Just off Koningsdam... Ask me anything :)

[suzannecruisecritic]

Hi Cruise Critic Friends! We're just off the Koningsdam a few days ago for a 12 night Adriatic cruise out of Rome. I've submitted a review but also wanted to offer to answer questions since so many in this community have been so gracious in answering my questions about specific ships and were so helpful.

 

I'm attaching a few photos of our room (4211- corner aft Neptune suite) and of the first When & Where which made it home in my suitcase.

HAL4.pdf HAL3.pdf IMG_7854.HEIC IMG_7852.HEIC

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home.

 

Hope you post your review here.

[Daisyloo]

Hope you had a great cruise.  Can you tell me what were the show times in the World Stage?    And what was the entertainment like overall?

[suzannecruisecritic]

4 minutes ago, Daisyloo said:

Hope you had a great cruise.  Can you tell me what were the show times in the World Stage?    And what was the entertainment like overall?

The usual showtimes at the World Stage were 7:30 and 9:30 but not always if I recall correctly. And there were shows most nights but not every night in that space. I just happen to have a photo of one of the show announcements that I’m attaching here for you. That was for a magician who had been on America’s Got Talent and performed twice during our 12 night cruise. His shows were popular and enjoyed by most people we met. The dance show called Humanity was also enjoyed by most passengers. There was a piano man type show that was just awful. Because this ship also had the three additional Music Walk venues, I would say that overall the level of live entertainment was well above what we expected based on prior experiences on several different ships/cruise lines. We went in with super low expectations and were pleasantly surprised. Let me know if you have any other questions. 

 

[suzannecruisecritic]

1 hour ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Welcome home.

 

Hope you post your review here.

Thank you. We had a blast but it’s also nice to be back home. I posted my review and just got an email from Cruise Critic today saying that it’s been published. The executive summary ... ship was beautiful, food very good, service excellent, entertainment much better than expected, and the only complaint is that the main common areas (MDR, theater, Lido, family pool) are way too small for the number of passengers when the ship is at capacity. 

[Daisyloo]

Thanks OP for the info on the entertainment.   

[wwcruisers]

Suzanne -- how did you like the shower in the Neptune suite? (Folks report that it's a little on the small side.) In your picture, I see wall-mounted toiletries. Do you recall what brand products HAL uses -- and, did you like them? Also, is the bathtub jetted (or regular)? We booked an aft corner NS on K-dam, for our very first HAL cruise, next fall. Thank you so much for the pictures!

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Looks great.  We booked a Signature Suite forward for the 2020 Coastal, looking forward to seeing the new class.

[suzannecruisecritic]

4 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

Suzanne -- how did you like the shower in the Neptune suite? (Folks report that it's a little on the small side.) In your picture, I see wall-mounted toiletries. Do you recall what brand products HAL uses -- and, did you like them? Also, is the bathtub jetted (or regular)? We booked an aft corner NS on K-dam, for our very first HAL cruise, next fall. Thank you so much for the pictures!

I agree with others that the bathroom design is odd. I would have preferred a larger shower and no tub. I believe the bathtub did have jets but I never used it. We booked the couples spa pass and really enjoyed the hydrotherapy pool there and we also sometimes showered at the spa. The products  in the room were Elemis and I thought they were good quality; I liked that they were large refillable containers rather than tiny sample size. We booked the corner aft Neptune on 4 because it looked like that would get us the largest balcony. The balcony was huge so we really enjoyed that and used it every day; the only downside to being on 4 for us was that we were further from the Neptune lounge and that there’s a piece of equipment (you can see it in my balcony photo) that obstructed our view just a tiny bit. 

 

I hope you’ll like the Koningsdam, it’s definitely quite different from the older HAL ships. We liked the variety of specialty restaurants, club orange, and the additional music walk live entertainment venues. 

 

 

[wwcruisers]

Thanks, Suzanne! One more question -- do you recall what they were charging for a spa pass (to use the hydrotherapy pools)? I LOVE the Thallasotherapy pools on Celebrity's M-Class ships -- so, a spa pass might be worth it to me (even though I never get spa treatments)

[suzannecruisecritic]

1 hour ago, wwcruisers said:

Thanks, Suzanne! One more question -- do you recall what they were charging for a spa pass (to use the hydrotherapy pools)? I LOVE the Thallasotherapy pools on Celebrity's M-Class ships -- so, a spa pass might be worth it to me (even though I never get spa treatments)

Yes, I still have the receipt in my email so I could double check for you... it was $369 for 2 people (the couples spa pass) for a 12 day cruise. The price will vary by length of cruise and you may already be able to see the pricing when you log into your reservation to buy extras like specialty dining. I didn’t have any treatments at the spa but I used the spa with my pass almost every day and really enjoyed it. The hydrotherapy pool was terrific and they also have a nice steam room, sauna, and those warm chairs in a space with nice views. For me, the spa pass is a better spend than a treatment. My husband had a massage and tried acupuncture on this ship and he thought the services were good but not great and he also enjoyed the spa pass quite a bit. We’ve sailed Celebrity in the past as well and we found Koningsdam to be a good option for those who like Celebrity. I don’t think Club Orange was as good as Luminae but it was very good. Overall I think Celebrity has better “suite benefits” than HAL but given the recent differences in prices between the two cruise lines for dates we looked at I would probably return to HAL because it was many thousands less for our family. The entertainment on Koningsdam (because of the extra music walk venues) was much better than entertainment on Celebrity in my opinion. And in terms of specialty dining, I would recommend that you try Tamarind on the Koningsdam which I think is my favorite specialty restaurant at sea on any line. Like Celebrity, HAL offered free laundry for the higher level suites and they did a great job so you should be able to pack lighter and always have clean clothes (they typically return the laundry the next day and you can start sending laundry in on day 1 if you had some accumulated from pre-cruise travel). Let me know if you think of anything else you would like to know in advance.  

