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

[Aardvaark]

Whatever happened to "Sip 'n Savor"?  One of our faviorites.

[RetiredMustang]

Our first HAL cruise was on Noordam III in 1996 , our second was on the old Westerdam (the one used in the movie), and the third was on Statendam for a solar eclipse off Curacao in 1998 -- it seemed gigantic in comparison to Noordam. 

 

We also we lucky enough to sail on Prinsendam a few years ago.  Happily, we saw her again recently, as we were on Zuiderdam on the Voyage of the Vikings last summer, and passed her in Prinz Christian Sund:

 

 

Happy memories with HAL ... (and some still to be made).

 

Dave

[OlsSalt]

Prinsedam - now the AMERA - much has changed decor wise, but the photo of the Pinnacle restaurant on the AMERA took my breath away - nothing changed - out Neptune Suite perk for breakfast there every day.

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

Wonderful thread! The S & R class ships were the best. The experience of stepping aboard the brand new Zaandam & being escorted to my cabin by the white gloved steward is an experience I'll never forget. Everywhere around the ship looked & felt luxe, like a Ritz-Carlton at sea.  Perfectly designed ships that embodied everything wonderful about HAL. Some quirky choices of art & design being the cow mascot at the Seaview Pool, the pipe organ in the atrium, & those yellow lips. After Zaandam, my favorite ship in the fleet was Veendam. The Jacobs Ladder glass sculpture is one of the most beautiful things I've seen on a ship.

 

Then came Zuiderdam, noticeably larger & more crowded, ablaze in those wildly psychedelic interiors. This was the first time I noticed ships being designed for revenue production over passenger comfort. Ever so slowly cutbacks came & service standards began to slip.

 

I gave Koningsdam a whirl when she first came out & the whole experience felt decidedly mass market. 

 

Enter Viking Ocean! Eight VO cruises in & more booked, I'm hooked. Ship design, crew, service, dining, onboard atmosphere all out of the ballpark home run. Higher price point than HAL but worth every penny. 

[rafinmd]

Amera in Baltimore April 6:

 

 

Roy

[Mabs]

19 hours ago, Palms2Pines2Sea said:

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.

😎

The captain on the Prinsendam was Captain Gundersen, what a gentleman. It was a wonderful ship and the crew was always the best. We are on the Zaandam in a few weeks, don't know what we will do if they do away with the two remaining small ships. Guess we will also be looking for a different line.

[habenicd]

Our first cruise was on the old Westerdam in 1997.  We still fondly remember our Dining Room waiter, Crispin.  As we were young (and foolish,) he would let us order each night, bring those items to us and then also bring what we should have ordered to share. He was never wrong.

We definitely miss the S class ships. Taking my parents on their first cruise on the Ryndam to Alaska for their retirement celebration and both sets of parents on the Statendam to Hawaii are wonderful memories.

Sunday, we board the Nieuw Statendam with more family that have never cruised before. We hop to recruit three more HAL cruisers in the family but they won't know that smaller ship HAL experience.

Edited January 30 by habenicd

[Sir PMP]

49 minutes ago, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

Wonderful thread! The S & R class ships were the best. The experience of stepping aboard the brand new Zaandam & being escorted to my cabin by the white gloved steward is an experience I'll never forget. Everywhere around the ship looked & felt luxe, like a Ritz-Carlton at sea.  Perfectly designed ships that embodied everything wonderful about HAL. Some quirky choices of art & design being the cow mascot at the Seaview Pool, the pipe organ in the atrium, & those yellow lips. After Zaandam, my favorite ship in the fleet was Veendam. The Jacobs Ladder glass sculpture is one of the most beautiful things I've seen on a ship.

 

Then came Zuiderdam, noticeably larger & more crowded, ablaze in those wildly psychedelic interiors. This was the first time I noticed ships being designed for revenue production over passenger comfort. Ever so slowly cutbacks came & service standards began to slip.

 

I gave Koningsdam a whirl when she first came out & the whole experience felt decidedly mass market. 

 

Enter Viking Ocean! Eight VO cruises in & more booked, I'm hooked. Ship design, crew, service, dining, onboard atmosphere all out of the ballpark home run. Higher price point than HAL but worth every penny. 

You mean this one:

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

30 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

You mean this one:

Yes, you got it! Thank you.

[REOVA]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Prinsedam - now the AMERA - much has changed decor wise, but the photo of the Pinnacle restaurant on the AMERA took my breath away - nothing changed - out Neptune Suite perk for breakfast there every day.

And the Neptune "lounge" was a converted cabin with balcony. 

[OlsSalt]

We learned from  a group search here a few years back for the ceramic plate artist on the old Rotterdam, those quirky cows by the aft pool and other ceramic whimsies on other ships are the work of a famous, contemporary Dutch artist who likes to put every day objects in unexpected places. 

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

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.

 

I was on Oceania twice and Azamara twice in 2023.

 

-- I didn't have a butler on any ship. Those only come with upper-category cabins, if desired.

 

-- There were always plain items available, but also richer dishes in the Continental style that HAL used to offer at the time most of these smaller, older ships were part of their fleet.

 

-- Alcohol is either not included or included only as beer/wine at lunch and dinner on Oceania. 

 

-- I've had more offers to carry my tray on HAL than I ever had on any other cruise line. But truthfully I'm not a buffet person. (And by the way, there is no self-serve food in Oceania's buffet area, just like HAL.)

 

-- Never had intrusive service, but did have 'correct' dinner service, including putting out and picking up silverware for each course, crumbing the tablecloth, etc.

 

-- Never had a personal escort into the dining room.

 

-- Decor on both was sort of a relaxed 'country club' casual look. Not overly plush, not overly modern. Very comfortable chairs for sitting, reading, listening to classical music, etc.

