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

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 8 (Cont.)

 

At the forward stairwell landing of Deck 8 is the front office. There is a two-deck atrium spanning decks 7 and 8. Here are photos of the atrium:

 

 

 

 

And, here is a photo of the forward elevators:

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 8 (Cont.)

 

Aft of the front office are the shore excursions desk, shops and photo gallery, and then the Wajang Theater/Culinary Arts Center:

 

 

Behind the Wajang, connecting the Explorer’s Lounge and the Oak Room is the Java Café, which also serves as the bar for the Explorer’s Lounge:

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 8 – Explorer’s Lounge

 

On the starboard side, the Explorer’s Lounge is an elegant, relaxing space with inviting seating, a place where even lions can nap:

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 8 – Explorations Café

 

On the port side are the Explorations Café and Oak Room, which together comprise one of what must be the last real libraries in the HAL fleet. This is a beautiful set of rooms:

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the starboard side, aft of the Java Café, is the Casino, but taking photos is discouraged. We did not use it, but it appears to have the usual table games and slot machines.

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 7

 

Down the stairs now, which is easier than up. Here is the map for Deck 7:

 

 

Deck 7 has cabins forward. The Half Moon Room and Digital Workshop flank the atrium. The walls of the atrium/stairwell have some nice artwork:

 

 

Aft of the atrium, on the starboard side, is the Ocean Bar

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 7 – Pinnacle Grill

 

On the port side is the Pinnacle Grill:

 

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 7 – Dining Room

 

The La Fontaine Dining Room is split into two sections – a long, narrow section between the Ocean Bar, and the aft stairwell, and behind the stairwell a larger dining area. It was our impression that the smaller area was for fixed seating – we had a two-top there for our early fixed reservation – while the larger area was for open dining. However, several times there were empty tables in the smaller room and the staff would seat open diners, sometimes well after the fixed dining time.

 

At any rate, here are photos of the smaller dining area; the stairwell goes up to the Explorer’s Lounge:

 

 

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 7 – Dining Room (Cont.)

 

Here are some photos of the larger dining area:

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[sevigny]

We have traveled on the Prinsendam many times. Whoever is the florist on this voyage should be thrown off the ship and eaten by a dolphin. These are some of the poorest arrangements I have ever seen on this ship. Either the florist has very little experience, or he is having to make do with a seriously reduced flower order. There appears to be some beautiful flowers available, but the design and color combinations are very poor. Feel free to flame away, but I have been a florist for many years, and have always looked forward to the beautiful arrangements on the Prinsendam. Sorry, but I am seriously disappointed, especially compared to what we saw on our spring 2016 transatlantic.

[RetiredMustang]

Deck 7 – Outside deck

 

Also on Deck 7 is the wrap-around deck (I believe 5 laps to a mile):

 

 

 

 

At the aft end of the deck is a larger area, overlooked by the dining room, with some deck chairs:

 

 

 

There were also some signs of Prinsendam’s age, perhaps, in the ripples in the deck by the aft seating:

 

 

-----

 

That concludes this section or the review. To summarize, we found ourselves in the camp that love Prinsendam. She is beautiful, elegant and perhaps most importantly, uncrowded. Even during happy hour in the Ocean Bar, there were seats to be had if you wandered in in the middle, even though there were many of us who, as described by a fellow imbiber, Pavlov’ed down to Happy Hour with tongues hanging out.

 

There were fresh flowers and great art around the ship. It actually has a library. There were quiet nooks, with comfortable chairs old arthritic geezers like me actually wanted to sit in. It was wonderful, and reminded us of Noordam III, old Westerdam, and the S class ships when they were new, on our earlier cruises on HAL in the 1990s and early 2000s.

 

But to be fair (nostalgia not being anywhere near as good as it used to be :D), the ship is showing its age, it has older equipment, the kitchens and spaces for the crew probably are not as spacious as newer ships, etc.. And, the cost in general is more per day. We loved Prinsendam and would happily sail her again if the itinerary suited us. But, we may find ourselves with a choice of 14 days on Prinsendam or 28 on a Vista ship for the same price, and may choose the latter. We just hope we have the opportunity to choose for a few years longer, but the reports I’m reading on CC tell me we may have to act fast if we want to ride the Elegant Explorer another time.

