The idea of cruising on a brand new ship was exciting and it turns out it was also very worthwhile. The Konigsdam is magnificent. Her captain and crew run a tight ship. Everything from embarkation to disembarkation was on time, pleasant, efficient, and professional. The public areas are well appointed and once you understand that you have been immersed into a musical instrument, you really enjoy the décor. Watch HALs short video done by the award winning designer and you will understand what we mean. The areas were magnificent. There is a lot of people, and the room is huge yet you had your privacy and intimacy at your table. The new design of the Lido restaurant is efficient, and there was plenty of seating at every sitting. The swimming area of the Lido looks crowded and yet once you start moving around during the cruise, everything flowed very easily and efficiently. The Dutch Café was delicious and a lovely seating area. The Crowsnest has good seating with nice arm chairs that were comfortable. The small explorations café was adequate if you were up on that deck and wanted a coffee. There isn't a library but there is a small area of bookshelves and many tried and true HAL sailors placed books there for sharing. We have cruised with HAL on 9 separate voyages and the food on this cruise was the best we have ever had ... at all meals ... in all the different dining rooms and restaurants. The room stewards on HAL are magnificent and this cruise was no exception. Our stateroom was always cleaned in a timely manner and of course, twice a day. The new bathroom set up is great. The walk-in shower was commented on by many of our fellow cruisers. It is perfect. The water pressure was great, the shower head is removable and adjustable, the stall has safety bars, and the floor has a high enough ridge to contain the water flow yet you didn't have to climb in, it was easy access. The stores on the HAL line have always been a bone of contention for me. I have often wondered who would were the three types of t-shirts they sell and only in small sizes .... that has changed dramatically. There was a very nice selection of men's and women's clothes and the sizes went from XS to 3X. They had a collection of Joseph Ribkoff clothes that was very nice and at a good price. It was a pleasant change and I felt that someone from HAL had taken the time to read reviews and address issues. The entertainment was good and there was something for everyone. It is also very subjective so my choices might not be that of others but if you don't like what is going on around the ship, you have a large library of movies and TV shows in your stateroom on the television than you could possibly watch. I think HAL is working very hard to be innovative and creative for the clientele they cater to. Thank you for a fantastic holiday. Read Less

**In the interest of full disclosure this was a "shakedown cruise" that was not open to the general public and some work was still being completed in some areas (installation of some art pieces and so forth). I will not discuss the work/workers we encountered as that goes with the territory and all items I noticed during the cruise were fixed/finished/installed/etc by the time we left.*** My husband and I did this 5 day cruise from Venice to Civitavecchia with additional days in Italy before and after as well as some time in Amsterdam and Rotterdam following the cruise. The ship is absolutely beautiful. Modern yet still keeps a lot of the Holland America Line "feel" that the other ships have, minus the bright colors and over-emphasis of red color palettes and brass. Public spaces still have a feeling of intimacy for the most part. Yes they are larger to hold more people but compared to other ships of similar size the ship does still keep a "coziness" to it. Not ever single room is designed to hold hundreds and hundreds of people and that's a really good thing. I've posted a massive photo post on the HAL forums of the ship here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2347682 and our room here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2347714 so those will likely help with a lot of understanding of how the ship and the room look. As far as dining goes, here's where we ate: **Lido Market - Had one breakfast here and the omelet was a little undercooked. We brought it to his attention, he made another one and it was great. **Dive In - Great burgers and fries as always. Cannonball is the BEST! **New York Pizza - Had the pizza that Elizabeth Faulkner won an award for a pizza contect in Italy with called "Finnocchio" if I remember right. Cream sauce, onion, fennel, sausage... YUM! **Dinner at the Culinary Arts Center - Incredible experience. They encourage you to socialize with each other and the chefs as they prepare everything. Farm to table, very fresh food and ingredients. Unlimited red and white wine they've selected as well (we had organic wines from Columbia Winery, not sure if they vary) **Tamarind - One of our favorites and for good reason. Everything is flavorful and cooked to perfection here. The venue is even more gorgeous than on Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam. They've really outdone themselves. (Get a cold sake, the presentation is really neat!) **Sel de Mer - Seafood at it's finest. Yes it's a la carte and as our group of 4 wanted to try a lot the bill came to $205 (ack!) but had we not been on a mission to try so many different things the bill could easily be within just a few dollars of the Pinnacle Grill. Unless you're allergic to seafood, this is a must do! **Room service - Got it a couple times late at night. Menu is limited that late, but the food was the right temperatures and tasty **Grand Dutch Cafe - Tasty coffees and amazing split pea soup, Koningsbol and bitterballen. This needs to be retro'd onto all HAL ships YESTERDAY!! The Music Walk area is genius with Billboard Onboard, Queens Lounge (with BB King Blues) and Lincoln Center Stage all within steps of each other and alternating performances all throughout the evening. There were A LOT of us that closed the bars down every night, and while I was skeptical, the Queen's Lounge actually makes for a great nightclub space too. World Stage is a game changer. Simple as that. The screens add so much, are not "gimmicky" and on several occasions, a transition on the screens between or during performances got oohs and ahhs from the crowd. This is some of the best entertainment of ANY ship we've ever been on (and we've been on 30+ cruises, multiple brands). The ship is definitely in the right direction for the future of HAL, and while we've done the majority of our cruises on HAL we were also starting to branch out more and more for variety. This has brought us right back "home" and given us lots of motivation to stay there. Well done HAL! Can't wait for K2 (Koningsdam #2 due out in 2018) Read Less

