes and walked around the ship.

After all, it's Gala night.

[Divine Miss J]

5 minutes ago, puppycanducruise said:

The ice cream was too cold?  You're right, you can't make this stuff up.

Looking forward to reading more.

We just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. But we weren't going to accept that!

[VitaminSea53]

Following. 🙂

[Divine Miss J]

CRUISING DAY THREE - AT SEA

 

First stop was Club Orange for breffus. Our wine steward tells us off for not coming to the special dinner last night but pours two mimosas. They are free.

 

A much sunnier day was spent at the cabana. First, Miss G spotted a whale and tried to point it out to me. All I ever saw were spouts of water. Then she noticed a tortoise swimming by. Or was it a turtle? I'm afraid I don't know the difference, if indeed there is any. Him I did see and it was rather neat that far out! 

 

Miss G noted we should have received special chocolates in Neptune cabins on gala night. I mention it to the concierge when I stopped in to read the British news. Apparently we were the only ones who were aware of the small print because until that time, they hadn't known that special treatment was warranted. She apologised and said she would take care of it. I mentioned the flowers. She's going to take care of that too.

 

It's feeding time so off we trot. So far we're not enamoured of Club Orange. It's really weird eating in a goldfish bowl. I suppose what really put me off was the little old man who stopped right outside where we were sitting to check out our meals and possibly judge us on the bottles of wine (Miss G only drinks red and I only drink white so there's always lots; we both we drink bubbly if we HAVE to!). It felt like he was about to lick the window.

 

After, we head to the theatre to watch a BBC programme specially edited for HAL called Planet Earth 2 with live orchestral accompaniment. I saw the full series when it was on a few years ago and can highly recommend it. Nature Girl became very emotionally involved and, along with half the audience, yelled "Run!!!!" when the newly hatched lizards scarpered across the seafront, chased by hordes of snakes. 

 

We return to our cabin to find we now have two boxes of two truffles each plus nine squares of chocolate. Bit of overkill but I don't turn down choccies. Miss G does so they're all mine. The room stewards come with our missing fleurs, full of apologies. We retire for the night, only to receive another knock. This time it's the head steward, apologising for the lack of flowers and chocolate. He lets us know it wasn't our cabin stewards' fault, they hadn't been given them. I assure him it's fine and we weren't upset.

 

The chocolate goes in my bedside drawer and it's back to another film to round off the evening.