Review: Prinsendam 15 Night Baltic and Kiel Canal Explorer

By Cruizer Bill and Cruizer Diana

After many years of meeting other HAL cruisers and reading their reviews on Cruise Critic, we had consistently heard that the Prinsendam was their all-time favorite ship. The reviews were almost unanimous. What is it that makes the Prinsendam so desirable? We decided to take the plunge and book a cruise on the Prinsendam to find out for ourselves.

Now we get it. The ship is much smaller than the other HAL ships. It is more intimate, easier to get around, and overall, we found the ship itself friendlier. Also, since there are less than 800 passengers and over 400 crew members, the passenger-to-crew ratio is much less than the other ships. The design of the Prinsendam is slightly different from other ships but mostly the same - it has the same excellent Crow’s Nest, wraparound teak deck, warm and friendly library, and many other features. Good ship! Now for the review of our cruise:

We arrived in Amsterdam three days early to do some sightseeing. All went well and we had good fun exploring this unique city. On the day of our cruise, we arrived at the dock at 11:30 AM. We sat in the waiting area and waited for our group number to be called. Surprisingly, it took 1 hour, 15 minutes to be called. Once called, we sailed through the check-in promptly and were on board in about 20 minutes - at 1:05 PM (13:05 for our European friends). We dropped off our hand-carry luggage to our room, headed to the Lido and had an excellent lunch, then toured the ship. Our luggage did not arrive until 3:30 PM (15:30 hours), so this was later than we are used to.

At 4:15 PM we had our lifeboat drill and it went amazingly well. This is the first time on a HAL ship that we were asked to leave our life vests in the cabin. We finished the drill promptly and headed to the Crow's Nest for our informal Cruise Critic Sail Away party that went very well indeed. It was nice to start meeting our fellow cruisers from the Roll Call. Many of us had selected Anytime Dining so we agreed to meet in the Crow's Nest every day at 4:30 for Happy Hour and then go have dinner together. This worked VERY well! I highly recommend this!

Food on the Prinsendam was mostly very good and sometimes excellent. I was not happy with the hamburgers and pizza but was amazed how quickly and efficiently the staff cooked omelets and eggs to order in the Lido line. They are amazing!

Our group went to the Dining room between 6 and 6:30 PM each evening. We NEVER had to wait. We were seated immediately! The Anytime Dining room was located at the stern of the Lower Promenade Deck (#7) with lighter, less formal décor than the assigned seating dining room and glass on three sides. We didn’t miss much scenery while dining—what a view!

Disembarking at the ports we visited was a snap, hardly any waiting at all.

There just never seemed to be crowds except for one meal but that was a special event.

When we went to the showroom for the evening entertainment, there were ALWAYS seats available, even after the show had started - incredible but true! The shows were very good, good singers, dancers, instrumentalists and comedians. We enjoyed the shows.

Since this was a 15 night cruise on the Prinsendam, the average age was quite mature, as was to be expected. There were very few children on this cruise. Our fellow passengers tended to be very experienced cruisers and the crew members were also very experienced. Because of this combination, things just went very smoothly - both the passengers and crew knew what was expected of them.

We really enjoyed our cabin. Fearing rough seas on the North Sea, we booked an Ocean View Cabin down on the Dolphin Deck. As it turned out, we had only one rough day on our 15 night trip and sure enough, it was the last day on the North Sea. We would have enjoyed any cabin on this cruise. Our room was very spacious and had the walk-in closet. We like the sofa next to the window and the dresser and TV set on that end of the cabin. When we unpacked we found that our large suitcases would not fit under the bed. At our sail away party, a fellow cruiser told us to lift up the bed and slide the suitcases underneath. This proved to be excellent advice. We had ample room in the closet and can see why this ship does well on World Cruises.

We enjoyed all our ports and will talk about them separately. Of special note, this cruise went through the Kiel Canal and that is a special treat. It must be unusual for cruise ships to pass through this canal, as all along the route, people showed up waving flags and greeting us. They knew we were coming. We were told it is quite a sight for the locals to look up and see a cruise ship in the distance. It appears to them like it must be on wheels crossing inland, so they run to investigate. The trip was a lot of fun, passing under the bridges. The ship had to fold down its communications mast to make it under some of the bridges. While in the canal, a 20+ member German Brass Band boarded our ship and we had a beer fest on the Lido Deck in the afternoon. The ship served sausages, roast pigs, pretzels and other German food as the band played all afternoon. This did cause a line at the food servers but was the only real backup we saw the entire cruise.

All the crew members were very professional on this ship. As noted above, there are more crew per passenger on this ship than on other HAL ships. We found our room stewards did an excellent job, much quicker than on other ships. We understand that most ships have doubled the workload on the cabin stewards. This does not seem to be true on the Prinsendam - they do not appear to be spread quite as thin.

