Holland America's Koningsdam:

Ship Class: Pinnacle Class
Inaugural Year: 2016
Tonnage (GRT): 99,500
Country of Registration: Netherlands
Guest Occupancy*: 2,650
Crew: 1,025
Length: 975 feet
Beam: 115 feet
Passenger Decks: 12

VQ Cabin 10031 (Spa Verandah)--




Located on the 10th level near the forward elevators.  Good location.  Not too noisy.  Most of the noise was from the neighbors on one side of us---must be hard of hearing.  Convenient to the ping pong tables, loungers, and New York Deli/Pizza bar which is above the lido pool area.  Entrance to the Spa office area right below us.

 inside our verandah room.  closet to my right.  Fridge and safe in near closet.  3 drawers below the fridge.  Bathroom to my left.

 good sized shower with shower wand.  No tub, but seldom used it anyway.

 Oddly slanted toilet. 

mini bar menu and notice of Spa guest amenity of 3 flavored waters and one large water.  They're suppose to be there at embarkation, but ours were missing.  We called the number on the flyer and waited 3 days to get our complementary waters, then they tried to charge us for 2 of them.  But that charge was easily removed by the front desk.  The drinks came in handy during our days in port.

 corner bar

large flat screen tv across from the bed.  I thought I wouldn't like it being by the bed, but actually did like that.  Also liked that the tv had lots of show choices---a BBC channel; a Live channel; a Movies channel; ship info channel (dining menus, route map, speed, excursions, ... ).  I really liked being able to see the diningroom menus without having to run down to the restaurant to check them out.  

 Another great feature was getting the daily navigators over their free wifi on my smart phone.  Loved not having to carry the paper navigator around!

 Didn't think to take a picture of the features on it!  In addition to the Navigator tab, it had the dining menus on another tab and there was even a tab for your account info. 

our spa verandah room.  Liked having a nightstand on each side of the bed.  Also really liked the USB ports as well as regular electrical plug ins.  There was one of each on each side of the bed and 2 of each by the desk.

looking towards the desk and verandah.  The "book" shelf thingy under the tv was also really handy.  Made it easy to organize the millions of papers brought in each day.

Nice cabinet above the couch.  In it were life preservers and 2 deck blankets for when hubby turned the room into a penguin house.

 Small but comfy couch with removable arms.  One piece coffee table. 

 another feature of the Spa cabins---a yoga mat!  It disappeared midway through the cruise.  I guess our very efficient room stewards knew we weren't using it.

Another spa cabin feature---Bose speakers for a smart phone.  Nice feature, but we never used it, either.  There were also a set of pedometers which we didn't use.  Odd things to charge extra for.  We paid for a guarantee verandah and were assigned this cabin about a week before the cruise.  We did get a couple email upgrade offers to a verandah suite that last week, but thought the $499/person offer was too high.  

From verandah door towards the front door.

 The verandah.  I believe the verandah is a bit smaller then the lower verandahs, but it was large enough for us.  There were 2 chairs on it.  There was also 1 ottoman that slid under one of the chairs.  With the chair slanted, the ottoman could be used.  There was also a small side table.  I liked being on the 10th level---no obstruction from the lifeboats.  It looked like spa verandahs nearer the front would have some obstruction from the Bridge.

Dining around the ship: 

One of the stations in Lido.  I read lots of complaints about all the stations and how long it took to get food, but I didn't find that a problem.

 The Roasting Pan station always had the Soup of the Day and two kinds of meats they would carve--as well as assortment of sides. 

 The dessert station was the only one you helped yourself to.

lots of seating. Often we shared tables with others.  I can see where some people wouldn't like that, but I know it's common in many countries.  Didn't bother us any.  Met lots of interesting people that way.

more of the Lido seating areas.

 by the entrance to Lido was this hand washing station.  We didn't use it and didn't see many using it, but could see it would be a good idea if we weren't coming straight from our room.

 the dessert station again.

I think this is where sandwiches in the Lido were made to order, but I never went there so I could be wrong.

 the Sweet Spot station across from the dessert station.  More desserts, breads, fruits and such, but someone waited on you.

 Breadboard---more breads.

On a few nights they had little signs on the Lido tables announcing specials that night.  Didn't have to go to the Dining room for Prime Rib or Lobster!

 We ate most of our meals in the Lido because the menu was basically the same and you could get whatever sides you wanted.  Plus it didn't take 3 hours to eat!  Here's the Lido prime rib.

 Distant Lands had a theme food of the day.  I ate from it twice---a teriyaki dish and something else which were both very good.

They would grill to order, or you could choose from items already made up.

 Wild Harvest was a salad bar with just about anything you want to add to a salad.  They also had Caesar salad there.

 This station basically had your American comfort foods.

Homestead---American comfort food.

 The cookie and ice cream station---more American comfort food! 

wine rack separating the Caneletto from the walkway into Lido.

Up on level 10 to the New York Deli/Pizza place.  Love their plates!

 They also had free Movie night snacks here and bagels for breakfast.  Note---the chicken wings order is 2 wings.

We ate lunch and late night snacks here a few times.  The Reuben is fantastic.  hubby also really liked the pizza.  I wasn't crazy about the pizza sauce, but loved the Reuben and popcorn!  Expect to wait for your food here!  It's a popular place.

pizzas are made to order.  Hubby liked the pepperoni and shrimp pizza.  

The Dutch Cafe:

Another new free food venue for HAL!   Complete with Delf dishes.
Order at the far counter and wait for your food, then seat yourself.

their menu---not too easy to read, even live.

But much of it you could just point to.

 Was looking forward to the pea soup.  It was ok, not great.

