Koningsdam: What's Changed (and what hasn't)!

Thank You For Sharing We Will Be On Koningsdam Next Year For 35 Days To Hawaii And Tahiti.

I took my very first cruise on the Koningsdam to retrace the experience my father had destination wise years prior. I was on the second out of Vancouver after Covid Cruise. It was a wonderful experience and one I would like to repeat soon. Sadly I find the changes/elimination of things like the music walk selection which made the Koningsdam appealing to me in the first place have changed or been eliminated in so short a time. I was always dismayed that the "Party was over before it began" so to speak with the curfew mentality which ended nightlife hours long before life ashore experiences.

Board game area reminds me of senior center.

Sad to hear that the Lincoln Center is gone. It was the one nice and quiet music venue. BB King and the Rock room are way too loud.

Too bad about the Lincoln center stage. I was looking forward to that on my June 1 cruise.

Sailing on her in March 2024. Can’t wait. We love the Eurodam and sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam in Aug 2024 and 2025. Thanks for sharing.

Don’t understand why they didn’t place a hot tub in the Retreat like her sister ships. Bad miss in my opinion.

We are curious about Holland America, not having sailed with them before, and would most likely make them our choice for cruises in North America, Canada, Alaska etc, so this was interesting to see.

Not sure at all about the Crow's Nest change. It's more usable (they jammed into Shore Excursion and Games Room in there) but maybe much less quiet?

The theater shows need to be updated most of the shows are 3 to 5 years old

Someone on another commentary said that the soft ice cream machine was replaced by hand scooped ice cream. Is this true?

Just went on an Alaskan cruise on there in May this year. The food was atrocious and so was the service. Our room steward was great. They literally couldn't even boil hot water to serve me a hot cup of tea. It came out lukewarm, so after two times I gave up. Pinnacle Grill served great steak, but the sides were lukewarm. Luckily it was a free meal that we got as a bonus with our cruise. The lido buffet is a terrible setup. You can't get your own food and it's set up like a galley style, so it's super crowded and very difficult to move. That food was much worse than the dining room. You can't even get your own drinks and you have to chase down a waiter for one. The entertainment was pretty bad, except for BB Kings. Rolling Stone was horrible. They were so out of sync and when they let the older lead guitar player sing it was disastrous. I hear these bands are thrown together for a short time and are expected to get their act together quickly. The band in BB King seemed very tight and that club was packed every night. They had the orange party there as well which says something for their ability. They had the dance floor full. Shops are sorely lacking. I waited until the last day when the prices were discounted and used my ship credit. Casino is tiny and wreaked of smoke, and had weird slot machines. It was my 14th cruise and my first and last on Holland.

We cruise on Koningsdam to Alaska July 2023 and will likely never choose Holland America again. We have cruised RCC and NCL finding either choice would be much better than HAL. The entertainment on Koningsdam was subpar at best. The live big venue shows in their auditorium was just lacking any good talent compared to what we have seen on NCL ships. Lincoln center stage is gone and the other small music venus were alway too crowded and got started later in the night. The crows nest was always way too crowded and other pasengers would place personal items on chairs very early in the morning such as books and pieces of clothing to claim them. It was pretty much impossible to get seating there at any time during the day. The buffet at HAL is primarily served by the crew and they would very oftern close half of the buffet counters. The other huge factor is the crew on Koningsdam which we found not as friendly and happy as other ships. We often walked past or encountered management crew who never acknowledged us or provided any common greeting. They alway seemed overwhelmed with their tasks at hand and looked away. Just not a good happy environment for such a fun time for passengers.

to bad about the crows nest it used to be chic and inviting.. don't really care for the look now.. will see if i like in person. but looks like a cheap cafeteria now..