M. S. Koningsdam's Library: A reply from a Special Advisor, Office of the President

[HUNKY]

One can always purchase a book download, or a new e-reader.

[kazu]

One can always purchase a book download, or a new e-reader.

 

If you are in the Caribbean,sure. If you are in the Black Sea, or on a TA or Trans Pacific in the middle of the ocean, not ;)

Edited August 5, 2016 by kazu

[HUNKY]

Guess they should be sold in the duty free shop.

[kazu]

Guess they should be sold in the duty free shop.

 

Nothing like that has ever been sold in the duty free shop that I ever seen.

 

And with the Internet on board, how are you going to download and get what you had back?????

 

Impossible I would say unless you are going to spend a gazillion dollars.

 

Easy solution - leave the books that are there, there.

Edited August 5, 2016 by kazu

[HUNKY]

Maybe HAL should do like Carnival and upgrade their internet service.

[RuthC]

Maybe HAL should do like Carnival and upgrade their internet service.

Maybe HAL should just leave well enough alone.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[HUNKY]

Too late on Koningsdam

[RuthC]

Too late on Koningsdam

HAL has "fixed" :rolleyes: a lot of ships by adding revenue producing areas, such as additional cabins, cabanas, etc. Surely they are capable of adding sufficient library space to the Koningsdam on the next refit. Not to mention changing the plans for the next ship in the same class before it's put together.

[Topsham]

Maybe HAL should do like Carnival and upgrade their internet service.

 

 

 

Carnival Cruises yes did indeed the internet.... IN ADDITION.... they also have the full library on their newest ships... like came out one mon or two months ago. Even better... you can get 'real' books and also have a full bar!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Carnival Cruises yes did indeed the internet.... IN ADDITION.... they also have the full library on their newest ships... like came out one mon or two months ago. Even better... you can get 'real' books and also have a full bar!

 

Now that sounds terrific!!!

[Gr8daze]

I love to bring my kindle and find a cozy place to read in the library. But i will bring my own reading material! Carefully curated to my specific interests. They need the globe and maps and puzzles and cozy chairs - I can get by without the actual books. :)

[Topsham]

Now that sounds terrific!!!

 

 

See. If you get lemons you should make lemonade (brandy)!

 

 

I can see HAL wanting to remove the library and instead put in a Dutch Café... if that is what their plan. A better idea is COMBINE library and Dutch Café. Best of all and makes then money. I'd be happy to stay in the library and some nice coffee or 'extras'.

[MaisonRose]

For me, the library and Explorations Cafe have made HAL special. Need I mention the magazines, guidebooks for destinations and ports (these aren't useful electronically, and guidebooks are heavy). It's a special place to relax and read. So the only thing that would cause me to book the K Dam would be the perfect sailing date and arrival/departure ports.

 

There are two other disqualifiers for ships, I really look for

A hand held shower head ( take that, Princess)

A laundry room (date and port still a priority, though)

 

This could really be its own thread: where I draw the line!

Susan

[HUNKY]

All ships have laundries. Maybe not the DIY kind though. I've found the rates to be reasonable.

[JennysUncle]

'steilkurv' has posted a thread 'Back from the Konigsdam + video' with an excellent video survey of the ship 7pPMhZyaFWc ).

 

At 4:44 into the video there is a picture of what could be the "Library".

[Tampa Girl]

You can find libraries on many new ships... like NORWEGIAN GEM and also the new CARNIVAL VISTA. On the Carnival ship you can get drink as well... as in 'bar'. Some of the earlier ships with library are 'self service' bar for a brandy with a book after dinner.

 

I think HAL has missed the point, I'm afraid. A library is a library. Not just a 'shopping list' for shore excursions.

 

You are so right!

[Tampa Girl]

Not necessarily. On Amazon, for example, they offer a good number of new books where you can download a single chapter for free and then decide if you want to purchase the ebook. Or libraries -- you can borrow any ebook at no cost.

 

I get plenty of recommendations for new authors from friends and from various websites that recommend books based on what you've liked in the past, as well as from places like the NYTimes book review, etc.

 

As valuable as friends' recommendation may be, that can't replace, at least for me, the pleasure of physically browsing through many books, picking one up and reading a few pages, and thinking: "This I want to read." I guess DH and I will never sail on the Koningsdam because we won't sail on a ship without a library. And we both have ebooks with which we travel. But, for us, they can't replace browsing through an actual library.

 

HAL take note! You eliminate the libraries, and you have lost at least one customer.

[Tampa Girl]

Every Holland cruise i have ever done the library is one of the busiest places on the ship...especially sea days. Hard to find a seat. Maybe empty on port days or at night but certainly not during daytime that i have ever seen.

 

That has been my experience, as well. However, I have never done a port-intensive cruise, such as a Med cruise. Certainly the libraries on the longer cruises and trans-oceans cruises invite more people.