Prinsendam Problems Post Dry Dock?

[Modern_Viking]

:confused:

 

I know that the Prinsendam was scheduled to begin her Christmas cruise today, her first after an extensive drydock.

 

Over the weekend, the Port Everglades Harbor Master's report had her arriving at 6:30 pm Sunday, shortly after the 5pm cruise ship rush hour traffic was over. (That is the only rush hour I truly enjoy, by the way, but I digress.) She was then scheduled to depart Monday evening at 5pm.

 

As of Monday night, her arrival time had slipped to 3pm Monday with a departure just after midnight.

 

Hopefully it was a small snag. Heck, construction projects often run long. I just hope the work is now finished and won't be further delaying the voyage or making life less than perfect for the passengers.

 

Anyone know anything more about what happened?

 

Thanks in advance.

[InTheWASide]

I know there were some high winds around he Bahamas this weekend. This might have affected the offloading of a lot of the supplies...

 

HA:'s usually really good when stuff like this happens. Lunch was probably either paid for or an allowance was given through shipboard credit, probably some shuttles to some shopping areas and an indoor or covered area to relax and wait.

 

17 days on the Prinsendam in the Caribbean over the holidays...

 

I could handle that!

 

:)

[PalmBeachMom]

Don't know if there were problems but there were definitely some issues as CE wrote me that he boarded ship in Freeport at 6am Sunday and had worked 28 hours straight with no sleep (this is with no passengers on board, pre arrival in FLL.) Also said the new bathrooms in all the cabins were gorgeous. Will post details when I get them.

[AWED23]

Don't know if there were problems but there were definitely some issues as CE wrote me that he boarded ship in Freeport at 6am Sunday and had worked 28 hours straight with no sleep (this is with no passengers on board, pre arrival in FLL.) Also said the new bathrooms in all the cabins were gorgeous. Will post details when I get them.

:) Can't wait to get the details regarding remodel. We will be on her starting March 11 in Fort Lauderdale for her Voyage around Africa. You mention CE, can you tell us his connection? Thanks for your post!...Rob

[Crusing Bob]

I think that is meant as Chief Engineer.

[Pam in CA]

They were going to remodel the bathrooms and re-configure the library, card room and bar. I was hoping they were going to at least refresh the Crow's Nest with new furnishings but was told that they weren't. (The chairs there are dirty and stink of smoke; you'd think they'd want to fix that.)

[PalmBeachMom]

I was on the Pdam in Europe in late September and on that particular cruise they had service engineers on board to do a mock-up of the new bathroom. It was blue and white with a great bathtub and modern fixtures. Just beautiful. Also, they redesigned the closet area to make it roomier and with more storage.

[Pam in CA]

I was on the Pdam in Europe in late September and on that particular cruise they had service engineers on board to do a mock-up of the new bathroom. It was blue and white with a great bathtub and modern fixtures. Just beautiful. Also, they redesigned the closet area to make it roomier and with more storage.

Sounds good. I'm on her next October. :)

[PalmBeachMom]

Pam, I am on her September 2008. Cannot wait! Haven't heard the extent of the refurbishings in the common areas of the ship, but the delay in leaving dry dock apparently was due to (how do I say this delicately) the lack of speed and quality of the dry dock contract workers and not due to any real issues or problems with the ship itself. According to the CE, all is well.

[debsea]

DM and I are also on the Prinsendam in September from Amsterdam to Rome - a celebratory cruise for DM's 75th birthday and my 50th. Can't wait to cruise on the Elegant Explorer. We love the S and R class ships, find the Vista class ships just a little too big, so expect to enjoy the feel of the smaller ship on an itinerary we have looked forward to for years.

[PalmBeachMom]

Debsea,

 

That's the cruise I am taking. Look forward to meeting you!

[NormanW]

Check out the first entry on this page. Ugh

 

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[Nancyquilts]

It would be interesting to hear from some more of the passengers, as we are booked for Jan 3rd. If they're all getting so dusty, it will probably be nice and clean when we get there. Nancy

[PalmBeachMom]

Well, I guess I sugar coated it a bit, because what the CE said about the Bahamian labor is unprintable, but he indicated things were under control. Maybe he just meant in the Engine Department. Maybe he was being optimistic. I will ask.:eek:

[frbob]

Check out the first entry on this page. Ugh

 

http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

 

 

Thanks for the link, Norman. Scary stuff! I hope they get this ship squared away, and FAST. She a grand old lady and I would hate to see her reputation tarnished. :(

[bruceh4]

