JennysUncle
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Posts posted by JennysUncle
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As I said, I haven't been on the NS, but virtual tours show that the EXC desk and interactive tables are up there replacing the Explorations Cafe on the starboard side along with the pitiful 'library', and the center section fairly bare except for the big status screens. Not really similar except in dimensions. On the Koningsdam the Captains Corner was generally open for sitting, but sometimes closed for private social functions.
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tThe Nieuw Statendam seems to be almost a duplicate of the Koningsdam (aside from the artwork) except in one place. As I understand (haven't sailed it yet) the Crows Nest on the NS has been fitted out in the new style, with the Explorations Cafe merged into the bar, the Excursions office move up to the starboard side, the Captain's Room converted to a lecture space, and big video screens in the middle. We were afraid that the Koningsdam would be retrofit in that style during its December drydock, as has been happening to the older ships. Fortunately not ! The Koningsdam Crows Nest still has the traditional layout, except for being carpeted all the way across instead of having a dance floor. There are a large number of comfortable chairs of various styles in various groupings. A very pleasant place for a lot of passengers to relax.
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We are recently back from the Koningsdam, where we ate at Tamarind and walked past Club Orange. As many have already commented, Club Orange in the former Culinary Center looks sort of like a cafeteria, and many (most?) of the tables are right up against the clear glass wall that everyone traversing deck 2 walks past, checking out your meal.
Now, it seems that the idea was that Club Orange would be a private perk for the upper tier of passengers, sort of a dining counterpart to the Neptune Lounge - and they missed that mark. My suggestion is that HAL swap the Tamarind and Club Orange spaces. (They seem to have about the same table capacity.) The advantage for Club Orange -- the Tamarind location is almost isolated up on deck 10, but has an attractive view, and the possibility of open-deck dining. Nice and private and discrete, a real perk. The advantage for Tamarind -- this would make deck 2 the Dining Walk as well as the Music Walk. It would put Pinnacle, Rudi's, and Tamarind in a row on the walkway back to the MDR, encouraging 'premium dining'. The open glass wall would be less of an issue for Tamarind (and anyhow could be partly opaqued). And the open kitchen, rather than a drawback, would accommodate Nami Sushi, and make that more accessible to the general public.
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The food side of the menu was still the same. I didn't pay any attention to the wine list because we had a Cellar package. There was a friendly sommelier who checked with us right away every night.
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We are recently back from the Koningsdam - 2019 Jan 23 - Feb 13. We were not impressed with the menus or the preparations in the MDR (as compared to previous HAL cruises) and so took advantage of Rudi's Sel de Mer. (Rather than Pinnacle, since we are not big steak eaters.)HAL launched the Sel de Mer (by Rudi Sodamin) concept on the Koningsdam, as a companion to the Pinnacle. As I recall, it was pitched as a seafood brasserie, an alternative to the steak-heavy Pinnacle. On the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam it is a stand-alone space entered around the atrium from the Pinnacle. They share an access hall to the kitchens. On the older ships Sel de Mer is a pop-up in the Pinnacle space with a special menu. We have not experienced it that way.It would seem that the 'primarily seafood' concept was not popular, and on the Koningsdam this restaurant is now pitched as "Rudi's" - with the Sel de Mer in small print. It now has a very varied and interesting menu. For some reason HAL made Rudi's menu a la carte, as opposed to the fixed price in Pinnacle. However, the cost of a meal is about the same. Rudi's offers the same discounts as Pinnacle for 3/4/5* Mariners. The a la carte pricing seems to be a psychological deterrent.Rudi's space is smaller than Pinnacle, feeling like a small fine restaurant. It has about a dozen tables of various sizes. When we were there, there were two very attentive hostesses (Lise and Rahul) and four waiters, all European professionals. In our six visits it was never full, and some nights some of the staff was detached to help in the MDR. Regardless, service was very good.Finally, to the menu. Roger Jett's scan of Rudi's menu It has enough variety for repeated visits - we ate there six times. The portions are large, so on the first visit we learned that an appetiser and main, or main and dessert, was plenty.The Fruits de Mer was a tower and more, and needed an auxiliary table. Looked great if you like that sort of thing. The Foie Gras was more than generous (by US restaurant standards) and expertly sauteed. The Pot au Feu is a meal - cast iron pot of rich broth and braised beef. The ratatouille side dish was very good, and a whole bowl, not a dollop.On the fish side of the entrees, the Branzino and the Dover Sole were both excellent and the moules (a pot with enough for two) very good. On the meat side, the cassoulet and the rack of lamb were excellent. We had the roast chicken in the MDR on "chef's night" and it was a full half chicken - very tasty but too much.Of the desserts, we liked the chocolate pot de creme best. The others were all big enough for two, and very good. Only the cheese plate fell down - just the same assortment as in the MDR.We would have sampled more of the menu if we had time. (Admittedly, as 4* we ate at 50% off) We encourage you to try it out. We are worried that HAL might decide to swap some bigger revenue-producer into the space if dinership does not pick up.
