The Prinsendam was billed by both the HA rep on the phone and the on board cruise consultant as a high end experience. We were told "It is good that you are travelling on the Noordam first, because you will be spoiled after travelling on the Prinsendam." It was quite the reverse because of gaps in food/beverage service, some shortcomings in activities, and the level of ship maintenance (which did improve in the few days just before reaching port). Had we travelled first on the Princendam, I think we would not have been so thrilled with cruising. Our first cruise on the Noordam(our cruise to Italy) was far superior to the cruise back on the Princendam.
The Prinsendam staff still provided the hallmark Holland America quality of service in our cabin, laundry, front desk, and table services with their smiling and playful presence and attention to detail. The line cooks went out of their way to provide whatever we wanted, once even though it wasn't on the menu. Loved the sail away parties which they did with flair.
But there were missing elements that did not seem to be down to the staff but perhaps ship policy? By contrast, on the Noordam, if we sat on the Lido back pool deck we were immediately asked if we wanted anything and were consistently provided with tea, coffee, water, lemonade and hot chocolate despite no gratuity on these free items (we did provide a tip at the end of the trip. On the Prinsendam, on a virtually vacant deck, there was no offer of service after we declined alcohol. This was a very different experience from the high standard set by the outside Lido service on the Noordam. Our rating is low for this cruise because of this issue and the food hygiene concern noted below.
Cabin was HA quality standard and loved the walk in closet.