Belated Review: Koningsdam RT Vancouver 6/1-6/8

[bundtkate]

Hey, y'all! This board was so helpful in choosing our Alaska cruise, I wanted to make sure I give back and share my thoughts. Unfortunately, I caught a nasty bug at the end of the cruise that I'm just now getting over so I'm a bit late to the party, but better late than never, right?

For those who just want the bottom line, Alaska is absolutely amazing and there was some stuff I really liked about HAL, but overall I don't think HAL is for us (and that's just fine). For those who want the deets, read on!

What We Loved

 

I'll start with Alaska itself. This itinerary was wonderful and the ports were stunning. We greatly enjoyed all of our excursions and already have a running list of things we want to try next time. We also really enjoyed the Lido Market Buffet. We're normally not buffet people, but between the extremely slow service in the MDR and the delightful Indian dishes at the Lido, we found ourselves eating there more often than not. The Dive-In was also really good, but with it only being open until 6pm, we rarely had a chance to eat there since we were usually ashore during its opening hours. Finally, I have to shout out the BB King band. Despite having to improvise one evening when one of their vocalists fell ill, they managed to put on amazing shows every night of the cruise. This was easily my favorite music venue and band from any cruise I've been on and I wish I could take it with me on every cruise I take in the future. HAL does music really well and their musicians are top notch. Every evening was a blast.

 

What We Really Didn't Love

 

We had the Elite Beverage Package, but still had to sign receipts for everything. I've been on 12 cruises on 4 different lines before this and this is a first for me. I recall others on CC mentioning that they started and stopped this on one cruise, but I guess it's back and they never stopped so maybe for good. In addition, the crew seemed to pay no mind to whether they were charging drinks to me or my husband. I initially didn't think it mattered, but then one of us would end up against the 15 drink limit due to everything going on one card. No one would tell us that was happening and the receipts don't indicate it so we'd have no idea until it showed up on the TV later that we'd been charged and I'd have to spend a chunk of my evening at guest services getting it sorted out. They were also out of several drinks from the very first day and it only got worse as the cruise went on. By the end of the cruise, the only beers consistently available were the Alaskan Amber, Bud, and Bud Light. You could find others, but you had to hunt around. I never expect to find beers I love on a cruise, but I expected more selection from a premium line. The fact that even Heineken was gone by day 2 was a real disappointment.

 

Somewhat relatedly, the Navigator app is non-functional on my Pixel 7 phone so it was impossible to check the daily schedule or our cruise account. It just flickers constantly because the UI is always reloading so you're lucky to be able to navigate at all and even if you manage to swap pages, you'll get instantly scrolled to the top of anything you're looking through. Based on reviews, I'm not alone here either. If this weren't an issue, I could possibly have tracked the number of drinks on each card and swapped accordingly to avoid any charges, but as it stood I could only check our account in our room on the TV and had to take photos of the dailies to track the schedule because I couldn't scroll the schedule in the app.

 

I think this one was a bit of an oversight on my part because I'm sure this info was out there, but I somehow missed how early all of the food venues closed. We are a bit too old to be party people anymore, but we are still night owls and our typical cruise routine is to close whatever venue is the last to have music in the evening, then grab some late night food and head to bed. To do this on this cruise, we'd have to leave BB King's early because their last set finished around 11:30 and most days NY Pizza closed at 11. The buffet closed at 10. In fact, even bars were closed early. There was one near BB King's that would be open until that venue closed, but after that it was just the casino bar. That was open until 1am, but I wasn't interested in dealing with the smoke cloud to get a drink so for all practical purposes bars closed around 11:30 most nights.

