Maasdam Prinsendam difference in service on the Amazon

[Howasaur]

Just wondering the Prinsendam was in the port of Santarem on Feb 26 and offered FREE shuttle service to downtown. I was on the Maasdam and arrived in Santarem Feb. 27 and there was no Shuttle offered to the passengers. We were given two choices walk or hire a Taxi. There was a sign saying free shuttle for Prinsendam and when I was on the Prinsendam in 2011 I remembered this service. Just wondering why was this provided for one ship and not the other

[KAKcruiser]

Maybe the Prinsendam offers more perks because it is on a grand voyage.

[InTheWASide]

Maybe the Prinsendam offers more perks because it is on a grand voyage.

 

 

Good guess. I would tend to agree

[take us away]

Know for a fact that the shuttle was due to the P'dam being on its Grand Voyage as many ports on a GV have a shuttle service. Check the per day cost between the P'dam GV and the Maasdam voyage and you will see why.

[serendipity1499]

Maybe the Prinsendam offers more perks because it is on a grand voyage.

 

Know for a fact that the shuttle was due to the P'dam being on its Grand Voyage as many ports on a GV have a shuttle service. Check the per day cost between the P'dam GV and the Maasdam voyage and you will see why.

 

As both of the above posters mentioned it was probably a "Grand Voyage" which we took in 2013 on the Prinsendam & the cost of a Grand Voyage is much more than the cost on the Maasdam & the other HAL ships for a normal round trip or point to point cruise.. The per diem is always more on the Prinsendam as much more is included..We had shuttles in almost all the ports..

 

I can give you a for instance: The Prinsendam's cost on our Grand Voyage in 2013, which was an Antarctica cruise & included the Amazon on the return portion, for an outside cabin was approx. $497 per day.. The Maasdam cost per day probably would have been around $300-$350 per day or less for the Amazon trip..

[sammiedawg]

I cannot speak to the perks of a grand voyage but based on our 14 day Prinsendam trip there is no value added component for the Additional fare we paid. The ship was old in the tooth. Food, service, menus were standard for the fleet. And the Prinsendam was not offering free shuttles, we paid five dollars each way to ride unless the port offered a shuttle. The tourist bureau in Killybegs Ireland made a point of telling us they provided the shuttle, not the cruiseline.

Edited March 5, 2015 by sammiedawg

[sail7seas]

Just wondering the Prinsendam was in the port of Santarem on Feb 26 and offered FREE shuttle service to downtown. I was on the Maasdam and arrived in Santarem Feb. 27 and there was no Shuttle offered to the passengers. We were given two choices walk or hire a Taxi. There was a sign saying free shuttle for Prinsendam and when I was on the Prinsendam in 2011 I remembered this service. Just wondering why was this provided for one ship and not the other

 

Did you ask while on the ship?

[ski ww]

We have been on the Prinsendam & three other HAL ships plus other cruise lines & in all cases at a port where there was no close access to town all shuttle buses where provided free, don't know if the ship paid or the locals did.

Allan

[Howasaur]

When I asked and mentioned what the Prinsendam did the previous day they really didn't give me a answer and I asked several times We had done this cruise 23 day up the Amazon in 2011 on the Prinsendam and that was not a Grand Voyage.

[RuthC]

To keep this thread on track, most people who sail P do not believe service and menus are standard for the fleet.

Include me in that group, because I know better. I've sailed sufficient HAL ships, a sufficient number of times, to know that the Prinsendam kicks it up a notch.

Example: the first time I ever saw HAL serve Yorkshire pudding with the prime rib was on my first cruise on the Prinsendam. It is not standard on any other ship.

This is the ship that reminded me of cocktail service the way it used to be. I came in the second night to find the steward giving me a nod to ask if I wanted the same thing as the night before. No endless waiting for someone to come over, take an order, then actually bring the drink, as on other ships.

This is the ship where my Lido breakfast is cooked to order every single day, no matter what I'm requesting.

[sammiedawg]

I have no idea why an opinion on a cruise ship is so unsettling.

[mancunian]

Sad to say I agree with Sammiedawg. We first went on Prinsendam about four years' ago on one of their standard cruises and we thought it really good.

 

Last year we went again on the second half of a Grand Voyage and thought things had changed a lot. This is the only HAL cruise on which we complained about the food. This finally came about because on our table five people had boeuf stroganoff and five people only managed about half of it. This brought the head waiter and he in turn brought the chef and we all said the food was disappointing and generally lacked taste. The other side of this coin is that people we went on an excursion with had been on the first half of the cruise and said the food had started to deteriorate since we boarded and they thought the chef may be different. Don't know the answer to that but the food was definitely inferior to the food on Rotterdam three months before and on our recent cruise on Volendam. As for service we thought it was much the same on all three ships - generally excellent.

 

I agree the costs of running a smaller ship come into it but I think the main advantage of Prinsendam for many people is the size - certainly my DH likes it very much for that though not quite so keen after last year. I personally prefer the R and S class - particularly the R class. The fact that they are all old ships does not come into it for us as they feel more like proper ships.

[serendipity1499]

When I asked and mentioned what the Prinsendam did the previous day they really didn't give me a answer and I asked several times We had done this cruise 23 day up the Amazon in 2011 on the Prinsendam and that was not a Grand Voyage.

 

Even though it was not a Grand voyage I know for a fact that you had paid more on the Prinsendam than you did on the Maasdam..

 

We also did this on the Prinsendam twice.. Once in 2006 (also not a grand cruise) & again in 2013 (on a grand cruise) ... Our Prinsendam cruise was more than any other cruise on any other ship in the HAL fleet.. That 26 day cruise in 2006 cost us $437.50 per day.. Only on the Prinsendam have we ever paid more than $400 per day for any HAL cruise..

 

BTW our Amazon Cruise on Oceania in 2007 cost almost the same as it did on the Prinsendam the year before only because we did not need Oceania's Air.. Oceania also provided shuttles in the ports..

 

You pay extra for Premium service..

 

P.S. BTW, just so you understand why I keep track of our costs.. I 'm retired from the travel Field & I get a kick out of keeping track of our costs.. These records & a dollar might get me a ride on the subway..;):)LOL

Edited March 6, 2015 by serendipity1499