Supplement to Travel Trade
September 2002

Holland America’s Prinsendam:

A New Sales Opportunity for Agents

By Ethel Blum

When ships change names, ownership or management, there’s always an element of concern among travel agents and veteran cruisers. When it comes to the Prinsendam, put any nagging doubts to rest. She has emerged from her two previous lives better than ever. When the vessel became a member of the Holland America family, the company embraced the Prinsendam’s history and image and added amenities to enhance her elegant personality.

Built as the Royal Viking Sun, she set the stage for a new era of ultra-luxury cruising with innovative features in the emerging and rapidly changing marketplace of 1988. A $15 million renovation when she became Seabourn Sun expanded the spa and added contemporary amenities.

Under the Holland America banner, she is again fresh out of a multimillion-dollar refit and looks as good as new. In fact, she looks better in many areas than she did when we sailed on her first Royal Viking Sun cruise. Improvements and innovations allow her to compete head-to-head with newer luxury-type vessels.

Holland America faced major challenges when the ship was transferred to its fleet. How do you make a great product even better? How do you adopt a ship with a different lineage into a family in which all of the members share similar traits? And, how do you keep the loyal following? Holland America responded to all of those questions — and the results offer a new sales opportunity for agents.

Royal Viking Sun loyalists are lauding the changes — and that doesn’t come easily for this high end-contingent. Prinsendam inaugurated sailings in June 2002 as a luxury vessel selling at premium prices. Europe sailings were fully booked.

The Prinsendam doesn’t fit into any of the Holland America ship classifications. At 38,000 tons, she’s smaller and carries fewer passengers than other ships in the fleet. After her 35-day transformation, she remains a one-of-a-kind ship, which the company calls “our Elegant Explorer.”

The current 794-guest capacity is an increase of just 28 passengers and puts the space ratio at 47.86 — one of the highest in the industry. Although it’s priced about 10% to 15% higher than other ships in the HAL fleet, travel agents should know that rates are still well below comparable luxury vessels.

Prinsendam emerged from her latest refit with Holland America’s familiar blue and white livery, public room names and artworks. The vessel also has a new alternative Odyssey Restaurant, a Lido Restaurant, a new Ocean Bar, an Art Gallery, a new Internet Center, a revamped show lounge and new “lanai” staterooms.

Guests feel at home amid Holland America’s classic Dutch art and ambiance in public rooms with familiar HAL names, as well as with stateroom categories consistent with the company’s fleetwide system. Decks have been renamed to correspond with the system on board all HAL ships.

Major changes include a reconfigured La Fontaine dining room to accommodate two dinner sittings; a new concierge lounge for the exclusive use of suite guests; a modified Shore Excursion Office; conversion of the Compass Rose Room to an Explorer’s Lounge; upgraded furnishings and a more convenient entrance to the Wajang movie theater; a new wind screen at the bow; and a magnificent sculpture for the central atrium.

Swedish architect Tomas Tillberg, who designed the ship’s original décor and led the 1999 update, oversaw the renovations. Tillberg, with the assistance of architect F.C.J. Dingemans of Utrecht, Netherlands, also was responsible for installing $350,000 worth of modern art and antiques to supplement existing artworks.

Sky Deck houses HAL’s trademark Crow’s Nest. The intimate lounge features floor-to-ceiling windows, piano music and spectacular views from high atop the ship. Forward of the pool area on Lido Deck, there’s a new concierge lounge to serve the suites on Sports and Lido decks.

The former Compass Rose Room on Promenade Deck has been converted to the Explorer’s Lounge, with a large mural to provide the room with an atmosphere similar to other Holland America ships. Adjacent to each side of the Atrium on Lower Promenade Deck, the new Internet Center has 11 computer stations, and a dedicated Art Gallery has been added.

The Prinsendam has nine passenger decks, plus 15 public rooms and boutiques. The staterooms include: one Penthouse Veranda Suite (a.k.a. Owner’s Suite); 18 Deluxe Veranda Suites; 50 Superior Veranda Suites; 82 Deluxe Veranda Outside; 220 large double outside; 2 single outsides; and 25 double insides. Of these, 151 or 38% of the total staterooms have verandas. Internet access is available in cabins and suites.

Staterooms are exceptionally large and are being refurbished. Standard staterooms range from 181- to 191-square feet; a deluxe veranda outside stateroom measures in at 228- to 238-square feet.

