richwmn

really nice day at Bacardi and local dinner

p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; } With the debut of the Koningsdam, Holland America introduced the single occupancy cabins. There are several solo cabins of varying size, all located on deck 1 all the way forward. Comments here are based on cabin 1012, which according to the deck plan is one of the largest of the solo cabins.

This cabin is a nice size for a person traveling alone. It has plenty of room to move around and ample storage. It is possible that two could share this cabin if they are well acquainted. The cabin contains a queen bed – not two twins pushed together – which is against the port hole. It also contains a desk and nightstand. The desk has 3 US power outlets along with 2 European and 1 USB charger port. The nightstand has 1 US power outlet along with 1 USB charger port.

The bathroom is a bit small, and contains a shower only. The toilet is placed such that almost anyone will have to sit sideways in order to use it. The shower is large enough for a plus size person to use in comfort. The shower also contains the usual HAL shampoo, soap and conditioner and the shower head is adjustable.

The location is convenient to the World Stage and the Crows Nest, and a bit of a walk from the restaurants. I have been in the cabin while performances were going on in the World Stage and I didn’t hear any of it.

If there is any down side, it is that the TV is positioned such that you almost have to be on the bed in order to watch it. You could also move the desk chair and have a good view.

Having a wonderful time on the Koningsdam! Grand Turk 2/14/17

They [staff] obviously ignored the email time sent to us. [No one sooner than noon]. I arrived about 11:40, and was in a very long security check line - that moved pretty quickly. When I got to check-in at right about noon, they were already calling #9, being a 4 star I was able to embark immediately. But if check-in really started at noon, they should have just started boarding. So much for following email instructions. Lesson learned.

Hi Carole, sorry you had problems. I checked with my traveling companions and neither they nor I received an email requesting that we arrive after noon.

We ended up arriving around 10:15 prepared to wait a bit, but checkin had already started and the 4* line was very short. The sign said boarding would begin at 11:30, but as noted was delayed about 20 minute from then, so it began around 11:40.

Have a great cruise, although I can't wait for it to end. If you're in1014 take good care of it.

 

Roy

I am in 1012, right next door. Pictures will be posted shortly by Jacqui.

Had an uneventful boarding on this beautiful ship. Boarding was delayed about 20 minutes because some in transit passengers didn't want to zero out.

I am in one of the larger "single" cabins. Will post pictures later to the site we can't talk about.

Rich

please tell me what is the advantage of prepaying gratuities? Why not pay off your credit card balance when you are finished cruising, before your credit card payment due date?

I am with you in that I don't see an advantage. Some people apparently like the feeling of not ending the cruise with a big bill--but they start with one. :rolleyes:

Different strokes for different folks. One nice thing is that we can each handle this the way we want and others don't have to like it or understand why we do it. People have different comfort levels and each should do what to them feels right.

LOL. I think the check out time of hotels has more to do with when people arrive than the lunch does, but I have been wrong before ;)

It definitely factors into our arrival time.

Also, what time the hotel chooses to run the shuttle if you use it. One hotel I stayed at required all shuttle passengers for all ships to be ready at the same time - seems like it was 10am. They had several large busses and sorted people by ship.

Another hotel had only 1 or two shuttle times.

We were thinking of doing a cruise that leaves out of Vancouver (we live near Seattle) & our tentative plan was to take an Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver the day of, or possibly the day before....any comments on this idea?

Several years ago I flew into Seattle for a Vancouver cruise. I got to Seattle early and toured around there for a day, then took the early morning train to Vancouver. As Roy said, it was very comfortable, just an early start. Took a HOHO tour of Vancouver that afternoon, and went to the ship the next day. It all worked out very well.

One thing I did, I was happy with the cab driver that took me from the train to the hotel, so I asked him if he wanted to pick us up the next day. He agreed, was on time and cheerful. Nice short ride to the pier.

Changed to old theme, now can't post from laptop

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As long as the footballs are not partially deflated, S7S! Go Falcons! ;)

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Go Falcons!

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Rise Up!

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It might be easier (requiring no notification of HAL) to just go over to the ship without baggage to check in on Sat then return to the hotel until Sunday. Or you could move the bulk of your baggage on Sat and have just carry-on for Sunday. That way there will be porters at the ship to move it on board. You could even eat lunch or dinner there.

 

Personally I would fully board on Sat and save the price of the hotel for one last night.

John, I was guessing that the OP was hoping to stay an extra day in Rome. It would require around 3 hours to get from Rome to the ship to check in, then return to Rome. From what I understand, there isn't much around the actual port for site seeing.

I boarded late in the evening on a cruise that overnighted in Quebec City, but most things will be the same.

The ship was set up to allow people to check in after "normal" check in time. I had to show my boarding pass to security at the ship and was told to go to the front desk to check in.

There were no porters to handle luggage; so whatever luggage you have, you must deal with. However, once on the ship there was a cabin steward at the security station that took my bag to the cabin.

Depending on when you arrive, there may be limited assistance available to get you to the proper place to board.

In my case the cab driver had no idea where to drop me, but I had been to Quebec City before and recognized after a minute where I needed to be.

