Boarding: Not an ideal situation. The evening before our departure we received notice that due to norovirus our boarding would be delayed. Good news is we were getting a nice clean ship! They did NOT, however, delay departure. So when we arrived, hours later than scheduled, we had a LONG, LONG, LONG, and hot line. At least our room was ready when we got to the end of the line. Short and simple time at the counter. If ONLY they had delayed departure and staggered the arrival times instead of compressing all 3000 passengers into 2 hours. Room: Upon arrival the room as ready, clean, and as expected. We booked an obstructed veranda, to save a buck. DO NOT pick a spot between life boats, as the obstruction is LARGER on this ship. Looking over the lifeboats is barely obstructed in my opinion, and well worth the savings. Room was roomy with plenty of storage. Even drawers under the bed. Four pieces of luggage fit nicely under our bed too. The hall closet doors are an area of conflict. They do not fully open, and you can’t pass by them. Using the closet is a one-person proposition. Our friends oceanview was wider (and less money) - annoying. We had already heard complaints about the angled toilet. What we did not understand is you can’t sit on it at an angle. Your knee hits the shower wall. #stupid. But that shower was WONDERFUL - the largest of any we have had in almost 30 cruises. Our room stewards were FANTASTIC. Some of the best. THE AWFUL!!! Room was great UNTIL - we wanted, no NEEDED to go to bed at 10/10:30. This room is NOISY. And not just a little. I believe the ship has a defect. It is louder IN the room, than in the hall or the balcony. THUMP THUMP, BANG. Lasts until midnight or later. They must KNOW they have a problem. This room should NOT be sold - but be used by staff, or those sailing free. Perhaps a deaf person could be accommodated. IF HAL insists on selling the room it MUST come with a significantly reduced price - AND - a fair warning. Yes, we complained LOUDLY. They were NOT sympathetic, but The next to the last night we did receive $300obc. But since it was so late in the cruise all we could do is book one specialty dining the next night. IMO - this noise should have resulted in a 50% future cruise credit, as 50% of our vacation./sleep was ruined by the noise. But more importantly the situation needs to be addressed, and corrected. People don’t vacation to be bribed into happiness - they ask, expect, and demand a satisfying and relaxing time. fyi: there are COUNTLESS complaints about the noise on Cruise Critic and the Web. Buffet: GROSS. Too many people. This ship has hand washing machines, instead of sinks. That’s great but you get water sprayed all over you. At the start of the cruise you had no choice but to wash, because the norovirus police were standing by the machines. The last two days, they simply did not care, and the soap had run out (light indicator). Meaning HAL is only worried about the press from norovirus, NOT the health of their passengers. Hours were not great. It was VERY difficult to find a cheese snack or get an ice cream. They had a nice gluten free section, but it was NEVER open. AND, no other facilities had the gluten free products. Yea - you can get a snack at the pizza place till midnight, but NOT a GF cracker. Yea - you can get a morning bagel at the Dutch Coffee shop, but not on a GF bagel. Main Dining: Food was 4*, and typical of HAL. Basic dishes, well prepared, and well plated. Rather bland, and nothing unusual - which is expected on this line. We initially had late, fixed, seating. We asked for a large 8-10 person table. We received a 5 person table. Our service was TERRIBLE. Some of the worst we have ever received. Took 2 hours, and we missed the show the first two nights. Our table location was the WORST - just outside the queuing area. NOISY. Entire dining room was too noisy. We changed to anytime seating, which was easy. Our service improved. ONE night we had that 5* HAL service we expected. Only ONE of 10. While better, we never had exemplary Main Dining Room service. Guess you now have to PAY for this quality. Tamarind: We had a little OBC, so we splurged and visited the Tamarind our last night. As expected service was top-notch! We enjoyed two wonderful curry dishes. I had the red curry panang. My wife the fish curry. One disappointment was there were NO Asian Fusion drinks, or wine. Just the same-old, same-old. Grand Dutch Café: One of our favorite places..... Much due to the two young Dutch Gentlemen, and one gal that worked there. They “made” the experience. We visited here for an early morning espresso, and yogurt. My wife enjoyed the lox, but was bothered she could not get it on a gluten free bagel at this location. Dive In: A very RELIABLE HAL burger. Still one of the best burgers and fries on ANY cruise ship. Unfortunately NO gluten free bun (or lettuce bun) available. We ate bare burgers. Dive-In Sauce is great, but make sure to get 3-4 containers. New York Deli and Pizza: TOTALLY the worst gluten free crust EVER. Great pizza ingredients, but just scrape it off. This is the late night snack place, but they are NOT open late. You can barely make it here after the last band quits. Wings were tasty. They had a fantastic, ready to go salad. Bars and Drink Card: Our Travel Agent got us drink packages. Something we are not used to having. We throughly enjoyed the ability to get specialty coffee in the AM, and a bottle of water prior to bed. Bar service was all or nothing. The service at the Panaroma Bar was the best. The Sea View Bar was acceptable. One bar tender at the Ocean Bar provided great service. Service at the Music Walk was TERRIBLE. Especially when there was entertainment. Each night I would get my own drinks at least once. Drinks, and selection were VERY good. Although the ran out of the Pear Cider and Amaretto two nights before the cruise was over. Entertainment: STRANGE mix, and even stranger schedule. The main stage had only 3 dance shows in 10 days. NO big shows. NO live music. NO Broadway productions. Shows were difficult to get to if you have fixed dining. There were NO bands at sail-away, in the pool area, or any time other than at night. The quality, and volume was AWFUL!!!! The music walk is, in my opinion a STUPID idea. Only one band can play at a time. And they do. Each venue had (3) 45 min sets a night. No venue was large enough for the crowds, so you spent your time rotating from venue to venue. This simply does not work. On our cruise the rock band was the best attended, yet had the least space. Main stage had 3 dance numbers. They had an “OK” comedian. No jugglers, acrobats. There was a movie, with live music, of BBC’s Planet Earth. It was interesting, but seeing animals kill each other was not our idea of a relaxing or entertaining vacation. Guessing this appeals to the conservative crowd on this line that thinks they deserve their vacation, while children starve. In all the main stage was beyond disappointing. Lincoln Center Stage has classical music. Typically later afternoon to early evening. This is the largest venue, but poorest attended (other than main stage). It also doubles as BB King, hence why it is an afternoon venue. The classical is a VERY strange mix with the other genres. Disco. What disco. It is programed, but not used by this nursing home cruise we were one. Good thing, as per above, the rooms directly above receive noise from this venue. They should just abandon using this as a disco because of the noise generated. Piano Bar. We were graced by Gavin Rohrer and Sarah Angle. Sarah was a short term infill. Gavin had been on board almost half-a-year. Sarah was beyond talented. Gavin was 110% entertainer. Together they made for a fun and exciting evening - EVERY night. Much to my surprise Gavin CRANKED out Elton John’s Burn Down the Mission on night 1. Claiming only ONE person would know the song. Much to his surprise, there were 5 of us. Unfortunately HAL has yet to provide a quality sound system OR real pianos in the in the Piano Bar. Shame these musicians have to put up with this. OVERALL Entertainment: ALL the venues had excessively loud, and heavily distorted sound systems. There is NO excuse for this - NONE. The millions spent they need quality sound systems, AND skilled people to operate the system. Shore Excursions: We took only ONE HAL excursion. It was acceptably over-priced. A crowded catamaran. Fun time. GOOD drinks. “OK” snorkeling. First stop was cloudy, not their fault. But no much to see, as they kept us well away from the pretty corals and fish. Guess with this many novices you have to do this. Second stop, a ship wreck. Also cloudy - BUT, water was FULL FULL FULL of small jellyfish. They should never have allowed us to swim. My wife got out immediately. Others back on board stung. I was OK, with my long sleeve shirt, but not a fun experience. Reminds me of why we skip the Cruise Line Excursions. Ports of Call: WHY we booked this. Half Moon Cay = STUPID. Can’t even use your drink card here. Food is barely edible. We walked the remote path, as we had been here on prior cruises. Got started late, quit early, and did not eat here. Grand Turk. Love this stop. Our third time here. This time we caught a cab into town. Wandered about. Had a beer on the beach. Purchased some local art. Amber Cove. We used this stop to visit a friend living here. Used our connection to get Alfred for a cab. Enjoyed local food, and friendship. We went diving on Bonaire with the small private company VIP Diving. Our Dive Master Bart was FANTASTIC. We had a great time, and SMALL, 3-person dive group. And for LESS money than the HAL tour. ALL 3 of us came back un-harmed. Can not say the same of the LARGE group from the HAL Excursions. This is ROUGH, coral filled water. Glad we did our own thing here. Curacao. Self-guided wandering of the beautiful and quaint Dutch Port. The ONLY “Travel Like an Architect” stop. Don’t miss the rotating bridge. This was the surprise shopping stop. We got unusual, and cute clothing for ourselves, and our grandchildren. Aruba: Or snorkel stop with the HAL excursion, see above. NEXT time, something different. Overall: Ship is nice. A bit larger than we like. We were tired from all the stairs, and walking end to end to end each day. Nicely appointed. Basically clean and in good condition. Although at the start, when the noro-virus scare was in place cleaning was excellent. By the end of the trip it was poor. IF poor is typical, I am glad they took 2 extra hours to clean before we arrived. Single biggest complaint (after our NOISY NOISY room) was the AGE demographic. It was God’s Waiting Room on Steroids. My wife did comment “would you rather be dodging children or walkers”. I guess walkers and scooters is a bit easer to deal with, but the Grumpy Entitled attitude of many is simply a vacation downer. Next Cruise we are back on Celebrity. Read Less

