Video: Koningsdam comes back to shipyard (Fincantieri - Marghera)

[bandbcruiser]

OMG. It is a CRUISE.... How are the other 85% non travellers doing???? ENJOY your ability to be there!!!

[Topsham]

For those complaining about the fact that new cruise ships lack a traditional open promenade, well...I understand them. It is indeed lovely.

HOWEVER:

 

If you know passenger ship history, you will also realize that Open promenade decks DID NOT always have the open Ocean vieuws from a lower deck! These came only in fashion on most designs post WW2.

 

 

I have to disagree. 99% of liners had at least ONE open promenade deck on every ship. In fact.... go back through from the 1880s you will find MOST liners had TWO promenade decks... below the boat deck. The boat deck was obvious cluttered with the boat and gear but they did have promenade areas behind the boats. This because the boats were sited onto the deck and the radial davits and quadrant davits, luffing davits. The davits today on KONINGSDAM are the same... but obviously considerably more stronger for large new boats like today. The 'function' is exactly from 1900!

 

For ships of the early part of the 1900s.... to show the style of lifeboats up and promenade deck below... one or two you should compare photos of the following ships: Deutschland, Statendam, Oceanic, Celtic, Morea, Carmania, Lusitania, Olympic. Right through the post War.... to the late 1920s... Stavangerfjord, Doric, Kungsholm, Carnarvon Castle.

 

Meanwhile..... the first ever glass-enclosed promenade deck was the HAL Rotterdam of 1908. She also had a full length open promenade below. From that era the glass-enclosed deck gradually became more popular. The reason.... obviously it was for comfort on North Atlantic runs. Ships running in warmer runs usually kept open promenades... and usually below the boat deck.

 

1924. The big change came with new style gravity track davits. This allowed builders to raise the boats above the deck and this open the whole area for passengers. The first thing they did was change the name of the deck. Instead 'boat deck'..... it became the Sun Deck. The Orient Line had their ship this way... the Orama.... with TWO covered promenade deck below. Over the 20s and 30s ships had their boats on Sun deck and kept the two prom decks, but gradually reduced to jut one covered prom deck.... mostly on ship on the North Atlantic run. Then on the North Atlantic run.... promenade decks tended to be glass-enclosed.

 

Follow the second war.... ships tended to have one open Sun Deck and kept the covered prom deck and also the glass-enclosed deck.

 

From the 1950s... Messageries Maritime.... did a lot of ships where the boats were slung under single-pivot gravity davits. Unable to walk below the boats but with covered promenade decks below. There were some vessels with boats sited on the deck... and the full-glassed decks with promenade 'inside'..... but a lot of the areas were not just for promenade... fro lounges. Kungsholm of 1952 and another good example of glassed- prom deck Home Lines Oceanic.

 

Next change.... lifeboats sited lower down in the superstructure... the Oriana and Canberra. This was followed on with the same layout with HAL's S Class.

 

 

 

 

Most "open promenade decks" were situated on the top decks. And often, the Lifeboats and other equipment would be severly limiting ocean gazing.

 

Now, what was another tradition on yesteryears Ocean liners, were the Indoor Promenades, most famous of all onboard the SS France, ( later the NCL. Norway). Often, they were the connecting boulevard between lounges and were designed like winter gardens or a mini Champs Elysée.

[dawei]

Thank you for posting the video, Alphen. I was a little surprised to see that she is registered in the Bahamas, since I had the impression that the entire fleet had been moved to Rotterdam.

David

[Alphen]

Thank you for posting the video, Alphen. I was a little surprised to see that she is registered in the Bahamas, since I had the impression that the entire fleet had been moved to Rotterdam.

David

 

She is currently in ownership of the yard, Fincantieri, which has her registered under Italian flag to Nassau.

 

When she is transferred to Holland America Line on the 31st of March, homeport will be changed to Rotterdam and she will be under Dutch flag !

[dawei]

Thanks for explaining.

David

[pv girl]

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Edited January 22, 2016 by pv girl
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[LAFFNVEGAS]

Nice video of Koningsdam;

 

 

Jeroen, thanks so much for the video :) WOW now I was impressed with her looks here. I would normally say "What a Beautiful Grand Lady but I guess in this case I need to say "What a Handsome Grand Gent"Fit for a King :D

I will put my two cents in about the Promenade Deck, first it is obvious that it is still a totally walk around Promenade Deck, yes there will be several obstructions but there also appears to be lots of open sections as well. One must also remember there are more than just the Promenade Deck to relax and sit on a lounge chair and read and stare out into the ocean. The one thing that is nice on this ship is No Obstructed Ocean View Cabins. Profit wise for HAL this is good because that is the one area they have an extremely hard time selling those H and HH on Deck 4 of the Vistas. To Take away the Obstruct OV cabins those Life Boats have to go somewhere.

I think this video finally shows what she really looks like and I like it, I like it a lot.

Now the one area I want to see picture of that see to be very hush hush is the Spa :D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing

[nutensteve]

Great video .... Thanks for posting it.

