Koningsdam in the Caribbean

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, Fred321 said:

Thanks so much for taking the time to post a great report. We have almost 600 days on HAL's smaller ships but decided to try Koningsdam last year just to see what a larger ship was like. Was ready to hate it but really enjoyed the entire experience, especially the Tamarind and Dutch Cafe and the music venues. BB King and Lincoln Center were excellent. Officers and crew were wonderful as usual so we will be back on her for a month in the Med. this summer.

 

We board the Rotterdam this weekend for a couple of weeks in the Carib. and then a reposition to the Netherlands. Any idea who the captain and CD will be?

 

Thanks again.

 

She definitely "grows on you" in a positive way, once onboard; the music venues are a big asset; all four: BB Kings, Rolling Stones Rock Room, Billboard as well as Lincoln Center. The six person cast from OneStep/RWS was excellent also!

 

RTDM:

 

Capt Bas van Dreumel

CD Carlos Mendoza

Edited March 27, 2019 by Copper10-8

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, richwmn said:

 

 

On the Nieuw Statendam last month the Roulette Wheel had a third position which was a HAL Logo. So in effect, a third Zero.

 

 

Didn't see that HAL logo on this wheel. Rich but, then again, didn't look for it, since we don't play roulette

[trub]

copper and rich  - thanks for info, we in  europe only have 1 zero, so find double zero a bit cheeky , adding a 3rd is just theft!!!

[Himself]

Thanks for all your good reporting.

[Sea42]

22 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Pop quiz: Who knows these guys? 😎

I believe they are Lionel Ritchie on the far left, Steven Tyler, not sure and Phil Collins on far right?

Edited March 27, 2019 by Sea42
Changed my guess

[Copper10-8]

Hey folks; just a reminder of the "crappy" reputation of Ft Lauderdale taxi cab drivers which was proven once again 30 min ago. Make sure you see the meter from the backseat. Both drivers, yes Haitians,  we used from, and to, FLL airport had their multi-functional meters turned "inwards" so facing themselves sideways, and not us,  the PAX, in the backseat. Our crook driver who just took us to FLL stated "$25.05" when I asked him how much we owned him upon arrival at our terminal

 

I knew from past experience that that was way too high so, when he was off-loading our bags, I took a look through his tinted driver's window and saw the meter indicate $15.05. When I joined Mr. low crawling #$%£ thief at the back of his SUV, the first words out of his crook mouth were "$15.05, that's $15.05"

 

I told him what I thought of punk business practises, took a pic of him and his cab #,  and advised him that I would report his crap tactics to the Broward County commission that regulates taxis. Chances are he'll claim we (both my wife and I clearly heard him say $25.05") did not hear him correctly. You know this dude has done this before and, when unchallenged, will do it again!

 

Be careful out there y'all, and keep your eyes wide open!

[Copper10-8]

5 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

I believe they are Lionel Ritchie on the far left, Steven Tyler, not sure and Phil Collins on far right?

 

Very good! The fourth is Michael Jackson 

[Sea42]

27 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Very good! The fourth is Michael Jackson 

I had forgotten that Michael Jackson had looked like a normal person at one point in his life.

[peanutter]

Thank you so much for posting all the info and pictures!  DH and I are very new to HAL (only been on the Veendam) but not to cruising in general.  We will be on Koningsdam next January and simply cannot wait.  Your posts may spur us on to look at booking something a bit sooner. 

 

Thanks again and safe travels home!

[Himself]

I am sorry to learn of you trouble with the cab driver.   I bet he didn't realize you were a retired police officer.

[NotLikeBelleRosen,IHope]

Enjoyed reading about your trip and appreciate all the info you shared. Especially appreciate the heads up on the cabbie practices. We'll be on high alert in a few weeks.

 

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Himself said:

I am sorry to learn of you trouble with the cab driver.   I bet he didn't realize you were a retired police officer.

 

He does now,  Father! I "badged" him 😜

[canadianbear]

12 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Hey folks; just a reminder of the "crappy" reputation of Ft Lauderdale taxi cab drivers which was proven once again 30 min ago. Make sure you see the meter from the backseat. Both drivers, yes Haitians,  we used from, and to, FLL airport had their multi-functional meters turned "inwards" so facing themselves sideways, and not us,  the PAX, in the backseat. Our crook driver who just took us to FLL stated "$25.05" when I asked him how much we owned him upon arrival at our terminal

 

I knew from past experience that that was way too high so, when he was off-loading our bags, I took a look through his tinted driver's window and saw the meter indicate $15.05. When I joined Mr. low crawling #$%£ thief at the back of his SUV, the first words out of his crook mouth were "$15.05, that's $15.05"

 

I told him what I thought of punk business practises, took a pic of him and his cab #,  and advised him that I would report his crap tactics to the Broward County commission that regulates taxis. Chances are he'll claim we (both my wife and I clearly heard him say $25.05") did not hear him correctly. You know this dude has done this before and, when unchallenged, will do it again!

