My first cruise on Koningsdam - review and thoughts

[HALcruiser2001]

15 hours ago, Roz said:

 

This is not acceptable food handling on ANY cruise line.  Did you bring it to the attention of a Lido manager?

 

I would have addressed that immediately by not accepting the food and asking him to redo it correctly.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, VACruiser123 said:

That can be a problem given your cruising model. We are pretty much the opposite. We never buy insurance and we tend to book after final payment date. I have almost never found "best" prices in advance and that includes onboard "next cruise" sales...even after taking some OBC and any other add ons into account. In fact I have rarely paid an all in price that exceeds 80% of onboard next cruse pricing and usually much less.  But our ability to take vacation is purely driven by our business and it's cycle and that is not compatible with long range "pick X date" for planning a vacation. For us close in booking is both cheaper and also in the window of certainty for when a good week will be available to take a vacation. So different booking models can lead you different "value" decisions. Hopefully the product overall improves for all of us over the next year or so.

I’d love to book after final.  Unfortunately I’m still working and I have limited times that I can take.  Also don’t have a ton of holidays, or at least as many as I used to.  Also can only take very few unpaid days.  Any appointments I may have have to also be fit into this small allowance.  Doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room.  I don’t live where I can drive to the port so air becomes a problem.  I’ve seen a lot of people come on here that didn’t  buy insurance mad at the cruise line because they want their money back.  I’m not flush with cash and I’m not willing to gamble with it.

Edited December 11, 2022 by Florida_gal_50
Charged did to didn’t

[REOVA]

1 hour ago, VACruiser123 said:

That can be a problem given your cruising model. We are pretty much the opposite. We never buy insurance and we tend to book after final payment date. I have almost never found "best" prices in advance and that includes onboard "next cruise" sales...even after taking some OBC and any other add ons into account. In fact I have rarely paid an all in price that exceeds 80% of onboard next cruse pricing and usually much less.  But our ability to take vacation is purely driven by our business and it's cycle and that is not compatible with long range "pick X date" for planning a vacation. For us close in booking is both cheaper and also in the window of certainty for when a good week will be available to take a vacation. So different booking models can lead you different "value" decisions. Hopefully the product overall improves for all of us over the next year or so.

We met people like you that could drive to Port after getting last minute deals.  Unfortunately we don't live close to a HAL port, so we don't have that option. We have also grown picky about the cabin. We need a balcony (been quarantined twice in 4 years), a cabin that is in the right location to minimize noise and smell (been there, done that) and we like specific itineraries and to either be on port or starboard depending on itinerary and ship direction (cabin snobs 🤣). Otherwise we could walk a block and get on a Carnival ship (no thanks). 😉

[Florida_gal_50]

35 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

 

I would have addressed that immediately by not accepting the food and asking him to redo it correctly.

Absolutely.  To do this is not acceptable.  The excuse to say they’ve never worked in food services is pretty weak.  Somehow I grew up knowing this is a no no and guess what?  I’ve never worked in food services.  People need to stop making excuses for things like this.  I don’t want to spend my holidays on things like this but it’s pretty important.

[TAW1963]

14 hours ago, VACruiser123 said:

First, welcome to cruising! I think there will be two constants that continue to hold true with cruises.

1. The quality of the product will always erode over time.

2. For value...a cruise is the best bang for your buck one week vacation...hands down.

Having said that, the only way to mitigate the effect if item #1 is to find the cruise line that "fits" you best. Based on what you relayed on this HAL cruise I see two options based on my experience.

A) Seabourn - a luxury cruise line and superior in pretty much every way to HAL...even the entertainment is better on ships that are much much smaller. But it is much more expensive (usually an order of 4-5X the cost)

B) Celebrity - can be found for essentially the same cost as HAL if you are flexible. The entertainment is much better and the food MAY suit your tastes better.

 

As for the rest...you would have to try them but for example, even though NCL rocks the entertainment...the included food is just awful these days since they focus on up-selling you into specialty restaurants. Carnival actually has pretty good food and entertainment...but I don't care for the passenger mix. Princess is pretty solid but close to HAL in a lot of ways. RCCL is meh for us on the one cruise we did with them in an Owner Suite. Food was average/poor and entertainment was "good".

Your mileage may vary...but DO try again on another line to get some baseline data.

 

 

 

 

Thank you VACruiser123!  This is extremely valuable information!  We have a cruise on Princess planned for next March.  That will give us a reasonable comparison with HAL.  I will look closely into Celebrity as well.  We have a cruise booked for a 17-day roundtrip to Hawaii next fall on the Koningsdam.  Instead of open seating, I have fixed early dining.  Although our overall experience on the Koningsdam was good, we are concerned about the 10-12 sea days on it.  We do not need to be entertained the whole time, and it is quite possible that if we ate at the MDR and speciality restaurants more often, and less in the buffet, we will likely have a better experience food-wise.  However, we are still concerned.  We do have a lovely aft-facing cabin booked, which could be very nice.