Suites range from Superior Veranda, at 363-square feet, to Deluxe Veranda, 448-square feet; to the sole Penthouse Veranda, 724-square feet. Each has a walk-in closet, remote control television, VCR, safe and a refrigerator. There’s a choice of tub/shower, or shower in comfortable marble bathrooms. Almost all single beds convert to queen-size. More than 60% of the cabins feature floor-to-ceiling windows.

The Prinsendam features a new type of accommodations with addition of 14 staterooms, 10 of which are “lanai” cabins. These staterooms, constructed in space formerly used as a lounge on Promenade Deck aft, have private lanais and share a private, covered deck and a hot tub. Lanai guests have privileges at the Neptune concierge lounge open to occupants of suites on Sports and Lido decks, as well.

Butlers serve the elegant penthouse suites, lanai suites and the single owner’s suite.

The Queen’s Lounge on Promenade Deck has a new stage and state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment. Five different fast-paced shows are produced by HAL’s entertainment team. And, there are other entertainment choices — recently released films in the Wajang theater (with the familiar popcorn machine at the entrance); blackjack in the Casino; cognac and cigars under the stars; and dancing in the Ocean Lounge.

The Flagship Forum lecture series, featured on every Prinsendam cruise, offers knowledgeable speakers who discuss the culture of every destination.

Although a dedicated smoking area, the clubby Oak Room, located near the Half Moon meeting room and the Casino on Promenade Deck, is still one of the most unusual rooms at sea. It features a fireplace with a simulated fire for ambiance.

One area of the Prinsendam that did not need any redoing is the Ocean Spa and fitness area. When Seabourn extended deck nine, the spa was expanded, completely reconfigured and updated. Located in the aft portion of Upper Promenade Deck, the 4,834-square-foot Ocean Spa is adorned with rich, Roman-style murals, pillars and classical sculptures. Warm muted colors, terracotta tiles and mosaics complete the Mediterranean décor.

Treatments offered are truly exotic, but one that stands out is the Rasul, designed especially for couples by Hasslauer of Austria. They indulge in three different detoxifying mud mixtures, and then step into a four-seat steam room with stars twinkling in the overhead dome. For guests bent on relaxation, there’s the Dry Float Room, which combines the power of aromatherapy with the riches of the ocean in a deeply warming and detoxifying therapy. Guests are cocooned in a comforting wrap, then relax, weightless, in the sensory dry float bed.

The Fitness Center was also expanded with new toning and cardio-vascular equipment, and classes in yoga and Pilates are offered.

Handicap-accessible facilities include men’s and women’s sauna and steam rooms, a 30-foot lap pool with heated seawater and two whirlpools.

Guests who prefer active sports-filled days appreciate the new volleyball/basketball court, consistent with the Holland America fleet. The ship also features a golf simulation center on Main Deck. This virtual-reality golf game allows golfers to “play” several famous courses around the world, as well as practice their golf swing and putting stroke. It is identical to simulators being installed on Holland America’s new Vista series ships.

The alternative dining Odyssey Restaurant offers an à la carte Italian menu at no additional charge. Unlike on other Holland America ships, this Odyssey looks out onto the Lower Promenade Deck. It offers 48 seats in a beautiful setting. Dinner reservations are required. The Odyssey is also open for lunch.

Even if guests are not dining in the Odyssey, they can sample complimentary hot hors d’oeuvres before dinner or linger afterward for cocktails in the traditional Ocean Bar, an HAL trademark, featuring a bandstand and dance floor.

The La Fontaine Dining Room, aft on Lower Promenade Deck, retains its large windows with ocean views from almost every table. The spacious dining room offers five-course menus featuring seasonal and regional specialties. Service is on Rosenthal china, starched linens and silver. Fresh flowers fill the room, where there is a generous number of tables for two.

The new Lido Restaurant is five decks up. It features two serving lines and offers casual dining options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Lido Restaurant continues Holland America’s tradition of offering a full buffet with a wide range of selections, including stir fry, pasta, rotisserie and what could be the freshest and widest assortment of produce in the cruise industry. Nearby, the Lido Terrace on the outside deck offers such options as tacos, nachos and fajitas, as well as hamburgers, sandwiches and gourmet sausages.

Other Holland America traditions also are in evidence: mid-morning iced tea on deck in warm cruising areas, or hot chocolate in cooler climes; afternoon high tea; a complimentary ice cream bar; the Java Café serving cocktails and complimentary espresso drinks; and the traditional late-night snack (including a Chocolate Extravaganza). Room service is available 24 hours a day.