Live from Konigsdam on a Pacific Coastal

[DrKoob]

Disembarkation was the best thing that happened on this entire cruise. 

Off at 7:25

In car at Canada Place at 7:35

At US Border at 8:30

Home in Redmond, WA (20 miles east of Seattle) at 10:30. AMAZING. 

 

It took less time to disembark the ship, drive all the way home and get our first load of laundry going than we waited in line last Monday to get on. That was 3 hours and 15 minutes. This was just about 3 hours flat. Canada Place embarkation sucks. I feel so sorry for anyone getting on today. Four ships!

[vjblk]

Wow, can't believe the Koningsdam has gotten that bad. I was on this ship over New Year's from San Diego to Mexico.  Ship was full I think. I ate all of my meals(except 2) in the Lido.  Never had to wait too long to get served. I think the most people I had to wait behind was maybe 5.  There were always plenty of desserts available. Tables were being cleared and cleaned constantly. Servers offering drinks were always right there asking what I wanted. Breakfast was a bit chaotic but I don't eat much for breakfast. Easy to grab a yogurt , some cereal anspd a sweet roll. I ate dinner on the last gala night in the MDR with 2 others. At around 7 there were only a few people in front of us to get to the podium. Got our buzzer and only waited about 5 minutes for our table. Service was good. Waiter and his assistant were quite attentive.

 

Sorry you had a different experience.  

[Colorado Klutch]

Got to the Vancouver cruise terminal at around 10 this morning. It took just over an hour to get through all the lines for security and immigration. Inexplicably, my SIL got sidelined at immigration. She had to wait in another line for about 15 minutes. They took her picture again and sent her on her way. (??)

 

After immigration we we were instructed to to take seat with about 400 other Koningsdam passengers. It’s now 1130. Still waiting…

[DrKoob]

3 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Or they were the ones who lined up before the doors opened and they were still waiting to get in. I never have understood why people would wait in line for a meal unless they were starving and hadn't eaten in sometime. Waiting in line like sardines in a can is also not the best place to be post covid.

People stand in line to get in by a certain time (especially dinner) so they can see a show or like my bride who has a condition that her doctor has instructed her never to go to bed within 4 hours of eating. If we don't eat by 7:00 we have to stay up past midnight. Not a good idea. 

[Laminator]

4 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

Got to the Vancouver cruise terminal at around 10 this morning. It took just over an hour to get through all the lines for security and immigration. Inexplicably, my SIL got sidelined at immigration. She had to wait in another line for about 15 minutes. They took her picture again and sent her on her way. (??)

 

After immigration we we were instructed to to take seat with about 400 other Koningsdam passengers. It’s now 1130. Still waiting…

Same thing my friend reported. 1 hour getting thru the security. He said boarding will begin shortly. 

[Colorado Klutch]

4 minutes ago, Laminator said:

Same thing my friend reported. 1 hour getting thru the security. He said boarding will begin shortly. 

They are boarding people by row. Orderly if not quickly.

[Colorado Klutch]

Onboard now. All in all 2 hours to board.

[NWvacationer]

We boarded last Monday as well - embarkation was a zoo. Three and a half hours after leaving our room at the Pan Pacific we finally made it to our cabin. By far the longest and most unorganized embarkation in 30 cruises - I think this was our fifth out of Vancouver.

That being said, the rest of the trip five day trip was wonderful - in my opinion. We ate most of our meals in the Lido and only found lines to be a little long a few times. We didn’t wait for elevators even though the ship was full. 
 

We are staying on for the next trip and we’re a little nervous about having to go through the customs check again - we left the ship about 9:45 this morning and we’re back on in under an hour. We are currently on our verandah watching everyone come onboard - hoping the lines move a little smoother for them today. 
 

So far, we have had a wonderful time! Happy to try and answer any questions over the next week. The ship seems to be in great shape after the recent dry dock. Cheers!🛳🍾

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, DrKoob said:

They were turning people away from the MDR dining room at 12:20. They didn't have the staff to cover it.

 

That is not normal.  I have never seen that in 500 days on hal (actual days not bought).  My cruise on koningsdam was over capacity in November and I ate in the mdr for lunch often. I never went before 12:30.  It wasn't a problem.They must be running with a whole boatload of new staff.

