PACD_JG

Cruising into a port for less than half a day does not equal destination travel. It's one notch above having a layover at the airport...

Not to add to Scuba Steve's personal vlog, but my two favorite recent things from the Koningsdam from 2022: the library and the internet speed. I was very pleased with both.

I've been in a Verandah with the same teens in 2023. The now 5'5" teen daughter slept on the sofa bed. In the verandah, it does go all the way to the desk, but it's on the balcony side. Daughter preferred that since she wasn't woken up in the middle of the night by those with small bladders. However, I didn't like it as I had to literally walk on her bed to get on the balcony. And the difference in space is notable when it comes to storage for 4 people. If it was just the wife and I, I would never spend extra for the Vista Suite.

I was in this room in 2022 with two teenaged daughters. My then 5'4" daughter slept on the sofa bed quite comfortably, but her feet were off the edge. There's about 12 inches to pass through...without her feet in the way. I guess we're not as fussy as you so we didn't have a problem with four in the room. In all seriousness though, if this cabin isn't enough for 3 people...what other choice do you have?

Considering the average age of HAL pax...whining is only topped by sleeping in favorite activities.

Are you afraid of not boarding? I mean, if it takes an hour or two hours to board, does that somehow change your plans for that day?🤷‍♂️

LMGTFY: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/crew-appreciation.html

It's like our San Diego poster with better It's like our San Diego poster with better spelling...

Since we're here...HAL doesn't shut down ping pong when they are playing movies at the Lido Pool. Bothered me enough that I had to make a snarky comment on one of my end of cruise surveys.

Truth be told, on my 2022 Alaska cruise I originally booked 4156 but was kicked out because they made it a Covid room. They moved me to another Verandah and I was ticked off because I wanted the big balcony. Anyway, I got a free "upgrade" to a Vista. We liked it enough that on my Thanksgiving cruise I booked another Vista (only because it was cheaper than my Verandah in Alaska). In 2023, the Vista was more than I wanted to pay, so I booked the 4156 (much more expensive than 2022).

I did, but it was only for an hour a day, and it was 50% off.

All the local beers were in cans. If there was draft, I never saw it, and we utilize all aspects of the ship. As far as the wait for the MDR - we made reservations on board, and because it was for 6, it was always after 8. Sometimes that was okay, and other times we determined it was too late and just walked in. I would say the longest we waited was about 15 minutes. The longest line that I saw was on Day 2 and Day 5, the "dressy" nights, and that was during our late reservations. I imagine the line to get in at 6 or 7 was pretty extreme. FWIW, we ate in the Tamarind the first night and then ate in the MDR the rest of the nights...mainly because my son and his partner are vegans and ordered off of that menu. If you want to know, they were both very pleased with the food.

In 2022, there was green tea served and hot wash cloths, and I distinctly recalled 3 shrimp in the tempura appetizer. In 2023, there were 2. Wasabi tenderloin was noticeably smaller. By the way, this goes for all the mixed drinks/cocktails on HAL - drinks are smaller and/or weaker than they were in 2022. I was way closer to reaching my drink limit every night, and believe me, my alcohol tolerance did not go up.

The balcony had two lounge chairs with the separate footstools and two folding black chairs.