Holland America Prinsendam

[dingbat]

Have any of you taken the 28 day Cruise on the Prinsendam, called the European Overview. It is a back to back cruise of the 14 night Northern Europe, sailing from Amsterdam, and including St. Petersburg, and then back to Amsterdam and then begin the 14 night Western Europe ending in Rome. I have never been on a Holland America Cruise, and from what I am reading on this site, I am not sure I truely want to. I also am not sure how it would be to be on a ship that small for 28 days. We are a group of 9 couples that love to travel together and we are planning a trip like this for August/September of 2007. From what I am reading here, we may not ever be able to get cabins, as we all want terrace cabins. I thought 14 months ahead of time would be the way to go, for so many of us. I have read also about the food not being very good and no lobster, let alone ordering 2 as we usually do. We have had wonderful cruises before on Celebrity and Princess, and Carnival, but these 2 14 night cruises are going where we would like to go. It is making me very nervous, to go ahead and book this cruise, if they will even release cabins, as I am in charge and have handled all of our other trips that turned out wonderful. Please, any feedback would be appreciated.

[Bill S]

dingbat: Prior to sailing on the Prinsendam last year (a 14-day Baltic/Russia cruise, Amsterdam to Amsterdam) we had cruised only on HAL's larger R, S and Vista class ships. Within hours of boarding the smaller Prinsendam, she became our favorite HAL ship! She is not that small, and we really enjoyed the noticeably more intimate nature of the vessel and the warmth of her crew. She is not called "The Elegant Explorer" for nothing. We thought that the entertainment was better than average on that cruise, with several entertainers from outside the US who were very good. Due to her "diminutive" stature, by comparison with today's ships, she is able to go places many other cruise ships cannot, for instance, the Kiel Canal, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

The Prinsendam, originally the Sun Viking, IIRC, was built for longer cruising as many of her cabins have true, walk-in closets. We had no difficulty adjusting to the smaller sized ship. We would sail on her again without hesitation.

Hopefully, Grumpy1 will respond to your posting tomorrow. He and his DW did a world cruise on the Prinsendam in 2004-2005. He is much better qualified to speak of the Prinsendam's qualities for a long cruise, than I am. Hope this helps you a bit! Whatever your final choice, I hope you have a great cruise!

[grannynurse]

Dingbat,
I will also defer to Grumpy. Sailing on Prinsendam is on our wish list. She has so many great itineraries. If you've never been on a HAL ship, there is nothing to compare it with. The HAL atmosphere, especially on the smaller ships is unique. If you are your friends like a very rousing night life, this most likely isn't the line for you. 9 couples however cam make their own fun. We've done it with fewer couple and shared the best cruises in our varied experiences. HAL does Europe very elegantly. Our 35 day on the Rotterdam VI in 2004 was our very best cruise ever. We had many at sea days and were never for a minute, bored. The food does vary in quality at times but there are many choices including a separate vegetarian menu. I've heard, tho, that Prinsendam has a reutation for great food. The longer cruises are much different from the 7 day Caribbean, and take on a life of their own.
We'd do this cruise in a heartbeat.
GN

[yiddishkopf]

We sailed on the Prisendam in 2003 -- all around Australia and ending in Singapore. The ship is lovely -- it is so nice to get familiar with more passengers, the food was great. A few more days on the ship and they would have had to roll me down the gangplank.

No lobster? Perish the thought! We've had lobster on all our HAL ships and you can have as many as you want.

I can find no negatives about the Prisendam except that they made me get off at the end of the cruise.

[wowzo]

We are going on the P for 56 days next year and can't wait ?

I wouldn't pay too much attention to all the negatives - experienced cruisers know that it's only 1/2 of the story and that opinion could be different from the person sitting next to you.

Speaking of negatives, The Celebrity board has been full of it lately but I'll bet it hasn't changed anyone's mind.

Are there any other ships doing the same itinerary? Do you really want to go ? Then do it and have fun.

We wanted a particular itinerary and only Princess did it - we don't care for Princess - but we wanted to go - so we did - loved the trip but the ship only so-so.

Good Times, MaryAnn

[middle-aged mom]

Hopefully, Grumpy1 will respond to your posting tomorrow. He and his DW did a world cruise on the Prinsendam in 2004-2005. He is much better qualified to speak of the Prinsendam's qualities for a long cruise, than I am. Hope this helps you a bit! Whatever your final choice, I hope you have a great cruise!



Grumpy and Slinkie are in London right now. Tomorrow they depart on Rotterdam for the London-Copenhagen cruise, I believe. If "Dingbat" can wait a couple of weeks, I'm sure Grumpy will be happy to answer any questions. He and Slinkie love Prinsendam. I'd like to voyage on her myself, but I'm afraid she might no longer be sailing for HAL before I am fortunate enough to have that opportunity.

[Copper10-8]

Being on the Prinsendam is a totally different experience than being on the "S" or "R" class ships, let alone being on the Vista's. Prinsendam is all class and she gives out a very intimate feeling. It's true; you do get to know other pax (and crew) easier and you definitely get around the ship in less time. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the food and if you want more than one lobster, all you have to do is ask for one. She does, at least on the European cruises, tends to "go to sleep" after the last show as she does not have much of a night life except for on the formal nights with the Ocean Bar being the focal point (as opposed to the Crow's Nest on HAL's other ships). Still, we really enjoyed being on her and are looking forward to repeating it in 52 days

[lizf]

We just did a 25 day cruise on the Prinsendam, and booked a 46 day trip on board that cruise.

