Koningsdam Review May 28- June 4

[QuattroRomeo]

Canaletto, shrimp daily special, lamb chops with chanterelles.

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by QuattroRomeo

[QuattroRomeo]

Our one try at Tamarind was disappointing. Lovely decor, lots of staff, nice uniforms. But..first they brought us the wrong wine. Then I had the shrimp tempura- 3 shrimp in a cone-shaped serving dish. One of the shrimp was actually missing- just a shell-shaped tempura..The batter wasn't as light as it should have been, and there was just no flavour. DH had the satay sampler, which was good. His Mongolian lamb was not- very very tough. My crispy duck was not at all crispy, (soggy skin isn't too appetizing), the meat overcooked, and the udon noodles unremarkable. The sides- dungeness crab fried rice had no discernable crab and was otherwise very ordinary. The oyster and shiitake mushrooms in sake sauce - well, there were no oyster or shiitake mushrooms at all, they were button or cremini, in some kind of sauce, maybe oyster. The waitress tried to tell me that it was just supposed to be oyster sauce, not mushrooms..well, that was not the case; the menu reads "sake- braised oyster and shiitake mushrooms". All around not as described. At least the desserts were good..We were disappointed with the meal. The waitress didn't seem to know what to say when we described each issue as the meal progressed; she finally blurted out "well what about the service??" In the end she seemed to get it, and refunded the meal. We paid for the wine and cappucinos. 

 

After that we were a little gun-shy about trying the even more expensive specialty restaurants, so we stuck to our reliable Canaletto. We may have missed out on something great elsewhere, but at the time it seemed like the right decision!

 

[QuattroRomeo]

One daily program was delivered to the stateroom each night. Every day had mostly activities that were designed to get you to buy something. Not a surprise, but so many?? Monday's for example, had 19 activities listed with "Promotion" highlighted. Mercifully, no Park West Auctions.

 

The music walk venues'  musicians were mostly okay to good, but I found the sound mix to be off- the drums seemed to overpower the rest of the instruments and singers. 

 

The World Stage had a pretty impressive widescreen and it was a good venue for the talks that were held there. They had dancers some evenings with the screen show showing its own images in tandem. The dancers weren't our cup of tea, but they were certainly skilled dancers and many people seemed to enjoy them. 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

Iditarod Talk in World Stage.

 

[QuattroRomeo]

Comment Cards- we couldn't find any cards specifically designed to use for appreciating staff members, so we used the general comment sheets from the Service desk. We filled out several and dropped them in the box near Guest Services throughout the cruise, as we usually do. We found several crew members to be really good and they helped to make our cruise more enjoyable. The comments definitely made it to the crew members within 24 hours or so, as we heard back from staff how much they appreciated it. So please fill out a comment or two while you are on board- it sure makes their day!!

[QuattroRomeo]

Random Ship Photos

 

[QuattroRomeo]

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by QuattroRomeo

[QuattroRomeo]

[QuattroRomeo]

Disembarkation was pretty smooth, no overcrowding at the gangway. The lineup for bus transfers though was a long wait, and it got pretty hot in the terminal. The bus was very crowded too. Next time, we will just do the self-assist disembarkation and grab a cab. 

 

We sure enjoyed being on a ship again, even though it wasn't our favourite ship. Being on the water and just general cruise relaxation is hard to beat!  

 

For those who are concerned about Covid and cruising, we would say wait a little longer, there are definitely points where you cannot control your environment. For others, you will be happy regardless!

 

We have gleaned many tips on CC reviews and threads, so I hope something in this review will help you on a future cruise.  Happy cruising! 

[IPB4IGO]

49 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Comment Cards- we couldn't find any cards specifically designed to use for appreciating staff members, so we used the general comment sheets from the Service desk.

On our last cruise, which ended last Sunday, I couldn't find ANY comment cards. I asked the Neptune Lounge conciege and she said "We don't use those any more. You will receive an email asking for comments after the cruise."  Our waiter in the MDR told us the same thing.

Apparently it varies by ship.

[IPB4IGO]

3 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

We have gleaned many tips on CC reviews and threads, so I hope something in this review will help you on a future cruise.  Happy cruising! 

We will be on the ship in October. This thread has been very helpful to me. 

Thanks.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Our one try at Tamarind was disappointing. Lovely decor, lots of staff, nice uniforms. But..first they brought us the wrong wine. Then I had the shrimp tempura- 3 shrimp in a cone-shaped serving dish. One of the shrimp was actually missing- just a shell-shaped tempura..The batter wasn't as light as it should have been, and there was just no flavour. DH had the satay sampler, which was good. His Mongolian lamb was not- very very tough. My crispy duck was not at all crispy, (soggy skin isn't too appetizing), the meat overcooked, and the udon noodles unremarkable. The sides- dungeness crab fried rice had no discernable crab and was otherwise very ordinary. The oyster and shiitake mushrooms in sake sauce - well, there were no oyster or shiitake mushrooms at all, they were button or cremini, in some kind of sauce, maybe oyster. The waitress tried to tell me that it was just supposed to be oyster sauce, not mushrooms..well, that was not the case; the menu reads "sake- braised oyster and shiitake mushrooms". All around not as described. At least the desserts were good..We were disappointed with the meal. The waitress didn't seem to know what to say when we described each issue as the meal progressed; she finally blurted out "well what about the service??" In the end she seemed to get it, and refunded the meal. We paid for the wine and cappucinos. 

