Koningsdam June 3 - 10 Alaska review

[nw gardener]

Entrance to CO

[nw gardener]

View from window seat in Tamarind

[nw gardener]

Sunset on the last night heading back to Vancouver.  Yes the colors are true,  it was spectacular.

[Haljo1935]

Thanks for sharing - your fair observations are appreciated and the pictures are stunning!

[Bemidji Ty]

Thanks so much.

[bookmomoftwins]

I loved reading your review as we will be boarding Saturday for the same itinerary. I do have a few questions, although I know the answers will vary with each different group of passengers 🙂

 

--What were the temps like inside the ship?  Summer trips to cold places are tricky to pack for!

--How dressy did people get in the evenings for dinner / entertainment?

--Did many people wear masks?  Did you hear of onboard Covid cases? The Navigator app still recommended wearing masks in the World Stage and I wondered if many people did so.

--Any quiet daytime spots on the ship you'd recommend for reading and playing cards?  

 

I'm half convinced my husband chose this particular cruise for the Dutch Cafe so he especially enjoyed the pastry picture you shared!!

 

[Hchen123]

Thank you for the review. Can you please provide more photos of the balcony space of your cabin?

[nw gardener]

-Temps inside were comfortable in most areas but not t-shirt for me, like a long sleeve light weight top.

-A few people went all out, but the majority were dressy top and nice pants or dress, men in nice pants and shirt.  Did see one get turned away at Tamarind for showing up in sandals, shorts and t-shirt.  I gave the maitre de a thumbs up for that.

 

[nw gardener]

A few people and staff wearing masks.  Did not hear of any covid cases.  Covid will be with us for awhile,  we try to stay clear of packed elevators etc, but we felt comfortable. I didn't make it to the new library on deck 2 but assume that is a quiet spot. The Tamarind bar doesn't serve until 5 but you can sit there and probably have it to yourself before opening.  We sat there for part of the day in Glacier Bay.

[nw gardener]

18 minutes ago, Hchen123 said:

Thank you for the review. Can you please provide more photos of the balcony space of your cabin?

Sorry but no other pics of the balcony.  Deck 8 balconies are fully covered,  2 chairs with foot stools and a small round table.  We were next to the corner Neptune suite.  No smoke or soot issues.  Only noise was chairs being set up above us by the Seaview pool in the morning. I don't know what the square footage was, but it was very comfortable and would get that cabin again.

[HappyInVan]

1 hour ago, Hchen123 said:

Thank you for the review. Can you please provide more photos of the balcony space of your cabin?

 

Here's a shot of an aft cabin AS7192 from a different angle. Ample space on the balcony for two loungers, and with several feet from the loungers to the railing.

 

 

[Hchen123]

Thank you 👍

[erdufylla]

5 hours ago, bookmomoftwins said:

I loved reading your review as we will be boarding Saturday for the same itinerary. I do have a few questions, although I know the answers will vary with each different group of passengers 🙂

 

--What were the temps like inside the ship?  Summer trips to cold places are tricky to pack for!

--How dressy did people get in the evenings for dinner / entertainment?

--Did many people wear masks?  Did you hear of onboard Covid cases? The Navigator app still recommended wearing masks in the World Stage and I wondered if many people did so.

--Any quiet daytime spots on the ship you'd recommend for reading and playing cards?  

 

I'm half convinced my husband chose this particular cruise for the Dutch Cafe so he especially enjoyed the pastry picture you shared!!

 

I was on the ship the week prior, and I thought I’d offer my $0.02 on these questions, if it’s helpful.

 

— I found temps inside the ship to be very comfortable, almost unnoticeable most of the time. I was quite comfy wearing leggings or jeans and lightweight short or 3/4-length tees or blouses in most areas of the ship. The Lido pool area was a bit warmer. The only time I needed anything heavier was when I went out on the outer decks, especially when we were moving. (And on some of those times, especially when we were further north, I was glad I’d brought a winter coat and a hat and scarf, and my teenage nephew was kicking himself that he did not.)

 

— Some people got very dressed up for the gala/dressy nights, but it’s a far cry from what it used to be for most people I saw. Average was slacks and a button-down shirt for men and a casual dress or slacks/blouse for women, but I also saw a lot of what I’d consider really casual wear even on fancy nights. Not quite “going to the beach” wear, but still really casual to my eyes. I never saw anyone turned away for wearing jeans or leggings or sneakers in the MDR, though, even on gala/fancy nights.