Edited December 11, 2022 by TAW1963

[VACruiser123]

11 minutes ago, REOVA said:

We met people like you that could drive to Port after getting last minute deals.  Unfortunately we don't live close to a HAL port, so we don't have that option. We have also grown picky about the cabin. We need a balcony (been quarantined twice in 4 years), a cabin that is in the right location to minimize noise and smell (been there, done that) and we like specific itineraries and to either be on port or starboard depending on itinerary and ship direction (cabin snobs 🤣). Otherwise we could walk a block and get on a Carnival ship (no thanks). 😉

We live 11 hours from Ft Lauderdale by car. We also only cruise in balcony or better cabins and almost always in the back half of the ship (category is almost meaningless in any type of cabin) but otherwise do not care about side of ship - we do avoid being under the pool areas.  Airfare on the east coast to FL is almost always under $200 RT and sometimes much less so it is not a huge factor. You have to go with what works for you.

[VACruiser123]

6 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

Thank you VACruiser123!  This is extremely valuable information!  We have a cruise on Princess planned for next March.  That will give us a reasonable comparison with HAL.  I will look closely into Celebrity as well.  We have a cruise booked for a 17-day roundtrip to Hawaii next fall on the Koningsdam.  Instead of open seating, I have fixed early dining.  Although our overall experience on the Koningsdam was good, we are concerned about the 10-12 sea days on it.  We do not need to be entertained the whole time, and it is quite possible that if we ate at the MDR and speciality restaurants more often, and less in the buffet, we will likely have a better experience food-wise.  However, we are still concerned.  We do have a lovely aft-facing cabin booked, which could be very nice.

For what it's worth...I never eat in the buffet for dinner...never ever will I ever ;-). I also refuse to spend MORE money on food on the ship beyond the cruise fare...we have to hold the line is my opinion on that...but your mileage may vary.

[Florida_gal_50]

4 minutes ago, VACruiser123 said:

We live 11 hours from Ft Lauderdale by car. We also only cruise in balcony or better cabins and almost always in the back half of the ship (category is almost meaningless in any type of cabin) but otherwise do not care about side of ship - we do avoid being under the pool areas.  Airfare on the east coast to FL is almost always under $200 RT and sometimes much less so it is not a huge factor. You have to go with what works for you.

$200 for air!  What a lovely dream that would be.  While I haven’t checked air for every place in Canada I don’t think you could fly anywhere in Canada for $200.  Likely not to a port city.

[VACruiser123]

8 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

$200 for air!  What a lovely dream that would be.  While I haven’t checked air for every place in Canada I don’t think you could fly anywhere in Canada for $200.  Likely not to a port city.

Just checked my and Jetblue in January has a Sunday-Sunday RT...nonstop for $183...a split ticket can be had for $128 if you can stomach Spirit for 2 hours :-(

[david,Mississauga]

8 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

$200 for air!  What a lovely dream that would be.  While I haven’t checked air for every place in Canada I don’t think you could fly anywhere in Canada for $200.  Likely not to a port city.

 

We have flown one-way from Toronto to Québec three times on Porter for a fare under $200.  Although I do not fly economy on long flights, I have assisted friends with booking flights to or from Vancouver (to connect to or from a cruise)  for under $200. While you have to check regularly for deals, it was not difficult to get those. 

 

There are one-way flights Toronto - Vancouver in the winter as low as $138 on Air Canada. I doubt it will be that cheap when the cruise season starts, but there are sales even in peak season.  Porter will soon start Toronto - Vancouver service with Embraer jets. On a couple of dates I chose at random in both winter and summer, economy is $114 and their premium section is $421.

[Florida_gal_50]

28 minutes ago, david,Mississauga said:

 

We have flown one-way from Toronto to Québec three times on Porter for a fare under $200.  Although I do not fly economy on long flights, I have assisted friends with booking flights to or from Vancouver (to connect to or from a cruise)  for under $200. While you have to check regularly for deals, it was not difficult to get those. 

 

There are one-way flights Toronto - Vancouver in the winter as low as $138 on Air Canada. I doubt it will be that cheap when the cruise season starts, but there are sales even in peak season.  Porter will soon start Toronto - Vancouver service with Embraer jets. On a couple of dates I chose at random in both winter and summer, economy is $114 and their premium section is $421.

