Koningsdam - Back Home

[richwmn]

Back home after leaving the Koningsdam and Fort Lauderdale this morning. This will not be a "review", but some comments about different things that people commonly ask about.

 

1. Embarkation -

As mentioned in an earlier thread, my embarkation went smoothly for the most part. The unfortunate part was that they had one line for even numbered cabins and another one for odd. The unfortunate part was that my traveling companions, first time on HAL, were not on the same side as I was. Luckily I was able to finish mine in time to go over and assist them.

 

It also appears that HAL sent notices to "some" passengers asking them to refrain from arriving at the port until noon, shortly after I actually boarded. They really need to be consistant.

 

2. Solo cabin -

It was really a nice size, although all the solo cabins are all the way forward. I don't have a problem with that but some people might. The cabin had a nice layout with the one downside - no couch. Pictures can be found here.

 

3. Television in cabin -

The television was set up at the foot of the bed, with a small path between the end of the bed and TV.

Programming was limited

Live TV - MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, ESPN, ESPN2

Programs - There were about a dozen programs in 3 categories. Sorry, I didn't write them down. But you could binge watch one season of several different shows.

Movies - I counted a little under 200 movies which could be streamed to the cabin. In the previous setup we could choose from over 1000 dvds.

The TV itself was tightly mounted to the wall. I did try to see if it could be pulled out any without success, but I didn't take too much time on it. From what I could see and feel, there are on the right side a network connector (used), an RF connector (unused), and what felt like a usb and htmi connector (unused). It would be difficult to use those connectors. The remote was very limited to only the functions needed to view the presentations.

 

4. Activities -

Activities were varied and continued well into the evening. The three music venues "Lincoln Center", "BB King", and "Billboard Onboard" were constantly crowded and kept going until the "wee hours".

The main shows, held on the "World Stage", were all good. There were three shows each night and I went to the 10 pm show each night. For that show about 2/3 of the seat were filled.

One thing for beer lovers, Billboard Onboard had 6 beer taps - Blue Moon, Amstel Light, Heineken, Stella, Guiness and Bodingtons

 

5. Crew -

The crew lived up the standards I expect from HAL. The small problems I had were handled quickly and efficently.

 

6. Disembarkation -

Since I usually travel alone I don't worry too much about this. I can usually handle putting my luggage out and going thru the regular disembarkation. This time we tried express disembarkation and I was really not impressed. We were asked to be at Lincoln Center at 7:30 this morning. We got there a little after 7 and were seated. As the seating area filled, the other people started milling around in the open area. At about 7:25 the seated people were told to proceed to the roped off area while those standing were held back and were not happy about it. No problems ensued, but the potential existed.

Once we started moving, everything went smoothly. I didn't see a sign for the Mobile Customs app, thankfully we had the paper filled out and were processed quickly. We were in the car and on our way by 8:15

 

All in all, a great cruise.

[Cruising-along]

Welcome home! So glad you had a good cruise.

Speaking of movies, did you ever try to see one that had recently been shown on the big screen? We missed seeing Sully so tried daily to find it on our TV and it never appeared. We checked every single one. Several different crew said they could see it in their cabins though....my response was when can I come over? :D;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

Thank you for all your observations.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[BSR]

Enjoyed reading your comments.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[Scrapnana]

Thanks especially for the solo cabin pictures. More and more cruise lines are putting the TVs at the end of the bed. I must be the only person in the world who does not like to sit in bed to watch TV.

[easyboy]

Glad you had a nice cruise. Thanks for the feedback.

[kftw]

Thank you for your comments.

[ski ww]

Thanks for the comments glad you had a good cruise. The single cabin looks comfortable & it's an Ocean View.

Allan

[65 Gator]

Welcome back Rich...

