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Koningsdam Norway Review


cbr663
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Thanks for the heads up. We are definitely prepared for anything and everything for this trip. Are those temperatures in fahrenheit or celsius? Also, when were you there? We will be there in early August so I would think the temperatures will be significantly warmer (at least at the base).

 

We were just there in early June. Temps are in Celsius and there was still lots of snow at the top of the mountain.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

 

Thank you for your review. :)

 

Since I am on Koningsdam in roughly 7 weeks, I'd like to know something about the food onboard:

-Do the MDR dining menus feature some "regional" dishes? On Alaska cruises, there's "Ketchikan clowder" or "Alaska crab legs", maybe when cruising to Norway there's some norwegian themed dishes?

-Food at Grand Dutch Café is still for free?

-After 02:00 pm there's "selected stations" available at Lido buffet - do you know, which ones?

-Tea time is still offered?

 

Sorry that's a couple of questions, I hope you can answer some of them. :)

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Hi,

 

Thank you for your review. :)

 

Since I am on Koningsdam in roughly 7 weeks, I'd like to know something about the food onboard:

-Do the MDR dining menus feature some "regional" dishes? On Alaska cruises, there's "Ketchikan clowder" or "Alaska crab legs", maybe when cruising to Norway there's some norwegian themed dishes?

-Food at Grand Dutch Café is still for free?

-After 02:00 pm there's "selected stations" available at Lido buffet - do you know, which ones?

-Tea time is still offered?

 

Sorry that's a couple of questions, I hope you can answer some of them. :)

 

I didn't notice that the MDR offered any regional dishes. I did notice that the food quality and service in the MDR far surpassed any of our previous MDR experiences.

 

Food at the Grand Dutch cafe is free. We didn't order anything there as the venue was extremely busy and I found the choice of colours on the menu board difficult to read. I am also not familiar with Dutch foods and I do wish I had spent more time researching this prior to sailing.

 

 

We didn't visit the Lido after 2:00 pm so I have no idea what is available.

 

Tea is available in the Queens Lounge in the afternoon.

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I didn't notice that the MDR offered any regional dishes. I did notice that the food quality and service in the MDR far surpassed any of our previous MDR experiences.

 

Food at the Grand Dutch cafe is free. We didn't order anything there as the venue was extremely busy and I found the choice of colours on the menu board difficult to read. I am also not familiar with Dutch foods and I do wish I had spent more time researching this prior to sailing.

 

 

We didn't visit the Lido after 2:00 pm so I have no idea what is available.

 

Tea is available in the Queens Lounge in the afternoon.

 

Fine, thank you so much!!

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just off the 7- day Norway cruise and wanted to provide a quick review.

 

HIGHS:

The ship is beautiful. All shiny and relatively new ( she just recently turned 1), K is in excellent condition. We sailed in a Vista Suite and were very happy with the size of the cabin.

 

Food was outstanding and a noticeable improvement over previous cruises. We especially enjoyed the MDR on this cruise, a dining venue that we normally bypass. All our meals in the MDR were served hot and perfectly seasoned. Service ranged from outstanding to okay in the MDR. We had Open Dining and sat at a different table each meal.

 

Tamarind was divine. We have always felt that Tamarind sets the bar for HAL, and this time the bar was set quite high. The service was warm and welcoming and the food delicious. I especially enjoyed the lobster.

 

The PG was also exceptional. Gone are those pretentious white server coats replaced with blue shirts and black vests. We enjoyed the double cut pork chop and halibut and it was delicious.

 

We made use of the Lido for lunch and several breakfasts. A little crowded are times, we did find lots of offerings and lots of staff to help you at your table.

 

Cabin service. We had an excellent cabin service team who always had our cabin clean and tidied whenever we returned. While there is still a clean up in the evening, turn down service has been eliminated.

 

LOWS:

 

No surprise, as it has been mentioned before, the entertainment on board is disappointing. The shows in the World Stage did not really make use of the stage. One night was a juggler, another a singer, another night a BBC movie, another a dance group, and another a variety show featuring the juggler and singer.

 

The BB Kings were disappointing. Most nights the back ground music over powered the voices and the song choices didn't excite.

 

The casino was rarely busy. The Lincoln Centre Stage was all classical music that you either love it or leave it. We left it.

 

The Mariner Lunch was disappointing. Attendance was poor and there was little choice offered.