Finally, I have to admit that folks here were right and the Retreat was not a great choice. The weather was kind of awful on our sea days, which was a bummer, but we could have dealt with that. The thing that really ruined the experience was the lack of promised privacy. Our cabana attendant was attentive, kind, and such a hard worker, but she was all on her own for most of the cruise. I think we saw her partner one day total. She not only had to provide service for the guests, she was also responsible for removing those who hadn't paid for the Retreat from the area. Because there were no access controls at all beyond  the "private area" sign everyone seemed to ignore, this meant that any time she had to get something for a Retreat guest, several passengers would take up residence in an unoccupied cabana until she returned and had to remove them. This issue amplified on Glacier Bay day when everyone who had been up on deck 14 came into the Retreat area to watch the glacier as the ship turned to leave. One even came into our cabana calling us "rebels" because they assumed we didn't pay for it, I guess. Our attendant had left to get something for a guest so my husband had to inform him that this was a private area that the crew were removing people who hadn't paid for it. I don't blame HAL for rude passengers, of course -- you'll find those anywhere -- but if they just had proper access controls in the Retreat or more than one person working in the Retreat, all of this could have been prevented. If I were in charge of a fix, I'd remove access to the Retreat from deck 14 by adding a gate at the top of the staircases and, ideally, require keycard access to get into the Retreat area from Explorations Cafe/The Crow's Nest. I don't know if this is a Pinnacle class issue or what, but the retreat is anything but private on Koningsdam and I can't recommend it unless something changes.

Ports

Despite all of the above, I still really enjoyed this cruise. Alaska is amazing and easily makes up for any shortcomings in onboard experience. The ports were the whole point and everything there was great.

Our first stop was the service call at Tracy Arm Fjord. We left Koningsdam here to hop on a smaller boat and go deeper into the fjord while Koningsdam continued on to Juneau. We saw Sawyer glacier as well as tons of seals (it was pupping season so they were everywhere), sea lions, and even an orca right at the start. This was the first of many highlights this trip. That same day, in Juneau, we enjoyed another highlight -- a helicopter ride to land on Herbert glacier. My husband is afraid of heights and I'm afraid of flying so we were both pretty worried about this excursion, but it was amazing, not scary at all and beyond worth it. HAL had no helicopter tours that worked with our Tracy Arm excursion so we booked with Coastal Helicopters and I can heartily recommend them.

Next up, in Skagway, we were set to do the White Pass Rail and Klondike Highway by Bike. We initially thought we'd be canceling as it was pouring rain when we docked, but our excursion didn't leave until 12:30pm and wouldn't you know it cleared right up around noon. We got really lucky with the weather the whole trip. This was the only time it rained while we were in port. The White Pass is an amazing experience with the landscape changing completely from the start in a brilliant green forest to the end up in the snowy mountains. The bike ride down was easy (mostly downhill) and tons of fun, though I think I'd maybe do the train both ways next time. You make a few stops on the bike ride for photos, but it's difficult to watch scenery when you're riding quickly downhill and having to manage your speed to maintain proper distance from the rider in front of you. Still a great excursion, but not one I'd like repeat. After we got back to town, we also grabbed a doughboy (one was plenty for the  both of us) and popped by two different breweries to try beer flights, including spruce tip beer which is unique and delicious.

 

Our next "port" was Glacier Bay, but alas, we did not get to spend much time here as we were awoken just after we'd picked up the park rangers by an announcement that we were turning around for a medical evacuation. All in all this put us about 5 hours behind so the captain rushed us back into the park and to Margerie Glacier where we spent about 15minutes total at our closest approach. Bummer, but not HAL's fault and it was still an incredible experience. I'm glad we were able to safely evacuate the passenger and I'll just have to visit Glacier Bay again next time.

Finally, there was Ketchikan, where we did a hike through the rainforest that included beers at the bar near the port after. The hike was really great and just challenging enough to be an adventure without feeling like too much. The beers were tasty, but the bar is an obvious tourist trap and not nearly as interesting as the local breweries we saw in Skagway. If you have the option for just a hike, I'd give the beers a pass. After our hike, we took some time to wander Creek Street. Seeing the salmon ladder was really cool and has me hankering to come back when the salmon are running -- we were a bit early to see them.

 

Conclusion?

 

As I said before, I don't think HAL is for us. I'm glad we tried it out, but there were a few things, like the complications with the drink package and lack of late night food options, that I think will keep us away in the future. But that's what I think is so great about cruising. There's such a variety of options to try out. You never know what you might end up loving and regardless there's something for everyone. I do hope HAL tightens up service in the MDR and streamlines their resupply as I think anyone would expect improvements on those fronts from a premium line, but otherwise I think they're doing great at what they do. Even if it's not my jam.

