I have been on PO, carnival, and celebrity. I wanted to try holland America.
So the pros:
1. Ship ok, but very poorly designed.
2 Laundry cheap, photos cheap
3. Food was good
4 service ok, but Not great.
5 getting on and off ship easy
6 ship on time
Cons
Wow, where do i start:
1 smoking in casino and it spreads. Smoking outside in some public areas allowed. I found ...
We chose the cruise because the dates suited our vacation and because of the destinations.
We boarded in Amsterdam and did the 12 days to Rome. The ship was very nice and the crew were great.
I thought the main stage entertainment was a bit boring and wasn’t for us. I actually fell asleep in one of the shows, that’s how much I thought of it. The comedian Jo Little was good but her humour was ...
• Extreme and excessive noise above and around BB King Lounge. We couldn’t get to sleep until after midnight as the noise, specifically the base instruments’ reverberations, was very loud. This was a topic of several dinner conversations with numerous attendees complaining openly and bitterly. We finally had to change rooms.
• The usual classical piano/string music venues, e.g., Queen’s ...
It was my first time on HAL and the first time on the Koningsdam. The ship is brand new which sums up all the positive points about the ship. There were two things that ruined everything for me.
1. There is no kettle in the room. A thing which one expects nowadays from every 3-star hotel and was provided in all the other cruise ships that we sailed.
2. Though the food in the Lido (as well ...
We chose this repositioning cruise because it began in Amsterdam and ports were mainly in Portugal and Spain. The ship is new and new is nice and clean. Beds, showers and TV are good. However, the ship was overcrowded. There is no library and no laundry for passenger use and no free internet-$12.00 to get a boarding pass! Ship is all about making money and not about passenger services. Main ...
If you are hoping for something up-scale from Carnival you will enjoy HA’s new Koningsdam; if you don’t mind having to get to the popular ship events (lectures, evening entertainment etc.) at least 20 minutes early to even get a seat you will enjoy your time on-board; if you look forward to being charged for every coke, gelato dessert, every minute of internet, a glass of wine at dinner, and even ...
First things first, be aware that MS Koningsdam was our fifth cruiser. Our first trip was on board Hal’s Ryndam (September 2011), and we became addicts to this way of travel. It really was a dreamlike trip.
Consequently, we had high hopes for our 26-day-long journey on board the Koningsdam (from Amsterdam all the way to Rome). However, we were unpleasantly surprised. We realized soon enough ...
BACKGROUND: We are frequent, experienced travelers and have taken over 25 cruises on at least nine different lines. We booked the 20 day Christening Cruise of the Koningsdam (actually 13 day Christening and 7 day Norway) for the off-the-beaten-path ports and the chance to sail on a new ship. We had previously taken one HAL cruise in 2005.
SHIP LAYOUT: There are parts of the Koningsdam that ...