 

We recently disembarked at PE from the Rotterdam. I cannot tell you how much I LOVE Mobile Passport. There were several hundred folks ahead of us in the lines to pass CBP. There was NOBODY in the Mobile Passport line. We snaked back and forth through the maze and went directly to CBP. They scanned my phone for my sister, wife-mate and I and we were done. I LOVE THIS APP...

[kazu]

Great review.

 

Thanks for this and the different threads sharing your "King" experiences.

 

All helpful and interesting.

 

And welcome home :)

[DeeniEncinitas]

Welcome home!

I appreciated your post as well as the pictures too!

Thank you!

Denise :)

[Happily@Sea]

 

6. Disembarkation -

Since I usually travel alone I don't worry too much about this. I can usually handle putting my luggage out and going thru the regular disembarkation. This time we tried express disembarkation and I was really not impressed. We were asked to be at Lincoln Center at 7:30 this morning. We got there a little after 7 and were seated. As the seating area filled, the other people started milling around in the open area. At about 7:25 the seated people were told to proceed to the roped off area while those standing were held back and were not happy about it. No problems ensued, but the potential existed.

Once we started moving, everything went smoothly. I didn't see a sign for the Mobile Customs app, thankfully we had the paper filled out and were processed quickly. We were in the car and on our way by 8:15

 

All in all, a great cruise.

 

Rich, I went out about 10 am. The mobile passport line was in-between the Global Entry and the standard line - on the right. Maybe they set it up after you went through.

 

With the debarkation running 1/2 hour ahead, I got off way too early to catch my train, I was in the last group.

 

 

I'm going to mention the email I got in my survey, I hung around the hotel an extra two hours and came on when my 4-star status gave me no benefits [except not having to wait additional time].

[richwmn]

Rich, I went out about 10 am. The mobile passport line was in-between the Global Entry and the standard line - on the right. Maybe they set it up after you went through.

 

With the debarkation running 1/2 hour ahead, I got off way too early to catch my train, I was in the last group.

 

 

I'm going to mention the email I got in my survey, I hung around the hotel an extra two hours and came on when my 4-star status gave me no benefits [except not having to wait additional time].

 

I saw the Global Entry sign, but no Mobile Passport. I guess maybe 40-60 people were off in front of me, and when I got to the CBP people there wasn't a line. No problems at all, Officer looked at my passport and checked picture against me and waved me along.

[aliaschief]

Thanks Rich for sharing your MS Koningsdam experience. On our January, Nieuw Amsterdam cruise their were announcements about downloading the Mobile Passport App. We already had downloaded it; however, the day we disembarked, Global Entry was not working.

 

Just makes you wonder if the majority of cruisers have the App how long before the line is longer at Global Entry?

 

We are looking forward to meeting you in October on the MS Veendam Atlantic Coast Cruise.

 

B.

[RuthC]

More and more cruise lines are putting the TVs at the end of the bed. I must be the only person in the world who does not like to sit in bed to watch TV.

No you're not. I can't imagine trying to sit up straight in bed trying to watch TV. I know my legs would never get comfortable, and my back would be screaming in no time.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Thanks for posting photos of the OO-category staterooms. I hope to sail in one some day. As an aside, I sailed in a single-outside stateroom on P&O's Aurora in December that was very similar in layout, although it did have a small settee and the advantage of a forward-facing picture window. Oh, and a tea kettle, as it is a British cruise line. I'm so glad there are an increasing number of options for solo sailors.

Edited February 21, 2017 by Cruiser Bruiser

[rkacruiser]

Thanks for posting your comments and particularly the photos of the stateroom.

 

What is the "black colored" object next to the nightstand?

 

To me, the stateroom looks adequate for a short cruise, but for a longer one, I doubt that I personally would be happy with such.

 

The toilet's position is as bad as I thought it might be! One can only hope that the bathrooms on Nieuw Statendam will have a more comfortable placement.

 

Now, HAL, in Pinnacle III, how about some solo veranda staterooms?

[richwmn]

Thanks for posting your comments and particularly the photos of the stateroom.

