prinsendam question

We are considering a cruise on Prinsendam in the Med in October. DH was reading the critique in Berlitz and says it says that dinner is two sitting fixed.

We have been on Prinsendam twice before - the first time on an ordinary cruise and we had open sitting, the second was part of a grand voyage and it was fixed much to our dismay.

Has anyone been on an ordinary cruise, as opposed to grand voyages on Prinsendam recently? Is Berlitz correct. If so we will have to think again.

Many thanks

We are considering a cruise on Prinsendam in the Med in October. DH was reading the critique in Berlitz and says it says that dinner is two sitting fixed.

 

We have been on Prinsendam twice before - the first time on an ordinary cruise and we had open sitting, the second was part of a grand voyage and it was fixed much to our dismay.

Has anyone been on an ordinary cruise, as opposed to grand voyages on Prinsendam recently? Is Berlitz correct. If so we will have to think again.

 

Many thanks

Berlitz is wrong on the Prinsendam - and not just on that.

Only on the Grands is the dining restricted to fixed seating.

We have done several "regular" cruises on the P'dam and open dining/seating was available as well as the two fixed dining options.

Open and some fixed dining are usually in the aft dining room.

The small forward one is restricted to fixed dining (at least it was on our cruises).

Edited to say - we have a cruise booked on her in 2018 and open dining is available as an option, so nothing appears to have changed since our previous cruises.

I'll confirm what kazu said.

Berlitz needs to correct its records.

On our 31 day Prinsendam cruise in 2013, we had fixed dining for the first segment and then asked to be switched to anytime dining for the second portion. There was no problem.

We had open dining on Prinsendam in November 2016 and found the Main Dining Room very noisy. I'm afraid I didn't hear much of what my neighbours were saying, and just had to "smile sweetly and nod" as my mother used to say. I would have preferred to sit in the smaller dining room, which was reserved for fixed dining - and most of the time seemed to be half empty. We had sat there the time before and found it much nicer.

We are considering a cruise on Prinsendam in the Med in October. DH was reading the critique in Berlitz and says it says that dinner is two sitting fixed.

 

We have been on Prinsendam twice before - the first time on an ordinary cruise and we had open sitting, the second was part of a grand voyage and it was fixed much to our dismay.

Has anyone been on an ordinary cruise, as opposed to grand voyages on Prinsendam recently? Is Berlitz correct. If so we will have to think again.

 

Many thanks

Last winter we were on both "Grand" and "regular" cruises on the Prinsendam. Both fixed and open seating was available in the rear dining room on both types of cruises.

Scott & Karen

I'm considering a Prinsendam cruise for next year, having long wanted to sail on her. As a solo, I generally prefer not to do fixed dining but I like to share with others. On Prinsendam, are there other diners willing to share a table for anytime dining? Or am I better off selecting fixed dining?

I'm considering a Prinsendam cruise for next year, having long wanted to sail on her. As a solo, I generally prefer not to do fixed dining but I like to share with others. On Prinsendam, are there other diners willing to share a table for anytime dining? Or am I better off selecting fixed dining?

There are a number of larger tables in open dining cruisemom.

We did fixed and have shared a table and I have to say that I found our tablemates very interesting. Different walks of life including two professors and all seasoned travellers. Our dinners were good conversation.

If you do fixed, you may end up in the forward dining room which is much nicer IMO and quieter for conversation. The aft dining room seems much louder to me and I prefer the smaller forward section.

Confused: the smaller forward dining room. Is that the "Wintergarden"?

Confused: the smaller forward dining room. Is that the "Wintergarden"?

NO, Wintergarden is part of the Lido. The new closed in part (and very nice IMO)

The forward dining area is part of the La Fontaine Dining room just a narrower smaller area. The Explorers Lounge is above it (one deck up) and there is actually a staircase you can take there to get to the forward dining room rather than go to the hallway for the entrance in the two areas of the dining room.

Hope this helps and explains it.

There are a number of larger tables in open dining cruisemom.

 

We did fixed and have shared a table and I have to say that I found our tablemates very interesting. Different walks of life including two professors and all seasoned travellers. Our dinners were good conversation.

 

If you do fixed, you may end up in the forward dining room which is much nicer IMO and quieter for conversation. The aft dining room seems much louder to me and I prefer the smaller forward section.

