lorimay

I am on Mariner in March with a balcony guarantee and I too have a deck (6) but no cabin number assigned. I’m less than a month away from my cruise with no cabin assigned yet.  There appear to be lots of open balcony cabins available on this sailing. Someone posted that they received a Royal Up offer to move from a JS to a GS for this sailing so I think they are working their way down from suites to balconies to ocean views and want to see who upgrades before assigning our cabin. It will be interesting to see if we actually end up on deck 6. 

There was no mention specifically of deck 6 when I booked.  It just said "let us choose your cabin".  And they made us agree that we understood the cabin could be anywhere on the ship.  I don't really care where we are - none of the cabins available to reserve for ourselves were anything special, so I figured I'd take a chance on the guarantee.  I am just wondering if the Deck 6 meant we're really going to be on Deck 6 or is just a placeholder until our cabin is assigned.  As I said before, there are balcony cabins on other decks still available.

We're booked on the Mariner on a March sailing.  Since it's just a quick weekend I decided to take a chance on the guarantee cabin and figured I'd use the few extra dollars we saved and use it on something else.  We have not been assigned a cabin yet.   It's an oceanview balcony guarantee and there seem to be a lot of balcony cabins available on several decks. My SetSail pass says Deck 6 GTY.  Does the Deck 6 mean anything? Or is it just a placeholder until the cabin is assigned?  Thanks for your help -

We were on the Koningsdam recently and had a terrible experience with Open Seating. We booked only a couple of months before the cruise so both regular seatings were full and we thought we might enjoy eating between 7 and 8:30 instead of early or late seating. We never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table BUT the tables we were given were always upstairs and the worst tables in the dining room. Even when we finally got a good table the service bad. One night they didn't quite know what to do with us because we were eating at the time the second seating started to arrive. Our waiter disappeared and no one came to collect our entree dishes. Finally one of the dining stewards took our dishes with no explanation but we waited and waited for our desserts - and then one of the waiters thought we had just arrived and put down a bread basket. Every night similar stories.

We did try to get reservations after the first night but they were only available (for each night of the cruise) before 6 or after 8:30.

Based on my experience (which I'm sure many people on this board will regard with disbelief like I'm making it all up) I would say try your hardest to get a table during one of the regular seatings.

On our recent cruise on the Koningsdam we did self disembarkation and it was right at 7:30. We overheard Jonathan the cruise director commenting on how he had to turn away a bunch of people who were in other groups but just trying to get off. He asked if no one could follow directions! They are pretty strict about leaving with your group.

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We also honeymooned on the Nordic Prince to Bermuda (ours was 1989). It was our first cruise. Our travel agent booked us into the cheapest cabin they had which was down on a lower deck right by the medical center. One might we opened our door to go to dinner and they were wheeling a dead body by. Anyway our travel agent assured us that even though the cabin was listed with two single beds only that if we insisted the steward could make it a double bed. He said don't take no for an answer. Unfortunately the only way the poor room steward could make a double bed was to take some crates and put them under to support the mattress. After one night we went back to singles. It was a great cruise with fantastic service and still was one of the best.

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We were on HMC last week. We rented a cabana and it was a great experience. We had the gray cabana which is number 11. It was far enough away from the dock that it was not crowded on the beach. The lounge chairs are comfortable and there is a fan on the porch and an air conditioner in the cabana. You get drinks and snacks. I would definitely book it again!

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We were particularly impressed with the new style showers and had no problem with condensation. The toilet positioning could present a problem for larger people.

 

The free cabana arrangement on both levels of the Lido pool areas was particularly pleasant for us since we don't sit in the sun any more.

 

All in all we felt the K gave us another good HAL experience even if it has a few growing pains to overcome. We are looking forward to a couple more cruises with HAL in 2017. Some of our experiences have been better than others on the ships, but HAL remains our cruise line of choice.

Just want to say that my son is 6'7" and he did not have an issue with the toilet position at all. Could sit there with the shower door shut.

Also, we liked the covered seating on either side of the aft pool. Very comfortable furniture. One side was for smokers but we did not have a problem with any smoke smell on the other side. The new resort/wicker furniture is so much better than just all lounge chairs.

Did you by chance leave a card in the light slot? This will make it appear someone's in the cabin.

No, that was not the issue.

I thought the Christmas decor was sorely lacking for a holiday cruise. There was some interesting art work on the ship (although not as much as expected on a HAL ship) but there were no plaques with titles, artists, dates, everything seemed anonymous.

 

We enjoyed the music row but really thought th Lincoln Center Stage should relocate, there is too much noise to appreciate the performers plus there was a definite smoke smell from the casino at times in that area.

 

I missed the singers performance but actually enjoyed Musicology and the Frozen Planet. I thought the comedian and juggler were awful. We first saw the World Stage during the muster and I thought it's decor was boring and the access to it strange (thought I got lost on the way in) but the big screens, lighting and sound were great and the size and sight lines were good; hardly a bad seat in the house.

