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Konigsdam 11-day Southern Caribbean - My View


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1 hour ago, VermeulT said:

I'm on the K'Dam in 16 days... I'm not shy.  If I'm greeted with such indifference - I will say something... "is it really that hard to smile and say good morning."  Basic Civilities, as you say, is part of the business!!!

A pleasant "Good morning, sir" should be sufficient to elicit a response.  Is there really a need to be snarky about it? :classic_rolleyes:

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On 12/18/2018 at 11:19 AM, Crew News said:

The day began in bright sunshine with temps predicted in the mid 90's

 

Just completed my brief excursion up the hill via airport-shuttle type van.  Hurricane damage is still very evident to include the destruction of one of the middle schools near the city harbor.  Our guide pointed down at the roofs as we drove up the mountain side being of two colors:  red and FEMA tarp blue.  He told us that none of the resorts will be open until next tourist season.  The educational TV station towers at the top of he hill are just twisted metal.  Some downtown stores are still shuttered but the street vendors are out in full force trying to bring in badly needed money to the island.

 

It was nice to use a phone again and being away from downtown and the only ship currently docked, the reception is great.

 

More later.

What port are you in?

 

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Hi, I have a quick question for you! 

BTimmer has posted a pic of the pianos in the Billboard on Board on Nieuw Statendam.  They show Yamaha Grand pianos - proper pianos with hammers and strings!

Does the Koningsdam still have those terrible electric pianos or were they changed out at the dry dock?

Thanks!

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6 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Enjoying all your time and effort in this thread Crew News. 

 

I have spoken to Santosh, incoming Hotel Director, about the amazing chocolate bombs he made for us in Alaska.  When you come on board, drop him a thank you note, too.  You might be surprised at his response.

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6 hours ago, RedHeadTexan said:

Thanks Roger for spending lunch and more with Walt and me this afternoon.  We both thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your life adventures.  

 

Lisa

 

I am still inhaling to recover all of that hot air.

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Our last sea day began and ended with great weather but the forecast for tomorrow is rain at Half Moon Cay.

 

I ate my morning cereal in one of the slanted salad bowls used by the Pizza folks for their Caprese salads.  What a strange feeling with the back of the bowl a third taller than the front.  Being a sea day, many passengers avoided the Lido Market leaving no lines at any serving station.

 

I walked around the Deck 10 area next to the Tamarind and found it too narrow for dining outside. 

 

My proposed luncheon for over 100 roll call members conflicted with a wine tasting one deck above the MDR so three of us had lunch covering a few hours.

 

I received an invitation to split a President's Cut steak with a friend tomorrow so I had to cancel my Tamarind prepaid reservation only to find that someone had changed it to a Sel de Mer ala carte reservation.  After ten minutes at the Front Desk, I was able to convince them to refund my $25 Tamarand reservation that had been swallowed by their system.  The Accounting folks don't come to work until 11:00 PM so I will have to verify in the morning.  I strongly suggest that anyone with prepaid reservations better verify them on Embarkation Day at the Reservations Desk on Deck 2 (across from the Sel de Mer).

 

Gala Night was my typical two lobsters and a small salad.  The Assistant Dining Room Manager stopped at not a single table tonight.  FWIW I have had my waiters on lookout for tuxedos for both Gala Nights and they reported not a single one was spotted among the 33 tables within their view.  I did see one tuxedo on the elevator as I was headed to the Lido Pool are to watch the movie.  I still haven't seen the MDR Manager

 

No cooking demos were conducted this cruise and no kitchen tour was conducted.

 

The evening movie, Overboard, was good and very funny.  It was better with several bags of popcorn. 

 

Tomorrow is Half Moon Cay and the prospect of a long line at the barbecue OR no lines at the Lido Market.

 

With the exception of inspecting the Billboard pianos, I think I have answered all posted questions.  If not, or if there are more to be asked, I will be aboard one more day

 

More tomorrow.

 

 

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35 minutes ago, Crew News said:

Our last sea day began and ended with great weather but the forecast for tomorrow is rain at Half Moon Cay.

 

I ate my morning cereal in one of the slanted salad bowls used by the Pizza folks for their Caprese salads.  What a strange feeling with the back of the bowl a third taller than the front.  Being a sea day, many passengers avoided the Lido Market leaving no lines at any serving station.

 

I walked around the Deck 10 area next to the Tamarind and found it too narrow for dining outside. 

 

My proposed luncheon for over 100 roll call members conflicted with a wine tasting one deck above the MDR so three of us had lunch covering a few hours.

