John and Diane's Konigsdam Adventure

What can be better than spending five days in Rome? Getting to board the m/s Konigsdam tomorrow for a 28-day journey around the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic to return home. We arrived in Stockholm 8 weeks ago today and have spent the ensuing time visiting some familiar haunts and some new destinations. We've been to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy - hauling our one suitcase each onto planes, trains and automobiles and now we look forward to actually unpacking those two suitcases as well as the one we had shipped from California with the "cruise clothes."

Having traveled on the m/s Amsterdam for a few world cruises, we're interested to see how the two types of sea travel compare, and we're hoping that maybe some of our Amsterdam friends might even be on board. We're looking forward to trying the new restaurants (and have some reservations already), as well as getting back to a daily gym workout. Since the Amsterdam holds only a maximum of about 1300 passengers and the Konigsdam is almost twice that size, we're also curious to see how we like that.

If you're interested to see how our experiment progresses, stay tuned. I'll be posting just about daily.

Looking forward to your posts and your impressions of the Koningsdam. We board a month from now and are anxious to see her for ourselves.

Looking forward to hearing and seeing your reviews. We went onboard for the day in Rome from the Amsterdam I loved the decor Allan not so much. We know you will have a great time xxx

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We'll check out the specialty restaurants for you, Alan and Sandra.

Looking forward to it! I have never been on the Amsterdam but I loved the Koningsdam! Have a great cruise!

So happy to see this thread. Missed you on the world cruise last year but Pete, Inside Cabin, did a great upbeat blog for us. Looking forward to "cruising" with you from Rome to home!!! Thanks for taking us along, Cherie

I always enjoy reading your reports and this one all the more since we will be on her in July!

We loved the K-dam! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about her

Bon Voyage!

I always enjoy your cruise reports.

Happy Sailing!

What an amazing trip you've been on. it will be awesome for you to be able to unpack and enjoy living in one place for 28 glorious days. Very impressive that you did 8 weeks with one suitcase each.

Looking forward to your posts. We sail on Kdam in November and I bet you'll be getting lots of questions from a lot of folks, including me.

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Looking forward to your blog. Interested in hearing about how popular the wine blending venue is.

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I'm so happy to see you doing another blog. I look forward to your ship and shore experiences.

Smooth Sailing!!! [emoji3] [emoji3] [emoji3]

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Wow what a trip.

Enjoy the cruise. We board Nov. 23 so eager for your reports.

What a wonderful summer you've had! I'm sure you'll be glad to be anchored to one room for a while. ;)

We board the K'dam in 32 days, so I will be eagerly following. Thanks for letting us tag along.

Looking forward to your reports.

What a great adventure you have been having and even more to come!

Bon Voyage!

Looking forward to your reports.

We're on Koningsdam for 2 weeks this spring and really looking forward to your report. Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing cruise on Kdam!

Enjoy your "down time" on the K-dam! We board on 12/04 and are looking forward to experiencing this new ship. :D

Looking forward to the review of your cruise!

And will be reading your entries daily for sure. Glad to see some praise for the Koningsdam and hope you too enjoy her John & Diane!

I'm sure we would love for you to stop in at our meet and greet on October 25, 10:00 in the crow's nest!

Arie

following:) Looking forward to your reports on the different specialty restaurants! We'll be on her in January... Bon Voyage:)

Have three cruises booked on the King. Looking forward to your comments.

Let me join in with the "eager to read your blog" group! We'll be boarding the K-dam on Dec. 4th for the first time.

We cruise again on the K'dam in February and look forward to hearing about your wonderful experiences!

Thursday, October 13 - Day 2 (of 28)

Naples (Napoli), Italy

I am just plain overwhelmed. We boarded yesterday about 12:30 and from moment one, I have felt ”all at sea.” The ship itself is lovely; the two words I would use to describe it are “big” and “shiny.” First, you have to understand that I am used to the m/s Amsterdam from over 700 days aboard. I know where things are, who crew and officers are, and we have tons of cruise friends aboard. The Konigsdam is about twice as big, has twice as many passengers, and almost a whole new crew. Sometimes I don’t even know bow from stern and begin walking in the wrong direction. Oh well.

One of the nicest things has been discovering some familiar faces among the crew. First we came across Eddie, a barman we knew from the Amsterdam. Then we ran into

Suta during the day, and amazingly, we discovered last evening that he is our dining room waiter. On the aft deck, I asked a young woman bar server if she had been on the Amsterdam, and it turned out to be Cathy, whom we knew. Just this morning, as we were disembarking for a bit of an outing, we had big hugs with Jade, a security officer we’ve sailed with several times. It really does help to ground me.

The facilities on the ship are incredible. On our (favorite) smaller ship, we have a few choices for after dinner: the show in the Queen’s Lounge, a drink in the Crow’s Nest, or listening to Debby Bacon in the piano bar. Here, it’s amazing the choices we have. There is a movie above the midships Lido pool with movie snacks provided by one of the lunch venues. There is the B.B. King Blues Show, which we attended last evening as well as Billboard On Board, a piano bar with not one but TWO pianos. There’s also

The Lincoln Center Stage and the enormous World Stage.

With restaurants we are also spoiled for choice. We have a set table at 8:15 in the dining room, but there are several other choices. The Pinnacle is on all the HAL ships, but we can also go to the Grand Dutch Cafe, Dive-In (which makes some of the best burgers and fries on the planet), New York Deli & Pizza next to the Lido pool, the Tamarind (Asian), Sel de Mer, specializing in seafood, the Culinary Arts Center, which on this ship doesn’t just have cooking classes but is a restaurant in its own right in the evening, Caneletto (Italian), and De Librarie, a spin-off of a 3-star restaurant in Holland. Oh my, I think I just gained some weight just writing about them!

The verandah cabins, while pretty similar to the Amsterdam, have some distinct differences. For one, the rooms are slightly smaller. Upon entering our cabin for the first time, my comment was, “It’s shorter.” The balcony is about the same size, but the bathroom - wow! It has a stone floor which continues into the glass-walled shower and huge, fluffy white towels. I’m sure some people will miss the tub, but we love the shower.

I think that, overall, the Konigsdam reminds me a lot of Las Vegas - lots of choices, lots of glitter, and a place in which I’m not completely comfortable, but that will probably come with time. Everything is new and modern and I think I’ll probably end up loving it.