This cruise left Ft Lauderdale March 27 2019 - April 7 Neptune Suite. There is no priority tender service for Neptune Suite passengers as has been stated in the summary on this site and in others. In 5 cruises on HAL ships I have never found a place to board or depart separate from other guests, except during home port embarkation. I have asked. They seem amazed that I would ask about it. The newly designed Koningsdam Neptune suites are less user friendly than on the other ships. Smaller, it seems, with fewer closets, less storage space and worst of all, the "water closet" is separated from the rest of the bathroom by a door. The area for the toilet measures 8 ft 5 inches by 46 inches. Once reduced by the sink and counter, I believe you are left with about 5 ft by 40 inches of space, minus the toilet itself. which is ok, except that TWO doors enter into this area. One opens inward and comes within 2 inches of front of the toilet seat. In an otherwise luxurious suite why have they designed the bathroom this way is beyond me. Those issues aside, it was a great trip. The bed is comfortable, the service perfect. We ate in the new Orange Dining Room (Neptune Suite, Pinnacle Suite passengers and 4 Star Mariners) every night except when in the Pinnacle Grill. We made use of the free laundry service for Neptune Suite passengers, room service for breakfast on days when we had an excursion planned and one night for a late night snack. All these services were wonderful. Entertainment on HAL still is not anything to write about, so I won't. The ship is only about 2 years old and is being well taken care for. The staff is welcoming and friendly. The Hotel Director seems to be everywhere making sure all runs smoothly. Even on the tender to Half Moon Cay. That stop, by the way, is a really nice way to enjoy a day at the beach. Be sure to reserve a "clam shell" which is a shaded spot for two beach lounges, before you leave on your trip. On a sunny day you will fry out there without one and things move much more quickly when you land if you already have your ticket in hand. We have enjoyed every single one of our voyages on HAL. This one was particularly fun because in two ports we berthed along side our sister ship, The Niew Statendam. We made friends with Niew Statendam travelers when we ended up on some the same excursions and spent the day at half Moon Cay. It was noisy and fun when The Konningsdam pulled out of port in St Thomas just a little ahead of the New Statendam. As they were side by side the ships signaled each other with those long blasts, and passengers stood on decks and waved and cheered. A good memory. Read Less

The quality of this cruise line and the ship speaks for itself. My wife and I from Florida Have sailed 7 different cruise lines. The Oosterdam in December 2018 was the first HAL which we so enjoyed. The crew from the Captain from Canada , who was informative in the Q and A session, the cruise director, Nathan from Texas, who was the CD on the Oosterdam and remembered us as we boarded the ship ,to the assistant director, Ines,from Portugal is what made this Trip so much fun. We enjoyed Lincoln Center Stage, played Pickleball, played trivia, where we met friends that we played trivia with the whole cruise .We did morning stretching, went to afternoon tea and evening shows. We did not use the casino,or the computer classes this time. We ate in the dining rooms and buffet, which was very,very good. We used the thermal spa. The room was fine and our steward wonderful.We encountered NO ONE that was not polite,friendly, respectful and fair. We look forward to our next visit cruise, that we booked on the ship , to New England/ Canada. Read Less

Everything was wonderful! The food was xlnt. The main dining room wasn’t as noisy as some previously stated. The portions were ample and presented well. All servers were friendly and courteous and we found this true throughout the ship. Our balcony stateroom on deck 5 was perfect size and always clean and fresh. The bathroom was fine with an excellent shower. The toilet is close to the shower, but it’s no big deal. The bed is very comfortable and the pillows aren’t “hard as rocks” as previously stated. The lido dining was very good and we thought that having the servers fill our plates rather than ourselves worked out very well. One might stand in a line for 2 minutes to get some fried eggs or an omelette but I never thought the lines were exceptionally long. We were always able to find a seat; either inside or out by the pool. Breakfast in the main dining room also was very nice without the lido hustle and bustle. Yes, the chair saving by the pool was evident; I don’t think that will ever change. Most of our time was spent at the aft pool. Half of this section is used by the smokers but surprisingly didn’t bother the other half. Plenty of drink servers and guys clearing tables. Can’t figure out why the pool water was green and the jacuzzis were blue. Loved the Blues and Rock venues. Saw a comedian and a mentalist both mediocre. Every time we went to the main theatre we walked right in at about 8:40 for a 9 pm show no problem. Embarkation and disembarkation we among the smoothest we’ve ever experienced. Maybe 45 minutes for each. My guess at the average age of cruisers would be late 60’s and above. LOTS of wheelchairs and scooters. Probably only about 15 kids total. We didn’t take any ship sponsored tours as we felt they were too expensive. The biggest disappointment of ports was Half Moon Cay in that there were 2 ships in port for a total of about 5000 people on the beach. Probably would have been pretty cool with half that as it is a very beautiful location. We thought some Caribbean music out by the pools in the afternoon would have been nice, but it never happened. We are looking forward to cruising with HAL again soon! Read Less

