HAL won us back with the Koningsdam + happy to answer any questions

Thanks for all the info. We are on the 7/9 cruise. I just have one question about Flam. We are taking the 8:35 train so we will be getting off very early. The picture looks like the ship was docked. Is that right? I thought I read that it was a tender port but would be very happy if it isn't.

Pam

As Debbie mentioned out itinerary said we would be tendering, but actually we were alongside. Looking at the port schedule, you are also due to be alongside .... the word 'kai' means quay/wharf

https://aurlandhavn.no/cruise-2/ship-arrivals-2017/

Depending on where you bought the rail tickets from you may need to wait in line to present your confirmation and get actual tickets, and they do get busy. We got our tickets from NSB and were able to get them on their phone app, to avoid the lines

We are considering this ship but have found conflicting info on the cabins. HA lists refrigerators in oceanview and balcony but It is not clear if that is for all ships. We have avoided HA for years because of the lack of fridges. Can you help?

 

Thanks. Maureen.

We did have a refrigerator in our balcony cabin. I'm not a huge HAL expert, so I'm not sure if that is the same on all ships. Hopefully someone else could clear that up for you.

As Debbie mentioned out itinerary said we would be tendering, but actually we were alongside. Looking at the port schedule, you are also due to be alongside .... the word 'kai' means quay/wharf

https://aurlandhavn.no/cruise-2/ship-arrivals-2017/

 

Depending on where you bought the rail tickets from you may need to wait in line to present your confirmation and get actual tickets, and they do get busy. We got our tickets from NSB and were able to get them on their phone app, to avoid the lines

Thank you and Debbie. We are going to check our tickets. I think we went into the Visit Flam website but it was a while ago so will check.

Thanks for the tip.

Pam

We are considering this ship but have found conflicting info on the cabins. HA lists refrigerators in oceanview and balcony but It is not clear if that is for all ships. We have avoided HA for years because of the lack of fridges. Can you help?

 

Thanks. Maureen.

I had an inside cabin and I had a fridge. If the insides have t hem, I'm sure the oceanview cabins also have them.

Thank you for posting the daily programmes and those pictures look lovely too. So excited to be sailing on Koningsdam next month.

Also a quick question - for the tendering process, did you have to collect tender tickets in advance? I've read about bad experiences with getting ashore, particularly in Geiranger. Just wondering what your experience was? Thanks!

Also a quick question - for the tendering process, did you have to collect tender tickets in advance? I've read about bad experiences with getting ashore, particularly in Geiranger. Just wondering what your experience was? Thanks!

No, we just went down right when they started tending, around 9am I think, and we were able to get tickets straight away. When we got down to the tenders, I heard ships staff on a radio saying 'Do not send any more guests down at the moment' so I think we just sneaked in ahead of the rush!

There wasn't any option to collect tickets in advance, you just had to go to the Queens Lounge when all of your party were ready to go ashore.

Also a quick question - for the tendering process, did you have to collect tender tickets in advance? I've read about bad experiences with getting ashore, particularly in Geiranger. Just wondering what your experience was? Thanks!

We needed to be off in Geiranger fairly early for an independent excursion. Ship excursions get priority on the tenders and when they are ready to go, they will hold other passengers and get them on. We ran into the cruise director the night before and she advised us to come to the Queen's Lounge for tender tickets about 8:45 am to beat the rush. We had no problem following her advice.

We are considering this ship but have found conflicting info on the cabins. HA lists refrigerators in oceanview and balcony but It is not clear if that is for all ships. We have avoided HA for years because of the lack of fridges. Can you help?

 

Thanks. Maureen.

We had one in our veranda cabin. Not much room inside but it did keep drinks cold.

We had one in our veranda cabin. Not much room inside but it did keep drinks cold.

You can always ask your cabin steward to have the cans of drink in their removed, to give you more room :)

We needed to be off in Geiranger fairly early for an independent excursion. Ship excursions get priority on the tenders and when they are ready to go, they will hold other passengers and get them on. We ran into the cruise director the night before and she advised us to come to the Queen's Lounge for tender tickets about 8:45 am to beat the rush. We had no problem following her advice.

We are in a similar situation, with an independent excursion booked. So I was a little apprehensive about getting off "early". Thanks for your advice!

No, we just went down right when they started tending, around 9am I think, and we were able to get tickets straight away. When we got down to the tenders, I heard ships staff on a radio saying 'Do not send any more guests down at the moment' so I think we just sneaked in ahead of the rush!

There wasn't any option to collect tickets in advance, you just had to go to the Queens Lounge when all of your party were ready to go ashore.

Sounds pretty straight forward - thanks for answering my question! :)

Flam

Took the railway in the morning, which I had pre-booked online through Norwegian rail. There are long lines at the railway station, so try and have your actual tickets in advance if you can, I had mine on the NSB app. Be sure to board as soon as you can, as a lot of people took 2 window seats between a couple, leaving others with not such a great view.

The afternoon was really disappointing as we had booked a boat trip on Naeroyfjord, and they cancelled it due to technical issues with the boat. By the time we found out it was too late to arrange anything else, so we just walked around the village.

Bergen

There was a free mini train which took us the 10 minute walk from the ship to the town centre. I think it was just doing a couple of runs in the morning before it started doing proper tours. All the restrooms in town have a 10 NOK charge via, so you might need to have some coins on you! We walked around the town centre, and took the funicular up Mount Floyen. You can pre-book the tickets online for a certain date (you don't have to specify a time), but there are still lines to get on. When we went up it was very quiet, but by the time we came back down there was a very long line. There is a short, easy hike to a lake at the top, which is really pretty.

