Koningsdam ???

We are on the verge of booking a 24 day cruise for next year. I'm concerned that the member rating for this ship is on 61%. That seems pretty low for a almost new ship.

We've not ever said HAL.

We spent two weeks on Koningsdam in May. Absolutely love this ship! The food was quite good, both in the MDR and the buffet (I realise that food is very subjective, so I won't elaborate). The service was what we have come to expect on HAL. Our cabin was immaculate and our stewards were very attentive.

 

No, there is no proper promenade deck, no fully stocked library in the Crows Nest, no you can't just help yourself to everything in the buffet. None of these impacted the enjoyment of our cruise. So many positives...too many to list here. If you have a specific question please ask us......someone here will be able to give you the right answer.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you read that the Member rating for the Koningsdam is 61%?

We were on KDAM for 3 weeks in March. Absolutely nothing wrong with the ship...lots of new concepts. we liked it.

 

Not sure where your 61% rating comes from, but if you look around the board, you will see many comments on KDAM. The recurrent theme seems to be it is not like the older HAL ships, so that must be bad. Change is difficult, sometimes.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you read that the Member rating for the Koningsdam is 61%?

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=986

New ships seem to get a fair bit of criticism. Some things are different from what people are used to and there may be a glitch or 2. We did 31 days on her in April 2016 and loved it. We have another cruise on her booked.

Sandra

I received it on the Member Rating here on Cruise Critic. Says 61% would recommend.

 

So, you cannot help yourself at the buffets? Also, those of you that have sailed Celebrity...what will I notice different about HAL???

I received it on the Member Rating here on Cruise Critic. Says 61% would recommend.

 

So, you cannot help yourself at the buffets? Also, those of you that have sailed Celebrity...what will I notice different about HAL???

Celebrity S class ships are actually quite similar in style to Koningsdam. Sophisticated elegance and modern. M class ships on Celebrity are nice, but quite dated. HAL's older ships still seem to maintain a certain nostalgic charm. Many, many people prefer these older ships. Good food on both lines with Celebrity elevated slightly IMHO. Service is comparable. Much better entertainment on Celebrity in the evenings. Bars and lounges are hopping til the wee hours, as is the casino. On HAL you'll find less to do after 11:00pm. HAL has better itineraries, Both lines a terrific in their own right and you can't go wrong with either.

I received it on the Member Rating here on Cruise Critic. Says 61% would recommend.

 

So, you cannot help yourself at the buffets? Also, those of you that have sailed Celebrity...what will I notice different about HAL???

 

61% rated it "Love it", 87% rated it "Love It" or "Very Good".

Would never, ever decide to take a particular ship based on a CC survey.

Celebrity S class ships are actually quite similar in style to Koningsdam. Sophisticated elegance and modern. M class ships on Celebrity are nice, but quite dated. HAL's older ships still seem to maintain a certain nostalgic charm. Many, many people prefer these older ships. Good food on both lines with Celebrity elevated slightly IMHO. Service is comparable. Much better entertainment on Celebrity in the evenings. Bars and lounges are hopping til the wee hours, as is the casino. On HAL you'll find less to do after 11:00pm. HAL has better itineraries, Both lines a terrific in their own right and you can't go wrong with either.

 

Great summary, with some objective and subjective points.

 

Ignore comments which imply certain posted opinions are driven solely by the individual's inner aversion to any change.

 

If the Koningsdam had the traditional promenade, personally I'd find no reason to avoid, and would enjoy trying their newest ship.

 

Ignore comments which imply certain posted opinions are driven solely by the individual's inner aversion to any change.

 

If the Koningsdam had the traditional promenade, personally I'd find no reason to avoid, and would enjoy trying their newest ship.

 

Huh? And you won't go on KDAM because they changed the size of the Promenade Deck?

Celebrity S class ships are actually quite similar in style to Koningsdam.

I've heard a few people say that they thought the K belonged in the Celebrity fleet. Do X S-class ships have all that modern art like the K does? I didn't care for most of it.

