Prinsendam Top of the World... Advice Please

[Emu]

Hi all,
Considering the above voyage in July 2009.............. I have not been a HAL passenger before (normally Cunard) and would like to get some views on the following:

1. The brochure states "cruising the polar icecap".............. if this voyage has been done in the past exactly how far north did it go?? Obviously depends on the weather but is it actually amongst the ice flows? How much wildlife has been seen in the past.

2. All reviews of the ship seem positive............. would any past passengers on this type of voyage like to add some thoughts?

3. What is the daily charge for the Spa facility on board......... (I haven't been able to find it on the website) do you have to pay to use the sauna? (used to Cunard where they put it inside the spa facility:( )

4. What are your opinions on paying now or should I wait until close to departure for a "bargain" price?????? I have been burned badly in the past paying in advance then seeing the same accomodation or better offered for less than 50%.

5. Any cabins to avoid (or preferred for that matter) in any grade????

6. Feel free to throw in any thoughts on the voyage in question, the ship or anything you feel might be beneficial.:D

Kind Regards & Many Thanks,
Paul (emu)

[Bill S]

Greetings Paul!

Welcome to the HAL board!

I regret that I cannot advise you about that specific cruise, due to not having done it, but we have cruised on the Prinsendam. I can tell you that out of the 9 HAL ships on which we have sailed, the Prinsendam is our all time favorite. She is the smallest HAL ship, and we loved the intimate atmosphere and the wonderful crew.

As far as recommended cabins, of all the cabins we have had, cabin AA197 is our favorite. It may be a different category, such as VA, but it is the aft-most cabin on the starboard side on the promenade deck. It's twin, on the port side, is #196. These cabins have a curved aft wall, which is mostly floor to ceiling windows--heavily tinted to provide privacy during the day. They are spacious and have true walk-in closets and a huge verandah. The aft view from the cabin is of the covered afterdeck and spa.

I hope this helps you a bit. I am sure you will receive quite a few responses which will address more of your questions.

[Williebill]

For a first HAL trip, you have chosen a great ship. The Prinsendam is ship where you could never go wrong.

[SharonN]

Hi all,
Considering the above voyage in July 2009.............. I have not been a HAL passenger before (normally Cunard) and would like to get some views on the following:


Well I can't answer any of your questions (yet) but I'm already booked on the cruise and looking forward to it. If you do decide to go ahead and book it be sure to check out our rollcall thread too

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=746772

[sfocruiser]

We took a similar itinerary on the Prinsendam in July of 2007. It was one if our favorite journeys. Weather permitting the ship will sail into the ice field (which is more like an over gown cocktail of mushy ice than the big sheets I had imagined). Bear Island is impressive as is Honningsvag and Spitsbergen. Spitsbergen is walkable. We rented a car in Honnigsvag and we glad we did as we had much more time to explore the area and the Nordkapp. The ship has a "crossing the arctic circle" party which is much fun and for about a week the sun never sets!

We spent most of the summer on 07 on the Prinsendam and very much enjoyed the ship, crew and passengers. Great size of ship, especially for this type of voyage. We did not use the Spa, except for haircuts, so cannot comment on that. As for cabins the inside's are a tad small. We had outsides which with the walk-in closets were fine for us.

If you have any more questions would be happy to answer them.

[RuthC]

I took this cruise on the Prinsendam in '07, also. The ship got to 500 miles from the North Pole, and did, in fact, stick the front end into the polar ice. We stayed there for the better part of an hour.
We had spent quite a bit of time looking for the ice, and the Captain was almost ready to turn back when he located it; it was that much further north than it had been the previous year.
Being there was one of the cruise highlights of my life.

I don't remember seeing a great deal of wildlife on this cruise. We kept hoping to see a polar bear, but never did. There were reindeer, however, that ran across the street, right in front of the bus, outside Longyearbyen. That was neat.

If I were you, and really wanted to take this cruise, then I would book now and not wait for a sale. It may never come. The Prinsendam is small, so will book up faster than bigger ships.

