Prinsendam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We’ve been on several HAL cruises and this one was just what we expected – excellent food and service and a good time over all, despite a few things that could be tweaked.
Embarkation
The transfer was long, largely because we spent 40 minutes driving from terminal to terminal at Heathrow. The people who got on at the later terminals complained that they had to wait too long for the bus to come and the people already on the bus complained that it took forever to leave the airport, so pretty much no one was satisfied. The security check at Dover before getting on the ship was probably the strictest I’ve seen, but there was no line to check in and the luggage came to the cabin quickly. Boat drill seemed unusually long because it started with a series of announcements made while you were still in the cabin.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Verandah Ocean-View Stateroom
Our cabin was behind the casino, and I had been worried that smoke and noise from the casino might be a problem, but it wasn’t, perhaps because the casino seemed to be pretty empty the whole cruise.
Port Reviews
Cobh (Cork)
Kiss the Blarney Stone in Country Cork (Cobh)
Excellent guide. We drove about 30 min to Cork and had a photo stop at the St Finn Barre church (you walk around it but don’t go in, takes about 5 min). Then we drove another 15 min to Blarney Castle. The woolen mill shops and the free Irish coffee are also at the castle stop. If you are not interested in kissing the stone, be aware that there isn’t much left of the castle, so you will be walking around the grounds and not going through a castle. The grounds are nice but don’t expect formal gardens. You can walk through fields with horses and cows to see the pond, and some of it is forested with a fern grotto and waterfall. We had almost 2 hours there and it was a pleasant place. The woolen mill shop is big, with good quality stuff at reasonable prices. You also get a voucher for an Irish coffee from the adjacent pub, but there isn’t much seating.
Antwerp
We docked right downtown so it was easy to get off and just walk around on your own. Lovely city.