Lildare

7 minutes ago, 00649 said:

1988. Our honeymoon on RCL . Chocalate fondue , everyone dressed up for dinner , shooting skeet off the back of the ship. Times have changed for sure. 

Carnival had the skeet too and everyone thought it was such the thing to do back then. 🙂

‘88 Carnival Celebration

Mid - late 90’s HAL Westerdam and Veendam

Thanks for sharing, the lack of silverware coming and going would be unusual might speed up long dinners though.

I had King Crab on an Alaska cruise on Koningsdam 9/2/23 sailing last year, I believe I was in the Orange Club and paid extra for the Alaskan special dish that included clam chowder.  The dish was excellent and crab legs were cut easy to eat.  It was probably also offered in the main dinning room and the prices was $25 or $35.

I hope Koningsdam is not leaving the west coast for good, any more info on this topic or link to share?

Helpful hint: Peanut butter chocolate pie served only on the first day of cruise on the lido deck.  I saw that tip a year ago and was successful on my last cruise.  I think that hint kinda says it all about HAL being smaller and the excitement is pie vs ice skating or wave riding.  I really enjoy the blues bands in BB King.  I tend to stay up late which is not the norm for most HAL cruisers but it’s better in the casino.  If you are up late and miss breakfast the Dutch Cafe has egg options.

I did not realize I need to walk counter clock wise on the promenade, but I think I actual follow that rule when I do walk.  

Turkey reuben on the Koningsdam

it’s all good but crew really feels like family now 

Is breakfast for either CO or Neptune suite have 24 hour availability for room service?  I’m unable to find the breakfast menus for CO or Neptune suite.  But I know breakfast on the standard room service menu stops at 11am.  Therefore if I want breakfast food after 11am I need to go to the Dutch Cafe.  But I was curious if all day breakfast was possible for room service via CO or Neptune Suite?

51 minutes ago, fsufancc said:

I am hopeful that some the recent trips that everyone are complaining about are just post-pandemic hangover (at least in part).

I agree.  First cruise after Covid August 2021 my experience was not so good.  Example was the butter, I know it is silly but I love the butter and bread in the MDR, so it was disappointing but good news I did not gain much weight from the cruise.  On my last cruise in December the real butter returned!  I talked to staff in the MDR and they were aware of the post Covid butter issue, glad it got fixed.

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Many of Hal’s processes seem to be very manual, such as booking a cabana.

Yes!  I agree and communication does not seem to flow to all HAL staff.  An example I have is guest services where it takes 3-4 people to fix an issue on the statement.  There was only one guy who did change and one guy to do something else and end result was I had to talk to Corporate to fix it.  I get home and Corporate said they should have fixed it on the ship. It’s funny now but it was not so much fun when my time was limited on vacation.

5 hours ago, Alphen said:

I do not understand the pessimism, just replayed video of the Captain talk on MS Rotterdam VII of our cruise in October last year, and he stated during the "Ask the Captain", that Rotterdam is using Starlink!!

 

Since Rotterdam is the newest of the fleet, I have no knowledge what the status currently is on the rest of the fleet.

 Thank you for looking over your video to verify what the captain said, this is excellent news!!  I have to admit I was skeptical after dealing with bad to no Wi-Fi on HAL for 25 years.  😊   But I thought further about your response and started to consider that StarLink may have provided a trial on some ships to get Carnival to buy into the service.   I may now book something on Rotterdam knowing this info as I work remotely,  I really appreciate your confirmation!

I am speculating that Koningsdam has made some change maybe a trial of StarLink in December given the speed of Wi-Fi I experienced.  Nieuw Amsterdam has always had bad Wi-Fi in my experience.

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Back on topic.

 

I'm in a dilemma. Clearly, HAL has forgotten its strategic necessities, in search of $$$ from lower costs and more onboard spending. Should I accelerate bookings in the next 15 months to reach 4-star? Or, is it already too late? The slide is irreversible and its time to jump ship (so to speak)?

 

I could sail 46 nights in 2023, but have only booked 19 nights on the Koningsdam and Volendam.

I have thought the same, should I continue on HAL even though I am a cruise or two away from 4 star.  Back when I was a 1 or 2 star it seemed liked stars were the way to go, but now it seems a 4/5 star gets no priority at guest services, only Orange Club seems to matter.  I see only free laundry as a motivator or maybe half price dinner in Pinnacle.  IMO, if you don’t gamble, look at other lines that offer better itinerary.  Most folks I talk to onboard say the HAL itineraries are hard to beat at the price point.

53 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I don't think starlink is anywhere close to coming to hal yet.

I agree, I know someone who is on Koningsdam for the Hawaii & Tahiti cruise in February and will get an update on wi fi for this ship.  I was shocked by what I experienced.

6 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You we’re lucky.  I was on the koningsdam for 2 weeks in November.  While there were some websites I didn’t have a ton of problems with I could never access my bank account or airline. 

Yes, I’ve cruised enough to know something was not right about this experience!  😉

I hope it was not just a fluke.  I’m planning for another cruise and would like good Wi-Fi like that again.

I was on Koningsdam 12/22-1/7 in the Mexican Riviera and had amazing internet speeds, I was streaming YouTube live and never ran into a throttle situation I’ve experienced pre 2020 on past cruise.  I purchased Premium internet with 4 devices, was in a cabin on deck 5 all the forward and another cabin deck 4 mid ship and there was no difference in connectivity.  The ship was full with many teens so I was anticipating slow speed.   I think I could have worked and done a video and voice Teams call but I did not try it.  I have cruised many times so I knew the speed was not normal based on being on the same ship 2021 in Mexico and Zaandam 2021 in New England.  I doubt Star Link has rolled out already unless something has changed?  What has everyone else been experiencing lately?  

@Boytjie 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well.html

down at the bottom are FAQ’s including home testing

Seattle test locations under FAQ: Will Holland America be able to provide Covid testing locations in port locations?  However I’m getting a 404 error on King County location link.

Without the details everything was an assumption, I assumed that what was good for Hawaii was good for HAL but not having these details till today was an unknown.  I lined up 3 different test for the 8/14 cruise because I was not 100% sure what HAL wanted, now I can cancel them.  Can’t wait to cruise again!  It’s been fun watching your post @atexsix, thank you for your comments and experience around the HAL testing requirement.  🙂