Koningsdam December 23 - A Long Review from a non "True Believer"!

[Dr. Cocktail]

I have had a long but shallow relationship with HAL for almost 25 years. We have played footsie but I couldn't truly commit. There was always something that drove me a little crazy - usually the vile and disturbing colour combinations and decor. Interactions with obsessively rule driven and vaguely clueless personnel. Few specialty restaurants. Still - even with my not being a "true believer ", I am still a Three Star Mariner.

 

Therefore, I looked extremely forward to the new design concepts that were being introduced on Koningsdam. Since the ship was announced and subsequently launched, the chorus of regulars (you know who you are) rained scorn on the new ship. I actually sparred with some who basically reviewed the ship without actually sailing on her. After launch, the reviews were truly mixed - many reviews emphatically saying to ignore the naysayers.

 

My partner and I boarded Koningsdam on December 23rd which marked an important milestone for her - she was sailing with the largest passenger compliment she ever had.

 

As soon as we boarded, I was amazed at how truly beautiful she was. She is still unmistakably a HAL ship. Some have commented on her lack of colour and this is simply not true. While cabin corridors are indeed lacking in art and neutral toned, they are elegant and well lit. Public areas are almost unfailingly handsome and pleasing. Fabrics and carpets are well coordinated. In fact, I would put Koningsdam among the most beautiful ships I have ever sailed on. The atrium, however, is .... goofy. The central steel cage is ideal for a Rollerball revival or as an elegant bear enclosure at the zoo. As art? (Sound of crickets inserted here)

 

Cabins are again well designed (but different) and superbly lit using led technology. The shower is fantastic and gets a special mention. What must also be mentioned is that the bathroom ventilation is almost nonexistent and condensation runs down the walls after the first shower. The caulking in the shower stall is also already starting to disintegrate. The AC is great and responsive

 

The Lido is .... confusing. There are many different stations and things are not always where you expect them to be and items are not necessarily present on both port and starboard lines. You could literally burn off the calories of your sticky bun before you found it. And yes, the chairs do weigh 732 pounds each. In fact, there was talk of a bench press competition using the chairs but it was considered too risky. The fabulous poached egg station is gone but you can still get them at a combination station. The eggs were extremely interesting - gelatinous, goopy and vaguely threatening. I made sure not to make eye contact on subsequent encounters.

 

Very few Lido items are thermally hot - a particular complaint for me. The Lido was also a mob scene during sea days at lunch. Seating was basically nonexistent. As a good alternative, the New York Deli provided great breakfasts and delicious sandwiches and pizzas.

 

The one true disaster on the ship is the main dining room. The room looks great in pictures but is overly bright in person. The din is appalling - it's as if you're eating in a high school cafeteria. Continental Drift is notably faster than the pace of dining. When the food arrived, it was fine. We waved the white flag of surrender during our second dinner and ate the rest of our meals in Canaletto, The Pinnacle, Sel de Mer and Tamarind. They were mostly very good but the Pinnacle and Sel de Mer still (shockingly) not up to NCL specialty restaurant standards. Canaletto is astonishingly poorly thought out. It is still basically open to the Lido and all of the Lido sound and bustle. I don't understand why it wasn't built with solid partitions to isolate it and make it more special.

 

Tamarind was the best by far but unfortunately, the back end of the ship including Tamarind , the Photo Gallery and front of the dining room were HOT. Jacket and tie were not a possibility!

 

The Retreat was very comfortable but the cabanas were much smaller. In fact, a family cabana is not much smaller than the previous generation's regular cabanas. There are still only two attendants even though there are now 21 cabanas as opposed to the previous 13. Many of the dividers are now plasticized canvas which flap incessantly and allow you to hear everything next door. The "Cabana Boys" were great and worked hard to fulfill requests.

 

Entertainment has taken a quantum leap and we enjoyed all of the new venues and concepts. We particularly enjoyed the pianist in the Ocean Bar. The production shows One Word was fabulous but the second show was fully prerecorded and mindless. We particularly enjoyed the sequence celebrating the saxophone where clarinet was actually playing. The superb production show singers were heard in One World and never heard from again.

 

Lincoln Center Stage was excellent but Billboard a bit too preprogrammed. BB King's was lively and well attended.

 

While most of the crew are the usual friendly and charming HAL standard, it doesn't take a lot of polite conversation before their frustrations emerge. Over and over we heard how crew were being pushed to the limit. Specialty restaurants have had their staffing cut by 40%. Our cabin attendants serviced 29 cabins and suites- easily visible on the deck plans.