 

Next up (starting tomorrow, as it is time to get a life for the rest of today :)) are the day-to-day files and shore excursion descriptions. There were more sea days than inport days, so most of the entries will be text files of daily programs and menus.

 

More later,

Dave

Edited December 19, 2017 by RetiredMustang

[jaxonboy]

The dining area on the starboard side forward of the foyer is called the Annex. It is quieter, easier to enjoy good conversation.

[doublebzz]

How was the weather on your crossing?

[bobalink]

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post your beautiful photos!

 

We will be on the Prinsendam for the first time in May 2018.

 

I think I am going to love this ship!

[Keith1010]

Love all the photos you have posted along with the narrative.

 

Happy Holidays.

 

Keith

[boards]

Looking forward to the rest of your report and thank you for taking the time to it.

[kazu]

Excellent tour and photos Dave.:D

 

thanks so much for taking everone on board the Prinsendam.

 

I am glad that you enjoyed the ship.

 

I am going to share your wonderful thread with my roll call if you don't mind to give those that haven't been on a chance to see her.

 

Looking forward to the remainder of your wonderful report.

[ski ww]

Thanks for the great review & loved all the pictures. We did that same TA a few years back & this brought back memories. So you're not a fan of the new EXC remodel either, what a way to ruin the Crows Nest.

Allan

[Mtn2Sea]

Dave, thanks for the great photo tour and commentary of the Prinsendam. Looking forward to the next segments.

[Rockers2]

Wonderful job--it brings back memories of our first sailing on the old lady. We currently booked on two more, May 2018 (Azores and Celtic Explorer) and November 18 (Amazon RT from FLL).

[RetiredMustang]

How was the weather on your crossing?

 

IIRC, it was a pretty smooth crossing. I don't recall any real weather issues until the last day, when enough wind from just the wrong direction made tendering in Half Moon Cay unsafe and the Captain called off the port call and took us back to sea. But even then, it wasn't all that rough at sea that day, but I am not susceptible to motion sickness and someone who is may have had an issue.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Excellent tour and photos Dave.:D

 

thanks so much for taking everone on board the Prinsendam.

 

I am glad that you enjoyed the ship.

 

I am going to share your wonderful thread with my roll call if you don't mind to give those that haven't been on a chance to see her.

 

Looking forward to the remainder of your wonderful report.

 

 

Jacqui,

 

By all means share the thread with your roll call -- sharing photos and info (and biased opinions) is why I'm doing the review.

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Now to continue the review with day-by-day accounts.

 

2 Nov., embarkation

 

We had been staying at the Savoy Hotel, arranged through HAL. The hotel is just off the Via Veneto, and is one of the old grand hotels of its time. It is still an elegant and comfortable hotel, and fairly conveniently located.

 

We put our bags outside our room by 8 a.m., and checked out by 10. At about 11:30, the bus from Prinsendam arrived and passengers who had just debarked from the ship got off the bus and their bags were loaded into the hotel. Then, our bags were loaded and we got on the bus for the 90-minute drive to Civitavecchia cruise port. Check in was a breeze, and we were soon aboard and into our cabin, which I described above.

 

I set up an internet account; Prinsendam had the usual number of minute choices:

 

 

 

There was also a list of FAQs provided:

 

 

Here are the first two pages of the daily program:

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

2 Nov., embarkation (Cont.)

 

Here are the other four pages of the program:

 

 

 

 

Here is the combined menu, which I captured as a .jpg file from the Navigator dining site, and was able to crop and resize:

 

 

This was the only night that the online menu included desserts, except for gala nights, so I don’t have dessert menus for those other nights. As it turns out, we decided not to have desserts most nights. For dinner the first night, I started with tomato soup and DW with chicken noodle soup. We both had the stroganoff for main dish.

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

3 Nov., at sea

 

Here are the first four pages of the program:

 

 

 

More in the next post,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

3 Nov., at sea (Cont.)

 

Here are the other two pages of the program:

 

 

Here is the dinner menu, for the first gala night:

 

I had the shrimp cocktail, followed by the pasta shells; DW had the chicken soup with soba noodles, and the risotto.

 

More in the next post,

Dave