[HappyInVan]

FYI just boarded the KO for the 7D Alaska cruise.

 

I had an alloted time of 1100. So, I showed up at 1020. Already a zoo. No signs or directions. Fortunately, I had recce yesterday. 

 

Check-in on the ground floor then proceeded to security on P1 via escalator. Took just 20m at this time of the morning. Lines were long and moved steadily. Check-in  was instant with facial recognition. Security tried to push pax through quickly.

 

The real delay was US Immigration. Took 45m to clear the 300 people in front of me. The automated kiosk was super fast. 

 

Then, there were 500 pax seated in the KO's waiting room. Boarding row by row. Fortunately, I had priority boarding with Club Orange. I just bypassed the 500 seated pax.

 

Finally, there was a slow check at security  onboard. Did they have an IT malfunction? 

 

IMHO, this is not going to work for the majority of pax. My journey took 70m after arriving at 1040, and bypassing the waiting room. And, I was walking quickly with only carry-on luggage. Now, I can understand why many pax are experiencing 2 to 3 hours.

[dreamer321]

When you get back home if you could post photos of the Daily Planner (if you still have them), it would be greatly appreciated.

[terrydtx]

31 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

FYI just boarded the KO for the 7D Alaska cruise.

 

I had an alloted time of 1100. So, I showed up at 1020. Already a zoo. No signs or directions. Fortunately, I had recce yesterday. 

 

Check-in on the ground floor then proceeded to security on P1 via escalator. Took just 20m at this time of the morning. Lines were long and moved steadily. Check-in  was instant with facial recognition. Security tried to push pax through quickly.

 

The real delay was US Immigration. Took 45m to clear the 300 people in front of me. The automated kiosk was super fast. 

 

Then, there were 500 pax seated in the KO's waiting room. Boarding row by row. Fortunately, I had priority boarding with Club Orange. I just bypassed the 500 seated pax.

 

Finally, there was a slow check at security  onboard. Did they have an IT malfunction? 

 

IMHO, this is not going to work for the majority of pax. My journey took 70m after arriving at 1040, and bypassing the waiting room. And, I was walking quickly with only carry-on luggage. Now, I can understand why many pax are experiencing 2 to 3 hours.

Each post like this just makes my paying $25pp per day for Club Orange a better bargain. Will be handy for our K'Dam November cruise from San Diego. We are planning on a HAL Alaska Cruise in 2025 and no way we do not pay for Club Orange for that one now.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Each post like this just makes my paying $25pp per day for Club Orange a better bargain. Will be handy for our K'Dam November cruise from San Diego. We are planning on a HAL Alaska Cruise in 2025 and no way we do not pay for Club Orange for that one now.

All of us that enjoy club orange need to start saying how horrible it is 😛.  It’s getting harder and harder to get unless you buy it way out.  I hope hal doesn’t start raising the price.

[Laminator]

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

FYI just boarded the KO for the 7D Alaska cruise.

 

I had an alloted time of 1100. So, I showed up at 1020. Already a zoo. No signs or directions. Fortunately, I had recce yesterday. 

 

Check-in on the ground floor then proceeded to security on P1 via escalator. Took just 20m at this time of the morning. Lines were long and moved steadily. Check-in  was instant with facial recognition. Security tried to push pax through quickly.

 

The real delay was US Immigration. Took 45m to clear the 300 people in front of me. The automated kiosk was super fast. 

 

Then, there were 500 pax seated in the KO's waiting room. Boarding row by row. Fortunately, I had priority boarding with Club Orange. I just bypassed the 500 seated pax.

 

Finally, there was a slow check at security  onboard. Did they have an IT malfunction? 

 

IMHO, this is not going to work for the majority of pax. My journey took 70m after arriving at 1040, and bypassing the waiting room. And, I was walking quickly with only carry-on luggage. Now, I can understand why many pax are experiencing 2 to 3 hours.

Did they call priority boarding in front of the 500 seated pax? IMO that is one of the problems. PAX showing up well ahead of their boarding times. It's the reason companies in large metropolitan areas have staggered work times. If everyone worked 9 to 5 there would be no way the roads or public transportation would be able to handle everyone.

 

[HappyInVan]

6 minutes ago, Laminator said:

Did they call priority boarding in front of the 500 seated pax? IMO that is one of the problems. PAX showing up well ahead of their boarding times. It's the reason companies in large metropolitan areas have staggered work times. If everyone worked 9 to 5 there would be no way the roads or public transportation would be able to handle everyone.