I've heard a few people say that they thought the K belonged in the Celebrity fleet. Do X S-class ships have all that modern art like the K does? I didn't care for most of it.

For the most part, yes. However, art is very subject (as is food) so what is beautiful to one person is not to another. I look at it this way......I'm not buying the art, I'm just appreciating it, or not, for the duration of my cruise.

Huh? And you won't go on KDAM because they changed the size of the Promenade Deck?

 

Your first question wasn't quite clear enough for me. As for the second, this ship would be my last choice among the fleet, but I would consider it for a short itinerary. For a week or longer, though, I'm sure that I'd miss the traditional promenade too much.

We sailed the Koningsdam for 2 weeks in January. It wasn't our best cruise, but it had nothing to do with the size ship...we even were "ok" with the lack of traditional promenade, which we love walking daily. Loved the look of the ship, loved Tamarind and BB King. Food and service in the MDR was great. Room service was excellent.

 

No, our problems were with the service. It was one of those cruises where one thing goes wrong and then it just snowballs into something every few days.

 

Although our cabin stewards were sweet and charming, they couldn't get anything right it seemed. We're 4-star and this was the first time we've ever had any problems with service on any cruise, especially our cabin stewards.

 

You would think that any problems with a cabin would have been ironed out by January, I was amazed to find on the first morning that our shower door wouldn't close. :confused: I literally had to hold it shut with one hand while showering. After letting maintenance know, they fixed it quickly. How did passengers put up with that for several months? There were a few other odds and ends, like our door needed to be tweaked (it would only slam shut, impossible to close quietly), battery in our safe was dead --- small things that really didn't add up to much (other than the shower door). :D

 

We had several billing problems from the Pinnacle that took most of our cruise to resolve, and outright lies and billing mistakes from the beverage dept. Besides the poor service from our cabin stewards, the billing and communication problems were what caused the most problems. We also had a huge group onboard, but we knew about that ahead of time thanks to CC.

 

I wouldn't let these things stop me from sailing the K again if the itinerary was right. We're experienced enough to know we just were unlucky that time. Many people on the same cruise had no problems at all. Just a lot of things that when added up led to a bad taste for that cruise.

We sailed in an inside room on the Koningsdam last November and booked another for this January. It's not a humongous ship, and we enjoyed it the whole way. We will buy Future Credits while we are on the ship in January, too. (btw, that was the only person that didn't bend over backwards and try to be helpful-even though I went midway(2x) during the voyage)

I was amazed to find on the first morning that our shower door wouldn't close. :confused: I literally had to hold it shut with one hand while showering. After letting maintenance know, they fixed it quickly. How did passengers put up with that for several months?

It's possible that it was fine for many months but somehow got knocked out of kilter shortly before your cruise.

It's possible that it was fine for many months but somehow got knocked out of kilter shortly before your cruise.

 

You would think so, but this was actually a case of the sealing strip needing to be trimmed around the hinges. (it was too thick so the door wouldn't close). It had to be that way from the beginning. Maintenance trimmed it and it was fine.

We really enjoyed the Koningsdam, my little review is here

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2514466

No you can't help yourself , you are served but you can have as much as you want

 

 

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Hi Lynd,

 

A few very bad reviews can have a large effect on ratings.

 

I suggest that you read the "terrible" reviews of the KDAM and decide for yourself if they are credible.

 

Ira

It is a beautiful ship. You will love it. It is simply very different than other HAL ships. And I think the low rating comes from the fact that is not what HAL cruisers are used to. I totally get that. I was on the Koningsdam last December but still prefer Eurodam or Nieuw Amsterdam.

Sounds like some good stuff 😀

I received it on the Member Rating here on Cruise Critic. Says 61% would recommend.

 

So, you cannot help yourself at the buffets? Also, those of you that have sailed Celebrity...what will I notice different about HAL???

 

Everything but particularly service, friendly staff who care, food , atmosphere and space. Peace and quiet could also get a mention.

I traveled on Celebrity Solstice, Australia to Hawaii. That was enough to make me a HAL sailor for life.