We chose this ship because it was newer and we lived the itinerary and not too many sea days. (We have been on about 26 cruises) This is what we loved: 1. The ship is beautiful 2. Staff is attentive and friendly 3. Dinner in dining room doesn’t seem rushed 4. Itinerary 5. Very clean 6. Despite reviews that say they don’t have an “unlimited” internet package they actually did. On our 10 day cruise it cost $179. This is what we did NOT love: 1. Theatre so small it does not accommodate guests. We showed up 40 minutes early for two shows and there was not one seat left 2. Formal night, a dance show is about to begin, ONE show, really? It starts at 9pm and we are waiting outside the theatre standing here at 7:50pm, we have a 1 hour 10 min wait. It’s day 9 of our 10 day cruise and we love the dance shows and this is the third one and if we get a seat it will be the first one we get to see. I think the theatre holds 300 people, I may be wrong. Smallest theatre on any cruise ship I have ever been on. They need 3 shows per night for the dance shows to accommodate the guests. Tomorrow night is the last dance show and they also have ONE show. So nope we won’t sail with them again. 3. Eating in the lido buffet is exasperating. You can basically not get any food by yourself, maybe you can serve yourself some fruit or a cinnamon roll AFTER they hand you a plate. What I’m trying to say is that the buffet is a lot of work. You have to wait in line. You can’t grab your own plate. There is say one person maybe two behind the glass at each food station. At one food station this one girl has to make crepes, spoon out oatmeal and cream of wheat into bowls, put bacon and sausage on your plate..it’s pretty crazy and slow. Then suppose you want toast or a bagel, now go to the bread food station wait in that line so that one person that’s runnjng that can take care of it. Then find a table and try to get coffee, it’s just an ordeal. 4. Then they close breakfast most days at 9:30am. 5. The food has been good but some meals better than others. Not every meal has been amazing. Read Less

this was our 5th cruise with HAL and 2nd on the Koningsdam in the Caribbean. We loved the 10 day cruise to the ABC islands. We go on cruises to explore new ports and relax and love the HAL experience complete with gala nights. That is one of the reasons we book with HAL. Early runs in the morning on deck are lovely after a long winter and the spa experience was great as well! The addition of the rolling stone band is a great entertainment venue after dinner. We feel overall the main dining room experience is going downhill a little in the past 7 years, so we booked a few more of the specialty restaurants. the pinnacle and tamarind are absolute favourites. Diving and snorkeling excursions were wonderful. Great staff that go above and beyond. Our cabin had an oversized veranda and we booked the unlimited laundry which is super to have as you can take a few less things. One thing we completely avoid is the LIDO market. Why stand in line when you can get everything much better in the dining room? We arrived early in the morning and check in and embarkation was seamless. We definitely will go again but may chose a smaller ship next time to see if we can experience again some of the reasons we like to go with HAL in the first place, which is excellent service, excellent dining and super friendly staff. Read Less

