"Is possible sale of Prinsendam influencing your plans to sail on her?"

[trvlnliz]

We're booked on the 9/20/2005 cruise (and have booked our air)on Prisendam and are looking for others who may be on this sailing. After hearing all the talk of the possible sale of Prinsendam, we're beginning to consider canceling this cruise and looking for another. Any opinions or cruisemates out there?? :confused:

[lipoppop]

I am sailing on May 9th and will make my final payment soon. I don't expect HAL to reduce the level of service even if they are thinking of selling the vessel.

[localady]

My husband and I are not changing our plans from a July sailing on the Prinsendam. First of all, the "sale" still just in "rumor" stage, there has not even been a public offer made, nor a public statement from HAL confirming that she is for sale.

We choose the Prinsendam for her size and the fact that in addition to the "normal" Baltic ports, she will also be sailing the Kiel Canal, and visiting Visby and Ronne. My belief is that any sale would specify a delivery date after her current 2005 obligations. But that is just my guess...:cool:

[jhannah]

We're good to go on August 23. Aren't planning on doing anything different.

[RevNeal]

The possibility of a sale has spurred me on in researching possible cruise options so that I can cruise on her before a possible sale.

[jhannah]

Greg ... come circle the British Isles with us in August. HAL calls it the "Windmills and Waterford" cruise (guess because it round trips Amsterdam and a shore excursion will visit the Waterford factory.) It should be a great sailing.

[Bill S]

We're also booked on the Juy 26 Baltic cruise and are not all at concerned by the Prinsendam being on "the block". I would think these transactions take a long time to put together and to be consumated, especially for a ship that is still in active service.

Greg: of course you know that we would really enjoy it if you could join us on the Baltic cruise, too! Not that you wouldn't enjoy Jim and Donna's company on their cruise!

[Cristiano]

DW and I are still booked for June 4th out of Piraeus and would not consider changing this trip and feel that at the moment all the talk is just based on hearsay, but you never know:rolleyes:

Cristiano.

[localady]

Rev. Neal-

There seems to be 10 or so CC'ers identified on the July 26th Amsterdam r/t to the Baltic via the Kiel Canal. Would love to have you join us too. We have even set up a tour of St. Pete's with Red October, sure would be great to have you join us. Looking forward to meeting the other CC'ers on the cruise!

[Cruising_Gator]

I signed up for the July 12th cruise last week and was disappointed to hear about the sale rumors here. My main concern is that HAL might putoff some maintenance (comfort related).

My plan at the moment is to go on the cruise and have a great time with my family (I hope).

I haven't been on a cruise in 5 years, and never on the Prinsendam.

[dougnewmanatsea]

there has not even been a public offer made, nor a public statement from HAL confirming that she is for sale.
I certainly wouldn't take that as an indication that she isn't for sale... Certainly if someone were to make an offer on her, it would not be public... Nor would HAL normally make a statement that a ship is for sale, for that matter. Generally speaking, cruise lines do not like advertising to their potential passengers that the ship they're trying to sell a cruise on is for sale, lest passengers have second thoughts like those that some are voicing right now. The only people that generally advertise ships as being for sale are shipbrokers, and most of the ones that publicly advertise are notorious for listing ships that are not actively for sale anyway. (The more reputable ones usually point out when a listing is for a ship that they just think "might" be for sale "at the right price" - never mind that that applies to almost any ship one could think of.) And of course there are ships that are for sale that aren't listed - the most recent sales from the Carnival Corporation & plc stable were NOORDAM and CARONIA and I don't recall ever seeing either one advertised for sale by any shipbroker, though it was pretty much common knowledge within the industry that they were on the market. So counting on public information from the cruise lines generally means that you won't hear anything until the deal is done.

To repeat what I've said before... I have been told in no uncertain terms by a very reliable source that PRINSENDAM is for sale, and that HAL have approached some of the smaller operators in the industry about this.

I must also reiterate that this does not mean that she is sold or that she will be sold soon, but she is for sale... And it is very unlikely that there will be any "official" statements about this from HAL until she is actually sold.

[localady]

To repeat what I've said before... I have been told in no uncertain terms by a very reliable source that PRINSENDAM is for sale, and that HAL have approached some of the smaller operators in the industry about this.

I must also reiterate that this does not mean that she is sold or that she will be sold soon, but she is for sale... And it is very unlikely that there will be any "official" statements about this from HAL until she is actually sold.

Doug-
Did not mean to infer that what you said wasn't true. I've no doubt she is for sale....I said publically....
My point was that I would not see an impending sale to hinder this year in Europe. Please let me know if your opinion differs, as we have our summer plans set on it and airfares already purchased!:eek: Thanks for your input!:cool:

[dougnewmanatsea]

Did not mean to infer that what you said wasn't true. I've no doubt she is for sale....I said publically....
No problem. Sorry if I'm not my usual cheerful self - today has been "one of those days" for me...

My point was that I would not see an impending sale to hinder this year in Europe.
I have to agree with you there... Even if she were sold tomorrow, I doubt that she would leave the fleet before the 2005 Europe season is over. These things don't normally happen that quickly.

So don't worry, go and have a great time! (I'm headed to Europe myself this summer, but on X - I could never be a one cruise line man ;) ...)

[localady]

So don't worry, go and have a great time! (I'm headed to Europe myself this summer, but on X - I could never be a one cruise line man ;) ...)

Last time I cruised the Baltic, it was in the Millinneum (sp?) during her inangural summer cruises. It was a lovely cruise and she is a lovely ship! Love the Aquaspa and what used to be a horticultural area with fresh flowers up on the very top deck! Hope you have a great trip:cool:

[dougnewmanatsea]

Last time I cruised the Baltic, it was in the Millinneum (sp?) during her inangural summer cruises.
We're going on CENTURY - a ship I've wanted to try since before she was even built. Looked at HAL but at least for us X was a lot less expensive which made it an easy choice.