This is a review for the 11-day South Caribbean Seafarer cruise. This is the third year my wife and I have sailed on the ms Koningsdam. Previously we sailed in Aug. 2018 (Norway) and Jan. 2019 (Caribbean). I’ll try not to duplicate information from my previous reviews of those cruises. This time we opted for a Verandah Stateroom, mid-ship on the Mozart deck, rather than a Vista Suite, because it was a better value—over 3000 USD cheaper. The room was smaller than a Vista suite, but it still seemed roomy enough for us. There was sufficient closet hanging space, shelves, and drawers for storing stuff in during the cruise. [Tip] We brought along magnetic hooks so we could hang hats and clothes on them. There were only 2 hooks in the room (on the wall by the bathroom) and 2 hooks on the back of the bathroom door. Mostly the cruise was well run. The weather was good. When sailing back towards the Bahamas (and Half Moon Cay), the sea was even calm and “glassy” smooth. It was a little rougher at Half Moon Cay: after lunch, there were 2-3 foot swells which I encountered when kayaking in front of the beach area. The kayaks are very lightweight and harder to manage when there are waves. Kayak rental at Half Moon Cay was $25.95 per person per hour for a single kayak, $49.95 for a double kayak, and $35.95 for a stand-up paddleboard. One downside to the cruise was the occurrence of norovirus (gastrointestinal illness [GI]) towards the end of the cruise. In my opinion, HAL was partially responsible for the problem. There was the usual “Guest Stateroom Health Advisory” in the staterooms at the start of the cruise: “wash your hands regularly with soap and water particularly before eating”. There were hand washing stations, with soap, at the Lido Market where buffet food was served. However, the stations were turned off on the 2nd or 3rd day of the cruise, because they ran out of soap. The soap could not be restocked until the ship returned to Fort Lauderdale (after 11 days). That seems to indicate inadequate management of inventory—to not keep enough soap in stock. A workaround (hand pump soap) was developed once the norovirus problem became more widespread on the 9th day of the cruise. At the entrance to the Main Dining Room, there used to be hand sanitizer stations that you could use before entering for a meal. However, HAL deliberately removed them. I asked one of the dining officers about this. I was told the hand sanitizer stations were removed “to encourage passengers to wash their hands before coming to eat.” On the 9th day of the cruise there were repeated Public Address announcements in the morning about an increase in the reported cases of GI illness on the cruise. HAL started taking corrective actions. Personnel had hand sanitizer or pump soap at the entrance to the Lido Market, and asked every passenger to use one or the other. You could not serve yourself at the Lido Market; you requested and a ship dining person served you the food. At the Main Dining Room, ship dining personnel had hand sanitizer dispensers, and they asked passengers to get some sanitizer before entering the dining room. At the BBQ buffet at Half Moon Cay, there was the same process for hand sanitizer and kitchen personnel served food to you; there was no self-service. These steps continued until the end of the cruise. Then all passengers, including those doing back-to-back cruises, had to leave the ship, because the ship was to be thoroughly cleaned (disinfected) before leaving on the next cruise. There were excellent performers during the cruise; however, overall, the entertainment was not on par with previous cruises. The Lincoln Center Stage (classical quartet) performers and the B.B. King’s All-Stars were excellent, as usual. The Billboard Onboard piano players were pretty good. The female piano player was excellent and always had a great voice. The male piano player had a great voice for many, but not all, songs. The Rock Room Band at the Rolling Stone Rock Room seemed to lack passion; I never saw the Rock Room packed like I did on my last cruise. There was no piano player in the Ocean Bar during the cruise, playing music before and after dinner. The StepONE Dance Company put on 3 performances at the World Stage; however, some of the dance numbers were repeats of ones I saw on my previous cruises. For other performers at the World Stage, the duo Eterni Amici, pianist Tian Jiang, and comedian Lamont Ferguson were outstanding. I was not impressed with the other performers. There were some slight changes since our last cruise. There was an “Officers on Deck” event one evening. This time, there was no formal introduction of the officers. The officers just mingled with passengers by the Lido pool. The LED screens were working at the Main Stage, and served to complement the dance performances. There was no piano player at the Ocean Bar for unknown reasons; I did miss listening to piano music before going to dinner. There was no Mariner lunch on the day of embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale; apparently that has been discontinued. You could still eat in the Main Dining Rooms for lunch in Ft. Lauderdale. The three different Sommelier Suite Cellar wine packages were offered again, with varying prices for 4, 6, or 8 bottles. You get a loyalty discount on a package if you are a 3-star or higher Mariner. Many of the wines seem to be the same year after year. It would be nice if more variety were introduced. You can also order wines from a James Suckling curated list of wines for meals in the Main Dining Room and in the specialty restaurants; there was good variety and quality, at different price points. New this trip was a Wine Aficionado Dinner for $89 per person. It was a 5-course dinner with wines selected by the host (Chateau Ste. Michelle guest Al Portney for this cruise). The wines didn’t seem that special, so my wife and I chose instead to go to a specialty restaurant and enjoy food just as good, at a cheaper price. There was a line for the first 3 nights at the Main Dining Room if you wanted to dine between 6:30 and 7:30 pm. But you would get a pager, and you could get a second drink for $2 in the Ocean Bar (but there was no piano player). The two Gala Nights were the evenings of the second and third At Sea days, once each week of the cruise. There were a lot of Mariner Society members on this cruise. I think that two of the planned events, including the complimentary Sommelier Suite Wine Tasting, had to be split over two days, because of the number of Mariners. I have been a Mariner for some years now, but I learned during the cruise that you can earn medallions for so many nights of actual cruising. For example, 100 cruise nights gets you a Bronze medallion. There are other levels like Silver and Gold. I don’t know if there are privileges associated with the medallions. My wife and I did receive timely reminder notifications about wine tastings, specialty restaurant reservations, and Mariner Society events during the cruise. This corrected a problem we had on the previous cruise. I did not purchase an Internet package for the cruise. I find the packages somewhat expensive, and Wi-Fi performance on the ship can be uneven. I also use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with my Wi-Fi for privacy and security. So, I try to find free Wi-Fi at the ports of call. When I can’t, or the performance is poor, I’d purchase access for a nominal fee. At Sint Maarten, I went to the Telecom Boutique by the cruise terminal and paid $3 for 15 minutes of Wi-Fi; the quality was good, but you could only use the password for a single device. At Martinique, there was free Wi-Fi at the white tent/Tourist Info Center at the end of the pier: “FOYAL WIFI”. You just have to register to get 4 hours of Wi-Fi: first and last name, and some email address; you are provided a login name and password; just follow the easy-to-understand directions. The free Wi-Fi at the cruise terminal at Barbados (“FREE Cruise Terminal WiFi”) was very poor. At St. Lucia, I purchased some ice cream at the Pink Papaya Restaurant by the cruise terminal to use the restaurant’s Wi-Fi, which was good quality. At St. Kitts, there is free Wi-Fi after you leave the secure area at the Mapau Bar (or Mapau Casino) to your right. At. St. Thomas, there was free Wi-Fi at the USVI Tourism Info Center. Wi-Fi was good everywhere except at Barbados. I didn’t use the spa this cruise, with the exception of the free men’s sauna. An 11-day couples pass for the Thermal Suite and Hydro Pool cost $339. On days when the ship was in a port, you could usually get a day pass for $40 per person. There were quite a few spa specials on the last day of the cruise when the ship was at Half Moon Cay. For example, the cost of a 75-minute Bamboo Massage was reduced from $209 to $119. We have done multiple cruises with Holland America Line (HAL) in the Caribbean. We had previously visited all the ports for this cruise. With HAL, we repeated one of our favorite shore excursions at Barbados. In Sint Maarten, we decided to do a new tour—lagoon kayaking. I’m glad that HAL is start to offer more “active” shore excursions like kayaking. In St. Lucia, I opted for a kayaking excursion from the Shore Excursions Group. At other ports, my wife and I just wandered around or spent on the ship. At St. Thomas, we took a taxi (shuttle taxi, $8 per person, for 2 or more people) from the cruise pier to Magen’s Bay Park & Beach, paid $5 admission per person, and relaxed on the beautiful, sandy beach. You could rent lounge chairs for $8 per person (with $5 refundable deposit). At the Yak Shack, paddleboard rental was $30 per hour, single kayak rental was $20, and double kayak rental was $30. There was a restaurant at the beach. It was easy to catch a taxi back to town or the cruise pier. My wife and I both opted to do our own disembarkation from the ship. We were in the Expedited group (departure time 7:30 am – 7:45 am). We carried our own luggage off the ship. There was a long, long line of passengers waiting to get off the ship, both the Expedited group and the Luggage Direct group. Just be patient, because lots of other people may have the same idea as you for getting off the ship. I joined a Cruise Critic “Roll Call “ for the cruise several months before leaving. The Roll Call is a good place to get ideas about other, non-HAL, shore excursions that passengers are investigating, have booked, or have successfully used before. You can also share tips and ask questions about the cruise, the ship, port experiences, etc. You basically meet and chat with your future passengers. Two of the passengers on my cruise, Marina and Brian, volunteered to set up a “Meet and Greet” on the ship for those who were interested. We met in a private area by the Crow’s Nest on the day after we sailed. There were snacks, a get-acquainted game, and prizes (thanks to M & B). Several of us formed a Trivia team that played together throughout the cruise. If you’re taking a future cruise, I recommend finding and registering for a roll call for your cruise; start at the website https://www.cruisecritic.com/rollcalls/. Read Less

