Great way to travel even when dodging hurricanes in the north Atlantic. Can't wait to try out Konigsdam's sister ship when she sails in 2018. Captain Darrin will move from Konigsdam to Nieuw Statendam and continue his excellent work.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
There were virtually no lines, we were in our stateroom within minutes of getting to the port.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The Lido Buffet was improved tremendously and even had the specialty seafood on gala nights. Canaletto and the Culinary Arts Center put on exceptional meals, Tamarind and Pinnacle were good. The Gelato Stand rocks!
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
Spa was overpriced but at least you got the full time for the service. Tried to sell high end Elemis products every time you visited.
Culinary Arts Program was over-subscribed almost every time it was offered. Need to consider repeating sessions or recording them and playing them on stateroom TV.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
BB King had a female vocalist that belted out tunes sounding like Tina Turner. Musicians, including the ship's band who played in the showroom were excellent.
Children's Programs
no kids
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
In the last year, the Holland America customer service staff amped up their listening ability and desire to get solutions for problems immediately. Everyone on the desk was amazing. Lido staff much more attentive as well. Service staff in all the specialty restaurants we visited were superb. Beverage staff, as always, were great.
The ship has a computer/smart phone expert with office hours in Explorations. She was smart, fast, and really helpful.
We changed cabins at the end of the transatlantic section, it was painless. Magical fairies gathered up all our belongings and moved them while we were at breakfast. They even got the clothes in the correct closets!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Konigsdam is new and it shows. The design on the carpet helps hide wear patterns. Everything works! New color palette is very nice--including in the pool towels.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Our cabin on the Transatlantic leg of our journey was a bit tight to get around the bed. Could not sit at the desk and access the balcony at the same time. We changed cabins for the second leg (saved us $1000) and found a hidden secret--Cabin 4043. There are 8 cabins on the ship with this configuration. It is labeled as partially obstructed view--true if you are sitting down but the rail is in the way on all balconies.The payoff comes from the cabin layout being rotated 90 degrees and having 8 feet from the bottom of the bed to the desk. About a foot more on each side of the bed too. The couch was in a little nook by the balcony doors. All the closets and storage cabinets were bigger too. We loved itand would book one of these rooms again.
Ship tip
Try it, even though it is the largest ship in the HAL fleet, it feels small.
Overnight in Madeira was the best stop on this part of the journey. We rented a car and explored the island at length. The natural swimming pools on the west end are quite something. Unfortunately, we hadn't done our homework to know what we were going to find. If the top rating is 5 stars, Madeira gets 6 stars. We will go back and stay--we even found the hotel!
Its a commercial port not really in Fort Lauderdale. As in transit passengers getting through the terminal was a breeze. We walked a little over a mile to shop for sundries and for my husband to get a haircut at half the price of the barber on the ship. Went to Total Wine and the grocery to resupply our cabin with a few things.
We were in transit and didn't actually disembark on this stop. When we returned after the Caribbean journey, we used Luggage Direct and it was the best $25 we have spent. We saw our bags when we got to our final destination and didn't have to hassle with them at all.
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