 

I received an invitation to split a President's Cut steak with a friend tomorrow so I had to cancel my Tamarind prepaid reservation only to find that someone had changed it to a Sel de Mer ala carte reservation.  After ten minutes at the Front Desk, I was able to convince them to refund my $25 Tamarand reservation that had been swallowed by their system.  The Accounting folks don't come to work until 11:00 PM so I will have to verify in the morning.  I strongly suggest that anyone with prepaid reservations better verify them on Embarkation Day at the Reservations Desk on Deck 2 (across from the Sel de Mer).

 

Gala Night was my typical two lobsters and a small salad.  The Assistant Dining Room Manager stopped at not a single table tonight.  FWIW I have had my waiters on lookout for tuxedos for both Gala Nights and they reported not a single one was spotted among the 33 tables within their view.  I did see one tuxedo on the elevator as I was headed to the Lido Pool are to watch the movie.  I still haven't seen the MDR Manager

 

No cooking demos were conducted this cruise and no kitchen tour was conducted.

 

The evening movie, Overboard, was good and very funny.  It was better with several bags of popcorn. 

 

Tomorrow is Half Moon Cay and the prospect of a long line at the barbecue OR no lines at the Lido Market.

 

With the exception of inspecting the Billboard pianos, I think I have answered all posted questions.  If not, or if there are more to be asked, I will be aboard one more day

 

More tomorrow.

 

 

Complete newbie here, so excuse the dumb question, but does anyone from HAL read these?

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Thanks for all the great information.  We'll be onboard for the New Year's Eve cruise, and it will be our first on HAL. I see you are in Half Moon Cay today along with Nieuw Statendam.  We will be there on the 29th, and both ships will be there together again.

 

You implied that you'll probably be staying on board today, but if you go ashore, I'd be curious to know if HMC is over crowded with both ships being there at the same time.

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2 hours ago, EMc&DrS said:

Thanks for all the great information.  We'll be onboard for the New Year's Eve cruise, and it will be our first on HAL. I see you are in Half Moon Cay today along with Nieuw Statendam.  We will be there on the 29th, and both ships will be there together again.

 

You implied that you'll probably be staying on board today, but if you go ashore, I'd be curious to know if HMC is over crowded with both ships being there at the same time.

 

Half Moon Cay is cancelled due to winds that would not allow the ship to safely anchor off the coast.  We are on our way to Fort Lauderdale at a slower speed. 

 

There will be a kitchen tour today to fill the time and the Casino will be open soon.

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2 hours ago, EMc&DrS said:

Thanks for all the great information.  We'll be onboard for the New Year's Eve cruise, and it will be our first on HAL. I see you are in Half Moon Cay today along with Nieuw Statendam.  We will be there on the 29th, and both ships will be there together again.

 

You implied that you'll probably be staying on board today, but if you go ashore, I'd be curious to know if HMC is over crowded with both ships being there at the same time.

 

I will have all of the menus posted to my website before your cruise to help your planning.

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10 hours ago, leerathje said:

Complete newbie here, so excuse the dumb question, but does anyone from HAL read these?

 

They do read them so I have learned.  It must be noted that whatever I post on this thread I follow with a Comment Card to the Front Desk.  I have been told that the cards are read at the Captain's Meetings.  It is also important that my comments are repeated in the Survey all passengers receive a few days after the cruise.

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We were on the November 11 sailing on the Koningsdam.  This was our second sailing on HAL and previously we were on the Maasdam a year ago.  This trip we had a wonderful veranda cabin and really enjoyed the small but cozy space.  Overall we were not that impressed with the ship.  The casino was way too smokey at night.  This was a 10 day trip and we occasionally shopped the stores and came away very disappointed in any kind of selection.  All we really wanted was a logo t-shirt and there was nothing.  Heard about the change of vendor during dry dock but they could have sold a lot more if they only had some stock.  Best bargain of the trip was the ships model for $10.00.  My husband loves to collect the models.  I am glad we tried the ship but we realized we prefer smaller and more intimate ships of HA.

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7 hours ago, EMc&DrS said:

Thanks for all the great information.  We'll be onboard for the New Year's Eve cruise, and it will be our first on HAL. I see you are in Half Moon Cay today along with Nieuw Statendam.  We will be there on the 29th, and both ships will be there together again.

 

You implied that you'll probably be staying on board today, but if you go ashore, I'd be curious to know if HMC is over crowded with both ships being there at the same time.

We were at HMC on the Koningsdam last year with one of the Vista class ships and all was fine.  A little crowded but not bad.

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23 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Hi, I have a quick question for you! 

BTimmer has posted a pic of the pianos in the Billboard on Board on Nieuw Statendam.  They show Yamaha Grand pianos - proper pianos with hammers and strings!