After being on many Holland America cruises we decided to try the Koningsdam....Ship was nice. After been told our cabin was big enough for 3 adults we booked it...Big mistake...The person on the sofa was 5"5...Her feet hung over edge. Very uncomfortable. When the crew turned down the "sofa" for the night you couldn't move anywhere. No access to the balcony unless you crawled over the "sofa" We ate in the dining room 2x because we couldn't find anything that stood out to us. We dined mostly in buffet. Long line-ups. Many walkers, scooters, wheelchairs & walkers. Some very rude drivers I might add. The salad bar was excellent as for the rest mediocre at best. Entertainment or lack of it was quite horrid. Not a thing to do during the day. Evening shows were ok...We went every evening and can honestly say we enjoyed 2 of the shows. Very disappointing. We will not go on another Holland America cruise...at least for a very long time. Very very disappointed. Read Less

Cruise fit our timeline and location. Very clean elegant ship . Mostly elderly passengers. Great food and entertainment. Beautiful ship to walk around on and admire. Cabins are very comfortable. Staff are friendly and attentive. Pool areas are well designed for swimming or sun bathing. There are lots of places to read or visit if you like. The world stage is incredible. Every seat is good. Easy to access for older people. The dining room was a relaxed pleasant experience with good selection . I can not think of any negatives for this ship. The outside walking track was great. Circle the ship three times and you will have walked a mile. I loved the aft pool area for happy hour. Nice shaded places to visit and have a few drinks. Ship seemed very stable in the waves so i did not worry about sea sickness. Over all i would recommend this ship. Read Less

Embarkation and disembarkation was smooth. For some reason, we didn't get assigned a "group" so we walked right on board. Most people, however, did have to wait. I cruised with my parents in a verandah balcony using the pullout couch. 3 adults got along fine so it would be very comfortable for a couple. Plenty of outlets and storage space for normal use, so don't bring a multi-port charger or hangers. Our shower started smelling for some reason but leaving the shower door open helped immensely. Must haves-bathroom spray and over the door (non flammable) shoe organizer (you'll probably use more pockets than you think). Overall, great dining. Lido desserts were average. The best deals? $15 Pinnacle lunch and $2 gelato. I loved Dive-in fries the best. My parents said Pinnacle dinner and Tamarind dinner were the best although they waited an hour before the Pinnacle appetizer came. Love that staff serves your food in Lido, to keep illness at bay. The self-wash stations at Lido were great. They broke down for 5-6 days and what do you know, some cases of gastrointestinal illness broke out. Was impressed with how staff handled it but those broken washers probably didn't help the situation. Those complaining about lack of things to do on sea/port days weren't looking hard enough or are jaded to HAL offerings and need to try another cruise line. I filled in my days very easily and was never bored. The one thing I agree on is the library. Pathetic. Bring a few good books or choose from the very good variety of first-run movies in your cabin. My two favorite entertainment/activities? Captain Q&A and Lincoln Center Stage. You know not the buy the internet when the staff jokes about it. The fitness room was great. The two negatives is it closes at 9 (it's dead from 7-9) and there's no time limit on machines. Plan accordingly. Regarding service, the staff and crew were fantastic. Our two room stewards knew our names by the 3rd day and always met us with the smile. Crew was very friendly and never did I see a frowning staff member coming toward me. Plenty of deck chairs to catch some sun and never did I feel crowded (minus disembarkation) but what can you expect? Lastly, steer clear if you want a more party cruise or have kids. I didn't see one drunk and only saw one kid the whole time. For me, a quiet cruise without these 2 things was bliss. Read Less

We left two older children at home and found as early 50 yo’s, we were some of the youngest passengers. No children onboard that I saw. We found most guests were from northern US or Canada, escaping the cold weather. We ate breakfast in our room choosing from a limited menu. Our wake up “call” was coffee and omelets. Sometimes we opted to sit family style in the dining room so we met other guests, sometimes just a table for two. We are at all of the restaurants for additional fees - but well worth it. We abandoned our typical scuba, snorkeling, sailing, type excursions and instead took cooking classes and roamed rum distilleries. The service/staff was excellent across all departments. Servers remembered our names surprising us sometimes. The room always looked and smelled clean. Afternoon tea at 3 was always a nice treat with lovely sandwiches and perfect pastries. Read Less

Boarded and entered our cabin to discover the bathroom smelled like a sewer. Immediately notified cabin attendant and he said it would get re-cleaned while we went to lunch. Slightly better but by next morning, we were back in the sewer. Informed attendant and guest services who promised someone would check the plumbing. Slightly better but on day 3 went and requested a guest service rep come to the cabin. They did and apologized that nothing had changed. I showed them pics of the mold on the shower walls. That afternoon the bathroom was sanitized, grout scrubbed, shower drain re-sealed. Vast improvement but it took 3 days before any serious effort to correct the problem. Sadly, this set the tone and lowered our expectations. Pluses were the food and the only worthwhile entertainment was Lincoln Center and B.B. King Blues. Main stage is vaudeville at it's worst. The internet was a disaster. The Captain, during the lunch for members of the HAL Mariners Club implored us: "Ask me anything about the ship but don't ask about the WIFI" As always, HAL food was excellent in the Main Dining, Lido and the Tamarind and Rudi's Sel de Mer. Decent cruise, nothing special. K-dam beginning to show her heavy usage. Read Less

