Trip down memory lane when HAL had 8 smaller ships to choose from - the S and R class ships and the Prinsendam

[OlsSalt]

Request to start a new thread about the good old days when HAL had 8 smaller ships to choose from, and the Elegant Explorer Prinsendam:

 

S class: Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam and Veendam

R class: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and now only the Zaandam and Voldedam.

Prinsendam -class by herself

 

Sailed them all and loved every single one of them, last S class was the Maasdam In-Depth cruise to Alaska,  Russia Far East and two weeks around Japan. But the Veendam also took us to Cuba too before she was retired.  Small enough to get into the downtown ports, sea worthy enough to see the world.

 

For some of us, HAL only means these smaller ships. Reluctantly now accepting the Vista ships by default. Not crazy about the NA or EU - okay for shorter cruises, but probably will never return to the Pinnacle class impersonal behemoths.

[mgtravelsalot]

I agree the Prisendam was my favorite  was on all of those at one time or another. Much more intimate and you got know the crew and cruisers very well

 

[roberts2005]

The loss of the small ships is why we no longer sail HAL, even though we are 4 star.

 

now sail on Azamara or Oceania on their R ships.  Only 710 passengers!

[Toad]

Miss the S class big time.

[sunviking90]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

Request to start a new thread about the good old days when HAL had 8 smaller ships to choose from, and the Elegant Explorer Prinsendam:

 

S class: Statendam, Maasdam, Ryndam and Veendam

R class: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and now only the Zaandam and Voldedam.

Prinsendam -class by herself

 

Sailed them all and loved every single one of them, last S class was the Maasdam In-Depth cruise to Alaska,  Russia Far East and two weeks around Japan. But the Veendam also took us to Cuba too before she was retired.  Small enough to get into the downtown ports, sea worthy enough to see the world.

 

For some of us, HAL only means these smaller ships. Reluctantly now accepting the Vista ships by default. Not crazy about the NA or EU - okay for shorter cruises, but probably will never return to the Pinnacle class impersonal behemoths.

We remembered how much we love a smaller ship on our Volendam cruise this past November. No crowds, friendlier environment, just nicer. We had a number of cruises on Princess right after the restart and those were also great with 30% occupancy, but now with full ships, smaller is better. 

[OlsSalt]

The old R-class Rotterdam took us to the most places on multiple cruises - even with her weird new bird bath rear-end we loved her colors, dining room layout,  decor, art and whimsy.  

 

The dear Maasdam did get shaky over 20 knots, and three elevators are better than just  her  two.

 

Loved our Prinsendam Black Sea cruise our last minute upsell special "named" suite, but did not fall in love overall with the ship itself. But she could take us anywhere and was able to be flexible to add new ports mid cruise, when weather and tides took one away.

 

Plus the Prinsendam park in the middle of the Istanbul harbor,  which dazzled at night and captivated by day Just like the wonderful Volendam was able to dock in the middle of the dazzling light displays on all sides in downtown Shanghai. 

[kazu]

No surprise to anyone who reads my posts - Elegant Explorer - she was a beautiful ship with no cookie cutter cabins and some very nice features in them all no matter the class you were in.  Add to that ports that the others can’t get to, a fantastic crew, special touches at sail away, dinners with a difference, good passengers and it’s a recipe for a great cruise.

 

DD DH and I earned over 1/2 of our sailing days on that ship, happily.

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

Our very first HAL was a 9 night Transatlantic on the Prinsendam, in May 2007. We were young(ish), still working, and could only afford an inside guarantee. But we wanted to try HAL, and this opportunity was too good to pass up.

After embarkation, we went to the dining room to get a feel for our assigned table. We had the good fortune to meet the DR manager (Sander Vogtlander) who dedicated himself to orienting these two newbies to the HAL experience. We were very very well looked after, and were even invited to the Captain's Table on the first formal night. I was quite glad that I had packed a tux. I'm sorry that I don't recall the captain's name, but he was a kind and handsome man (British if I recall correctly) who I am sure that many of you remember fondly.

We were onboard with many seasoned HAL veterans, but consider ourselves most fortunate to have been welcomed to our first HAL ship with such enthusiasm. And of couse the Prinsendam, aged as she was, made us feel lucky to be on a ship, and not a floating hotel. 

