Sailing from Hawaii to Vancouver on the Koningsdam
We sailed from Honolulu the evening of October 18th, and arrived in Vancouver early the morning of October 24th. Those 5½ days were similar to the ones on the Astoria-Kauai crossing, but this post will show you events and places I didn’t cover in the one about the westbound sailing.
The main theatre, the 667-seat World Stage, is where major events happen. The first photo shows it from the stage level on Deck 2.
Then, looking down from the top seats.
The destination-oriented talks during the cruise are very different than back in the days when I did occasional cruises as the onboard expert (mostly to Alaska). The 270-degree screen that wraps around the theatre allows for very impressive visuals, and there are no longer onboard experts. Cruise & Travel Director Stephanie Summerville does all the presentations. She’s a pro, a former PBS radio host and actress, so, aided by a reader you can see at the lower left of the next photo, does a very good job of it.
On our first night at sea, we went to a performance by the Step One Dance company in the main theatre. The dancers were extremely good, but the production team’s efforts, much of it broadcast on the theatre’s 270-degree screen, takes the show to an incredible new level. Read more about the group at Backstage, and Google for many videos – the show we saw was “Humanity” – that complete show can be watched on Youtube.
Eating great food, often at really nice places, was a highlight of the cruise, and the quality of both is one of the main reasons we sail Holland America a lot. The best place for great coffees and desserts is the Grand Dutch Cafe on Deck 3, which you can see in the next 2 photos.
In the evening, a section of the Lido buffet seating area becomes Canaletto, a speciality extra-charge ($19) Italian restaurant. You can see it in the next 2 photos.
I think the only food place we didn’t go to (for no particular reason) was Rudi’s Sel de Mer on Deck 2. “Named for Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, Rudi’s Sel de Mer is an intimate brasserie featuring classic French dishes reimagined with contemporary flair.” Meals at Rudi’s are priced a la carte, with appetizers starting at $6 and entrees ranging from $16 to $32.
On Deck 2 across from Rudi’s is this seating area. I shot this very early in the morning – those windows look onto the ocean, and each table has double USB ports. Extensive electrical/electronic upgrades are one of the benefits of the new ships.
Not all places on the ship are accessible to all passengers. The Neptune Lounge in the middle of Deck 7 is for the exclusive use of passengers in Neptune Suites. It has keycard access and there isn’t even a window to get a peek 🙂
The Neptune Spa Suites on Deck 10 get special access to the spa and fitness rooms below via this winding staircase.
We did look outside, too! In a Facebook post I noted that seas were 2.5-3 meters when I shot the next photo on October 20th. We had spent the middle of that day enjoying drinks and hot sun on our verandah, then it cooled noticeable in the afternoon.
We made the most of that day! 🙂
October 21st was our first chilly morning in two weeks.
An early-morning look at the shuffleboard court on Deck 10.
This wonderful painting by marine artist Captain Stephen J. Card is on Deck 12. It shows the Koningsdam sailing off the Seven Sisters on her way to Geiranger, Norway. The Norwegian sail training ship Christian Radich can be seen in the background.
Also on Deck 12 is The Retreat, an adults-only sundeck/relaxation zone with private cabanas available for hire. The cabanas accommodate 4 people, and rent prices ($75 per port day and $125 per sea day) include a massage tent, lunch, and concierge service.
There are wonderful places to lounge on Deck 10 at no charge, though.
It would be easy to argue that the entire ship is a work of art. Certainly many of the public spaces are. But there’s a lot of really lovely art pieces of various kinds all over the ship, including blown glass, stone sculptures, floral art, paintings, and photographs. The next photo shows one of the 3 elevator areas on Deck 9.
On a wall of the aft pool area on Deck 9 is this Hawaii-history-themed display.
B.B. King’s Blues Lounge on Deck 2 doubles as the Lincoln Center Stage where a wide variety of events are held, including frequent trivia contests. Early in the cruise, ukelele lessons were held, and you could sign out a ukelele to practise on. Speaking of trivia, did you know that the ukelele was brought to Hawaii by the Portuguese? 🙂
I unfortunately didn’t get any photos or video of any of the music venues, because I’d love to be able to show you how good they are. The next 2 photos show B.B. King’s Blues Lounge, on Deck 2, and from the Deck 3 seating around the stage. Bands are assembled specifically for the ship – B.B. King’s All-Stars has 8 members.
The Rolling Stone Rock Room really gets rocking with a powerhouse band! Across the main hallway from it is Billboards Onboard, seen below, which is normally a piano lounge. Music at B.B. King’s, The Rock Room, and Billboard alternate times so you can move around and listen to all three.
There are 2 small spaces on Deck 2 for special alcohol events. Notes is for whiskey connoisseurs, with tasting events priced at $95. As much as I love good single-malt, and have some very nice ones in my cupboard at home, this seemed like an event best attended with a connoisseur friend.
Blend is for similar events with beers and wines.
I just have one more space to show you, the 2-room Ocean Bar. It has a piano, but I never heard it played during our cruise. We did see one side decorated for a wedding (or vow renewal, more likely), though. The next 2 photos show the wonderful vibe of this venue.
October 23rd – we came back to our cabin to find the bed protector on so we could pack our luggage. Time to go. – – sigh – –
There are substantial benefits to booking future cruises while you’re on board, so on the final sea day we went to the Future Cruise office and booked two cruises for 2025 that feature Iceland and Greenland – we’ll decide later which one works best for us. Perhaps neither will, but it gives us something to think about, and Greenland and Iceland are both on my bucket list. The itinerary below is a 25-Day Canada, New England, Greenland & Iceland, sailing on the Volendam from Boston on July 12, 2025. The other is a 28-Day Arctic Circle Crossing: Greenland & Iceland on the Nieuw Statendam, sailing from Dover on June 28, 2025.
It was also time to see if there were any photos taken by the ship photographers that were worth buying. We ended up with 4, including the ones of us separately seen below.
October 24th, 06:17 – Vancouver really is a lovely city to approach this way 🙂
Right at 07:00, we docked at Canada Place. There was a TV camera crew there, as this was the final ship of a record cruise year. This afternoon, Koningsdam would sail for San Diego, and she’ll be sailing from there to Hawaii and back all winter.
A final photo that sums the cruise up 🙂
We expected disembarking to be difficult, and had arranged to leave without anyone’s assistance, thinking that would be the easiest way. When we went to the gangway deck, though, the line of people and luggage stretched as far as we could see down the ship. Despite that, things moved very quickly, and it looked like every taxi in Vancouver was standing ready, so that also was quick and simple. We were soon at YVR waiting for Air North to take us home. I’ll tell you about that flight in the final post from this trip.
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