Review of Prinsendam Trans-Atlantic, Nov. 2-18, 2017

Last month, we rode Prinsendam on a trans-Atlantic crossing from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Fort Lauderdale. We had booked a 24-day collector cruise on Westerdam in the Adriatic and Mediterranean for October 2-26, and were looking for a T-A afterwards. We could have just stayed on Westerdam, but had planned to meet family in friends in Rome at the end of October. Then we noticed that Prinsendam was doing a T-A a week after Westerdam, and there was an Explore 4 sale going on with an acceptable price for the crossing, so we booked Prinsendam. We had for some time thought of sailing on the smaller ship. Several people had highly praised the ship, and a few were not fans, but we thought we would see for ourselves.

The cruise was Nov. 2-18; like most crossing/repositioning cruises from Europe, there were not many port visits. Here is the HAL map of the cruise:

Because of the few port visits, and because it was our first time on this ship, I thought I would do a somewhat different review. I will start with many posts containing photos of Prinsendam. Then, I will follow with a day-to-day account with daily programs and menus, and for the port visit days, the port guides and photos/descriptions of shore excursions or other things in port.

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 9 – cabin 141

Perhaps a logical way to describe the ship would be to go deck by deck, at least for those decks with public spaces. I could start at the top and work down, or from the bottom and work up, but I will start somewhere in the middle, with deck 9, because that was where our cabin was located. We were in cabin 141, which is on the starboard side, just a bit aft of the forward staircase. Here is the deck nine map from the guide HAL provided with our room cards:

Cabin 141 is a room with a balcony, and it is designated a Vista Suite. It is roughly the same size as a Vista cabin on the S and R class ships, but organized a bit differently. Instead of entering a door opening on the main passageway, to enter the cabin we went down a short side passage with doors to the right and left each for a cabin. The room has a king-size bed:

I don’t know if it could be separated into twins; we did not ask because the king was large, and we thought splitting the bed may result in more cramped spaces. There are also a nice seating area, as well as a set of shelves for the TV, drinks, etc.:

To the left of the shelves is a narrow counter that was convenient to set up my computer; and small bench is available for seating at the counter. So, in essence, the room is arranged much like a similar cabin on Maasdam or Amsterdam. The bathroom layout and fixtures are much the same, but there is a sliding door to it instead of one that opened out. But the main difference in the cabin is the walk-in closet, which is large with hanging rods for shirts, dresses and pants, as well as shelves and drawers for smaller clothing. There was plenty of room for everything we brought:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 9 – cabin 141 (Cont.)

The balcony for cabin 141 is about the same as on other class ships, with open railings instead of plexiglass:

More in the next post,

Dave

Dave - keep it coming. We are booked on the Prinsendam in Oct /Nov 2019.

Deck 9 – Seaview

All the way aft on deck 9 is the Seaview aft pool and bar area. Actually, it is about deck 9.5, because to get to it, you went down past the spa and then up a short flight of steps, past the gym and then outside. In the first photo, the windows with the blinds are the gym windows. The ones above are the windows in the Canaletto at the aft of the Lido restaurant.

More in the next post,

Dave

Nice photos! Following.

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Deck 9 – Gym

Here are photos of the gym:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 9 – Spa

Here are photos of the spa and beautiful hallways by it:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 10

I will share photos of decks 10, 11 and 12, and then go down to the public decks on 7 and 8. Deck 10 is almost all Signature Suite cabins, but there is something worth pointing out. Here is the map of the deck:

The item of interest is a laundromat. There is also one on Deck 6, which I presume is similar. Here are some photos of the one on Deck 10:

I did not see any sign indicating a charge to use the machines, nor could I see any slots to insert coins.

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 11

Here is the map of deck 11:

The forward part of this deck is comprised of Neptune Suites, The Neptune Lounge, and the Bridge. I don’t have photos of those spaces. At the forward stairwell landing is a model of the Royal Viking Sun, which is what the Prinsendam was when it was commissioned:

Amidships is the Lido pool, bar and Dive in:

Aft of that area is the Lido restaurant. It has a couple of quirks: to get to it from the forward stairwell, you have to go outside and cross the open pool deck (there is no retractable cover over the Lido pool), and at the aft, to get from one side to the other, you either have to cross the after stairwell landing, or go around the seating by the Canaletto.

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 10

 

I will share photos of decks 10, 11 and 12, and then go down to the public decks on 7 and 8. Deck 10 is almost all Signature Suite cabins, but there is something worth pointing out. Here is the map of the deck:

 

 

The item of interest is a laundromat. There is also one on Deck 6, which I presume is similar. Here are some photos of the one on Deck 10:

 

 

 

 

I did not see any sign indicating a charge to use the machines, nor could I see any slots to insert coins.

 

More in the next post,

Dave

I am having fun reading this Dave.

For your or anyone's info, washers and dryers on the Prinsendam are free of charge. :)

Deck 11 – Lido restaurant

Here are photos of the Lido restaurant:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 11 – Lido restaurant (Cont.)

Here are more photos of the Lido restaurant:

Also, here is what I thought was an interesting photo looking down the aft stairwell from deck 11:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 11 - Canaletto

Finally for Deck 11, here are some photos of Canaletto:

More later,

Dave

Following.......thank you for posting photos and your impressions.

Brings back memories of our Prinsendam cruise last summer.

Enjoying your pictures of the ship.

Thanks for the review.

Please tell me that's not a 4:3 aspect ratio TV in that cabin? :eek:

Dave thank you so much for the valuable information! Those photos for us are priceless!!! We are interested after Panama Cruise from San Diego to take the 30 day transatlantic on her doing her Med cruise on March 25/19.

Keep the photos coming!

Denise :)

Excellent coverage and very interesting for cruisers that haven't experienced the Prinsendam. Thanks for all the photos.

Please tell me that's not a 4:3 aspect ratio TV in that cabin? :eek:

Yes, old TV, old channels, and a DVD player to play your own or from the extensive library available from the front office -- time to party like it's 2007!

Dave

Deck 12

Upward a deck now - here is the map of Deck 12:

This deck has the Pinnacle Suite and more Neptune Suites, the Crow’s Nest, and an outside jogging deck and sports courts. Here are photos of the outside deck, and of the hallway past the suites to the Crow’s Nest:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 12 – Crow’s Nest

Here are photos of the Crow’s Nest, which I was glad to see was a comfortable bar area instead of an awful new EXC space:

More in the next post,

Dave

Deck 8

Going downstairs now, here is the map of Deck 8:

There are cabins in the aft section of this deck, but there are many public spaces, including the show lounge:

More in the next post,

Dave