 

Cocktails were the standard HAL watered down sweet concoctions. Alcohol may have been involved but I couldn't confirm.

 

The gym was large and spacious and we were always able to get machines.

 

And yes ... the Promenade Deck is an afterthought.... far removed from the ocean midships while butt-clenchingly narrow to the railing at the aft.

 

So ..... a beautiful ship with gorgeous decor, great entertainment and facilities and a good selection of specialty restaurants. We had a marvellous time.

 

But.... a Lido inferior to other HAL ships and the worst main dining room we've seen on any ship in years. A diminished Retreat experience and stressed staff who want to return to their previous ships.

 

And yes, I may be harsh in my criticisms as it was Christmas week but my other recent HAL sailings were during the same time of year. While we're not "one and done", we will not likely return if we could choose the other HAL "big" ships, Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam on a holiday sailing. Many times, bigger is most certainly not always better.

 

Still, HAL (even if you have to purchase all your dinners) provides the best value in mainstream cruising today. Koningsdam could be great .... but not when she's pushed to the limit.

[canadianbear]

Thank you for your observations and sharing them. We just booked 3 weeks on this ship for November and looking forward to seeing if we like the larger ship or not.

 

Appreciate you taking the time to share with us. Welcome home!

 

 

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[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review

 

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[freestyling]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We were on the 19 day collectors cruise before your sailing and would agree with your assessment. We would give it a 7 out of 10, which I think is not too bad as we are on her again in 2017.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to put your observations on (electronic) paper here! A very interesting read! I take it, you did not visit the Dutch Cafe?

[Dr. Cocktail]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to put your observations on (electronic) paper here! A very interesting read! I take it, you did not visit the Dutch Cafe?

 

We kept wanting to but it was very hard to pull ourselves out of the Cabana on a beautiful, sunny day!

 

Our staff "connections" told us the fries were truly great but the much celebrated pea soup was: WTH? (feel free to substitute the "H"!)

 

It is a beautiful space ... just don't look at the Atrium Chrome Barricade.

[Copper10-8]

We kept wanting to but it was very hard to pull ourselves out of the Cabana on a beautiful, sunny day!

 

Our staff "connections" told us the fries were truly great but the much celebrated pea soup was: WTH? (feel free to substitute the "H"!)

 

It is a beautiful space ... just don't look at the Atrium Chrome Barricade.

 

Thanks again! Take care!

[Cruising-along]

Thank you for your honest review. We will board the Koningsdam next week for 14 days and I found your comments very helpful.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Responder]

We are long time HAL cruisers and just got off the NA.

Probably one of the best cruises we ever had in over 50 years.

Started with HAL on the old Rotterdam.

 

The comment about work loads for crew were also related to the NA. Our cabin stewards also had 29 cabins, but their service set the standard for room stewards. Met them only once and they seemed to know exactly what we needed and did an incredible job the entire time. Never missed anything and never had to call them for anything. Our retreat Cabanas also had 2 wonderful attendants who couldn't do enough for us and our family.

 

Main Diing Rooms....Ugh! We don't eat in MDR's on any ship as they all generally perform as described in your post. We loved the specialty restaurants and did Tamarind 3 times.

We attended 2 BB King sets each night and 2 sets of the Piani/violin duo...all who were outstanding. Shows...maybe once in a while. Only the lights and cotumes seem to change. We are contemplating the Kdam as the Lincoln Center sounds like just what we love.

 

Thanks for your review..

[POA1]

Thanks for your review!

[St. Louis Sal]

Also on the Dec 23 cruise. I haven't written my review yet but I would echo some of your comments. I was not as impressed with the general decor as you were though. And I thought the Christmas decor was sorely lacking for a holiday cruise. There was some interesting art work on the ship (although not as much as expected on a HAL ship) but there were no plaques with titles, artists, dates, everything seemed anonymous.

 

We enjoyed the music row but really thought th Lincoln Center Stage should relocate, there is too much noise to appreciate the performers plus there was a definite smoke smell from the casino at times in that area.

 

I missed the singers performance but actually enjoyed Musicology and the Frozen Planet. I thought the comedian and juggler were awful. We first saw the World Stage during the muster and I thought it's decor was boring and the access to it strange (thought I got lost on the way in) but the big screens, lighting and sound were great and the size and sight lines were good; hardly a bad seat in the house.