Haven't been on X since 1995 (for no particular reason) so it should be interesting to try them out again after all this time.

[shmabbies]

And the fact that Doug is on Century this summer was someone else's loss, as my good friend & her family & friends were booked on Century in the Caribbean in August, and they were not told by the cruise line OR their agent that the ship had been moved to the Mediterranean, leaving them high & dry. It was ME that informed her a few weeks ago, having learned it on these boards, that her cruise was a goner and that she was losing valuable time making alternate plans. This after the five adults in the group went to great lengths to procure vacation time during this specific week when the kids were off from school during the summer, and only two of them have enough flexibility to reschedule their vacation time now that the damage has been done. So - as someone who is booked with Trvlnliz on Prinsendam in September, this thread comes full circle in that cruise lines can be, shall we say, SECRETIVE about their plans (to put it mildly) or DUPLICITOUS about their plans (my personal interpretation), and Liz was quite justified in posing her question about HAL's intentions with Prinsendam.

[Sail With Me]

Definitely not changing our plans for August 23 Windmills and Waterford. Prinsendan world cruise for 2006 is almost sold out and is the only ship in the fleet which is small enough for this type of voyage. If the ship is for sale, and according to our HAL DSM it is not, it will not affect this year's Europe voyages.

We were originally booked on a RCCL European itinerary and they chartered the ship for a gay cruise and we were out of luck on that one. More chance of a ship being chartered than sold for the same year.

Karen and Bob

[Brandis]

Cruise Gator

We are also on the July 12 cruise. I don't think maintenance should be a problem, as she just came out of drydock. We were on her last November and I had no complaints then. I'm looking forward very much to cruise on her again and meet all the nice staff again!

Marc

[Cruising_Gator]

Brandis,
Look forward to seeing you on the cruise. I enjoyed the Prinsendam pictures on your website. More interesting than the HAL photos. Nice room.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I imagine that PRINSENDAM will not be sold to Fred. Olsen as has been rumored, as they have just announced the purchase of Iberojet's GRAND LATINO, the former ROYAL VIKING SKY and sister ship to the Olsen flagship, BLACK WATCH, former ROYAL VIKING STAR. PRINSENDAM is the former ROYAL VIKING SUN. (Note that PRINSENDAM Is slightly larger and much newer and more modern than the former ROYAL VIKING STAR/SEA/SKY which were built in 1971-1973; PRINSENDAM was built in 1988. There was a fifth RVL vessel, ROYAL VIKING QUEEN, built in 1992, but she was not a "real" RVL ship as she was a much smaller vessel than the others, ordered by Seabourn who then passed on her. The order was picked up by RVL and after the RVL name and ROYAL VIKING SUN were sold to Cunard, she went to Royal Cruise Line as QUEEN ODYSSEY before going to Seabourn as SEABOURN LEGEND after RCL shut down in 1996. Ironically after Carnival took over Cunard, the two ships were reunited when ROYAL VIKING SUN became SEABOURN SUN.)

I suppose Fred. Olsen could still buy her, but it seems unlikely to me that they would take on two "new" ships at once, though stranger things have certainly happened.

Note that this does not by any means mean that PRINSENDAM is not for sale, and I continue to have complete confidence the information I received indicating that she is. However I think we can most likely cross Olsens off the potential-buyer list for PRINSENDAM.

[Sail With Me]

I am a cruise agent and after reading Doug's post I called HAL today and spoke to our DSM. She told me that the Prinsendam World Cruise is on waitlist for 2006 as it has sold out, and that the ship will not be sold. I told her about the posting on Cruise Critic by Doug who said he had it on good source that the ship is for sail and she continued to deny it.

Not sure if the ship is for sail or not, only know that I have been told to continue selling the Prinsendam and that our summer voyage is definitely not going to be cancelled.

Karen

[Brandis]

Cruisin Gator

Glad you enjoyed my pictures.

Unfortunately, on the Iceland cruise we won't stay in a suite, too expensive. As it is, we pay more for our outside cabin on this cruise than what the suite cost on the transatlantic...

But I'm still glad that we get to be aboard Prinsendam again. :-)

Marc

[trubey]

I will be sailing on the Prinsendam this November, so I've followed this conversation closely. Everyone seems to have a different take on the matter, but what I'm wondering about, is what are the normal procedures when a ship is sold. I'm still relatively new to all of this, but I'm sure some of you must know.

Does the cruise line substitue another ship? Does the actual exchange of the ship take place in the future so that booked cruisies can take place? Or are people just left high and dry (as opposed to wet?).

Anyone know?

susan.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Does the cruise line substitue another ship? Does the actual exchange of the ship take place in the future so that booked cruisies can take place?
Most often, ships that are sold while actively trading remain in service with the seller for at least some time before completing their cruises. In some cases the schedule is cut short, in which case booked pax are usually given some sort of compensation, but the transfer is generally not immediate. One exception to this rule was when Seabourn sold SEABOURN GODDESS I and II to SeaDream Yacht Club, where SeaDream took over all the old itineraries and operated them. This is definitely not something that would happen with PRINSENDAM though.

Of course we're just speaking in the abstract here, but even if she were to be sold today, I would at least expect her to complete her European season, and maybe even all her planned cruises through the 2006 world cruise, at least if that is full. All depends on the needs of HAL, the buyer, etc.

[crusinggranny]

We are booked for the 26 day sailing Nov.24-Dec 20. Really looking forward to this trip as have always wanted to do the Amazon. I hope that if the ship is sold that they will still have this cruise, even if they use a different ship.

Please keep me posted.

Thanks