One way flights?  You do realize most people do have to return?  Cruises leave in the spring, summer and fall in Canada.  Prices in winter one way won’t help that.  I haven’t seen any flights under around $300 going anywhere from where I live but I’m done with economy.  Like I said I haven’t checked every flight from everywhere. 

[Wakepatrol]

20 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

I just came back from 7 nights on Koningsdam to the Mexican Riviera. Just thought I'd share some thoughts on the whole experience. 

 

Service - There were highs and lows. Let me first say a few notable ones. One Indian cook was working the stir-fry station at the buffet and he got me a bowl of raw shrimp, scallops, and squid to fry up. He dumped the bowl into the frypan, but there were a few pieces of whole shrimp/scallop left in the bowl, which I just assumed he would discard. After frying up the seafood with veggies and sauce, he dumped it all back into the same original bowl with raw seafood and handed it to me for eating. There was plainly visible raw seafood sitting with cooked seafood in the bowl. I was horrified that this happened, but it's my first cruise so I don't know what to expect. 

 

Another time at the MDR, I was given soup with a soup spoon. This spoon had about 90% of the handle covered with this sticky dark gunk on both sides. It was really disgusting so I asked for a new spoon. I understand they are handing thousands of diners, so I don't know how often this kind of thing happens. 

 

About 4 or 5 times I received the wrong order in some way or another. Usually the wrong dish or the wrong quantity or something, but I'm guessing this just happens a lot on a cruise. 

 

Also one interesting thing is that on one night, I saw the white floor manager give a bit of a dressing down to my Indonesian waiter. He must have been upset that the entrees were taking too long to get to the tables or something. The waiter protested saying "look! my entrees are ready right there", but the floor manager gave him a dismissive "please don't do this right now in front of the guests". 

 

I was just ordering at the MDR for the 2 of us, and most of the waiters didn't have a problem with this. But 1 waiter kept insisting that I specifically indicate which dishes are for me, and which dishes are for my wife. I suggested just listing all the dishes under me, but he objected to this. It was really weird exchange and we went back and forth for a few moments about how to input the orders. 

 

Food - I would say the food was overall pretty disappointing. I had spent months on this forum and looking at menus and everything and was looking forward to trying the dishes. I only ate at the complimentary places, but for the most part the dishes were not tasty but just passable. Very few of the dishes I would want to go back for seconds. If I found a dish that I genuinely liked, it was definitely an exception rather than the common experience. I would say that the dishes were nice knowing that they were all part of the included package, but I would have been disappointed with almost all of the dishes if I had paid for them at a restaurant. 

 

The gala night dishes were the best dishes. The filet mignon and the lamb was good. The salmon and tuna poke dish was also a standout for me. 

 

A lot of the steaks were baked rather than grilled, and they really just didn't taste good at all. The MDR dishes were often just re-used from the buffet, but still overall better than what I had in the buffet. Many of the foods in the buffet for me actually bad. I thought there's no way to mess up a kebab, but it was pretty bad. The curries and such were bad. 

 

Entertainment - I knew going in that HAL didn't have broadway style musical production shows. I went to the EXC talks, the Origin story presentation, the Captain's talk, and all the enrichment presentations. They were fine I guess, but I kept falling asleep. It was a nice change of pace and all, but I couldn't honestly say they were entertaining. 

 

I went to the music walk all nights. I gotta tell you, these musicians are genuinely talented and all of them have really friendly personalities. If you like music, then you will like this. I felt it was very fun on the first 2 nights, and the impact started to fade after that. It was nice, but I still missed having a true production show. 

 

Most nights had a dance show from the Step One company. It was fine, but the dance was that really slower and emotive and interpretive style dance. That's not really what I really like. I definitely prefer the more broadway style cheery and punchy dance with singing. I watched some of the shows on youtube from Royal Caribbean and Princess, and those were way better than what we got on HAL. 

 

I also went to all the Comedian shows. Honestly, the comedian Marc Yaffee wasn't really that funny. But I liked his personality and he was doing his best, so I was really rooting for him. But most of his jokes were bordering on being dad jokes. Again, I enjoyed his show knowing that it was part of the package, but I would've been disappointed if I had paid for entry into his show. 

 

Room - We had the obstructed view balcony. The room was fine, but when they say obstructed, it is REALLY obstructed. You really cannot see the water at all. But we didn't go outside much anyways, so I would've been fine with just a interior room. Also I was surprised that there was no hot water kettle in the room. I wanted to drink tea in the room, but that never happened. 