Does the Koningsdam still have those terrible electric pianos or were they changed out at the dry dock?

Thanks!

 

I am not a piano expert.  The pianos in the Billboard look like normal pianos but they have switches above the keyboards and wires leading to speakers.  The only piano I found on board that looked normal was the one in the Ocean Bar.

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Bags are now packed and waiting in the hallway for pickup so now time to recap the day. 

 

Since we bypassed Half Moon Cay, it seemed like every passenger stopped for lunch at the same time.  As normal, a good number of tables were occupied by readers even though their fellow passengers stood around waiting for open tables. 

 

Another trip to the Front Desk was made to get a refund for the Tamarind pre-paid purchase reservation got me another, "it will referred to the Night Accounting folks" and should be resolved by the time you leave the ship."

 

Refusing to surrender my unused OBC, I opted to buy the latest GoPro at the same price it is available on Amazon. 

 

A friend invited me to the PG to share the President's Cut steak.  We were joined by the HAL Corporate Housekeeping Rep who has been onboard for the drydock and this cruise.  I took the opportunity to ask drydock questions.

 

Doors to the Handicapped bathrooms are now operated by a large push button, doors to the Promenade Deck were converted to sensor operation rather than having to use a big push/pull, and a few staterooms did not receive the new nightlights due to lack of 42 inches for sensor operations. 

 

I also learned that at the last Eurodam drydock every light was changed to LED, thousands of them.

 

Now to the President's cut.  After years of trying, I finally have some great photos for my website.  The huge steak comes with sides of mushrooms, carrots, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, and choice of sauces.  The huge piece of meat is then removed from the bone at table side and divided among the dinners sharing it.  Despite limiting myself to salad for lunch, I could finish half of my half of the steak.  My friend ate his half.  The HAL Corporate rep opted for a well-done filet mignon.  All three of us at the table chuckled when the dessert menu was brought to the table.  It must be noted that this steak is available in the MDR for $75 and since all of the sides are provided, could feed a family of four.

 

Tomorrow night at 7:45 will be the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony for those boarding tomorrow. 

 

I will try the Global Entry system tomorrow and report on this thread.

 

More tomorrow.

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7 hours ago, Crew News said:

Bags are now packed and waiting in the hallway for pickup so now time to recap the day. 

 

Since we bypassed Half Moon Cay, it seemed like every passenger stopped for lunch at the same time.  As normal, a good number of tables were occupied by readers even though their fellow passengers stood around waiting for open tables. 

 

Another trip to the Front Desk was made to get a refund for the Tamarind pre-paid purchase reservation got me another, "it will referred to the Night Accounting folks" and should be resolved by the time you leave the ship."

 

Refusing to surrender my unused OBC, I opted to buy the latest GoPro at the same price it is available on Amazon. 

 

A friend invited me to the PG to share the President's Cut steak.  We were joined by the HAL Corporate Housekeeping Rep who has been onboard for the drydock and this cruise.  I took the opportunity to ask drydock questions.

 

Doors to the Handicapped bathrooms are now operated by a large push button, doors to the Promenade Deck were converted to sensor operation rather than having to use a big push/pull, and a few staterooms did not receive the new nightlights due to lack of 42 inches for sensor operations. 

 

I also learned that at the last Eurodam drydock every light was changed to LED, thousands of them.

 

Now to the President's cut.  After years of trying, I finally have some great photos for my website.  The huge steak comes with sides of mushrooms, carrots, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, and choice of sauces.  The huge piece of meat is then removed from the bone at table side and divided among the dinners sharing it.  Despite limiting myself to salad for lunch, I could finish half of my half of the steak.  My friend ate his half.  The HAL Corporate rep opted for a well-done filet mignon.  All three of us at the table chuckled when the dessert menu was brought to the table.  It must be noted that this steak is available in the MDR for $75 and since all of the sides are provided, could feed a family of four.

 

Tomorrow night at 7:45 will be the Christmas Tree lighting ceremony for those boarding tomorrow. 

 

I will try the Global Entry system tomorrow and report on this thread.

 

More tomorrow.

 

Not looking at the AIS right now, but am sure that IF you were awake right now you might be able to see the lights of Port Everglades and Ft Lauderdale. What does that mean? It means 1 more day before you are home and sharing the Steak photos!!!

 

Is the steak as big as the 72oz steak at that place in Amarillo? The one that if you eat it all it is free?

 

On the few staterooms that did not get the sensors due to lack of 42 inches.....What is the 42 inches? Is it from floor to Night Stand or ???

 

Joanie

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