Oooh! Looking forward to these ....probably not somewhere I'll go to (far too nesh 🥶) but I'll enjoy it vicariously. The food and entertainment looks top-notch so far 👌
You think you’re gonna love the cruise ??? We’re loving it already. Great to see you both back and we are looking forward to another to class series. I love rock music and think think HAL would be right up my street. Bring on the next vlog.
Oh, we were wondering. It's been a while since I've seen Andy and Kirstie's video, "Innit". We love hearing those question tags. You too are an amazing pair😍.
Looks like you're off to a great start to your cruise, was gonna ask what you thought of Holland America but you already answered my question, looking forward to more, cheers
Brilliant to see you both back with another round of videos. The wife has been asking me every day if you have anything new on yet. I have been looking for notifications every day to say you are back cruising. Enjoy your cruise and we are both looking forward to your videos. Really sets us up for our upcoming cruise end of July.
Ah, I'm spending a few weeks on Holland America Rotterdam later this year and not really got any idea what to expect, so really enjoyed this video - thanks for showing us round!
Brilliant 😁. Looking forward to seeing more of the scenery, the ship, the dining and especially the evening music. We're heading out of Vancouver in September on Celebrity Millennium heading to Tokyo. Booked in 2020 but covid got in the way.
Lovely to see you both enjoying life, great bands , may have to check out this cruise for future trip , never been to Canada, looks fun , thanks for sharing 😎
Fabulous! We were on the same cruise. Our cabin was just below yours...8036. So easy to get to the spa, pool and lido! Looking forward to your next videos.
Woo! So excited for this vlog. We’re going to indulge in every second of this series as we’re doing the same on the same ship in a couple of months. 😍👍
Just found your vlog. Really enjoyed it. I'm on this cruise in July. i love the Koningsdam and HAL suits me just fine. The music venues are just the best entertainment at sea. What I find fascinating is that whatever venue you choose they always feel intimate and not overly crowded.
A truly excellent video! Thank you for profiling our beautiful city of Vancouver! We're looking at a south pacific cruise on the Koningsdam in February. Your video makes our decision a 'must do'.
Love it. Vancouver's weather looks like what I encountered when I sailed from there years ago. Thanks for showing some snippets of the music scene in the lounges. I was waiting for BB Kings but maybe next time. I think its a wonderful ship. It covers the bases for a lot of different types of cruisers except those looking for some of the features RCI and NCL offer with slides, go karts and things like that. But dining, specialty dining, theater and I nice one at that, music lounges with dance floors, nice deck space, spa, solarium type of pool, art work, it's got all of that. And the food and service is usually excellent on HAL.
We are doing this cruise in June this year and have enjoyed all your vlogs, we did our first cruise last year (Adriatic) on the Marella Explorer 2 and loved watching you before we went to see what we could expect! This one looks awesome! Just love how down to earth and relatable you both are, so thank you.
Hi andy glad to see another great vlog with you and your wife the entertainment looks great on your ship hope to see more in the upcoming vlogs. I know a lot of the cruise companies are cutting the budgets with the music acts but that looks great cant wait for the next vlog.
Great to see you back on the Ocean wave. Friday night viewing just got better. Did you manage to go for a walk over the Capilano suspension bridge. Looking forward to the vlogs.
Ach, shame we're probably only going to see this video, but we fly out on Thursday and sail Saturday on our first ever cruise so great to actually see something real rather than stock footage of a ship! Just wish we'd be able to see more of these before we go, but that looks pretty chilled! Thanks for this! :)
Hello, I did a 17 day Hawaiian cruise on Koningsdam in October 2023. I have to agree 100% with your review of the New York deli above the interior pool. A hidden jem for a fast and quiet breakfast. Lunch was busy but nothing like the Lido. Probably our #1 venue for a fast bite.
We will be on the Koningsdam in Dec. to Cabo out of San Diego. The two main things that define HAL: food and music. You can’t beat it and we’ve traveled on 5 cruise lines.
I grew up in Seattle, and never went on an Alaska cruise until 2019 (on the Queen Elizabeth). I love Vancouver! Laughed about you walking around in the drenching rain… you’d think you’d be used to that kind of weather. 😂 When you mentioned feeling a little dressed up in the MDR, I said, “Welcome to the northwest” ha ha Looking forward to seeing the rest of the voyage!
We loved Vancouver too and yes, we're used to a bit of rain, but tend not to go out walking around in it at home 😄 It was nice to be casual on this cruise, we didn't take formal gear.
We just got home from the Alaska cruise on the Koningsdam. It was the last cruise to Alaska this year had a wonderful time when in the dinning room try to-get Alex as your waiter. He maid the trip very special.
Shame it was so wet in Vancouver, though looks a great place to explore and love a cruise port where you can get so close to the ships. The dining room does sound really loud, food looks good though. Sure that guitarist wasn't the one they said had missed the ship LOL! We enjoyed the piano bar on Nieuw Amsterdam so sure we would enjoy the Rock Room on there. The position of your cabin is great, look forward to the next episode!
Vancouver was great but yeah, would have been nice if it had been dry and sunny, especially in the park. The MDR was always like that, not at all peaceful! The band were awesome, very talented and great fun to watch! We loved our cabin, really nice and very convenient location.