 

— I saw some people wearing masks, but not very many. Most that I saw were staff, or in enclosed spaces like tour busses on excursions.

 

— I didn’t find too many places that were genuinely quiet on the ship, aside from our stateroom. But the two places I really enjoyed for some quiet time and journaling or card games during the day were port side of the Sea View Pool (on the Lido deck 9, at the very back of the ship), and the hallway on deck 2 (I think? operating from memory here) outside the Club Orange restaurant. That latter area is almost always quiet, aside from some foot traffic, and is set up with 2-top tables (with USB chargers!) and porthole windows. It was a definite favorite place for some quiet time.

[bookmomoftwins]

11 hours ago, nw gardener said:

-Temps inside were comfortable in most areas but not t-shirt for me, like a long sleeve light weight top.

-A few people went all out, but the majority were dressy top and nice pants or dress, men in nice pants and shirt.  Did see one get turned away at Tamarind for showing up in sandals, shorts and t-shirt.  I gave the maitre de a thumbs up for that.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!  

[bookmomoftwins]

5 hours ago, erdufylla said:

I was on the ship the week prior, and I thought I’d offer my $0.02 on these questions, if it’s helpful.

 

— I found temps inside the ship to be very comfortable, almost unnoticeable most of the time. I was quite comfy wearing leggings or jeans and lightweight short or 3/4-length tees or blouses in most areas of the ship. The Lido pool area was a bit warmer. The only time I needed anything heavier was when I went out on the outer decks, especially when we were moving. (And on some of those times, especially when we were further north, I was glad I’d brought a winter coat and a hat and scarf, and my teenage nephew was kicking himself that he did not.)

 

— Some people got very dressed up for the gala/dressy nights, but it’s a far cry from what it used to be for most people I saw. Average was slacks and a button-down shirt for men and a casual dress or slacks/blouse for women, but I also saw a lot of what I’d consider really casual wear even on fancy nights. Not quite “going to the beach” wear, but still really casual to my eyes. I never saw anyone turned away for wearing jeans or leggings or sneakers in the MDR, though, even on gala/fancy nights.

 

— I saw some people wearing masks, but not very many. Most that I saw were staff, or in enclosed spaces like tour busses on excursions.

 

— I didn’t find too many places that were genuinely quiet on the ship, aside from our stateroom. But the two places I really enjoyed for some quiet time and journaling or card games during the day were port side of the Sea View Pool (on the Lido deck 9, at the very back of the ship), and the hallway on deck 2 (I think? operating from memory here) outside the Club Orange restaurant. That latter area is almost always quiet, aside from some foot traffic, and is set up with 2-top tables (with USB chargers!) and porthole windows. It was a definite favorite place for some quiet time.

Thanks so much!

[57redbird]

16 hours ago, nw gardener said:

View from window seat in Tamarind

That was our table twice.

[terrydtx]

Thank you for your great review. We will be on the Koingsdam in November for the California Coastal cruise. This will be our first Pinnacle class ship and we are in the aft facing Verandah on deck 6. We also booked with CO and look forward to the smaller and I hope quieter dining venue. My question is, how were the added entrees in CO?

[nw gardener]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Thank you for your great review. We will be on the Koingsdam in November for the California Coastal cruise. This will be our first Pinnacle class ship and we are in the aft facing Verandah on deck 6. We also booked with CO and look forward to the smaller and I hope quieter dining venue. My question is, how were the added entrees in CO?

You will love CO and maybe you will have the same manager Dani who was attentive and so nice. I  only tried one of the added entrees which was a lemon shrimp fettuccine,  very good.  I have no complaints about the menu without the added entree as I always found something that I wanted to try. My own personal gripe is wanting a few more veggies included with the entrees in general.  

[cbr663]

13 hours ago, bookmomoftwins said:

I loved reading your review as we will be boarding Saturday for the same itinerary. I do have a few questions, although I know the answers will vary with each different group of passengers 🙂

 

--What were the temps like inside the ship?  Summer trips to cold places are tricky to pack for!

--How dressy did people get in the evenings for dinner / entertainment?

--Did many people wear masks?  Did you hear of onboard Covid cases? The Navigator app still recommended wearing masks in the World Stage and I wondered if many people did so.

--Any quiet daytime spots on the ship you'd recommend for reading and playing cards?  

 

I'm half convinced my husband chose this particular cruise for the Dutch Cafe so he especially enjoyed the pastry picture you shared!!