 

Edited June 24 by bundtkate
typos, as is tradition

[ski ww]

Thanks for posting your thoughts about this cruise, interesting & informative.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing ..

[dmcfad2]

We usually cruise with HAL, but we were just on a Princess cruise and they have some kind of food available 24 hours a day. There was also entertainment until about 1 am. I don’t think their bands were anywhere close to BB King bands, but there were awesome production shows. I still love HAL, but really liked Princess. 

[BermudaBound2014]

My assessment of the K'dam is very close to yours with one exception. I don't consider HAL  a premium line. IMO; It's as mainstream as it gets. As someone who elects to travel many different cruise lines, there isn't much offered on HAL that isn't offered on other lines to make it 'premium'. Heck, even the Carnival cruise I went on offered some classical music (shocking I know!). All the music venues on Carnival were live musicians which meant when there wasn't a main show going on, the musicians from the theatre could be playing in another venue. HAL might have been more premium 20 years ago, but IMO there isn't anything major about HAL that would set it above all the other mainstream lines (NCL, Carnival, Princess, RCL, Celebrity, etc...),. 

 

What HAL does great is offer longer itineraries at very competitive prices. Truth be told, If other lines could offer me the same itineraries and prices, I would likely choose another line mainly for the entertainment/nightlife aspect. BBKings was the only venue that brought the type of energy that I enjoy while cruising.  

 

I get that some people are brand loyal, but all cruise lines offer positives and negatives. I haven't met a cruise line (or ship) that I don't like!! I'll continue to sail HAL on longer itineraries, but it's unlikely I would select them on a typical 7 day run. 

 

Thanks again for a very well balanced review. I suspect we enjoy very similar things while cruising :). 

 

 

[Dancing Shoes]

Nice review.  I like your writing style.  Unfortunately, if you want to see Glacier Bay soon, only HAL and Princess have the contract to do so.  And you got to do Tracy Arm from the ship!  

We are early to bed, so HAL works for us.  I understand wanting to stay up late and everything is closed up for the night. 

 

[bundtkate]

12 hours ago, dmcfad2 said:

We usually cruise with HAL, but we were just on a Princess cruise and they have some kind of food available 24 hours a day. There was also entertainment until about 1 am.

That's actually really good to know! I'm not sure when we'll do Alaska again, but we definitely want to and we're going to want Glacier Bay again so it'll be NCL or Princess. I was leaning NCL because I was thinking Princess was more similar to HAL, but maybe I should rethink that. What ship were you on, if you don't mind my asking?

 

10 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

My assessment of the K'dam is very close to yours with one exception. I don't consider HAL  a premium line. IMO; It's as mainstream as it gets

Honest, that was really just me deferring to how I typically see HAL categorized. Usually they're mentioned alongside Princess and Celebrity, both of which are supposedly a bit upmarket of say NCL and Royal. This influenced my expectations, but if I were to give my own take based on this one experience, I'd probably agree with you. They didn't feel more premium, just aimed a different audience.

I also very much agree about everything being its own mixed bag. We've cruise on Royal most, but we have no genuine loyalties and have tried everything from MSC to Viking River with none ticking all the boxes but all having something worthwhile to offer. The longer itineraries do appeal to us as well. We've been there done that with a lot of the 7 days from the U.S. at this point so who knows? Maybe HAL will tempt us back with the right itinerary one day after all. 😂
 

18 minutes ago, Dancing Shoes said:

Nice review.  I like your writing style

 

Thank you! I enjoy writing this stuff up so I'm always glad to hear when folks like reading it. 🙂
 

19 minutes ago, Dancing Shoes said:

Unfortunately, if you want to see Glacier Bay soon, only HAL and Princess have the contract to do so.

NCL too, actually, but I do know my options are limited. Luckily, it sounds like Princess may avoid some of the things that most disappointed me about HAL so at least I still have a few!

[BackNow]

We were on the Koningsdam in Sept 2023.  According to the daily schedules, room service is 24 hours.  You just phone in the order at no extra cost.  You would have to wait for the food to arrive.  I believe the menu is limited after certain hours.  The menu and details should be in your cabin.