 

I was also surprised that there is no access to drinking water in the room. This seems like a health hazard. I was constantly getting up to go to the Lido deck just to have water to drink. Why didn't they just put a water fountain on each deck. Late at night I often saw other passengers going up to the Lido with their water bottle just to get water. Felt really weird to me. 

 

There is a nice selection of movies in cabin, so I spent most of my down-time watching movies and knocked out about 8 movies. 

What were the highs?

[TotallyCruzin]

Zhuang,

I  was also on this cruise that arrived back in San Diego yesterday Dec 3rd.  Although I've been on it 3 times; Last Dec 2021 and Mar 2022 with 900 passengers and 1300 passengers; this cruise i think had 2500 passengers according to "Ask the Captain".  First off when you check in online they have paper tickets that you print out or email to yourself, you must read this information; on page 5 under Luggage and tag information it explains the luggage policy and the outside drop off for your luggage.  This isn't just 16 pages of nothing it really helps to read through and become knowledgeable about your trip. If you see someone making your food especially with seafood incorrectly you have to say something, call for the Lido cook manager on duty and explain what happened this could endanger you and others in the future; you are not being rude or mean this is really important so they can correct these errors and make it better as a whole.  Although its not a perfect cruise I do agree with some of your points.  I love the music walk and I love those cabin attendants they work so hard and the crew always seem to smile and wish you a nice day.  The food in the MDR isn't great that is why we only eat there during the 2 dressy nights and the Culinary nights with the chefs choices, then we eat in the other 4 restaurants during the other nights. Yes you have to pay a bit but I believe they are all worth the money.  The 3 nights that we went to the MDR we checked in for anytime dining between 630-700 we were given a pager and told it'll be 15 to 20 minutes for a table of 2, it never took that long to be seated.  What I miss the most is the that the MDR was the key to the ship you would have a waiter and asst waiter and a wine steward and a wine runner the restaurant asst managers and so forth and you would get to know all of them usually having the same table each evening.  As you walk around the ship you would see them and it would be nice to always have time to converse and learn about them.  Now with anytime dining and missing that camaraderie and watching these waiters without an ample supply of help it is very different, disappointing but this is the economy we live in and these guys that are left to do the work are really working their butts off.  I feel the HAL management in their offices really need to see what is happening to this product.  I still love HAL and with the amount of monies paid for these HAL cruises it is still such a great deal.  Overlooking these short comings I still love to cruise on HAL.  We're retired and loving it!

[zhuangcorp]

13 minutes ago, Wakepatrol said:

What were the highs?

Well I can't say it was a truly great experience. Just on how I feel now, I probably wouldn't do a cruise again. But who knows 5 or 10 years down the line how I might feel. But I think I would rather just do more traditional travels to Europe, Asia, South America, etc. 

 

I guess the main high was just that it seems the cruise is a pretty good value overall. For one set price, we had 7 nights of room and food. Food wasn't amazing, but I'm still glad that I got to try it. The gala night steaks, the escargot, and some of the salads were pretty good. The dive in burger and late night NY Pizza was good. The chocolate chip cookie at the Dutch Cafe was good. 

 

Included in the cruise, we got to see 3 port destinations which is pretty cool. 

 

In Cabo San Lucas, I ate at the most popular little taco shop Tacos Guss. It was a fun little experience where they just carve the meat onto a tortilla for you, then you make up the rest of the taco with unlimited salsas and guacamole and toppings. I had the fresh melon juice there, and it was delicious. I walked around the Marina and went all the way to Medano beach. Medano beach was probably the highlight of the whole trip. The water was clear and warm and beautiful, and it really was a beautiful scene with the Koningsdam and another Princess ship sitting in the background. 

 

In Mazatlan, I walked around the historic downtown area. I visited colorful houses, the main plazas, the cathedral, and the main market. I had some delicious fresh guava juice at the market, then walked all along the sea boardwalk. Finished off at a Torta shop and had a descent Milanesa sandwich. 

 

In Puerto Vallarta, I enjoyed riding the local bus to experience the local flavor. I just paid the driver $1 for 2 of us, and he didn't ask for Peso or anything. Through the downtown, I enjoyed the little alleyways and historic town. I walked all along the sea boardwalk and watched little street performances, art galleries, and found the famous Casa Kimberly. Then I walked to Zona Romantica and found the popular Marismas Fish Tacos food cart. The tacos here are ridiculously huge, and again you get to make up the taco with unlimited salsas and guacamole. I saw another professional food tour group bring a big group to the cart, so it was nice to know that I found it on my own without a tour guide. They also had a mixed pineapple fresh juice that was delicious. I walked towards the beach, stopping at galleries along the way. There was a lady selling 3 or 4 types of fresh juices from a cart on the street. I noticed another food tour group was stopping there, so I figured it must be good. I had a cup of Guava juice from there, and it was delicious. Then I walked along the beach for a little while, and took the bus back to the ship. 

