We choose the Koningsdam for our cruise because we liked the 21 day itinerary and we wanted a longer cruise (given how far we have to travel to get to the ship).

Embarkation was relatively smooth and we were onboard by noon and had access to our cabin. We decided to book an inside cabin because we typically spend very little time in our cabin and prefer to enjoy exploring the ports and on sea days we are happy to lounge outside on the lido deck. Little did we know that our cabin on deck 5 was directly above the sound system in the ceiling of the World Stage theatre!! Usually we like to get up early and go to bed early, but most nights we had to endure the thumping and vibrations of the shows with the last one ending around 10:45 pm. HAL did their best to try and relocate us but to no avail as the ship was full (apparently HAL is more than aware that our cabin is very noisy, as are other cabins on the ship located near the various music venues - BB Kings being loud with late shows as well). Despite the noise, our cabin was well appointed with a comfy bed and plenty of storage space. A nice wall mounted flat screen TV with lots of offerings and being able to have it tuned to the ship's aft camera made it seem less like an inside cabin at times! The washroom was very nice, particularly the shower and the amenities. Our friendly cabin stewards were just awesome and worked ever so hard - 7 days a week and long days! Our cabin was kept impeccably clean and serviced twice a day!

The ship is beautiful and despite being larger than other HAL ships, we never felt crowded and the art work around the ship is quite interesting and very different from other HAL ships. We enjoyed the 2nd level of the Lido pool area most sea days and found it relaxing and quiet as we sat and read or just gazed out on the ocean. Read more