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LIVE - Koningsdam July 3 - July 17 Norway B2B

sldispatcher

By sldispatcher,
in Holland America Line

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GeorgiaPeach51 "Live from...." Rare

GeorgiaPeach51

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We are dithering on whether to cancel or keep our cruise for next year on the Kdam....reading reviews with anxiety....and yours is so very balanced, amusing, insightful and fun to read that you are helping us know we will make a good decision for ourselves.

 

I appreciate you!

 

GP :):)

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sldispatcher

sldispatcher

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Afternoon Update – Burgermeister Meister Burger

 

715 for me today up and at ‘em. As is per usual on a day at sea, I love getting up early and roaming a quiet ship. Even one such as this which has been stuffed to the gills with cabins and people can be quiet. The Lido is all yours on a day like today with grey skies.

 

I encourage anyone looking at lido items to look around each station at the Lido and BOTH sides opposite of the sweet spot to see options.

 

Lunch was at Pinnacle Grill. Nice presentation and super relaxed. Quiet, peaceful. And HUGE burgers. Must have been 2 to 2 ½ inches thick. Wowzer. Hot fudge brownie, for those who got it, were huge. 3 of us opted for the berries with sabayon sauce.

 

Carpet on the ship blends well and does not get noticed all over the ship. You can feel the padding still being new and fluffy under your feet in many places.

 

Our balcony door has developed a fairly pronounced squeak when opening that occurred after the usual verandah hose down on changeover day in Rotterdam.

 

Some hints:

1. For early risers, had they just sauntered over to the spa would have had the chance to get 5 treatments for $149 between 8am and 915am. Early bird gets the worm.

2. The bar across from the Pinnacle Grill has some of the same wines that are on the signature beverage package that are served in the dining room. That is not the case, I am told anecdotally, elsewhere at other watering holes.

3. If you don’t mind the walk and the weather is nice, there are many tables set and ready as well as covered aft of the lido. Get some quiet time out there.

4. There are two hooks inside on the inside of the bathroom door. Because of no drawers and limited storage space, the hanging bag is good for ladies who need lots of weapons of mass construction.

5. Note there are two pressure settings on the shower wand…at the wand and at the area of the faucet..both influence pressure.

6. No slippers on this ship. If you like that, bring your own.

7. Look at menus, ship history, etc. on the TV. There are more options than just the 3 or 4 “apps” or movies on the screen, you just have to scroll over.

8. Makeup mirror is in the room in a drawer in a blue bag.

9. I personally think the PC’s in the Explorer’s Lounge move faster than my up-to-date version laptop when it comes to web browsing. Minutes are minutes.

 

 

That’s a few from top of my head.

 

Dinner report later. This is the dinner menu we missed last week when we went to Tamarind. So should I have the maple lacquered duck or the Yellowfin Sole? And should it be finished with the chocolate soufflé or the lemon cheesecake?

;)

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sldispatcher

sldispatcher

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Evening Update – A Season for Everything

 

This afternoon was spent visiting, strolling the promenade deck and getting ready for dinner. As this is written, it is 1018pm local Norway time. We have just completed the pickup for the Harbor Pilot for Sognefjord and our stop at Eidfjord. To do that, we had to swing into an area with a hard right, cut the engines, wait for the pilot to reach us and then get underway with a sweeping left turn back to sea. We are to begin the journey into the fjord at midnight arriving at 7am. Sailaway is at 3pm tomorrow and should be dramatic.

 

Seas have calmed as has life aboard the ship.

 

The Promenade deck is indeed narrow in some spots. However, a little courtesy and patience utilized at the right moments was all that was required. I am reminded of the squawking people did for years over airline meals being degraded. Then the day the airlines said enough and cut them out altogether you would have thought the respirator had been turned off on folks. Now we're celebrating getting a stroopwaffel handed to us. Beware of complaining too much about losing SOME of the Promenade real estate. You just might wind up losing all of it. I hope it never goes away. The library is a sad casualty for sure.

 

The Crow’s Nest became very busy at 4pm. In my naiveté I had not realized it was Happy Hour, thus the crowd. Note to self: steer clear of there in the future during that time.

 

Some more observations of oddities. Port talks and expectations were given during prime dinner hours last night. Huh? They did that last week as well. No recording.

Tomorrow night, the insanity continues with a non-recorded port preview. Oh well.

