Koningsdam Review

We recently went on a B2B cruise on the Koningsdam from 21 April until 13 May starting in Rome and ending in Amsterdam. I will try not to repeat myself too much but apologise if I do in advance [emoji846]. We had previously cruised with Holland America in Alaska so knew what style of cruising it was and it didn’t disappoint,

 

Embarkation Day

 

Embarkation Day was so easy... we were greeted at the transfer van by the terminal staff who took care of our luggage whilst we went through processing. The staff were super efficient and before we knew it we were boarding. We were able to go straight to our cabin (7051) and drop our stuff off before heading to the Lido for a bite to eat.

 

Drinks

 

We pre-purchased a Soda Card, water package and also a Beverage card as we didn’t believe the drinks package was what we needed as we aren’t huge drinkers. We did however also pre-purchase the Cellar Door Wine No.1 Package which was 4 bottles of wine to use throughout the cruise along with the 2 bottles of wine we were able to take onboard when we first arrived. It may sound like a lot but we were on board for 22 nights and still worked out cheaper than the beverage package. We would pop along to the Lido deck if there was happy hour which usually meant buy 1 beer get another one for $2 which worked out not to bad when you converted it to NZ dollars.

 

Cabin 7051

 

Our cabin was a balcony cabin on the Schubert Deck and was really good except for the connecting door. The first part of the cruise was good as our neighbours weren’t that noisy but we had a change of neighbours halfway through and the new people obviously had hearing issues as we could hear most of what they had to say when they were on their room. Our cabin staff were amazing and always greeted us with a smile and our name which was amazing they could remember us. Our cabin was an unobstructed view.

 

Speciality Restaurants

 

We ordered the package that included the Canaletto, Tamarind and Pinnacle. The cruise line did put us down for all three restaurants for the first leg of our trip which we asked to change as we wanted to spread it out over the 22 days. Our favourite was Tamarind by far and we actually booked another night whilst on the 2nd leg of our trip. The Pinnacle was a bit disappointing to be honest.. the staff were not as friendly and efficient as the other restaurants but that was just our opinion.

 

Grand Dutch Cafe

 

Oh my goodness this was excellent, the staff were always friendly and it was great to try Dutch treats like apple pie, pannekoeken (Dutch pancakes) etc.

 

Tours

 

We did a few tours through HAL and they were very organised however we did notice that some people may have had differing ideas of what their physical abilities were. We went on a couple of tours that were described as ‘strenuous’ and yet some of the guests were out of breath walking from the ship to the bus which resulted in less time being spent seeing things. We totally understand that people have health issues but perhaps choosing tours more appropriate to your abilities would be suggested.

 

Overall Opinion

 

Since the increase in terrorism security had been beefed up, even to the point where we had to have a shuttle from the ship to the port exit in Belgium which was only 40 metres max away and took so much longer not to mention very frustrating.

 

Overall though we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and would still recommend HAL to people we believe would suit that style of cruising (not ideal recommending it to people who want to be entertained 24/7).

 

We have heard that Amsterdam are looking at trying to stop cruise ships going there in the future as they can’t cope with the number of tourists so not sure if/when that may change.

 

 

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Thanks for the review. I am so glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

I have heard that a number of cities are limiting cruise ship visits because of the numbers of tourists arriving. When I first starting cruising it was because we had read an article in the Saturday Evening Post which said you could cruise to Charlottetown, PEI and see the Anne of Green Gables site. We saved our money and booked a cruise. At the time, Charlottetown was limiting the number of cruise calls and the year we chose to cruise was one of the years the HAL ships were not on Charlottetown's port schedule. Having since been to Charlottetown a number of times on other cruises, I kind of wish the port would go back to limiting cruise ship calls. I kind of wish more cities would limit cruise ship calls. Some ports are not ready to deal with two whole new cities' worth of people arriving daily during the season. In order to keep the delightfulness of the ports, especially the smaller ports, I think limiting calls, even if it disappoints a number of tourists, is really a good idea. (And yes, I realize that Amsterdam is not a smaller port, but the same ideas apply, the cruise ships may be causing more issues than the money brought in is worth.)

Thanks for the review. I am so glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 

I have heard that a number of cities are limiting cruise ship visits because of the numbers of tourists arriving. When I first starting cruising it was because we had read an article in the Saturday Evening Post which said you could cruise to Charlottetown, PEI and see the Anne of Green Gables site. We saved our money and booked a cruise. At the time, Charlottetown was limiting the number of cruise calls and the year we chose to cruise was one of the years the HAL ships were not on Charlottetown's port schedule. Having since been to Charlottetown a number of times on other cruises, I kind of wish the port would go back to limiting cruise ship calls. I kind of wish more cities would limit cruise ship calls. Some ports are not ready to deal with two whole new cities' worth of people arriving daily during the season. In order to keep the delightfulness of the ports, especially the smaller ports, I think limiting calls, even if it disappoints a number of tourists, is really a good idea. (And yes, I realize that Amsterdam is not a smaller port, but the same ideas apply, the cruise ships may be causing more issues than the money brought in is worth.)