[samsonmo]

I took this cruise on the Prinsendam in '07, also. The ship got to 500 miles from the North Pole, and did, in fact, stick the front end into the polar ice. We stayed there for the better part of an hour.
We had spent quite a bit of time looking for the ice, and the Captain was almost ready to turn back when he located it; it was that much further north than it had been the previous year.
Being there was one of the cruise highlights of my life.

I don't remember seeing a great deal of wildlife on this cruise. We kept hoping to see a polar bear, but never did. There were reindeer, however, that ran across the street, right in front of the bus, outside Longyearbyen. That was neat.

If I were you, and really wanted to take this cruise, then I would book now and not wait for a sale. It may never come. The Prinsendam is small, so will book up faster than bigger ships.
Hi from Amsterdam, We took this cruise in 2006. Just great. Relatives of mine took the same trip in 2007 and they went much further north then we did in 2006 due to the climate changes. Book as early as possible. Prinsendam only has room for 793 passengers and it fills up rapidly. I have never seen a special offer for the Prinsendam in the last few years.
peter

[MightyQuinn]

4. What are your opinions on paying now or should I wait until close to departure for a "bargain" price?????? I have been burned badly in the past paying in advance then seeing the same accomodation or better offered for less than 50%.
As others have noted, the Prinsendam has smaller capacity & often sells out its voyages well in advance. It's a gorgeous ship that has a dedicated & loyal following.

But the July/08 sailing of this itinerary still had availability close to departure (2 months out) and some outstanding deals were offered. But who knows what will happen next year? And then there's the shock of last-minute air. It's always a gamble.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Nancyquilts]

Prinsendam is our very favorite ship. The only caution on cabins that I would give is that it would be better not to be in the very forward cabins below the theater. The anchor sometimes bangs, and it sounds like it is in your cabin!

[Emu]

Thank you to all for your information.................... the reference to the ice being further north than in years past is one of my concerns............ I wonder how much time is available to "persue" the ice north??

But on the other hand............... if the retreating trend continues and the ice cap shrinks maybe it makes a case to go in 2009 and not wait.

Another question(s)............. are you aware of any problems getting into the ports??? I have seen references that particularly Northern Iceland is unreliable and one ship couldn't disembark anyone at all!!!!
In this situation what back up plans normally exist??? Do they visit alternate "scenic" areas or just anchor up and stick to the schedule???

More opinions on life aboard and cabin advice are welcome.

Thank you all:)

[Marianne]

We love the Prinsendam. It looks like a Ship, and not a floating barge. Regarding the rooms, some of them have a shower only, others tub and shower. I'm mentioning this if this is important to you, so you can order accordingly. Also, it is suggested you book right away; it is rare to find a bargain fare on the Prinsendam. Am sure you will like this "boat".
Marianne

[Saga Ruby]

I sailed on Saga Ruby in June 2005 to Far North which included Svalbard and the edge of the polar ice pack. We saw polar bears (see attached photos).

At 7:30am on the day we sailed into Magdalenafjord, the Captain got on the tannoy and said that perhaps a bear had been spotted in the water at the glacier's edge. He said that, at that time, it had not been confirmed and, in the six seasons he had been sailing to Svalbard, he had never seen a polar bear.

The entire ship emptied out, many passengers clutching the binoculars that are provided in every cabin and most of the crew trying to spot a bear. Finally someone shouted, "She's out of the water and climbing up the crag!" All binoculars swung to where he was pointing. As you will see from the attached pix, the bear meandered up and down the black craggy hills, sniffing for birds' nest as the arctic terns and others hovered anxiously in the air. The bear would climb all the way up the black crag, fall down on her stomach, and belly-surf in the snow down to the coastline. She steadily made her way from the mouth of the glacier to the edge of that fjord for about 3 hours. As she disappeared around the bay's mouth, most pax went inside for lunch.

I was reluctant to go in, then the Captain got on the tannoy and said, "For those passengers still on Promenade Deck, there is another bear in the water on the starboard side, right next to the ship." I walked briskly around the deck, peered down, and indeed a bear was paddling strongly from our hull to the glacier's edge. As I watched, I noted the huge bear pawprints embedded into the small bits of icebergs floating past. Each piece of pawprints had a small pool of water where a polar bear's claw had pressed into it.

