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Confirmed! Prinsendam has been sold! (4 threads merged)

cRocky42

By cRocky42,
in Holland America Line

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

Posted
Posted
Can the Prinsendam go to the Antarctic and land if she down-sizes for those cruises to under 500 passengers? There seems to be growing interest sending more than bare bones expedition ships to this area.

The requirement is a CAPACITY of under 500; sailing under capacity does not change that.

 

Roy

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

Posted
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Who will do the Grand South America????

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

 

 

That looks very unlikely to me. It leaves mid-March, not February and would be too late for Antarctica. Without the Prinsendam I think it would most likely be cancelled; other options would be the co-flagship Rotterdam or one of the other R or S class ships. I don't know if HAL modifies ships for Antarctica but Veendam has sailed Antarctica in the past. If they're waiting until December to decide on selling the Prinsendam I doubt that they would be likely to deploy another ship for a Grand South America with just 1 year lead time.

 

Just glad I didn't wait any longer and booked the 2019 version.

 

Roy

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Gail & Marty sailing away Holiday Sharing Rare

Gail & Marty sailing away

Posted
Posted
I heard from friends who just got off the Maasdam that after the next drydock Club HAL will be gone and Zodiacs will be added as well as the EXC style crows nest . Looks to me as certain signs that she will replace the Prinsendam as I had posted before .

 

 

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I think you are correct.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
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Isn't the Amsterdam going there in 2020 World Cruise.?

 

Prinsendam goes there too.

 

the question was about landing .

 

I don't believe the Amsterdam lands at Antarctica.

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rafinmd "Live from...." Rare

rafinmd

Posted
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Isn't the Amsterdam going there in 2020 World Cruise.?

 

The Amsterdam is GOING there but passengers will not be able to get off, even for scenic cruising by tender.

 

Just looking at, listening to, and smelling the and smelling the penguins from the Amsterdam decks.

 

The 500-pax limit is for people to leave the ship.

 

Roy

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drowelf

drowelf

Posted
Posted
We are trying VTA next year (West Africa) for the reasons you stated - higher emphasis on enrichment and also getting the unique itineraries on VTA too - not the deluxe suites and traditional cruising style the Prinsendam also offers. For small ships and high enrichment our heart still belongs to VOD, and hoping the new InDepth on the Maasdam will keep this type of cruising still relatively "affordable".

 

 

VTA? VOD? What are those?

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted
That's the plan.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Forums mobile app

 

Amsterdam is doing the same thing as the P'dam does - "Antarctica Experience" - it is cruising only . There is no landing which was the question that rafinmd responded to.

 

Can the Prinsendam go to the Antarctic and land if she down-sizes for those cruises to under 500 passengers? There seems to be growing interest sending more than bare bones expedition ships to this area.
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JB&JLG74

JB&JLG74

Posted
Posted
. . . .There is no landing which was the question that rafinmd responded to.

 

Actually I was responding to the question isn't Amsterdam GOING there in the 2020 World, which was posted by we're sailing away. The quote in my reply did NOT reference landing. That was mentioned in a different post.

 

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Forums mobile app

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted
VTA? VOD? What are those?

 

Both are/were small, one ship, low frill, high enrichment cruise lines - good supplement to the more mainline offerings of HAL, but still in the relatively affordable range -not luxury boutique lines, but due to their small size they are not cheap either:

 

VOD - Voyages of Discovery - no longer in business - would do meandering round the world routes, we did two excellent routes with them, discovered them back when I was trying to find a way to Tristan daCuhna, which they later could no longer offer due to safety/technical reasons

 

VTA - Voyages to Antiquity - still sailing with very interesting itineraries, at first confined itself to the Mediterranean and North Africa-Middle East until those ports became off-limits for security reasons, now does itineraries well outside of that original intent.. One of the few small cruise ships that goes to West Africa.

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Modern_Viking

Modern_Viking

Posted
Posted
I agree. My opinion remains that converting one of the current Seabourn ships, either as is, adding a deck, or splitting the vessel in half and adding a section, is a sensible choice to replicate the Prinsendam from a hardware standpoint. Maintain the same yield expected for the "new" ship as compared to Prinsendam II, Captain Dag, having been a Seabourn Master, could still be at the helm, and the price point for many guests would be more acceptable than sailing on the vessel as a Seabourn ship.

 

While I enjoyed all aspects of my cruise aboard the Maasdam, she lacks that understated elegance that Prinsendam has. To me, Maasdam "fits" the EXC concept. As a replacement for the "Elegant Explorer": Hmmm.

 

While I think basing a newly built HAL ship on a Seabourne platform might work for a Prinsendam III, adding a deck or lengthening the ship is not the way to do it.

 

Seabourn is all suites, while many of us on HAL and the current Prinsendam don't need or want to pay for any cabin bigger than about 180 to 200 square feet and are happy with ocean view or inside cabins. Currently Seabourn ships, to my understanding are all suites.

 

Even the new Viking Ocean ships are unappealing since they are 100% verandah cabins, often larger than 200 sq ft.

 

The Prinsendam currently offers a wide variety of cabin sizes, and thus can be more appealing and affordable to a wider range of cruisers than an ex-Seabourn ship would be, if that is what you are suggesting.