We are fairly experienced travelers with over two dozen cruises on different lines, many of which on Holland America. This was, in fact, our second time on the Koningsdam. We attributed our prior poor experience to it being a "shake down" period since the ship was new to the Caribbean route. We decided to give it another try and chose this particular cruise because of the attractive itinerary. Unfortunately, things have not improved in respect to why I rate this cruise as only average. In fact, they have only gotten worse - lack of activities. To me, a cruise should offer more than a means of transportation from point A, to point B, and Holland America once offered a wonderful onboard experience. No more. It is perhaps unfair to tar the entire cruise with the same negative brush, however, Holland has desperately fallen behind its competitors in regard to daytime, and too often, nighttime entertainment. This was a port intensive cruise, with 6 stops in the 10 day trip. On those port days, there was virtually nothing offered for daytime shipboard activities other than "for fee" activities (make a photo mug, spa services, etc ), or go to the Microsoft workshop and listen to technically advanced cruisers banter and compete with the instructor, leaving the average attendee in the dust. This workshop certainly missed the mark for the age demographic of this cruise, and was very poorly attended. There were no crafts, dance classes, audience participation daytime shows, scavenger hunts, etc. I think that the Cruise Director had a staff of one! On the last few days of the cruise there was a flurry of overlapping offerings in what appeared to be an attempt to make up for the lack of them earlier in the week. There were of course, make your own Bridge or Mahjong games, a pickleball court, a good gym (floor exercise area in Spa). All are basically, "do it yourself". The pathetic library (located in deck 10 Crow's Nest), has about 4 books and jig saw puzzles with missing pieces. The vast majority of Trivia games were grouped either right before, or right after early dining, eliminating participation for many. Movies shown on the big screen at the pool are the same ones available in your cabins. The availability of these numerous, free, in-cabin movies, are, however, one of the saving graces of this ship. The evening main theater shows (World Stage, dks 2 &3) are lacking, as well. One evening, there was, shockingly, no nighttime show at all in the main theater. On another, a BBC movie was shown. The first night's entertainment was a blatant promo film for Holland America (interesting, but more appropriate for a daytime enrichment presentation, which it was, later in the week). The contract entertainers, who did appear, were good (comedian, magician, contemporary pianist), and the talented Koningsdam dance troupe performed 3 shows, with amazing back-lighting effects. Three, however, is too many of the same sort of thing. There are two show-times offered, 7:30 and 9:30. The early shows are quite literally "standing room" only. Get there 30 minutes early if you desire a seat. The theater is far too small for this size ship, and too many seats have occluded views. Often, during a few shows, some in the audience inexplicably, left early. The Music Walk venues (Billboard Onboard and Rolling Stone Rock Room, dk. 2) are undersized as far as seating goes (again, standing room only), and so close together (no partitions) that the various bands just become a cacophony of noise when they are at full volume. The Lincoln Center, Stage, dk. 2, which shares space with the BB King Blues Club, offers some lovely classical performances. The Cruise Director, Karlijn Verpalen, was an amazing speaker and was showcased in every enrichment program. She WAS the enrichment program! The tech capabilities in the theater provided interesting backgrounds for her various topics. I cannot commend enough the entirety of the Koningsdam crew. Everyone always had a smile, even while doing the most menial tasks. The food, was, for the most part pretty good. The Lido buffet (dk. 9) offered a wide variety of well prepared dishes. While most of the food must be served by the crew, some of the same items are inexplicably, self-serve. What I found most disconcerting was the absence of hand sanitizers in all dining venues. They have been replaced (Lido only) with stations where you physically wash your hands by sticking them into holes that contain scrubbers. These were universally ignored! This, to me, is penny wise and pound foolish on Holland's part. I did, however, see hand-sanitizes at the entrances to the casino, so their reasoning behind abandoning them seems spurious, at best. Main dining room food was good, but not outstanding. The menu leaned heavily on Caribbean flavors. We did not experience the protracted service times that some have mentioned. The Dutch Cafe (dk 3), The Dive-in (pool area, dk.9) and the New York deli and Pizza (pool area, dk.10), were all great dining alternatives. Room service was very efficient (usually came early), but we only used it for breakfast. The Mariner's Society luncheon menu was a joke. Most at my table left before finishing their meal ,commenting on the poor, almost inedible, offerings. Holland should value their loyal customers more and provide a truly special meal. The "Chocolate Surprise" offered late evening on the last Gala evening was an embarrassing affair. I remember when Holland once had a huge spread in the dining room of lavish chocolate creations. Now, you get a marshmallow on a stick washed down by chocolate milk "shooters"! Waiters stand in the hall of the Music Walk and hand out Costco-sized treats. What is Holland Am. thinking? We had a balcony cabin. It was adequately sized, with ample storage and a small loveseat. There are drawers in both the closet and the vanity. Additional storage drawers are located under the beds. One of my favorite tricks for hanging clothing is to bring a few fold-able, multi-clip skirt hangers, for both skirts and shorts. They save so much space and you don't need to ask for extra hangers. The showers on this ship are the best around, (large, with good water pressure), but the toilet is at a bit of an odd angle. The balcony is adequately sized, with two reclining chairs, a footstool and petite round table. We find the motion activated floor night lighting to be jarringly bright, and block it with a towel, preferring to use a battery operated votive candle for the bath at night. Bring an extra credit card to leave in the slot by the door to activate your room electricity. Room stewards have to get permission to empty the fridge of its liquor, so we didn't bother. It annoyed me, however, to have such a large portion of the fridge occupied by their beverages. The first day ship "muster" drill takes place in two parts. The first, at 4:15 , is a short televised film, viewed in the cabin, and then, at 4:30, you proceed to your designated "muster" station (blessedly, indoors) for a very quick life jacket tutorial. Both embarkation (10 mins) and disembarkation (20 mins) were efficient. It was really convenient to have the parking garage directly across from the ship's berth. The ship is beautiful, however, this was not the quality cruise I expect from Holland America. There is now just too much apparent cost cutting in activities. I'm not sure to what demographic they are now trying to appeal, but to me, they are largely missing the mark. I will look elsewhere for future cruises. Read Less

Overall, we loved our Southern Caribbean cruise January 2-12, 2020 aboard the Koningsdam. Having entered service in 2016, the ship has had enough time for HAL to have identified normal start-up equipment and operating glitches and correct them, which HAL and the ship's crew seem to have done well. The ship has what we would describe as a restrained elegance about it, compared with other cruise ships we've been on that go more for the glitz. We also were attracted to the Koningsdam's musical theme. The ship features four music-related venues highlighting a variety of options (from classical, folk and show tunes to blues and rock), decks named for classical composers (including Beethoven, Gershwin, Mozart and Schubert), and original music-related works of art at the top of the stairs between decks. We especially wanted to pay tribute to popular singers and pianists Sam Krivda and Ivy Alex, who performed smoothly together each evening in one of the four musical venues, the Billboard Onboard lounge. We expect more great things to come from these talented musical artists. Read Less

Had the best time on Bonaire with Woodwind Tours on their 4 hour snorkel tour. Even though the staff were young enough to be my grandkids, they were very professional and organized. Whatever we needed they provided. We attended as many of the entertainment venues on board as we could. Enjoyed almost everyone, some more so than others. Not that impressed with BB Kings or the Rock music as they were too loud for my taste. The dueling pianos were very good, but the male singer didn't seem very energetic. On embarkation day, we ate at Tamarind. The meal and service were definitely worth the additional cost. Most other meals were with a group (table of 6) in the main dining room, although we did eat dinner on the Lido buffet on days that we had lunch on the islands. Found the ship fairly hard to navigate, as there were areas of the ship where it was not easy to get from point a to point b easily. Read Less

Chose Koningsdam for itinerary, departure date/port, cabin location and Culinary Arts Center. Three weeks prior to sailing I was informed the Culinary Arts Center had been changed to Club Orange, an extra charge upgrade dining outlet and priority in guest services that certainly was not fully explained. Consequently there were no culinary talks/demonstrations, etc during the cruise. I would have changed cruises had I known sooner. Carnival's cost cutting is really making its self felt in the F&B areas. Top to bottom it is certainly not what we experienced on past HAL cruises. Short staffing in kitchens and elsewhere led to really sloooooooow service both for food and beverage in all outlets. Dining room food seemed to be dumbed down and what is with all of the thick, heavy soups on a Caribbean cruise? Gone are the refreshing chilled fruit soups from past cruises. The F&B director, Chris, seemingly proudly announced that the crew ate rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even many of the plastic glasses in the Lido Market were cloudy, making them seem dirty. The best points of the cruise were aspects of the ship itself. The art work was the best we have seen at sea. Could always find a quiet place to read and people watch. And HAL has every line beat with their Crow's Nest high above the bow. What a great place to have early morning coffee watching the dawn and/or coming into port. (BTW, the only improvement in F&B over this HAL cruise and others is that we had coffee available 24/7.) Read Less