I am not a person who feels that a vacation should go perfectly. I expects some bumps along the way. In saying this, I am bothered by the bumps that are preventable. The issues that I have detailed below in the 'Cabin Review' were preventable and it is my hope that the creaking room is repaired before others experience sleepless nights on their vacation. We found the crew as wonderful as ever. Aside from the creaking room, we were looked after very well. I was quite worried about the entertainment after 4 nights. Post Modern Jukebox was not good. The theater was full when this group started and at least one quarter of the people left the first night before the performance ended and less people showed up for the second night performance. There was only polite clapping during the performances. With the second performance they gave themselves an encore when no one was clapping and people were leaving. Some awkwardly sat down while others just left. One of the singers had an amazing voice. I hope she finds another company. The entertainment got better. There were two dance performance nights and they were very good with well deserved standing ovations. The live orchestra performance to Planet Earth II with the wrap around screen was great. Karen Grainger (female impressionist) was very good. We enjoyed quite a few Lincoln Centre performances, wonderful! We would have attended more but our early dining time conflicted with performance times. We went to 2 Rolling Stone Room performances and the band was great. We watched a few songs from the BB King room and again this was good. We liked the music walk. Read Less

My sisters chose this cruise. I just wrote a cheque. Glad I did. I’ve been on four cruises. This was the best. The atmosphere was mellow and laid back. It was an older crowd; I’m older, so that was a plus. Food was always delicious. Staff were attentive and friendly. Ports were fun. Chose only one HAL excursion, then switched to other, in Port providers because these are cheaper and more flexible. Liked all the nightly small music venues on board; however, the main stage entertainment was a weak spot. Maybe I’ve been spoiled with large ensemble musical shows on other cruise lines. Also irritated by cumbersome internet package options, sold in 24 hour increments. Who needs internet 24 hours a day? Give me 3 hours/day for ten days, and I’ll be happy. Embarking was easy; staff were so cheerful and funny. Did this around 1:30PM, so we may have missed rush hour. Expedited disembarkation was also easy. Read Less

This line was the only line that offered the first 10 days with stops we had not visited before. The ship and crew were great. HA schedulers suck. When we received our flights (booked through HA) there were two sore spots. We depart out of MSY at 8 am and arrive FLL ONE and a HALF hour before ship departs. The return leg is airport for 10 am, departing flight at 7 pm and not arriving at MSY till midnight. As i write this, our plane is delayed 1/2 hour with beautiful weather. Good ole Delta. We called HA months in advance to express our concerns. Was told that was within their guidelines. Well, we were slid onto the ship 2 of the last 4 people after security was closed and the ship was late departing. Virtually did not screen us so we could make departure. We missed the first afternoon of our cruise which we always look forward to. No remorse from the ‘desk people’ on board. The rest of the ship’s crew (98%) were wonderful. I wanted to write reviews for the excursions so other people can plan their trips but there is no place in HA website to create these. Dining experience was very good. Service was excellent in all areas of the ship. However, the food was good but bland - no extra seasoning available such as Tony’s, Zatarains, Slap ya Mama, etc. We ordered breakfast in cabin all but 3 days. No complaints, on time, coffee and selection was acceptable. Cabin crew was very helpful with the small needs such as cabin menus, fruits and snacks. Cabin was spotless each day twice a day minimum. The nightly live band on Deck 2 was awesome. Great talent and popular music enjoyed by standing room only crowd each night. There are no art auctions like Norwegian or Carnival which is strange because HA is owned by Carnival Corp. There is an art gallery where u can purchase but thats it. Nothing we liked. We booked ooked snorkeling excursions through HA all stops except The Dom Rep and Curaçao which were average experiences. We completed the Coffee experience at The Dom Republic which we are still talking about. You travel up into the mountains to learn, taste and help the local coffee farmers bring back their coffee industry. In Curaçao, we did the ATV tour which takes you through and across the island. Dusty but a lot of fun and a learning experience all booked through HA. We were fortunate enough to see Carnival in Aruba and dine at Lucy’s (nachos). Awesome experience - we are from Louisiana and experience Mardi Gras every year. Carnival in Aruba was very colorful and very close to our home experience. The ship’s photography dept is not what we expected. We wanted to take a pic and have them place it on the embarkation background. We were told that they would take some pics of us but it would be black & white. We arrived for our appointment at 7:30 pm and was advised that the first pic (if purchased) would be $450.00! No thanks - see ya! Rip off artist but we are smarter than that. In this digital world, there is NO one on that ship that can make us believe that they couldn’t fulfill our request. We paid $19.95 for a dock photo and that’s it. Read Less

