Cruise Ship Reviews : Holland America Line Reviews

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podge saw things this way:


Excellant staff, service oriented and friendly., December 26, 2011
Reviewer: podge

Pros: Excellant food & service, cabin size and layout better than most cruise lines.

Cons: Activities onboard ship are minimal, which was ok for me but some needed more.

Date of cruise: November 26, 2011

Departure port: Port Everglades

Region visited: South America

Cabin category: Outside

Good for children: No

Good for teenagers: No

Ship, being small, is excellent choice for the port itinerary. We found that a smaller ship was not as limiting as we thought it might be, since we had always traveled on ships with passenger capacity greater than 2000 people. In many ways we preferred the Prinsendam's size and would not hesitate cruising on it in the future.

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jimfish saw things this way:


Great smaller ship experience, goes where the big ones cannot, September 1, 2010
Reviewer: jimfish

Pros: Exposure to special places like Bordeaux, 80 miles up the Gironde River

Cons: Very bad vibration at times in the rear of the ship; we had to change cabins

Departure port: tilsbury

Region visited: Scandinavia

Cabin category: Outside

Cabin number: 942/904

Good for children: No

Good for teenagers: No

Prinsendam is a terrific experience; much more intimate and encompassing than the big ships. Ports visited are not swamped with visitors....queues are small...really a very much more intimate encounter with places visited. Usually just a few people in shops and cafes, so it's much easier to interact with locals...smaller ships are the best by a looong way...the only problem we faced was a bad vibration at times in the rear of the ship...we were told all sorts of theories why, but no results...we shifted cabins which was much better, but it still influenced the La Fontaine dining room regularly, spoiling what was a great experience. The Pinnacle Grill was a real eye opener...I didn't think it could get any better than the dining room, but it sure did...best $20 I've spent in a while. Be sure to try it. The ship retains an old world charm that is lacking in newer ships.

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liclic saw things this way:


Not up to usual HAL Standard, July 14, 2010
Reviewer: liclic

Pros: Mid-size vessel with about 800 passengers

Cons: Starting to show age

Date of cruise: June 1, 2010

Departure port: AMS

Region visited: Europe

Cabin number: 103

Good for children: No

Good for teenagers: No

The staff and service were quite good but having traveled on four other HAL ships my wife and I just felt the experience was not up to the usual HAL level. The ship is showing its age with its major saving grace being the ability to enter ports which the larger vessels are unable to access.