MekesMom

Interesting to see a female member in the K'dam version.  The NS has all guys.  I'm not a music expert but shows were very well attended and drinks were being drunk.  Average age of guest on 4 day was much younger than the 14 day TA.  Made me wonder if the band is considered crew.  Some of the young guys seemed very friendly and enjoyed dancing and smoking with guests.  Do the same rules apply to them as crew in uniform when it comes to *socializing*? 

45 minutes ago, fireflashone said:

Made it to the Airport Hilton Garden Inn. Time for a couple of hours sleep. 

Getting the ship transfer tomorrow from the airport 

Mom and I checked in yesterday. Bucatini for dinner last night and half a pizza for lunch.   Bob’s limo is picking us up at 10 tomorrow. 

I'd buy an experience more package if they offered pricing for solo guests. They're losing money because I won't be buying internet or laundry or anything else separately. I'm booked on two more Azamara cruises that offered fares without 100% single supplement but I don't see many in the future.

I like pre-booking dinners in the PG for a couple of reasons. Had no problem in April getting the 50% credit on Volendam for Sel de Mer. On Rotterdam, the solution was that Gerry in the PG canceled my pre-paid full priced and then re-booked when I got there. Guest Services didn't get it and evidently the night auditor didn't either. Doesn't seem like rocket science but they also can't seem to remove the Evening at Le Cirque *ad* on the Crow's Nest receipts. I will probably not pre-book again for a while.

On Rotterdam. Enjoyed the horn blowing.

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Definitely one of my bucket list itineraries. Red eye from LAX to BOS Sunday. Looking forward to some cooler weather.

I received letters, as a 5 star, on the Volendam last month and had a choice between two classes during each segment of my Collectors Voyage. They were all port days. Disappointing, but the space is needed for movies and usually two demos on sea days. There were only 5 out of a possible 8 attendees at the pasta class I took. Very little hands on but we did get to eat the recipe as prepared by a chef from the kitchen. I was really looking forward to the complimentary CAC cooking class followed by lunch in the PG that Mom used to pay for but I already knew a few cruises ago that ATK had taken over. Oh well. I'm giving her my apron. The other class choices were eggs or pies.

I've done more Europe to Florida than any other crossing. FL to Venice in March, 2015 was my roughest cruise to date. Just did Yokohama to Vancouver and confirmed I do not like east bound crossings even though we changed the clock at 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. it was still *painful* Looking forward to December! crossing from Italy to FL on Nieuw Statendam.

I'm really enjoying Sel de Mer both on Koningsdam and the pop up on Volendam I just experience. Seafood Tower, escargots (can't have it in MDR anymore), Cassoulet, Coq au Vin, sweetbreads. Sushi in Tamarind and the not as giant fortune cookie. I'm going to go back and look at all the posts. This is fun after microwaving a burrito for dinner tonight. Love it when they can incorporate local ingredients.

The Halibut in the Pinnacle - April 2018 Nieuw Amsterdam. So crazy good!

Glad somebody knows how to prepare it. Worst dish I had in 29 days on Volendam last month. Mom liked it on Noordam and I told Petar to have his chef talk to that chef.

Sounds like she's too tall for the Bridge of the Americas to be taking that long.

 

Roy

I think I remember hearing something about the lifeboats not fitting through the Canal.

So since this has been instituted, are there no paper copies available?

When & Where is still delivered to staterooms each evening

14 days or longer is $250, $100 for 7-13 days, $50 for 6 or fewer days (per stateroom)

We're just off the Koningsdam after a 12 day European cruise (Rome to Amsterdam). Even though most people on the cruise had to fly to either Rome to embark or Amsterdam to disembark, or both like myself, I noticed MANY passengers were reading traditional hard-cover books. So they managed to squeeze them into their suitcases after all! Our Koningsdam experience was wonderful. Great ship with great crew! Would definitely sail again.

That's great! Did they leave them on the exchange shelves so they didn't have to take them home? I've been on several B2B on K'dam and witnessed every time that books were left on the last night and then they magically disappeared upon the embarkation of new passengers. Not exactly the definition of EXCHANGE. I always bring a couple of paperbacks that I don't want to keep in addition to my 10 downloaded library books on my kindle. I've spent more days on K'dam than any other ship so far and am looking to the next new ship in December with lots of sea days to read.

Here's another question about solo dining. This will be my first time sailing solo. My late husband and I often had a bottle of wine at the table, and somehow, because there were two of us, never felt that it was rude not to share with others at the table. But if I'm alone and have a bottle of wine, would it seem rude not to offer a glass to others, in your experience?

