Thoughts on our recent Prinsendam cruise

[chrismch]

We just returned from a 36 day cruise on the Prinsendam. Had a great time meeting all our CC buddies and getting to know the ship's activity staff. Miss all the fun "sports of call" activities and trivia!

 

Here's what's been happening on the ship. When our cruise started we discovered that the ship had just replaced about 40% of the staff which meant training and the learning curve to get things right. We had new cabin stewards and many new staff in the dining room. They also changed cruise directors and 2 other activity staff on the 2nd part of the cruise. In addition, when our cruise ended, 2 other activity staff were leaving and being replaced by 1 brand new activity person. Don't know if this is normal or if they are starting to cut back on staff some more.

 

Also after the first leg of the cruise we lost the tracking of where we were and expected temperatures and wave info that you could see on the tv and on the large screen on deck 8. When I asked about it the front desk they said that the computer software for it crashed. They were not able to repair/replace for the remaining 16 days of the cruise.

 

Short note of caution in cabin choice which we were unaware...We were on deck 6 in the 380's and spoke with passengers in 2 other cabins in that section. All of us had problems with very noisy and shaky ship's engine vibrations every morning we were coming into port as they were changing the thrusters. This would occur beginning around 5:30 am. It felt like an earthquake and sounded like a train. I'm usually a heavy sleeper but it woke me every morning as did the others in nearby cabins. As a result we started going to sleep earlier to keep from becoming walking zombies due to our early morning wake ups.

[Krazy Kruizers]

40% change of crew -- seems like a high number.

Other than what you wrote -- how was the cruise? What did you do in the ports?

[GAJE]

Chrismch:

Did I understand correctly that your cruise DID NOT have the sports of call or trivia activities??? Oh my, what a shame if those aspects of your cruise had been left out!!! Any reason given?

[brucory]

 

Here's what's been happening on the ship.

 

Great to hear your report chrismch. Some questions for you, if you are able to answer.

 

Who was your new cruise director? And how was the food? Do you know which sections of the dining room were fixed and which were open?

 

Glad to hear you of your travels..

 

:D:D:D

[wander]

I think OP means she misses Trivia and "sports of call" now that he/she is home. I cannot imagine HAL not having at least Trivia on a 35 day cruise. If what you think is true, that is a serious change.

[chrismch]

Yes, most definitely they still have the sports of call and trivia activities which were extremely well attended by an average of at least 30 - 40 people at each event.

 

The "new" cruise director is Rebecca who transferred from another ship. Don't know who is taking her place on that ship. Tom will be scheduled to return back to the ship a little later in the year. Cory is the assistant cruise director.

 

Fixed dining is in the smaller dining and in the center of the larger dining room. The anytime dining has all the outer tables by the windows in the large dining room. If you requested a table for 2 it would be adjacent to 2 other tables for 2 which were at most separately by 12" between the tables in a row so it was almost like sharing a table except you didn't have to wait for the others to order their meals. Was surprised to see that the menu offered Baked Salmon as a standard everyday as well as 1-2 specialities of it on the menu of the day. Guess they just bought a lot of salmon. Didn't have any real problems with the food in the dining room or lido other than trying to get hot food, hot! It was inconsistent.

 

The most frustrating was going out to the outside grill to get a hot panini. This is were we'd usually go for a late lunch and you would never get the sandwich hot other than the bread. What's good about have a grilled cheese sandwich if the cheese isn't gooey? However, the best grilled panini was the BLT as it didn't matter if the inside wasn't hot.

 

I was given the 40% turnover number by either the cruise activity staff or the front desk. We had 20 ports of call in the 36 days. We only did ship's shore ex 2 times - once in Rome which I am glad we did as we arrived back at sail time and the other in Trabzon to see the Sumela Monastery - as that was the only way available to see it. For the others we shared private excursions with other CC'rs which was wonderful or just walked around the city on our own.

 

Wished we had more time in Naples and Istanbul (had 2 days for each but would have loved another to fit in all the things you can do from these ports). Ports who exceeded our expections were Sevastopol, Ukraine and Ponta Delgado, Portugal. We had private tour guides in each of these ports and they were wonderful in either showing off the beauty of their country as in Ponta Delgado and bringing history alive in Sevastopol. Both days went way too fast!

 

The best advise I can give is... #1 make the most of these CC boards they were invaluable in setting up shared excursions, #2 do research on your own as well to familiarize yourself with the city (the ship's port maps were a joke), #3 learn how to read a menu in the language of the country you are visiting. We had some wonderful meals in port and wished we had tried some more but were hesitant when we couldn't find menus that had pictures of what we were ordering, #4 at the meet and greet with CC'rs use your time to discuss each of your ports and get suggestions from others in the group in person. It's also a great time to add on to a tour already planned that could pick up another 2 people. Our meeting lasted over an hour and was very helpful.

[GAJE]

Sorry about the earlier post concerning the sports of call and trivia. It was a result of less than careful reading of OP's original post!!!

[LindaM]

We came very close to booking a cabin in that same area. We were lucky to read a couple of posts from either Aug. or Sept. that spoke to that problem. We then booked midship on that deck.

 

I would never book a guarantee for that reason. I don't know if you did, but it's too easy to get a noisy cabin on any cruiseship!!

[Juanita462]

chrismch - I am so sorry that you didn't have all the wonderful staff that we had on our cruise just before yours. They were exceptional in our opinion and everything was very well run. The dining room and Lido staff were also excellent. Our dining was all fixed as it was a Grand Cruise.