Boarding the Konigsdam was just the average chaos. A few signs would be helpful, for sure. One delightful but mystifying surprise was the new muster drill. You watch a movie in your stateroom then go to a bar or theatre to hear about one minute worth of advice from the captain while watching a staffer put on a life jacket and that is IT! Not sure how this makes anyone any safer, but it sure is easy and convenient. The ship is lovely and in excellent condition with fast and efficient elevators. None of the art or carpets is hideous, which is truly impressive for any cruise ship, you must admit. The music theme is odd but innocuous. The elevator floor announcements of Muzza for Mozart and Panama for Panorama were a bit annoying. At times the ship seemed a bit more crowded than most ships, especially on the very narrow walking deck. Sometimes it was only wide enough for one person and traffic would become a problem. The lifeboats were beside the deck instead of above it. This may make emergency evacuation better but destroys the view of the ocean. Deck chairs did not exist on the entire promenade deck. If you love walking and sitting 9n the boat deck as much as I do, this ship is NOT for you, especially if you don’t have a balcony for quiet sea watching. (Assuming your neighbours can fight the urge to smoke and yell.). Another thing that didn’t exist was any meaningful library. There were a few books donated by passengers, but none provided by the ship, a pathetic little economy. Yes, we all have kindles, iPads, etc etc but part of the pleasure of a cruise is having time to read and it is fun to find something quite new to read at the same time. As is usual on any HAL cruise, we got the odd whiff of nasty smells/gases being vented out onto decks instead of up the smoke stack or wherever all the other lines send such things. It would be nice if HAL could figure this one out. Cabins were a bit smaller than usual and storage was not generous. Yes, there were drawers under the beds and cabinets over the sofa, but these would not be easy to reach for many cruisers. There were only three shallow drawers in the wardrobe area and even the nightstands had smaller than usual drawers. Hanging space was adequate for us, but we had only brought carry on luggage. I wouldn’t recommended Konigsdam for a cruise longer than a week unless you like wearing the same clothes a lot or rinsing things out and paying for laundry. (There is a clothes line in the shower). The bathroom door doesn’t stay open and the night light is silly. It’s ridiculously bright for a bit but then it turns itself off. We ended up just blocking it with a folder. The diagonally placed toilet is tight (legroom) for anyone over normal height, though it helps to keep the shower door open - until a few waves make it slam shut. The toilet malfunctioned twice in ten days. You must put your key in the slot, European style, to turn on any lights except the reading lights over the bed. Best to leave those on all day for ease of getting in for quick errands. Our steward was the worst we have ever had in years of cruising, but we assume that is not HALs new standard. We have not listed our cruise cabin number as he needs the job. The beds were comfortable. The Grand Dutch Cafe is okay. The Lido is okay. The Distant Lands food was not good. Too salty, not good, not authentic. The Lido is inconvenient in that you could only pass from one side to the other at one end. This is bothersome if you have a plate of hot food and find there are no tables on one side as it can cool before you get back to the other side again. We did like that silverware was on the tables and that staff would sometimes bring along water, lemonade, etc. If they were offering hot drinks when you wanted cold, it was much quicker to just go get it as is took them a while to come back on the next loop with the other choices. On the outside, back, Lido deck, cold drinks and coffee weren’t offered. New York Deli was a waste of time and space. It’s slow and they serve a pastrami sandwich with meat just one slice thick. Just not the way to make a deli sandwich, HAL. In the Main Dining Room, food was a bit better than average and we had a wonderful waiter, Disan. Only a couple of items disappointed. Salad dressing was almost always balsamic, no more choices. The flourless chocolate cakes were still very good, but have lost their “molten lava” which chef Rudi’s own recipe calls for “a piece of good chocolate such as Lindor.” If you look up this recipe online and make it, you will find that it is stupendous in its original form. The room was attractive and didn’t feel too crowded except when people at neighbouring tables got too loud and/or tipsy. As a person who takes a lot of pleasure from the library and walking deck. I would not sail Konigsdam again without some pretty considerable incentive. Almost any other ship would please me better for all that Konigsdam is bright, clean, new and attractive. I am giving it four stars because I know that my priorities are not the same as all cruisers’. Read Less

I chose this trip because the ABC islands are really nice to visit. We have been there four times. I also wanted a cruise for a friend who was new to cruising. In sum: -food especially the sushi at lunch was good. But the station closed at 1400 and our tours ended just a few minutes past this time. Other lunch stations on the Lido stayed open until 1430. -breakfast food was good but it was cold. The server warmed them up for me. -The first gala night tenderloin had no flavor. I complained - we had a visit from the Matre'd or and assistant every night - and the steak on the second gala night was much better. The chimichuri was really good with extra sauce. The salmon was the best ever. It was properly grilled on the outside and barely cooked through on the inside. The spinach and rice made this my go to meal for most nights. -it helps to be specific with the waiters. If you don't want your food slathered in gloppy sauce, just say so, and they will accommodate you. -deserts were good and they thought it was funny when I wanted them for breakfast. -one shore excursion got cancelled and we got our money back. Most of the shore excursions were booked privately as they were better and cheaper than the ship tours. -The string and piano quintet was really good. The BBC nature show was excellent. I was hoping to see it again. We could not get into one of the dance recitals as the theatre was full. The money/blockchain presentation was ok but the cruise director did not explain blockchain correctly. There was no opportunity for me to correct her mistake. The final dance recital was ok but it was not a form that I like. The dancers were competent and the musical instrument theme was clever but it was not for me. -there were no port talks nor dance classes. -The towel animals were not as good as Carnival. They were thrown out every day. On Carnival, they stayed until the last cruise day. The balcony was a great place to dry clothes from the snorkelling. -I discovered bitter lemon. I had a non-alcoholic beverage card and mixing soda water with bitter lemon is my new go to drink. -The balcony suite was fine. I had a place to dry my gear. The internet was terrible. The big dealbreaker for a future cruise with HAL was the bad bad internet. We were on this same cruise in 2017 and the internet was nowhere near as bad. bought the highest internet plan and I found out to my disappointment, that my plan has the same speed as the low end plans. The plans are differentiated by the total daily volume - 500 MB down to 250 MB for the low end plan - and bandwidth throttling does not kick in until you hit that ceiling. As a result, email would not work on sea days because of these IT design mistake. I am an IT guy and I am horrified at the stupidity. I explained the internet issue to the IT person onboard. She did not understand what I was saying and did nothing to deal with the issue. We were on Carnival in December. I bought the top plan and the internet was fabulous. HAL is owned by CCL. Surely there should only be one IT group for all the CCL member companies. The idiots working for HAL need to be fired. Let me explain the stupidity by an analogy. The plan is like everyone onboard having a suite. But if you don't pay the suite rate, you only get to stay in the room for 12 hours a day. These clowns are lucky they do not work for me. Read Less

We chose the holiday cruise expecting to see the ship all decked out. There were a couple of small Christmas trees, an electric train that moved around a village, and a scene made of plastic, featuring Dutch windmills, but I can't recall anything else. Our cabin with veranda was comfortable and the steward and assistant did a good job. They kept the cabin clean and replenished towels as needed. The servers in both the dining room and Lido provided excellent service. We should have asked more questions prior to booking excursions. We found out that some of the roads were extremely bumpy in the OpenAire 4x4. Another excursion had a lot of steps to climb. In all cases the driver and tour guides were pleasant, readily answering questions and helped guests needing help getting on and off the vehicles. Dinners served in the dining room did not meet expectations. I think that is because there are so many specialty restaurants with upcharges on the ship that they did not want to compete with regarding quality. We did enjoy the food served on the Lido deck. The French fries served at the Dive In are the best I ever had. Dinner companions were very friendly congenial and that was the best part of the excursion. We have had several cruises on Holland America ships but after this cruise we would need to think hard about taking another. I need to commend Holland America on the expedited embarkation and disembarkation plans they enacted. Both were easy and did not take much time. Read Less

We choose this ship because of the dates and length of this cruise. We have been on 23 cruises and this was the worst one we have ever been on. Our main complaints are the lack of service and lack of entertainment! There was just nothing to do! They had a large screen over the pool, but it was hardly ever used! What a waste! We enjoy being in the pool and watching movies! They even had a restaurant that had snacks for movies, but there were only 3 the entire cruise! The Pinnacle Grill, the steak specialty restaurant had terrible service. We were not approached by a waiter until 45 minutes after being seated. Then, we waited an hour for our appetizers! 5 tables walked out and were not charged . We didn't wait around either!There were some good features like the room size, the itinerary embarkment and disembarkment. We also liked the Dutch Cafe and the New York Deli. However, the bad were really bad! Never again Holland America! Read Less

Chose this cruise because it covered both Christmas and New Years. Got the Neptune Suite on Deck 4 that has the wrap around balcony because we love sitting outside watching the world go by and the stars a night. Suite is a little smaller than the normal NS but the balcony is enormous. Embarkation was a breeze, security and check in took a total of 10 minutes (arrived at 11AM) comfortable Suite Lounge with water and snacks before boarding. Perfect stateroom service during the cruise including breakfast delivered on time and hot just about every morning. Did not use the MDR at all. Pinnacle Grill 5 nights including New Years eve with Wagyu Beef and Lobster with wine parings for all 4 courses. Club Orange a couple of nights and Lido when we did not feel like changing out of shorts. Lido buffet seemed to have gotten better since last cruise in March 2019 with quality main dishes, salads, deserts, and breads. Ports were all good as we have been to most before with the exception of St Vincent. Booked a couple of tours through other sources and one through HAL all went off without a hitch. Entertainment on board was good with a couple of decent comedians, some singing and a dance company that all entertained us during the cruise. BB King club was good and the Rock Club also good. Was able to find quiet spaces to read a couple of books during the cruise. Disembarkation was a snap, if you are in a hurry to get to the airport or your parked car consider grabbing a porter that will get you through the customs process FAST and on you way. Ours got us out the door in 5 minutes and in a cab to the airport in 2 more. Read Less

