Koningsdam returning to Venice.

[Alphen]

Koningsdam is returning to Venice after sea trials in the Adriatic.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hope the sea trials went well.

[Bell Boy]

I'm a Cunarder about to step out of my comfort zone ( April) and will be trying HAL for the very first time. I'll be sailing on the new Koningsdam as it claims to have a dance floor to match the QM2.

 

HAL had better come up trumps as I'm use to very sophisticated service from Cunard ;) So far I'm not too impressed with HALs pre voyage information, everything is only to be found on line ,no hard copy or pre voyage literature is sent to the customer.

 

Question for you HALers , should I pack some formal wear, if so will I be the only one. ?

 

:)

[Alphen]

I'm a Cunarder about to step out of my comfort zone ( April) and will be trying HAL for the very first time. I'll be sailing on the new Koningsdam as it claims to have a dance floor to match the QM2.

 

HAL had better come up trumps as I'm use to very sophisticated service from Cunard ;) So far I'm not too impressed with HALs pre voyage information, everything is only to be found on line ,no hard copy or pre voyage literature is sent to the customer.

 

Question for you HALers , should I pack some formal wear, if so will I be the only one. ?

 

:)

 

I do hope you do not assume HAL is in the same division as Cunard, not knowing Cunard, but I do believe HAL to be a step down from Cunard.

 

Do pack formal wear, although officially the formal nights are now called Gala Night, I believe there are still quite a few who go all the way, including myself I might ad.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Alphen

[Alphen]

Back in the same spot she was before the Sea trials, assume she will remain there for the finishing touches.

 

[sammygoose]

Thanks for the update!

[Alphen]

There are some fresh pictures appearing on Marinetraffic (the account version), Koningsdam has a fresh coat of paint and the scaffolding is coming down. :D

[Roz]

Bell Boy, I don't know of any mainstream cruise lines that still send out paper copies of cruise documents.

 

Roz

[Lizzie68]

Alphen - thanks for your updates on the Koningsdam. It is much appreciated.

[Bell Boy]

Bell Boy, I don't know of any mainstream cruise lines that still send out paper copies of cruise documents.

 

Roz

 

Roz, Cunard ( including Seabourn just to name a few) send out a handy 'pre voyage booklet' to those who book the Cunard fare and that will include luggage labels and other useful information e.g. shore tours,dress codes ,formal evening etc.

I agree, the actual cruise ticket is an e ticket which I don't mind.

 

:)

[Mickb]

As one who cruised both lines, they both have strong points but personally I think that Cunard is way ahead. For example - the food - Holland America used to rival Cunard but now they serve things like Meatloaf and Jerk Chicken in their main dining room. They are much less dressy and informal. In the main their crews are delightful but they do not always understand everything you say.

I have enjoyed every HAL cruise that I have made but will not be booking them again. We shall stick with Cunard.

This is very much a personal view and I have no doubt that you will have a delightful cruise on this lovely new ship.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Roz, Cunard ( including Seabourn just to name a few) send out a handy 'pre voyage booklet' to those who book the Cunard fare and that will include luggage labels and other useful information e.g. shore tours,dress codes ,formal evening etc.

I agree, the actual cruise ticket is an e ticket which I don't mind.

 

:)

 

As far as I know HAL does not have a "pre voyage booklet" with the information you name. You can get all that information online -and as far as I can remember you will not get the exact nights of formal (now called Gala) until you get aboard although I think on the electronic ticket, there is a number of formal and smart casual nights.

[Jade13]

Roz, Cunard ( including Seabourn just to name a few) send out a handy 'pre voyage booklet' to those who book the Cunard fare and that will include luggage labels and other useful information e.g. shore tours,dress codes ,formal evening etc.

 

I agree, the actual cruise ticket is an e ticket which I don't mind.

 

 

 

:)

 

 

You can print out a personalized booklet.

[sppunk]

Roz, Cunard ( including Seabourn just to name a few) send out a handy 'pre voyage booklet' to those who book the Cunard fare and that will include luggage labels and other useful information e.g. shore tours,dress codes ,formal evening etc.

I agree, the actual cruise ticket is an e ticket which I don't mind.

 

:)

 

HAL is a mass market line. Cunard and especially Seaborn are premium / luxury lines. Can't compare them.

[Jade13]

As far as I know HAL does not have a "pre voyage booklet" with the information you name.

 

 

Sure they do. You just need to print it out.

[KirkNC]

Sure they do. You just need to print it out.

 

I assume you are referring to printing your personalized itinerary within in the My Booking function?

[KirkNC]

HAL is a mass market line. Cunard and especially Seaborn are premium / luxury lines. Can't compare them.

 

Never been on Cunard but my impression is it is more formal and is a higher level of experience.

