A little background before you read my review. I have cruised 7 times, 6 on newer NCL ships, and once on the Disney Dream. I booked this first cruise ever with the Koningsdam because of the itinerary - not because of the cruise line or the fact that it was a new ship. As I learned the ship was new, and watched all the hype videos prior to my trip, I'll admit my expectations were set quite high for this first cruise not only with Holland America - but on the new Koningsdam.

There is one major physical issue wrong with the ship - and I will address that later in my review.

Embarking on the Koningsdam, and overlooking that everything was "new" - I have to admit that the ship wasn't any more impressive to me than say the Norwegian Gem or the Disney Dream. In fact, I was surprised at some of the more 'backwards' thinking that went into the design of the ship that other cruise ships, 10 years older, have better. 2 examples. To put the gangway out from "A" deck, the crew has to haul an old winch out and manually hang it from a davit then swing it out over the ship with cables and wires and straps, etc. This resulted in taking extra time putting the gangway out in ports we visited. How the designers missed looking at about 100 other cruise ship designs in the industry to do this better is beyond me. Also, while there is good wireless internet on the ship - the phone system is an older style and there is no option to be able to take a wireless phone with you to communicate easily with other guests on the ship as we could on the Disney Dream, nor do the onboard ship apps allow you to use your tablet or mobile device as a communicator with others on the ship as I have been able to do on older ships. Unless you bring walkie-talkies with you - you can't communicate with your friends or family unless you know where they are - or they are in the cabin. Very odd. Read more