Musings from the Monarch (Koningsdam)

[Copper10-8]

1 minute ago, cowmilker said:

We were on the K last October for three weeks in the Med.

Opening dining, no problem ever being seated.  Never used a pager but once that I remember, and the wait was really short.  However, we were always willing to share a table and I am quite sure that made a difference.

But I will make a confession here.

We ate all the chocolates. Our steward colluded with us and gave us extras.  OFTEN.  LOTS of them. 🙂

 

 

You should consider yourself extremely fortunate that the statute of limitations on that unfortunate infraction - the inappropriate appropriation of voluminous quantities of a usually sweet, brown food preparation of roasted and ground cacao seeds, perpetrated with the assistance of, and through collusion by, a willing and able accessory - expired two days ago 😎

[VMax1700]

Wow! I thought Mariner cocktail parties were legends from years past. 

[Vict0riann]

Hope you enjoyed the cocktail party.  Was Captain Darin on the upper Lido mezzanine or did he come down and greet everyone?  We have had both happen on the bigger ships.

 

Another favour to ask...  I asked you to try to figure out why my PCC seems to think 4045 might not suit us, and now I am wondering if it is smoke she's talking about.   Pat would have an absolute fit if the room smells smoky, so I wondered if you would mind wandering along Deck 4 (Beethoven) at a time when the casino has smokers and see if you get a whiff of it in the hallway near the elevators.  If it's in the hallway, it'll be in the room, so I might have to ask for a change of room.  Thanks in advance!

[VMax1700]

2 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Hope you enjoyed the cocktail party.  Was Captain Darin on the upper Lido mezzanine or did he come down and greet everyone?  We have had both happen on the bigger ships.

 

Another favour to ask...  I asked you to try to figure out why my PCC seems to think 4045 might not suit us, and now I am wondering if it is smoke she's talking about.   Pat would have an absolute fit if the room smells smoky, so I wondered if you would mind wandering along Deck 4 (Beethoven) at a time when the casino has smokers and see if you get a whiff of it in the hallway near the elevators.  If it's in the hallway, it'll be in the room, so I might have to ask for a change of room.  Thanks in advance!

Capt Darin was at the entrance to pool pressing flesh! He was circulating from group to group as was Hotel Director and other officers including ine from 'brand management' who was well aware of the ongoing online discussions about 'the $10 test'. He towed the corporate line and trotted out the text from the press release as if he wrote the copy!

I asked our room steward about seeing 4045. He suggested 'changover day' so if you can wait a few more days i will try to get a few photos on sunday? In the meantime i will lurk in the corridor and hall and sniff 😁

[Vict0riann]

Thanks so much!  I can certainly wait until Sunday.  

 

I'm not sure if you know, but our October cruise is on the current sale, and we were able to get pre-paid gratuities and a beverage card from it - perhaps you already have those, like others on the roll call, but if not, it might be worth asking about it.  (Also, a slightly reduced price...)

 

Of course, who knows what they do in Ireland.  My sister-in-law in Australia managed to get a similar deal to ours once, but it doesn't always work!

Edited April 1, 2019 by Vict0riann

[VMax1700]

🤣🤣🙄🙄 our stateroom attendant has just asked which one of us is going home on Sunday?!  Our room is listed for single occupancy next week!! 😥

Sometimes you just have to laugh!.

Edited April 1, 2019 by VMax1700

[boards]

On ‎3‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 5:51 PM, wombatKY said:

We were on the K-dam for 2 weeks last fall in Europe. We had absolutely no problem with either Gala Night but we rocked up to the podium around 7:15pm each night. 

 

The only night we had any problem was the first night when we arrived at 7pm.  We had to wait about 10-15 minutes for a small communal table.

 

 

We were on for 24 days last Oct. - Nov. TA Rome to Fort Lauderdale.  We did open seating the whole cruise and we were very satisfied with it.  We would arrive about 7:30 and were seated fairly quick.  The one thing we wondered about is in the past in open seating, after your first night you often seated in the same area, but not this time, we were seated in a number different location and of course had different servers so we never really got to know them.  Not a big thing but makes for nice evening.  We also never had any issues with our laundry either.  It was a very enjoyable cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

57 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

🤣🤣🙄🙄 our stateroom attendant has just asked which one of us is going home on Sunday?!  Our room is listed for single occupancy next week!! 😥

Sometimes you just have to laugh!.

 

Love it!!

[VMax1700]

Medical emergency!

Just 45 mins after departing Martinique, Capt Darin announced that we must return as a passenger is ill. No further details mentioned.

