Newest Koningsdam Pictures

[Carnevale]

Many thx for all of this great information! We really appreciate it.

 

Where can we access your Twitter photos?

[InTheWASide]

Many thx for all of this great information! We really appreciate it.

 

 

 

Where can we access your Twitter photos?

 

 

@dozersdaddytoo

[1ANGELCAT]

Just guessing but doubt very much that Mariner star discount will apply.

 

 

Per Beth at Mariner Society. YES they do

[mpolachek24]

Honestly, all these photos and the Sel de Mer menu are really pushing me to book a future K-dam cruise... love the modern feel

[Despegue]

Everybody is claiming the ship's interiour is very modern, too modern for some, but compared to my Western Euro taste, Koningsdam is still a very warmly and classically designed ship!

Design "fashioned" is very geographically defined. Just hop into an IKEA in different places on Earth, and see the differences in offering and display styles! ( just don't buy too much crap when you visit 😉)

And I just love that warm classic ( some say modern) style, without the ( in our eyes) uglyness ( we compare it to faded cheap retirement residences) of some non-refurbished areas of other HAL ships. Although HAL artwork is consistently wonderfull.

[SC_GAY_Cruiser]

@dozersdaddytoo

 

Brad - just want to thank you so much for the great pictures and what we all have to look forward to for those of booked on the K'dam.

 

dave

[CowPrincess]

InTheWASide, thank you so much for the pictures!

[InTheWASide]

Brad - just want to thank you so much for the great pictures and what we all have to look forward to for those of booked on the K'dam.

 

 

 

dave

 

 

 

InTheWASide, thank you so much for the pictures!

 

 

Glad you liked them

[Carnevale]

@dozersdaddytoo

 

Many thanks!! Great photos that really show the ship well - can hardly wait for May 9 when we board.

 

Did you see any ballroom dancing? If so, where?

 

Thx again

[InTheWASide]

Many thanks!! Great photos that really show the ship well - can hardly wait for May 9 when we board.

 

 

 

Did you see any ballroom dancing? If so, where?

 

 

 

Thx again

 

 

As far as ballroom goes I didn't see a lot but if anything accompanied Lincoln center stage I sadly missed almost all of their performances. During the high tea in the queens lounge though they had the strings there and invited people to dance if they'd like to. So while not an exhaustive list there's at least one time

[Carnevale]

As far as ballroom goes I didn't see a lot but if anything accompanied Lincoln center stage I sadly missed almost all of their performances. During the high tea in the queens lounge though they had the strings there and invited people to dance if they'd like to. So while not an exhaustive list there's at least one time

 

Many thanks! Good to know there is something available as we are unhappy campers when we have to a day on a cruise with no dancing (the reason we have only ever done one sailing on each of Azamara and Oceania - just not enough dancing on those lines so we are hoping HAL continues its dancing tradition as we have spent many happy hours in the Ocean Bar).

[bjkrlk]

Can you make for the new restaurant. Menu looks like multiple trips for lunch and dinner

[CruiseLady88]

So happy to know that the Queen's lounge has strings during the high tea. We booked this ship because of the Queen's lounge and quite sad to find out that they have BB king playing there every night. Hope that they can put some ballroom music band in the queen's lounge when there are ballroom type passengers onboard. They can change program based on passenger type. Every week will be different.

[bandp407]

So happy to know that the Queen's lounge has strings during the high tea. We booked this ship because of the Queen's lounge and quite sad to find out that they have BB king playing there every night. Hope that they can put some ballroom music band in the queen's lounge when there are ballroom type passengers onboard. They can change program based on passenger type. Every week will be different.

 

Perhaps they can move the"BAND" to the Queens Lounge pre dinner times & when BB King is not playing, which is generally after dinner. We enjoy them both!! Hope they give us lots of dance music on this ship!!

[CruiseLady88]

When we were on the Nieuw Amsterdam, we can only do disco type (move your body type) dancing. Sometimes one or two cha cha or rumba. No waltz or Foxtrot. When we switched to the Ocean Bar, The Band played the music more suitable for ballroom. We met an American lady who is a dance instructor. We also met an 82-yea-old Angela who used to teach ballroom on the cruise ship with her husband. We also met two other American couples. We knew each other because of the dance activities. We drew many fellow passengers to the Ocean bar to see us dancing too. We had so much fun and hope that we can continue this fun on Koningsdam.

Edited April 13, 2016 by CruiseLady88

[Carnevale]

When we were on the Nieuw Amsterdam, we can only do disco type (move your body type) dancing. Sometimes one or two cha cha or rumba. No waltz or Foxtrot. When we switched to the Ocean Bar, The Band played the music more suitable for ballroom. We met an American lady who is a dance instructor. We also met an 82-yea-old Angela who used to teach ballroom on the cruise ship with her husband. We also met two other American couples. We knew each other because of the dance activities. We drew many fellow passengers to the Ocean bar to see us dancing too. We had so much fun and hope that we can continue this fun on Koningsdam.

