Prinsendam Review....not good.

[brownblonde]

I may get flamed for this post, but think its usually OK to be truthful. First...DW and I love the Prinsendam and in the past 2 1/2 years we have done 41, 42 and 62 day cruises on that ship..the most recent being the Grand Med cruise this past spring. But, after carefully reading the subject review we would have to agree with just about every word! It is just that some of us choose to ignore the rust and other issues because we just adore this ole ship. If we wanted we could write a long detailed review filled with many of the problems on the Prinsendam but like most of the confirmed Prinsendam lovers we prefer to overlook all the faults. Just about every ship-related issue mentioned in the review existed on our most recent voyage and we could list many more such as the Lido Terrace awning being held down with temporary blue straps (to keep it from blowing away), ice machines out of order for our entire 62 day cruise, peeling paint and crud in the aft hot tubs, stained tiles around the pool, etc etc. We have had lighting fixtures fall off the bed mounts in our cabin, constant A/C failures, plumbing failures, major rust and corrosion around a cabin porthole, water supply outages, etc etc. But yes, we still love the ship :)

 

Hank

Yes, there are many die hards like yourself about this ship. In 2009 we did a T/A and we too encounter water problems and very bad odor problems, we were nicely compensated for it, but it does not make for a nice home away from you lovely home you left behind. When you pay a nice price for something you expect something good in return. HAL certainly knows how well many of there clients feel about the ship and you would think it would be up to good standards, but if people keep going they will just keep doing maybe the necessary things knowing they will still get the cruisers.

We liked the small ships but haven't thought of doing Prinsendam again. Just alittle old. People remodel and get new furnishings in their home so why let a ship get so worn???

[kazu]

Yes, there are many die hards like yourself about this ship. In 2009 we did a T/A and we too encounter water problems and very bad odor problems, we were nicely compensated for it, but it does not make for a nice home away from you lovely home you left behind. When you pay a nice price for something you expect something good in return. HAL certainly knows how well many of there clients feel about the ship and you would think it would be up to good standards, but if people keep going they will just keep doing maybe the necessary things knowing they will still get the cruisers.

We liked the small ships but haven't thought of doing Prinsendam again. Just alittle old. People remodel and get new furnishings in their home so why let a ship get so worn???

 

The ship does a dry dock in November and I suspect furnishings will be replaced. Honestly, we didn't have a port hole;) sorry - so I can't comment on rust around it:rolleyes:- our furnishings were great - I hunted for this rust - found a bit on the balcony - and honestly all else was fine. i did hear complaints from people who had the AB category - but thankfully, being on cruise critic - we had read those and alerted anyone on our roll call to those threads.:) and to avoid those cabins.

 

 

I equivocate the prinsendam to wine and women - the older the better - as long as they are handled delicately and well cared for:):)

 

It's the first ship DH loved in 20 minutes - easiest next booking I ever did. Maybe we're missing the boat - but we loved it:)

[LMM1801]

I tend to cruise with Holland America a lot, so maybe I am a bit more educated with their ships than the average person. Also I like to read and am an attention to detail person, sometimes to a fault. I have not gone on the Prisendam as I am concerned the ship may be too small for me. I also heard about areas of the ship being closed down or not functioning correctly over the last six months, and I think that may bother me if I was sailing on her. I will be on the Ryndam soon and will see if that size ship is just right. I love the Eurodam and Noordam, especially the Noordam. Liked a lot the Osterdam. The reviewer seems to have not done a lot of homework before signing up for the cruise. I have to admit my first cruise years ago on Costa, back in the early 80s, I didn't know a thing about cruising either. Maybe the Prisendam was just a misfit. I do know that typically right before a ship goes in to drydock, it can look very tired. The only time I went with RCI, I was on an older ship right before drydock and it was terrible. I swore I would never cruise with Royal Caribbean again, and so far I have not. Love Celebrity, but I prefer HAL. I think once you find a cruise line you are happy with, it is best to just stick with it. On the other hand, I do find it hard to believe that HAL did that bad of job with one of their premier vessels. And everybody is right, something just does not add up here. Maybe the person writing the review did not book the cruise but somebody else set it up, and has some of the facts wrong? Alarm bells also go off on reviews by someone who has never reviewed anything before and then is complimenting another line (Princess) and trashing HAL, who if I am not mistaken, are owned by the same company ... Carnival, but operated separately.

[Pettifogger]

Copper 10-8:

 

You told us that Mr. van Walle was on his last contract before retirement but you didn't tell us when that will be.

 

There is a Grand Mediterranean Voyage coming up in March that will end on May 17 and if he will be on the Prinsendam that long, I'll want to increase my cruising budget enough to be sure we're on it.

 

Semper Fi!