The
ms Prinsendamis one of Holland America's latest upgraded ships, recently completing all Signature of Excellence enhancements to her public rooms and staterooms. The enhancements focus on accommodations, service, dining, itinerary development and enrichment programs and activities. Examples include As You Wish dining for open seating, a new Culinary Arts Center program for kids, and the expansion of shore activities to include private touring options in port
Holland America’s Prinsendamwas Finnish-built in 1988 as the Royal Viking Sun. She was designed to bring back the roominess and space that many travelers prize and, in 2002, underwent a refurbishment after being brought into the Holland America fleet.
The ship remains roomy, with a passenger-space ratio of 47.86, accommodating nearly 800 passengers. The captain is Norwegian and the 443 crew includes Dutch, Indonesians and Filipinos. She is 37,848 tons, 669 feet in length with a beam of 106 feet. The Prinsendamcruises at a maximum speed of 22 knots.
Her 9- to 17-plus day itineraries in Europe take passengers around Scandinavia, Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Her Grand Voyage cruises, beginning in January from Ft. Lauderdale and ending in April, head to South America and South Africa for up to 73 days.
In Europe, ports of call include Rome, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Lisbon, Monte Carlo and more. Grand Voyage cruises head to ports throughout South America and Africa, as well as to the straits and islands off Antarctica.
Aboard, a curved double staircase rises through the five-deck atrium, decorated with glass bas reliefs and tubular sculptures. Promenade Deck is Grand Central and from the atrium, public rooms, renamed to coincide with the HAL fleet, range fore and aft. Forward, the Queens Lounge, the ship's 424-seat show room, mounts five new productions each cruise. The angled corridor becomes a shopping arcade leading to the 100-seat Wajang Theater, used to screen films and host lectures. The Java Bar and Cafeconnects to the Oak Room, a smoking lounge with electric fireplace. The moderately small casino offers roulettes, poker games, blackjack, dice and slot machines. On the starboard side is the Explorer's Lounge, a walk-through piano bar furnished with leather chairs, dark paneling and traditional Dutch maritime artwork. Lower Promenade features a continuous wraparound walking deck but no lounge-style deck chairs. The trademark Ocean Bar is the ship's social center, incorporating bar, dance floor and bandstand. The Crow's Nesthigh up on Sports Deck is a lovely blue, green and aquamarine observation lounge, bar and piano bar. Its scale is intimate and well arranged for viewing. The outdoor spaces include cozy fore and aft sections on several decks and the standard lido-style pool deck. The whirlpool is almost as large as the small swimming pool. A larger pool is tucked aft behind the spa, gym and beauty salon complex. Awning-covered seating is aft. Other spaces are an 11-station Internet Cafe, meeting and card rooms, library, art gallery, practice tennis, volleyball/basketball court and driving range.
The main restaurant has been downsized to two sittings. Most passengers will want to secure a table in the after big window section, rather than the starboard side passage. Tables are set with Rosenthal china, Holland America silverware and, for dinner, the chairs are covered with a white drapery. The Pinnacle Grillis the ship’s alternative dining venue offering a Pacific Northwest menu at an extra charge. It looks out onto the Lower Promenade and offers just 48 seats in a paneled setting with Murano glass wall sconces. Suite passengers get the first shot at reservations. The ship’s lido restaurant features a terrace grill and ice cream bar.
The Prinsendam’s398 cabins, in seven categories, include just 25 insides and 151 with private verandahs. A new block of ten poorly designed balcony cabins are in a cluster aft in a private section of promenade deck. Eight have balconies that those on the deck above can look down into and two have smoked glass enclosures jutting out onto the aft deck. The choices are 25 standard insides, 220 large outsides, 82 deluxe verandah outsides, 50 superior verandah suites, 18 deluxe verandah suites, and one penthouse verandah suite with a whirlpool. The 19 suites on Sports and Lido decks have use of the Neptune Lounge with verandah. All cabins have telephones with computerized wake-up service, multichannel music system and closed circuit television. Eight cabins are equipped to handle the physically challenged. All but the insides have full tub baths.