 

I hope you are right but I'm fearful that with just a piano in the Ocean Bar the opportunities to dance may be rare. It is SO sad to have a ship with a wonderful dance floor with the space given over to music that isn't always good to dance to and, even when it is (and the BB Kings do some that works for ballroom....just not a lot), then it is too loud to be able to enjoy dancing. We are taking ear plugs with us this time in case the BB Kings is the only opportunity for dancing.

 

When we are back from the Christening Cruise I'll post to let other dancers know more about what opportunities we had for dancing on the Koningsdam.

[sppunk]

Regarding dancing, Captain Albert today gave a great rundown of how the Music Walk works:

 

In the mean time I have been trying to get my head around the Music Walk concept. As it is something new it takes a little bit of getting used to but it works really well. The World Stage (Main show room) has 3 performances each evening at 19.00 hrs. 20.30 hrs. and 22.00 hrs. This is the anchor of the whole operation. The Lincoln Stage Centre plays at 18.00 hrs. and 20.00 hrs. so everybody who goes to the show can also hear both the classical music programs. (Tonight there is Brahms and Edith Piaf). When the classical music stops, Billboard on Board, the dueling pianos kick off with two sets at 21.00 hrs. and 22.30 hrs. and then a late night one at 23.45 hrs. Again you can catch one or more of the performances. For those who consider 23.45 hrs. too late; tonight we have an hour back to return to middle European time and thus the real time is only 22.45 hrs. In between you can then run over to BB King in the Queens Lounge with performances at 21.00 hrs. 22.00 hrs. and 23.00 hrs. Everything is staggered and does not interfere with each other. BB King does not do either as it is the Queens Lounge and their music does not carry over into the BillBoard area.

 

For those who like less noise and a more tranquil surrounding, there is a pre- cocktail piano player who plays from 17.00 hrs. to 20.00 hrs. in the Ocean Bar

[bandp407]

I hope you are right but I'm fearful that with just a piano in the Ocean Bar the opportunities to dance may be rare. It is SO sad to have a ship with a wonderful dance floor with the space given over to music that isn't always good to dance to and, even when it is (and the BB Kings do some that works for ballroom....just not a lot), then it is too loud to be able to enjoy dancing. We are taking ear plugs with us this time in case the BB Kings is the only opportunity for dancing.

 

When we are back from the Christening Cruise I'll post to let other dancers know more about what opportunities we had for dancing on the Koningsdam.

 

We were so looking forward to more opportunities for dancing on the Koningsdam, however it is sounding like we lost the "BAND" that plays in the Ocean Bar on both Eurodam & NA. This is sounding very grim & taking awary some of our enthusiasm to sail on the Koningsdam. Carnevale- you are so correct - a wonderful dance floor and simply a piano player replacing the"BAND"!!!

 

Very much interested in hearing your feedback regarding the dancing opportunities when you return. Hopefully HAL simply needs to "iron out the kinks" & will give us more than piano players in the Ocean Lounge & BillBoard.

 

In the meantime, please enjoy the remainder of your cruise!

[CruiseLady88]

I hope you are right but I'm fearful that with just a piano in the Ocean Bar the opportunities to dance may be rare. It is SO sad to have a ship with a wonderful dance floor with the space given over to music that isn't always good to dance to and, even when it is (and the BB Kings do some that works for ballroom....just not a lot), then it is too loud to be able to enjoy dancing. We are taking ear plugs with us this time in case the BB Kings is the only opportunity for dancing.

 

When we are back from the Christening Cruise I'll post to let other dancers know more about what opportunities we had for dancing on the Koningsdam.

 

I look forward to reading more from you.

 

It will be a pity that HAL built such a beautiful dance floor without the proper band to go with it. I will see how it goes after my booked cruise in late May. If they waste the dance floor, I will definitely won't go back. Hopefully something will change.

[bandp407]

Already many of us raising issue about the possible lack of dance music. Is the beautiful dance floor just a "tease"? Hopefully not & HAL hope you are reading this!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[CruiseLady88]

This ship either needs a new cruise director (unlikely because this cruise director speaks very good Dutch and English and many other languages) or the existing cruise director needs to adjust the existing programs based on the customer feedback. This ship has a beautiful dance floor and a good sound system to go with it. But it is such a pity that no good music to go along.

 

For our 14-day cruise, there were only two High Tea dances with live big band music (the band was experienced and knew what type of music should be played for ballroom dancing). For the rest of the days, the regular afternoon tea had no good music for people to dance. Sometimes the music volume was too low to hear the beats too. It is ok not to have live band every day. But please provide a proper playlist that allows people to dance.

 

The BB King Blue club was good to listen for the first couple nights. But after you hear them almost every night with the similar playlist, people started to lose interest to listen. Besides, their music was not quite suitable for dancing either. You may be able to dance Hustle, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop or disco. No Cha Cha, Foxtrot, Quickstep, or other dances. It would be nice to bring the Lincoln Stage Centre group to perform in the Queen's Lounge for few nights, or the pianist in the Ocean Bar. Just let them take turn so that the Queen's Lounge has difference group to perform. In fact, I would prefer to listen to the Lincoln Stage Centre group to perform in the World Stage since it sounds so well in the World Stage.

