Live Review Koningsdam Feb 17-March 23, 2024. Hawaii/Tahiti

[BermudaBound2014]

Honey I’m home!! Sorry about missing yesterday but i was in internet jail. Let me try to catch up. I wrote some of this last night, so please forgive the tense errors. Speaking of grammar errors, please forgive them all - in advance. As in right now. One big promise to just giggle every time I prove I am not as smart as a 4th grader. In fairness, some errors are honest typing errors, some are that I skipped English class, and the rest are due to my spell check buying the drink package.

 

Back at the hotel- After breakfast and lots of socializing with my people, I had the hotel hold my luggage so I could spend the early afternoon exploring shelter island. I got a nice 5 mile walk in just meandering through the park and watching the boats and fishermen. Stopped for a fancy coffee. It was a lovely slow paced morning.

 

I took the 2:30 shuttle to the airport. I was literally the ONLY one dropping luggage. Once in the terminal I saw three other guests. I was onboard by 3:00. Thirty minutes total hotel to promenade, not one line. Score.

 

Reports from most were that even at the height of crowds it wasn’t a long wait. Seems yesterday went pretty smooth overall. Debarkation will be a bit more challenging due sharing the port with Disney but it should be easier going downhill. My experience is that embarkation was an A+, communication about embarkation was an X because a F is too generous. Like I said, someone needs to walk the plank for that stretch of ridiculousness.

 

My room is lovely. A solo oceanview. I didn’t have to pay 200% as a solo, but it wasn’t half either. There is a lot of floor space but limited horizontal space. If the bathroom isn’t smaller than any cruise ship I have ever sailed, I’d be surprised. This thing is tiny. Barely bigger than the days where the shower head came right out of the ceiling and the entire bathroom became the shower floor. You could tinkle and shower simultaneously. If nothing else, old school was practical. 

 

We had a solo gathering in the crows nest at 5:30. I was the girl with the name tags :). The host is adorable and also the picket-ball instructor.

I see picket ball in my future. There were close to 50 of us. Apparently this was the largest solo gathering he had ever seen. A very nice group. Several are my people. Solo Lunch today at noon. 

 

From there it was time for a mani/pedi. Listen girls- this stuff really is cheaper ahead of time so book now. It was fine- nothing to write home about but my fingers and toes are presentable. 

 

So let’s talk about some glitches. HALs technical challenges followed me onboard. 

My card wouldn’t scan at muster. The guy wrote my room number down and promised I wouldn’t get detention- you know, when you have to show back up the first sea day at like 4:30 a.m. to and get scolded and prove you can put on a life jacket properly? Well, I got detention. HoweverHALs version of detention is my kind of detention- it included “carefully reading”the document that was left in the cabin. I’m a girl that can appreciate leniency. 

At the spa they told me my room didn’t exist. That’s right- my room number did not exist in the system. Problem was I had booked a mani/pedi for first night and a massage for second night but image my surprise when I noticed that they scheduled them both for the first night at the exact SAME time. I’ve had mani/pedis simultaneously when my salon is busy, but giving me a massage while filing my big toe wasn’t going to work for me ;). It was no problem switching my massage to the second evening (i had the document showing it was scheduled for Sunday) but they never could find my room in the system. I even showed it to them on the deck plan. Apparently we are going to wait for a reboot overnight to see if my room magically returns from the twilight zone. 

Safe was still locked with the last persons code and I didn’t feel like trying to guess the combo. My adorable cabin steward said to call front desk because they “listen to customer more”. Well, I totally understand that mentality so I called to explain the safe and my issue getting on the internet. Now, here comes a big SCORE for Hal. The guy couldn’t help me on the phone but showed up at my room 10 minutes later. He entered some top secret safe code and fixed that in 3 seconds flat, but getting me on the internet was a bit more challenging. It’s never a good sign when the expert exclaims “oh- I’ve never seen that error before”. He told me to go to guest services in person. Once I saw the line that was a hard NOPE. So, I was without connectivity until this morning when someone at guest services rebooted my number (apparently I have a number) and wa-la- I’m back in this century. Hopefully that reboot will allow the spa to find my room. Two birds, one reboot.