 

 

No, priority pax showed their boarding pass, and walked around them. Yes, many pax were not following their appointed times. No, I didn't see any effort by HAL to maintain time discipline.

[xlxo]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

That is not normal. 

One tip I'll share is to pay attention to restaurant operating hours on the daily newsletters.

• MDR lunch on sea days is noon to 1pm or one hour of service.  In the old days I think MDR's operate for two hours.
• Lido Market buffet closed nightly at 8pm.  Didn't they close at 9pm or 10pm pre-Covid?
• Dive-In Burgers and Dogs is open 11:30am to 6pm.  I would think dogs would be open til 11pm
• New York Deli & Pizza is open 7:30am to 11:30pm
• Room service is open 24/7, but check for extra charges and you have a reduced menu selection.

 

Buffet does operate at one stall at a reduced capacity at 10:30pm to 11:30pm for late night diners.  Yes, a few hundred do show up for this feeding time and it can take 15 minutes or longer to inch along the food line up to the servers to scoop something amazing good onto your plate.  Much better than the only other opened option (pizza?).

Edited May 7, 2023 by xlxo

[Florida_gal_50]

6 minutes ago, xlxo said:

One tip I'll share is to pay attention to restaurant operating hours on the daily newsletters.

• MDR lunch on sea days is noon to 1pm or one hour of service.  In the old days I think MDR's operate for two hours.
• Lido Market buffet closed nightly at 8pm.  Didn't they close at 9pm or 10pm pre-Covid?
• Dive-In Burgers and Dogs is open 11:30am to 6pm.  I would think dogs would be open til 11pm
• New York Deli & Pizza is open 7:30am to 11:30pm
• Room service is open 24/7, but check for extra charges and you have a reduced menu selection.

 

Buffet does operate at one stall at a reduced capacity at 10:30pm to 11:30pm for late night diners.  Yes, a few hundred do show up for this feeding time and it can take 15 minutes or longer to inch along the food line up to the servers to scope something onto your plate.

I don’t recall the mdr ever being open at lunch for 2 hours.  I remember it being open for 1.5 hour prior to Covid.  The workers in the lido don’t seem to move fast.  It takes them several minutes to put on a pair of gloves.  Have you ever watched them makes a sandwich?  Omg.  I can make 10 sandwiches in that time.  They can even do it quicker at subway. I only remember the lido being open until 8:30 but I could certainly be wrong.  I never have a burger.  The food is not good there.  Pizza should be open late.  I don’t understand how the mdr can be totally overwhelmed in 10 min.  What is going on?

[Colorado Klutch]

Showed up at MDR at 6:30 PM and asked for a table for 5. We were seated immediately. Service has been great. So sorry the OP had such a lousy experience.

[xlxo]

1 minute ago, Colorado Klutch said:

Showed up at MDR at 6:30 PM and asked for a table for 5

Thanks for including the "time context".  6:30pm is a great time to dine at the MDR if you don't have 7pm plans like catching the first nightly show.

 

Most of the congestion are those interested in the first sitting close to 5pm.

• more time to enjoy the meal before the first show
• Holland America has an older demographic that often needs to dine earlier to allow the food to digest properly before going to bed.

[LeftcoastBC]

On 5/5/2023 at 1:51 PM, xlxo said:

The Passenger Vessel Services Act requires the ship to sail to another country.  I think they wanted an Alaskan sampler instead of going to Seattle or Port Angeles.

The Pvsa does not apply to ships sailing from Canada.  It’s a USA statue.

[LeftcoastBC]

I’m the Bob that the good doctor refers to.  I indeed used a cane off and on in that mess and for good reason.  My age and former occupation and too much fun has recently caught up to me.  I started off boarding day with it secured to my roller.  Then started to need it as we went through two lines.  I have never hit anyone with it yet. The guiding lady surprised me by picking me out so we went with her as requested.  Didn’t matter however cause where she took us didn’t have access to nexus just needed passport.  So that didn’t save us any time in line at all really.

when I used to read CC my experiences used to differ quite often with some of the sad tails.  Jim the author here has not exaggerated anything .  This experience has changed everything about my approach going forward.  Most of us on this cruise just wanted to be onboard a nice well run ship at a reasonable price.  The experience was on some occasions punishment .  HAL’s fault for the issues onboard.  Likely a combination for what occurred in Canada Place.  It was not what I paid for and my worst experience in 20 yrs of cruising.

