Views from Holland America’s Koningsdam Cruise Ship

by Janis on July 29, 2016

For the final installment of our photo tour of the ms Koningsdam, we are sharing views from walking around the ship.

We took these photos during our the July 3rd 7-Day Viking Sagas cruise from Amsterdam on Holland America’s newest ship, the ms Koningsdam, pictured while docked in Flam, Norway.

As the first in Holland America’s new, larger Pinnacle Class of ships, the ms Koningsdam has some special touches among its 13 guest decks. One of those is the hallway carpet. I enjoyed “tip-toeing through the tulips” on throughout the ship.

There is also carpet emphasizing the ship musical inspiration, with different instruments in the pattern.

On each side of the ms Koningsdam you will find a glass-bottomed stairway connecting two decks that protrudes over the side of the ship.

This is a closer look peering through the glass-bottom stairway where you can see verandahs multiple decks below. The concrete pier in the photo above gives a sense of how far the stairway “overhangs” from the side of the ship.

There has been discussion on Cruise Critic recently as to which direction guests are instructed to walk on the Promenade deck. Above is the sign on the ms Koningsdam, which does not direct walking in a specific direction but does indicate that 3 laps equal 1 mile of walking.

One major design change on the ms Koningsdam compared to Holland America other ships is seen on the Promenade Deck. While guests can still walk laps around the ship, the deck is narrow in some spots. In other portions, the view is blocked by the life boats, and the iconic wooden deck chairs are not to be found.

We found walking the deck for exercise and outdoor views still worked for us. If you are a Holland America cruiser who enjoys reading or napping on a deck chair while staring out to sea, the ms Koningsdam is not the ship for you.

Since the ms Koningsdam is a bigger ship with a significant number of new venues, the detailed directory signs by each elevator come in handy when trying to find your way around.

How the emergency safety drill is conducted on the first day of the cruise is another significant change for Holland America Line on the ms Koningsdam. Rather than head to an assigned muster station, guests are directed to go to their staterooms and watch the safety video on the interactive television. The cruise director guides this process through the intercom in both English and in Dutch languages.

Cruise guests are encouraged to locate their life jackets, and put them on in their stateroom or suite following the video instructions on the television. These life jackets seem to be more robust models than we’ve experienced on other ships.

Then, guests are instructed to leave their life jackets in their cabin for the drill, and to make their way to their assigned muster station.

Our assigned muster station was in the World Stage theater on Deck 3, a significant walk from Deck 11. Once you reach you muster station, a cruise staff member scans your room key to mark your attendance. The captain explains procedures to follow in case of a real emergency.

The entire process took much longer, but is more comfortable than the long wait on the promenade deck while cruise staffers are calling out cabin numbers still found on some other ships.

On Deck 3 near the front office you will find self-service statement printing kiosks on the ms Koningsdam. This is a quick way to check your bill throughout your cruise, rather than wait in line to have the front deck staff print one for you.

In the same area there was a luggage scale for guests who are flying to check the weight of their suitcases.

Have you sailed on Holland America’s ms Koningsdam? What new feature did you find interesting?

Check out these other Koningsdam photo tour posts:

To tour cabins on other cruise ships, check out these posts:

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