 

Food in the Lido was often served lukewarm - a no no for me. We also tried several desserts that were labelled as sugar free but were terribly sweet. Perhaps a sugar substitute was used, but as it wasn't clear, and we had no choice but to discard it.

 

In cabin dining is very difficult. There is no adjustable table as were offered on other ships which made it impossible for us to enjoy our hot breakfast on our balcony. The loss of this amenity means the NA continues her reign as our favourite ship.

 

Embarkation in Amsterdam was confusing. The most annoying was when we climbed the top of the stairs to find large numbers of people sitting in groups, labelled 10, 11, 12 and lots of people wandering around confused. A video screen at one end of this large room stated "boarding group 7". I thought the groups were waiting to board. I kept looking for the counters to check in and couldn't find them. We were going around in circles when I finally asked a HAL rep who explained that the groups were waiting to check in and handed me a ticket for Group 13. It would have been much less frustrating had the HAL reps been located right at the top of the stairs.

 

One thing I found concerning was discovering that the men's public washrooms have security cameras in the ceilings. Perhaps they are on other ships and I never noticed them?

 

Overall, a wonderful cruise with beautiful weather and lovely ports. The Captain mentioned that a third pinnacle class ship is on its way and that the pinnacle class ships will be sitting the standard for the entire line.

 

Hi

 

We'll be sailing on July 23rd-30th, and would love to know more about the ports – what were the highlights for you? Which excursions would you recommend particularly?

 

Thanks!

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OP- I am so surprised you found the B.B. Kings band disappointing, we boarded the Koningsdam for the cruise after you, and thought they were fantastic. They had really good attendance as well, I guess music is personal taste, but we loved them

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OP- I am so surprised you found the B.B. Kings band disappointing, we boarded the Koningsdam for the cruise after you, and thought they were fantastic. They had really good attendance as well, I guess music is personal taste, but we loved them

 

It's great that you enjoyed them. We found the experience lacking the excitement that we experienced with previous HAL sailings. I had to strain at times to hear what the singers were singing. The show at times just felt like it was on auto pilot and maybe performed just a little too often.

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Gentlemancruiser, I agree with your assessment of the fellow passengers, on this particular ship. Very rude, aggressive and impolite. After over 20 cruises with HAL, this was a first. Really took a bit away from the enjoyment of our cruise. It was not unnoticed by staff either.

Without further comment I agree. It is the "different" demographic"......

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Without further comment I agree. It is the "different" demographic"......

 

After seeing the difference between my first and second cruise, I asked here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2252021

 

So I think you mean "the Dutch". I'm ashamed for the behaviour of my fellow countrymen, especially the kind that seem to fill the HAL ships starting in The Netherlands.

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After seeing the difference between my first and second cruise, I asked here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2252021

 

So I think you mean "the Dutch". I'm ashamed for the behaviour of my fellow countrymen, especially the kind that seem to fill the HAL ships starting in The Netherlands.

 

Talking about 'different demographic' we found most of the Dutch people on board lovely, but also had a couple of problems.

The main one really shocked me. A man looked at me, then pulled a chair directly in front of where I was sitting on the Queens Lounge, watching B.B. Kings. I politely asked if he could move slightly back, and he put his hands on me and pushed me away. Really not a nice experience, but I think it's like with all nationalities, you get nice people, and not so nice people. :)

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It's great that you enjoyed them. We found the experience lacking the excitement that we experienced with previous HAL sailings. I had to strain at times to hear what the singers were singing. The show at times just felt like it was on auto pilot and maybe performed just a little too often.

 

I thought there was a couple of times when the music overpowered Andrea a little bit, although she is a great singer, but we thought Marquis was amazing. Maybe the mixing needed to be tweaked a bit. The late set had more dance numbers, where as the early evening ones seemed a bit more chilled.

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  • 2 weeks later...
just off the 7- day Norway cruise and wanted to provide a quick review.

Hi cbr663

Thanks for the review. When you were in Kristiansand did you do either of these shore excursions: Lillesand: The Jewel of Sorlandet or Cruising the Archipelago?

I'm trying to decide which one would be better,

Thanks

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  • 2 weeks later...

Will be boarding in Amsterdam in four weeks. Someone mentioned there were no porters. But I don't know for certain if they were talking about Amsterdam or another port. (Many posts here about embarkation without stating which port.)

 

Can anyone advise on the best strategy for one person to get both bags AND wheelchair-bound wife into and through the embarkation process?

