How different and/or special is the Prinsendam from all other HAL ships?

[crooser888]

Hello to all,

 

We are 3 star Mariners that have sailed on 8 different HAL ships but never on the Prinsendam. With it being sold and leaving the fleet next summer, we are wondering whether it is worth sailing on her. What are your experiences with the ship? Menu, service etc and what is special compared to the other ships that we already love. We know that it is a very small ship (compared to the others) that sails special itineraries and visits small ports for longer periods, but we are only looking at the Caribbean itineraries (ports we have been to).

 

Thank you for your advice.

[Sir PMP]

Hello to all,

 

We are 3 star Mariners that have sailed on 8 different HAL ships but never on the Prinsendam. With it being sold and leaving the fleet next summer, we are wondering whether it is worth sailing on her. What are your experiences with the ship? Menu, service etc and what is special compared to the other ships that we already love. We know that it is a very small ship (compared to the others) that sails special itineraries and visits small ports for longer periods, but we are only looking at the Caribbean itineraries (ports we have been to).

 

Thank you for your advice.

 

Having done over 300 days on her, it will be a beautiful experience, yes she's old, but everything feels like a real cruise ship..

[Tennessee Titan]

It is gone......

[sammiedawg]

We thought food and service were standard for the fleet.

[OlsSalt]

Sail on her. She is one of a kind. Neither better nor worse regarding any number of onboard factors, but she is a grand, gracious lady and a chance to be part of cruise ship history. Unless of course, you want to take her later in her new German-speaking only iteration She gets the really good itineraries, and that alone makes her a very good choice while you can.

[kazu]

She is our favourite ship in the fleet.

 

We do find the service a step up from the other HAL ships - especially in the Lido area & bars & MDR.

 

Her PG and Canaletto are very good.

 

I do find the food a step up as well but maybe we have just 'lucked' out. But that has been our experience (just got off her in May this year) in all of our cruises on her so far.

 

Many of her itineraries can be very unique and she can go to ports / down rivers / Kiel Canal that the other ships in the fleet cannot. She can also dock/anchor closer to ports because of her size.

 

she's aged gracefully and is well taken care of. And while she may not have the bells and whistles of the newer ships, she has an elegance in the quality of her build (originally built for a luxury line) that is special.

 

We had booked a cruise on her before the sale was announced and glad that we have the opportunity to sail on her one last time.

[DeepWaterMariner]

The Prinsendam is one of a kind, unlike every other Holland America ship. A perfect size if your not into big ships, The crew seems to get to know you faster than they do on the other ships. One big difference is the location of Canaletto. You get a panoramic view eating there, something you can't get on any of the other Holland ships. We always made reservations when there was going to be scenic cruising at dinner time and were never disappointed.

[catl331]

Go while you have a chance rather than wish later that you had!

 

While she didn't quite live up to our expectations from what we had read, we nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed the ship. The small size is a definite plus, and we think the Canaletto is the best we have ever been to.

[Copper10-8]

The Elegant Explorer! :DOne of the few ships that was christened by a guy when she came out as Royal Viking Sun

[TiogaCruiser]

The Elegant Explorer! :DOne of the few ships that was christened by a guy when she came out as Royal Viking Sun

It is totally possible, (but I’ll never know for sure) that we got to go aboard her when an Aunt and Uncle took her through the canal in the late 60’s or very early 70’s. It was either her, or one of RV’s other ships.

We spent the afternoon onboard, participated in the confetti/ribbon bon Voyage as she pulled out, then went to dinner at some restaurant in Ports o Call village, where we watched her go by and asked the restaurant MC to call out a bon Voyage greeting on the loudspeaker as they sailed by.

[Copper10-8]

It is totally possible, (but I’ll never know for sure) that we got to go aboard her when an Aunt and Uncle took her through the canal in the late 60’s or very early 70’s. It was either her, or one of RV’s other ships.

We spent the afternoon onboard, participated in the confetti/ribbon bon Voyage as she pulled out, then went to dinner at some restaurant in Ports o Call village, where we watched her go by and asked the restaurant MC to call out a bon Voyage greeting on the loudspeaker as they sailed by.

 

Probably another Royal Viking ship because Royal Viking Sun/Prinsendam came out in 1988 but what a nice experience! They're supposed to be sprucing Ports o' Call up again after years of neglect

[NMLady]

It is gone......

 

Not until July of 2019.

[navybankerteacher]

She is our favourite ship in the fleet.

 

We do find the service a step up from the other HAL ships - especially in the Lido area & bars & MDR.

 

Her PG and Canaletto are very good.

 

I do find the food a step up as well but maybe we have just 'lucked' out. But that has been our experience (just got off her in May this year) in all of our cruises on her so far.

 

Many of her itineraries can be very unique and she can go to ports / down rivers / Kiel Canal that the other ships in the fleet cannot. She can also dock/anchor closer to ports because of her size.

 

she's aged gracefully and is well taken care of. And while she may not have the bells and whistles of the newer ships, she has an elegance in the quality of her build (originally built for a luxury line) that is special.

 

We had booked a cruise on her before the sale was announced and glad that we have the opportunity to sail on her one last time.

 

I found the food and service noticeably better - and talking with staff, both on Prinsendam and other HAL ships, I learned that she was seen as a much desired choice assignment - with the obvious result of better on board attitude.

[john2003]

I think it depends on what you look for. Traditional and smaller or newer and larger. We certainly found a more personal experience on the Prinsendam.

 

 

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