Koningsdam in the Caribbean

[Copper10-8]

A look at K-dam's two-deck Lido pool, the town square of the ship, where you can find the Dive-In, a new place called Gelato, and the hot tubs. Upstairs which is known as the Lido balcony, you can settle into one of the sofa-like white chaises overlooking the pool, which look like something out of a South Beach nightclub. The glass roof is retractable, and at night movies play on giant screens on either end of the pool—a first for Holland America

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Dinner in Club Orange; Carne Asada and Wienerschnitzel (no pic of the latter because my camera battery went dead 🙃)

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

The entertainment in the Main Stage; Canadian ventriloquist Patrick Murphy and Matilda "Jamaican Me Laugh" Matilda was born into a talented family. Her father, Winston, is a world-class Limbo Dancer who always taught her the importance of raising the bar. Her mother, Camille, is listed in The Guinness Book of Records as the world’s fastest basket weaver and hair braider. Brother Clive is an airline pilot with Air Jamaica, although he was never able to overcome his fear of heights, he gets by pretending to fly a DC 10 in nothing more than a Buick with wings…😁 Tomorrow (Thursday) is our first sea day as K-dam enters the Caribbean Sea via the Mona Passage

 

[Himself]

Patrick has gone gray.  I  fist saw him on the old Nieuw Amsterdam in 1996.  I used to see him frequently but have not seen him in eight or nine years.  I always enjoyed Patrick and Matilda!

[*Miss G*]

Wow.  That was very thoughtful of your Concierges to surprise you with snacks!

 

I would have enjoyed that cultural center.  The displays are very attractive and unique.

 

Holy smokes on 500 cigars per day!... day after day after live-long day.  No thanks.  Maybe 20. After that the monotony would have me running out of there screaming.  The guy at the desk reading the paper.... was he reading it out loud to the workers?  That would be a good way of relieving the monotony.  For maybe 20 cigars.

[Copper10-8]

13 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Wow.  That was very thoughtful of your Concierges to surprise you with snacks!

 

I would have enjoyed that cultural center.  The displays are very attractive and unique.

 

Holy smokes on 500 cigars per day!... day after day after live-long day.  No thanks.  Maybe 20. After that the monotony would have me running out of there screaming.  The guy at the desk reading the paper.... was he reading it out loud to the workers?  That would be a good way of relieving the monotony.  For maybe 20 cigars.

 

It's a highly sought after job because of the two days a week off, the three weeks vacation and the bennies but yes, heavily monotonous. The guy with the microphone was actually reading every article from the local newspaper to the workers so they were up-to-date as to what was happening in their city, their country and the world

[Walfam]

On 3/18/2019 at 2:29 PM, Copper10-8 said:

K-dam's "Main Stage" (main show room) with its two-story/deck, 270-degree wraparound LED screens was dark tonight however tomorrow (Monday) will host the first of three production shows "Humanity"

 

 

 

Nice to see there are none of the support poles blocking views and rendering many seats useless, like on the Zuiderdam and NA. I wondered if they could be engineered and built that way, and now I know.  🙂

 

[EZ2CY]

Copper, I'm really enjoying your pictures from the Koningsdam cruise.  Would you mind posting some pics of the current wine lists from the Koningsdam? We're taking a cruise on her once she moves to the Mediterranean and have the Signature beverage package included. Just got off the Statendam and the wine list there was pretty sparse.  Wondering if it's the same. Thanks in advance!

[mocruzer]

Enjoying your review.  Club Orange dining room looks nicer than NS.  

[Copper10-8]

Thursday found K-dam using the Mona Passage to enter the Caribbean Sea. The Mona Passage is the strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The passage connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and is an important shipping route between the Atlantic and the Panama Canal. The 80 miles stretch of sea between the two islands is one of the most difficult passages in the Caribbean. It is fraught with variable tidal currents created by the large islands on either side of it, and by sand banks that extend out for many miles from both coasts.

 

There are three islands in the Mona Passage: Isla Mona lies close to the middle of the passage. Five kilometers northwest of Mona Island is much smaller Isla Monito and fifty kilometers northeast of Mona Island and much closer to the Puerto Rican mainland is Isla Desecheo.