Thanks, kazu. I looked at the MDR plan -- unusual configuration.

Just off Prinsendam Jan 4. Ship has two fixed as well as open seating dining. The smaller dining room - which is like a walk through - is always a lot cooler (colder?).

Ditto to what has been said. Did 29 days in oct 2015, and open seating was in the aft dining room. Loved the aft dining room as it had windows completely around the exterior.

Just off Prinsendam Jan 4. Ship has two fixed as well as open seating dining. The smaller dining room - which is like a walk through - is always a lot cooler (colder?).[/QUOTE]

 

Not sure if this would be a plus or a minus on a Baltic itinerary...

... and found the Main Dining Room very noisy.

Berlitz is wrong on many things...including the dining info for the Prinsendam. That ship has had an open seating dining option for many years....with the exception of Grand Cruises....which did have only fixed sittings until the past couple of years (they now have open sitting even on the Grand Cruises).

The Prinsendam has only a single one story dining room...with additional tables located just outside the dining room (in an old corridor lounge). On our 200 days of cruising on the P'Dam, there has never been any rhyme or reason as to how tables were assigned...be it in the MDR or the extended area (actually outside the MDR). There are pros and cons to both areas. While the outside the MDR area is somewhat more quiet, it is also the main corridor for those coming and going to the MDR. So while you are dining, there will be a flow of passengers (and staff) walking through your dining area (its almost like dining in a wide corridor). The main dining room (which originally was the only dining room until HAL added cabins to the ship) has a relatively low ceiling and the acoustics can make it a noisy place...when crowded with diners.

Hank

P.S. With all its many faults, the Prinsendam remains one of our favorite vessels.

My DH has bilateral hearing aids and felt that he could hear dinner table conversations much better in the narrower area. I can only imagine what he goes through in a larger noisy room. I am sure many others experience similar issues.

Thanks for your help everyone. I felt Berlitz was probably wrong but needed to confirm. We are now booked for October 5th.

Dining is obviously as we have had before. Our first time was open dining largely in the main dining room though we were placed in the smaller one a couple of times. Our preference is the larger one - we like the windows all round. The smaller one we personally felt was like a corridor. But both fine. Really looking forward to this cruise. TA tells me the itinerary has recently changed as it was going to Turkish ports originally. Suits us fine. We have over the years done nearly all the Med ports, particularly the ones HAL does. The attraction to this particular cruise was that with 10 days in port six of them are new to us, and in fact some we have never seen on any itinerary.

Thanks for your help everyone. I felt Berlitz was probably wrong but needed to confirm. We are now booked for October 5th.

 

Dining is obviously as we have had before. Our first time was open dining largely in the main dining room though we were placed in the smaller one a couple of times. Our preference is the larger one - we like the windows all round. The smaller one we personally felt was like a corridor. But both fine. Really looking forward to this cruise. TA tells me the itinerary has recently changed as it was going to Turkish ports originally. Suits us fine. We have over the years done nearly all the Med ports, particularly the ones HAL does. The attraction to this particular cruise was that with 10 days in port six of them are new to us, and in fact some we have never seen on any itinerary.

That DOES sound like a very different itinerary. I thought I knew most of the Med ports, but this one really hits some new places. Enjoy!

I've wanted to sail on the Prinsendam since my first HAL cruise, I finally got to see her in person last month when she was at Half Moon Cay the same day we were, I really wish that visits were allowed.

Open seating isn't as flexible as it sounds - HAL will only take reservations before 6 PM or after 8 (at least that's how it was on our Veendam cruise last month) so open seating really operates as a slight variation to fixed anyway. If you just show up around 7 without a reservation it can be quite a wait until you're seated.

I've wanted to sail on the Prinsendam since my first HAL cruise, I finally got to see her in person last month when she was at Half Moon Cay the same day we were, I really wish that visits were allowed.

 

Open seating isn't as flexible as it sounds - HAL will only take reservations before 6 PM or after 8 (at least that's how it was on our Veendam cruise last month) so open seating really operates as a slight variation to fixed anyway. If you just show up around 7 without a reservation it can be quite a wait until you're seated.

Open seating reservations could be done until 6:30 pm on our last Prinsendam cruise. I haven't seen much of a wait on this ship. In fact, if we were doing specialty dining, they used our table for those in open seating I believe. (They called our cabin quite often to confirm we were going and didn't mind our seats being given to others).