What a great vlog, I notice you where docked next to the grand Princess, it was our first and only cruise with Princess cruise line. We had a horrible time on board the grand Princess and never will cruise with them again. Seen other vlogs of HAL, I'm impressed with there style. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your vlogs
Went on HAL Koningsdam 13th May 2023. EASY boarding cruise, super fine weather throughout & delicious burgers. Overall very enjoyable & values for money . But less sign of wildlife.
Another great video guys. Such a shame it was rainy in Vancouver as its a stunning city...how did you find the embarkation process...it was manic when we embarked from there!
I have watched many Alaska cruise vlogs, this series is outstanding. May I ask, what week of the year did you sail? And do you remember the number of the cabin you stayed in? Can’t wait to watch the rest of your cruise vlogs!
You know, before we booked our cruise on Koningsdam to Alaska we knew absolutely nobody who'd cruised on her or even with HAL, but before we've even had a chance to do it - coming up, middle of July - it seems like almost half the people we follow had similar ideas and got on before us. Hoping we continue to see things we like the look of from this series. And thanks for the footage of the Pompey Chimes playing on the Vancouver steam clock; we'll assume it was for us.
Yeah, know what you mean! We booked it middle of last year and since then so many have either been or said they want to. Think it's going to be a busy 2023 season for a Alaska. Of course we had you guys in mind when filming the clock full of hot air 😂 You'll have a great time, she's a lovely ship.
Loved all your videos on your Alaskan cruise. We are booking a cruise to Alaska for spring / summer 2025 on the Koningsdam. I have a question on your cabin and where it was situated, did you find there was a lot of motion and would you stay in that area again?
Thanks for the video and found it informative. We are sailing the same cruise mid June. Can you tell me how the embarkation process was and how long it was once you arrived at the pier until boarded? I've seen massive crowds and long wait periods on other videos. The weather looks to be still cold and rainy. Hoping to wear mostly shorts for me. Thanks Andy.
Our allocated slot was 10am, so pretty early and I think we were on board about 1130, so not too bad. It was very busy throughout the entire process, but continued moving slowly the whole time.
@@andyandkirstie Many thanks for your quick response. I am hoping for an early time so we can get on before the madness on scramble to of course EAT. Cheers!
Looks interesting maybe one for us in the future? There is one thing I picked up on and the comment you made about feeling overdressed, well we got off Regal Princess Saturday morning and I have to say I have never seen as many scruffy passengers in all the cruises we have done. It was a 12 night circumnavigation of the U.K., we were told that about 75% of passengers were Americans, 15% Canadians and the rest mixed. Lumber Jack shirts, flip flops and yes base ball caps in the MDR., and don't get me going on the price of Princess excursions, one example $200 for two to Dublin, we did it privately for 10 Euros.
Didn't feel overdressed as such, it's just that we always changed for dinner and we don't think many others did. They just stayed in jeans/T-shirt or whatever they were wearing during the day.
How was the noise level in your cabin? Could you hear a lot of noise from the Lido deck? And how was the motion, especially on that one day when the water was rougher? I’ve heard that the front of the ship will be worse for seasickness, as well as being higher up. We were midship Schubert deck and hardly noticed any motion except for that day. And wasn’t Glacier Bay amazing?! Could not have asked for better. Embarkation was terrible for us with an afternoon checkin time. We were in line for 3 hours before finally boarding.
We heard nothing from the Lido other than the table tennis table which was right next to our cabin. Motion wasn't too bad, slightly worse than midship maybe. Glacier Bay was stunning! We had a fairly early embarkation of 10am. Took maybe an hour or so.
Really interested to see these vlogs. I will be boarding Koningsdam in 3 weeks. Did the evenings stay casual throughout the cruise?. Im a little stressed about what to pack😂
We were on the same cruise. I was surprised by how casual everyone was. There were only 2 days (if I recall correctly) specified as “dressy” in the MDR, though we noticed that people hanging around deck 3 tended to be a bit more dressed up. And of course, the speciality dining rooms were less casual. We hung around the Lido deck most of the time so shorts, sweats, or jeans and a t shirt were quite adequate. And “dressy” was even more casual than I expected. “Gala” type clothing isn’t necessary. Just something like business dressy; suit and tie/gown not necessary.
I think the Encore ended its cruise in Vancouver. Disembarked passengers and then did a non-revenue cruise to Seattle to starts its Alaska season. Which is why there were not visible passengers as it left Vancouver.
Awesome music! I have heard people say that it is dead after 10:00 pm on HAL and then others have raved about the music which it then seems there is good nightlife on HAL. What was your experience?
We're not night owls, but the ship definitely wasn't dead after 10pm. Far from it. We heard people returning to their cabins well after we had retired for the night!
I need to update our website, but you can see what I've used before here: www.andyandkirstie.com/gear I took a new lens with me on this trip, a Sony 70-200mm f4 G.
In regards to dress in the dining room the brits tend towards tie and jacket, canadians go with a collard shirt with jacket optional, americans are fine with polo shirts and jeans. On an Alaskan cruise many men mistakenly go with lumberjack attire a la monty pythons I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK!
Thank you. Love this video and looking forward to the rest from Koningsdam as we are embarking on her June 3. Also, did the guitarist REALLY come from the audience? He was great!
No, he wasn't from the audience, he was the 'missing' band member. It was just a little skit they did for their first show. Have a great time on Koningsdam!
