Holland America Line Koningsdam | Alaska Cruise | First Sea Day

First full day on board is a day at sea. A slightly disappointing breakfast followed by burgers, hotdogs and cookies and a chilled afternoon in the sun. Main dining room for breakfast and The World Stage in the evening.

[@Vanhockeymom]

You can always ask for more food in the HAL dinning room, you’re not limited to one thing to order. You can always ask for a soft poached egg too. I love travelling with them. I’m taking my first voyage on the Konigsdam in a few weeks, I can’t wait. You guys have made me even more excited for my trip lol

[@andyandkirstie]

Yeah, I did ask for two breakfasts late in the cruise when I realised the portions were small. Have a great time on your next trip!

[@larryaerts4041]

I want to Thank You for the great videos you continue to post. My wife and I have cruised Princess for many years, 44 cruises, and have been very curious about other cruise lines. Your videos are very straight forward and informative. Please keep posting as you travel. We are from the United States and a few years older than you, however we love your energy level and honesty you both portray. If someday we are fortunate enough to cross paths on a cruise, I believe we would have a lot of information to share. Thank You again and keep posting!

[@andyandkirstie]

Thanks for your comments, really good to hear you enjoy following along!

[@pearl21]

Another great vlog. Always honest and that's great. It does help' when it comes to choosing a cruise to suit your needs.. Thanks..Have a fabulous time x😊

[@davedunne4768]

Love your vlogs and your honest reviews!👍

[@user-yb9sn9xn6z]

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm doing this trip in May next year, your videos are super helpful. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your trip :)

[@graemeedmonstone6616]

Great to see you both back 🎉

[@colindee5480]

Hi . I am going to be doing an Alaska cruise on this ship soon so found your experience and reviews so far very useful ! Look forward to the next vid .

[@joannelarose8198]

Lovely to see another video.😊

[@roberthayden3741]

So glad you got the opportunity for another cruise. Your videos are excellent and keep getting better and better. My wife and I have been on several Holland America cruises and loved them. The music on their ships is outstanding. Even though I'm not a classical music fan I've taken and posted some videos of the Lincoln Center group playing classical music because they were so amazing. Also, the BB King lounge band was superb. Thanks so much for posting these. Hope the rest of the Alaskan cruise was great.

[@andyandkirstie]

It was a great cruise!

[@philvie]

Im not much of a cruise person myself, but you're certainty tempting me, cant wait to see the shore excursions

[@philloud7985]

We were on this cruise too , totally agree with you on the food and dining room , my wife still can’t believe the 12 beans on her full english !!

[@peterdrury8859]

Honest review👏we’ll done good to see👌

[@sin-hongleong2793]

Thank you very much for your awesome videos! My family and I will be taking the Alaska cruise on Koningsdam in June 2024 and we have gotten some very good pointers by watching your videos! It's our first time on HAL and we are really looking forward to the experience!

[@andyandkirstie]

Our pleasure! You'll have a great time!

[@jonesboy201]

Good to see you both again. Alaska is on our bucket list. Never sailed on HAL, so looking forward to the full assessment as the week goes on.

[@andyandkirstie]

We really enjoyed it overall.

[@juliesteip1597]

I was on your sailing! Never did make it to the dining room so I'm glad to hear that I didn't miss much. I'm really enjoying your videos.

[@andyandkirstie]

Great! We enjoy a relaxed dining experience and unfortunately it just wasn't. It was just too busy.

[@DaveStroble]

Your video editing and soundtrack selections are amazing! Great job.

[@andyandkirstie]

Thank you very much!

[@marykehoe8294]

A delightful and enjoyable video.

[@andyandkirstie]

Glad you think so!

[@elainewickstead4714]

Recently sailed on the Koningsdam and had a wonderful cruise. After sailing on Royal Caribbean, Princess and Norwegian HAL is definitely our favorite and we can’t wait to sail HAL again! I used to think HAL was only for old people and refused to consider them but I am happy to say I was wrong. I agree with you about the main dining room breakfast. We felt exactly the same as you and only ate there once. It was our only disappointment with the cruise however. Love your channel!

[@andyandkirstie]

We loved the cruise overall and definitely look forward to sailing with HAL again.

[@andreatuckman1084]

So glad to see that you put out a new video. We sailed once on Holland, and decided it wasn’t for us. Their food used to be excellent but they’ve gone downhill since. The dining room reminds me of Carnival with the noise, instead of a relaxing dining experience. But, to each their own. Looking forward to enjoying another of your adventures. We’re leaving for Alaska in two weeks. First time for us as well. I hope the food improved.

[@andyandkirstie]

I think we could have forgiven the odd blip with the food if the dining experience was better, but it was noisy, slow and impersonal. It seemed that it was just too busy for them to cope with, right from the time it opened.

[@brianbartholomew3851]

The wife and I will be on the ship in 2 days. Thanks for the video.

[@andyandkirstie]

Have fun!

[@teresah5318]

Thanks for sharing your experience! My husband has a way of saying "It's just okay" when he really didn't like it but that's the best he can say. He probably would have said that about the theatre show.