Their apple pie was good, though.

 some of the seating at the Dutch Cafe.

 more of the Dutch Cafe area.

Sel de Mer:

Another new premium restaurant---I understand it's mainly a seafood place.  We didn't  pay for any of our meals since we like the food in the free venues.

The Culinary Arts room----

They made it into a pay restaurant in the evenings, too.  

seating in the Culinary Arts center.

ONe of the dining menus.

 in the mornings and afternoons they still have culinary demonstrations.  We went for this one.

 Nice area.  Not quite the humorous entertainment we got on the Maasdam, but it was still interesting.

sample of the recipe.  It was very good!

 They even grow their own herbs in a room off the restaurant.

Explorers Cafe on level 12.

Great mini sandwiches and sweet snacks for free. Specialty coffees and bottled waters for sale.

The Dining Room:

Only ate here 3 or 4 times during our 10 night cruise.  Service was slow, as usual.  Food was good.  Only problem here was too much political conversation going on one night.  You're kind of trapped if you don't like the conversation.

 

Lido Deck:

new colorful pool towels.

 middle pool with roof partly open.  The New York Deli/Pizza place is the place on the left of this picture on the 10th level.

I didn't think I'd like the movies being by the pool since they always had such a nice area in the Culinary Arts rooms for movies on the other HAL ships we've been on, but I ended up really liking it.  Hubby probably did, too, since I didn't jab him every time he fell asleep!  There were plenty of loungers or tables and chairs or couches on level 10 for a variety of seating.  When it was time for the movies, workers would turn the loungers around to face the screen and put a head pillow and blanket on them.

 Some Lido deck seating.

 Looking from level 10 down to the Lido deck.  Level 10 had lots of couches by the railings and day beds by the windows.

the lido loungers set up for the movie.

more seating by the pool.  To the right is the Lido Bar. In the middle is the pay Gelato  station.  To the left is the Dive Burger bar. 

 more of the loungers set up for the movie

 They would even bring popcorn around before the movie started and there was always extra bags of popcorn by the bar.

 looking down on the Lido deck from the New York Deli area.

 the couches on deck 10 overlooking the Lido deck and movie deck and movie screen.  Note the day beds and privacy curtains by the windows.  Those were usually occupied during the day.

Just outside the Lido restaurant were these soda machines.  Someone said you could buy a reusable glass for $8/day for all the soda you wanted.  Don't know if that was just from these machines or from the bars, too.  I liked that they actually had many flavors of soda, including caffeine free---but I didn't like that enough to buy into it.  Across the walk from here was a self serve beer tapper, too.

The aft pool area.

 aft pool from level 10.

 
 Spa and workout area:

The spinning class room.  There was a fee for most of the gym classes.

 The free bike exercisers.

 Nice large workout area with very little use. 

 Entrance to the Spa

Around Deck 11:

This is where the walking track is instead of the Promenade deck.  The track is rather small (12 laps equals a mile), but most people I saw walking here would walk the whole deck and not just the track.  There were also lots of pieces of exercise equipment around the deck.

 I guess this is the Sports Deck.

lots of room to walk.  I liked coming up to this level for sailaways and sunsets when I couldn't see them from my verandah. The boat became eerily empty around sunset!

spooky landing from one of these upper decks!

 more of the track.

the sport court.  Well equipped with  basketballs, soccer balls, a volleyball, and pickleball equipment. I even partook in the pickleball playing.

 Serenity Cabanas:

I believe these were on level 12.  I believe these are the ones people pay for?  It didn't look too busy.  They're in sort of a dead end area.  We found them by accident when we were trying to get to the other side of the ship. 

Walking the Promenade deck:

I'd read complaints from people who tried to walk the promenade deck, so I went to check it out.  It can be done.  Especially on this cruise since hardly anyone was out walking!

 where it gets a little narrow.

 and boring.

 and weird

 around to the other side.

 this actually goes by a restaurant.  I believe it's the Tamarind.  People can watch you walk while they eat.

 But it's possible to still walk this level.

 Around the inside of the ship:

Billboard--great music venue with free appetizers in the evening.

The World Stage in the round.   They have 3 shows a night here for about 45 minutes each time.  We enjoyed the entertainment here, especially the screens on the walls that would light up with videos or photos.  They can light up almost all the way around the room.

 a walkway

 casino

more of the casino

 seating area along a walkway.

shops

another shop

 one of the many lounges.

by BB Kings venue

 Lincoln center

 billboard, again.

Some of the Floral Arrangements:

Artwork around the ship:

Cool glass piece by the Crows nest.

 
some of the auction art---Peter Max, I presume?

 If it is Peter Max, I like how he's diversified his medium.

 a Crystal ball

 statue by the Explorer Bar

 I like the musical theme throughout the ship

 Art on the stairway---made up of tiny toy cars

 more stairway art---made up of tiny figurines

 more stairway art---made up of disk drives

 more stairway art---made up of type writer keys

more stairway art---crayons?

 close up of above photo.

 statue along a walkway

 another statue

I love how they made a sailboat out of this instrument.

I didn't know if we'd like being on a ship this large.  Since we cruised on the much smaller Maasdam, we fell in love with the smaller ships.  But with this being a new ship and going on the itinerary we liked, we were excited to give it a try.  For the most part, we really loved the ship.  It really didn't seem all that crowded to me.  It was easy to get around on.  It was nicely decorated.  Liked the new features such as the theatre in the round, free Navigator site on our smart phone, better tv choices, USB ports in the cabins, and the always wonderful crew.  But, then, I don't think we've been on a HAL ship that we didn't really enjoy!  I wouldn't hesitate to sail on the Koningsdam again.