When I look at some of these reviews I often wonder if some of these people were really on the same ship I was as there are such differing opinions on the same cruise! We were looking for a relaxing Christmas and New Year experience and this trip certainly delivered that! The ship was not decorated as much as I thought it might be...could maybe use a little more decor spread out throughout the ship, but it was still beautiful and festive! This is our second time on the Koningsdam and we love the size and layout of the ship, as well as the additional dining options available. Our stateroom was a balcony and we had plenty of storage for the three of us...our daughter was also with us. The only complaint I might have about the stateroom is that with three people in the stateroom and the sofa bed made out, the only way to go on the balcony is to climb over the bed...wish there was a little more room to get by, but this was a very minor issue. We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants this time and had most of our dinners in the Main Dining Room and had Anytime Dining. We never had to wait longer than 15 minutes to be seated. We ate in the Lido one evening and had Pizza from the New York Deli one evening while watching a football game by the Lido Pool. All of our meals in the MDR were excellent...there were a few nights that I went out of my comfort zone and tried something new and was pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve were festive. For lunch and breakfast we ate mostly in the Lido and found a good variety of quality choices and the service excellent. We also enjoyed Dive-In and the Grand Dutch Cafe. As usual, the food and service were spot on. We do not need extensive activities to enjoy our cruise. We enjoyed High Tea a few times and played Trivia and Bingo a few times. We enjoyed the sun and relaxed with a book in several different quiet locations on the ship. We enjoyed the Dance Group's Humanity performance and the Music Walk venues. The Orange Party was very festive and it was great to see the cruise director and a few other officers joining in the fun. It was enjoyable to see the crew in a different light during the Christmas caroling on Christmas Eve. And, of course, New Year's Eve was full of music, fun and champagne around the Lido Pool...it was standing room on all levels and such a fun way to ring in 2020! We would not hesitate to book another Holiday cruise on Holland, especially on one of the new ships! Read Less

My husband and I are in our mid-30's/early 40's. During the holiday season, we always take a cruise. For the past four years, we've taken NCL cruises. This year, we decided to take a cruise on the Koningsdam. We already had 3 HAL cruises under our belts, but those were all out of the Pacific Northwest. We were unsure about a HAL cruise in the Caribbean because the ports are less of a feature than on an Alaskan itinerary. What did we think? We absolutely loved the Koningsdam!! I'm mystified why there are so many low reviews. So far, this is our favorite HAL experience. Cruise Info: 7 Day Eastern Caribbean - December 15-22, 2019 Embarkation: We spent 2 nights at an Airbnb in Fort Lauderdale. We took a Lyft to Port Everglades and arrived around 11am. Embarkation was smooth. Check-in went by quickly, and there was plenty of space to wait in the terminal. By noon, we were on the ship and enjoying lunch in the main dining room. Ship: This is a beautiful ship! The decor manages to be both classic and modern. HAL seems to be moving in a new direction with this ship, and I like it! The atrium spans three decks with the Ocean Bar and Grand Dutch Cafe on two of them. On previous HAL cruises, I thought the atrium was too small and too dull. This one was bigger and had more energy from all the nearby areas. The ship was always clean and tidy. The promenade on deck 3 was more narrow than on previous ships, but it was still a great place to walk around and enjoy the sea air. We avoided areas on the starboard side because the ventilation for cigarette smoke was there. The BB King Lounge is 2 decks high, so there was always lots of seating. We didn't spend much time by the lido pool, but it did feel stuffy here. The only opening for the 2 deck area was the retractable roof. Cabin: We had originally booked a guaranteed inside cabin. Less than a week before the cruise, we were offered an upgrade to a veranda for $79 per person! Needless to say, we quickly got on the phone and got our new cabin. Please see my cabin review below for more details. Main Dining Room: The dining rooms on older HAL ships are dark, but the Koningsdam's MDR is bright, modern, and welcoming. We ate all our dinners and some of our lunches here. I also enjoyed afternoon tea a couple times, which is a fun treat. We had open seating, and we usually arrived around 7pm. On both gala nights, we were given a pager and had to wait 20-25 minutes, but the time passed quickly. The food was very good and offered a nice variety. The MDR staff is friendly and willing to fill special requests (e.g. extra vegetables, no sauce). There was only one dish I did not enjoy, and I was able to receive a new entree quickly. Drink service was extremely fast! I hope HAL eventually ends set dining times. When I looked at the deck above, I saw many empty tables. This seems inefficient. Also, I wish there were bathrooms in the dining room because you have to go through the people waiting to enter in order to reach the toilets. Grand Dutch Cafe: What a great addition!! Every staff member is from the Netherlands, and the menu consists of Dutch foods. We ate many lunches here. We especially enjoyed the quiche and the pickled herring. The coffees were excellent. The highlight of this area was the extremely friendly staff. They always made us smile. Room Service: Each day, we ordered room service for breakfast. It always arrived on time or a little earlier. We requested items not listed on the menu (e.g. grapefruit, plain yogurt), and these items were always included. It's very relaxing to enjoy breakfast in the cabin before venturing out on the ship. Signature Beverage Package: When we booked our cruise, HAL was running a great deal on the SBP ($140 per person for the entire week). This is such a wonderful perk! It covers all drinks priced at $11 or less, and this includes bottled waters and specialty coffees. (I should note that you can only get bottled waters that are 500mL or less. This seems to be a recent change.) Each day, we enjoyed a couple coffees, many bottles of water, a few glasses of wine, and a digestif. We definitely got our money's worth! If you can get the SBP at a discounted rate, go for it! Entertainment: The Music Walk is a great concept! Lincoln Center Stage and BB King are both amazing!! They are filled with talented musicians. I loved relaxing to classical musical before dinner and then dancing the night away after our meal. The nighttime music is loud. My husband and I both wore earplugs when dancing at BB King. We were still able to enjoy their music without getting headaches. We were unable to listen to the rock band for long. Even with the earplugs, they were still way too loud. They need to either turn down the volume or move to a bigger venue. We went to the main stage shows twice. We saw the BBC Earth presentation and a comedian. Both were good. Daytime Activities: This is an area HAL still needs to work on. There is not a lot going on at this time, so we usually entertained ourselves by walking the promenade or playing cards. Computer classes and spa seminars are not for me. I wish there more active options (e.g. dance classes). We did attend the presentation about HAL's history. This was fantastic and very interesting! Service: As always, HAL's service was top-notch. Our room stewards were wonderful! They took care of everything, and our room was always clean and tidy. Every staff member we encountered was friendly and helpful. The cruise director (Karlijn) was a real standout! She puts her heart and soul into her job. Guest Services: On day 2, we noticed a billing error. We had been charged for a few items that should have been included with the SBP. We visited guest services, and the issue was quickly resolved. We had no more issues the rest of the cruise. Great job!! Ports: The only port that stood out was San Juan. There is so much to see in the Old Town! Due to rough seas, we were unable to visit Half Moon Cay. On the morning of arrival, the captain announced the change. By 10am, the cruise director had planned several new activities for the day and had a new schedule printed. I was very impressed! Please read my port reviews below for more information on each stop. Disembarkation: We were able to enjoy room service breakfast and then wait in our cabin until our luggage group was called. Getting off the ship was easy. We took a Lyft to Pompano Beach and spent the next few days relaxing by the sea. Overall: We loved the Koningsdam!! Yes, HAL is moving in a new direction with a larger ship, new concepts, and more modern decor. I think the low rating on CC has to do with these changes. In order for HAL to go forward and gain new cruisers, it needed to change. The Koningsdam shows the company is looking towards the future. I can't wait to cruise with them again!! Read Less