 

 

We were on the ship May 13th and here are my responses:

 

1.  Temps inside the ship were normal room temps.  No problem wearing a t-shirt and shorts or active pants.  Balconies were quite cooler and we tended to cover up in a blanket when outside.

 

2.  Some were noticeably dressy, especially on dressy nights.  Most people though adhered to casual - pants and collared shirts for men and cocktail dresses and pants/blouses for women.

 

3.  Very few masks at the beginning of the cruise.  Elevators were quite crowded with many people making room the squeeze more in.  It was very noticeable that people were coughing and sick toward the end of the cruise.  We started to feel ill toward the end and did test positive for COVID once home.

 

4.  Lots of quiet spots around the ship.  Many of the bars will be empty during the day so very easy to set up there.  I also agree with another poster that the line of tables outside of CO is a very quiet spot and we would often have a coffee there.

 

BTW - the lineups at the Dutch Cafe can be long.  The Bossche Bol was quite delicious and our our cruise it made an appearance on I think around Day 5 in the Lido as a single serve option.  So if you miss out on the Dutch Cafe keep an eye on the Lido.

Edited June 14, 2023 by cbr663

[terrydtx]

22 minutes ago, nw gardener said:

You will love CO and maybe you will have the same manager Dani who was attentive and so nice. I  only tried one of the added entrees which was a lemon shrimp fettuccine,  very good.  I have no complaints about the menu without the added entree as I always found something that I wanted to try. My own personal gripe is wanting a few more veggies included with the entrees in general.  

That fettuccine sounds very good. We had the same issue with entrees and lack of vegetables on our Celebrity Equinox cruise last week in their suites MDR, Luminae. I found out that we could ask for and get extra veggies like steamed broccoli and green beans, so I hope we can do the same in CO.

[cbr663]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Thank you for your great review. We will be on the Koingsdam in November for the California Coastal cruise. This will be our first Pinnacle class ship and we are in the aft facing Verandah on deck 6. We also booked with CO and look forward to the smaller and I hope quieter dining venue. My question is, how were the added entrees in CO?

 

On our Alaskan cruise in May we had several of the added entries.  The beef short ribs were good and I noticed a lot of other tables were ordering them.  I tried the Duck a L'Orange and it was a little disappointing.  Not a lot of flavour and not one I would order again.

 

A heads up - we found at breakfast getting well eggs cooked was a bit of a challenge.  We like our eggs over easy and several mornings the egg whites were not set.  We tired over medium and the same.  Finally, I resorted to over hard.

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, cbr663 said:

...A heads up - we found at breakfast getting well eggs cooked was a bit of a challenge.  We like our eggs over easy and several mornings the egg whites were not set.  We tired over medium and the same.  Finally, I resorted to over hard.

Haven't tried CO, but have also experienced egg issues in MDR - I order "over hard" or "hard fried" and will receive with a yolk that is still not fully set.

Can't speak for buffet as I get an omelet there.

[travelholics]

5 hours ago, terrydtx said:

That fettuccine sounds very good. We had the same issue with entrees and lack of vegetables on our Celebrity Equinox cruise last week in their suites MDR, Luminae. I found out that we could ask for and get extra veggies like steamed broccoli and green beans, so I hope we can do the same in CO.

On our 35 day cruise to the South Pacific on Koningsdam we explained that we loved vegetables and a large plate came each evening for the 4 of us to share (MDR)

[0106]

6 hours ago, terrydtx said:

how were the added entrees in CO?

My DH said the Peruvian chicken was the best chicken he ever ate.  He had a veal dish one night that looked like a veal chop to me, he said it was delicious too.  Actually, I believe he ordered the special dish every night except one and enjoyed them all.  (I’m a pescatarian so that is why I didn’t try many of them.). We have CO booked for all of our future cruises on Pinnacle class ships.

[terrydtx]

4 hours ago, 0106 said:

We have CO booked for all of our future cruises on Pinnacle class ships.

We also booked CO for our Volendam cruise in August next year, Boston to Montreal. We booked a B level Vista Suite towards the aft and got upgraded to the A level prime midship location Vista Suite, the cost between B and the A we would have booked without CO, paid for the CO addon. We also liked the priority tendering as we have several on this cruise and priority boarding. Having not to wait in line for anytime dining in the MDR was another benefit we liked along with the extra entree choice we will get. With the cabin upgrade the CO is a free upgrade.

 

We will not book any future HAL cruises without CO, it just adds a little more premium to the cruise and if done right costs no very little.

Edited June 15, 2023 by terrydtx