Not rude at all. I every once in a while offer a taste when someone has emptied the one glass they brought from happy hour. I oftentimes finish a bottle by myself though so not much available to share.

I commented a few months ago about a couple of guys wearing jeans in PG and was told it was smart casual so they were okay. Just looked out of place to me. Oh well, at least they weren't wearing ball caps.

Congrats to you too :) Hope we have the pleasure to sail again with you. :)

Thanks, Jacqui! Mom and I are doing the Hawaii/Tahiti again next year (on Eurodam instead of Westerdam) for her 81st birthday.

On Koningsdam last week, the star pins were delivered to the mail slot on the last afternoon. Earned my 5 stars, next goal is gold medallion next summer.

We were on that maiden transatlantic with you. A great cruise. We loved the ship, and Rome where we spent about 5 days prior to the cruise. We did it again in April 2017 going to Rome from Ft Lauderdale and had another great cruise.

That's good to hear that they are ahead of schedule.

How did you deal with changing your airfare when they postponed the maiden voyage?

We found out about the postponement from February to April 2016 while on Veendam in February 2015 so hadn't booked air yet.

I was on 24 days solo starting September 30 and Mom joined me for the crossing so I had 40 days in 2016 and two weeks last year for the Midnight Sun in Norway. Just enjoyed 21 days in the Caribbean. What's funny to me is Mom always said she didn't like big ships but she just turned 80 and was walking around the ship more this time then in the past. (pacemaker makes a difference)

Last week on Koningsdam, Captain Darin said they were two weeks ahead of schedule and sea trials are scheduled for August. I was booked on K'dam's maiden voyage but couldn't do it when it was postponed. Fortunately they knew well in advance and we were able to do the transatlantic in October 2016 instead. Looking forward to the Nieuw Statendam in December especially since I won't be arriving in the U.S. the day after election day.

I’m on Koningsdam with Mom for her 80th. Good connection today so caught up on your posts. She has a friend on your cruise who lives part time in Waikoloa Village. Her name is Dee and she scuba dives and takes pictures. P.S. I made a deposit for 2020 WC. Preview of my sea day blog: woke up, got a cappuccino and raisin bun, read another book in Crows Nest, salad for lunch, read some more, dinner around 6:30 with cheese plate for dessert. I’ve never been artsy or craftsy but your projects sound very good. I’m going to have to increase my HAL visa limit.

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This is my first world cruise live thread to read and I think this will be my next bucket list cruise to book. Either 2020 if I can't wait or 2022 when I don't have a 10% penalty. Thanks for providing so much detail. Haven't yet looked at blog and pictures but I've bookmarked the page and will catch up one of these days.

I was on the 30 day and happy to have the middle internet package. Much prefer a flat rate than paying for minutes. I used it every day on my iphone and sometimes on a pc in the EC. Yes, it was slow, but I was always able to use it when I wanted for CC, fb, and email primarily. Wouldn't say no to a partial refund though, especially since I think I paid the same for 30 as what others paid for the longer cruise.

Mom and I are 4* and got questionnaire for disembarking in SD. More colors and numbers than in Vancouver but we were called within the time frame indicated on the letter. Pleased with the pace they called so lines weren't too long.

It's good to be home alone with peace and quiet and nice weather.

Disembarked San Diego with no problem until we got to airport and Mom realized she forgot to get one of her bags in the cruise terminal. Not used to traveling with so much luggage. Don't want to know how much she is paying Fedex to have it shipped but fortunately she'll be in the Bay Area for the week and it doesn't have to go to her home in HI. I'll have to watch out for her more next time.

X-ray at airport decided my wood sculpture from Nuku Hiva was suspicious so I had my bag opened for the first time.

We both had an enjoyable cruise and she didn't mind the extra sea days at all. Since we booked the cruise last February with some credit when Veendam missed a few ports after Panama Canal it was fitting that we got more credit this time. And Mario was on that ship too before he got to be CD on NA. hmmm

One of my favorite photo ops was seeing our Captain strip before the cooking comp with Mario. I so wanted them to start playing the stripper music. He is quite the stud.

Glad I paid for internet so I could see the posts of others, and make some of my own, while onboard. I'm sure I'll see some of you again.

Vintage Master's Sommelier class this afternoon with some tasty and pricey wines. Vega Sicilia $799, Chateau Figeac $499, Opus One $229, Quilceda Creek red blend $119. Prices are HAL, not retail. More of Csaba's French themed food pairings not from the menu. Sorry his vacation is postponed but no luck with finding a replacement from interviewing prospects from other cruise lines so he is staying on longer. Will still be joining Koningsdam in August. He has some interesting ideas/suggestions that I hope are adopted by HAL. Love his enthusiasm.