Prinsendam B2B "The Ship" (we're back)

[LindaM]

Thank you for your review.

We are looking at a Sept. 2014 cruise on the Prinsendam. This really helped.

We have sailed 13 times on a variety of HAL ships but never this one. Thinking we should try it!

Any other comments to convince me this is a great ship??? :D

 

Mary

 

Well, we won't sail any other HAL ship. Not that they are bad at all, but once you sail Prinsendam, none will compare. Her service and food are better, IMHO. For us, it's Regent luxury line or Prinsendam. However, if you like new ships, she may not be for you. Her windows are old and painted over many times!! You have to overlook certain things--like the wood in the staterooms being dinged up, because of age.

[rwams]

Thank you for your review I really enjoyed it.

[highland cruiser]

Well, we won't sail any other HAL ship. Not that they are bad at all, but once you sail Prinsendam, none will compare. Her service and food are better, IMHO. For us, it's Regent luxury line or Prinsendam. However, if you like new ships, she may not be for you. Her windows are old and painted over many times!! You have to overlook certain things--like the wood in the staterooms being dinged up, because of age.

 

 

Thank you for your response.

We enjoy the smaller HAL smaller ships. Actually, the people on the ship and the itinerary are what we sail for. We are not high maintenance folks. :)

Mary

[ekkc10753]

Thank you very much for the review(s) We are currently booked for our first cruise on The Prinsendam, mostly because we've read such fine things about her and her small size and more interesting itineraries are very appealing to us. Over the years I've seen some aspects of HAL's service decline and am hoping that The Prinsendam will live up to the older standards. I don't consider myself high-maintenance either, but I do like an attentive wine steward and flowers that haven't gone all wilty (would rather have no flowers than wilty ones:p)

Have any of the more devoted passengers on the Prisendam looked at the new (yet to be built) Viking Star? http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/index.html What do you think of the ship and its amentities in comparison to The Prinsendam? No formal nights, wine and beer with lunch and dinner if desired. I'm really interested to hear what knowledgable passengers have to say

[RuthC]

Have any of the more devoted passengers on the Prisendam looked at the new (yet to be built) Viking Star? http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/index.html What do you think of the ship and its amentities in comparison to The Prinsendam? No formal nights, wine and beer with lunch and dinner if desired. I'm really interested to hear what knowledgable passengers have to say

I've taken a cursory look at Viking, and have some interest. I do want to wait until the first reviews are in before I look too much more deeply.

 

No cruiseline is perfect, and Viking is no exception. The lack of formal nights is a downside. I don't drink beer at all, and wine seldom, so having those included does nothing for me, either.

 

But they are still on my radar. I may have a better idea how I feel when I complete my upcoming Oceania cruise. They seem to have a similar atmosphere.

[kazu]

Thank you very much for the review(s) We are currently booked for our first cruise on The Prinsendam, mostly because we've read such fine things about her and her small size and more interesting itineraries are very appealing to us. Over the years I've seen some aspects of HAL's service decline and am hoping that The Prinsendam will live up to the older standards. I don't consider myself high-maintenance either, but I do like an attentive wine steward and flowers that haven't gone all wilty (would rather have no flowers than wilty ones:p)

Have any of the more devoted passengers on the Prisendam looked at the new (yet to be built) Viking Star? http://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/index.html What do you think of the ship and its amentities in comparison to The Prinsendam? No formal nights, wine and beer with lunch and dinner if desired. I'm really interested to hear what knowledgable passengers have to say

 

If it helps - the flowers were not wilty on our P'dam cruise - our wine steward was very attentive as was the cellar master;)

 

Meals are better than the other ships IMHO and some of the touches aren't found elsewhere. Their band is very nice and the lack of HAL cats breaks my heart:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[ekkc10753]

No HAL Cats?!?! ohhh noooo :rolleyes: I always end up feeling sort of sorry for them when I slide out the door, but I really like hearing the sea and ship sounds so much more.

We're in A102, it looks like the balconey is a bit wider/larger than other A's and I'm happy with it; but an upgrade/upsell to 002 would pretty sweet

[OlsSalt]

All the music venues were well attended on our recent Prinsendam. The Station Band in the Ocean Bar was very tuneful, Adagio had loyal fans and the Piano Man kept the Crows Nest happy.

 

Wllty flowers - not on our cruise either. There was constant attention to all the public rooms, including daily removal of any flower that had started to fade. The housekeeping department was tops on this recent cruise. And the laundry services were fantastic.

[RuthC]

We're in A102, it looks like the balconey is a bit wider/larger than other A's and I'm happy with it; but an upgrade/upsell to 002 would pretty sweet

Cabin 102 is an outside, with a wide open deck outside. The "AA" balconies nearby are wider than the balconies toward mid-ship, though; you are right about that.

Could you have the cabin number incorrect?

[ekkc10753]

Cabin 102 is an outside, with a wide open deck outside. The "AA" balconies nearby are wider than the balconies toward mid-ship, though; you are right about that.

Could you have the cabin number incorrect?