We loved so many things about that cruise. I'll bet I had conversations with at least half of the passengers during that cruise. Everyone was so friendly and I knew many of them by name before we left. They had very nice entertainment but we are early to bed, early to rise folks and never stayed up. We do our 2 mile walk at 5:30AM, then to the Lido for coffee and chat. I never heard a discouraging word from any passenger. That was a very unusual thing I thought. Everyone just said how much they loved the ship.

We had booked an SY verandah cabin and had a huge room and walk in closet. The ship has so much to offer. Free lauderette, free lattes/cappucinos, movies with free popcorn every day, wonderful guest lectures, and much, much more. The captain is visible many times during the day walking among passengers and he chats and is very friendly. We thought the food was the best of any cruise except for the Statendam, 10 years ago. I personally didn't have the lobster, but others raved about it. It seemed the chef always prepared one of his specialties on the same night, and once I tasted one, I always selected that. They had lobster twice as a main course in the dining room and as other courses a few times. They have two dining rooms. The main one is most everyone's favorite, but I liked the smaller one better. It was like eating in a small French restaurant. Not nearly as hurried, and more personal attention. It also was cooler and quieter. I ate in both of the dining rooms during the cruise. (Not on the same nights.:D )
I just can't say in any other way how much we loved this ship. We really look forward to Oct. 17th when we get back onboard.

[dingbat]

Oh my gosh....you guys are something else. Ask and you shall receive, and I did receive. This site is amazing. I am feeling so much better about booking the 28 day cruise on the Prinsendam for our group. We are all young retirees, (mid 60's...But feel mid 40's) and really do not do much rowdy stuff very late anymore. We prefer to get some decent sleep to enjoy the ports we go into most days, as that is why we are on the trip to begin with. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your quick responses, and your positive experiences. I will wait patiently for Grumpy to return from his trip and get his first hand knowledge and experience on the Prinsendam. My group is getting together the first of July anyway, to find out my research, and then I will make the reservations. Would some of you please ask him to email me with what ever he can tell me...about anything. Thanks so much.
Carol (Dingbat..my husband calls me)
Car1Den2@aol.com

[TampaMike]

[The Prinsendam, originally the Sun Viking, IIRC,]

A small note: Prinsendam was built as Royal Viking Sun, then transferred to Seabourn Sun and then Cunard Seabourn Sun and finally Prinsendam. The Sun Viking was a 70's built Royal Caribbean ship (with Song of Norway and Nordic Prince).

I too am a fan of Prinsendam. As well as HAL does on the S, R & Vista Class ships with attention to passengers and unobtrusive, but attentive service, I found it at it's finest abaord Prinsendam. As new mega ships are built with economy of scale in mind (ability to produce $$$), the Prinsendam operates with service to scale in mind.... more service per passenger (which typically translates to higher fares).

When I saw this ship under the Cunard banner, she was tired, poorly maintained and had no identity. HAL has revitilaized her and continue to tackly the maintenance of an 'older' vessel. She fits very well into the HAL model and I agree "Elegant Explorer" captures this product very well, indeed.

[Bill S]

Thanks, Mike--- I knew I was missing some part of the original name! :)

[susiesails]

I was lucky enough to be part of the Pricendam World Cruise this year. I have been writing about the voyage. Until Grumpy gets back, this may answer some of your questions.
I loved the ship. She is elegant, I never thought I would use that word for a ship but it certainly applies. It was wonderful! Imagine yourself staying in a 5 star hotel for 105 days with 5 star dining to go with it. It was just heaven! And all those ports to boot. Here is the link to my review. Have fun sailing, Susiesails
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=345532

[Grumpy1]

Thanks, Susie, for bringing this back to page one. I had not seen it since getting back on the boards after our recent cruise. Carol... if your husband calls you Dingbat, I wonder what your pet name for him is?:D

We did the 2005 World Cruise on Prinsendam, we will be back aboard in the Mediterrean for 15 days in September, and then again to circle SA/Antartica in 2007 for 66 days. Sprinkle in shorter cruises on Rotterdam, Noordam and Westerdam and you might get the idea that we like HAL ships.:D

The rumors about bad food, no lobster, all that stuff... well we have to tell people stuff like that, because if we tell everyone how wonderful the ship is there will never be any cabins available when we want to book.:p

I've also been on RCCL, Celebrity and Carnival. In my opinion, the food on HAL is as good or better than any of them. The portions served are not huge, but if you want more, your waiter will accomodate you.

I'll drop you an Email so you will have my address if there are any questions you need answered.

Carol, I tried to email you at the address you listed, AOL says it doesn't recognise that name.

[Ides of March]

Carol:
After following Grumpy around the world in 2005 I didnt believe him about what a great boat is the Pdam so I had to see for myself. We did the 2006 version and he was spot on. Its small, nimble and classy making the bigger tubs we have sailed seem like Holiday Inns. Also unbelievabley stable in rough seas.

When my wife couldnt decide on an entree they would bring her her two favorites and she would share the spoils around the table. On lobster nights they would automatically bring one of our tablemates two tails as they knew he would ask for seconds anyway. One lady had a stir fry brought every night in addition to her regular meal and they just made it up for her without audible complaint. Marvelous service.

After 105 days I had my fill of cruising but today less than three months later we confirmed on the 14 night Baltic next July and Im getting excited already. We even got our old cabin on Dolphin under the internet cafe as with only two sea days we plan to be exhausted and a balcony wouldnt be used enough for the incremental cost.

Believe me, you 28 days will fly by and you will come to love the ship. Everone I know who has sailed her does.

Ides