We loved it all, and are looking forward to joining the Nieuw Statendam this summer. But we will always miss the Prinsendam.

😎

[erewhon]

We thoroughly enjoyed our cruises on the Volendam, Statendam and Maasdam.  Volendam being our favourite,........... our first HAL ship, she has remained our favourite.

[POA1]

Our first cruise was on the old Noordam, which was tiny (33,933 GT) compared to the enormous Prinsendam (38,848 GT). Our second was on the Ryndam, which was positively huge.

[leerathje]

Ryndam in 2010. These photos were taken from Vancouver Island, located south of the northern tip of Vancouver Island.  My view while camping!

[OlsSalt]

Get your Kleenex out, photos of the "Prinsendam" today - now sailing as the Phoenix Reisen AMERA. She looks lovely. Too bad we lost her.  (Auf Deutsch)

 

https://www.phoenixreisen.com/der-zauber-norwegens-zwischen-fjorden-und-nordkap.html?source=overview&searchIdCruiseDate=3081097

 

Click the far right blue button at the top  "Ihr Schiff" for photos.

 

 

Edited January 30 by OlsSalt

[ski ww]

My first HAL cruise was on the old Rotterdam V back in 1981, we did the Amazon on the Maasdam, and three cruises on the the Prinsendam and our table was asked to join the Capt.  for dinner, his name if I recall was Chris Turner.

 

[LouChamp]

Blessed to sail HAL since the 1970s. The old Statendam and every class after.  Wonderful memories and while I understand progress and the need for larger ships, the history of HAL is memorable.

[dockman]

Thanks for the memories.  It was the smaller ships that made me a Holland fan and I was lucky to sail on almost all of the ones named.  It was a wonderful size...big enough to give you space but small enough that you could run into crew and fellow passengers and got to know each other especially on longer cruises

 

  Wonderful wide promenade decks with teak chairs where many people would sit , read, watch the ocean and just relax.  Generally wonderful libraries with comfy chairs, nice lighting, newspapers and magazines and lots of books in a quite environment.  Good dining areas that were small enough to be intimate but big enough to be enchanting.  Fewer passengers which overall meant less lines, less noise, and overall better interaction with the crew that really did get to know the passengers, many by name.  Showrooms that were more intimate and most often lot of enrichment speakers as well as a much wider variety of entertainment instead of showing you a movie or some show that spends more on shiney costumes than hiring good entertainers.

 

Overall seems to me it was a "kinder more gentle" time in cruising with a more overall civilized feeling not dominated by chair hogs, people pushing and shoving on/off elevators, buffet line, show room seats etc.

 

The advent of the bigger ships brought lots of shiny objects that in my opinion had little to do with what i like in a cruise ship.  I do not need 10 choices of restaurants that charge more.  I do not need private sanctuaries to sit and enjoy the ocean views.  I do not need to be surrounded by 4000 fellow cruisers to be happy on the ship or in ports.

 

I could go on and on and on.  Overall I just like a more ship experience and not a giant floating mall designed to separate you from your $ with bells and whistles.  I like for the ship to look and feel like a ship and not a giant barge carrying thousands upon thousands of passengers with hallways half a mile long and so many crew that few remember more than a handful of passengers.

 

And yes I know the big ships are more and more about $$$$ and the old ships also liked $$ but seems it was just done in a more classy way than having somebody trying to sell you something non stop from embarkation til disembarkation.  The fewer newer bigger ships I have sailed on, not just holland but Princess and especially NCL seemed to be all about how much money they can squeeze out of you above and beyond the cruise and shore excursions.  

 

Ah the memories.

[HamOp]

can't recall where this was taken....

[Mosaic]

The biggest reason that most people loved the Prinsendam is not because it was small. Rather, it was the most expensive cruise ship built at that time!

[whogo]

Sorry kids, but I would hard pressed to say Prinsendam was any better than Noordam, was surprised how much I liked her even after two great cruises on Prinsendam. I sailed Noordam when she still had a piano bar, though.