[TAW1963]

2 hours ago, VACruiser123 said:

For what it's worth...I never eat in the buffet for dinner...never ever will I ever ;-). I also refuse to spend MORE money on food on the ship beyond the cruise fare...we have to hold the line is my opinion on that...but your mileage may vary.

Thanks again.  I fully agree with what you said.   I don’t like spending extra money for food beyond what is included either.  

[albingirl]

1 hour ago, Wakepatrol said:

What were the highs?

zero, it appears.

[albingirl]

Just now, albingirl said:

zero, it appears.

 

1 minute ago, albingirl said:

zero, it appears.

As far as the cruise ship, it looks like nada.

[david,Mississauga]

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

One way flights?  You do realize most people do have to return?  Cruises leave in the spring, summer and fall in Canada.  Prices in winter one way won’t help that.  I haven’t seen any flights under around $300 going anywhere from where I live but I’m done with economy.  Like I said I haven’t checked every flight from everywhere. 

 

Of course people have to return, but not necessarily by air or by the same route. The three times we have boarded the Queen Mary 2 in Québec these were one-way voyages ending either in New York or Southampton. Similarly, it appears to me that  most HAL cruises to or from eastern Canadian ports are one-way voyages.  We have also flown a few times one-way to or from Vancouver and the other direction was on VIA's splendid train the Canadian. Domestic  airfares are quoted by all airlines on a one-way basis. Strangely, flights overseas are always quoted on a round-trip basis, but the airline industry is a great mystery at times.  

[oaktreerb]

16 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

I didn't report the food incident, as I didn't really want to spend more time on that. 

 

Yes, if I truly felt in danger of getting sick from lack of water I would just drink from the tap. But I guess I'm mostly used to drinking dedicated drinking water from a filter these days. 

The food incident should have been reported.  It was a matter of public health.  I’m glad you didn’t get sick, but maybe someone else did.  1)You could have refused the plate (which I would have done).  2)You could have reported the incident to an officer (which I also would have done).  3)You could have written it on a “let us know” form available at the front desk or the Navigator App.  Don’t be afraid to speak up.  With the return of cruising comes the training of staff and the managers need to know if there are issues, especially in food preparation.

Edited December 11, 2022 by oaktreerb

[Mary229]

4 hours ago, albingirl said:

 

As far as the cruise ship, it looks like nada.

He also states that it was his first cruise and he just thinks cruising may not be for him but admits it is a bargain.  He does not have a basis to judge from

[REOVA]

8 hours ago, VACruiser123 said:

We live 11 hours from Ft Lauderdale by car. We also only cruise in balcony or better cabins and almost always in the back half of the ship (category is almost meaningless in any type of cabin) but otherwise do not care about side of ship - we do avoid being under the pool areas.  Airfare on the east coast to FL is almost always under $200 RT and sometimes much less so it is not a huge factor. You have to go with what works for you.

It's almost 14 hour drive for us. What airline do you fly for under $200 RT? We can't even find that to Charlotte anymore. 😁

[Mary229]

58 minutes ago, REOVA said:

It's almost 14 hour drive for us. What airline do you fly for under $200 RT? We can't even find that to Charlotte anymore. 😁

FLL has become very expensive.  We flew there in 2019 for less than US$200 RT, this past year it was US$250 RT, for 2023 it is close to $200 one way, thankfully I have points 

[VACruiser123]

2 hours ago, REOVA said:

It's almost 14 hour drive for us. What airline do you fly for under $200 RT? We can't even find that to Charlotte anymore. 😁

RDU-FLL or MIA most always under $200 - the example today was Jetblue for $203 or a split ticket Jetblue/Spirit in the $120s for a mid-late January ticket - Go to Google flights and it will search all the airlines and travel agencies (Google is not selling any flights it is an information place)

Edited December 12, 2022 by VACruiser123

[Lazy_Triathlete]

Someone has to pay for Spirit’s 42% pay increase for the pilots and Delta’s 34% pay increase over the next few years. 

UA and AA up next. 

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, Lazy_Triathlete said:

Someone has to pay for Spirit’s 42% pay increase for the pilots and Delta’s 34% pay increase over the next few years. 

UA and AA up next. 

Absolutely.  When it became clear in 2020 that travel would suffer huge future price increases I went into action.  Normally I had only one cruise booked and wouldn’t book another until I was on the ship.  In recent times I have booked as much as I can, locking in today’s price where I can.  There will be price inflation .  In a year we will be discussing price shocks more than downgrades in services.