[InTheWASide]

I will put my two cents in about the Promenade Deck, first it is obvious that it is still a totally walk around Promenade Deck, yes there will be several obstructions but there also appears to be lots of open sections as well. One must also remember there are more than just the Promenade Deck to relax and sit on a lounge chair and read and stare out into the ocean.

 

Good luck Lisa, I've tried making the same point on numerous occasions.

[sppunk]

LOVE IT! She is so much prettier than the Veendam and IMO the S class ships (I really don't care for the look of them).

 

The promenade talk is silly to me since the chairs on current ships are universally 90 percent unattended we've found.

 

Can't wait to sail her Nov. 23. Can't wait for the first live reports (hi, Lisa!!!) to come either in April.

[Topsham]

Lisa,

 

That is always a hard sell with boats in the way. What is the problem with the VA cat on 4 Deck? The tops of the boats will be almost right to the hand railing. A bit better than before, but the problem is still there. Even the brochure shows the boats right there. Buyer be aware.

 

Stephen

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa,

 

That is always a hard sell with boats in the way. What is the problem with the VA cat on 4 Deck? The tops of the boats will be almost right to the hand railing. A bit better than before, but the problem is still there. Even the brochure shows the boats right there. Buyer be aware.

 

Stephen

Actually one has to know the reasoning for HAL having those cabins be VA or V cabins on Signature and Pinnacle Class which is considered to be a higher more expensive category when in reality there are many negatives to the location. Very much the same as the VA categories on the Vista Class. For many years those were category VE and less money due to those life boats being right there and the balconies being smaller. To explain why they do this is that most cruisers book with cost first. They are going to take the lowest price balcony and the highest prices remains being last to sell. HAL got caught into the trick bag of selling lots of guarantee cabins and did not assign till a few weeks prior to sailing. Of course what is left over were the VA or V cabin categories that were the most expensive and at one time were the best location. So those paying the least got the best. HAL made the change that those cabins would be VA or V higher priced and those paying the least got those as guarantees. No One can complain because they got upgraded to one of the highest category balconies and once assigned they will not bring you down to a lower category.

Then the other thing was that they can state this is a better category because they are mid-ship cabins that are desirable :D

HAL has been a bit successful with this strategy in that HAL cruisers are learning that it is not a good idea to go with a guarantee if you want a specific location and worth spending the money to chose the location you want ;) And they make more money on the naive Passenger and or TA that sells them the high V or VA cabin.

[pv girl]

Lisa,

Hoping you will give us a thorough and prompt review of your cruise. (Somehow I think you will.) I know you will be honest in comparing to other ships and lines. Hope all the Negative Nellies will wait for you and others to report. There is so much more to this ship than a promenade deck - new decor, new dining and entertainment options, innovative rooms with the new single and family rooms, etc.

 

Let's wait and see. And thanks to Alphen for all the updates. We are certainly not getting a lot from HAL. Spoke to HAL rep regarding another booking and she said sales are very brisk through 2017, so there is a lot of interest.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa,

Hoping you will give us a thorough and prompt review of your cruise. (Somehow I think you will.) I know you will be honest in comparing to other ships and lines. Hope all the Negative Nellies will wait for you and others to report. There is so much more to this ship than a promenade deck - new decor, new dining and entertainment options, innovative rooms with the new single and family rooms, etc.

 

Let's wait and see. And thanks to Alphen for all the updates. We are certainly not getting a lot from HAL. Spoke to HAL rep regarding another booking and she said sales are very brisk through 2017, so there is a lot of interest.

Thanks, Yes I plan to do my Live From and planning on buying the unlimited Internet...figure I will need it :D I hope to see as many cabins as possible and take photos. I am excited about all of the new venues. I know the pictures and concept pictures are not doing it justice.

[sammygoose]

Thank you Alphen for taking the time to share all the information you find with us! That video was great and I am excited by this new build for HAL.

 

You know what they say....' A picture is worth a thousand words.'

 

I think the experience of sailing her will be a sum of all of her parts so I'm staying open minded and looking forward to hearing from those DAM lucky people who are going to share their experiences with us. :)

[teltrainer]

Thanks, Yes I plan to do my Live From and planning on buying the unlimited Internet...figure I will need it :D I hope to see as many cabins as possible and take photos. I am excited about all of the new venues. I know the pictures and concept pictures are not doing it justice.

 

yay! live report is the best. Thank you in advance. Excited to see all the new venues and designs.

[colonialinnkeeper]

Alphen, Thanks for your diligence in getting all the info on the Koningsdam to us. You are doing more "marketing" of the new ship than HAL is.

 

Topsham, thanks for sharing all this great information about ships. You are a true naval historian.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cruise Junky]

Thanks, Yes I plan to do my Live From and planning on buying the unlimited Internet...figure I will need it :D I hope to see as many cabins as possible and take photos. I am excited about all of the new venues. I know the pictures and concept pictures are not doing it justice.

 

Looking forward to it. Thanks in advance

Edited January 23, 2016 by Cruise Junky