 

My mani/pedi ended at 8:15 and I realized I had yet to eat. Unfortunately the buffet closes at 8:00 and the only thing available was pizza and fries. I decided to go for room service and was very pleasantly surprised with the quesadilla and Caesar salad that arrived 30 minutes after ordering. Another score for HAL because room service is no longer complimentary on many other lines and these were both quite tasty.

 

Sleep was good. Room service coffee arrived 15 minutes early. They don’t call on the phone first so that’s a bit challenging for those of us who sleep e’natural. My robe will be ready going forth. Oh- another HAL score. You have to ask for robes on many other lines. Sometimes it’s the just little things (like not traumatizing the room service delivery guys) that go a long way. 

 

Todays agenda is:

10:30-Social media gathering

12:00- solo lunch 

3:00- happy hour

6:00- massage

9:00- happy hour

 

Do I know how to do a sea day or do I know how to do a sea day?

 

Random catching up pics- 

 

Koningsdam from shelter island-

 

 

 

 

 

port of San Diego

 

 

 

 

a very nice HAL touch-

 

 

Solo gathering early on (it got much more crowded but I always forget to take pics)

 

Last nights room service dinner- 

 

 

 

 

can’t help myself from taking a bird of paradise photo-

Edited February 18 by BermudaBound2014

[BermudaBound2014]

Solo ocean view cabin. Tons of floor space. Not much horizontal space. Tiny bathroom. Great window (I’m pretty sure I can fit in there- pics soon come). I’m going to try uploading a video. Not sure if this will work- 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18 by BermudaBound2014

[mcrcruiser]

what or where is that room with the tables in the pictures above ? We do not recognize  it .

[julia]

So glad your embark went well and the gliches are working out.  Time to settle into the next five weeks of fun.  But.... those silly Lido hours. 😲

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Solo ocean view cabin. Tons of floor space. Not much horizontal space. Tiny bathroom. Great window (I’m pretty sure I can fit in there- pics soon come). I’m going to try uploading a video. Not sure if this will work- 

IMG_2467.MOV IMG_2468.MOV

showers on Koningsdam are generally very good space  &  the foot rest is a added bonus 

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, julia said:

So glad your embark went well and the gliches are working out.  Time to settle into the next five weeks of fun.  But.... those silly Lido hours. 😲

There are some pacific storms out there as California is expecting them this week 

[BermudaBound2014]

7 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

showers on Koningsdam are generally very good space  &  the foot rest is a added bonus 

Cliff- please don’t include the photos in a quote. For those of us on ship internet it slows things way down. If you can remember, it’s helpful to those of us on the ship if you remove photos when quoting.

 

Room is crows nest. iMO, They have butchered this space. The observation area on other ships is soooo much nicer (although admittedly some are becoming paid spaces). And I didn’t see an area for a small tapas buffet in the crows nest? Just a bar and coffee. That’s a miss for HAL. A small station for fruit or finger sandwiches would be a very nice addition to this space. 
 

I don’t need a big shower- I need counter space for all my lotions and potions and it’s seriously lacking. 

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

24 minutes ago, julia said:

So glad your embark went well and the gliches are working out.  Time to settle into the next five weeks of fun.  But.... those silly Lido hours. 😲

 
IKR?? I’m going to have to adjust to HALs more sedate style cruising. Don’t get me wrong, I love to chill, but two weeks ago we were closing the bar at 2 am and heading to a 24 hour diner to order a hot breakfast delivered by a server (at 3 am). A flashback to clubbing days. I get it, that’s not HALs style and I’m not complaining, but it will require a day or two to adjust. 

Edited February 18 by BermudaBound2014

[BermudaBound2014]

Embarkation daily- Feb 17, 2024

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Daily for Feb 18th

 

 

[sunviking90]

2 hours ago, julia said:

So glad your embark went well and the gliches are working out.  Time to settle into the next five weeks of fun.  But.... those silly Lido hours. 😲

So true! HAL “can’t” charge for room service, because even at certain hours in the daytime there is no other food available, save burgers and fries. Situation is a bit better on Koningsdam and her sisters at least.

@BermudaBound2014 you do know how to spend a sea day! Enjoy!

