Koningsdam Inside Passage review: June 24-July 1, 2023

[*Miss G*]

17 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

The veal was a chop, not a cutlet. Slip of my typing fingers!

 

No, you didn’t make an error.  The menu has it listed as a cutlet.  But, as we all know, it’s a chop. lol

[Fairgarth]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:41 PM, QuattroRomeo said:

On the left, before you enter, there are washrooms. If you don't have Priority boarding, use them! Use them now!! 

 

 

Oh my!  Great advice.  We boarded the same cruise on 10th June.  After an hour in the U.S. Customs lineup I was desperate for a biological break and figured I'm not gonna make it.  I beckoned to one of the ground staff who pointed me to a washroom so I fled the queue.  I was afraid that my party would have cleared customs by the time I got back.  Ha!  Their progress could be measured by micrometer, not tape measure.  Incidentally, all the ground staff at Vancouver port were excellent, smiling, friendly, helpful.

[QuattroRomeo]

Thanks for the photo, Fairgarth - illustrates the need perfectly! I may not be the most glamorous travel reviewer, but I try to go for the practical!!

[QuattroRomeo]

Of the dishes so far, my favourites were the Alaska crab seafood cocktail (also contained scallops and shrimp and a tasty sauce), crab and artichoke dip, all of the soups (consistently good this cruise), the salmon with amber beer sauce (ask for more sauce!), and the mango mousse. I missed not having my favourite HAL dessert, the English toffee and date pudding, but I guess it is only on longer itineraries.

 

[QuattroRomeo]

While the Crow's Nest changes were a disappointment, the new library is a great addition! Deck 2, forward starboard.

 

[Hogladyrider]

@QuattroRomeo...I grew up visiting the library regularly hence my love of reading.  Now retired and traveling fulltime in my RV, my reading is mostly on a Kindle unless we are stationed someplace near a library where I can check out books.

 

Most RV Parks have book exchange libraries.  Where we are this summer I've read some great books from our book exchange library.

 

I will be cruising on this ship in January 18 days to Hawaii and back and I will definitely be visiting the library and bringing my Kindle along!

[QuattroRomeo]

The first of 2 Pinnacle lunches: the soup which we love, had it on both visits, the hint of lemongrass is so nice; the spinach and arugula salad, very good, I enjoyed the lobster roll and frites; DH liked the cod burger but found the bun was the wrong type for all of the "squishy" stuff inside; and my strawberry pavlova was yummy both times..

[Hogladyrider]

WOW I did not realize lunch was available at Pinnacle that looks YUMMY!

[QuattroRomeo]

Yes, but it is only open for lunch on sea days. $15 plus gratuity. A nice little getaway! Some items have a surcharge, like the lobster roll.

Edited July 5, 2023 by QuattroRomeo
.

[Hogladyrider]

38 minutes ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Yes, but it is only open for lunch on sea days. $15 plus gratuity. A nice little getaway! Some items have a surcharge, like the lobster roll.

Works for me as we have 4 sea days to Hawaii and 4 coming home!

Edited July 5, 2023 by Hogladyrider

[QuattroRomeo]

The second visit to Pinnacle didn't go as well. We both ordered the salmon, and although it looked very good, it was quite bland.  DH had the Berries Sabayon for dessert, which was good. 

[QuattroRomeo]

We went to an afternoon tea in the MDR,  that was very crowded.. it was raining and cool that day! After we sat down the waiter poured tea once, and we never saw him again. The treats were completely unremarkable.

[QuattroRomeo]

Back to Club Orange: Short Ribs (special) they were good and tender; can't remember the next one. Then tiramisu for dessert- very nice.

[QuattroRomeo]

On Orange Party night there were Dutch dishes on the menu. We both had pea soup, which was good. One appetizer was herring, the other another kind of seafood cocktail,(not as good as the first one I had), and we both had the Special- Lemon Pesto Fettucine. Nicely cooked, could have had a touch more lemon. There were mini-bossche bols on the dessert menu.

[QuattroRomeo]

Final dinner in Club Orange: zucchini bisque- surprisingly tasty, coconut shrimp and crab cake appetizers; prime rib and sea bass for the mains.

[QuattroRomeo]

I think the missing meal name in post #88 was arctic char. 

[QuattroRomeo]

it was a very gloomy, rainy day when we arrived in Juneau. At times it absolutely poured. My mission that day was to find the Alaskan  Fudge Co. I had read about here on CC and some people raved about the fudge and the huckleberry truffles..so, a food mission! Late in the afternoon it looked like the rain had let up so I made a quick dash to find the store after looking up the directions. It was close by and easy to find. 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

[QuattroRomeo]

I got some truffles, and a couple of fudge slabs- one of them was called "inside Passage", very apt, and it had a tunnel of peanut butter in chocolate fudge. 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

I also bought some caramels with birch syrup in them. I had tried the Tortuga cake version on board and it was very good, so something else to try! Hard to describe the taste, "birchy" I guess, which, unless you have chewed a bunch of birch twigs doesn't mean a whole lot! But it is good.

 

 

[QuattroRomeo]

Across the street there is a gift shop called Taku Trading, that seemed to have a few nicer souvenirs than elsewhere. I often pick up magnets but couldn't find an unusual one. Found this instead at Taku:

 

[cbr663]

On 7/3/2023 at 5:38 PM, QuattroRomeo said:

I pre-ordered the Panna Acqua water pkg. and it was waiting in the room, no problem. I wish they had Pellegrino available that way, but no dice. There were 2 Mariner Cocktail vouchers on the desk that I didn't get to try last year on the KDam, as they told me back then that it was a specific drink only at certain bars. Apparently I was at one of the wrong bars.. this time I found it at the Ocean Bar, just behind the restaurant reservations podium. I watched him put in some elderflower liquid, a bit of sparkling wine and 4 ice cubes, all in a martini glass!!...certainly nothing to write home about..

Earlier this year on RDam, it was good for ANY cocktail. 

 

When we were on the K' in May we used the Mariner Cocktail vouchers for a Gin & 7 at the Sea View Bar.

[QuattroRomeo]

6 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 

When we were on the K' in May we used the Mariner Cocktail vouchers for a Gin & 7 at the Sea View Bar.

Well that is interesting! I'll remember that for next time.

[cbr663]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:09 AM, QuattroRomeo said:

Yes, Mike very good coffees, lattes etc and service. One barista told me she was hoping to get the 1873 Rotterdam beans up there for the drip coffee, too, which should have been there all along in my opinion!! If you're in a forward-located cabin this is the place to routinely go.

 

We went to Explorations for drip coffee and it wasn't available.  We find the Explorations on the Pinnacle class ships a far departure from our memories of it on other ships.  Explorations on the Nieuw Amsterdam always had wonderful treats and snacks - a place to get the best cinnamon rolls on the ship.  Things may have changed there also has it has been many years now since I have sailed on the NA.

[cbr663]

16 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

The second visit to Pinnacle didn't go as well. We both ordered the salmon, and although it looked very good, it was quite bland.  DH had the Berries Sabayon for dessert, which was good. 

 

 

I agree with you, it does look good.