 

The 1 hour departure time adjustment in Eidfjord will make us miss our planned Troll Road tour booked via Viator so we are working to correct, contact, and clear up that situation. Always a risk when booking a private tour, but I have found Viator to be flexible and responsive in the past. We will be good with anything. I figure if the tour is a no go, I’ll just book my wife a spa treatment that day.

 

The dining room, first gala night tonight, was simply overwhelmed for the first time in 9 days. Was the first time we had to take a beeper, but that lasted only 20 minutes. No big deal.

 

Being from Louisiana, we have felt that food is consistently under seasoned but that is usually addressed with salt and pepper. For the most part, I have been fine with it and realize that many taste buds are not as accustomed to the flavor explosion we are exposed to in the Bayou State. That seasoning profile does let you appreciate some of the natural flavors a bit more, but there are moments where the subtleness paints a rather pale picture. The artichoke and heritage carrot soup has been one of my favorite soup dishes so far.

 

The temperature in the dining room was simply on roast. You could tell it was a bit uncomfortable as men around the room had dressed up only to have to remove the coat so as not to melt. Even the warm chocolate soufflés, which could have used more sauce, were begging for ice chips.

 

We sauntered by the Lido stations just before closing as I like to see what is going on up there. One has to admit that HAL probably has the best Lido policy around with the no self-serve stations. By the way, everyone in my rather diverse group gives a two thumbs up to the design of the Lido and the separate stations.

 

Firmly standing by my opinion that there are probably about 150 – 300 too many people for this ship and the design. The truth will be that back in Seattle they most likely will be figuring out to squeeze MORE people onto the next Pinnacle Class ship. The sad trend across the board is bigger ships with more people.

 

CAC looked to be about 70% full tonight at the one seating, but that is just a rudimentary guess. We are going to give it a try in a couple of nights.

 

The next 4 days are port days and should be full of variety and scenery. We will soon be on the downhill slide of the cruise portion of this vacation.

 

The motto will be to savor every day and experience from here on out.

 

That should be easy to do on a cruise in Norway, even for an old salt like myself.

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mame42

mame42

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I usually explain that cruise ship food is one of the least important aspects I consider when choosing a cruise, since we have some of the best food in the world right here in Louisiana. I find most food onboard incredibly bland. Of course, as you say, our native cuisine tends to be a little on the "colorful" side.

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Karennella

Karennella

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Compared to our food in Sydney, it was acceptable but bland! When we asked about a dish in the lido, it was explained that it was sort of Laska.

Not sure who normally eats their food as it was cooked aboard but I presume some people do.

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sldispatcher

sldispatcher

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Mid Day Report: Liquid Sunshine Day

 

We walked forever in Eidfjord. Low hanging clouds enshrouded most of the mountain tops with forest green canopy of trees holding on precariously to the granite cliffs. Spindly white fingers of waterfalls are appearing out of the mist and tumbling down in an almost haphazard way. Not giving up on the day, with rain gear in hand we took off on a 4 mile circle hike.

 

We looked like a mix of wet wild cats by the time we got back. Hungry, but energized, we hit the Lido for some nourishment. By 1215pm, a lot of other people had the same idea. I’ll not keep pounding away on the theme, but the Koningsdam is a little short of tables and long on demand for the many fine food stations aboard. The lightly battered fries were a real hit. Crunchy on the outside and nice and light on the inside.

 

To answer some of the other questions:

 

Movies usually play twice. Soccer games have been played as well out at the pool.

 

As far as picking a cruise for food, I most definitely can pick some cruises for the food. Oceania, hands down, embarrasses Celebrity and HAL in the food department.

 

Overall, we’ve had fun today in first fjord port of this 2nd block of 7 days. The 55 degree temps beat the pants off of the 95 degree temps back home.

 

Tomorrow promises to be partly cloudy and a fun day in Alesund as we take the Troll Road.

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808lady

808lady

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David - look forward to your reviews every day.

 

Question - haven't seen many reviews of the movie offerings at the Lido Pool at night. Have you taken this in.....and any comments? Movies fairly recent?

 

dave

 

Dave, I sailed the K'dam last week. None of the movies were interesting to us. "Batman vs. Superman, "Hologram for a King" are two titles I remember. We did go down and watch some of the Euro Cup finals, though. We watched some movies in the cabin. Fairly new releases that we missed at the theater. Hope this helps.

