Need thoughtful reviews of the Prinsendam

[emckeeve]

We are considering a Norway and North Cape cruise on her next summer. I know she has great fans but has also had some unfavorable reviews. We like the smaller ship experience and don't need all the glitz of the new megaliners - in fact, we don't want that at all. A good staff, nice dining and pleasant fellow passengers are more important than all the trappings. Holland America is not our favorite line, but this particular itinerary appeals to us. We would like hearing any pros and cons of the Prinsendam experience. Thanks.

[Essiesmom]

Unfortunately the search function has been removed, but if you go back lots of pages, there was a 'Live From' thread from a month or two ago for the North Cape cruise. EM

[roberts2005]

We are considering a Norway and North Cape cruise on her next summer. I know she has great fans but has also had some unfavorable reviews. We like the smaller ship experience and don't need all the glitz of the new megaliners - in fact, we don't want that at all. A good staff, nice dining and pleasant fellow passengers are more important than all the trappings. Holland America is not our favorite line, but this particular itinerary appeals to us. We would like hearing any pros and cons of the Prinsendam experience. Thanks.

 

 

It might be helpful if you tell us the ships you have been on as you state Holland America is not your favorite. I have been on the Prinsendam twice for a total of 28 days. There were many things that were not so good, but there were many things I loved.

[ClevelandOhio]

I have taken several long cruises on the Prinsendam. I have probably sailed over 300 days in the last three years. I am about to leave on a 22 day transatlantic that I booked last fall. Unfortunately it will be our last HAL cruise for a long time. I booked an Asian cruise while on the Prinsendam and after months of lies and deception, HAL finally announced that they had chartered out our cruise and that it was cancelled. HAL's home office handling of this fiasco was so poor it will be a long time before we sail with them again.

 

Now on to the Prinsendam. I think you will find it a delightful experience. You must keep in mind that it is small and everything is scaled back in relationship to the mega liners. The stage is small and so are the cast shows. But there is a sense of intimacy that is enjoyable.

 

The best part of the Prinsendam are the itineraries. Because of the small size of the ship, it has access to ports that the megaliners cannot get. The P'dam often gets prime dockage even in the big ports. The P'dam's ports of calls are fascinating and are ports that no one other cruise line has.

 

The P'dam has a totally different look and feel than the big ships. It is almost yacht like. I find that very enjoyable. Because of the small size you develop a different relationship with the staff. The service is more personal and is always superb. Some people might call the ship old fashioned. I like that. It doesn't look like Las Vegas; it looks like a very elegant SHIP.

 

Probably the single biggest draw back on the ship is the lack of an indoor pool and solarium. In inclement weather there is no place to relax in the sun. But I am willing to trade that for all the great things about the Prinsendam.

 

Try it, you'll like it if you aren't cruising for glitz and climbing walls. I am going to miss the P'dam. But the treatment we received from their head office was more than I can deal with. So for the time being at least we have moved on to Celebrity and the QM2.

[emckeeve]

To answer Roberts2005 . . . after we gave up the main stream lines, we have sailed on Regent, SeaDream, Sea Cloud, Oceania, Crystal and have our eye on Seabourn. We did sail on the Veendam last year to Bermuda. It was "OK." For Cleveland, thank you for your thoughts. I'm sorry about the treatment you received from Holland America. You seem to be a faithful customer, and it's a shame they will lose your business.

 

As I said, the Prinsendam's itinerary and timing for this particular cruise is perfect for us. The destination is more important than the ship in this case, but we want to have a pleasurable cruise experience as well.

[sansterre]

We are considering a Norway and North Cape cruise on her next summer. I know she has great fans but has also had some unfavorable reviews. We like the smaller ship experience and don't need all the glitz of the new megaliners - in fact, we don't want that at all. A good staff, nice dining and pleasant fellow passengers are more important than all the trappings. Holland America is not our favorite line, but this particular itinerary appeals to us. We would like hearing any pros and cons of the Prinsendam experience. Thanks.

 

We did this cruise in June. Loved it! I did a Live from the Prinsendam post most days which you will find of interest. I'll see if I can find it.

Basically, I agree with Cleveland's comments (above).

Prinsendam has a great staff, very nice dining, and the passengers on that particular itinerary were exceptionally well-traveled and friendly. We often ended up having breakfast or lunch with another couple or two and would linger in conversation far longer than is typical for us. And that seems to be what you are looking for.

[rafinmd]

Unfortunately the search function has been removed, but if you go back lots of pages, there was a 'Live From' thread from a month or two ago for the North Cape cruise. EM

 

Essiesmom, I hope you were talking about me.

 

emckeeve, my live thread covered a massive itinerary on 3 ships, and the Prinsendam portion begins on page 5, post 95. Here's a link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1441803&page=5

 

While I describe the voyage, the closest I come to a review of the ship is on Post # 123.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=30020482&postcount=123

 

You mention several lines you have sailed, of those the only one I've been on is Crystal (many times) and I've also been on Silversea. I would definitely prefer to be on Crystal (no surprise) but I actually liked Prinsendam better than the Silver Whisper. The main thing I missed on the Elegant Explorer was a major enrichment program, but that's probably something you'll find only in Cunard among the mainstream lines.

 

I hope this helps a bit.

 

Roy

[sansterre]

Unfortunately the search function has been removed, but if you go back lots of pages, there was a 'Live From' thread from a month or two ago for the North Cape cruise. EM

 

I think this is the LIVE post you were referring to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426665&page=2

 

Credit for the photographs go to you Essiesmom! I finally learned how to post a photo at the very end, but you captured us at every port (except Murmansk perhaps):)

 

If you have any other questions about the ports or ship, let us know.