I loved loved loved this cruise. I have been on many cruises and have sailed on most of the mainstream cruise lines – Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Princess, Carnival, Costa, MSC, Celebrity, and other cruise lines as well. The Koningsdam was really a surprise, I have sailed on Holland America Lines (HAL) before and I expected this ship to be similar to the other two HAL ships I previously traveled on. Embarkation was slow but this is because Port Everglades have not upgraded the port facilities. The terminals in Port Everglades are antiquated and to small for the size of todays cruise ships. Two days before sailing I received an email from Holland America offering me an upgrade to a balcony cabin. I decided to take advantage of the offer and loved the balcony cabin. The food on the Koningsdam was excellent. In the lido market the staff serves you the food, this is a nice touch as other passengers are not touching the serving utensils which helps to prohibit the spread of any viruses. Food in the main dining room was also very good and was in general the food on this ship was by far superior to that of other cruise lines. For example, every morning there is a nice selection of berries, something I did not see on Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival…….etc. Staff on this ship was also very accommodating, polite, and professional. Our cabin steward, wait staff, etc were all very friendly. The biggest surprise for me was the entertainment on this ship. There is a music walk that was a lot of fun. Rolling Stones Rock Room was outstanding! Loved the music, and the musicians, especially the guitar players were exceptional. The lead singer Michael from Virginia (I did not get his last name) is so talented with an amazing voice. The BB King Blues club was also outstanding with a wide variety of music. The BB King Blues club turns into a disco late at night. There is also Billboard onboard which is two pianos with singers performing popular hits. Billboard onboard was the only entertainment venue that I did not enjoy. The performers Sam and Ivy were consistently off key and did not resonate with the audience. The absolutely best best and I mean the best entertainment on this ship was performed by the Lincoln Center stage! This music was amazing and consisted of two violinists, one cello, one viola, and one piano. Alexander Lee on the violin and Ashley Green on the cello were fantastic. This group played a wide variety of music ranging from Masterworks i.e. Beethoven to movie classics to pop. Even if you are not a fan of classical music you will enjoy observing this group perform. The shows and entertainers were ok, not great. The dancer’s performance of “Humanity” was very good with an excellent use of graphics. Planet Earth II in concert was also very good. I enjoyed the origin story of Holland America Line was very interesting. The comedians were average, I’ve seen better on other ships. The Orange Party was a lot of fun. We dressed up in Orange clothes as did many other passengers, the music was fantastic, and the dance floor was packed. Loved it. The Captain – Darin Bowland provided very informative announcements regarding where the ship was located, navigation speed, information about the ship, etc. Never met him but I enjoyed his announcements. The cruise director was outstanding. Karlijn Verpalen was visible and made the cruise so much fun. She interacted with the passengers, danced with us at the Orange Party and was so friendly. She is very personable, and I think she has a great future with HAL. Now the bad - I had booked three shore excursions on the HAL website two months prior to sailing, yet the tickets were not delivered to my stateroom nor were they placed outside my door. I had to make numerous visits to the shore excursion desk to get this issue resolved. On our first port – Grand Turk, I had reserved the Segway excursion, yet I had no ticket. I was told to speak to a shore excursion specialist on-shore. I hunted him down and he gave me a handwritten ticket which the shore excursion person was reluctant to accept. Finally, I insisted that they re-print the shore excursion tickets which they did. I attribute this to my upgrading of cabin two days prior to sailing. I assume the shore excursion tickets were floating around on deck 8 which was where my original cabin was supposed to be located. This was a mess and caused me to waste a lot of time trying to locate these shore excursion tickets. I selected anytime dining, a big mistake. I assumed that once on-board I could reserve the time I wanted to eat, no, once on-board I was told dining room times were reserved and that only 5:30 or 8:30 were available. We ate in the main dining room on the first night and only one other night. I would not do this again. Finally, we had to skip our port of call at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas due to rough seas. This is not acceptable. We were right next to the island and I could see the beach, the pirate ship bar, and everything Half Moon Cay has to offer. I had reserved the jet ski excursion and of course I was disappointed. I have been on three Holland America Cruises, all in the Caribbean, and all had Half Moon Cay as a port of call. I was only able to visit Half Moon Cay on one of the three cruises. A few years ago, I was on the Prinsendam and we skipped stopping at Half Moon Cay due to the tenders not being able to transport passengers as a result of high seas. Come on Holland America (and parent Carnival Corporation) - if you are going to continue using Half Moon Cay - BUILD A DOCK SO THE SHIPS CAN PULL UP AND PASSENGERS CAN DISEMBARK ON THE ISLAND. Royal Caribbean built a dock at their private island, and MSC has a dock at its private island. Tenders are going out of style, so HAL build a dock at Half Moon Cay! Finally, I really loved this cruise, despite the few negative issues listed immediately above, this was memorable cruise and I will be sailing on Holland America again real soon. Read Less

We are veteran cruisers, especially recently with this being my fifth cruise in the last year. This is our fourth(?) HAL cruise. For the first time in 25 years we cruised with old friends who were also veteran cruisers. There was so much to like about this ship and we had a great time, as did our friends. Wife and I are 52 and 49. EMBARKATION was outstanding. We arrived around 10:50 and there were very few people there that early. It probably took us 10 minutes from walking in to getting our seats waiting for the ship to open. I expect the ship opened around 11:40 and we walked on with friends and headed to the deli for sandwiches and drinks. FOOD - DELI The Reuben at the deli was good but ask for extra meat on the Reuben. We had one with extra and one without and the one without was skimpy. This was our only trip to the deli. LIDO - Food here was a mixed bag. I thought breakfast here was very good with a lot of variety. I got the corned beef hash every morning and it was tasty. Lunch quality was lower than I remember on previous ships. Food in general was bland. The carved lamb I had one day was way overcooked and dry, the server even noted all they had was well done. DINING ROOM - We had six meals in there and all were good or better. Most of mine were fantastic except the Yankee Pot Roast which was too lean. The blackened barramundi was excellent but one part of it had scales and was inedible. A recent trend we have noticed is putting all the great dishes on the menu on the Gala Night, leaving the other nights a little short on really great dishes. Yankee Pot Roast night was one of these. SPECIALTY - We had two lunches in Pinnacle Grill. Both were outstanding and a great value at $15 pp, especially considering the lackluster lunch quality in the Lido. Dishes there included salmon, seafood soup, and tenderloin. Apps and desserts were also outstanding. I requested the key lime pie off the dinner menu and they obliged. It was big and great. We also had an outstanding meal in Tamarind. They went to another bar to get it when they did not have my liquor of choice. I thought there would be a discount for the first night, but it was full price. Keep this in mind if you are seeking a first-night discount. The Dutch Cafe is the best kept secret on the ship. Rarely a line, great food, drink and service. Don't skip this place. SERVICE - I would love to give 5 stars here because it was generally outstanding, but there were a few notable exceptions. Interactions with the staff were always 5 star. They were kind, polite, and interested in you. They would do anything you asked even if it wasn't their job. However, there were a few issues. One night in the dining room we had particularly slow service from both the waiter and wine steward. It seemed as a table for six we were the lowest priority for this crew. I finally spoke to a supervisor when we were there for 70 minutes and still had appetizer dishes on the table. Service in the Crows Nest was also hit and miss. Too often you would try to get the waiter's attention and they seemed to be in their own world, not looking to see if anyone around them needed service. Other than these exceptions, service was outstanding. BARS - Service and quality was generally very good, but again a few drinks came out not quite right. John in the Panorama and Rolling Stone Rock Room served some strong drinks, and we sought out "Double John" for service whenever we could. ENTERTAINMENT - We really enjoy BB Kings and this cruise was no exception. The female lead had a slow start to the week but warmed up as the week went on and was right on by mid-week. Everyone else was top notch start to finish. We also enjoyed the Rolling Stone Rock Room. One of the two comedians was very good, the other good. We enjoyed the dance troupe who made good use of the video technology. We also enjoyed the Planet Earth show. Daytime activities was weak and there was very little live music during the day. We saw two string quintet shows and both were outstanding. Pop-up game show on the unexpected sea day was fun. SHIP - The ship had a good vibe with a mix of younger and older passengers, with most being between the two like us. Weather was windy all week but almost no rain. Our stop at Half Moon Cay was cancelled for high seas and as we sailed away we had the highest seas and ship rocking we have ever experienced on a ship. At one point outside decks were closed because of the high winds. PUBLIC ROOMS - Very well kept up and all set the right mood. The quality and quantity of art throughout seemed a little lacking. As usual I enjoyed the fresh flowers. CABIN - see below GUEST SERVICES - Prompt, quality service when needed. VALUE - We are bargain hunters and got a great deal on this cruise. 5 star here. EXCURSIONS - We did not take any ship excursions. FITNESS and REC - We did not do the spa or fitness center. DEBARKATION - We had a 1:50 flight so we stayed on the ship until last call and carried our luggage off. I love not packing the night before and having a full, enjoyable evening on the last night without worry of packing or bags. We met friends for dining room breakfast at 8:20, had an enjoyable last meal, then waited in the lounge until last call around 9:40. Fairly short line getting off, but long line at customs. We probably got through customs around 10:10. OVERALL - We all had a very enjoyable week. Four of us had the drinks package and made good use of that with alcoholic, non-alcoholic, coffee, and bottle waters all free. That was a value-added freebie for us and we booked because of it. Highly recommended cruise, especially at less than $100 pp, per day. Read Less