 

We were lucky enough to sail on Rotterdam twice before HAL added cabins to her. We enjoyed two Veendam cruises despite the added cabins, lanais and poolettes. I was surprised to check my notes and find that we'd sailed on Volendam in 2006, I have no memory of the ship. We'd also sailed Zuiderdam in 2006 and she was our least favorite, but it might have been the full ship with lots of children, including ours. (Their children were a negative, ours were a positive.)

[REOVA]

We loved the Prinsendam since it felt like a actual ship and went to better ports. Because it was not built for HAL and changed owners a few times before HAL acquired it, it gives hope (very small) that HAL may acquire a smaller ship instead of building more larger ones. She just went through another refurbishment last year and then sailed past my home still looking stylish. 

[RICHARD@SEA]

20 minutes ago, REOVA said:

We loved the Prinsendam since it felt like a actual ship and went to better ports. Because it was not built for HAL and changed owners a few times before HAL acquired it, it gives hope (very small) that HAL may acquire a smaller ship instead of building more larger ones. She just went through another refurbishment last year and then sailed past my home still looking stylish. 

Wow - I can't believe Prinsendam / ROYAL VIKING SUN  is still sailing - I did a 16 day transatlantic out of NYC  on her years ago - if you didn't sail in her you'll never know what modern luxury is / was.

I recently sailed in ROTTERDAM VII - I'd gladly trade for the Prinsendam.

ROTTERDAM V was also one of the greatest Trans Atlantic liners ever built!!!(and a favorite of mine.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, dockman said:

Overall I just like a more ship experience and not a giant floating mall designed to separate you from your $ with bells and whistles.  I like for the ship to look and feel like a ship and not a giant barge carrying thousands upon thousands of passengers with hallways half a mile long and so many crew that few remember more than a handful of passengers.

 

And yes I know the big ships are more and more about $$$$ and the old ships also liked $$ but seems it was just done in a more classy way than having somebody trying to sell you something non stop from embarkation til disembarkation.  The fewer newer bigger ships I have sailed on, not just holland but Princess and especially NCL seemed to be all about how much money they can squeeze out of you above and beyond the cruise and shore excursions.  

 

If you are willing to pay the inflation-adjusted price of the cruises of yesteryear, you can still get a small ship experience on lines like Oceania and Azamara....

 

The reason cruise lines have added so many "spending opportunities" onboard is because they have dropped the cabin costs significantly over the years. They have to make their money somehow and we, as consumers, can't have it both ways (e.g., cheaper sailings AND nicer onboard experience).

 

[RedmondCruiser]

Have we forgotten the N class ships.  The Noordam III and the Niew Amsterdam III were our favorite ships. 33,930 tons each.  They had no balcony's as did the Westerdam II.  The Westerdam II, like the Prinsendam was in a singular class, as was the Rotterdam V.  We sailed on all these ships and have many great memories. They actually looked like ships.  The new Icon of the Seas looks like a plumbers nightmare

 

All the new ships are much larger because they are more economical to run so it looks like the smaller ships are a thing of the past.  The only way to sail on a smaller ship seems to be in the upscale lines.

[helby]

Here's a photo  from 1995 of my first tile from the days when each ship had its own.  I stayed in a suite with three other family members, my one and only time in a suite. I remember it being a large room with no added features like what is expected today.

[OlsSalt]

The smaller upscale lines are too "upscale"  fussy for our own tastes. I don't like paying extra for "butlers", overly-rich dining, full complimentary alcohol,  very plush decor, hackneyed and generic enrichment, and intrusive to the point of annoying service levels -I don't need my tray carried, I don't need a personal escort into the dining room..... etc. (We obviously did not  get  "Crystalized" after two cruises)

 

Something as basic as the old Voyages of Discovery" model  which used the old Ocean Princess ship was good enough for those like us who chose primarily to travel and explore.

 

Great BBC based enrichment -three excellent lectures a day, limited evening entertainment,  no casinos, no children's programs ,very adequate mainly buffet dining breakfast and lunch, nice main fixed dining room dinner option with one limited use speciality restaurant.

 

Well, this model did go bankrupt, so what can I say, but mainly it was a Brexit foreign exchange issue that caused its sudden downfall; not its well- earned passenger loyalty.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

They were and are all good.