First Impressions
While this ship is the largest vessel for Holland America so far, it by no means is a mega ship. The passenger capacity is only 2650.
It keeps the 3 level atrium style and the feeling of elegance that frequent cruisers of this line enjoy. It also has the wonderful crew that always remembers your name and gives the best service around, IMHO.
The ships musical theme, echo's throughout the ship from the Atrium, the Main Dining Room, and the Lincoln Center Stage to the main showroom which is called the World Stage. I will touch on the entertainment in a later blog.
The new design by Adam Tihany does change the "feel" in many locations. The décor and wood features are much lighter and brighter than some HAL cruisers are used too and the art work is more modern, while the use of accent colors really pop.
Specialty Dining
Most of the new venues, like the Grand Dutch Café, Sel de Mer, and the New York Deli and Pizza are a big hit with all passengers that I spoke with. I agree that these are really good enhancements, however, the Grand Dutch Café encroached to the edge of the Atrium railing and that just seemed odd to me.
The redesigned Culinary Arts Center is used in two ways. It still is used for cooking demos but Holland America has also created a farm to table style restaurant that rotates between two menus, on alternate nights, in the same location. I thought the "Lavendar" menu was creative and delicious on the evening we dined.
Main Dining Room
Let me start this part of the discussion by stating the food in ALL venues was the best we have encountered on any Holland America Line vessel. The MDR is beautiful with the sweeping lines and red globes of color. It is light and comfortable but it can be loud in the center section.
If we had a complaint, it was about the open seating choice that we made. It seems that many people made this choice and we all waited the first several nights for tables between 6:30 and 7:15.
On other ships, one level was "assigned" seating and the other level was for "open" seating. That was not the case on this ship. They handed out beepers and sent people to the Ocean bar to have a free drink and wait, which made the Ocean Bar very busy at dinner time. The dining room staff seemed to be surprised by the issue, even though several crew members I spoke with later, said that it had been an problem since the first sailing. Other than this we really seemed to have little to complain about!
A brief comment about the new "Lido Marketplace", if I may. This is an attractive space that has really good food, but as much as a redesign of colors and space is nice, it is still a buffet. I think that the individual stations may create more of an issue than it helps concerning the flow of traffic.
The newly expanded salad station seemed to be the biggest plus. They also still have the free ice cream here if you do not want to pay for gelato out by the pool.
I hope this first ever Blog for B&B Journeys was not boring and I will cover more about the entertainment and our cabin aboard the Koningsdam, in another installment.
Please feel encouraged to send us your comments as well.
Thank you and remember to Look Further!
Bill.
On Board Views
Write a comment
Joyce Wisemer (Thursday, 29 December 2016 22:57)
Beautiful pictures! Good article and descriptions. I'm so proud of you guys!
Annette Petta (Friday, 30 December 2016 09:20)
Would love to take a cruise on this ship due to your descriptions.
Shirley James (Friday, 30 December 2016 09:53)
Thanks for creating a great travel blog! Well done!
Aimee Leon (Friday, 30 December 2016 12:31)
Excellent post and beautiful pictures! Can't wait to read more about your journey!
Beautiful and Grumpy! (Friday, 30 December 2016 16:02)
Good job, guys. Keep up the good work! Happy 2017!
Jefferson Hall (Friday, 30 December 2016 16:21)
Would like to know more about the Eurodam