Koningsdam Review
As expected, great customer service with a smile - always!
Rating by category
Additional details
I love Holland America. I chose the cruise for its itinerary - 21 days in the Caribbean to see as much as I could see. The Islands all kind of blend together but I loved Martinique. But about the ship. New ship with new touches. Loved the movies under the starts with popcorn, pizza and other snacks. Loved all the happy hours and drink specials. Loved BB King Blues club. LOVED the spa. We bought a spa pass and used it every day and it was never too crowded. Some people talked about it being too easy for people who had not paid for the spa to use the free dry sauna and walk into the spa area but I didn't see this happen at all. There was always plenty of room for the people who paid to use it to find a spot to enjoy. The food as always was excellent, from the Dive In to Tamarind. Staff on board was, as always, exceptional. I was disappointed in the shops and the shopping ashore adviser. They really, REALLY push high end jewelry and watches. Not everyone likes or wants such high-end items. I miss the low and middle end stuff. They had one day where they had a sale on things like that at the pool but I swear to God it was like a feeding frenzy. People were lined up the length of the pool to pay for their items. And they were all Holland America items. I remember cruising the Mediterranean when they had sales at the pool that were local items, not just Holland T-shirts. That would have been nice to see here. But really that is my only complaint and I actually did end up purchasing my third Majorca pearl necklace on board. I don't gamble so I can't speak to the casino but I did hear at least 3 people talk about the money they won, so they said :-) Over all I liked the new ship very much. I thought the artwork all around the ship was excellent.
Cabin Review
Verandah Stateroom
I wanted the lowest category of balcony cabin available with an obstructed view. I scrutinized the floor plan to make sure we were not above any of the entertainment venues and from what was available I chose 4103 which appeared to be above a storage closet. I have paid for a VA (most expensive balcony category) cabin on the Oosterdam before was was very disappointed because the view was blocked by the jutting of the ship on one side and the hoists for the lifeboats on the other so I was not going to splurge again and still get an obstructed view. I was not disappointed in 4103. The only obstruction was the top of the lifeboat if you were sitting on the chairs on your balcony, otherwise you could see the whole vista perfectly. Because the cabin is midship and a low level you felt very little movement of the ship. However, 10 days into the 21 day cruise the ship started going at a faster rate and there was more than just calm seas and we started hearing a terrible "knocking" in the room. We investigated all the closets and drawers, the safe and the refrigerator and we could not find the cause of the noise. In the morning I went to the front desk and complained and they said because the ship was moving through rougher seas it was just the movement of the ship. I have been on about 10 cruises and have never heard this kind of noise before and said so. It sounded like someone was knocking at our door. Indeed, we got up in the middle of the night to answer the door when the knocking started only to find no one there. They came to our room to hear the noise and said there had been previous complaints about noise in this room and they pointed to shims placed above the molding where the wall meets the ceiling where they had tried to prevent the noise. This ship is only 1 year old - it should have been made better :-( Long story short they moved us to another room, problem solved! Other than the mystery noise, the shower was great but the new configuration of the toilet leave you with your knees up against the shower wall. The bathroom is very small but I think they all are now.