 

The NY pizza and deli was good but the location was poor, congested, noisy, people hovering over you while you eat. Same was true for watching movies around the pool, comfortable seats, stale popcorn, great evening snacks but just too noisy. We totally skipped the Lido on this cruise after lunch the first day. It was crowded, poorly designed and seemed to lack the variety of other HAL ships. We did do Tamarind one night (no longer offering lunch) and the food was excellent as usual but way too warm to be comfortable. Enjoyed the new culinary arts area but seemed hard to see the cooking demos. Wanted to go for dinner but ran out of time. Spent time at the Dutch Cafe, very enjoyable although the pea soup is not the same as served on deck in Alaska. The cafe decor was just for Christmas (probably the most Christmasy thing on board.) Ordinarily it has a view of the outside.

 

There were good things about the K'dam but not sure we'd cruise her again unless the itinerary was a must.

 

St. Louis Sal

We were on this cruise also and I agree with both St. Louis Sal and Dr. Cocktail about most things.

We thought the decor in the ship was beautiful for the most part, but the main dining room was not attractive (and always very hot like the air conditioning wasn't working). The World Stage is very unattractive but I think the "in the round" concept is good. It just doesn't seem big enough for a ship of this size.

I agree with St. Louis Sal - the Christmas decorations were truly underwhelming. We thought there would be more of them - but there was a "touch" of Christmas in a few of the main areas and that was it. We liked some of the music-themed art (the ship made out of the string bass was pretty incredible) but you are right - no kind of explanation of what they all were.

The entertainment was repetitive and on sea days activities were few and far between (but trivia at least twice a day). The BB King band was very good and well attended. The Billboard Onboard piano duo were technically good but listening to anything they said was like listening to teenagers talking. They just didn't have any kind of appeal. We didn't go to the two live shows. The comedian was awful and the show we went to he melted down and resorted to talking like a duck. I thought the juggler was pretty good. Frozen Planet Live was good and the music was great. We went to a couple of the movies by the pool which was fun but one night we couldn't hear the movie because the bar was open on deck 10 and there was a lot of drunk yelling. They need to figure out a nice way to keep everybody quiet.

We liked the variety of food venues. The Lido was really confusing but loved being served and not worrying about all the germs on a buffet. The salad bar was good but it was really hard to figure out what stations had what food with the crowds and it was hard to find place to sit. Nice design but just not big enough. NY Deli was good but you had to order on just one corner of the bar (very confusing) with someone sitting on the bar stool right there. Bagels good but nothing special and pizza is good but definitely not NY quality. Dive In was good, long lines, good burgers. Dutch Cafe was very good for sweets and sandwiches but you feel like you're either sitting in the middle of the aisle or in a back room there. Anytime dining was the worst experience we have ever had on a ship. Bad tables, bad service. We finally gave up which is what I think they want you to do.

Service all over the ship was poor. As I discussed on another thread, we had to ask to have our stateroom made up every day and even then service was inconsistent from day to day. No one cleared tables or refilled drinks in the Lido. The Pinnacle was short staffed, service was slow and one night our mains came before some of our starters (they manager more than made up for it by insisting we come for free another night, so they know how to make things right).

Overall we had fun and those were just annoyances. Bottom line - liked the ship, not the service or entertainment. Don't think we will be going on HAL again soon without trying Celebrity again.

We were on the same cruise as the OP and it was rocking some days. I have had terrible problems with sea sickness in the past and took meclazine the first two days but it makes me way too drowsy to enjoy anything. I stopped taking it and never felt ill, but every one is different.

We went to the "Ask the Captain" and he said they were using the stabilizers but that the seas had been very rough due to high winds for the last six weeks. Apparently this weather is not expected until January and he seemed very upset about it. He denied any difference from the Koningsdam to other ships in regards to smoothness of sailing.

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Yes. We just got off the Koningsdam today. Everyone in the state room has to buy the plan but you can get sodas at any bar without the cup just by showing your stateroom card with the sticker. We used it all over the ship including the dining room. The Freestyle machine is just inside the Lido near the Lido pool. The cups they give you are nice and large.

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If you have a soda card you can't use the Freestyle machine on the Koningsdam. You have to have the special cup with the chip to use Freestyle. You can also get cans of soda and fountain soda with the $8 per day Freestyle package. They put a dot on your card. It's s great deal if you drink a lot of soda.

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Just a piece of advice about Anytime dining on the Koningsdam- don't do it. We found it impossible to make reservations all week between 6 and 8:30. We never had a wait when we arrived between 7 and 8 but we got the worst tables in the dining room and either distracted or bad service. We really didn't enjoy being in the dining room at all and it's usually the highlight of the day. I can give details if you want.

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On our cruise on the Koningsdam last week they had at least two ping pong tournaments. There was always someone playing.