I chose this Holland America cruise to avoid the shopping mall atmosphere on bigger ships where passengers need to be constantly entertained. This is a traditional sailing type atmosphere not an amusement park, there are plenty of mega ships that fit that profile. If you prefer a relaxing schedule enjoying sunsets on deck rather than rock climbing then Holland America is for you. Sometimes less is more. Ship overall: Among the best contemporary cruise ship, perfect size and amenities. Embarkation: The embarkation process was relaxing and well-orchestrated. My wife and I arrived before noon and only waited 20 minutes before embarking. Unlike other ships, the on board welcoming experience was like the Orient Express where bellmen great you in lavish attire, elevator porters and take you to your floor and staff available everywhere to assist. Dining overall: Food portions are small, quality is good. Main dining room takes a long time, Lido buffet is always crowded. Dining room Breakfast: We only went twice since it usually takes an hour for breakfast which ends too early by 9:30 AM so the Lido buffet was our best option. Lunch: Seldom available. Dinner: Best for days at sea since wait times are long and food quality was comparable to the buffet. Afternoon tea: We waited over 30 minutes before anyone served us, I finally had to ask for service. Lido Buffet Good food quality but too repetitive daily menu items and always crowded with long lines and the Lido on both sides of the ship were rarely open despite being a full sailing. Why not open both sides including specialty dining venues especially during breakfast and lunch when they are empty? The menu placards were so small you couldn’t even read the menu items and the variety was limited with lack of international varieties. The eggs Benedict were served with raw English muffins! We could never fine seating unless we looked at Lido on both sides of the ship since one side was always closed. NY Deli The pizza was terrible-inedible. The Reuben and tuna sub were good. Dive In The best for burgers and chicken sandwiches, the fries were great. Room dining service: We cancelled twice since it took twice as long to get (over an hour) and the only time we did get it, they forgot the coffee and toast for breakfast, pass. Staff overall: All venues especially the cabin service was outstanding, they were all professional and polite. Best part of the cruise was the friendly staff. Everyone says hello no matter where you are. Entertainment: BB Kings and Billboards were the best with something for everyone. The Main stage is the most sparse and uninviting of any ship, it felt like a high school auditorium. Muster drill: Among the worst experience on any ship. Passengers never went to the deck to our assigned station instead wasted an hour sitting in the main stage while they called out our room numbers often repeatedly. No one had a clue where their assigned station was, bad and unsafe practice. Debarkation: Just as uneventful as the Embarkation process allowing everyone time for breakfast. However we disliked a staff member having to interrupt us while packing just to count the fridge items we never used, it should have been done the day before. Overall rating: Due to the staff, it was among the best cruise experience we have had despite room for improvement especially dining options and issues. The passenger survey emailed after the cruise was only good for a few days, we never had a change to participate. Read Less

11-Southern Caribbean cruise in December of 2019. Great itinerary of islands that were not the typical voyage. Martinique, Antigua and Barbuda are highlights! Ship is extremely well maintained - crew is extremely friendly. Grand Dutch Café and Club Orange dining room are great! Cannot say enough about the staff. Everyone from maintenance crew to housekeeping staff to Neptune Lounge crew to the Officers of the ship went out of their way to talk to everyone! Food was excellent! Portions were perfect! Room service for breakfast was spot on for accuracy and temperature - maybe a phone call to let us know it was on the way! Cabin accomodations were impeccable! Very comfortable beds and deck chairs! Plenty of room for storage. Public areas were tasteful and very light oriented. Carpets and wood tones were inviting to the eye. Would definitely book another cruise on this ship and enjoy it on a voyage longer than a standard 7-day cruise. You need that long to enjoy the ship! Some of the best entertainment on Holland America in a long time! The showroom is different without a balcony, but it works! Read Less

The Koningsdam is a very nice modern design but for me too big. Where is the real teakwood? I miss the contact with the management which you do have on the smaller HAL ships.The crew is fantastic although in the dinerroom the service is not organised. Room service fantastic. The cabin attandents were, as always, super. The average age of the passangers was 71,9 yrs with lot of scoot mobiles. In the evenings there is nothing to do except the fantastic Lincoln art music. BB Kings overrules everything. What a noice...Happy that my cabin was not above them.... It was a Caribbean cruise but I missed any Caribbean show/music gatherings along the pools during sail aways. Very dull! Shows were of low quality and not diverse. Tamarinde restaurant is fantastic: Rick's was so so. What a very minus is; the crew let sneakers and shorts enter the diningroom. Where are the HAL standards?? The itinnery was very good: 2 sea days, 7 islands and again 1 sea day. The cruise ports: most of them large piers with shops.The older Cruise people do not explore the nice islands but only walk to the port shops. Locals do miss their turnover while they like to show their island and earn money which they need after the terrible hurricanes. I only booked one tour excursion after the cruise but they combined 3 different tours together. HAL Rotterdam booking service was very bad. They doesn't give any info about the Orange night. They spoil the pre-fun of cruising! Read Less

We booked this cruise as a romantic couples cruise. Food and service were the highlights of our cruise and I would rate them as excellent. The Koningsdam is a fairly new ship and very nice. I need the internet for work also during a cruise. I therefore booked the best internet package possible. Unfortunately, the internet was either extremely slow (felt like an AOL dial-up years ago) or not available at all. This was very frustrating as I had booked a similar package on NCL on a prior cruise and had a fantastic experience (high speed and continuous availability). My impression is that HAL's target customers do not use the internet so they don't invest in proper technology. For this reason alone, I would not cruise with them again. The entertainment program was very disappointing. We had looked forward to experiencing the American Test Kitchen, however we learned onboard that it was not operational during our cruise. The main stage program consisted of comedians and a magician. There was a dance show we didn't see and we very much enjoyed the BBC show with the ship orchestra. It certainly appears as though HAL is trying to save money with this entertainment program. As a minor point, I would like to mention that not all onboard events were shown in the HAL app. The listings in the app were inconsistent with the gym offering or the mixology classes offered for example. Read Less

We chose this cruise as a 10 day special cruise for my 75th birthday. Unfortunately, we checked in our luggage at Koningsdam drop off. Somehow our luggage ended up on a Celebrity ship. We were notified the next day that our luggage was on the Celebrity ship and would catch up with us at our first stop in Bonaire. Then late in the afternoon we checked to see that everything was set up. Sheila in guest relations told us that Celebrity could not fly our luggage without a passenger. I immediately said - I'll pay the charges to send it FED Ex and she refused to do that. Therefore we were on a cruise for 10 days with 1 shorts outfit and 1 long pants outfit for me and for my husband, he had 2 shorts outfits. The ship stores had no long pants for him, no underwear and for me no underwear or bras, long pants or shorts. They credited $700 in our account to buy clothes - the only thing we could do was rent a cab to take us shopping. We found no nice clothes - only touristy shirts which were paper thin, no long pants for either of us, no bras anywhere. We paid $60 for 2 trips in Curacao and Bonaire (total $120) for taxi fare to end up with 4 cheesy shirts which were unraveling almost immediately. Remember, this was a special occasion milestone birthday cruise for which we had saved $$$. We had to send out laundry twice a day to have clean clothes and underwear - my one bra had to be hand washed and dried with the hair dryer. We weren't able to do the excursions as every morning, we had breakfast in our cabin as we waited for our "express" laundry so we could get dressed. All the while, we had 2 suitcases full of nice clothes and underwear - traveling to Mexico with Celebrity. Yes, we had complimentary laundry service but we were so limited in what we could do and it got old real quick wearing the tacky touristy shirts to dinner. They did outfit us with nice dress up clothes for the Gala nights - Larry's shirt was way too big, my skirt was about 4 inches too long and I had to roll it up at the waist - the jacket sleeves were too long and I had to safety pin them to give them a blousy effect to fit my short arms. Not sure why the stuff didn't fit properly as someone from the tailor's shop came to our cabin and measured us. That was only 2 nights of the 10 nights that we felt almost properly dressed. This was a milestone 75th birthday for me - one which I can never create again. They should have shipped our luggage FED EX. We did nothing wrong - The hotel director (cruise ship boss) Mustafa was very very apologetic, opened a complaint for us, told me to call them when I got home and they would make it right ! So I did, called and spoke with someone named Ellen who was concerned and told me she'd call me back the next week. I waited and finally 8 or 9 days later, I called again. There were NO NOTES about my prior call - Ellen did not even leave any notes about our conversation. It was as if I was calling for the first time. They told me they wouldn't give me any money back - that's it. I wrote to the President of Holland America Lines, sent it certified and have heard nothing. This is 4 weeks later. Buyer beware - if everything is good, ok but once you have a problem, they pay attention for the first 2 days and afterwards, it's your problem We did not get our luggage back until we got back to Fort Lauderdale Shame on you Holland America - uncaring for sure. We are seasoned cruisers but this was our first and last Holland America cruise. As for the ship, it was nice, food was mediocre, entertainment was pretty much non existing. House band at BB Kings. Never again - they ruined a very very important birthday for me by 'losing" my luggage. I should be refunded at least half of my fare. When you look good, you feel good. We didn't have proper clothing and had to alternate 2 outfits for 8 of the 10 nights. Buyer beware - read all reviews before you book a cruise. Read Less