The Konigsdam is one of Holland America Line’s (HAL) largest ships, built in 2016 it has about 2600 passengers and about 1200 crew members. It doesn’t have all the roller coasters, zip lines, bumper cars, ice rinks, etc. bells and whistles that the larger cruise ships have – but it very well laid out with comfortable lounges and bars, a casino, gym and spa, a Main Dining Room and specialty restaurants (Tamarind, Nami Sushi, Pinnacle, Canaletto, and Rudi’s Sel de Mar), a large buffet restaurant (Lido Buffet), a large main pool (Lido - with a retractable roof) midships and a smaller pool (Seaview) at the back, a library and meeting rooms, and a large theatre at the front that features live shows and performances. The main entertainment area can be found at the front of the ship on the 2nd deck with 3 music venues: Rolling Stone Lounge, Billboard Onboard, and BB King’s. The food is amazing and the service is outstanding – overall Konigsdam makes for an enjoyable and pleasant cruise. We boarded Konigsdam in Fort Lauderdale – our flight was delayed by 2 hours and by the time we got to the cruise terminal we were the last to board!! The whole boarding process took maybe 5 minutes from shuttle to accessing our cabin!!
We quickly accessed our cabins – Biz’s was an interior midship, ours was a veranda cabin at the very back of the ship – and then proceeded up to the Seaview pool and bar area for the sail off. We then took Biz on a tour of the ship – this was the fourth time that Kelly and I had been on the Konigsdam – we think she was very impressed with the layout 😊. The ship still had Christmas decorations which made for a festive atmosphere. On sea days we spent most of our time around the Seaview Pool, the casino, or playing music trivia at BB King’s almost every night. We actually won 4 times at trivia with a perfect score and earned yellow wooden tulips as our prize 😊. We ate in the Main Dining Room every night with the exception of 3 specialty dinners that we had in Tamarind, Pinnacle, and Rudi’s Sel de Mar. We met a lot of good people during the cruise and had a lot of fun while onboard Konigsdam. The weather was almost perfect in every port 😊. The food and the service were outstanding throughout the cruise.