[RuthC]

I've sailed in this area several times, including twice on the Prinsendam. The itinerary is fabulous! And I found nothing to be disappointed about in the ship, either. I want to sail her again.

I really can't add to what's been posted about the ship. I do remember someone on board my recent cruise referred to the ship as "a rust bucket", and for the life of me I had no idea what she meant. Yes, I saw a small spot of rust or two, but the ship was in fine condition. Service was superb.

Take this cruise with no fear. You won't be sorry.

[Ray in NH]

We would also "second" all the comments as to how "Wonderful" an experience it is to sail on the Prinsendam. We did the Amazon Expedition last November and currently have two additional voyages booked on this great ship -- one of them to the North Cape. We just wish that Captain Albert would again be the Master of the Vessel. :(

Ray in NH

[ClevelandOhio]

Our cabin on the P'dam is probably my favorite cabin of all times. Having a walk in closet was just outrageously cool. And my wife thought the same about the huge bathtub. We were not in a suite, we were in an ocean view cabin!

 

Our last cruise on the P'dam was a long cruise in the Eastern Med shortly before Christmas. We had a huge ledge in front of our double port holes that allowed us to stack up all of the presents we purchased. In a conventional cabin I don't know what we would have done with the "stuff".

 

And don't miss the crew shows. I don't think I've ever seen a group of people more proud of their country or their heritage than the Indonesian crew. Our waiter actually came and picked me out of the audience during the show to play the Angklung instrument during the show. Believe it or not this rivaled seeing the pyramids in Egypt.

 

The P'dam is an amazing ship.

[emckeeve]

Thanks. I will have great bed time reading tonight!

[LindaM]

We just came home from our second Prinsendam cruise yesterday. Decided that Prinsendam is going to be our cruiseship of choice from now on. We had an oceanview cabin on dolphin deck, but our large window afforded us wonderful views. I did look for rust, but didn't see any!!

 

One thing special about Prinsendam is the friendliness of the passengers and staff. We have not found this on the larger ships. The captain is extremely personable and friendly. He is also drop dead movie star gorgeous!!

 

She is very easy to get around on, too. Nothing is far away. The shows aren't as lavish, but on a port intensive cruise this isn't important to us.

 

There were a few people we met who were critical, complaining about minor inconsequential things. Personally, I hope that type of person stays away from Prinsendam! She has something like a 92% repeater rate, so most love her, but there are some who do not. She was in drydock since our last cruise and looked pretty good to us!

[emckeeve]

Thanks Linda. It's just what I needed to hear. We leave for Africa next week and have just had a glitch with our visas, so I will have to put Norway and the Prinsendam on the back burner until we get home in October.

[sansterre]

Safe travel to Africa and I hope you do get to North Cape. It was an awesome trip for us and with the prices in Norway, a good way to visit the port. The Prinsendam is the largest ship that can make it through the Kiel Canal.

The highlights for the trip were Kiel Canal and Trondheim for me. DH like Northcape and Murmansk. Every port was most enjoyable and the Seas were smooth sailing.

[kazu]

We're going on the P'dam for the first time in November & I will try to do a live thread (I'm not as good as some) or a mini review as the days go by and internet permits. However, she has the highest repeat passengers of any ship.

 

One of our cc'ers who cruises on ships like Crystal, etc., and is quite fussy and well travelled describes her as one of us his favourite ships even though she is old.

 

If you want to go on a real ship (not a floating hotel), then I think you will like it. We hope so as we will be on for 20 days ;)

[leonardofan]

I sailed transatlantic on the Prinsendam in '04, after being encouraged by

a surprisingly agreeable experience on the old Noordam (now with

Thomson in the UK). While nothing will erase the memory of the beautiful

France or the warmth of the Leonardo or Stefan Batory that I had the

privilege of sailing on in an earlier life, that Prinsendam sailing was

certainly the finest of the dozen or so I've taken in recent times

(including five on Celebrity and two on Oceania). The food and service

and experience generally were not just outstanding in themselves but a

master class in how to run a business-- everybody thinking, all the time,

about how to perfect the product.Three years later, things weren't quite

to the same standard but there was an acceptable amount of hand-

wringing from senior management and the housekeeping supervisor

actually made an appointment to apologize personally that things weren't

up to the standard he would wish( In the ship's defense, it had been hit

by a rogue wave a few weeks before and was scheduled for a drydock to

set things right.)

 

As for it's condition today, I look forward to your review when you return-

but it should ease your mind that it is still the highest-rated premium

ship in the Berlitz Guide (and Mr. Ward shows no inhibitions in pointing

out when the emperor has no clothes!

[jmdpsca]

Thank you Linda, we are sailing from Tilbury England to Rome on Sept12,11

and I thank you for the info, just found a blog on Captain Timothy Roberts, and a U-Tube from BBC, a little visit on the ship..Looks great..

 

We just came home from our second Prinsendam cruise yesterday. Decided that Prinsendam is going to be our cruiseship of choice from now on. We had an oceanview cabin on dolphin deck, but our large window afforded us wonderful views. I did look for rust, but didn't see any!!

 

One thing special about Prinsendam is the friendliness of the passengers and staff. We have not found this on the larger ships. The captain is extremely personable and friendly. He is also drop dead movie star gorgeous!!

 

She is very easy to get around on, too. Nothing is far away. The shows aren't as lavish, but on a port intensive cruise this isn't important to us.

 

There were a few people we met who were critical, complaining about minor inconsequential things. Personally, I hope that type of person stays away from Prinsendam! She has something like a 92% repeater rate, so most love her, but there are some who do not. She was in drydock since our last cruise and looked pretty good to us!