First off, I gave HAL the benefit of the doubt and gave them 2 months to respond to my email, to no avail all they wanted to do was to sell me another cruise. Below are all the bad things that happened: ... no acknowledgement of the birthdays and anniversary we were celebrating. ... everything was an add-on or up-sale. .... the food was awful every day, food at sub standard temperatures, poor quality meats and seafood, we even witnessed a chef wiping his nose and face as he was cutting fruit... OMG!!! .... there was an issue with our room's toilet, it was not fixed at all during the trip... it probably isn't even fixed yet!!! LOL.. not funny. .... lack of security with child care... our son was let go from the child care room on his own because the crew had to take there lunch break... we were freaking out trying to find him, no one gave a crap! ARE YOU KIDDING ME !!!!! ....the whole cruise was auto tipped. WHAT A RIP OFF! .... they give you a FULL page memo of suggestive security measures for walking through Tunisia and expect you to enjoy the day excursion!!!!! Thank God for bad weather... we couldn't dock there. Who thought that would have been a great place to stop!!! That idiot needs to be fired!! We made some great memories off the ship with our own planned excursions. The boat was just an over paid water taxi to get us to where we wanted to go. HAL couldn't pay me to go on another one of their ships!!!   Read Less

The entire Noordam staff were graduates of smile school, and were very accommodating to any need that we expressed. - The Maitre 'd made a point of soliciting our comments about the Vista Dining Room ("tepid soup, slower service between courses than expected"- which he remedied). Portions seemed smaller than I remember from previous cruises, so we often visited the Lido deck later to get a bite. - The Excursion Director, KK, provided an informative overview of the destinations and had scheduled hours at her Main Deck desk to respond to individual questions; she had unlimited patience in dealing with people who did absolutely nothing on their own to become informed (and who also wasted everyone else's time). We took one HAL excursion and explored other destinations on our own- I find that privately arranged tours are about half the charge of HAL's and you can alter them as you'd like. Hop On-Hop Off buses are also a fairly quick and inexpensive way to get the lay of the land. - The crew was especially attentive to passenger safety during tendering operations at ports where the ship couldn't dock. Our single significant disappointment was that complimentary wifi wasn't available- not in the cabins nor in a central location such as the library. Cruisers get pumped about their activities and increasingly want to share their excitement through email and facebook (generating some buzz for potential HAL cruisers?). While Motel 6 provides it free, HAL gouges passengers 75c a minute, or lesser amounts if you shell out for a package of minutes, starting at $55 for 100 minutes ($.55 a minute). If capacity was a significant factor, I'd suggest providing some basic minutes free and charging for usage over that amount. Read Less