Edited April 2, 2019 by VMax1700

[VMax1700]

Back in Fort de France with ambulance alongside.

Hope pax is ok and recovers quickly.

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Back in Fort de France with ambulance alongside.

Hope pax is ok and recovers quickly.

 

 

Good thing Capt. B had time to return to the dock for the med disembark. There is not much, if any, in the way of air assets for a medevac in that part of the Caribbean

[Himself]

Are the Hospitals in that part of the Caribbean any good?

[Himself]

On 3/27/2019 at 6:53 PM, VMax1700 said:

Thanks to all who arranged and posted to the sailaway thread today. 

I will not be posting a 'live from' and instead will post irregular musings and will delve for information if requested!

Hey, I see you are from County Cork.. The current Captain on the Nieuw Statendam was bread and buttered in a small fishing Village in County Cork.  He i a grand Captain and his name is Noel O' Driscoll

[VMax1700]

42 minutes ago, Himself said:

Are the Hospitals in that part of the Caribbean any good?

I really don't know nor do i want to find out, but as Martinique is an 'Overseas Deptartment' of La France, it should have European standard heath care.

My personal feeling would be - better Martinique than many of the orher islands 

[VMax1700]

42 minutes ago, Himself said:

Hey, I see you are from County Cork.. The current Captain on the Nieuw Statendam was bread and buttered in a small fishing Village in County Cork.  He i a grand Captain and his name is Noel O' Driscoll

He is frim the town of Castletownberehaven, which is some mouthfull, so we shorten it to Castletownbere! Haha!

We were on Koningsdam in October when he was told that he would be co-master of Nieu Statendam. He was ecstatic to say the least!

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Himself said:

Are the Hospitals in that part of the Caribbean any good?

 

They don't see the type of cases you'll frequently see in North American or European hospitals however, I believe most of the doctors go to med school in the US, Canada, UK, France or Holland, depending on what island you're talking, Father

[Krazy Kruizers]

12 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Medical emergency!

Just 45 mins after departing Martinique, Capt Darin announced that we must return as a passenger is ill. No further details mentioned.

 

12 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Back in Fort de France with ambulance alongside.

Hope pax is ok and recovers quickly.

 

Sorry to hear this.

 

Hope the passenger is okay.

[richwmn]

8 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

They don't see the type of cases you'll frequently see in North American or European hospitals however, I believe most of the doctors go to med school in the US, Canada, UK, France or Holland, depending on what island you're talking, Father

Not sure I would agree with this.

According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_Caribbean) there are around 66 Medical Schools in the Caribbean not including Cuba. A portion of the students in those Medical Schools are US Citizens who wish to be doctors but can't gain admission to a US Medical School. Once they graduate form some of the Caribbean Schools, they enter the same internship programs that graduates of US Schools go thru.

 

[Floridiana]

Martinique is part of France, not a colony or some sort of associated province. Doctors must have the same qualifications and licenses that they would need in Paris or Nice or anywhere else in France. 

 

[Himself]

13 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

He is frim the town of Castletownberehaven, which is some mouthfull, so we shorten it to Castletownbere! Haha!

We were on Koningsdam in October when he was told that he would be co-master of Nieu Statendam. He was ecstatic to say the least!

He is a grand Captain and we were blessed to have him.

[Himself]

12 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

They don't see the type of cases you'll frequently see in North American or European hospitals however, I believe most of the doctors go to med school in the US, Canada, UK, France or Holland, depending on what island you're talking, Father

I ask because I wonder about foreign hospitals.  I have heard they are not so good in Croatia or Italy. 

[VMax1700]

8 hours ago, Floridiana said:

Martinique is part of France, not a colony or some sort of associated province. Doctors must have the same qualifications and licenses that they would need in Paris or Nice or anywhere else in France. 

 

As stated above it is an 'overseas department' of France. France has 96 Departments plus 5 Overseas Departments. It is one of the levels of government below National Government level.

So you are correct in saying it is not a colony, but it is France. The flag, the language, the currency, but most noticeably 'the attitude' leave you in no doubt that you are in France.

[VMax1700]

This has been printed in each day's When &Where

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by VMax1700

[Copper10-8]

3 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

This has been peinted in each day's When &Where

 

 

Have you seen the Rolling Stones Rock Room band yet?

[VMax1700]

1 minute ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Have you seen the Rolling Stones Rock Room band yet?

Yes. We alternate between R S Rockroom and BBK depending on the playlist for each session. 

Rolling Stone Rockroom band are good. We enjoy a lot of the sets. Not too loud to my ear, but then i was roadie for rock band in mid 60's 🤐😇