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I have cruised quite a bit before (I am platinum on RCCL and have cruised also on HAL, princess and Celebrity) and this was the first time we ever had an issue with the room stewards. We would leave the room for breakfast and come back two hours later and the room would not be done. Leave again and come back after 12 and room not done. We finally resorted to leaving the Yes tag on the door to get the room done. On every single other cruise I have been on when you went to breakfast the cabin was done when you came back. I understand it was a full cruise with a lot of work for the stewards, but this happened every day. And we weren't gone just a few minutes.

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We just got off the Koningsdam this morning. Our experience with Anytime Dining was that it was that it was great as long as you wanted to eat before 6 or after 8:30. If I wanted to do that we would have done assigned seating. We got on the ship and were told we couldn't make reservations because of muster and then because it was after 4. Went the next day to make reservations and the only times they had available were early or late for the rest of the week. We had two terrible tables with robotic service, one nice table with a great server who disappeared halfway through dinner (no one came to take away our main course plates and they gave us a bread basket while we were waiting for our desserts to show up). The system is broken for anytime dining and needs to be completely reworked.

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Just got off the Koningsdam this morning and the only thing I don't agree with is the service. Our experience in the main dining room was awful, in the Lido it was haphazard, and we had a major issue in the Pinnacle (which they more than made up for with a free meal on another night). Our room stewards never made up our room unless we asked. Not nitpicking- just telling our experience. Overall we liked the ship and had a great time.

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Just to clarify, in the US a business is NOT required to have a chip reader for their credit card machine. The rule is that if you do not have a chip reader and and a credit card is used IN THE STORE fraudulently then you assume the risk and have to refund the fraudulent charge and the credit card company won't pay for it. There is no law that says you must use the chip reader.

I work in flower shop where most of our business is done over the phone. The chip/chip reader issue doesn't apply to phone or internet transactions. It is just not worth it to us to buy a new credit card machine that costs hundreds of dollars when we personally know most of the people who come in and use their credit cards. We are willing to assume that risk.

I personally have had my credit card compromised several times and other than the hassle of having to get a replacement card it was a non-issue. The credit card companies usually catch anything out of the ordinary immediately. Recently I was driving I-95 from DC to Florida and stopped for gas. My credit card was denied because I did not inform the credit card company about my trip and they thought it was fraud. They are very careful.

We got an email this week with assigned boarding times for our cruise departing Friday on the Koningsdam. Here's what it says:

We would like to provide you with important information regarding your sailing.

To enhance the check-in and boarding experience, we ask that guests arrive at

the terminal based on the following times. Guests who have booked a transfer or

hotel package with Holland America will be provided a check-in time at the

airport or hotel.

12:00pm ? Deck 7 & Deck 8 (Schubert & Navigation)

12:45pm ? Deck 4 & Deck 5 (Beethoven & Gershwin)

1:30pm ? Deck 10 & Deck 11 (Panorama & Sun)

2:15pm ? Deck 1 & Deck 6 (Main & Mozart)

We invite our 4 and 5 Star Mariners, Pinnacle and Neptune Suite guests to

arrive anytime between 12:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M. Boarding will commence shortly

after check in. All guests must be onboard 1 hour prior to sailing. We

appreciate your understanding and cooperation, and look forward to welcoming

you onboard.

Unfortunately, we are in the last group. It doesn't feel like the check-in times are optional.

We are on the Koningsdam for the Christmas cruise departing December 23rd. I'm just trying to figure out which night I should book for the Pinnacle. We like to be in the MDR on Gala nights. Here's the itinerary. Any guesses? Also, will there be special menu on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Dec 23 - Depart

Dec 24 - At Sea

Dec 25 - Grand Turk 8 - 3

Dec 26 - San Juan 1 - 11

Dec 27 - St. Thomas 8 - 5

Dec 28 - At Sea

Dec 29 - HMC 8 - 4

Dec 30 - Disembark

Thanks for your help!

I don't know about Carnival, but with HAL you can pre-book the cabanas. It's in the excursions area of the website. If the color/number isn't there then it's probably already booked. Or you can call the cruise line and check with them. I would not wait until you are on the cruise. I booked our cabana for a December cruise in September and most of them were already gone.

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I searched all over and couldn't find an answer to this question. Our family of four will be on the Koningsdam in December. We usually don't pay for internet on a cruise but this time two of us have to be able to check emails every day. Will we be able to share an internet package as long as only one device is on at a time? Or will each person be required to buy a package? Thanks for the help -

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Our cruise is in December. My husband and I have been to St. Thomas before but my kids have not. They are both in college. We do not want to go to the beach and we all like history. Are we better off staying on St Thomas and doing a tour or is the experience of going to St . John a once in a lifetime thing we shouldn't miss? Thanks!

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We have taken many cruises (only one other time on HAL) and this is the first time we received a boarding time actually printed on our documents. We have a time of 1:00 to board the Koningsdam. However, we usually like to get to the ship early to eat lunch and tour the ship before sail away. Will we be forced to wait until 1:00 if we show up earlier at the port? Thanks!