Live from the Konigsdam - 14 day Northern Isles

We are boarding the Konigsdam in Amsterdam today for a 14 day journey to Scotland, Iceland, and Norway. I'll post here some photos and information as time and the Wifi allow.

We came into Amsterdam a day early and had a lovely day walking around the city and taking an open boat Canal Tour.

First off we are staying at the Moevenpick which is very nice. It is literally next door to the cruise terminal. We arrived at 10:00 AM from the airport and checked at registration and our room was not ready but for an additional 30 Euro for the night, we could upgrade to a room that was ready and was a nicer room. The Mini bar was also free. There were several sodas, waters, juices, and 2 Heineken in there. We left most of it but did enjoy having the water and soda. The room was on a high floor facing the harbor.

We set off on foot to find Stromma Tours at Damrak Pier 6, a 30 minute walk from the hotel. We could have taken a tram to the central station and then a train, but it was a lovely day and it's Pride week here in Amsterdam, and the Canal parade was going on so we thought it would be fun to walk. We are both 57 and in relatively good shape. We walked to the Central Station, and then on through the streets to find the dock. We arrived well before our scheduling tour, and they put us on a boat that would leave in 20 minutes instead. It was a fantastic way to see the city. we went through many areas of town and the captain was quite knowledgeable. It was very fun.

After our boat tour we walked to a wine shop that someone on Cruise Critic recommended and they walked us through choosing some wines that we will take on the ship. The prices were reasonable, and they had a great selection. We will pay the corkage fee for the bottles that we have (except the two that we can bring for free).

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel, it was expensive but good. They are known for their ice cream, and it was worth trying. We managed to stay awake for the full day despite not sleeping much on the plane. The beds at the Moevenpick are comfortable, the bathrooms are very nice with a walk in large shower.

We woke up this morning to the Konigsdam right outside of our window. Breakfast is included in the room, and the ship is also visible from the restaurant.

Thank you for your report.

Great to see the ship from your hotel.

Hope you have a fabulous 14 day cruise.

Looking forward to your Live reports.

Sounds like you are off to a great start -- nice boat ride, walking around, great meals.

Looking forward to your live reports on the Koningsdam.

Could you please post the name and address of the wine shop you went to in Amsterdam. Good selection of French and Italian wines?

Bon voyage !

Looks like you are off to a great start.

Hope you have a wonderful cruise. I'm looking forward to reading all about it.

Thanks for taking us along.

Thanks for doing live report! Looking forward to your reports:)

We spent 14 nights aboard Kdam in May. Love this ship! Everything was fabulous and even more than we expected. Looking for another Kdam cruise in the near future. Thanks for bringing it all back for us. Have a wonderful cruise!

Thanks for doing a live report. Looking forward to traveling along!

Thanks for taking us along. Have a wonderful trip!

Have a great cruise. Donot forget to see how the ship goes into the lock at IJmuiden, about 2 hours after sail off.

Thanks for sharing the info.

We are boarding the Konigsdam in Amsterdam today for a 14 day journey to Scotland, Iceland, and Norway. I'll post here some photos and information as time and the Wifi allow.

 

We came into Amsterdam a day early and had a lovely day walking around the city and taking an open boat Canal Tour.

 

First off we are staying at the Moevenpick which is very nice. It is literally next door to the cruise terminal. We arrived at 10:00 AM from the airport and checked at registration and our room was not ready but for an additional 30 Euro for the night, we could upgrade to a room that was ready and was a nicer room. The Mini bar was also free. There were several sodas, waters, juices, and 2 Heineken in there. We left most of it but did enjoy having the water and soda. The room was on a high floor facing the harbor.

 

We set off on foot to find Stromma Tours at Damrak Pier 6, a 30 minute walk from the hotel. We could have taken a tram to the central station and then a train, but it was a lovely day and it's Pride week here in Amsterdam, and the Canal parade was going on so we thought it would be fun to walk. We are both 57 and in relatively good shape. We walked to the Central Station, and then on through the streets to find the dock. We arrived well before our scheduling tour, and they put us on a boat that would leave in 20 minutes instead. It was a fantastic way to see the city. we went through many areas of town and the captain was quite knowledgeable. It was very fun.

 

 

After our boat tour we walked to a wine shop that someone on Cruise Critic recommended and they walked us through choosing some wines that we will take on the ship. The prices were reasonable, and they had a great selection. We will pay the corkage fee for the bottles that we have (except the two that we can bring for free).

 

We had a lovely dinner at the hotel, it was expensive but good. They are known for their ice cream, and it was worth trying. We managed to stay awake for the full day despite not sleeping much on the plane. The beds at the Moevenpick are comfortable, the bathrooms are very nice with a walk in large shower.

 

We woke up this morning to the Konigsdam right outside of our window. Breakfast is included in the room, and the ship is also visible from the restaurant.