 

 

 

Totally agree with reducing tourist numbers ... we come from NZ and struggle with the huge crowds in some places ..

 

 

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Thanks for your review. I just received my documents for the K'Dam today, so it was nice to read your comments.

 

Regarding cities and tourism, it looks like Amsterdam is looking at other ways to address the influx of tourist by cracking down on things like Air BnB. With cruise ships, they have much more control on the number of passengers arriving. Ironically, though, as ships turn away from ports because of difficulty scheduling port calls, this seems to be when the ports want the cruise ships back. While I understand the impact that thousands of people can have on a city, cruise ships bring a lot of money to the economy particularly for embarkation and disembarkation ports .

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

With all the Mega ships being being built, I can understand why many cities want to limit the number of ships visiting them.

Thanks for your review.

Thank you for the review!

.......

 

Drinks

 

We pre-purchased a Soda Card, water package and also a Beverage card as we didn’t believe the drinks package was what we needed as we aren’t huge drinkers. We did however also pre-purchase the Cellar Door Wine No.1 Package which was 4 bottles of wine to use throughout the cruise along with the 2 bottles of wine we were able to take onboard when we first arrived. It may sound like a lot but we were on board for 22 nights and still worked out cheaper than the beverage package. We would pop along to the Lido deck if there was happy hour which usually meant buy 1 beer get another one for $2 which worked out not to bad when you converted it to NZ dollars.

 

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In my 5 HAL cruises I have never noticed a happy hour on the Lido deck (please note DW often says I am not very observant but I have to disagree when it comes beer bargains). We hang out at the Sea View bar and would be very pleased if they have a happy hour when we are on the Koningsdam late Sept. Do you recall which Lido deck bar had one?

I don't remember there being a happy hour on the Lido deck of Koningsdam. They did have it daily in the Billboard bar. And the Culinary Arts (America's test Kitchen) had a daily happy hour that we really liked. Their drinks were not buy one get another for reduced cost. They had a special menu of drinks that were reduced in price, some great appetizers that were cheap, nice music playing and great service. We really enjoyed the time there.

My DW and I were on the May 1 - 13 portion with you. Although I had read negative reviews of the Koningsdam, I found it a beautiful ship. Dining room service for us was marginal, but okay. Never before have I had a steward leave the table after taking orders without taking mine! The team in our area didn't seem to quite have the rhythm down. I started to ask if they were new, but figured I'd just let it go. Food, however, was superb!

 

The ship's singers and dancers are extremely talented. The World Stage is amazing!

 

Most shore excursions were just fine, except one. We were taken to a city for a visit long before things were open. The tourist center didn't open until after we left! Not a whole lot to see there anyway, IMO. Otherwise, we were pleased.

 

We had excellent weather and a wonderful time.

Thanks for the info

 

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We were on the 4/21-5/1 part of the cruise, and my family had a great time. It was me, my wife, our 11 year old daughter and mother in law. We loved the ship and the itinerary. Tamarind was our favorite specialty restaurant; we ended up there twice as well. As you can see, we usually sail on RCL, but we plan on doing HAL again. We are just at the age where can take these trip every so often.

Thanks for the review, we'll be sailing on the K'dam on 24 JUNE and looking forward to our first sailing on this ship.

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

Hope you managed to sleep during the long flights.

Thanks to all of you who have provided information on the Koningsdam Ship. My wife and I are scheduled to cruise on this ship during the month of January 2019. We have booked a veranda stateroom. While we are not seasoned cruisers, we are familiar with the Vista Class of Ships. My wife liked the combination Shower/Bathtub arrangement in the bathrooms. Here's the question, "Is there a similar arrangement in the Koningsdam ship?" (We are finding it extremely difficult to find accurate information on HAL's website.)

There are only huge walk-in showers in the verandah rooms and they are awesome!

My wife liked the combination Shower/Bathtub arrangement in the bathrooms. Here's the question, "Is there a similar arrangement in the Koningsdam ship?"

Only Signature Suites and higher have tubs.

 

(We are finding it extremely difficult to find accurate information on HAL's website.)

That's because it's "new and improved". They've sacrificed information in favor of visual effects. ;p Edited May 27, 2018 by catl331