 

What is the "black colored" object next to the nightstand?

 

To me, the stateroom looks adequate for a short cruise, but for a longer one, I doubt that I personally would be happy with such.

 

The toilet's position is as bad as I thought it might be! One can only hope that the bathrooms on Nieuw Statendam will have a more comfortable placement.

 

Now, HAL, in Pinnacle III, how about some solo veranda staterooms?

 

The black colored object is a small (18"x18" or so) table. I kept my laptop case below it and my paperwork on top. I didn't try to move it but most likely you could if you wanted to.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review.

[erewhon]

Thanks for your Koningsdam cruise comments.

[Boytjie]

Thanks Rich for sharing your MS Koningsdam experience. On our January, Nieuw Amsterdam cruise their were announcements about downloading the Mobile Passport App. We already had downloaded it; however, the day we disembarked, Global Entry was not working.

 

Just makes you wonder if the majority of cruisers have the App how long before the line is longer at Global Entry?

 

We are looking forward to meeting you in October on the MS Veendam Atlantic Coast Cruise.

 

B.

 

When we disembarked February 12th I could not get the Mobile Passport to accept out submission and I still have no idea why not - all the data was checked over and over again and seemed correct. Luckily we also filled in the paper forms. We were processed quickly in the Global Entry line and I think other Mobile Passport people were sent to a different (and longer) line.

[fusion927]

When we disembarked February 12th I could not get the Mobile Passport to accept out submission and I still have no idea why not - all the data was checked over and over again and seemed correct. Luckily we also filled in the paper forms. We were processed quickly in the Global Entry line and I think other Mobile Passport people were sent to a different (and longer) line.

 

When we were on the Koningsdam, it wasn't working for us until I disabled the Koningsdam WiFi. The requests from the Mobile Passport app were being sent (and discarded) on the Koningsdam WiFi instead of the cell network. Once I disabled the WiFi, the app worked perfect...

 

Mark

[POA1]

When we were on the Koningsdam, it wasn't working for us until I disabled the Koningsdam WiFi. The requests from the Mobile Passport app were being sent (and discarded) on the Koningsdam WiFi instead of the cell network. Once I disabled the WiFi, the app worked perfect...

 

Mark

Excellent point. I didn't even think of it, but we went to cellular data the minute we had service - about 8 miles off shore. We did my father in law's at breakfast, but we were already docked. Toggling networks is second nature to me, so I didn't think about a WiFi dead end. The app would not let you complete the process though, correct? (I guess that's a moot point if the user does not know how the app is supposed to work.)

 

It's also a good idea to complete the paper forms. There's always a chance that the system will go down.

[rkacruiser]

Another question about your comments concerning the stateroom:

 

You stated that 1012 was considered to be the largest of the OO Category. Looking at the deck plan and considering the changing of the curvature of the hull, I wonder if the two OO staterooms aft of yours are not slightly larger. I realize that the difference is probably not much, if there is any difference.

 

Speaking with others whose staterooms were in other outside/standard veranda categories, did you hear comments/complaints about the positioning of the commode in those staterooms as well?

[richwmn]

Another question about your comments concerning the stateroom: You stated that 1012 was considered to be the largest of the OO Category. Looking at the deck plan and considering the changing of the curvature of the hull, I wonder if the two OO staterooms aft of yours are not slightly larger. I realize that the difference is probably not much, if there is any difference. Speaking with others whose staterooms were in other outside/standard veranda categories, did you hear comments/complaints about the positioning of the commode in those staterooms as well?

Sorry, I was going by what I remembered my PCC saying, and it might have been larger rather than largest. I thought I had looked at the deck plans and that 1012 was the last OO. Looking again I see two more aft which might be slightly larger. Not sure if the difference would be very much. I didn't have any contact with the passengers in neighboring cabins so I don't know about the positioning of the commode in those staterooms.

edit:

looking back at the post about size I said "One of the largest".