FROM A PASSENGER: The ship was in dry dock for 21 days and they didn’t get everything done. I would say they got nothing done. The ship was late getting to Fort Lauderdale, they did not contact us to tell us it was over 12 hours late and then shoved us into the Westin near I 95. We could have delayed coming as we live in Southern FL but they assured it would just be an hour or so (we were there hours with bad, dried up, cold pasta as our “luncheon”). Lies, lies lies. We did not leave port until the next day! We got on the ship at 7 pm and there were staterooms and public areas devoid of furniture. The hallways on deck 5 and 6 were flooded for the first three days and several passengers have respiratory aliments. They still smell like indoor pools that have never been cleaned. The cabins on those decks are contaminated too. If you have to get out of the elevators on those decks, it hits you every time. They are painting pieces of the ship in the hallways (not the hallways themselves) and noxious fumes are everywhere. The ship did not pass its coast guard inspection and if it doesn’t pass it on January 3 the ship isn’t going anywhere.

 

Every day large areas of the ship have no working plumbing. The plumbers just drilled into the wall on the second day and flooded another deck. The lido swimming pool is still not filled but they finally filled the aft one, which you have to navigate past the gym equipment to get to. Since we left so late, they change the itinerary so that the first three days were at sea, with no pool at all. The air conditioning isn’t working right in the dining room and it is over 28C/ 80 F at dinner. And people are complaining about the food and the service. The same can be said about several staterooms. They are too hot or too cold. There is dust everywhere on the ship and in the cabins. When we put our clothes in the closet, they got covered with dust because the shelves and hanging bars were not washed down. There are queues of people at the front office howling for justice and relief, and the response is, “the cruise isn’t over yet, it will get better.” I thought how could it get any worse, but it has.

 

After all the time in dry dock you would think the ship was sanitized. But there are people coming down with Norwalk Virus. And tons of respiratory ailments. The ship has not offered a single dollar worth of credit. They have not offered to clean clothes for people who have placed them in dusty/dirty closets or sat on dirty outside chairs, nor have they offered to provide free of charge the medical care for those sickened by the moldy carpets and staterooms. The ship is on a 16 day cruise of the Eastern and Soutnern Caribbean.

[FortyNinerLiz]

FROM A PASSENGER: The ship was in dry dock for 21 days and they didn’t get everything done. I would say they got nothing done. The ship was late getting to Fort Lauderdale, they did not contact us to tell us it was over 12 hours late and then shoved us into the Westin near I 95. We could have delayed coming as we live in Southern FL but they assured it would just be an hour or so (we were there hours with bad, dried up, cold pasta as our “luncheon”). Lies, lies lies. We did not leave port until the next day! We got on the ship at 7 pm and there were staterooms and public areas devoid of furniture. The hallways on deck 5 and 6 were flooded for the first three days and several passengers have respiratory aliments. They still smell like indoor pools that have never been cleaned. The cabins on those decks are contaminated too. If you have to get out of the elevators on those decks, it hits you every time. They are painting pieces of the ship in the hallways (not the hallways themselves) and noxious fumes are everywhere. The ship did not pass its coast guard inspection and if it doesn’t pass it on January 3 the ship isn’t going anywhere.

 

Every day large areas of the ship have no working plumbing. The plumbers just drilled into the wall on the second day and flooded another deck. The lido swimming pool is still not filled but they finally filled the aft one, which you have to navigate past the gym equipment to get to. Since we left so late, they change the itinerary so that the first three days were at sea, with no pool at all. The air conditioning isn’t working right in the dining room and it is over 28C/ 80 F at dinner. And people are complaining about the food and the service. The same can be said about several staterooms. They are too hot or too cold. There is dust everywhere on the ship and in the cabins. When we put our clothes in the closet, they got covered with dust because the shelves and hanging bars were not washed down. There are queues of people at the front office howling for justice and relief, and the response is, “the cruise isn’t over yet, it will get better.” I thought how could it get any worse, but it has.

 

After all the time in dry dock you would think the ship was sanitized. But there are people coming down with Norwalk Virus. And tons of respiratory ailments. The ship has not offered a single dollar worth of credit. They have not offered to clean clothes for people who have placed them in dusty/dirty closets or sat on dirty outside chairs, nor have they offered to provide free of charge the medical care for those sickened by the moldy carpets and staterooms. The ship is on a 16 day cruise of the Eastern and Soutnern Caribbean.

 

Wow!!! My sister-in-law, Sharon Moore, and her family are on the cruise with you. They were so looking forward to this vacation. This will be very upsetting to them. Please keep us posted on this board.