Review/reflections: K'dam Caribbean, Southern and Eastern Loops

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the information.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review. 

[RMLincoln]

General –  a few closing thoughts to share with you:

 

We found the ship to be quite nice, comfortable temperatures, a little more modern but still very much HAL with lovely flower arrangements etc., pleasantly bright, good lighting and usually not crowded; it was easy to navigate with good illuminated signage at the elevators.  The elevators worked very well (unlike the nightmare of the constantly broken elevators we had on Veendam last year – shortage of parts, old and worn out, felt sorry for the poor mechanic who worked on them constantly!)  Disappointed that the rooms on the newest ships are so much more cramped.  HAL is expanding their music entertainment in the music walk but shrinking has shrunk the show band and eliminated the Ocean Bar band for ballroom dancing.  Not sure if the library will ever be re-established on the newest ships but I will guess that there may be a slight expansion but not by much.  Club Orange?  Time will tell if people want to pay for these perks, we won’t.  We didn’t miss the lounge chairs on the promenade because we had a balcony this time, not sure how the chips may fall if we have a next time….

 

Navigator app - very useful for planning because you can look up events, in-port times and gala nights many nights in advance – basically the When and Where in advance.  We checked MDR dinner menus daily, not available in advance.  Purchased a shore excursion on line; checked our account and even looked at photos taken of us.  Oddly our Navigator account was per person, our ship account was combined for the two of us into one, but only available under my Navigator account.  The one difficulty I had was registering – TIP:  scroll down to find the REGISTER click spot.  Duh.  We also used the app for reading news, very useful while waiting for a show to begin. 

 

Daily newspapers were available in several languages and English: US, Britain, Canada and Australia (not out but you can get them from the front desk… sorry, Guest Relations!  Also German and Dutch. 

 

Gangways – Usually we had two gangways available in ports, really helped cut down the lines. (One or two ports had docks that would not accommodate 2 gangways.)

 

Crows Nest seemed very much a normal Crows Nest; starboard side had the Explorations Café on one side of the entrance way and a book/magazine corner tucked near the entrance way across from the café.  We used multiple atlases there.  Also, there were board games and very nice areas for jigsaw puzzles with good lighting.  There are several computers set up there for internet work.  Otherwise there are nice seating areas and the big views we go there for.  The bar is in middle; port side back near that entrance is a room that is a little more private and can be easily closed off for private functions, it had nice couches and windows.  There was some interesting artwork too. 

 

Tenders – We used the island tenders at Half Moon Cay and there were no tender tickets needed. 

 

Turnaround day – We had over 500 people doing the B2B and we all assembled in the show lounge, except for those who went ashore on their own or on a ship tour.  We waited for instructions for about 45 minutes until finally we got word that we were dismissed!!  We didn’t have to do the walk-off to show our passports because, being the day before Thanksgiving, the C&BP folks were needed at the airport for the heavy travel day. 

 

In Room TV – Multi-functional to a point.  Tons of movies, news, live sporting events, and shows… more BBC TV shows especially nature shows. You can check your account but you can’t DO things like make a reservation for dinner (or at least I couldn’t, but the remote control units didn’t seem to have the capability). 

 

Voyage Log – We received a new version of the old cruise log; it’s place-mat size on light card stock with some information about the ship and the cruise. 

 

I close with my very best wishes to you all for Happy Holidays. Whatever you are celebrating, and wherever in the world you are.... at home or across the globe from home…. with friends and family or missing friends and family…. may the Holiday Season help you deepen your appreciation for the many blessings in your life!  May Love and Light surround you and yours.  I wish each of you, my CC family, a safe, healthy and inspiring year ahead!  And I thank you for all you have given me!  m--

[cat shepard]

Thank you for taking the time to share all this great info, as well as you thoughts and impressions. I appreciate the time it took you.

 

Happy Holidays to you & yours.

[Stratheden]

Thank you Maureen for your great report.  I really appreciate it.

i wish you and your family a wonderful Holiday Season and hope your have some great cruises booked for the New Year. 

[colonialinnkeeper]

RMLincoln--Thank you so much for the wonderful posts.  I looked forward to each one and shared so much with DH.  We will use a lot of this information when we do this trip (b2b) in the spring.  Appreciate the time and detail that you have offered us.  A very happy holiday to you and best wishes for interesting travels in the New Year!

[erewhon]

Maureen,

Thank you for finishing your review.

Sending our very best wishes to you both for the holiday season.