Whats In A Name?

Once again, I was lucky enough last week to attend a ship visit on board the Holland America  ship – Prisendam.

When I told my family and friends they weren’t too impressed by the name – I am sure you can understand why!!

But, let me tell you, what a great Ship she is. I was very impressed.

MS Prisendam has a great feeling about her, she can only accommodate 835 passengers, the smallest of the Holland America fleet, but she felt very spacious and open.

We were shown around her by Tina, who is the future cruise Manager. She gave us a great insight into the history of the ship, where she came from, where she sails to etc, and I can certainly understand why the ship sails at its full capacity on all her cruises and why she has such a high level of repeat business.

We commenced our tour in the Crows Nest – all Holland America ships have one of these. I could just imagine myself sitting behind one of the large panoramic windows whilst experiencing one of the Grand Voyages that Holland America offer on this ship. Unfortunately, we could not look into any of the Neptune Suites that are located on this deck, they were all fully occupied – this was a pity, as I love to have a nosey at suites! We were then shown around the beautiful Neptune Lounge – this is only available to Neptune Suite passengers – this is a stunning private area, where you can dine, relax outside on the private balcony, discuss with the concierge your dining requirements, salon appointments etc. Bliss.

The picture below is one of the many restaurants on board – Canaletto – you can opt to dine either inside or out.

We continued our tour, as I have mentioned, she isn’t a large ship, but she feels open and spacious. She has some lovely outside areas, I am sure you could actually swim in this pool – its not just for decoration.

We had a look at the casino – good size. The show lounge, where of course Holland America have teamed up with the US dance show – Dancing With The Stars, their equivalent of Strictly, so you can do Waltz, Jive etc and stand a chance of winning a free cruise.

We then went to look at one of the speciality restaurants onboard – Pinnacle Grill – for just 29 USD cover charge you can eat tender steaks, surf and turf, whatever takes your fancy in stunning surroundings.

Before a beautiful lunch, we were taken through the library, this still has a fireplace – no longer operational, unfortunately. Don’t worry if you cant manage to pack all those books you want to take on your cruise with you – you will definitely find enough to read here – it was massive, and would challenge many local Council libraries.

I have added a few more photographs for you try and get an idea of the ship. My overall opinion of the MS Prisendam, is that good things come in small packages! As the Future Cruise Manager, Tina, told us at lunch – this ship is for travellers, people who look at an itinerary and want to enjoy the experiences that the itinerary offers, not people looking for Zip Lines, carousel rides etc. I really enjoyed my visit and hope to experience the ship again.