Ms. Koningsdam was the newest ship from Holland America at the time we took this cruise. There is a new ship being launched that I understand is a twin of this gorgeous Koningsdam. This ship has 14 decks! It is huge!!
Launched in April 2016, Koningsdam has bright, open spaces free from the older ships' usual wood paneling, period artwork, and masculine, even clubby atmosphere heavy on maritime influence. Just how modern is the new look? The deck overlooking the pool has white leather banquets and day beds surrounded by sheer white curtains, a look that feels more like Celebrity’s Solstice-class ships than anything in this fleet. Koningsdam also has a music theme, and artwork includes beautiful black-and-white photos of dancers as well as more playful pieces.
At 2,650 passengers, Koningsdam is the largest ship in the Holland America fleet, but smaller spaces — including the dining room and theater — with frequent seatings make it feel more manageable. By the way - the theater is state-of-the-art! Unbelievable special effects! The shows were saw were outstanding!!!
This ship has made other improvements that are subtle yet impactful, too, including offering Wi-Fi that’s 10 times faster than what you’ll find on their older ships. But it is not cheap - the package we got was 500 minutes for $175. There are other packages that are available. When in port, we accessed the land-based services. Verizon (our carrier) has a product called Travel Pass that gave us our regular plan we have here in the USA (unlimited everything) for $10 for 24 hours. So, we were covered for our trip. You only pay for the service when you need it.
For travelers craving their morning bagel, lunchtime sandwich, and evening pizza, New York Deli and Pizza hits the spot. We had maybe six meals there. This eating place was great! It’s hidden away on Deck 10 overlooking the pool, so if you go early in your sailing before everyone finds it, you can beat the crowds. Best of all, there’s no charge for these dishes at any time of day, nor is there one for the burgers and fries at the popular Dive-In grill, another lunchtime favorite on sea days. Overlooking the pool provides some entertainment as well. At the far end of the pool was a HUGE video screen that always had stuff playing.
There’s also no charge in the Grand Dutch Café, which celebrates the line’s heritage with pea soup, herring on pumpernickel, mini pancakes called poffertjes, and snacks such as bitterballen. With a large number of Dutch passengers on European sailings — and as high as 90 percent on cruises out of Amsterdam — it’s safe to expect the line to take proper execution of these dishes seriously.
Most of our meals were at the Lido Cafe. The food there was excellent and there were always an abundance of selections. We fell in love with their stuffed creampuffs! The cafe is on the 9th deck and provides great views of the ocean and ports. We also enjoyed a great meal at the Pinnacle Grill - a gorgeous steak house on board the ship. Finding something to eat on this ship is absolutely not a problem! The challenge is not eating too much - a condition easily caught on cruise ships in general!
As for staterooms, we can only talk about ours - the Nepture Suite 7087. And Mary and Bill's was identical (7085). It was outstanding. I have a video to share below providing a tour of our suite. Pam makes mention of "mics to the concierges, but as we discovered, there were really reading lamps disguised as mics!!!
The amenities in this level of suite are numerous - daily laundry, access to the Neptune Lounge, king-size beds, huge TV, beautiful bathroom with jacuzzi tub, beautiful veranda outside (balcony) - and the list goes on! We were located pretty much mid-ship (thanks to Mary and Bill for knowing where best to bunk on this ship!). Being in the center gave us the smoothest ride in rough waters - although, the gyros and stabilizers really did a phenomenal job keeping us riding smooth even when there were some significant swells! There is definitely an advantage to being on a large, modern ship when navigating in the middle of an ocean!