 

The NY pizza and deli was good but the location was poor, congested, noisy, people hovering over you while you eat. Same was true for watching movies around the pool, comfortable seats, stale popcorn, great evening snacks but just too noisy. We totally skipped the Lido on this cruise after lunch the first day. It was crowded, poorly designed and seemed to lack the variety of other HAL ships. We did do Tamarind one night (no longer offering lunch) and the food was excellent as usual but way too warm to be comfortable. Enjoyed the new culinary arts area but seemed hard to see the cooking demos. Wanted to go for dinner but ran out of time. Spent time at the Dutch Cafe, very enjoyable although the pea soup is not the same as served on deck in Alaska. The cafe decor was just for Christmas (probably the most Christmasy thing on board.) Ordinarily it has a view of the outside.

 

There were good things about the K'dam but not sure we'd cruise her again unless the itinerary was a must.

 

St. Louis Sal

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to report on your observations.

Very much appreciated.

Our last several cruises we have only had dinner in the Pinnacle and Tamarind on the ships that have it.

[cbr663]

Thank you for your wonderful and detailed review.

 

Like you, we had waved the white flag of surrender in HAL's MDRs many cruises ago. We were hoping to maybe try the MDR on our upcoming K cruise. Let's hope that things improve before we sail.

[lorimay]

I thought the Christmas decor was sorely lacking for a holiday cruise. There was some interesting art work on the ship (although not as much as expected on a HAL ship) but there were no plaques with titles, artists, dates, everything seemed anonymous.

 

We enjoyed the music row but really thought th Lincoln Center Stage should relocate, there is too much noise to appreciate the performers plus there was a definite smoke smell from the casino at times in that area.

 

I missed the singers performance but actually enjoyed Musicology and the Frozen Planet. I thought the comedian and juggler were awful. We first saw the World Stage during the muster and I thought it's decor was boring and the access to it strange (thought I got lost on the way in) but the big screens, lighting and sound were great and the size and sight lines were good; hardly a bad seat in the house.

 

The NY pizza and deli was good but the location was poor, congested, noisy, people hovering over you while you eat. Same was true for watching movies around the pool, comfortable seats, stale popcorn, great evening snacks but just too noisy. We totally skipped the Lido on this cruise after lunch the first day. It was crowded, poorly designed and seemed to lack the variety of other HAL ships. We did do Tamarind one night (no longer offering lunch) and the food was excellent as usual but way too warm to be comfortable. Enjoyed the new culinary arts area but seemed hard to see the cooking demos. Wanted to go for dinner but ran out of time. Spent time at the Dutch Cafe, very enjoyable although the pea soup is not the same as served on deck in Alaska. The cafe decor was just for Christmas (probably the most Christmasy thing on board.) Ordinarily it has a view of the outside.

 

There were good things about the K'dam but not sure we'd cruise her again unless the itinerary was a must.

 

St. Louis Sal

 

We were on this cruise also and I agree with both St. Louis Sal and Dr. Cocktail about most things.

 

We thought the decor in the ship was beautiful for the most part, but the main dining room was not attractive (and always very hot like the air conditioning wasn't working). The World Stage is very unattractive but I think the "in the round" concept is good. It just doesn't seem big enough for a ship of this size.

 

I agree with St. Louis Sal - the Christmas decorations were truly underwhelming. We thought there would be more of them - but there was a "touch" of Christmas in a few of the main areas and that was it. We liked some of the music-themed art (the ship made out of the string bass was pretty incredible) but you are right - no kind of explanation of what they all were.

 

The entertainment was repetitive and on sea days activities were few and far between (but trivia at least twice a day). The BB King band was very good and well attended. The Billboard Onboard piano duo were technically good but listening to anything they said was like listening to teenagers talking. They just didn't have any kind of appeal. We didn't go to the two live shows. The comedian was awful and the show we went to he melted down and resorted to talking like a duck. I thought the juggler was pretty good. Frozen Planet Live was good and the music was great. We went to a couple of the movies by the pool which was fun but one night we couldn't hear the movie because the bar was open on deck 10 and there was a lot of drunk yelling. They need to figure out a nice way to keep everybody quiet.

 

We liked the variety of food venues. The Lido was really confusing but loved being served and not worrying about all the germs on a buffet. The salad bar was good but it was really hard to figure out what stations had what food with the crowds and it was hard to find place to sit. Nice design but just not big enough. NY Deli was good but you had to order on just one corner of the bar (very confusing) with someone sitting on the bar stool right there. Bagels good but nothing special and pizza is good but definitely not NY quality. Dive In was good, long lines, good burgers. Dutch Cafe was very good for sweets and sandwiches but you feel like you're either sitting in the middle of the aisle or in a back room there. Anytime dining was the worst experience we have ever had on a ship. Bad tables, bad service. We finally gave up which is what I think they want you to do.