[JustinPlusLauren]

Wow that suite is beautiful! I hope that I can someday book one of those!

[Vic The Parrot]

Thanks for your input, and welcome home. 

Do the bars carry Strongbow?

[Ellen495]

Thanks for sharing! We will be in Neptune on that boat (level 4 aft) to Alaska. Is there only one aft per level (I am a first time cruiser so don't mind if that was a dumb question) and if so - I don't see the equipment blocking the view. How annoying was that because I hate obstructed views. I chose the 4th level because I was told it would be the quietest (not right below late night entertainment) but I know they still have a few other level afts. Definitely want the aft. Thank you!

[suzannecruisecritic]

1 hour ago, Vic The Parrot said:

Thanks for your input, and welcome home. 

Do the bars carry Strongbow?

Hi Vic, I’m so sorry but I don’t know what Strongbow is??? 

[suzannecruisecritic]

49 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

Thanks for sharing! We will be in Neptune on that boat (level 4 aft) to Alaska. Is there only one aft per level (I am a first time cruiser so don't mind if that was a dumb question) and if so - I don't see the equipment blocking the view. How annoying was that because I hate obstructed views. I chose the 4th level because I was told it would be the quietest (not right below late night entertainment) but I know they still have a few other level afts. Definitely want the aft. Thank you!

Hi Ellen, No dumb questions! Everyone is here to help each other out I hope 🙂.  Just take a look at the deck plans available on the HAL website to get a better perspective of the locations of the rooms, lounges, etc. Ours was 4211 which was one of the two back corners of the ship on the fourth floor and I assume you’ll find an identical room to ours on the opposite back corner. Which one did you book? I found another photo in my phone to share with you of that equipment that obstructed the view a little. It was really minor because the balcony was enormous but I always think it’s ideal to know in advance. I would book that room again because I loved the spacious balcony. I was told by other cruisers here on CC that all the corner balconies are great but that 4 would be the largest. I found the location to be quiet because there were no lounges right above or below and since we were all the way at the aft (back) we didn’t have lots of traffic of random people walking by the room. We also had no issues with cigarette smoke as we were far from the smoking areas of the ship. Some people think the aft gets more movement/vibration than the center of the ship but we were not troubled at all by any unusual movement and none of us felt seasick. 

[Vic The Parrot]

49 minutes ago, suzannecruisecritic said:

Hi Vic, I’m so sorry but I don’t know what Strongbow is??? 

It's a cider beverage from the UK. Very tasty and refreshing. 😎

[suzannecruisecritic]

1 minute ago, Vic The Parrot said:

It's a cider beverage from the UK. Very tasty and refreshing. 😎

Now I’m going to have to try that!

[Vic The Parrot]

1 minute ago, suzannecruisecritic said:

Now I’m going to have to try that!

If you like apples, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It has alcohol, but not too potent. 

(You won't get wasted after 2 bottles. LOL. 🤣). 

 

Check it out sometime. 

[Lido deck main]

19 hours ago, Vic The Parrot said:

If you like apples, I'm sure you won't be disappointed. It has alcohol, but not too potent. 

(You won't get wasted after 2 bottles. LOL. 🤣). 

 

Check it out sometime. 

We like Strongbow too,  like you said not too potent 4.5 per cent alcohol, they have four flavours so doesn’t have to be apple.  Have you tried Somersby, (cider from Denmark), loved the blackberry one.  Cheers,

[Vic The Parrot]

2 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

We like Strongbow too,  like you said not too potent 4.5 per cent alcohol, they have four flavours so doesn’t have to be apple.  Have you tried Somersby, (cider from Denmark), loved the blackberry one.  Cheers,

I'll have to look for that, thanks for the tip.    

 

(My apologies to Suzanne. Didn't mean to hijack your thread for a discussion on "liquid cheer"  🙃)

[cirquskid]

Thanks for posting... Do you know if the specialty restaurants are open embarkation day?

Thanks

John

[Cruise Suzy]

On 8/17/2019 at 2:43 PM, Vic The Parrot said:

Do the bars carry Strongbow?

 

Yes. It is still on Crew News December 2019 Bar Menu on page 3.

 http://www.rogerjett-photography.com/here/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Bar-Menu.pdf

[Daisyloo]

7 hours ago, cirquskid said:

Thanks for posting... Do you know if the specialty restaurants are open embarkation day?

Thanks

John

 

We dined in the Tamarind on embarkation day on our last cruise. I would assume the  other specialty restaurants would be open as well. 

[MisterBill99]

8 hours ago, cirquskid said:

Thanks for posting... Do you know if the specialty restaurants are open embarkation day?

Thanks

John

 

For dinner? Of course! Sadly, there is no more 25% discount (or free bottle of wine that I saw mentioned elsewhere). I tried multiple times to get 25% off Tamarind the first night and did not succeed (I was not a 3* so no automatic discount).

 

If you are asking about lunch, no they are not open.

Edited January 14, 2020 by MisterBill99