You will have a great time! Did this cruise last August. Our room faced the canal so we were able to see the ship coming down the canal into port. Agree the Movenpick is a nice, comfortable hotel. The restaurant is good and convenient. We did breakfast at the buffet. They had a large selection of delicious food.

Looking forward to your updates, to see if you'll be taking any of the same tours I took and your opinion.

Have fun!!

Thanks - will enjoy tagging along with you.

Also did this cruise last August...loved it! Looking forward to your comments!

Looking forward to your report. We board Koningsdam on oct 29, our first cruise on HAL although we've cruised Celebrity 30+ times. We will be in an accessible Vista Suite (6148) so if you get a chance to see it and take a picture, that would be great!

Jane

Thanks for your report. We are doing this cruise next year. We can't wait to read more. Have fun!

Wonderful start to your trip - looking forward to reading more!

Sue/WDW1972

Will be following along.

Looking forward to your live reports on the Koningsdam.

Could you please post the name and address of the wine shop you went to in Amsterdam. Good selection of French and Italian wines?

Bon voyage !

The wine shop is called Chabrol, I do not have an address, but easily found on google maps. They had many different types of wines, some familiar and some not, but if I told them of a wine that I enjoyed, they would suggest a similar wine if they didn't have the one that I knew.

Day 1 at sea brought the realization that adding photos to the blog will not be possible due to extremely slow internet access in our room. We have to go to explorations cafe or a similar common area to get any reliable coverage. We checked with the IT person who said that there are limited network access points on the ship and we're not near one of them.

Boarding was well organized but time consuming. The hall where we waited was comfortable and once our group was called it went quickly. We arrived to room 6147 - a verandah room and found it in order and with our luggage already delivered. One tip here - you can drop your checked luggage at the terminal anytime. You don't need to wait until your boarding time. I will add photos of the room when I get to reliable internet coverage

We left Amsterdam at about 5 PM and at about 6:15 we went through the lock which was interesting to watch. If you have the chance, go the the Promenade deck, and the rear of the ship. You can watch the lock close and fill with water.

Dinner was very good, we were lucky to have an assigned table by the window. The food was good, portions for appetizers were very small, main entree dinner was reasonably sized. We gave our Wine steward the wine that we brought on board and there were no issues they are now safely stored in the MDR for our use. We did have to stop in the boarding line and pay corkage and some of the security screeners seemed unfamiliar with the process so it was slightly bumpy but not overly so.

We didn't take in the nightlife last night but rather wandered the ship to familiarize ourselves. This morning all passengers needed to report to the theater to have immigration interviews for Scotland. They called you deck by deck. We went down about 10 minutes after we heard the prior deck get called and sat nearby. We breezed in when our deck was called because we were nearby. The whole process took about 10 minutes, however when we came back out there was a very long line to get in. I'd suggest going down a bit early.

I'll post more later as I am able with internet.

Sounds like you had a good start to your cruise.

I always enjoy watching the process as we go through any locks any where.

The wine shop is called Chabrol, I do not have an address, but easily found on google maps. They had many different types of wines, some familiar and some not, but if I told them of a wine that I enjoyed, they would suggest a similar wine if they didn't have the one that I knew.

Thank you very much.

Look forward to reading about the rest of your cruise.

I'm reliving the cruise from your post. Thanks!

We were on the Mozart deck also, I believe 6142. Two decks above the lifeboats so the views are great. I recall going down to get our passports stamped. Several ports later we had to actually hand them over for a day or so. Wasn't thrilled about that. If you get a chance find a spot on the port side to witness the sunset over the North Sea. Beautiful.

Update from our day at sea - we were able to check out the ship more thoroughly. The Lido for Breakfast on a sea day is very busy, and finding a table is difficult but once seated the food stations are very quick.

Internet continues to be spotty on the ship with multiple outages where minutes were being used but no real connection. On a positive note, the internet manager Dino is very good and understands quickly that it's not a lack of understanding on our part, and that there is actually a problem. He also was able to see when we had tried to log in but were unable to use any sites and credited that time to us.

We walked the Promenade deck which was busy but a great option. Walking while watching the sea and the oil rigs and other ships in the distance was lovely and it's great that it goes all the way around the ship.

After lunch at the Lido where I had a great salad, we went to the fitness center. It was well used but we were able to get a treadmill and a bike quickly. The machines were in good working order and the view was wonderful. It was very warm by the treadmills so make sure to get a towel before you get on. After we finished there were cold wet washcloths in a mini fridge over by the bikes which was a very nice touch.

It was formal night at dinner. The food was OK but nothing very special, we had the steak and shrimp, and the stuffed shells. Interestingly they were serving lobster in the Lido but not in the MDR. In any case we had a nice dinner and took advantage of the free in room movies alter in the evening.

We arrived in Scotland (Edinburgh) this morning and are headed off to explore

Thanks for posting! We will be in 6148 in October. If you meet your neighbors in there, maybe they will let you see it? It's an accessible room, and you never see pics of them. Be our first time on HAL...we usually cruise Celebrity. Enjoy!

Jane