Construction
In the early planning stages, HAL had initially slotted a new ship to become a sister ship to Signature-class fleet-mate, MS Nieuw Amsterdam.[3] However, with the adoption of the Safe Return to Port requirements and the aging concept of the Signature-class design, HAL decided to develop a new prototype.[3]
On 26 October 2012, Carnival Corporation announced that it had ordered two cruise ships from the Italian shipbuilder, Fincantieri, with one of them being a new 2,660-passenger vessel for HAL, initially scheduled for a fall 2015 delivery.[4] At a planned gross tonnage of approximately, the ship would lead a new class of ships for HAL, dubbed Pinnacle class.[5]
On 4 February 2014, the first steel was cut for the ship at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera.[6] On 22 August 2014, the keel-laying ceremony was performed, in which a 680-ton block was lowered into the building dock, marking the beginning of hull assembly.[7] On 15 September 2014, HAL announced the name of the ship would be Koningsdam, in honor of Willem-Alexander, the first King of the Netherlands in over a century.[8] Koningsdam is the first ship in HAL's history to bear the name.[8] On 26 February 2015, the coin ceremony was performed. Tineke Schroder served as the madrina for the event and helped to weld two gold coins bearing the image of Willem-Alexander.[9] Shortly after, in early-March 2015, Koningsdam was floated out from the dry dock and transferred into the outfitting dock for final construction and interior furnishing.[9] In January 2016, Koningsdam performed two sets of sea trials.[10] She first left Marghera on 2 January for three days before arriving at Fincantieri's shipyard in Trieste for standard hull maintenance and evaluation.[10] She then left on 10 January for her second trial and returned to Marghera on 16 January for her finishing touches.[10]
In March 2015, HAL announced the delivery date of Koningsdam would be postponed by approximately one month, from 16 February 2016 to 31 March 2016, after a joint decision made with Fincantieri.[11] Koningsdam was successfully presented and delivered to HAL in Marghera on 31 March 2016.[12] HAL revealed the godmother of Koningsdam would be Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands on 18 April 2016, following a long line of HAL tradition of inviting members of the Dutch royal family to christen HAL ships.[13] She christened the vessel on 20 May 2016 in Rotterdam.[14]