 

[Haljo1935]

On 6/25/2024 at 1:40 AM, BackNow said:

We were on the Koningsdam in Sept 2023.  According to the daily schedules, room service is 24 hours.  You just phone in the order at no extra cost.  You would have to wait for the food to arrive.  I believe the menu is limited after certain hours.  The menu and details should be in your cabin.

 

Correct - room service is available 24/7 (except debarkation morning) with most of the (limited) menu being no charge. Depending on what you want, you can request items not on the menu and they will accommodate you.

[bundtkate]

On 6/25/2024 at 1:40 AM, BackNow said:

According to the daily schedules, room service is 24 hours.  You just phone in the order at no extra cost

Oh, wow, I missed that somehow. We got a door hanger for breakfast every day, but I otherwise didn't see any mention of it, but I def just skim the schedules to see what I'm interested in so overlooking things would be likely. End of the day, I don't think that would have changed much due to the wait times (even pizza miffed me a bit since they only sometimes had grab and go slices), but if we find ourselves back on HAL one day it'll be good to know there are other options.

[KruisinKath]

On 6/24/2024 at 10:51 PM, Dancing Shoes said:

Nice review.  I like your writing style.  Unfortunately, if you want to see Glacier Bay soon, only HAL and Princess have the contract to do so.  And you got to do Tracy Arm from the ship!  

We are early to bed, so HAL works for us.  I understand wanting to stay up late and everything is closed up for the night. 

 

Actually a few other lines have contracts, too, both larger and smaller ships.

[KruisinKath]

17 hours ago, bundtkate said:

Oh, wow, I missed that somehow. We got a door hanger for breakfast every day, but I otherwise didn't see any mention of it, but I def just skim the schedules to see what I'm interested in so overlooking things would be likely. End of the day, I don't think that would have changed much due to the wait times (even pizza miffed me a bit since they only sometimes had grab and go slices), but if we find ourselves back on HAL one day it'll be good to know there are other options.

I thought I read somewhere that the Lido closed for an hour or two, but then opened again until midnight or 1ish?? Not sure if it was 10:30 or 11:30 and can’t find that post, darn it…

[bundtkate]

7 hours ago, KruisinKath said:

I thought I read somewhere that the Lido closed for an hour or two, but then opened again until midnight or 1ish??

Not on our sailing, unfortunately. Part of the Lido looked to stay open until 10, but by midnight they were usually mopping up with everything shut down.

[0106]

My experience has been that the Lifo reopens at 10:30 for about an hour.  I often saw the musicians eating at that time.  Here is a link from @Crew News to theLido Late Night Menus.  

[BermudaBound2014]

15 minutes ago, 0106 said:

My experience has been that the Lifo reopens at 10:30 for about an hour.  I often saw the musicians eating at that time.  Here is a link from @Crew News to theLido Late Night Menus.  

 

My experience on the 35 night was the same. Lido reopens at 10:30-11:30 pm They did not restock (when gone it was gone). It's pretty dismal for anything late night on HAL.

 

The good news is that HAL still includes 24 hour room service. The bad news is that I just read they removed the quesadilla from the room service menu and that was my late night go-to.

[Ileneilene123]

Thank you so much for posting your detailed review. We will be sailing the same itinerary in a week on the Zaandam and have selected a couple of the same excursions. It is good to see that you enjoyed those! 

 

Receiving slow/spotty service in the MDR would miff me as well. I have read some other Koningsdam reviews that also mentioned that. Glad that you enjoyed the food in the Lido as an alternative. I wonder if having fewer passengers on the Zaandam might make for a better MDR experience? We shall see! 
 

Also, thank you for taking the time to answer some of my posts in other threads (CC has been so helpful as we prepare for our first cruise). Sorry that you caught a bug on the ship — hopefully you are feeling better! 

[Ileneilene123]

40 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

The good news is that HAL still includes 24 hour room service. The bad news is that I just read they removed the quesadilla from the room service menu and that was my late night go-to.

Chocolate chip cookies are also gone! I sold our upcoming cruise to my husband partially based on the promise of chocolate chip cookies delivered every night before bed. 😂