Prinsendam questions

[KCalla]

We are considering a Prinsendam cruise this summer in Northern Europe, maybe around the British Isles/Ireland. Does the Prinsendam still have formal night dress? If so, are there other dining options those nights. As much as we enjoy formal nights sometimes, I am wondering how much extra I want to pack.

As an older ship, I imagine it has the older ship style lower ceilings and more harsh fluorescent lights, even though it was built as a more luxurious vessel. Am I correct? We have sailed on larger and newer Holland America ships, and mid sized and large ships on other lines. Really love the trend toward anytime dining and country club casual options.

[RuthC]

Holland America as a whole has changed from "formal" to "Gala" nights. When it did, the dress code was reset at "smart casual" as the minimum standard every night, although people are encouraged to "dress to impress".

The Prinsendam is included in this change.

 

I don't recall the lighting on the Prinsendam, but I do love the ship.

[KCalla]

Thank you! That is great to know. And by the way, I LOVE and agree with your Chocolate/Duct tape tag line!!!!

[DeepWaterMariner]

I've sailed on the Prinsendam 71 days since last December and they handle anytime dinning wonderfully. Dinning times were very fluid on the Grand Med cruise which fit me to a T. Can't wait to sail her again in January for the Grand South American.

[MissShelllly]

You asked if there are other dining options on formal nights. You may dine in the Lido, or you can have room service. I'm not sure if you are aware that you can order room service from the menu in the main dining room while it is open. On days we think we might order room service, we check out the menu (it is posted in front of the main dining room after lunch) and then order items from it via room service.

 

We have stopped taking dressier clothes we we are usually on longer holidays and there isn't space. On our last cruise, my husband ordered surf and turf via room service and had an extra lobster tail included in his meal.

 

Michelle.

[Hlitner]

We have spent 200 days (exactly) on the Prinsendam...most recently in the last two months on the 55 day Grand Med Cruise. The evening dress on that cruise was interesting because it seemed to depend on where folks boarded. Those of us who embarked at Ft Lauderdale, mostly for the full 55 days, seemed to be a very well dressed group on formal nights with plenty of Tuxes for the guys and some beautiful outfits (including gowns) for the ladies. But as we were cruising around the Med, we picked-up many more cruisers who had booked shorter segments (and avoided the long TA's). The folks who embarked in Europe did not dress-up as much on the Gala nights, and we suspect many did not want to bother hauling formal outfits to Europe.

 

The new "Gala" dress code works out to be no dress code. We saw all kinds of dress on the Gala Nights (I think we had about 8 on our cruise) and the staff did not appear to enforce any kind of "code." Those that did not want to dress-up were free to dine in the MDR (or the Lido) with no problems. We would add that both DW and moi were really impressed with the quality of cuisine in the MDR (we have about 450 days and this was the best HAL food of all our cruises) and the terrific staff.

 

Hank

[take us away]

A nice pair of black slacks and nicer blouses (shirts with a tie and an optional jacket) will work well for gala nights regardless of how others are dressed.

 

Do not remember harsh lights anywhere on the P'dam, the ceilings may be lower but it is not noticeable, and the elegance of the ship is so wonderful, such as solid rosewood walls in the Pinnacle Grill and the art is great. She just came out of dry dock so maybe the worn furnishings have been replaced like slightly worn edges on chairs in the bar.

 

You will love the ship as in the ports as she is small enough to dock as close as possible to towns, she will dock where larger vessels cannot dock and will have to tender, etc. She often goes to interesting and not 'usual' ports because of this.

 

Enjoy!

[rkacruiser]

I do not believe that the ceilings are any lower in most of the public rooms than one would expect. In comparison to the newer HAL ships, starting with the S-Class, the Main Dining Room ceiling is lower on the Prinsendam, I think. No harsh lights anywhere and in some of the public rooms, the ceiling lighting fixtures are rather unique and a conversation piece unto themselves.

[KCalla]

Thank you all for the very kind and helpful replies. It sounds like this will be a great cruise for us. It has been a very long time since we sailed on Holland America, and we are looking forward to this unique ship. The itineraries are really special. I think we will finalize our plans by tomorrow. The dress flexibility helps us out and makes the decision easier. Gone are our days of multiple suitcases each on longer trips. I'm just not up for managing the luggage :-)

I had no idea that the dining room menu could be ordered for room service. That is a pearl of information to tuck away. Thank you all, again. Karen

[I_r_a]

Hi KC,

 

> It sounds like this will be a great cruise for us.