We had two unusual events that last night of the cruise - sailing back to Amsterdam. We awoke at 11:30 PM (23:30 hours) to the Captain's voice on the loudspeaker. He told us the Netherlands Navy was conducting a drill - practicing landing a sailor from a helicopter onto the deck of the Prinsendam and that we were obliged to cooperate with them. Fellow passengers on the other side of the ship told us the sound of the helicopter was so loud that it drowned out the Captain's voice.

The other unusual event is that to get to Amsterdam, the ship needs to pass through the North Sea Locks west of Amsterdam. While doing do, there must have been an oil refinery or other industrial facility nearby that was burning something. The smell of this burning material crept into our cabin and was a bit un-nerving. Passengers do NOT like to smell something burning on a ship! This happened at 4:15 AM (04:15 hours). Otherwise the cruise went smoothly.

We were very fortunate to have dry weather for most of the cruise. All of our ports were dry until Rostock. We had an unexpected heavy shower in Warnemunde and Copenhagen, but the showers were short in duration. It rained hard most of the day in Oslo. Tallin and St. Petersburg were very warm and humid. It got up to 90 degrees in St. Petersburg the first day, but cooled off on the second afternoon. We never felt cold, except when underway.

Disembarking went very smoothly. We were allowed to wait in our cabins or any public area until we disembarked. This was a big plus, since we disembarked at 9:30 AM and had a 3:00 PM flight. HAL now allows passengers to take their own luggage off if they are able to do so and this group of people were allowed to disembark the ship at 7:30 AM (07:30 hrs) so they probably would have been able to make it to an 11 AM flight from Shiphol airport, but I cannot guarantee this. All groups were called 15 minutes earlier than what was posted on the instruction letter. This went very smoothly.

HAL was offering a transfer to Shiphol Airport for $39 per person. This seemed high to us because we took a taxi from Shiphol to downtown Amsterdam for about 40 Euros earlier. However, the taxi driver told us his company was not allowed to take fares from the Cruise Terminal. So, we decided to take a taxi and expected it to cost us 50 Euros. Boy were we wrong! The driver picked us up and instead of driving through downtown Amsterdam to the Airport, he took the highway that ran AROUND Amsterdam and the trip cost us 80 Euros! That is $100 US !! So, I wished we had taken the HAL transfer!

Overall, this was an excellent cruise on an excellent ship. I would consider this a cruise that appealed to experienced cruisers and that is the feeling we picked up on right away. The Cruise Director Linda and the Captain are both excellent and we enjoyed every minute of our trip - glad we took it!

Hamburg

This is an amazingly wealthy city! Beautiful new or remodeled buildings, clean streets and it seems everyone drives Mercedes, BMWs or Audis!

We took the two-hour Alster lake and canal ride in a covered boat on our own. (The one-hour excursion is in the full sun.) It was very nice but all commentary was in German only. I think we could have rented an English-language recording of the commentary, but it wasn’t suggested (perhaps since my DW speaks some German). After walking around downtown we discovered a brand new Munich Hofbrauhaus Beerhall that had just been constructed! I had Weiner Schnitzel and a Hofbrauhaus Beer and was in heaven! I wish we had stopped by Miniature World and seen the world's best model train setup. I heard it is great!

Tallinn

Wonderful old medieval city. We walked up to the top and back down - it is not too far but it is a lot of cobblestones and they wear your feet and legs out. Best view is at the top. Also, there is an excellent brewery you walk past just before climbing to the top - their beer is great! Lots of fun streets to explore and you can see the wonderful spirit these people have now. Their economy is growing and their future has never looked better - their enthusiasm is contagious.

St. Petersburg

The backbone of any Baltic Cruise. The scale of St. Petersburg is dramatic to say the least! We took the Grand Two-Day tour with Alla Tours and loved every minute of it! The palaces and cathedrals were ENORMOUS and decorated to the point of being gaudy ! You can see the Russian people were slaves until the 1860's and much of their effort supported the insane lifestyle of the Czars. Same thing with the cathedrals - they are all gold mosaics and grand/dramatic in scale. Catherine's Palace and the Fountains of Peterhof Palace are in a league of their own - jaw dropping! Bring your passport, your tour ticket (provisional visa), and a LOT of patience with you to get on and off the ship to go through the passport controls.

Helsinki

We did this on our own. Although the walk into downtown is walkable, HAL provided a $5 shuttle to downtown and it was worth it. We then went to the ferry and purchased an all-day card for the public transport - it cost us 7 Euros each in August 2012. We took the to Suomenlinna Fortress and walked around there - it was very interesting and fun. We then came back and rode the 3T tram to the Church in the Rock and it was very worthwhile to see. I wish we had more time here!