 

Once out of the passage, KODM’s navigators set a southerly course for the ABC islands, part of the Dutch Caribbean. The term Dutch Caribbean refers to the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands that are located in the Caribbean and their inhabitants. It is also a term used to refer to the Caribbean Netherlands, which consists of some of the Dutch Caribbean islands

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Koningsdam's builder plate/plaque is located on a bulkhead on Deck 9 port side near her Lido Pool. She was built at Fincantieri S.p.A. in Marghera near Venice and Trieste, Italy. Koningsdam was delivered on March 31, 2016 and she departed Civitavecchia, Italy, on her maiden voyage on April 8, 2016. on May 20, 2016, she was the subject of a gala christening by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands in Rotterdam

The ship is the class leader of HAL's Pinnacle class ships (so far, three ordered) and is by far the largest ship ever to be constructed for HAL. She is also the first HAL ship to bear the name Koningsdam, which honors Willem-Alexander, the first King of the Netherlands in over a century

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Koningsdam's second of two swimming pools, the aft or sea view pool, the sitting dude with legs crossed outside her Tamarind restaurant, and one of her wooden bench seats

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Dutch "poffertjes" for lunch in the Grand Dutch Cafe, a seat with a view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

The Dutch Royal Couple keeping an eye on things, her royal highness, originally from Argentina, being K-dam's godmother

 

[Copper10-8]

When your Vons Club card comes in handy 🤓 Koningsdam has a European-type lighting system that takes a card with a magnetic strip to be inserted/pushed down into the wall slot in order to keep the lights on. The Vons card does its thing for us

 

[Copper10-8]

Some add'l shots of the Deck 7 Neptune Lounge, different from the "S", "R", and Vista-class Neptunes. It does have an honor bar

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Dinner for us on Thu night was a 8:00 PM reservation in the Pinnacle Grill. Maria had the Jumbo lump crab cakes with cucumber and sweet chili mustard and I had the salad by Julius Caesar minus the small fish. Maria then selected the Baked Alaskan Halibut with morels, panko, dilled leeks and champagne vinaigrette while I had the 7 oz petite filet mignon with bearnaise and we both shared some frites. We each had a lemon drop and for desert the tres leche

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

Finished off the night with the incredible B.B. Kings All-Star band and burned off some calories dancing to their tunes

 

 

 

 

 

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

The entertainment in the Main Stage; Canadian ventriloquist Patrick Murphy and Matilda

 

You are one lucky cruiser to have Patrick Murphy and Matilda aboard!  They are the best comedy team I have ever seen. 

 

I agree with Himself:  Patrick has "matured" (what else is new?) since I last saw him.  Matilda appears "ageless".  And, I'll be her "mouth" is as "sharp" as ever!

[erewhon]

No need for us to go to the Caribbean on Koningsdam after reading your great review John. Nothing left for us to see on the ship or ashore!

[Copper10-8]

Bonaire; located off the north coast of South America near the western part of Venezuela, 86 miles from Aruba and 30 miles from Curacao, is the second largest of the six former Netherlands Antillean islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius & Sint Maarten).

 

The Dutch West India Company was founded in 1621. Starting in 1623, ships of the West India Company called at Bonaire to obtain meat, water, and wood. The Dutch also abandoned some Spanish and Portuguese prisoners there, and these people founded the town of Antriol which is a contraction of "al interior" or "inside." The Dutch and the Spanish fought from 1568 to 1648 in what is now known as the Eighty Year War. In 1633, the Dutch, having lost the island of St. Maarten (later regained with the French) to the Spanish, retaliated by attacking Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba. Bonaire was conquered in March 1636 and the Dutch built Fort Oranje there in 1639

 

 

 

 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

When your Vons Club card comes in handy 🤓 Koningsdam has a European-type lighting system that takes a card with a magnetic strip to be inserted/pushed down into the wall slot in order to keep the lights on. The Vons card does its thing for us

 

 

I have used my library card for this kind of thing in hotels. But mostly I did use the room key. I found this to be a good place to keep it so I could just grab it on the way out of the room. 

 

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I have used my library card for this kind of thing in hotels. But mostly I did use the room key. I found this to be a good place to keep it so I could just grab it on the way out of the room. 

 

 

Just learned a business card in the slot works fine also! It does not need a magnetic strip 😀

[nutensteve]

On our NA cruise I used my Chevron card and then made sure I wasn't charged for any fuel on the cruise.😁

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Just learned a business card in the slot works fine also! It does not need a magnetic strip 😀

 

Anything that blocks the light inside the sensor should work. This is an energy-saving thing I like. As long as it doesn't result in loss of heat or cooling when you're out all day, it makes sense. I can't remember, does it turn off anything more than the lights?

Edited March 23, 2019 by 3rdGenCunarder