[Carnevale]

Bell Boy, as MickB said, cruise line preference is a personal thing. However, I'm going to jump in as we cruise mainly for time on the dance floor and we love good food so I think our interests and yours are aligned. Our bottom line: Having been on the QM2 and several HAL ships, we much prefer HAL and I honestly can't see where Cunard is considered to be a step up. It's not that we dislike Cunard, we just like HAL more so, given the choice, we go with HAL where it fits what we want to do.

 

For our tastes (again, a very personal thing) we like the food on HAL better and particularly like the HAL specialty restaurants.

 

When it comes to dancing, I'm not sure that the Koningsdam will have a dance floor for ballroom dancing that compares to the QM2 . We are sailing on her in May so will find out for sure then. From what we can see, it looks like the big floor is in the space where the BB Kings play. You can do some of the Latin dances to their music, but only if you can stand EXTREMELY loud music. We can't so that's out for us as a place to dance which is very disappointing (and is our biggest beef with HAL). This means we mainly dance in the Ocean Bar on other ships but again, until we've been on Koningsdam, I don't know where we'll be dancing on her.

 

On other ships, the Ocean Bar has tended to have fair to very good musicians who are able to play a full range of ballroom music. Whether you'll get strict tempi (or the right tempi) is hard to know but we've found that when we get to know the band they are very open to our requests for type of music and rhythms.

 

It could just be that we lucked out, but our experience on the QM2 was that we didn't get in as much dancing as we do on HAL ships. True, the floor was amazing for a ship however, the QM2 band was not very good (got the right rhythms, but played out of pitch so often the result wasn't very nice). But, the bigger problem was the number of times Cunard used that fabulous dance floor for special functions that we didn't get invited to. When that happened, we'd have days onboard with no or almost no dancing. For us, that's just not a good day of cruising (although even a bad day on board any ship is enjoyable but we like at least 2 or more hours on the floor every day).

 

Again, this is all just our take on things and I know others may well see things exactly the opposite of this. I hope you enjoy HAL and, if you don't, it is great that you've had good experiences on Cunard and can continue to sail with them.

[Despegue]

Cunard is NOT premium when cruising in staterooms that have the Britannia Dining Room ( or Club ) as dining venue.

Grill Class is much more upscale and truly premium( Queens Grill Luxury).

 

Cunard Lido buffet is far inferiour to the HAL lido restaurant.

[Bell Boy]

Thank you everyone, for taking the time to reply and to offer your constructive feed back . Especially to Roz, Jade13, Mickb ( a Cunarder ;) Carnevale ( for the heads up about the dancing) and to sjsulibrarian .

 

I was a bit surprised that most of you indicated that Cunard is a 'bit more premium' than HAL. I've heard so many excellent reports about HAL, I've friends who swear by HAL and wouldn't dream of sailing anyone else.

 

I have to admit, this cruise (of around 20 days) was more expensive than a similar 19/20 day trip on QM2 ( plus it's a fly cruise ... I even bought the air travel separate to keep down cost)

I guess it's because it's one of the Maiden cruises before it sails to Holland for the naming ceremony.

 

Anyway, I shall go with an open mind and will try to look for the positives rather than the negatives .... 40+ Cunard and 5+ Seabourn, well It's time I had a change. ;)

 

Hopefully I'll get back to you .

 

:)

Edited January 17, 2016 by Bell Boy

[sppunk]

Cunard is NOT premium when cruising in staterooms that have the Britannia Dining Room ( or Club ) as dining venue.

Grill Class is much more upscale and truly premium( Queens Grill Luxury).

 

Cunard Lido buffet is far inferiour to the HAL lido restaurant.

 

The Berlitz Guide to Cruising - which is the definitive source of this stuff - says it is.

[Despegue]

Berlitz, with Douglas Ward, is quite biassed towards Cunard style cruising, having a career connection with Cunard and being British...don't be fooled.

 

As I said, Grill Class on Cunard is truly premium, Britannia not so much anymore, except for the dress code.

[Sassaroli]

A new photos about MS Koningsdam.

 

http://forum.crocieristi.it/showthread.php/43065-Foto-Koningsdam

[Carnevale]

Hope you will post after your cruise since it sounds like you are on one of her first outings. We are all looking forward to hearing about the experience on this new ship. And I am particularly looking forward to info on the dancing and to hearing if you agree with us in liking HAL more than Cunard. Have a great time!

[sammygoose]

A new photos about MS Koningsdam.

 

http://forum.crocieristi.it/showthread.php/43065-Foto-Koningsdam

 

Nice catch!

 

Is it me or do some of the head on pics remind anyone of the NCL Epic with the shoe box above the bridge. I am trying to ignore those thoughts.