Stockholm

The number one attraction is the Vasa Museum and it pays to get there early. When your ship docks, get off right away. If you are docked at Stadsgarden #S167, walk to the left to where the hop-on-hop-off (HOHO) boats are docked. I think it cost us 100 Swedish Kroner (about $15) each (purchase at the dock) and the early boats take you straight to Vasa Museum; after 10:00AM, the boats take the clockwise route, which gets you to VASA in about 30-40 minutes. It is worth it! Vasa Museum cost 110 Kroner (about $18) and is one of the highlights of your cruise. You will be blown away when you see this ship from 1628 !!! We then checked out the free ships next to Vasa - an ice breaker and a lighthouse ship and they were fun too. Then we boarded the HOHO boat to Gamla Stan where we walked the streets and watched the

Changing-of-the-Guards ceremony. Prices at all Scandinavian ports are sky high so bring some food with you! We took the HOHO boat back to our ship.

Visby

A relaxing day to walk ashore and see this old walled city. Check out the nice botanical garden, walk to the top of the hill next to the big church for a good view and just relax today - your feet need the rest! This port is tendered.

Rostock/Warnemunde

We actually docked at the industrial port of Rostock (berth LP-41) and HAL provided us a free shuttle to downtown Rostock. We took a ship's excursion to Gustrow and saw the palace of the Duke of Mecklenburg and some old churches. We had lunch at a Gasthaus and ate bratwurst and drank the excellent local beer. It was fun! We then took the shuttle to Rostock. Then we purchased an all-day pass on their public transportation and took Tram 6 to the train station (Hauptbahnhof) and then took a train to Warnemunde. It was fun walking the boardwalk at Warnemunde - looked and felt like Coney Island. We then took the train back to Rostock and walked down Koplingerstrasse, the big pedestrian shopping street, before taking the shuttle bus back to our ship. A fun day!!!!

Oslo

Depart the ship and go straight to the tourist office at the cruise ship terminal. Buy the Oslo Pass - a 24 hour ticket to transport and museums and get the bus and streetcar line brochure. Then walk to the harbor and jump on the ferry to the Kon Tiki and Fram museums. See both of them and then jump on bus number 30 and take it to the Viking Ship Museum. See that museum and then walk to the Norse Folk (Outdoor) museum. See about half of this museum or your feet will get too tired. Jump back on the bus and head closer to Vigeland Park. Take another bus to Vigeland Park and see the sculptures there. Then take a bus to downtown near City Hall. Step inside City Hall and admire the excellent murals there. Just north of (behind) City Hall is a Visitor Info Office with free wi-fi and internet computer. If you still have time, walk over to the Fortress and visit the Norwegian Resistance Museum, then walk back to the ship, having had an EXCELLENT day for a cost of about $37. Remember what we said about the price of food.

Sounds like a wonderful cruise, one of far too many on my bucket list. Glad to see you "got it". Was your Captain "It's me again" who I've heard is great or Captain Tim Robins who I KNOW is great?

Roy

Thanks for the review, sounds like a great trip. We are joining you and other Prisendam vets Oct 2013 for a Black Sea trip.

Great review Cruiser Bill & Diana.

My thanks to you both for being kind enough to come on our roll call and update us a smidge.

This is a portion of our cruise next year and every bit of information is a huge help.

DH and I love this ship and I am glad you enjoyed it too;)

No question that the crew to passenger ratio is the best in any mass market ship (I believe). It's not luxury - it's still HAL - but everything is a 'step up'.

thanks again for taking the time to share with the rest of us.

And welcome home:):)

To me, Prinsendam is pretty darn close to luxury. We have sailed on Regent (and have another cruise booked), so we can compare. I think it's a great value. Our OV cabin on Prinsendam is larger than our balcony cabin on our upcoming cruise on Ocean Princess (which is similar to the Azamara ships.) We will be back in 2013---and I hope Captain Tim is at the helm again!

Souds wonderful. I was interested to read that there WAS children on board. I had ruled out this ship because we have two, but loved the itineraries. We were just pouring over Azamara's brochures because of their small ship and routes. Since you said there was kids perhaps this option has opened up.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Thank you so much for the review - makes me even more excited about my adventure on her next year, including the Kiel Canal. I have a question regarding the overnight in St.Petersburg - did HAL provide any special entertainment that night, specifically any folklore show.

Thanks again for the review - ready to pack my bags!

Superb review. Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

Souds wonderful. I was interested to read that there WAS children on board. I had ruled out this ship because we have two, but loved the itineraries. We were just pouring over Azamara's brochures because of their small ship and routes. Since you said there was kids perhaps this option has opened up.

