ms Prinsendam
---
ms Prinsendam
The MS Prinsendam is a historic Holland America Line ship, also associated with Phoenix Reisen, offering worldwide itineraries including Alaska, Europe, the Mediterranean, Asia, and Antarctica. The experience is all-inclusive with a focus on gastronomy and wellness in a classic premium cruise style. Onboard facilities include an outdoor pool, gym, open-air cinema, hair salon, and Wi-Fi. Excursions are included, along with bicycles available for shore exploration, supporting an active and flexible travel experience. The MS Prinsendam is well suited for travelers seeking a smaller, classic-style cruise ship with worldwide routes, cultural depth, and a relaxed onboard atmosphere centered on comfort and discovery.
Itineraries of the ms Prinsendam
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 13
Observation
Deck - 12
Sports
Deck - 11
Lido
Deck - 10
Verandah
Deck - 9
Upper Promenade
Deck - 8
Promenade
Deck - 7
Lower Promenade
Deck - 6
Main
Deck - 5
Dolphin
Technical specifications
- Classe: Explorer Class
- Tonnage: 37983
- Speed: 22.0 knots
- Passengers: 835
- Decks: 13
- Length: 203 m
- Width: 32 m
History
- 3 juin 2002: Voyage inaugural
Frequently Asked Questions
She measured 37,983 gross tons under Holland America, 204 metres long by 28.9 metres moulded beam, over 13 decks with 9 open to guests. Her 419 cabins made her the smallest ship in the fleet, under half the tonnage of the smallest bookable Holland America ship today. Under Phoenix Reisen her tonnage has risen to 39,051 through successive refits, with no change to the hull's dimensions. Treat the 32.32-metre beam published by AIS databases with care: that is extreme breadth at the bridge wings, not the moulded beam on the register.
That was double occupancy, the figure Holland America published. Maximum capacity, counting sofa beds and upper berths, ran around 1,000, roughly 165 more. The gap is small for a cruise ship, because Prinsendam had few three and four-berth cabins: she was a ship for adults travelling as couples or alone. A client comparing one page quoting 835 with another quoting 1,006 is reading two conventions applied to the same ship.
Her size above all: 37,983 gross tons when the rest of the fleet sat between 55,000 and 86,000, which opened ports the others could not reach and let her transit the Kiel Canal. Holland America badged her "Elegant Explorer" and gave her the long voyages, Mediterranean to South America, with crossings of fifty days and more. Her atmosphere was markedly quieter and more adult than a Vista-class ship, with less going on after dinner. She also ran a very favourable ratio, 835 guests to about 470 crew.
Northern Europe, as Amera under Phoenix Reisen. She came out of dry dock at Chantiers Navals de Marseille and re-entered service on 23 May 2026, arriving at Bremerhaven. Her summer programme covers the Baltic, Scandinavia and the British Isles out of Bremerhaven and Hamburg, followed by a longer Canada voyage in September. The Marseille yard period, roughly 15 million euros, redid 160 bathrooms, the sauna, the main show lounge, the Pazifik Lounge windows, the deck 9 pool terrace and the lifts.
Phoenix Reisen keeps her on her German bases, Bremerhaven and Hamburg, with the same northern pattern in summer. From Montreal that means a connection: no nonstop serves Bremen, and Hamburg is reached through Frankfurt or Munich with Air Canada or Lufthansa, then by domestic train. Plan a night ahead in Hamburg or Bremen, because the German rail connection costs three to four hours after an overnight flight. Remember that everything onboard happens in German, which weighs more heavily on the decision than the routing does.
Outside cabins clearly outnumbered inside ones, but only 40% of them had a balcony, which meant booking early to get one. The 14 Lanai staterooms added in 2002 opened straight onto the promenade deck and stayed the regulars' favourite. Inside cabins were worth avoiding on a long voyage: small, with two lower beds that could not be joined. Under Phoenix Reisen the split across 419 cabins is published: 67 suites, 99 with balcony, 222 outside and 31 inside.
The La Fontaine dining room worked two seatings, Pinnacle Grill held the specialty slot and the Lido the casual one. Among the lounges, the Ocean Bar, the Explorer's Lounge and the panoramic Crow's Nest formed the backbone, filled out by the Wajang Theatre, a casino, the Greenhouse Spa & Salon and two freshwater pools. She also carried three whirlpools and a full promenade deck, rare on a ship this size. Under Phoenix Reisen the restaurants are now Amera and Ocean, with the Lido buffet and the Pichler's specialty room.
The balcony share first: six outside cabins in ten had none, which told on a fifty-day crossing. Inside cabins were small and their two lower beds would not join, a real problem for a couple. Evenings wound down early, entertainment fitting inside a single theatre, and families found close to nothing for them. The hull dated to 1988 and the cabins, refreshed in 2010, showed their age by the end of the Holland America period.
No, since she left the fleet on 1 July 2019 and is no longer in the catalogue. On the eleven remaining ships, Have It All bundles dinners at Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto, a shore excursion, a beverage package and internet access into one fare, with amounts left off this page. Prinsendam never knew the package in its present form. Aboard Amera it is Phoenix Reisen that sets the inclusions, and they do not compare line by line.
Yes, as across the Holland America fleet: a daily per-person amount went onto the cabin account, adjustable at the front desk, with a service charge added to bar purchases. On Prinsendam that contribution was spread across roughly 470 crew serving 835 guests, one of the best ratios in the fleet. Her long voyages bred habits: many guests added a personal gesture to their cabin steward at the end of a crossing. Phoenix Reisen runs a different gratuity policy, settled onboard.
Yes, Holland America's beverage packages applied to her as elsewhere, bought separately and never folded into the cruise fare by default. They were used mostly in the Ocean Bar and the Explorer's Lounge, the two busiest rooms on the ship. On today's ships those packages still exist and also sit inside the Have It All bundle. Aboard Amera the drinks list and the packages belong to Phoenix Reisen, in German.
Adequate for its day and no more, and unrelated to what the fleet offers now. Holland America rolled out low-earth-orbit connectivity after 2019, so Prinsendam left before it arrived. Her itineraries did not help either: long South Atlantic crossings and full days at sea left coverage gaps that coastal ships never see. Amera now works the Baltic and the North Sea, far better served waters.
In theory yes, in practice very rarely. She had no teen Loft and no youth facilities comparable to a Vista or Signature-class ship, and her programming targeted adults on long voyages. Her cabins offered few three and four-berth layouts, which explains the narrow gap between 835 and 1,000 guests. A family with young children was better served on Eurodam, with Club HAL and The Loft.
Yes. Days sailed on this ship before 1 July 2019 stay on the Mariner Society record and keep counting towards the Star, 2 Star, 3 Star, 4 Star and 5 Star tiers. A client who did two Grand Voyages on Prinsendam banked a lot of days at once, which is why so many of her regulars sit at 4 or 5 Star. Cruises taken since on Amera, under Phoenix Reisen, do not count: the programme stops at the Holland America fleet.
More readily than on a Vista-class ship, and it was a question worth asking before booking. At 37,983 gross tons she was light, and her long itineraries ran through the North Atlantic and the Bay of Biscay, two lively stretches of water. Her stabilisers worked well under way, but a small ship moves more, especially high up and at either end. The advice held then and still holds for Amera: a low, central cabin, and medication started the day before embarkation.
Subscribe to our newsletter
