Holland America Line held a ceremony in which the Queen gave her blessing and christened the Koningsdam in front of several guests including cruise line representatives and media.
The celebration began with Queen Máxima performing the ceremonial honors of blessing the ship's bell by pouring a glass of champagne over it. The blessing of the bell is a Holland America Line tradition when welcoming a new vessel to the fleet. The Queen was also the first to sign the Koningsdam memorial wall, which will become a permanent feature on the ship.
Later, the ship was officially christened during a ceremony at the World Stage Theater.
“It is an honor to have Her Majesty Queen Máxima as godmother of the Koningsdam. It has been very important to have the Queen with us for these celebrations and to welcome the Koningsdam to our fleet. This ship was necessary to try to return to our origins, which date back more than 143 years.”.
Serving as Koningsdam's Mariner Ambassadors were sailors Enrique “Rick” Encarnación and Ernest Schenk, who have logged 1,650 days at sea with Holland America Line Cruises. Schenk first sailed with the company on the SS Ryndam. Encarnación sailed in 1997 aboard the MS Statendam through the Panama Canal.
After the ceremony, a gala luncheon was held on board the ship, along with various celebrations throughout the day. That evening, the ship set sail from Amsterdam.
During its first season in Europe, the Koningsdam will sail through the Mediterranean before returning to Amsterdam, its home port, where it will spend the summer sailing between Norway, Iceland and the Baltic.
After its European season, the Koningsdam will be based at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ship will sail to the Bahamas and make a series of Caribbean voyages from November 2016 through March 2017.