 

Oh anything is possible; let me look at the deck plans....it's actually

AA:o 120 that I think we have, oh good grief I hope the TA has it right:o

[kazu]

Oh anything is possible; let me look at the deck plans....it's actually

AA:o 120 that I think we have, oh good grief I hope the TA has it right:o

 

you can check your reservation on the HAL site. Just sign in and then go to my reservations and your room will show:D

 

that way you can be assured:D

[kazu]

Thank you for your review.

We are looking at a Sept. 2014 cruise on the Prinsendam. This really helped.

We have sailed 13 times on a variety of HAL ships but never this one. Thinking we should try it!

Any other comments to convince me this is a great ship??? :D

 

Mary

 

We have sailed a lot of the HAL ships (and some of the competition's). This one is our favourite. it is not for everyone. It is a ship through and through. Takes me back to the old days of elegance and cruising. She's older no question but her itineraries are beautiful, her touches are beautiful and we thoroughly enjoy her.

 

IMO the food is better, the service is better and there are 'little' touches that you don't see on the other ships. And some things you don't see on the other ships - like no HAL cats ;) Instead they have a wonderful band (and I do mean wonderful) that plays in the evenings. It's really tough to make a choice between the Explorer's Lounge, Ocean Bar and Crow's Nest at night:D

 

She has a higher price because she is a smaller ship with unique itineraries - but for us, she's worth it. For others she might not be. If you like the smaller ships of HAL, then you will most likely like her. If you prefer the larger ships with the Tamarind and other things, you might not.

 

I've sat in the Pinnacle Grill and been amazed at how many times they change the flowers there. They never have a chance to wilt. The Crow's Nest there is one of my favourites anywhere. And although the Lido pool is not covered, I actually prefer it to the covered ones. There's just something about this ship that hits us. You either love it or leave it. There's no in between.

 

 

I also like that the cabins are not all the same. These are not 'cookie cutter cabins'. This ship was a luxury cruise ship at one time so many cabins have walk in closets, etc. They are not huge unless you move 'up' to at least a verandah but some insides are really, really big and the Neptune Suites are well laid out.

 

We sailed this ship the first time with trepidation because of her age and mixed reviews. While she might not be to everyone's taste she is to ours and we have booked our third cruise on her in less than three years!

 

DH fell in love with her in less than 20 minutes. he loved the room, he loved the layout and from then on we were flying. When it comes to Europe/exotic itineraries, I haven't found another ship (even luxury) that matches what she does on the right ones. so, yes, we are fans. She has a lot of fans and others that will not go back on. If you want a new ship that is sparkling with glitz and extra amenities - don't sail her. If you want to go on ship which still has some elegance (IMO), the nicest Pinnacle Grill in the fleet (IMO), some of the best staff and food (IMO) then book her while she is still in the fleet:)

[RuthC]

Oh anything is possible; let me look at the deck plans....it's actually

AA:o 120 that I think we have, oh good grief I hope the TA has it right:o

Nice cabin! You have the wider balcony, with a small cutoff facing aft. You have a tub, instead of shower only (which I consider a negative, but others prefer it).

[ekkc10753]

you can check your reservation on the HAL site. Just sign in and then go to my reservations and your room will show:D

 

that way you can be assured:D

 

I have no idea why that didn't occur to me:o I just had a big birthday and may be a few brain-cells short these days:D

[ekkc10753]

I think it's a negative too, but not a big one and off-set by the interesting shape of the balcony which I imagine will afford a wider view without leaning out...

...And since The Netherlands and Norway aren't exactly noted for their wines I guess that the new policy will have little effect on us. Aquavit and gin it is!:D

[July_Cruiser]

Nice to hear from you, Kirk,

You were in the other sections of the dining room on formal night. I guess that was the disadvantage of us having fixed seating and keeping the same table in the section with the missing covers. We still liked keeping the same waiter, although we did have a different waiter & assistant the second half than the first half because they move around too from time to time.

Thanks for the review, we took our first cruise on the EE about a month ago and loved her. I am surprised by the lack of white chair covers, we had them for every formal night.

[July_Cruiser]

I understand the room won't be as noisy once the thruster has been repaired. A lot of the morning noise was vibration from the tug boats that were needed due to the bow thruster not working.

 

Bring a BATTERY night light as the bathroom lights are very bright. The bathroom does not have an electrical outlet, so the plug-in LED nightlight that I always bring with me could not be plugged into a shaver outlet in the bathroom, since there isn't one there. We plugged the nightlight into the only standard outlet in the cabin that was on the vanity. However we had to block the light with a book so it wouldn't keep us awake.

[OlsSalt]

.....

Bring a BATTERY night light as the bathroom lights are very bright. The bathroom does not have an electrical outlet, so the plug-in LED nightlight that I always bring with me could not be plugged into a shaver outlet in the bathroom, since there isn't one there. We plugged the nightlight into the only standard outlet in the cabin that was on the vanity. However we had to block the light with a book so it wouldn't keep us awake.

 

There was a "shaver" outlet in the Neptune suites bathrooms. Don't know if it was operational or not.

 

Some of those LED battery small "candles" like they use in some of the venues on the ship might make a good night light substitute. There are even some you can turn on and off with a remote that I have seen in some those crafts catalog mailers. Example: http://www.save-on-crafts.com/baopca.html Scroll down for the smaller sized ones -- no need to bring a latern along for a night light!