Prinsendam Tendering

[jarand]

We have several tender ports on our Oct 20 Prinsendam cruise, and I just wondered if anyone has had experience with tendering off that ship? We've been on some cruises where it's smooth and organized, and others that resemble chaos!

 

Thanks.

[RuthC]

Things just seem to run smoother on the Prinsendam because there are fewer passengers to deal with. The tenders are the same size as on any other ship, but each fill-up takes a greater percentage of the passenger load.

One thing I like is that the staircase down is on the inside of the ship. Then it's just a matter of stepping on the platform and over.

[jarand]

Thank you. I'm glad to hear this!

[tartanmum]

Ditto what RuthC said. We did the 2 week Christmas cruise last year on the Prinsendam and never had any issues with tendering. Well organized and rarely any wait times. Enjoy your time on the Prinsendam. She is our favorite HAL ship.

[kazu]

The only time tendering is an issue on this ship is when weather delays it (and no one can control that). Unfortunately we faced that last cruise. All was well that ended well though and they kept us well informed.

 

Cruises on this ship with the tender ports were a joke compared to others I have seen. It was just so easy and so smooth. (compared to to other cruises) The best tender port we had was the one when the CD announced we couldn't tender;) We would have to walk off;) Our port which was a tender port had a new dock built that no one had yet tried. Captain Gundersen was happy to give it a shot and pulled right up. We were very happy campers:D

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We just did a 35 day on her with about 7 tender days and it was not bad at all. It all depends on the seas ...

[OLDNAVYCRUISER]

Prinsendam is the worse ship in the cruise industry for tendering. She does not have automatic hatches that fold out creating a platform & ladder to the tenders.

She has a large hatch (door) that swings open to the sea or water below. She does not use camels or fenders to keep the tenders from slamming against the side of the ship. This is a very dangerous operation for the ships passengers. Back in May, I was on board the P-dam, when the ship tendered in France. ADM Kasu was on that cruise also. If I recall she told everybody that she had a private tender for her group and did not tell us of her experience in tendering that day.

The Prinsendam was not built for tendering & HAL has done nothing to change that.

Anybody who books cruises on the Prinsendam should read the book "BURNING COLD" by H. PAUL JEFFERS

 

HAPPY CRUISING

[durangoscots]

Anybody who books cruises on the Prinsendam should read the book "BURNING COLD" by H. PAUL JEFFERS

 

HAPPY CRUISING

 

Why would they want to do that? Two different ships. And yes, I have read the book.

 

Susan

[kazu]

Prinsendam is the worse ship in the cruise industry for tendering. She does not have automatic hatches that fold out creating a platform & ladder to the tenders.

She has a large hatch (door) that swings open to the sea or water below. She does not use camels or fenders to keep the tenders from slamming against the side of the ship. This is a very dangerous operation for the ships passengers. Back in May, I was on board the P-dam, when the ship tendered in France. ADM Kasu was on that cruise also. If I recall she told everybody that she had a private tender for her group and did not tell us of her experience in tendering that day.

The Prinsendam was not built for tendering & HAL has done nothing to change that.

Anybody who books cruises on the Prinsendam should read the book "BURNING COLD" by H. PAUL JEFFERS

 

HAPPY CRUISING

 

Too bad you didn't come to our meet and greets or join our roll call we had a great group:)

 

Just to clarify - we didn't have a private tender. We had a private group that I arranged tender tickets for so we were together and first off after the HAL shore excursions.

 

I thought I had reported about delays that we encountered. There was nothing else to report IMO. We didn't have any problems getting on our tender. The crew are always great and helpful.

 

If you want a horror story on tendering - when we were on the Norwegian Dream in the millenium (the year, not the ship) doing a transatlantic, the ship had to tender at the Azores. It was quite rough and the captain waited and finally decided to tender. On the way back, one lady got off the tender and the crew there were not as good (or as caring) as those on the P'dam. She FELL through the gap between the tender and the ship and the tender crashed into her several times before she could be pulled out. she was badly hurt and the crew smartened up quite quickly. We were on that tender and saw it happen.

 

I've never seen this on the Prinsendam nor heard of it (doesn't mean it hasn't happened of course) but I did find the crew very careful with the passengers.

 

I'm not as mechanically minded or as ship knowledgeable as you are but I have had not issues with the Prinsendam tendering. I've found it better run than some of the larger ships - but that's just my experience only. If you found it different you certainly were welcome to post on my live thread. I invited one and all on board to participate:D

[ncgolferette]

The crew on board the Prinsendam were wonderful with getting my husband on the tender and then back on the ship in very choppy seas in France. My husband has some mobility issues and the crew did an absolutely amazing job. I was really impressed.