 

After that we were a little gun-shy about trying the even more expensive specialty restaurants, so we stuck to our reliable Canaletto. We may have missed out on something great elsewhere, but at the time it seemed like the right decision!

 

I know people love the shrimp tempura but I think they are like boxed ones you can buy.  I also ordered the duck on the koningsdam because people raved about it.  I found it the same way you did.  Maybe it's the koningsdam.  I agree on the crab rice.

[QuattroRomeo]

Just now, IPB4IGO said:

On our last cruise, which ended last Sunday, I couldn't find ANY comment cards. I asked the Neptune Lounge conciege and she said "We don't use those any more. You will receive an email asking for comments after the cruise."  Our waiter in the MDR told us the same thing.

Apparently it varies by ship.

We did get a prompt about staff comments during the post-cruise survey, but that isn't timely enough in our minds. Anyway, we grabbed a bunch of these sheets and used them on board:

[PACD_JG]

On embarkation day, were any specialty restaurants open for lunch?  And if so, what were the prices?

[Florida_gal_50]

19 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Comment Cards- we couldn't find any cards specifically designed to use for appreciating staff members, so we used the general comment sheets from the Service desk. We filled out several and dropped them in the box near Guest Services throughout the cruise, as we usually do. We found several crew members to be really good and they helped to make our cruise more enjoyable. The comments definitely made it to the crew members within 24 hours or so, as we heard back from staff how much they appreciated it. So please fill out a comment or two while you are on board- it sure makes their day!!

I know you don’t use the navigator app but you can do these comments on the app and it’s gets to the department heads right away.  I got thank you calls for comments I made online for those that are interested in doing it that way.

[Florida_gal_50]

18 hours ago, IPB4IGO said:

On our last cruise, which ended last Sunday, I couldn't find ANY comment cards. I asked the Neptune Lounge conciege and she said "We don't use those any more. You will receive an email asking for comments after the cruise."  Our waiter in the MDR told us the same thing.

Apparently it varies by ship.

You can comment through the navigator app.  It works very well.

[IPB4IGO]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You can comment through the navigator app.  It works very well.

Where? I looked for it while we aboard and again after the cruise. 

[Kozimoto1209]

On 6/6/2022 at 8:54 PM, Xenni said:

Thank you for the review, it is definitely a good read to prepare for our cruise in late July (same ship)!

 

I also have couple questions -

How full was the ship?

Also, when was your boarding time? I was just slotted to a 12:40 boarding time (Group C), so I'm not sure if it's the last group to board.

Hello, to answer your question our boarding time was 12:40 also however we arrived at 11:15 and had no problems boarding. I had asked and was told the ship had 1500 passengers out of 2600 capacity.

[Florida_gal_50]

20 minutes ago, IPB4IGO said:

Where? I looked for it while we aboard and again after the cruise. 

On my phone when I open the app it’s under the connect icon for lack of a better word then let us know.  You have to be on the ship to make the comment otherwise it seems to take you to the hal website.  

Edited June 11, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[IPB4IGO]

37 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

On my phone when I open the app it’s under the connect icon for lack of a better word then let us know.  You have to be on the ship to make the comment otherwise it seems to take you to the hal website.  

I see the "Let Us Know" icon now. Thanks.

[QuattroRomeo]

3 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

On embarkation day, were any specialty restaurants open for lunch?  And if so, what were the prices?

I don't think so. We asked a crew member if the MDR was open and he said no. For what it's worth, this is what the daily shows on embarkation day:

[oaktreerb]

3 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

I don't think so. We asked a crew member if the MDR was open and he said no. For what it's worth, this is what the daily shows on embarkation day:

The MDR was probably closed on embarkation day in this start up phase.  However, in the past we have been told by staff when we came aboard on embarkation day that the MDR was closed and we were directed to the Lido.  We head to the dining room anyway and it has been open from 12:00 - 1:00.  These days we have not been able to board before noon, so the dining room is probably closed.

[kickboxrca]

On 6/9/2022 at 4:21 PM, QuattroRomeo said:

Grand Dutch Cafe

 

 

We are on the Koningsdam this July - Yukon Double Denali ... can't wait - and the Dutch Cafe is DH's absolute favourite.  Thanks for posting these pics and for the lovely review.

 

 

[oaktreerb]

@QuattroRomeoThanks for the thorough report.  I’ve been on the Koningsdam twice in the past year and it is my now my favorite ship.   We’ll be joining the Nieuw Amsterdam in August for our 14 day cruise tour.  Can’t wait!

[QuattroRomeo]

Just now, oaktreerb said:

The MDR was probably closed on embarkation day in this start up phase.  However, in the past we have been told by staff when we came aboard on embarkation day that the MDR was closed and we were directed to the Lido.  We head to the dining room anyway and it has been open from 12:00 - 1:00.  These days we have not been able to board before noon, so the dining room is probably closed.

You're right, the MDR has been open in the past, we did the same thing!- less congested than the Lido. But this cruise, we boarded later as you said. Although we didn't eat dinner there, any time I was near the 3rd deck entrance to the MDR ( an elevator I used frequently) the sign always indicated that it was closed and the dining room entrance was only open on deck 2. Lower passenger counts I suppose.