Any celeb cruisers sailed HAL Koningsdam?

[gordylad]

We've found a really good deal for next Sept and have a cabin on hold but would love to hear from any Celebrity cruisers who could share the experience of sailing on this ship.

 

I am concerned about the smoking and wonder if people are allowed to smoke at the pool, restaurants anywhere really?

 

We have recently found Celebrities entertainment to be poor and like the look of the blues club on HAL

 

Cheers

[Lady Arwen]

We sailed on K'dam in May and it's our favourite HAL ship. Beautiful decor, and very similar to Celebrity S class ships. Good food and service. Outdoor pool area is the best! Now, I have to say a couple of negative things. Smoking is allowed (at this time, hopefully HAL will get with the program) in the casino and it's very smokey and sometimes intolerable. I had to leave many nights, that were otherwise quite enjoyable. Smoking is also allowed at various outdoor designated areas. Entertainment is not HAL's strong suit. The BB Kings were great, although extremely loud. Other venues provide some sort of musical entertainment, but it's just okay. We don't cruise for the entertainment, so HAL is a good fit for us. Celebrity ticks all the boxes and that's why we keep coming back.

[kenevenpar]

More alike than different. Smoking did not bother us; more than enough non-smoking places and they finally gave up on allowing smoking on the balcony.

 

 

As LA said, Blues Club is good, but for us unusable because it is so loud it hurt. The Lincoln Center isw mostly classic live music, and is on of the most popular venues. WARNING: watch out for the parked scooters, they are a hazard when parked in the hallway and numerous. Billboard, across from Lincoln Center was our favorite stop, "dueling" pianos that, at least on our cruise, were very good. The Crows Nest, like other HAL ships, is being downplayed from one of the hot spots to find me if you can (ask for directions, it took us several tries.

 

 

Pool area (indoor) is too small and not enough loungers. Outdoor pool aft of the buffet was `nice and not too crowded.

 

 

Vista Suite are suites in name only, and the suite product on HAL does not match that of Celebrity.

 

 

Food being subjective, is a bit better in MDR on =X=, Murano is better than PG on Hal, Tamarind is a lot better than QSine, although they are different and not necessarily a fair comparison. Canaletto on HAL is just an extension of the MDR with a separate, although Italian menu.

 

 

We enjoyed Koningsdam and would sail again, but like Reflection, Silhouette and Summit better.

 

 

Feel free to ask questions

[minnied]

we cruised on the koeningsdam about two years ago. the ship is beautiful - if you like the s class product on celebrity, you will like it. we found the food to be a bit better than celebrity. bb king's was very good - lots of dancing and great music - much better than anything on celebrity. dueling pianos were good fun. lincoln center classical was always a little early for us. specialty restaurants priced better than celebrity. the buffet was much better also. the only thiing that we didn't like was that the population was a bit old for us. lots of scooters. but here's the thing - we are not that young - mid 60's for me and early 70's for my husband, but i guess we are just livelier and enjoy the celebrity crowd more because of it.

[andrek]

We sailed on a transatlantic last year on the Koningsdam and thought it was a beautiful ship. The balcony cabins feel a bit smaller than the celebrity cabins but the signature suites are wonderful and less expensive than Celebrities suites. They are very spacious and the balconys are great. Also the signature suites are well placed on the ship. I loved the Dutch bakery on board. In a lot of ways it is actually nicer than Al Bacio. You can get Dutch pancakes, apple tarts, cookies and main dishes. They have a great coffee bar and alcoholic drinks as well. The area is really nice and some of the tables are along the ocean side.

 

What I really liked about dining is that everyone ate in the same dining rooms. No class distinctions, like better food for suites. All the food was delicious. There is no need to pay for specialty dinning, but there was a wonderful French restaurant and they have Americas Test Kitchen with demonstrations and classes. We ate lunch and dinner at the Pinnacle grill but I think it is best at lunch for $10. The cabin staff are very professional and seem to do more than on Celebrity(towel animals).

 

I am very sensitive to smoke and was not bothered even once by it. People may be older, but I like that because it is quieter, no kids running up and down hallways and older people are very respectful of others. We are 50-60s and fit right in. I like the solarium on Celebrity better than the pools on Hal, but they have a great spa and you can purchase weekly passes for the thermo pool. Also another great thing about the ship is it is a mid size ship, so not 5000 people! The entertainment was ok, we had one or two great shows, otherwise there is other good entertainment across the ship.

 

My husband is not a big fan of HAL but we had a good time and I loved the new ship, the crew, the food and things to do. I would not hesitate to book again.

[JMorris271]

I hate smoke in the casinos. On my 15 day cruise, I had no issues with smoke when I played 3 hrs a night on Koningsdam

Balcony was smoke free and scooters are not allowed in the halls by federal law I know I never saw one

 

The lounges have comfortable chairs and good entertainment, We loved the happy hours two times a day and did not buy the beverage package. If we wanted a bev we paid as we ordered but really took advantage of the buy 1 get one half off. T time at 3 each day was relaxing for us with the classical music playing right next door in the Lincoln center.

The pools are on the smaller side but that didn't bother us. There is a wonderful spa and the food was fined, I had lobster twice on the buffet and beef Wellington twice. I will sail with Koningsdam luckily split.

We have sailed on Reflection which we liked very much and are taking an Asian cruise on Millenium

Ours was a delux veranda . We are she 56 and Am 61

Edited September 13, 2018 by JMorris271