[@andyandkirstie]

I don't like being negative as what I don't enjoy, someone else might love.

[@tatjanaanderlic7212]

👍🤗 Lep pozdrav iz Slovenije

[@janemayhew1442]

Hi both, Lovely cabin ,does seem to be echoing in public places, breakfast didn't look so good , looking forward to the scenery 😊

[@andyandkirstie]

It seemed to be a very full cruise and was noisy in some areas, but overall it was great, we loved it and the itinerary was brilliant. We have some truly breathtaking shots coming up later in the series.

[@loribagley3484]

Thanks for being honest

[@PaulandCaroleLovetoTravel]

Shame about your breakfast in the MDR, disappointing, deli looks a good option though. Guess the ship is at full capacity with the food venues being so busy? Loved all your Seaview shots and music choice. Cabin looks great and Elemis products that is a treat!

[@andyandkirstie]

The dining was definitely a bit of a let down and only because the venues were always SO busy, right from the second they opened. We did have some decent food though. Good to hear you liked the shots and the music. The Alaska views just got better and better!

[@toopoos]

Lovely to see your latest adventure. Question for you both "do you also eat in your sleep?" 😁👍

[@andyandkirstie]

I do sometimes dream about eating 😂

[@toopoos]

@@andyandkirstie 😂😂😂

[@ThemeParkBazza]

Was it close to closing time for breakfast when you ate ? I am trying to work out why the food was so bad

[@andyandkirstie]

We always have breakfast fairly early, but then so did every single other passenger on the ship it seemed. My guess is it was just too busy for the amount of crew they had and quality control suffered in some instances.

[@CruisingwithChooChoo]

I’m really enjoying your day by day account of this cruise. I love seeing and hearing about the food, dining and entertainment and also enjoyed the tour of your stateroom. Are people very dressed up on gala night and at the various musical venues? Thanks so much for sharing and I have subscribed to your channel.

[@andyandkirstie]

Thanks! People didn't dress up at all, was very casual.

[@CruisingwithChooChoo]

@@andyandkirstie Thanks!! I’ll like that.

[@mikeroberts-smith2713]

Thanks for another great vlog. Are you thinking of trying Voyager, Marella's new ship. I am sailing on her at the end of October (reposition ing cruise from the med to Barbados).

[@andyandkirstie]

Yes, would love to. Will wait for the right itinerary.

[@benjaminsmith2287]

Doesn't seem like you're enjoying yourselves much. I hope things got better.

[@andyandkirstie]

We really enjoyed it overall. It's just that the dining experience wasn't the best.

[@karenl9601]

Really enjoying this series as we are doing this exact cruise on the Koningsdam in September. Did you have the early or late dining time? We booked late and ony open dining is available which stresses me out a bit as I do enjoy a set schedule for dinner.

[@andyandkirstie]

We had open dining. Fixed time dining was on the upper deck in the restaurant and may have been a better choice.

[@derekjohnson8547]

Another very informative Vlog...That food must have been average as I know you two love eating 🤣🤣 That said the burgers and hot dogs looked amazing....oh Kirstie that egg was cooked not raw and runny 🤔🤔🤔

[@andyandkirstie]

I think if the food was average but plentiful then we'd probably overlook it, but average and minimal is not a good combination. A decent poached egg needs to be soft!

[@derekjohnson8547]

@@andyandkirstie My wife likes em that runny even Usain Bolt would struggle to catch it 🤣🤣🤣

[@susie3893]

BB Kings Blues Club is where we spent every night on our Holland America cruise.

[@andyandkirstie]

Yeah, it's a great venue.

[@williamrussell3811]

FYI I have never had a poached egg done to my liking on any cruise ... I just stopped trying plenty of other choices. As a retired chef its very frustrating but I understand that it is a buffet.

[@andyandkirstie]

We're not overly fussy believe it or not, but those eggs were just poached for too long and were too hard.

[@ConRayTravel]

What room type did you have?

[@andyandkirstie]

We had what they call a spa balcony (it's very close to the spa area).

[@cathieschmitgal5515]

Did that guitar player really stand in for someone who missed the ship or were they just pulling your legs?

[@andyandkirstie]

He was always part of the band, they were just messing about!

[@opheliadeclines]

I think I was on your cruise... any objections if I share this? I'll just tell my friends you were my good neighbors. 😊

[@andyandkirstie]

👍

[@MegaDeano72]

1:23 is that Forcewear top?

[@andyandkirstie]

Thrudark

[@Merritt7278]

Food doesn't look great, a hard yolk for eggs benedict is a no no. To be honest, though, the room looks very nice, but the rest just doesn't look as premium as other companies. Great vid and look forward to the next one.

[@andyandkirstie]

Food was hit and miss. Some of it was great. We liked the ship and loved our cabin. Think the main issue was that it was just too busy.

[@waynehasnip5703]

I bet you missed your black pudding on your traditional English Breakfast

[@andyandkirstie]

Definitely!