I wish better stories for future cruisers in Vancouver.  I miss Ballantyne Pier.

[curtdesilets]

Just as a counterpoint,  we did a Pacific Coastal Cruise in November and a Mexican Riviera Cruise in January on Koningsdam.  The service, food and cruise were all excellent. Embarkation did suck however.  I usually write very long reviews, but did not as we have a lot of other things happening now. Enjoyment can be had. I would rate both of those cruises a B+. 

 

[curtdesilets]

2 hours ago, curtdesilets said:

Just as a counterpoint,  we did a Pacific Coastal Cruise in November and a Mexican Riviera Cruise in January on Koningsdam.  The service, food and cruise were all excellent. Embarkation did suck however.  I usually write very long reviews, but did not as we have a lot of other things happening now. Enjoyment can be had. I would rate both of those cruises a B+. 

 

Quoting myself here...probably a staffing issue as I would imagine this is a brand new crew for the Alaska Season.  Everywhere on this planet, we have an employment crisis.  Even our best restaurants are extremely understaffed as very few people wan to work.  It is the new  ABNORMAL.  Try running a small business these days and hiring somebody.  Good luck! 

[bluesplayer]

13 hours ago, Laminator said:

Did they call priority boarding in front of the 500 seated pax? IMO that is one of the problems. PAX showing up well ahead of their boarding times. It's the reason companies in large metropolitan areas have staggered work times. If everyone worked 9 to 5 there would be no way the roads or public transportation would be able to handle everyone.

 

Why are they assigning boarding times when they are not enforced?  Allow people to enter the foyer at their assigned boarding time.  4 star Mariner in a Neptune Suite.  Assigned boarding time was 11:00 am.  We arrived at Canada Place 10:50.  Stood in line for close to two hours.  No priority boarding whatsoever.  The foyer after going through customs was empty.  All those folks ahead of us in line could not have had assigned boarding times prior to 11:00 am.  Not sure if I would leave from Vancouver again. 

[xlxo]

55 minutes ago, curtdesilets said:

probably a staffing issue as I would imagine this is a brand new crew for the Alaska Season.  Everywhere on this planet, we have an employment crisis.  Even our best restaurants are extremely understaffed as very few people wan to work. 

 

Vancouver Embarkation would be a big yes to the workforce shortage.  There's discussion that May 1st was not the only day with issues.

• In addition to staff at the end of the lines, they need to have staff at the beginning of the lines to ensure people are in the right lines.  This was done at most lines, except for the elevator to P2 luggage drop.
• where was the longest wait?
  HAL check-in?  My first thought it's HAL's fault for not putting enough staff at the check-in area.  Was there empty space at that convention hall to make it bigger for more staff to process?
  Then I realize the biggest bottle-neck was US-customs not sending enough officers to Vancouver.  It's a problem at border land crossings on busy weekends as most resources are diverted to Southern borders.  In the old days, cruise ship check-in happens AFTER customs.  Today, cruise lines does their check-in BEFORE customs to not be held up by customs.  Many locals have Nexus/GE to use the priority lanes to speed the customs approval as a trusted traveler.

 

With regards to the ship...  The MDR line brought back why I hated sailing Princess pre-Covid on my Vancouver and California Pacific Coastals.  The MDR lines formed 90 minutes before the MDR officially opens.  If you are number 50 in line, by the time the door opens, it feels like you are number 250 in line as so many people were holding a spot for buddies and families who were not able (or willing) to wait in line.

 

I was on the Sapphire Princess a month a month earlier and I have to say the Medallion Class has totally eliminated the MDR lines.  I just needed to pick a 15 minute timeslot on when I'm arriving at the podium and there was hardly any wait to get a table.  So much smoother, less chaotic with line cutters, and felt so much more Covid safe without the crowding.

 

For those not familiar with Vancouverites, they have a very high tolerance for long lines compared to other cultures.  Border crossings, Black-Friday door crasher in-person deals, traffic, weekend Dim Sum restaurants, food lines, licensing office, etc...