I just booked this same cabin on Prinsendam for an upcoming cruise. Any thoughts to share? (Nice pics, by the way ... they helped me make up my mind. :))

Once I was on the ship I was very happy with the location of the cabin.

First, to make sure you know, there is a short hallway from the main passageway to the door of the cabin. It is nice that no one can see in when the door is open.

As you walk into the cabin, the spacious walk in closet is on your right. Adequate shelf and hanging storage. The bathroom is further along the same wall. The bathroom has a sliding door, so make sure it is latched at night or you may hear it rattle.

The two portholes give plenty of light during the day.

Maybe the best part of the cabin is that it is a few steps and one deck away from access to the gangway when docked, and tenders when not. That makes it very easy to come and go. Two decks up to the main dining room, 3 to the showroom so easy access to everything.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

We just booked our first cruise on the Prinsendam. There was some debate between us as to whether to book a shower only outside cabin or one with a bathtub. We did book one with a tub but I have some concerns about DM getting in and out of the high sided tub. Can someone tell me if the tubs are as high as other HAL ships? DM thinks she can manage but the cruise isn't until next year so would like to know if we should switch to a shower only room. My PCC tells me that the shower only cabin is 10 square feet smaller than the bathtub room next door. In case it makes a difference, we're talking about outside cabins on Main Deck.

 

Thanks for your help!

I was just on the Prinsendam and I believe the tubs sides are at least as high as the tubs on the other ships. Pictures of my cabin can be found Here and include two views of the bathroom.

On the positive side, the outside cabins are very nice. I really enjoyed the cruise.

I have the app downloaded and ready to try out on our turnaround day in Fort Lauderdale in April.

One poster mentioned that the captain announced which pier they were docking at. I have never heard an announcement of that sort so my question, in case it isn't announced, is ----how does one find out which pier they are docked at so as to complete the required information on the app in order to get approval online?

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Self disembarked Jan 4. If I remember correctly the arrival pier was stated in disembarkation documents. Anyway maybe 12th in line and the app did not work. Mentioned to the officer who promptly said "line isn't bad is it".

I disembarked with Peter from the Prinsendam. The pier number was in the documents and might have been announced. I also couldn't get the application to work, but it was my fault. I did not self-disembark but also did not have a line so it went very quickly.

If you are a 4*, 5* or in a suite with priority embarcation you will need the first page to use the priority line.

Just off the Nieuw Amsterdam. DH & I love to play trivia, and we've been quite successful with various teammates on all of our cruises. We were so disappointed that every single trivia game had the exact same prize - a blue Caribbean pin.

 

EVERY trivia game every day! 3:00pm in the Crow's Nest, 7:00pm in the BB King club, Name That Tune, Caribbean Trivia. All that same damn pin. :(

 

I know that years ago HAL discontinued the "points for prizes" system, but what happened to the variety of inexpensive trinkets they used to give out? The variety alone made it fun.

 

I'm sure this seems like a "Trivial" complaint to many of you..... ;)

The pins, a different one for different cruise areas, have been the prizes for trivia since at least Sept of 2014. I can't remember what the prizes were in June of that year.

I miss the coffee mugs, luggage tags etc that they gave out before that as well.

Rich

Just wanted to chime in on this. As of today, nothing I have booked in advance is showing on my personal itinerary. Some of the items involved appeared a couple of weeks ago when I first booked them.

When I called HAL the other day to check on one of them, I was told that anything booked by phone didn't show up, but items booked online did. Funny thing is that items I booked online are not showing up either.

btw - AtlantaCruiser72 - how 'bout send me a note - rich at wa70 dot com. Thanks

Just listed on Yahoo Finance:

MIAMI, Jan. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK), the world's largest leisure travel company, today announced that it has signed a memorandum of agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri S.p.A. to build two new cruise ships with final contracts expected to be executed in early 2017. The two new ships are designated for the company's Holland America Line and Princess Cruises brands. With the new agreement, Carnival Corporation now has 19 new ships scheduled to be delivered between 2017 and 2022.

Holland America Line's new ship will be built at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera, Italy, with an expected delivery in 2021, and the ship for Princess Cruises will be built at Fincantieri's Monfalcone, Italy, shipyard with an expected delivery in 2022.

I see you are not part of the Roll Call. Come over to http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2317499 and say hello! We do have a Meet & Greet scheduled.

There will generally be 3 (or maybe 4) relatively current movies showing on the TV in the staterooms. One of the movies will be the one that was shown in the theater the previous day.

Also, there is a very large collection of DVDs available from the front desk. A listing as of about a year ago can be found here: Movie List

Prinsendam is certainly a nice looking ship even before you take into account that she is almost 30!

And even nicer from on board. Glad I have at least one more cruise on her.

 

Roy

beautiful ship, inside and out, glad I got to sail her

i will be doing my 9th 7 day caribbean next month. and i agree, it just goes by to fast. thats why looking at an extended one now that im retired. its just finding someone who also has the time and money to do one.

I have been on several longer cruises, we can talk next month if you like.

my email is on the roll call if you want to send a note

Rich