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problems with Prinsendam

SeaBands

By SeaBands,
in Holland America Line

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Copper10-8 "Live from...." Rare

Copper10-8

Posted
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Interesting that HAL would switch captains in the middle of the Grand So America cruise. Hope all is okay with Captain Tim and it is just his contract. Wonder who will captain for the Grand Med - anyone know?

 

Capt. Tim is fine; he finished his contract

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Posted (edited)
Interesting that HAL would switch captains in the middle of the Grand So America cruise. Hope all is okay with Captain Tim and it is just his contract. Wonder who will captain for the Grand Med - anyone know?

 

our captains switched too during our 30 day cruise at Istanbul. Captain Roberts wanted back on and Captain Andre wanted off - LOL. so, it does happen. The question in my mind is why isn't Captain Andre coming on? hopefully he is ok.

 

Capt. Tim is fine; he finished his contract

 

Good to hear Copper

Edited by kazu
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LindaM

LindaM

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Fair enough but I will continue to post that I was underwhelmed by the Prinsendam experience. I'm not sure why some feel so defensive about an inanimate object like a cruise ship. I have never blasted the ship. I will continue to point out the cruise critic member review rating which is consistently in the bottom two or three for the fleet so obviously a significant cross section of reviewers agree with me.

I pay top dollar for premium experiences in venues all over the world, restaurants, hotels, organized tours, travel guides and cruise ships. I have experience to make a judgement.

 

The issue is, your opinions and reports are not accurate and are biased. As I have mentioned, most likely the only people reviewing the ship are people who were unhappy for whatever reason, like yourself. Most of us who sail Prinsendam are very well traveled and have the money for premium experiences all over the world, as yourself. We know how to compare premium products whether it is a cruiseship or a hotel. I was very unhappy with our last cruise on Regent...the dining room service. I posted about it initially, but I don't post everytime someone asks a question about the ship. I have let it go. I am humble enough to accept that my experience may not be the usual or current standard for Regent. I may have actually been too critical and can admit that. I am not going to badmouth the ship everytime someone asks a question about it. No one here actually believes those ratings on CC, for any of the ships!! I've seen great ratings on Conde Nast for a ship that I know from experience wasn't good. Results depend on who is giving them at the time. Obviously you are upset with what you paid for P, in contrast with what you feel you received. I can see you were very disappointed. You are not the only one who has badmouthed Prinsendam, but I question your motives. And, also why you ignore the repeater rate, which is the real indicator of Prinsendam's success and quote the sophomoric CC rating. It confuses me... Please know that all of us P supporters are probably as well traveled as you are and possibly even more, from my years of reading these boards. We pay the premium to sail P without batting an eye and don't even look at the per day price...at least I don't. I have to admit, I really don't think about the price---if I did, I probably wouldn't be going anywhere.

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cranethie

cranethie

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our captains switched too during our 30 day cruise at Istanbul. Captain Roberts wanted back on and Captain Andre wanted off - LOL. so, it does happen. The question in my mind is why isn't Captain Andre coming on? hopefully he is ok.

 

 

 

Don't you remember Jacqui - Cpt Andre was going off home to do some renovations and look at the Honey Do list that was waiting for him (well at least I think that's what he said :):)) - maybe he hasn't finished yet :D:D

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Copper10-8 "Live from...." Rare

Copper10-8

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I don't know who is taking over but maybe they want a Dutch captain rather than a British because of the difficulties in Argentina.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Nope; has nothing to do with it; British captains on HAL ships make port calls in Argentina on a regular basis

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Iwant2BatC

Iwant2BatC

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Glad to hear things have improved. When I did the Grand S.A several years back they held us in a convoy for hours and hours making us late into two ports. They did the same with several other ships. The papers "reported" it was due to British ownership and the fact we had been to the Falklands.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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bcscot

bcscot

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We sailed on Prinsendam for 22 days and enjoyed her very much, but that was years ago and before the alterations and HAL's decline. I do like the older ships. We have become disenchanted with HAL though, because of continual problems with A/C and had our last HAL cruise on the Oosterdam a year ago. I don't want to harp on about that again because I have already said a lot on the subject on this board and I am not trying to knock HAL, I just haven't got over my disappointment yet. I accept that this is one of the cutbacks and they manage to get away with it because most people are less sensitive to it than we are. Our last hope for HAL would be a world voyage segment on the Prinsendam or Amsterdam, in the hope that the cutbacks might not bite so deep on these premium voyages. I would like to sail on the Prinsendam again and I would like to sail as a 4 Star Mariner. I am just concerned that I would pay the higher price for one of these voyages and still have the airflow reduced to the cabin at night.