About Longyearbyen - it is the law that anyone leaving the tiny town is required to carry a rifle due to the danger of polar bears. The ship docks at an industrial terminal, school bus shuttles come into a roundabout and pick up pax for the brief ride around the small hills into the town. The bus will turn right at the Radisson Polar Hotel which is a prefab structure. As we turned at the hotel, we noted two reindeer munching on lichen on the front lawn. There was also a magnificent stag (reindeer) at the top of the crag beyond "our" polar bears.

The town is built on a rise of a hill, the center plaza being dominated by a large statue of a miner. Close by, on one side of the plaza, is a General Store which sells everything from truck tires to crystal sculpture. I lucked out and found a one-foot, arrow-shaped piece of crystal of two bears snuffling along the snowy ice. It has pride of place in my living room and daily reminds me of the wonderful adventures we had on our cruise.

We sailed north from Magdalenafjord and did encounter the polar icecap which was so solid that the ship could not continue. We had to turn south and circle Svalbard to get to Nordkapp.

One final comment - I learned later that Sea Princess was at Magdalena Bay on the same day, at the same time, as Saga Ruby. I also learned that that ship is too large to enter the Bay so those pax never saw the bears. They only saw our ship's photog being loaded into a tender to make the wonderful snaps you see posted here. Small ships rule!

Ruby

[RuthC]

Another question(s)............. are you aware of any problems getting into the ports??? I have seen references that particularly Northern Iceland is unreliable and one ship couldn't disembark anyone at all!!!!
In this situation what back up plans normally exist??? Do they visit alternate "scenic" areas or just anchor up and stick to the schedule???

I've been to Iceland, including northern Iceland, several times, and have never had a problem getting into any ports. That doesn't mean it can't happen, but I wouldn't go off thinking that it was unlikely that I would have my visit.

There have been times, though, when the ship couldn't get into port for one reason or another. What happens next depends on the reason the ship couldn't get in. One time in the Faroe Islands we couldn't get in due to fog. We spent the day "scenic cruising" (when the fog prevented us from seeing anything :rolleyes: ) until it lifted sufficiently for us to enter port. We "started" our port day about 4:00 PM. :eek: Not worth it at that point, IMO.

Sometimes it's known from the get-go that the port is a lost cause. Then the ship simply heads for the next port.
There's no substitute ports. Those things have to be set up in advance, for one thing, there wouldn't be shore excursions set up, and in that area of the world there isn't another port nearby.

[kittygadu]

I am also going on this cruise in July. My second voyage on the Prinsendam. I first cruised in 1952 long before stabelizers,etc. You actually knew you were on a ship and not in just another hotel. The Prinsendam reminds me of those days. Lovely to look at and very intimate. As I am a solo traveler, I booked very early in order to get one of only three single cabins. Hard to find on many ships. So I have the same cabin as before. Also was able to confirm second seating dining rather than AYW. This trip will be perect now. Hope to see you on board. Check out our roll call. Polly

[anchorage1977]

Well I'm a bit late to the party... but we did have a lovely time sailing in 2007 on the Prinsendam with SFOCruiser and his wife along with RuthC and company. Although the itinerary was slightly different then (no Iceland) the high points were certainly in Svalbard and above the Circle in Norway (NordKapp).

I recently added a page to my travel blog about Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen. For those of you going on this cruise, may I suggest walking rather than touring, lunch at the SAS Radison Hotel, and the museum is a must see.

Here's a link to this page of the blog, on which you will find photos and our account:

http://happyalaskan.blogspot.com/2009/02/spitsbergen-edge-of-planet.html

For one last tip, plan on being out on deck early when you come into Magdalenafjord. There were quite a few lovely icebergs and puffins to photograph before the official talk began by the naturalist. The approach to the fjord is spectacular.

Enjoy Spitsbergen for us... it was truly once in a lifetime.

[anchorage1977]

One final post for anyone still making decisions related to this itinerary. This tread inspired me to write a new post regarding the Polar Ice Cap on my travel blog. Here you can see photos and a blow by blow account of what cruising 500 miles from the north pole was like for us in 2007.

I hope you enjoy!

http://happyalaskan.blogspot.com/2009/03/polar-ice-cap-500-miles-from-north-pole.html

Happy Travels.