Koningsdam Review

Beautiful ship but only average cruise

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Koningsdam
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Tac Aviator
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Sep 2016
Cabin: Verandah Stateroom

This was our first Holland America cruise but we have sailed on Celebrity and Princess before. The Koningsdam is a lovely new ship with a very comfortable feel. Our cabin (5183) was well appointed with "lots" of storage space. The shower in the bathroom was spacious compared to Celebrity or Princess. The ships propulsion system was electric so, it was very quiet and you didn't get the usual engine vibrations.

Unfortunately, the service on-board was just average.The food in the main dining room was tasty but it was hit or miss on whether it arrived hot. The entertainment on the ship was subdued with relatively few activities during the day, the Cruise Director staff were not around much, and the nightly show at the World Stage lasted about 30 minutes with varying quality. We had a number of discussions with Holland America (HAL) supporters on-board, and 100% of them agreed that Koningsdam was not up to the standard they had come to expect from HAL cruise ships.

Our original itinerary included Istanbul and Ephesus. Due to the security situation in Turkey, these ports were replaced with a port call to Sarande Albania, an extra Greek island was added, and we had extra day in Athens. Sarande is a scenic quiet port and is a relatively new and hopefully up and coming cruise ship stop. The extra day in Athens worked well since our first day there was so crowded with tourists that a second day was needed to do all the things we wanted to do. We enjoyed all our Greek Island ports except Iraklion (Crete). Compared to the other ports, Iraklion was forgettable. If you are thinking of doing the Hop-On Hop-Off bus tour in Iraklion Crete, don't bother. It was probably the worst Hop-On Hop-Off tour we have ever taken and rather expensive. We took three HAL excursions during the cruise (Butrint Ruins Sarande Albania, Olympia Ruins and Wine Tour Olympia Greece, and Helculeum Naples Italy). All tours were nothing special and expensive for what they were.

Cabin Review

Verandah Stateroom

Cabin VF

We normally travel with collapsible boxes to put our loose items into. On this ship, we did not need them. Lots of storage. The bathroom was well appointed and the shower was approximately 3 ft x 5 ft. The cabin was located close to the elevators but you never heard them operating. Good cabin and very quiet

Port Reviews

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Love Rome. A visit to the Vatican is a must. ALWAYS take the "Skip the Line" tours offered on line

Athens (Piraeus)

The Hop-On Hop-Off has pick-up and drop-off at the cruise port. Used this tour to get us to the spots we wanted to visit. Can get from the cruise port to Athens cheaper but this tour allowed us to get our bearings and to pick-up some info about the history of the city. One price covered two days with the tour

Santorini

Beautiful place to visit. Getting up to the town of Fira is a bit of a hassle. Wait for the crowds to disperse and then take the cable car. The cable car down gets very crowded as the ship departure time approaches. You can easily wait over an hour in line. Give yourself lots of time, otherwise you may be walking down the donkey trail/steps

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