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Perhaps the OP will have additional insight but not he said "few". If you go your kids could be the "few", just be prepared for that. Of course I doubt Azamara will have very many kids either. I know there were children on my Prinsendam cruise, but I hardly if ever remember seeing them. There is no Club HAL, the Stuyvestant room was pressed into service as the kids activity center. I think your kids should go not to have any peers with them (as is likely with any exotic cruise) but HAL will do their best to give them a good experience.

Roy

We saw 5 or 6 children on board, not very many. Two of them were young (around 8 years old) and other were a bit older.

There was no special entertainment in St. Petersburg, just the usual entertainers (quite good, actually).

We had a 20 or so piece German Brass Band board the ship at the start of the Kiel Canal. HAL put on a Beerfest extravaganza on the Lido Deck the afternoon of our Kiel Canal crossing. It was fun!

Thanks for the nice comments, it makes it worthwhile to us! You will like this cruise.

What a great review! You nicely captured the essence of the Elegant Explorer and the wonderful treasures of a Baltic cruise. We also did a Kiel Canal/Baltic cruise on Prinsendam and did almost the exact same things as you did in many of the ports, right down to also using Alla as our tour guide in SPB. We were also fascinated by how Prinsendam lowered the masts to squeak under bridges along the Kiel Canal. And those German pretzels at the Lido, yummo! Now we didn't have the Netherlands Navy doing practice landings on the ship, but we did have a medical rescue at sea which provided some drama! Sailing on Prinsendam is such a delightful way to experience these fabulous ports. Thank you for rekindling some great memories.

Thanks for the review. Very comprehensive and informative.

Perhaps the OP will have additional insight but not he said "few". If you go your kids could be the "few", just be prepared for that. Of course I doubt Azamara will have very many kids either. I know there were children on my Prinsendam cruise, but I hardly if ever remember seeing them. There is no Club HAL, the Stuyvestant room was pressed into service as the kids activity center. I think your kids should go not to have any peers with them (as is likely with any exotic cruise) but HAL will do their best to give them a good experience.

 

Roy

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it; our kids are still young but we are not!:eek: Cancer got in the way of me having kids until my late 30s. We like to be a family when we vacation so Club Hal, although it is much loved by the kids, is not necessary. I just never thought kids were allowed; but I didn't ask either. It was our TA that suggested Azmara for their size and routes which interest us. And this cruise is one on our "must do" list. I was thinking the kids would have to be in university before they let us go without them (they are just turned 8 and 11 now) and we have nobody to watch them if we were to leave them home. So knowing it is possible to take this ship and be together opens up a whole new world.

Cruizer Bill - thanks for the great review. Now this cruise just jumped to the top of the line!

Thanks for taking the time to write a very thoughtful review of your cruise on the Princendam. Sounds like you had a great time.

I am so grateful to you for taking the time to write a review! :) There just don't seem to be too many written. Since we will be on the Prinsendam for 23 dayson the Amazon Explorer, I was pleased with your comments. We have also booked a Cat. E, and glad to hear you were satisfied.

The Baltic was one of our all time favorite cruises...on the old Noordam!

Thanks again!

Karen

Thank you for taking time time to write your informative review.

I was pleased to see this review because we are looking into a Baltic cruise for next year or in 2014, and Prinsendam is at the top of our list. It sounds like you had a great cruise, and it makes me more enthusiastic for this itinerary.

Thanks so much for your review.

Thanks for your review!

Great review -- thank you.

We went to Visby quite a few years ago -- loved walking all over the place.

Thank you for taking the time out for the nice review. Maybe one day, I will get to do this itinerary.

David

Cruiser Bill - if you don't mind - the Port of Hamburg looks huge:eek: whereabouts did the Prinsendam dock when you were there?

We docked at

Hamburg Cruise Center

Chicagokai, 20457 Hamburg, Germany+49 40/300They called it Terminal 2 but it's right next to where the Queen Mary 2 docked because she was there when we pulled in. It is just south of downtowy Hamburg and was a short walk to downtown. We walked over to the Lakes cruises and then over to the Hofbrauhaus Beerhallbut I wish we had visited Minature World since people told me it is the bestmodel railroad exhibit in the world.

We docked at

Hamburg Cruise Center

Chicagokai, 20457 Hamburg, Germany+49 40/300They called it Terminal 2 but it's right next to where the Queen Mary 2 docked because she was there when we pulled in. It is just south of downtowy Hamburg and was a short walk to downtown. We walked over to the Lakes cruises and then over to the Hofbrauhaus Beerhallbut I wish we had visited Minature World since people told me it is the bestmodel railroad exhibit in the world.

Thanks so much - really appreciate it.

That railroad exhibit is supposed to be really something. A number on our roll call have it on their ''hit' list. Sorry I should have probably asked this on your roll call thread:o Thanks again - really appreciate your help:)

Great review! Thanks for posting such an insightful review! :)