Food and Dining on Koningsdam cruise ship
When comparing Alaska cruise lines, dining is often one of the deciding factors. Holland America’s Koningsdam cruise ship offers a variety of food and dining experiences, from elegant white-linen dinners to quick, casual bites and desserts.
One of the things we like most about family cruising is ability to dine together each day. And, because each restaurant offers a wide selection of menu items, there’s something for everyone. Even our picky boys.
In this blog post, we breakdown the food, dining and restaurant options on the Koningsdam cruise ship.
We also share a ridiculous amount of food photos, so you can see the various dishes we sampled on this cruise. We will start with the main dining room. Then we will share photos from the buffet restaurant and specialty dining.
Before we get started, it’s important to disclose that we were hosted on this Alaska cruise with Holland America Line. In exchange for this complimentary cruise, we were asked to share our personal experiences on this travel blog. As always, all opinions expressed here are our own.
Complimentary Dining
Most of the restaurants and food options onboard the Koningsdam cruise ship is included. This means you can order anything you want at the sit-down restaurants and buffets.
If you want to order multiple appetizers or desserts – go for it! You’re on vacation, after all.
Note – Alcoholic and specialty drinks, including soda, are not included with standard pricing (additional charge). However, you can purchase drinks packages for the duration of the cruise. Or you can order drinks and have them charged to your room.
Learn more about Cruise Drink and Beverage Packages here.
The Dining Room on Koningsdam
The Dining Room, is the aptly named main restaurant on Koningsdam. It’s located at the back of the ship and spans two floors (2nd and 3rd floor). This is a complimentary restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch (on sea days), and dinner.
We dined at this stylish restaurant almost every night during our Alaska cruise.
Menu at The Dining Room
Menus rotate daily and include seafood, meats, vegetarian dishes, and regional specialties. Here is a sample menu.
Typically, there are about 6-8 options for appetizers, entrees and desserts.
Dress code
Dress code changes each night. Most nights are smart casual; which means collared shirt and nice slacks/jeans for men, and dresses, blouses, skirts and nice slacks/jeans for women.
However, there are also dressy nights at The Dining Room. The expectation is that you dress to impress. While not as formal as traditional “black tie,” many guests enjoy dressing up for photos.
What’s not permitted during dining service is t-shirts, swimwear, tank tops, shorts, flip flops, etc. Basically, don’t dress like your hanging out at the pool.
Reservations & Seating
Guests are not required to have a set reservation time to dine in The Dining Room, but it’s recommended to make a reservation during peak times.
You can choose between As You Wish Dining or Set Seating.
As You Wish Dining is flexible, so guests may come to the restaurant whenever (during service hours). For this option, guests will enter the Dining Room from the 2nd floor entrance.
We chose this option for dinner. We were seated at the same window seat three times and had the same servers.
Set Seating has a fixed time (early or late seating) with the same table and servers each night. Guests with Set Seating will enter on the 3rd floor.
Breakfast and lunch in the Dining Room are open seating. We preferred to visit the Lido Market for breakfast.
Below are photos of Appetizers served in The Dining Room on Koningsdam
Below are photos of Main Courses from The Dining Room menu
Fresh salmon that WE caught on a fish trip in Ketchikan
We caught this salmon while on a fishing excursion in Ketchikan. Our tour guide sent the freshly caught salmon to the dining room kitchen and the chef prepared this dish specifically for us.
How cool is that?! This was our final meal, so it was a memorable way to end our Alaska cruise.
Kids menu options at The Dining Room on Koningsdam
Below are Desserts from The Dining Room menu
Sample Menu for the Dining Room on Koningsdam cruise ship
Here is a pdf link of the Koningsdam Dining Room menu.
The Dining Room menu changes every day. You can order multiple dishes if you like.
Lido Market
The Lido Market is a buffet-style marketplace with multiple themed stations. It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You will visit the Lido Market several times while on the Koningsdam cruise ship.
The Lido has several small buffet stations with different food options. For example, there’s a bread and pastry section, a salad section, an international food section with rotating menu, a meat carving station, lunch meat and sandwich section, sweets and dessert section, etc.
Each buffet station has a kitchen member available to assist guests with their food choices. This is a nice touch that we appreciate.
Below are a few photos from the Lido Market on Koningsdam.
Breakfast at the Lido Market. Freshly prepared eggs benedict with smoked salmon, cheese, fruit and pastry.
While this plate is from the buffet, the eggs benedict is prepared by a kitchen member, so it’s made-to-order.
Salad from the salad bar at Lido Market.
Lunch dish from Lido Market – bowl of prawns, mussels and garlic toast.
Sushi at the Sea. This was my afternoon snack on sea days.
Dessert selections from the Lido Market.
This banana custard dish is deadly delicious.
There are several separate buffet-style sections, each serving different types of food.
Selection of assorted meats, smoked salmon, cheese and fruit salad.
I’m pretty sure I had smoked salmon and poached eggs every morning.
Hot food selection at the breakfast buffet at Lido Market.
Taco station. Build your own taco, burrito or nachos, with a variety of meat choices, vegetables, refried beans, rice, queso, salsa and all the fixings.
Selection of sandwiches during the lunch service at Lido Market.
Freshly baked pastries and bread at Rise and Breadboard at Lido Market.
Tea selection available at Lido Market.
Tea and coffee are included without requiring a beverage package.
Above and below show the restaurant seating at Lido Market.