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Check out the 'port' sections of other cruise line websites. Some of them provide a lot more than HAL.
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We are just off the Koningsdam. There are lots of loungers, many more than on the smaller ships, but none are shaded by overhangs. The best you can hope for is to get some shade from the superstructure, but except in the early morning and late afternoon that means putting the lounger right back close to the wall, so you view will be sky not sea.
There is one expensive possibility - rent one of the cabanas and enjoy a shady tent and butler service.
After all the complaints, you would think they could 'tent' one of the several sun(burn) decks.
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Crew News noted that the Crows Nest still has the Explorer's coffee bar and internet on the starboard side and excursions office still down below. HAL has been rebuilding the Crows Nest to incorporate EXC and merge the cocktail and coffee bars on other ships as they were drydocked, and that's the configuration on Nieuw Statendam. Did this drydock not have enough time, or could HAL be reacting to all the complaints ?
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An interesting website: GoHAL.com
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Announced in Oct 1 travel agent newsletter:
Update to Hotel Service Charges
For all sailings departing prior to December 1, 2018 as well as the 2019 Grand World Voyage and the 2019 Grand South America Antarctica Voyage, the daily Hotel Service Charge is $13.50* per guest per day for non-suite stateroom guests and $15.00* per guest per day for suite guests.
For sailings departing on or after December 1, 2018, the daily Hotel Service Charge is $14.50* per guest per day for non-suite stateroom guests and $16.00 per guest per day for suite guests.
For more details, please visit the Shipboard Life section of Frequently Asked Questions on our website at hollandamerica.com.
Found this by following the "PartnerSHIPS Portal" link at very bottom of HAL website.
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USA Today just posted a photo tour of the Zaandam. There is a picture of the Oasis, with this interesting note:
Aft of the funnel, on Sky Deck level, the Oasis was originally designed as a teen hangout but is now primarily reserved for staff and crew.
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The HAL description of EXC In-Depth cruises says that Club HAL will not be operated - so the Oasis could be repurposed.
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Do the Maasdam and Veendam still have the Oasis on the Sky deck ? No cabins beside it, no decks above it.
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Ships are not democracies and you illustrate the enduring value of the secret ballot.
Both true, but pointless. Since ships are not democracies, ballots are irrelevant.
Ship operators rely on polls, focus groups, and marketing results. They evaluate the number of customers they might gain versus the number they might lose. For example, smoking aboard has persisted long after it would probably have been voted off, but is finally being phased out as sentiment shifts.
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Why are you asking passengers to forgive those who in this case aggressively, intentionally and with full pre-meditatation "broke the rules" in total disregard to everyone's sensibilities? It was far more of an offense than just the unwelcome nudity. There are so many other ways to getting to a win-win on this issue than unilaterally shoving bare breasts in other people's faces. They maliciously took over an entire public deck, along with materially impacting those two unique "aft-wrap" cabins on this ship. Why didn't they just ask upfront if they could arrange a mutually satisfactory location for their chosen personal agenda?