 

Be careful out there y'all, and keep your eyes wide open!

I wish I had of had my hubby with me in January but I was traveling with a girlfriend.  When we got a taxi after getting off the Kongingsdam he didn’t have a meter in the car which got me worried right away-but, we were in the line for taxis at the terminal so I thought it was ok.  I looked around and no ID either as I wanted to take a photo “just in case”.  We were charged about $5 more than it should have been but just paid it.  I should have tried to get a photo of him and his licence plate but didn’t.  I’m just glad we made it to the airport.  

[AtlantaCruiser72]

On 3/26/2019 at 5:17 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Gents; after finishing her 2020 Alaska season in September next year, K-dam will reverse her course from April 2020 and head back to the Caribbean via Cape Horn/Tierra del Fuego. She won't use the Panama Canal, as you know, due to the angst the Panama Canal Authority has of her lifeboats/tenders partially hanging overboard. So, Summer 2020 in Alaska, Fall, Winter and early Spring 2020/2021 back in the Carib for K-dam

That means no dedicated West Coast ship for Mexican Riviera and Hawaii runs - I had assumed Konigsdam would stay on the west coast and do a mix of 7nt Mexico and 17-18nt Circle Hawaii itineraries based on other deployments.  Would HAL really abandon these markets?

 

The 4 Vistas are accounted for - Noordam to Asia, Oosterdam to Aus/NZ, Westerdam to South America, Zuiderdam on Partial Canal.  Eurodam/Nieuw Amsterdam are doing the 7nt E/W Caribbean runs.  Nieuw Statendam is doing the 10/11 Night Caribbean.  Volendam will do some Caribbean, Panama Canal, Amazon River and most likely a Grand S America.  Zaandam will be doing Panama Canal and Caribbean.  Amsterdam will be busy with the World Cruise and Grand Africa.  Rotterdam is doing a mix of South Pacific, Peru and Panama Canal.  Veendam is doing 7nt Cuba/Caribbean. 

 

Maasdam and Konigsdam are the only ships really unaccounted for.  Could they abandon the Massdam EXC in-depth sailings and put her on Mexico/Hawaii or modify the In-depth concept for those regions?  Seems a strange deployment choice if so.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

12 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Hey folks; just a reminder of the "crappy" reputation of Ft Lauderdale taxi cab drivers which was proven once again 30 min ago. Make sure you see the meter from the backseat. Both drivers, yes Haitians,  we used from, and to, FLL airport had their multi-functional meters turned "inwards" so facing themselves sideways, and not us,  the PAX, in the backseat. Our crook driver who just took us to FLL stated "$25.05" when I asked him how much we owned him upon arrival at our terminal

 

I knew from past experience that that was way too high so, when he was off-loading our bags, I took a look through his tinted driver's window and saw the meter indicate $15.05. When I joined Mr. low crawling #$%£ thief at the back of his SUV, the first words out of his crook mouth were "$15.05, that's $15.05"

 

I told him what I thought of punk business practises, took a pic of him and his cab #,  and advised him that I would report his crap tactics to the Broward County commission that regulates taxis. Chances are he'll claim we (both my wife and I clearly heard him say $25.05") did not hear him correctly. You know this dude has done this before and, when unchallenged, will do it again!

 

Be careful out there y'all, and keep your eyes wide open!

This is why I use Uber over taxis whenever possible - I know the fare before I accept the ride.  I find them universally more professional than taxi drivers, cleaner/newer vehicles and very reliable.

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

This is why I use Uber over taxis whenever possible - I know the fare before I accept the ride.  I find them universally more professional than taxi drivers, cleaner/newer vehicles and very reliable.

 

There was quite a line waiting for Uber cars at PE this morning, with very few cars showing up while we were walking to the cab line of which there were "plentong" as they Indonesians say. It's a matter of being aware of what kind of scheme some of these low life cabbies, like the one this morning, try to pull. The next time we get in a cab with the meter not visible to us as pax, I'm gonna make him show it to us from the start of the ride 'till the finish or get out and look for a new one. What irks me out of this little episode is that this Einstein has pulled this stunt before, and got away with it

[kazu]

18 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

I told him what I thought of punk business practises, took a pic of him and his cab #,  and advised him that I would report his crap tactics to the Broward County commission that regulates taxis. Chances are he'll claim we (both my wife and I clearly heard him say $25.05") did not hear him correctly. You know this dude has done this before and, when unchallenged, will do it again!