 

HAL ships are denser than Seabourn ships in a significant part because the average cabin size is smaller. There might be other differences as well. Can Seabourn main dining rooms hold more than half the passengers at once, for example?

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Rockers2

Rockers2

Posted
Posted

OK. After reading all 10 pages of this thread, I took a couple of asprin for the headache and thought about it overnight.

 

We recently returned from the 28-day Azores and Celtic Adventure (Hi, to all who have posted). Yes, the ship has many physical plant issues. We woke up on day 2 to a wet closet floor and once again (2016 Spitzbergen) experienced thermostat control issues in our cabin. HOWEVER, there is no denying that the P'dam is beautiful to look at...classic ocean liner shape. The interior public rooms are beautiful and the food and service is a notch above the rest of the fleet. I know there are those of you who disagree, but on this past cruise, pate or fois gras was offered 4 times--the last time I saw it offered at all was 6 or seven years ago on Celebrity.

 

We have sailed to many beautiful ports throughout the years, but I would challenge any of the disbelievers to go to google earth and go to Fowey, UK. As the P'dam made her approach and mooring, I walked all of deck 7 as well as the bow of deck 8 and 9 watching the process. We were within a couple of hundred feet of cruising sail boats at anchor and about as far from the town of Fowey. We were sooooo close that I wished that I was a Jesus Lizard that I could have walked to shore without help from a tender.

 

I don't think that the Maasdam or the Veendam could have made it. We have sailed on both several times and niether ship has the charm of the P'dam. We experienced water and cooling issues on both of them--and that was several years ago. I am so glad that we get to sail on the P'dam one more time this November--RT FLL to the Amazon.

 

All good things must come to an end, but I wish it wasn't so soon. I have always said that if we were all alike or liked to do the same thing, this world would be boring, please don't try to convince us that there is a substitute for the P'dam experience...

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Storylady

Storylady

Posted
Posted
OK. After reading all 10 pages of this thread, I took a couple of asprin for the headache and thought about it overnight.

 

We recently returned from the 28-day Azores and Celtic Adventure (Hi, to all who have posted). Yes, the ship has many physical plant issues. We woke up on day 2 to a wet closet floor and once again (2016 Spitzbergen) experienced thermostat control issues in our cabin. HOWEVER, there is no denying that the P'dam is beautiful to look at...classic ocean liner shape. The interior public rooms are beautiful and the food and service is a notch above the rest of the fleet. I know there are those of you who disagree, but on this past cruise, pate or fois gras was offered 4 times--the last time I saw it offered at all was 6 or seven years ago on Celebrity.

 

We have sailed to many beautiful ports throughout the years, but I would challenge any of the disbelievers to go to google earth and go to Fowey, UK. As the P'dam made her approach and mooring, I walked all of deck 7 as well as the bow of deck 8 and 9 watching the process. We were within a couple of hundred feet of cruising sail boats at anchor and about as far from the town of Fowey. We were sooooo close that I wished that I was a Jesus Lizard that I could have walked to shore without help from a tender.

 

I don't think that the Maasdam or the Veendam could have made it. We have sailed on both several times and niether ship has the charm of the P'dam. We experienced water and cooling issues on both of them--and that was several years ago. I am so glad that we get to sail on the P'dam one more time this November--RT FLL to the Amazon.

 

All good things must come to an end, but I wish it wasn't so soon. I have always said that if we were all alike or liked to do the same thing, this world would be boring, please don't try to convince us that there is a substitute for the P'dam experience...

I agree with you totally. Anyone wanting an unique experience should look for the cruises that the Prinsendam goes and the bigger ships don’t. We have been to Fowey, and Aalborg and several other ports that only the Prinsendam can go.

 

And it definitely looks like she is going. The Koningsdam is doing SA, but no Antarctica or Amazon.

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rkacruiser

rkacruiser

Posted
Posted

Modern_Viking,

 

Thank you for your thoughtful post in response to my comment. My thought would be that the addition of an additional deck or, indeed, splitting the ship and adding a section, to a current Seabourn vessel, could provide the needed staterooms to no longer make the vessel an "all suite" vessel. Thus, doing so would be to provide for a wider variety of accommodations. Such an addition to the ship could also provide for a public room size/number increase to accommodate an increased guest load.

 

When Royal Viking Sun became Prinsendam II, her one seating dining room was modified. The forward Dining Room was re-designed to become the present Ocean Bar and Pinnacle Grill. And two seatings for dinner needed to be instituted to accommodate the increased guest load. If such could be done for Royal Viking Sun, it could be done for a current Seabourn ship.

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OlsSalt

OlsSalt

Posted
Posted
I visited my old friends at the new HAL offices on Monday.

They all confirmed the sale of Prinsendam.

 

The Sales and Marketing people were sad to see her leave.

The Technical people were thrilled that they are no longer responsible to fix all the technical problems.

 

Unfortunately, over the coming months you will be seeing more and more technical issues on Prinsendam, and fewer and fewer fixes.

 

Who did your friends say she was sold to?

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cruisemom42 Great Review Rare

cruisemom42

Posted
Posted

 

Unfortunately, over the coming months you will be seeing more and more technical issues on Prinsendam, and fewer and fewer fixes.

 

Do we really expect this to be true? Has this historically been an issue when HAL has sold off a ship?

 

And if this sale is indeed a fact, when might we expect HAL to actually say something about it?

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