 

We talked to many customers on this ship. Many I talked to said the same thing "this ship is so boring", "we never feel so bored on cruise", "if you want me to give rating, I would rate this ship #20 out of 20 ships". You can see that fellow passengers were so disappointed of this new ship.

 

Well, because of this ship, we didn't buy Future Cruise deposit. HAL has to do something to lure us back.

Edited June 15, 2016 by CruiseLady88

[sppunk]

This ship either needs a new cruise director (unlikely because this cruise director speaks very good Dutch and English and many other languages) or the existing cruise director needs to adjust the existing programs based on the customer feedback. This ship has a beautiful dance floor and a good sound system to go with it. But it is such a pity that no good music to go along.

 

For our 14-day cruise, there were only two High Tea dances with live big band music (the band was experienced and knew what type of music should be played for ballroom dancing). For the rest of the days, the regular afternoon tea had no good music for people to dance. Sometimes the music volume was too low to hear the beats too. It is ok not to have live band every day. But please provide a proper playlist that allows people to dance.

 

The BB King Blue club was good to listen for the first couple nights. But after you hear them almost every night with the similar playlist, people started to lose interest to listen. Besides, their music was not quite suitable for dancing either. You may be able to dance Hustle, West Coast Swing, Lindy Hop or disco. No Cha Cha, Foxtrot, Quickstep, or other dances. It would be nice to bring the Lincoln Stage Centre group to perform in the Queen's Lounge for few nights, or the pianist in the Ocean Bar. Just let them take turn so that the Queen's Lounge has difference group to perform. In fact, I would prefer to listen to the Lincoln Stage Centre group to perform in the World Stage since it sounds so well in the World Stage.

 

We talked to many customers on this ship. Many I talked to said the same thing "this ship is so boring", "we never feel so bored on cruise", "if you want me to give rating, I would rate this ship #20 out of 20 ships". You can see that fellow passengers were so disappointed of this new ship.

 

Well, because of this ship, we didn't buy Future Cruise deposit. HAL has to do something to lure us back.

This doesn't make sense to me. You said you were more bored on Koningsdam than NA, yet Koningsdam offers exactly the entertainment NA offers PLUS quite a bit more (including completely new stage shows that have received tremendous raves).

 

Not doubting you necessarily but if Koningsdam was boring to you I don't see how NA was any better.

[CruiseLady88]

That was our experience. Another couple with us also said the same thing. Fellow passengers that we met provided the same comments. On NA, we can dance every night in the Ocean Bar and we had so much fun talking to the fellow dancers on the floor. On K-dam, there wasn't so much chance to dance.

 

In addition, the high tea at NA was way better. The sandwiches come from their kitchen directly fresh, with different varieties every day on NA. I look forward to the high tea at NA. On K-dam, the high tea/afternoon tea take places in the Queen's Lounge which is not too close to the kitchen. The staff and the servers took the sandwiches in a cart to the queens lounge at 12:00 for the afternoon tea at 3:00 pm. The sandwiches came out all dry. Everyday the same. My friends came with us for afternoon tea twice and told us that they wouldn't bother to come again for dry sandwiches.

 

When we were on NA, we had so much fun even though we didn't enjoy BB King Blue club on NA and we skipped their shows to go to the Ocean Bar to dance. We got something to do every night! We signed up for future cruise and why we were in K-dam. After K-dam cruise, we didn't sign up for future cruise this time. I think we are done with HAL.

 

A fellow passenger from Vancouver told us that she was on Celebrity solstice for Hawaii cruise before going to K-dam. She had 5 days at sea and never felt bored. She was so bored on K-dam and swore that she will not go to HAL again.

 

However, the dinner menu was high point for our cruise. Very delicious food offered on K-dam. Services were all good. No complaints here.

Edited June 15, 2016 by CruiseLady88

[Third]

We talked to many customers on this ship. Many I talked to said the same thing "this ship is so boring", "we never feel so bored on cruise", "if you want me to give rating, I would rate this ship #20 out of 20 ships". You can see that fellow passengers were so disappointed of this new ship.

 

Well, because of this ship, we didn't buy Future Cruise deposit. HAL has to do something to lure us back.

 

Can't believe that we were on the same ship. We had a fantastic cruise on a fantastic ship. But we're not dancers and tea lovers. You can make so many choices on this ship.

[CruiseLady88]

Did you have any hot water problem? In the morning, if you are the first one to take shower, you have to let the water run till the water becomes hot (hot water travels the long pipe to reach to your cabin). This may take 4 minutes (talk about water conservation). But once you got hot water and every one gets up to take shower, hot water comes out with no problem. We have tested this and confirmed this theory.

 

If you take the shower in the afternoon when nobody takes shower, good luck to you to get hot water. You have to let the water run again. Water waste again!

Edited June 15, 2016 by CruiseLady88