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. Read more