 

Good for you!  Well done!!!

[0bnxshs]

On 3/26/2019 at 12:52 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

Never seen them before on any of the ships; people are using them on this voyage

 

Interestingly, the NS does not have them installed, instead there are traditional sinks for hand washing in the Lido.  Zaandam also has them installed.  You may have noticed uses are counted on a display and I was rather discouraged at the low use counts on them after 40 days.

 

Cheers on the taxi driver "bust"!

Edited March 28, 2019 by 0bnxshs

[Copper10-8]

12 hours ago, canadianbear said:

I wish I had of had my hubby with me in January but I was traveling with a girlfriend.  When we got a taxi after getting off the Kongingsdam he didn’t have a meter in the car which got me worried right away-but, we were in the line for taxis at the terminal so I thought it was ok.  I looked around and no ID either as I wanted to take a photo “just in case”.  We were charged about $5 more than it should have been but just paid it.  I should have tried to get a photo of him and his licence plate but didn’t.  I’m just glad we made it to the airport.  

 

Having your DH with you would have definitely helped you in that!  My wife, traveling alone to join me in 2017, had a bad experience with a FLL cab driver also. He didn't like driving her the relatively short trip from FLL to the Embassy Suites on 17th and his attitude showed it

[canadianbear]

15 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Having your DH with you would have definitely helped you in that!  My wife, traveling alone to join me in 2017, had a bad experience with a FLL cab driver also. He didn't like driving her the relatively short trip from FLL to the Embassy Suites on 17th and his attitude showed it

For sure-just like you he would have set the driver straight 😁

 

It is pretty sad this is happening.  I certainly will be more aware if hubby isn’t with me to take note or photos and complain.  

[richwmn]

14 hours ago, canadianbear said:

I wish I had of had my hubby with me in January but I was traveling with a girlfriend.  When we got a taxi after getting off the Kongingsdam he didn’t have a meter in the car which got me worried right away-but, we were in the line for taxis at the terminal so I thought it was ok.  I looked around and no ID either as I wanted to take a photo “just in case”.  We were charged about $5 more than it should have been but just paid it.  I should have tried to get a photo of him and his licence plate but didn’t.  I’m just glad we made it to the airport.  

When I was in FLL last month I saw this sign and took a picture since I don't remember seeing it before. It was in the cab area outside Terminal 26.

[canadianbear]

So how are they allowing non metered cabs in?  Thought they monitored it.  

[Copper10-8]

13 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

So how are they allowing non metered cabs in?  Thought they monitored it.  

 

Ours had a meter, an iPad/Tablet-type on an adjustable/rotating frame. Mr. crook had it turned all the way to the left facing his right side. You would think they would not allow any cabs without a meter at all to work in Broward County

[rkacruiser]

A comment about Fort Lauderdale as a result of my experiences in December/January:

 

There appears to be some "off brand type of companies" whose names escapes me.  I used one during a pier to hotel transfer.  The driver had little idea as to the best route to get me to my hotel on North Andrews Avenue.  He did not charge me the full fare, but, he did not know exactly the best rate to go.  (Why did I use this cab?  It was the first in the taxi line-up.)

 

THIS IS NOT AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR A TAXI COMPANY!  But, my best experiences were with Yellow Cab.  I used my cell phone and called them; prompt service; rates quoted for my travel in advance were accurate when I paid the bill, good service, and clean cabs.

 

I asked my Marriott Hotel's concierge to arrange two transfers to Port Everglades, thinking that they both would be by reputable companies.  The first one was by a private car--OK, a first for me and the price paid was OK.  The second, a mini-van (what happened to my Lincoln Town Car?).  The price was not acceptable in comparison as to what I had paid for the Town Car.  Lesson learned:  call Yellow Cab in Fort Lauderdale.

Edited March 29, 2019 by rkacruiser

[*Miss G*]

On 3/27/2019 at 10:39 AM, Copper10-8 said:

 

Very good! The fourth is Michael Jackson 

 

I happened to be walking down the stairs, passing those pics in front of a couple of other passengers one day.  

 

Passenger 1:  Are those famous people?

Passenger 2:  Yes, they are all singers.  But what is Michael JACKSON doing there?

 

  🤣

 

Sorry for the delayed response, Copper!  I just got caught up.  Thanks for an enjoyable thread!