I have had some great cruises and been happy on a couple of ships in particular, but the Prinsendam is still my favourite ;).

I've valued Berlitz ratings for years and read the book thoroughly every year. Their scoring system is uniform to evaluate all ships at sea. The same criteria is used for every ship. If you read the book there is extensive information on their metrics.

As an individual ship the Prinsendam score goes downhill every year. Scoring is done by a small team and the author. They sail ships almost year round to evaluate food, service, entertainment, ship condition, ship quality, ship amenities.

While this ship has a loyal following we were totally underwhelmed and disappointed by the experience.

2017 Berlitz score was 1376.

2016 Berlitz score was 1421.

2014 Berlitz score was 1483.

To put these scores in perspective Prinsendam was the third lowest scoring ship in the fleet for 2016. Maasdam and Veendam were the two lowest.

I've read several threads recently indicating the passenger load was well below capacity. At least two of the write ups said there were only 600 on board.

I've valued Berlitz ratings for years and read the book thoroughly every year. Their scoring system is uniform to evaluate all ships at sea. The same criteria is used for every ship. If you read the book there is extensive information on their metrics.

As an individual ship the Prinsendam score goes downhill every year. Scoring is done by a small team and the author. They sail ships almost year round to evaluate food, service, entertainment, ship condition, ship quality, ship amenities.

While this ship has a loyal following we were totally underwhelmed and disappointed by the experience.

 

2017 Berlitz score was 1376.

2016 Berlitz score was 1421.

2014 Berlitz score was 1483.

 

To put these scores in perspective Prinsendam was the third lowest scoring ship in the fleet for 2016. Maasdam and Veendam were the two lowest.

 

I've read several threads recently indicating the passenger load was well below capacity. At least two of the write ups said there were only 600 on board.

I'm not booking this trip with huge illusions about what Prinsendam has to offer -- not expecting a "luxury line" experience. But I like small ships, and I have always wanted to sail on Prinsendam. My parents have enjoyed their several cruises on her very much.

I know you enjoy Oceania, and I'd like to try them at some point as well. But Oceania is not very "solo friendly" compared with HAL -- either in terms of pricing or set up on board (from reviews I've read), so it is now a little further down my list than it was 2-3 years ago.

**Plus I have a $2,000 cruise credit on HAL burning a hole in my pocket, lol.

I'm not booking this trip with huge illusions about what Prinsendam has to offer -- not expecting a "luxury line" experience. But I like small ships, and I have always wanted to sail on Prinsendam. My parents have enjoyed their several cruises on her very much.

 

I know you enjoy Oceania, and I'd like to try them at some point as well. But Oceania is not very "solo friendly" compared with HAL -- either in terms of pricing or set up on board (from reviews I've read), so it is now a little further down my list than it was 2-3 years ago.

 

**Plus I have a $2,000 cruise credit on HAL burning a hole in my pocket, lol.

I don't put a lot of faith in ratings on any organization that doesn't even know what the ship is like on board. ;)

We have really enjoyed our experiences on that ship so I totally understand why your parents have too.

One thing I do like is the different ports that she goes to and the "tender" ports that have turned into docked ports because of her size and the captain's ability.

With that much credit burning a hole in your pocket, put it to good use :)

I know a few CC members who were on her recently and very glad they did it :)

Enjoy. And, if you are looking for something different - take a look at the 28 day on May 5, 2018 ;).

A mix of history and a taste of the people and culture of the lands IMO.

I don't put a lot of faith in ratings on any organization that doesn't even know what the ship is like on board. ;)

 

We have really enjoyed our experiences on that ship so I totally understand why your parents have too.

 

One thing I do like is the different ports that she goes to and the "tender" ports that have turned into docked ports because of her size and the captain's ability.

 

With that much credit burning a hole in your pocket, put it to good use :)

 

I know a few CC members who were on her recently and very glad they did it :)

 

Enjoy. And, if you are looking for something different - take a look at the 28 day on May 5, 2018 ;).

 

A mix of history and a taste of the people and culture of the lands IMO.

A reviewers job is to report on what they experience. The Berlitz reviewer documented what they experienced, fixed dining. How would the reviewer know or care dining styles change depending on what type of sailing it is.