 

It will.

 

She is my favorite ship.

 

Ira

[KirkNC]

We just got off of the P'dam last week. They just spent $12mm on her in dry dock. All new carpet, upgrade to a/c, new water purification system, redid lido (I really really really like the way the servers are back in lido). She still a 25 year old ship and you can find that in places but we really enjoy her.

[whogo]

I remember florescent lights at the bathroom mirror in my Prinsendam cabin. Loved them, best lights ever for shaving.

[catl331]

As an older ship, I imagine it has the older ship style lower ceilings ...

I remember that the low, hard ceiling in the MDR made it very noisy. :(

[kazu]

I remember that the low, hard ceiling in the MDR made it very noisy. :(

 

Having eaten in the aft dining room, I did find it louder (much) than the forward dining room. For the OP,if you are doing fixed dining,with luck you may end up in the more forward dining area. I really like this small intimate area as well as the staircase that leads down to it so you can skip going through the dining room doors ;)

[rkacruiser]

Having eaten in the aft dining room, I did find it louder (much) than the forward dining room. For the OP,if you are doing fixed dining,with luck you may end up in the more forward dining area. I really like this small intimate area as well as the staircase that leads down to it so you can skip going through the dining room doors ;)

 

I completely agree! I thought being in this "annex" to the MDR would make us feel like 2nd class citizens being away from the main "arena" of action. Quite the contrary was our experience! We enjoyed the ambience of a smaller, more elegant and more quiet dining experience than we would have had in the MDR.

[Sue from Canada]

We are considering a Prinsendam cruise this summer in Northern Europe, maybe around the British Isles/Ireland. Does the Prinsendam still have formal night dress? If so, are there other dining options those nights. As much as we enjoy formal nights sometimes, I am wondering how much extra I want to pack.

As an older ship, I imagine it has the older ship style lower ceilings and more harsh fluorescent lights, even though it was built as a more luxurious vessel. Am I correct? We have sailed on larger and newer Holland America ships, and mid sized and large ships on other lines. Really love the trend toward anytime dining and country club casual options.

 

My mum and I sailed on her for the first time last December. She's now my all time favourite ship. I didn't notice any low ceilings or harsh lights. However, the show room was very cool so you might want to bring a woolen shawl. The staff and food were the best:) Aaaah, just thinking of this ship puts a smile on my face.

[KCalla]

Sounding more and more wonderful. Now that we have decided to go, we are really looking forward to the Prinsendam.

[Neferteria]

Sounding more and more wonderful. Now that we have decided to go, we are really looking forward to the Prinsendam.

 

If you are going on the Baltic cruise that leaves on 20 July, please join us on the Roll Call!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=50197962#post50197962

Edited June 9, 2016 by Neferteria

[St Pete Cruiser]

The Prinsendam fan club is still strong!

I was especially glad to read that her recent drydock is well received.

Seems unlikely HAL will replace her with a similar sized ship. I, too, hope to be onboard again soon.

[brichar499]

I was also on the recent Prinsendam post dry dock Transatlantic. The Lido upgrades were very nice but I was surprised to find in my cabin that the museum quality tube tv's were not replaced. Seems like an obvious upgrade in this day and age.

[take us away]

I was also on the recent Prinsendam post dry dock Transatlantic. The Lido upgrades were very nice but I was surprised to find in my cabin that the museum quality tube tv's were not replaced. Seems like an obvious upgrade in this day and age.

 

Heard one of the execs say that when they could offer the interactive TV services on a ship, they would replace the 'museum quality' (loved that) TVs so stay tuned.....

[KirkNC]

Museum quality, funny but true. The first time we turned our tv on was disembarkation day so we could hear who they were calling. I can't believe HAL does not have the interactive systems in place. Then I could check my account online.

[KCalla]

Thanks for the heads up on the TV technology. We also appreciate interactive tv for checking accounts, menus, wine lists, etc on other cruises, but forewarned is forearmed! Not surprised intercepts potential disappointment. We are really looking forward to the cruise and ship. We've joined the Roll Call for our sailing, thanks for the reminder. K

[rkacruiser]

In our SS stateroom, our TV was flat screen, but not interactive. Different TVs in different stateroom categories?

[brichar499]

Yes, they were flat screen but still non-HD, tube type. Very hard to read some stuff like numbers on the navigation channel. Amazing how far this technology has advanced in the last fifteen or twenty years.