We took Prinsendam back to the USA after a two week tour of Israel. We were allowed to board in Haifa, although the cruise started in Athens. This was our third cruise aboard this ship and we noticed that she was getting tired. Compared to other cruise ships in port at the same time as we, the Prinsendam emitted visible smoke for her stack - not so with silver spirit, voyager and another HAL ship in Kusadasi (Ephesus). Very loud noises and thumps were heard, especially in the rear of the ship when nearing a port, so said it was from a winch. We had two or three real emergency alarms for the crew, one was a fire in the trash room, the others I assume were false alarms.

A change from our last voyage was that the outdoor dining area aft of the Lido was eliminated in favor or the winter garden and a loser specialty eatery, supposedly small plates. We missed being able to eat on the afterdeck under the stars and at breakfast.

The food in the main was up the HAL's standards, very good, but not great. We found a wait team headed by Jazwadi to be excellent and we repeatedly asked for his table. Read more