 

The abundance of salmon was probably because it was farmed salmon from Norway - the only wild Alaskan salmon was in the pinnacle grill. I always ask if the salmon is farmed and the dining room manager told me what it was and where it came from.

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review. I enjoyed reading about your experiences.

[PhylHarv]

We were on the first 20 days of this cruise--from Ft. Lauderdale to Civitiveechia and had a great time. Our dining room steward had just gotten on the ship, but he had just been on leave and was experienced. This seems to be the appropriate time to have a changeover of staff--starting a new season. We had no problems with service, but we were on fixed late seating. There did seem to be confusion with the As You Wish Dining on some nights. Our room steward was excellent, but I think he had been on the ship for some time and was experienced. We loved the size of the ship and hope to some day sail on her again.

[Aussie Gal]

chrismch,

 

You mentioned that Tom could be back as C.D. later in the year. Was Tom's wife your future cruise consultant or did you have someone else? We will be on the Prinsendam in November and I hope we have Tom again as we have become used to his style.

 

Also, was it mentioned on board the reason that Captain Gundersen will not be on the ship this year?

 

Jennie

[frbob]

We had similar experience on our just completed 27 day Rotterdam cruise. Service levels were down in virtually all departments (except maybe the nickle-and-dime dept.). Service in the Lido was especially poor. Cutbacks were evident in quality as well. Someone in HAL HQ went a bit overboard with the cost cutting. Probably hopes to get a nice bonus for the cost savings ideas. We considered this recent experience to be around a 3 star performance, not the 5 star treatment HAL proudly boasts about. I hope they come to their senses. Just our humble opinion!

[Snoop Sister]

C: Delighted to read your post. I agree about the cabins. We were in 375... it was nosy and shook... It was midships.... I hated it.

On the whole, I believe the Prinsendam is showing its age. It needs a complete overhaul.

But, may I say that C&S (chrismch) were fantastic people with whom to travel.

SS.

[Snoop Sister]

I agree 100% about the decline in service. I travel HAL for the service and on the Princendam's 36 day Black Sea cruise, it was sadly lacking. The open seating dining room steward was overwhelmed and unprepared. The dining room itself was noisy.

[Snoop Sister]

That is a noisy cabin not a nosy one!

[cle1]

Everyone looks at things differently. We had one of our best cruises. Wonderful service, nice cabin (#350), and met great people (staff, crew, and fellow passengers). I felt like everyone went out of their way to make sure we had a wonderful cruise. We loved the ship, and look very forward to getting back in the future. Sure there were some problems, and the ship is 21 years old, but all the good things made up for some negatives.

Carol

[Copper10-8]

..................Short note of caution in cabin choice which we were unaware...We were on deck 6 in the 380's and spoke with passengers in 2 other cabins in that section. All of us had problems with very noisy and shaky ship's engine vibrations every morning we were coming into port as they were changing the thrusters............

 

Chrismch; thanks for your report! Just in case you're interested, here's a link to Capt. Albert Schoonderbeek's blog, starting with the first day of your cruise: http://www.avidcruiser.com/albert/?paged=5

Just wondering what you mean by "changing of the thrusters"

[PhylHarv]

Thom's wife was not on our cruise. She had had an accident that required surgery, I believe. But she wasn't supposed to be on this cruise anyway. We had Elaine. Thom seemed eager to get to see his wife when the 20-day segment ended. As for Captains, I believe HAL regularly moves them around.

My husband and I didn't notice any major areas around the ship that needed attention. We thought everything looked great. Of course, you don't have the spaciousness of the public rooms that you have on the larger rooms, but we enjoyed that feature. The chairs in the Explorers Lounge were much more comfortable than they are in the ships where they have made changes--Veendam, for instance. We do hope that we are able to cruise on the Prinsendam again in the future.

[Copper10-8]

Prinsendam's captains right now are Dutchman Albert Schoonderbeek and Norwegian Halle Thon Gundersen who will probably always be on her because he came with her as a package deal;) Chris Turner, a Brit and the captain who Schoonderbeek replaced, went to Zuiderdam

[Aussie Gal]

Copper,

 

Do you think that Captain Gundersen could be taking long service leave? The reason I ask is that we will be on the Prinsendam in November and Captain Albert will still be her Master.

 

Jennie

[RuthC]

Still? or Again, Jennie? Could Captain Gundersen be back and gone again by the time you sail? Since they are on a 3-month on/off rotation, the timing could work out that way.

[Aussie Gal]

Ruth,

 

I just had it in my mind that he is going to be missing from the Prinsendam all year. I may be wrong but I can remember reading it somewhere.

 

By the way, hope you are fit and well.

 

Jennie

[Copper10-8]

Copper,

 

Do you think that Captain Gundersen could be taking long service leave? The reason I ask is that we will be on the Prinsendam in November and Captain Albert will still be her Master.

 

Jennie

 

Hi Jennie, looks like Capt. Gundersen is only staying on for two months when he relieves Capt Schoonderbeek in mid-August. As always, this is subject to change!

[Pettifogger]

Copper:

With the exception of Captain Turner, who had a smile for everyone, I don't usually interact much with the captain or even know who he is.

On the other hand, the Dining Room Manager or the Guest Relations Manager can make or break a cruise. On my last Prinsendam cruise, the two of them together made it the best cruise of my life.

Can you find out yet who they are likely to be in August to relieve my concern that one or both may destroy my image of the Prinsendam as always being like it was last time?

Semper fi!