 

We have our next 3 years of cruises booked on Celebrity and Azamara, and hope to sail on Cunard again too. I do hope, however, that Prinsendam will still be in the fleet then, so I can experience her again. Gems like her are getting fewer and fewer.

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LindaM

LindaM

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Thanks for your contribution to this thread. Gems like her will be going by the wayside in time. She is part of an era when ships were built to be ships, with exceptional quality. I recognize that many people aren't into that and prefer new and modern. That's OK. If a person comes on her expecting to see a recently refurbished ship like Azamara or Oceania, they will be disappointed. But, that doesn't mean she doesn't have other attibutes those Renaissance fleet ships don't have, like a decent showlounge and more public rooms for drinks/music. It is like comparing the beautiful old homes from the early 1900's to the modern homes of today. Some of us appreciate the quality of that time, whereas others want a new home. Obviously, those who criticize P are in the latter category.

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

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Might this be Captain Schuchman with Captain Gunderson and the pilot?

 

pdambridge.jpg

 

I hope things are well with Captain Andre. It was just over a year ago Captain Gunderson filled in and my understanding was it was a medical issue.

 

Roy

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wesport

wesport

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I am in one of these cabins in May, and was curious as to the size of the verandahs with the cabins they added. I think I will call on Monday to see what the price difference is to go up to the next level vista suite.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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I am in one of these cabins in May, and was curious as to the size of the verandahs with the cabins they added. I think I will call on Monday to see what the price difference is to go up to the next level vista suite.

 

I would definitely look at moving from AB to A. smart move IMO!

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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I called my travel agent to go from an AB to an AA, and HAL wanted $1100 to go up one level. Looks like I'll be living on the balcony. Will know the next time.

 

Fingers crossed that you either get upgraded or get a cheap upsell offer as the cruise time draws nigh.

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Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

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This will be our 12th cruise on HAL, so maybe they will show mercy. We shall see!!!!!!!!!1

 

Hmm. DW reminds me that at about that stage in our HAL cruising history HAL finally "came through" with our first upgrade offer. It was only $9,999 to move up to a large suite on the Prinsendam. Needless to say, we refused the upgrade (and so did everyone else on that cruise) and noted that the large suite was either empty or used for Guest Entertainers during our entire cruise.

 

Hank:eek:

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ski ww Holiday Sharing Rare

ski ww

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On our last cruise which was a TA from Rome to FLL I noticed a price drop on our interior cabins with a free up grade to a balcony & when I asked our TA to check with HAL to see if we qualified we got a free up grade from an interior on the Promenade deck to a balcony cabin AA 180 on the Upper Promenade. It was a much smaller cabin but the balcony made up for it. Keep an eye on the HAL web site for price drops.

Allan & Marlane

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wesport

wesport

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After concern about the ab on prinsendam, HAL was nice enough to send me pictures of what my cabin looks like. Its room 202 on halfacts.com

As stated before, will have to accepts the ab cabin for now. You can see what seabands experienced

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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After concern about the ab on prinsendam, HAL was nice enough to send me pictures of what my cabin looks like. Its room 202 on halfacts.com

As stated before, will have to accepts the ab cabin for now. You can see what seabands experienced

 

thanks so much for thinking of http://www.halfacts.com We need the contributions to have the pictures that everyone is looking for. Really appreciated:D

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LindaM

LindaM

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Some times it is on the first sea day at about 10ish

I usually plan ours for 11 a.m. in the Crow's Nest...10 is too early for me! Why don't you ask at the desk. Also, if you tell us what sailing you are on, we could look at your rollcall. Better yet...you can do that right now. Look for the section on rollcalls, find Prinsendam, then look for your particular cruise. See if anything is mentioned.

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