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sldispatcher

sldispatcher

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Evening Report – 5.0

I believe I stated the incorrect fjord before for Eidfjord. This should have been referenced as part of the Hardangerfjord or something like that. Where I come from “g’s” are silent anyway.

 

Best dish so far for me personally was the salmon wrapped in puff pastry dough baked with mushroom and wild rice. The sauce, as it often does, made the dish. The salmon was cooked perfectly and was extremely mild allowing some of the other flavors to take center stage.

 

Speaking of center stage, the juggler/magician tonight was superb. Tempei was his name I believe. He received a deserved standing ovation. One could try and describe it but best just to leave that alone. The World Stage LED background just continues to reign supreme not as a focus, but as a key prop in so many of these events in terms of enhancement and utilization.

 

The ship seemed more “balanced” tonight as we walked through after the show. As with any start of a cruise, I notice an eagerness to attend all events and venues that wanes as the week progresses. We generally prefer 10 day or higher count cruises just because of that fact.

 

CAC was 90% full tonight. We are going tomorrow. I love the concept and hope they continue to forge ahead with any needed changes. The concept is magnificent and should do well.

 

This was also the first time I saw BLEND actually being used and it was full. I appreciate what they are trying to achieve there and with a little explanation there is more value packed in than the $129 sticker price implies.

 

The clouds did dry up enough for a rainless sailaway from Eidfjord. Great views and spectacular waterfalls were on either side of the ship. Again, a great reason to have an aft verandah.

 

I’m getting closer to giving my rating on Koningsdam. It most likely will come in at a 5.0. I cannot go with 5.5 just because of the crowding in certain spots and their inability to handle diners in a timely fashion at simple meals like breakfast in the MDR.

 

Personally, the ship lends itself well to 10 + day cruises. That is where I think it will shine and be more of a breath of fresh air. Long time cruisers with HAL will most likely not warm up to it because it represents change. Change in customs and procedures that have been traditions.

 

For those who find it sailing on a particular itinerary will be more than happy with the choice from what I have witnessed so far. Every cruise line forum on cruise critic has sirens alerting that the cruise line, the ship, etc. is not serving as good a food as it used to be, the service is worse, there is too much change.

 

Over the next few days, I will list all of the positives I’ve seen so far. I’ll start with some right now:

 

1. Exceptional execution of food variety and food safety in the Lido.

2. Superb salad bar in Lido.

3. Consistently cooked daily items in Lido. If HAL is going to keep items on menu each day, they at least need to be done well repeatedly and that is the case.

4. MDR food is served at great temps. So what if you don’t always get a menu or order taken in 5 minutes? I’d rather the food come out just right as opposed to the menu being presented to me.

5. The Beverage service in the MDR with the electronic system is amazingly fast. They got this one right.

6. In 10 days I have seen 2 napkins on the floor in an elevator that a patron must have dropped. No other trash to speak of.

7. Soft close drawers in cabin.

8. Excellent textures and fabric choices in cabins for relaxation.

9. Credit a really smooth riding ship.

10. The technology enhancements to bedside plugs and television apps.

 

At the end of the day, the joy one gets out of a cruise is really not 100% the responsibility of the cruise line. If you look close enough, you will find issues on every ship of every company. At some point, part of the responsibility of the enjoyment of the cruise belongs to the passenger. Did you do your homework? Did you plan ahead? Who are you traveling with on the ship? Which one of you is in control of the weather? Are your expectations in line with your pocketbook?

 

So I give Koningsdam a 5.0.

 

Why? Because at least 2.5 of those points….were my responsibility, not HAL’s.

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Austin Family

Austin Family

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Reading your posts with great appreciation!!

Did you get information on your Eidfjord Hike from the Tourist Office?

Are you going on the Alesund Viator 8hr Troll Road Tour?

We have the same tour reserved for next week and will also be in Eidfjord next week on next week's HAL sailing of the Koningsdam. Please keep the advice and observations coming!!😊

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OceanPatter

OceanPatter

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sldispatcher, we have all benefitted from your reviews, which have grown more balanced, nuanced and uplifting as the cruise progressed. It seems as if you found that sweet spot of cruising ... devoid of petty criticisms, and full of the ability to enjoy the moment. Hope you have many more wonderful cruises, and that we, too, can achieve your rare attitude to life on the seas.

Edited by OceanPatter
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