Gereinger

This was a tender port, but we managed to get ashore around 9.15am without any wait.

We hired a little electric car for an hour in the morning, and visited the Flydalsjuvet viewpoint and Westeras farm, both beautiful places. Really loved the little e-car, but you do have to be small to fit in them, we are both under 5'4 and it was a squeeze!

After that we went on a 90 min boat trip on GereingerFjord to the Secen Sisters waterfall. It's the same route as the ship takes anyway, but you do get much closer on the small sightseeing boats.

Trondheim

I had been here before, so we just went for a walk around the town. Not our favorite port to be honest

Honningsvag

Another tender port, again we were able to get ashore quite early around 9.30am. The town itself is quite small, with a few shops and cafes. Nice to walk around and take some photos of the ship in the bay. It was really crowded as there were 3 ships in, and the 1 single public restroom had a huge line!

We decided not to go to the North Cape via bus, but that's what most people do I think. The night before Honningsvag we were really lucky to have bright skies, and get a wonderful view of the Arctic Circle midnight sun.

Alesund

We walked around the town a little, which is Art Noveau and very pretty. Then we took a taxi up to the Mount Aksla viewpoint, the cost was about NOK 170 ($14) and walked back to town via the 418 steps admiring the gorgeous views on the way.

Next we took the local bus 618 to the Atlantic Park, it was quit a nice setting, but the aquarium itself was nothing special. Came back and had an amazing carrot cake in a cafe in town.

Eidfjord

There is a minibus that runs to the Voringfossen waterfall, you can't pre-book, but get your tickets from the tourist info office for NOK275 ($35). It takes 75 mins in total including a 30 min stop at the waterfall for viewing and coffee. Beware, we saw people there on a HAL tour and they had only been given 20 mins, which is not enough.

The tourist office is small, so try and get off as early as you can as they get really busy. This port is wonderful for hiking, we took part of the yellow route along the river to the lake. Even in the rain it was beautiful.

Stavanger

Unfortunately we had bad weather, rain, mist and low cloud. We walked around the old town, and the pretty coloured houses in Ovre Holmgate. After that we took a boat trip to the Lysefjord and Pulpit Rock. We had prebooked it with Norled, but to honest in those weather conditions it was a bit of a waste of money, it would be a very scenic trip on a clear day.

Thank you for your reviews! We get on the K July 9. What was your experience with the weather? I'm planning on taking layers but am not sure how heavy a coat to take for overtop of everything else.

We are considering this ship but have found conflicting info on the cabins. HA lists refrigerators in oceanview and balcony but It is not clear if that is for all ships. We have avoided HA for years because of the lack of fridges. Can you help?

 

Thanks. Maureen.

The older ships DO NOT have refrigerators in all cabins, as far as I know. If you go to the HAL website you can look at a ship you may be interested in and the cabin "amenities" will be described, including if there is a refrigerator. I believe they are only in suites in the older ships. I have never done this, but evidently you can rent a refrigerator if one is necessary. I think they may put it in the space under the desk, so that could hinder it's use.

 

Thank you for your reviews! We get on the K July 9. What was your experience with the weather? I'm planning on taking layers but am not sure how heavy a coat to take for overtop of everything else.

I had a light fleece and a light waterproof, that fitted over the fleece. Where we expected it to be cold, in Honningsvag, was actually not too bad as it was bright and sunny.

The coldest times were the evenings when we were scenic cruising, we went to the open bow of the ship where is was windy. Then I did wear my 2 coats together, a scarf, gloves and even ear muffs once! You could watch inside from the Crow's Nest or Lido pool if you prefer.

Was on this cruise, really enjoyed the Koningsdam. Now how about some books in the library?

Was on this cruise, really enjoyed the Koningsdam. Now how about some books in the library?

We went up to the library to have a look at the large atlas, and noticed how little there was in there.

We went up to the library to have a look at the large atlas, and noticed how little there was in there.

That is a sham.

Thanks for your review...I found it very informative....my husband and I will be on the Koningdam next April (Rome &Greece)

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Thanx for sharing, D.

Very nice review

Ira

Thanx for sharing, D.

 

Very nice review

 

Ira

You're welcome

Thanks for your review...I found it very informative....my husband and I will be on the Koningdam next April (Rome &Greece)

 

 

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Glad you enjoyed it, hope you have a fantastic cruise in the springtime :cool:

If you need a fridge in your cabin you can rent one for about $10 a day. We requested it through our HAL rep. It was there when we arrived on The Westerdam.

Please note: if you are interested in renting the Family Retreat Cabana on the Koningsdam, it is much, much smaller than the Family Retreat cabanas on ALL of the other HAL ships.

We have rented this cabana on the Nieuw Amsterdam and the Eurodam and enjoyed it with our son and daughter in law. There are two double loungers in those cabanas HOWEVER, on the Koningsdam there is not enough room for this — there are two single loungers and two upright chairs. There is no table and chairs for dining —- or for playing cards, etc.

We could not comfortably accommodate the four of us during our ten day cruise. Based on this, we will never sail on the Koningsdam again

I found the family cabana quite comfortable. At first I was a little put off by having to move to the tables to eat, but then it became quite nice. Mind you, the four of us were rarely in there at the same time but it was nice to have a central place to meet up. I liked that I was all alone in there for my morning coffee. lol