That is really too much. Have you not considered that those ladies may have seen the sign and quite innocently taken advantage of what appeared to be authorization ? You have not said that you know who posted the sign - presumably some trickster. Even if it was one of them, it could have been a thoughtful way to warn easily-offended people away from the unpleasant sight of an activity that does not seem to have been forbidden.
As for having to walk to an elevator instead of taking the outside stairs -- that's what the other 1257 passengers have to do. (And I've found that a lot of exercise is needed to offset those trips to the Lido.)
This is an interesting example of the effect of social media. One complainer draws the attention of a large group saying "who cares" - but the extent of the controversy pulls Authority into action counter to what seems to be the general opinion.
A bit of internet searching shows that in most states it has been established that exposure of the female chest is not per se illegal, but depends on the context. On the scale of offensiveness, I have seen Speedos by the Lido that certainly fall into that category - but I simply made a point of looking elsewhere. If there are going to be lounger-attire rules, they ought to apply to more than one body part and both genders.
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The 'Dry Docks' thread lists Prinsendam as scheduled for dry dock in Freeport 12/7-20/18. Since Riesen will presumably want to redecorate, maybe HAL will cancel the dry dock and squeeze in 12 more days of cruising ?
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On June 13 Captain Albert posted from the Prinsendam in Visby Sweden. This was two days after a special port call to Turku Finland to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the building of the Prinsendam there. But part of the post was about sharing the dock with the Marco Polo, built 50 years ago and still in cruise service. So maybe the Prinsendam will not be going away that soon -- depends on the willingness to keep up with major maintenance.
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Trivia teams have usually been limited to 6 players. Most hosts are particular about that, but a few have let is slide.
There have usually been two trivias, one mid-day hosted by the CD in the Crows Nest, and one hosted by the assistant in the Mix or another bar. With the reconfiguration of the Crows Nest on many ships, the location of the CD's trivia seems to be in flux.
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Thanks Hank. It's always a help to find bargains -- and to avoid disasters.
(BTW, if you stayed up late with Barry on the VoV, I can put a face to the name).
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The Princess site allows anyone to EZAIR prices before booking a cruise.
Hank, I just tried this out -- I registered on the Princess site, and clicked the EZair link under "Plan a Cruise", but that takes me to a page that says it can't find any bookings for me, and will let me go on only if I put in a booking number. Is there some other way to get into the EZair lookup ?
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Just be glad you were not on NCL -- you are not allowed to bring ANY beverage aboard, not even water. But they do sell bottles on-board - for $$$.
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Do you have any idea how they have done this conversion ? I thought the original bathrooms were units that were built separately and installed during the new-build. They must have cut out the tubs. Does it look like the new slab walls are glued over the original, remaining walls ?
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The Front desk person last night told me that every passenger is provided a list of Senior Staff when they board the ship and I must have misplaced my copy. When I asked for another, I was told that no longer were able to print a list. Truth or lie to get rid of me? I addressed this on my Comment Card, too.
Did you find anyone who got a Staff list when boarding ? We have never gotten one. Having to ask at the desk is a nuisance, and getting the names on the Cruise Log at the end doesn't help while you are onboard. For comparison, we discovered the NCL Pride of America has a big picture board of all the senior and middle officers - and even their Maritime Licences.
Nieuw Statendam night light?
in Holland America Line
Posted
The Koningsdam has a strip light at floor level at the bottom of the angled unit that transitions from the closets to the TV wall. It is controlled by a motion sensor that looks along the floor across the foot of the bed and along the side of the bed towards the bathroom. It is very effective at lighting your path at night without lighting up the whole room. There is not a nightlight in the bathroom, but the outlet by the sink is always on, not controlled by the lightswitch as on most of the older ships. I assume the Nieuw Statendam is the same.