Koningsdam Review

Across the Pond and down through the Caribbean on the Koningsdam, November 2018

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Koningsdam

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and timing, we weren't really cruising we were actually on our way to annoy, er, visit the relatives in Florida for the holidays. This cruise landed us there right in time and in the right location so we chose the TransAtlantic cruise from Rome to Fort Lauderdale along with a back to back cruise through the Caribbean to make our arrival in Fort Lauderdale at the right time. It was also to ports we hadn't seen and had a TransAtlantic crossing which we hadn't done before as well. We'd not been on this specific ship before and we really liked the Westerdam from last year so we wondered what a slightly larger HAL ship would be like,

For this cruise, we started out leaving the port in Civitavecchia near Rome. We got into Rome four days early to make sure we didn't miss the ship. Plus, hey! It's ROME! We had a BnB near the Vatican and had a great four days before the ship visiting the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, etc., etc. There's loads to look at in Rome and the food is insanely good. Hmm, well, considering how fussy they are about how their food is grown, maybe it's 'sanely' good. Prior to Rome, I'd have graded the ship's food much higher, but after the food, coffee & croissants we had in Rome, well, now I have a higher standard for 'excellent' food.

We caught a shuttle bus from Rome to the ship and the shuttle dropped us off right at the ramp to the ship. The shuttle driver handed our luggage to the ship's porters so it was a good thing we had them tagged and ready. I'm pretty sure it was Rome Cabs who operated the shuttle. We arranged the pickup online and they showed up on time and everything was very easy and convenient.

Cabin Review

Standard Interior Stateroom

Cabin N

It was an inside cabin, they're not known for luxury. It was adequate but not luxurious, but that's the description of an inside cabin, now isn't it?

The nicest part of it was the shower, very large for on a cruise ship. Much bigger, actually, than the one at the BnB in Rome, but that's not part of the ship review. Lovely shampoo/conditioner/shower gel dispenser on the shower wall. Nice pull across string for drying swim suits in the shower. Nice glass door and nice shower head with water temperature that can be picked by choosing the degree of water wanted.

We did have adequate storage space. The bed was large and lovely. The pillows nice, the towels soft, the actual furnishings were lovely, it's just not much space between them. There was no where to eat in the cabin other than on the bed but we didn't get the cabin to spend much time in it so that wasn't an issue. When someone is sitting at the desk, there's no room to move past them. That's pretty much the standard, though, in an inside cabin - room for one person to move around at a time.

The strangest thing in the cabin was the light switch. It required a card - one would suppose a ship's card was intended to be the card used - in a slot in order for the lights to work. The lights by the bed would work without a card, but the overhead and bathroom lights wouldn't work unless there was a card in the slot. I suppose it's to keep the lights out when folks aren't in their cabins, but it's a bit awkward when one has the ship's card in a plastic carry case on a lanyard.

For us, the sheer lack of humidity in the cabin was a huge problem. We live in a really humid climate and the dryness of the cabin meant we were waking up every several hours to drink water to moisten our mouth. Which then meant we'd be waking up in awhile because we'd drank so much water. Ooops! There is some variation in the cabin's temperature available, I didn't find anything for adjusting the humidity other than lots of showers and wedging the shower door open.

Port Reviews

Aruba

Aruba would probably be a LOT more interesting if it hadn't been a Sunday and about eighty five percent of everything was closed. There was an interesting parade through town for Saint Nicolas. Note: St. Nicolas is NOT Santa Claus. St. Nick rides a white horse and brings presents to folks on the morning of December 6th. They aren't wrapped and apparently arrive on the breakfast table from the reports I heard. Santa Claus also shows up on his scheduled day, so there's two days of presents in December if you live in the right place.

Curacao

This was a get off the ship and walkabout town sort of port. The floating bridge was interesting and if it's not in place there's a ferry boat to take across the river. We found the Old Market which was over near the Floating Market. That was interesting. Floating Market is mostly a few fishing boats selling fish, so not much of interest for cruise ship folks other than photo opportunities. Old Market is in a circular building with a rick-rack roof, you'll know it when you see it. There was also a museum over there that we almost went into but got distracted by the market and missed it.

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Fort Lauderdale is mostly an embarkation/disembarkation port. Walking to the drug store can be done but it's a really long and hot walk. Taking a taxi to either the shops or to the hop on hop off boat would possibly be a good option if this is an 'intransit' port during a back to back cruise.

If disembarking here, load the 'Mobile Passport' app on your cellphone and save tons of time when getting off the boat.

Half Moon Cay

This island is privately owned by the cruise line. It has a lovely swimming beach, lots of sea side loungers, very poor snorkeling and a pretty good picnic lunch although longer lines than usual for a lunch time event. Possibly because most everyone is at the beach and there's basically only one spot for lunch.

Grand Turk

Most of the poor review for this port was because we shared the small port with another cruise ship. The port can't quite handle two large ships at the same time. To get to the rest of the island, one needs transportation of some sort. There's a small beach right off the ship, but if there's two ships in port, it's pretty crowded. There's a big bar with swimming pool, but if there's two big ships in port, it's pretty crowded.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata)

In this port we took a ship's tour and had an interesting day going off to a snorkeling cove. The bus ride through the countryside and small towns gave us a fairly authentic although somewhat gritty view of the Dominican Republic.

There seemed to be a big swimming pool and other things available to do in the port, although we didn't go to see that since we had a pretty full day with the powered snorkeling tour.

Bonaire

Bonaire was a lovely port. We got the yellow water taxi in the line up off folks offering services right off the ship and went on their first run of the day. It wasn't planned that way, it was sheer coincidence on our part. Apparently, on the first run of the day, the water taxi goes off to Spice/Cocoa Beach (it apparently has multiple names) then it head off to Little Bonaire, which is an uninhabited island that has excellent snorkeling. If you want, they will land the folks on the island and then take the folks who want to snorkel about a half mile up the beach and boot them off into the water. We took them up on this option and it was absolutely excellent. You do need to have your own snorkel gear, though, so be sure to pack it with you before you get onto the ship.

We drifted with the current and there was loads of different corals to view and fishes to see. It was a lovely experience. The water taxi reappears every hour so one can choose when to leave. We drifted slowly so we weren't ready the first time it came back. We took it back to shore on the second reappearance and it was perfect. The water taxi was $15 for a round trip.

After the water taxi drift snorkel, we walked through Bonaire town. As usual, the places further away from the ship had better prices. We picked up some souvenirs at an assortment of craft booths that were towards the middle of town. I suspect they have them there on ship days.

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