 

-- Everyone is treated the same outside one's cabin, whatever category one travels -- no special suite-only "enclaves" or restaurants (other than a small suite area apparently like HAL offers).

 

As to hackneyed and generic enrichment, the only REALLY good enrichment I've experienced at sea was on my Voyages to Antiquity and Swan Hellenic cruises -- sounds much like your description of VOD but not what I have ever experienced on HAL.

 

You often seem to conflate HAL with VOD, but HAL was much more luxurious than the latter in the heydey of her smaller ships. I was on a few of those cruises and my parents were on many more. I've perused the menus -- plenty of rich food and at least two more courses per dinner than what is offered now...

 

(I was also on HAL twice in 2023, so I feel all of my comparisons are pretty current. Westerdam was very disappointing. Nieuw Statendam was not as bad for a larger ship but I much prefer smaller ones.)

 

 

 

[OlsSalt]

Jan Snoeck - Dutch ceramic artist who made many of the large ceramic whimsy pieces on the smaller HAL ships: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=jan+snoeck&t=osx&iax=images&ia=images

[mgtravelsalot]

as a solo traveler Oceania and Azamara are out of my budget if I want to go on more than one cruise a year. so I stay with HAL and an occasional Princess   . . I do like smaller ships though not into all the  flashy stuff, want amore refined cruise.  I do use Cunard quite a bit as well  if i want to go to Europe I take the QM2 over or back

 

[dockman]

9 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

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).

 

True that.  If $ were no object i would prefer to return to crystal that i was lucky to experience a dozen or so times once upon a time...the old harmony and symphony were wonderful 900 pax ships that were just about perfect in every way.

 

  But it appears that my choice is now several cruises a year on holland or princess or maybe one on crystal...i do have a ticket for the mega millions lotto and as soon as i win it I will be back on crystal for sure.

[mgtravelsalot]

Loved Crystal as well  But then I was travelling with my mother. and she had big bucks lol  Did our first WC on the symphony what an adventure and then on the Harmony many times.  Cant afford those now. still playing the lottery as well though One can only dream

 

[bob brown]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:54 PM, 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.

Of note is that the 8 ships mentioned were all designed for and built for HAL, except the Prinsendam, which was inherited from Seabourn, and was built as the Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line, unless (not likely) you were referring to the original HAL Prinsendam built in 1972 and sunk in 1980

[OlsSalt]

2 hours ago, bob brown said:

Of note is that the 8 ships mentioned were all designed for and built for HAL, except the Prinsendam, which was inherited from Seabourn, and was built as the Royal Viking Sun for Royal Viking Line, unless (not likely) you were referring to the original HAL Prinsendam built in 1972 and sunk in 1980

 

Recent Noodrem Alaska cruise went to Valdez, where the local museum features the entire saga of the old Prinsendam sinking off their shoals.  

 

Even one of Prinsendam's life-boats is on display outdoors. The town remains  proud of their immediate efforts taking everyone in and offering shelter. Quite a story.  Valdez has a lot of offer as a port stop - hope more HAL cruises can go there.

[mawvkysc]

I’m definitely a small ship girl. If you look at my signature one of our cruises was on a converted car ferry.
 

I know they are so gaudy and so not HAL but I have the same fondness for CCL Fantasy class which is fading fast. 

[OlsSalt]

9 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

I’m definitely a small ship girl. If you look at my signature one of our cruises was on a converted car ferry.
 

I know they are so gaudy and so not HAL but I have the same fondness for CCL Fantasy class which is fading fast. 

 

You piqued my curiosity about my own first cruise ship - the Chandris Fantasia (former Duke of York)  which I see now also started out as a car ferry to - 520 passengers.  That started my own love affair with cruise travel after a 1960's cruise from Venice to Greece and Egypt. 

[dockman]

16 hours ago, mgtravelsalot said:

Loved Crystal as well  But then I was travelling with my mother. and she had big bucks lol  Did our first WC on the symphony what an adventure and then on the Harmony many times.  Cant afford those now. still playing the lottery as well though One can only dream

 

I was all set to book the world cruise on crystal but for some reason it turns out i did not win either mega millions or powerball...must have been a mistake so i will try again this week...but maybe hold off on booking world cruise just in case.

[OlsSalt]

True RTW - start and end in the same port - over 100 days

lowest priced cabins pp - approx.

 

HAL - $20K

Princess - $14K

MSC - $17K

Oceana - $60K

Cunard - $17K

Regent - $95K

Costa - $15K

P&O - $19K

Crystal* - $69K (not true same port - East Coast - West Coast US)

 

Cheapest singles: several lines - $30K

 

(Source - one online search engine website, that tickles your travel fantasies)

[Hlitner]

Agree with the OP.  That was the HAL we adored and the Prinsendam was "our ship" upon which we managed to sail exactly 200 days.  We now find ourselves attracted to the smaller upscale ships, and we suspect that much of our attraction to smaller vessels came from those days on the Prinsendam.  

 

Hank

[FlaMariner]

I haven't read all the posts but I'm thankful for the newer, larger HAL ships.....

 

Why?

 

Two reasons.......

 

The fares on the HAL "mid sized" ships allow us to sail/see the world at a price point that makes it possible for us....and sometimes we get to snag a balcony.

 

We still do not have to board a "condo of the seas" ship to afford cruising......

 

(If we had more $$$, we'd be all over the smaller ship with all the amenities included, etc but it will not work financially for us)

 

Enjoy the choices in cruising.....we love the HAL of today. 

 

Edited February 1 by FlaMariner

[chill6x6]

My second HA cruise was aboard the Rotterdam.  Before we boarded of course we heard more than a few negative comments about being run down, etc.  We stayed in the PS and to this day that was the nicest furnished cabins we've ever had and one of the best cruises.