It gets busy here during peak times. You’re best option is to find your table first, then get your food.
Dive-In on the Koningsdam
The Dive-In is Holland America’s casual poolside grill, located on the Lido Deck (near the main pool area).
It’s a go-to spot for quick comfort food when you don’t want a sit-down meal in the Dining Room or buffet at the Lido Market.
Menu is gourmet burgers (they are delicious!), juicy hot dogs, fries with specialty sauces.
Typically open for lunch and extended afternoon hours (roughly 11:30 AM – 6:00 PM). Not available at night.
Above and below are photos of the eating area at Dive-In.
You can also order food to your poolside lounger.
New York Deli & Pizza
This quick-service counter offers fresh pizzas, handmade deli sandwiches, breakfast and salads.
Our boys ate at least one pizza per day while on the Alaska cruise. They love this place. It’s conveniently located beside the main pool, so this became our go-to spot during pool time.
How the personal pizza works – you place your order at the counter and get a buzzer that calls you when the pizza is ready. Typically takes about 15-20 minutes per pizza. But it can take longer during peak hours because each pizza is handmade to order.
It’s open late, so if you’re craving a snack after dinner, this is where you go.
Seating at New York Deli & Pizza. This photo was taken while at Ketchikan, Alaska.
Grand Dutch Cafe
The Grand Dutch Cafe is a popular dining and social venue on Koningsdam cruise ship. Situated just off the ship’s atrium area, it features a Netherlands-themed menu and atmosphere.
The cafe is typically open for lunch and snacks throughout the afternoon and evening.
It’s also one of the few locations on the ship that serves draft beer. This was our happy hour spot on sea days.
Maatjes herring – with chopped onions, pickles and pumpernickel bread. Delicious!
Van Dobben Bitterballen – classic Dutch snack with creamy meat ragout filling and crispy breadcrumb coating.
Bossche bol – Dutch pastry filled with Chantilly cream. Very popular item with guests.
Broodje Kroket – crisp fried veal ragout, roll with mustard (and draft beer).
Bar seating at the classy Grand Dutch Cafe.
Specialty Dining on Koningsdam
In addition to the complimentary venues (Dining Room, Lido Market, Dive-In, New York Deli & Pizza, etc.), the Koningsdam offers specialty restaurants for an additional fee. Reservations are encouraged.
- Pinnacle Grill – Upscale steakhouse with premium Pacific Northwest beef, seafood, and elegant service.
- Canaletto – Casual Italian with shareable plates, pasta, and hearty mains (set within the Lido Market area, but with its own section).
- Tamarind & Nami Sushi – Pan-Asian restaurant serving dishes inspired by Southeast Asia, China, and Japan, with an adjacent sushi bar.
- Rudi’s Sel de Mer – French brasserie by Master Chef Rudi Sodamin, specializing in seafood such as bouillabaisse, oysters, and fresh platters.
- Club Orange (exclusive venue) – private dining for quests booked in suites or who purchased Club Orange package.
Many Alaska cruise packages will include an onboard credit for specialty dining experiences. So, while these restaurants have an additional fee, often times you can use your credits for dining.
We celebrated Nicole’s mother’s birthday at Pinnacle Grill.
We enjoyed our fine dining experience at Pinnacle Grill on our second last night of the Alaska cruise. See the menu here.
Photos of our dishes below. We were so full that we had to share the dessert amongst the table.
Rudi’s Sel de Mer specialty restaurant on Koningsdam. See the menu here.
Above is the Canaletto Italian restaurant. It’s connected to the Lido Market.
Inside view of Tamarind restaurant. More info here.
Room Service
We LOVE that Holland America offers complimentary 24/7 room service.
Although we only ordered breakfast items, mostly coffee and fruit, it’s nice to know that if we weren’t feeling well, we could stay in our stateroom and order room service.
The breakfast room service process is quite easy. You just fill out a form that’s in your stateroom with the items you want. Then you hang this form on your door handle (outside). Magically, your breakfast arrives the next morning right on time.
I’m still trying to figure how to make this process work at home.
Enjoying morning coffee on our patio while searching for whales.
Watch this video from our patio when we arrived in Alaska.
Final thoughts about the food on this Alaska Cruise
You did it! You made it to the end of this lengthy blog post. This is a lot of information. And, we still have many more photos that we didn’t share because this post was getting out of control.
So, the big question – what did we think about the food and dining on Holland America’s Koningsdam cruise ship?
We enjoyed the variety of food and dining options on this cruise ship. The main Dining Room offers a wide selection of dishes, the food is fresh and delicious (not easy to do consistently when serving so many people), and the table service is friendly, knowledgeable and attentive.
One evening at the main Dining Room, our son ordered a new dish for the first time. It was a gamble. But we encourage him to try new foods. Unfortunately, he did not like the dish he ordered. The dish was prepared as expected, he just did not like the food. Our server picked up on this. Rather than make it uncomfortable for my son, he jumped to action and allowed our son to order a different entree. We were all very happy with how the situation was handled.
We also like how Lido Market is not just one big buffet. It’s nice to have the kitchen staff serve you at the buffet because it reduces the amount of touching and handling by other guests.
We definitely ate too much food and did not need three or four course meals every day! That seems to be a common theme amongst most cruise guests.
Food and dining aside, we think an Alaska cruise is a fantastic way to spend a family vacation.
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Are you considering an Alaska cruise with Holland America?
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