Edited February 18 by sunviking90

[cruisemom42]

14 hours ago, Mary229 said:

NEW MENU FEATURE: Vegetable of the day!  It is a vegetable serving ordered separately as a side.  Tonight was snow peas. Also the menu now features at least one Indian entree and one crew national entree.  There was a Filipino dessert also.  

 

All great enhancements -- nice to hear about this!

[cruisemom42]

5 hours ago, 57redbird said:

feels like a high school lunchroom & on our cruise last year the lunch menu never changed.

 

They had the same dinner menu every day???  That's crazy. Never had that happen before on any cruise.

[57redbird]

1 minute ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

They had the same dinner menu every day???  That's crazy. Never had that happen before on any cruise.

I said lunch, not dinner & it was on the Koningsdam.

[Chris-n-Shawn]

So glad you’re posting a Live @BermudaBound2014!

Love your description & perspective - our new go-to is ‘well, the drink package…’

😆

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, 57redbird said:

I said lunch, not dinner & it was on the Koningsdam.

Yes I noticed that on @Crew News's archived menus. MDR lunch choices all the same.

[Mary229]

The lunch menu on my past few cruises has varied daily.  Today was different today from yesterday on the K

[Mary229]

@cruisemom42  just for you pre dinner entertainment and no squeaky violins either.  True professionals. 
 

 

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, 57redbird said:

I said lunch, not dinner & it was on the Koningsdam.

 

I'm so sorry!!  I totally missed the "lunch" word somehow. Mea culpa!!!  😔

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

 just for you pre dinner entertainment and no squeaky violins either.  True professionals. 

 

Lovely!  So far the news from Koningsdam is good. 👍

[cruisemom42]

10 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Solo ocean view cabin. Tons of floor space. Not much horizontal space. Tiny bathroom. Great window

 

Thanks for the room pics -- it really does look like a lot of floor space. 

 

My last 4 cruises have been on the small ships of Oceania and Azamara. I can do "tiny bathrooms". 😆

 

[canadianbear]

We had dinner in the Pinnacle tonight which was pretty good.  Service was excellent.  I wanted to try something different this time so had the scallops which were ok but I wouldn’t order them again.  Mr Bear had the lamb chops which he’s had before & enjoys them.

 

We went to the comedian show tonight who was Sid Davis.  This was the 8pm show & it was a packed house.  He was very good-lots of laughs & I usually don’t go to comedians.  
 

I think HAL has changed the show times to accommodate more people as they are now at 6pm & 8pm. Not sure how busy the 6pm one was so if someone was at it can you advise?  Our usual fixed dining is as 7:30 but we dined early at the Pinnacle. 

[mcrcruiser]

California is getting hitvwith more storms . The prior cruise had rough seas on most of the voyage to Hawaii . We hope that your cruise does not experience  those sea conditions . This is the first time we read reports of rough seas gong to Hawaii .Best to every one 

[mcrcruiser]

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

@cruisemom42  just for you pre dinner entertainment and no squeaky violins either.  True professionals. 
 

 

Nice that you  had this entertainment . Things are looking up with HAL 

[yellowjacket_cruiser]

1 hour ago, canadianbear said:

We had dinner in the Pinnacle tonight which was pretty good.  Service was excellent.  I wanted to try something different this time so had the scallops which were ok but I wouldn’t order them again.  Mr Bear had the lamb chops which he’s had before & enjoys them.

 

We went to the comedian show tonight who was Sid Davis.  This was the 8pm show & it was a packed house.  He was very good-lots of laughs & I usually don’t go to comedians.  
 

I think HAL has changed the show times to accommodate more people as they are now at 6pm & 8pm. Not sure how busy the 6pm one was so if someone was at it can you advise?  Our usual fixed dining is as 7:30 but we dined early at the Pinnacle. 

We were at the 6pm show. Almost full but some seats available around the edge. And we agree, the comedian was pretty funny. 
We ate in the MDR, and it was great. Took right at an hour. Food was good and service was awesome. Then we went to BB kings, Rock bar and dueling pianos. All were impressive. A good evening of entertainment. Our last two cruises on Oceania didn’t have much in the way of live entertainment after dinner so this was a real treat.