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. Read more