 

Service all over the ship was poor. As I discussed on another thread, we had to ask to have our stateroom made up every day and even then service was inconsistent from day to day. No one cleared tables or refilled drinks in the Lido. The Pinnacle was short staffed, service was slow and one night our mains came before some of our starters (they manager more than made up for it by insisting we come for free another night, so they know how to make things right).

 

Overall we had fun and those were just annoyances. Bottom line - liked the ship, not the service or entertainment. Don't think we will be going on HAL again soon without trying Celebrity again.

[Dogstar]

Thank you for the review. Appreciate the insight & comments.

[DaveOKC]

Comment on the NY Deli - the bar stools are a stupid idea IMO as they are place right where you order and pick up.

 

Second, it took 15 minutes for a tuna melt sandwich (tried this twice) vs 2-3 minutes for the same in the Lido buffet. I understand the wait for a made to order pizza, but for a simple tuna melt??

 

During the late night movie, same thing - no one there but a 5-10 minute wait for some simple nachos.

 

I did like the food however.

[Florida_gal_50]

Comment on the NY Deli - the bar stools are a stupid idea IMO as they are place right where you order and pick up.

 

Second, it took 15 minutes for a tuna melt sandwich (tried this twice) vs 2-3 minutes for the same in the Lido buffet. I understand the wait for a made to order pizza, but for a simple tuna melt??

 

During the late night movie, same thing - no one there but a 5-10 minute wait for some simple nachos.

 

I did like the food however.

 

The bar stools there are a stupid idea. I don't know why anyone sits there just the same. I had no problem finding a seat close by. It's a very poor set up.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

[easyboy]

Thank you for the feedback.

[Clarea]

Interesting review, thank-you.

[Sea Belle]

Thanks for the review. Some of your points were valid for us, but we found the service was excellent from our room attendants, Lido staff, and Lido pool staff. The MDR staff was good but the kitchen was very slow. We missed the dance music in the Ocean Bar and the Crow's Nest. B B King's group was always very crowded and loud, but still good for a short while.

 

We had big problems with embarkation on our European cruise, lost information for many of us so no room keys would print. (2 1/2 hr. delay in boarding for us) After I reported how poorly this was taken care of we received a lovely floral arrangement and note of apology.

 

We were particularly impressed with the new style showers and had no problem with condensation. The toilet positioning could present a problem for larger people.

 

The free cabana arrangement on both levels of the Lido pool areas was particularly pleasant for us since we don't sit in the sun any more.

 

All in all we felt the K gave us another good HAL experience even if it has a few growing pains to overcome. We are looking forward to a couple more cruises with HAL in 2017. Some of our experiences have been better than others on the ships, but HAL remains our cruise line of choice.

[OlsSalt]

80:20 Rule 80% of expectations met, we have a winner.

Edited January 1, 2017 by OlsSalt

[lorimay]

 

We were particularly impressed with the new style showers and had no problem with condensation. The toilet positioning could present a problem for larger people.

 

The free cabana arrangement on both levels of the Lido pool areas was particularly pleasant for us since we don't sit in the sun any more.

 

All in all we felt the K gave us another good HAL experience even if it has a few growing pains to overcome. We are looking forward to a couple more cruises with HAL in 2017. Some of our experiences have been better than others on the ships, but HAL remains our cruise line of choice.

 

Just want to say that my son is 6'7" and he did not have an issue with the toilet position at all. Could sit there with the shower door shut.

 

Also, we liked the covered seating on either side of the aft pool. Very comfortable furniture. One side was for smokers but we did not have a problem with any smoke smell on the other side. The new resort/wicker furniture is so much better than just all lounge chairs.

[Karennella]

It seems many of the people who enthuse about the ship really like the decor and still had some issues with crowding etc.

Taste in furnishing and art is entirely personal and we did not really like that style. It reminded us of a casino with all the glitz.

I did not like the big tv, (although DH did), as I rarely watch tv properly and never have one in our bedroom at home as I find it intrusive. But I realise I am in a minority in this view.

But when you disregard these matters (which are positives for many people) that leaves things like the crowding and so on (we could never get a seat in the Dutch Cafe as it became a meeting place for the majority Dutch passengers on our cruise) So we ended up with more negatives than positives.

But one thing we actually liked was when the service was slower, even for pizza, as we are not used to American style fast service.

So I think my point is that reactions are so entirely individual and people need to find out for themselves.