We were looking for a cruise that could accommodate 6 of us at a reasonable cost. HAL Koningsdam fit the bill. The ship's art is wonderful. The ship's musical theme is throughout with interesting art that is worth walking all the staircases to look at. We found the flow of the ship easy to get around. Typical of a Carnival Corp. ship the staff were friendly and always helpful. Cabins: The rooms were tight but very functional. Bathroom was a good size with a large shower stall. We had a veranda stateroom next to my Son and Father-in-law's room. We asked the steward if he could open the door between balconies which he was happy to do. This gave extra space and made our before dinner socializing easy, when my Daughter and Son-in-law would also come by. Only thing I wish was available was outdoor lighting. Although there are light fixtures on the balconies, these are controlled by the bridge. The first night I went on the verandah and banged up a shin on the chair. Dining: Our dining experiences were fantastic. We enjoyed any meals at the dining room we had. There was only 1 night that none of us were thrilled with what we ordered. The buffet was great for breakfast and lunch. I was impressed with the cleanliness and care there. There were new dishes to try every day. We also went to 3 specialty restaurants as well. Each were a unique and great experience. I would highly recommend De Liberje. Entertainment: The shows we're fine. My favourite was BBC Earth with musicians from the ship playing the background music. The dance show dazzles, the technology of the world stage is great. There was a comedian onboard named Cory Rodriguez. He was funny and then hung out with my kids at the Casino. It made for entertaining evenings. There is also trivia everyday and various other events. The Rolling Stone room had great music every night, the Lincoln Centre had classical music late in the day until early evening. This room would then change in the BB King blues club. The band was great but the music was more Motown then Blues. This was disappointing to me but it's all about finding the common denominator. Service: Absolutely no complaints. Whatever we needed was there for the asking. In Curacao, we arranged a dinner off the ship, we were in port until 11:00 pm. The front desk was fantastic in getting us a map to the restaurant, which was about a 20 minute walk from the port. Ports and Excursions: Although we didn't use HAL for excursions we arranged a lot of things for ourselves. The nicest beach was at Half Moon Cay which is their private island. It wasn't busy, only 2 ships there and was the only tender we had on the trip. Grand Turk was also a swim day with the beach right there when we got off the ship. Amber Cove was the weakest of all the ports. We went into Puerto Plata but there wasn't much there. Our favourite stop was Bonaire. Our kids arranged scuba diving (privately) and we rented a golf cart from Bonaire Cruisers. We traveled the island from top to bottom. It is the least commercial of the "ABC" islands. It was a great time. Willemstad in Curacao is very pretty. We hired a driver, went to a secluded beach and as mentioned above went for dinner in Willemstad. Aruba was a treat. We headed off to Eagle beach which was empty that day. It happened to be the last day of Carnival and there was a 7 hour parade. The colours and sights were great. The ship delayed leaving by 2 hours so we could catch the parade. Bottom line was although this ship has an older clientele my kids in there 20s had no problem with the Koningsdam. We filled our time on sea days playing shuffleboard, table tennis, basketball and cards. I would definitely go on a HAL cruise again. Read Less

We choose this cruise to escape winter and actually did back to back cruises as they were to different ports, so we spent 3 weeks on this ship. It's bright and fairly new and has the best food we ever had on any cruise ship (we've been on 35 cruises). Soups were wonderful and the lobster the best ever. Wonderful restaurant choices without additional fees, like New York Deli, The Dive In and the Dutch Café plus the huge Lido Buffet. The rooms are spacious and everything is super clean and gorgeous fresh flowers everywhere. The crew was wonderful and so friendly. There is music everywhere. Most of one floor is devoted to music venues from dual pianos to rock and classical and is called the Music Walk. The only disappointment was the World Stage (their main theater). It's a weird stage and has poor lighting on the performers. When they do do a nice production show like the dancers did in Humanity, it was awesome, but in 3 weeks of cruising there was only that one really well done show. Read Less