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  • 1 month later...
just off the 7- day Norway cruise and wanted to provide a quick review.

 

HIGHS:

The ship is beautiful. All shiny and relatively new ( she just recently turned 1), K is in excellent condition. We sailed in a Vista Suite and were very happy with the size of the cabin.

 

Food was outstanding and a noticeable improvement over previous cruises. We especially enjoyed the MDR on this cruise, a dining venue that we normally bypass. All our meals in the MDR were served hot and perfectly seasoned. Service ranged from outstanding to okay in the MDR. We had Open Dining and sat at a different table each meal.

 

Tamarind was divine. We have always felt that Tamarind sets the bar for HAL, and this time the bar was set quite high. The service was warm and welcoming and the food delicious. I especially enjoyed the lobster.

 

The PG was also exceptional. Gone are those pretentious white server coats replaced with blue shirts and black vests. We enjoyed the double cut pork chop and halibut and it was delicious.

 

We made use of the Lido for lunch and several breakfasts. A little crowded are times, we did find lots of offerings and lots of staff to help you at your table.

 

Cabin service. We had an excellent cabin service team who always had our cabin clean and tidied whenever we returned. While there is still a clean up in the evening, turn down service has been eliminated.

 

LOWS:

 

No surprise, as it has been mentioned before, the entertainment on board is disappointing. The shows in the World Stage did not really make use of the stage. One night was a juggler, another a singer, another night a BBC movie, another a dance group, and another a variety show featuring the juggler and singer.

 

The BB Kings were disappointing. Most nights the back ground music over powered the voices and the song choices didn't excite.

 

The casino was rarely busy. The Lincoln Centre Stage was all classical music that you either love it or leave it. We left it.

 

The Mariner Lunch was disappointing. Attendance was poor and there was little choice offered.

 

Food in the Lido was often served lukewarm - a no no for me. We also tried several desserts that were labelled as sugar free but were terribly sweet. Perhaps a sugar substitute was used, but as it wasn't clear, and we had no choice but to discard it.

 

In cabin dining is very difficult. There is no adjustable table as were offered on other ships which made it impossible for us to enjoy our hot breakfast on our balcony. The loss of this amenity means the NA continues her reign as our favourite ship.

 

Embarkation in Amsterdam was confusing. The most annoying was when we climbed the top of the stairs to find large numbers of people sitting in groups, labelled 10, 11, 12 and lots of people wandering around confused. A video screen at one end of this large room stated "boarding group 7". I thought the groups were waiting to board. I kept looking for the counters to check in and couldn't find them. We were going around in circles when I finally asked a HAL rep who explained that the groups were waiting to check in and handed me a ticket for Group 13. It would have been much less frustrating had the HAL reps been located right at the top of the stairs.

 

One thing I found concerning was discovering that the men's public washrooms have security cameras in the ceilings. Perhaps they are on other ships and I never noticed them?

 

Overall, a wonderful cruise with beautiful weather and lovely ports. The Captain mentioned that a third pinnacle class ship is on its way and that the pinnacle class ships will be sitting the standard for the entire line.

Thanks for the review. In the vista suite, did you need to use the sofa bed or drop down bed? We are going to be 3 and need to use one or the other.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Thanks for the review. In the vista suite, did you need to use the sofa bed or drop down bed? We are going to be 3 and need to use one or the other.
My husband says that he did not see any cameras in the men's washrooms when we were on Koningsdam in May. Are you sure?
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We are cruising with six other couples this coming July. We are concerned that the ports are uninteresting and that the scenery, while beautiful, gets boring very quickly. Curious if recent travelers felt that to be true.

I did two weeks on the Koningsdam in June and never found the scenery to be boring. I loved the small fjord towns we visited. And, there was the thrill of crossing the Arctic circle and spending a few days in the land of the midnight sun. I would do that cruise again.

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We are cruising with six other couples this coming July. We are concerned that the ports are uninteresting and that the scenery, while beautiful, gets boring very quickly. Curious if recent travelers felt that to be true.

Never on the Koningsdam, but I have sailed to Norway more times than I can count---including another two weeks there this past June. I never get tired of the ports, and always find something to see and enjoy there. There are some excursions worth doing over again. Even the smallest of towns have something of interest, and larger cities have more.

The scenery, air so fresh it tastes good, and entirely different atmosphere when the weather changes, is endlessly fascinating.

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