Koningsdam Review May 28- June 4

[PoppyBanks]

On 6/10/2022 at 3:17 PM, IPB4IGO said:

On our last cruise, which ended last Sunday, I couldn't find ANY comment cards. I asked the Neptune Lounge conciege and she said "We don't use those any more. You will receive an email asking for comments after the cruise."  Our waiter in the MDR told us the same thing.

Apparently it varies by ship.

There is an option to “Let us Know” ? Or similar wording , on Navigator app. They are read promptly. 

[PoppyBanks]

4 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

I don't think so. We asked a crew member if the MDR was open and he said no. For what it's worth, this is what the daily shows on embarkation day:

I went to the NY Deli/DiveIn on my last 2 HAL cruises for embarkation lunch. Absolutely no one knows to go, or wants to venture there, and my lunches have been very relaxing after a hectic few days of travel  and sightseeing. Originally got that tip on this board several years ago ☺️

[Florida_gal_50]

48 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

The MDR was probably closed on embarkation day in this start up phase.  However, in the past we have been told by staff when we came aboard on embarkation day that the MDR was closed and we were directed to the Lido.  We head to the dining room anyway and it has been open from 12:00 - 1:00.  These days we have not been able to board before noon, so the dining room is probably closed.

I physically went to the mdr because I basically got told I was wrong last time I mentioned it wasn’t open on embarkation.  It was definitely not open mar 6 or 13th of this year.

[QuattroRomeo]

1 hour ago, kickboxrca said:

 

We are on the Koningsdam this July - Yukon Double Denali ... can't wait - and the Dutch Cafe is DH's absolute favourite.  Thanks for posting these pics and for the lovely review.

 

 

Yes the Dutch cafe is very good, and in a far too convenient spot! ! 😁

We hope you have great weather on your upcoming cruise!

[five.]

On 6/6/2022 at 7:08 PM, Dreamer115 said:

Following along, thanks for the review.  Question:  Do they have a separate line up for people who use scooters or walkers?

I was on this cruise as well and traveled with two people on scooters. Glad to answer any particular questions. I had planned to do a little review myself, but one of my party could not fly back (covid positive) and we ended up driving back and that took a week. Now the cruise seems like a distant memory.

 

If you are asking about embarkation with scooters, I can say that traveling with people with scooters does have a benefit here. We did have verifly, so that did expedite things as well - but yes, handicap has their own line (same one that suites, club orange and status people use, I believe). I did make some notes that embarkation with scooter took 24 minutes from the time that we entered the convention room, until we were on the ship. It was crazy fast and we bypassed so many people. But honestly verifly would have bypassed many of them as well, 80% of people were passed with verifly and maybe 15% were passed because of the scooter. We only had to wait for one person after the verifly check. I do not have any pictures from the conference room. When you have scooters, you go to a human for the face recognition picture with a webcam instead of a machine. There were only two humans and maybe 8-10 machines, so there could be a bit of delay if the two humans were tied up with others. I had been told that if you upload a picture before hand, you could skip that step, but all 4 of us had uploaded pictures using the navigator app and still had to go through that step.

[Dreamer115]

11 hours ago, five. said:

I was on this cruise as well and traveled with two people on scooters. Glad to answer any particular questions. I had planned to do a little review myself, but one of my party could not fly back (covid positive) and we ended up driving back and that took a week. Now the cruise seems like a distant memory.

 

If you are asking about embarkation with scooters, I can say that traveling with people with scooters does have a benefit here. We did have verifly, so that did expedite things as well - but yes, handicap has their own line (same one that suites, club orange and status people use, I believe). I did make some notes that embarkation with scooter took 24 minutes from the time that we entered the convention room, until we were on the ship. It was crazy fast and we bypassed so many people. But honestly verifly would have bypassed many of them as well, 80% of people were passed with verifly and maybe 15% were passed because of the scooter. We only had to wait for one person after the verifly check. I do not have any pictures from the conference room. When you have scooters, you go to a human for the face recognition picture with a webcam instead of a machine. There were only two humans and maybe 8-10 machines, so there could be a bit of delay if the two humans were tied up with others. I had been told that if you upload a picture before hand, you could skip that step, but all 4 of us had uploaded pictures using the navigator app and still had to go through that step.

Thank you very much for your response.  When I cruised on Princess pre covid I know that we were on in no time.  First on after suite guests etc.  The rest of the room after us.  I was hoping it would be that way.  I don't use a scooter (Yet) only a walker.  The walking isn't that hard for me it is the standing still in one place for more than a minute without being able to sit that is the problem.  Thanks again.  Glad you made it home safe and sound.  

[five.]

@Dreamer115 The longest wait during the process was at the elevator to get on the ship. There was one group in front of us. Otherwise, we were continuously moving. I mean we did stop at the desk for documents to be presented and pictures to be taken, but that was an active task. I mean the only standing around waiting, was at the elevators.

[PACD_JG]

I forgot to ask.  Older videos and reviews says there's no library on the Koningsdam...just a couple of take a book, leave a book shelves in the Crow's Nest.  Did you notice anything different?

[QuattroRomeo]

There was a very small library, on the side where the Explorations Cafe is. I flipped through a few books there; mostly books about Alaska, but a few other random ones. 

[Roaming Rover]

On 6/7/2022 at 1:52 AM, PACD_JG said:

Please tell us what happened at Tracy Arm Fjord - does the ship merely stop at the mouth to let folks disembark for the excursion and then head straight for Juneau, or does the ship actually go into the Fjord?

it goes to glacier bay not tracy arm fjord

[cabland]

11 hours ago, Roaming Rover said:

it goes to glacier bay not tracy arm fjord

The Koningsdam (roundtrip from Vancouver) stops at the mouth of the Fjord to let passengers hop onto a smaller boat.  This is only for those passengers that paid for that excursion.  The ship then heads on to Juneau and the smaller boat heads into the Fjord and then returns to the Koningsdam later that afternoon and passengers get off the little boat directly onto the Koningsdam (reverse of what they did when they got on) - they set up a walkway between the two boats.

 

If you were on board the Koningsdam and did not buy this excursion, I imagine there is a pretty good chance you would be completely unaware the ship had stopped and passengers disembarked onto the smaller boat.  When we did it on the Nieuw Amsterdam we were up pretty early if I recall correctly and the loading process went pretty quick.