Three days ago we left England and drove via the Hook of Holland overnight Ferry to Bremerhaven. Here we stayed for 3 nights in an hotel (Hotel Liberty at the edge of the old port) to have a look at the maritime museums before joining the ms Amera today.
The ms Amera of Phoenix Reisen. Seen here in what looks like sailing into Antigua. (Photo Courtesy Phoenix Reisen)
The Amera is the ex Prinsendam (II) and I was captain on her from 2009 to 2012. The daily stories are in the Blog archives see link on the front page of this website. I wanted to see the ship again as Phoenix Reisen had made a number of changes on board, some of them we as crew had asked HAL for, for years, but never got.
The ms Prinsendam of Holland America Line. Seen here sailing in the Bosphorus in 2002 just after she joined the company,
Phoenix Reisen is a German 4star segment operator and concentrates on the German market. It will be interesting to see if they are any other none Germans on board, except me, my wife Lesley and my two Dutch Friends who came with us. He is the son of Captain Van Deventer (see his biography elsewhere on the website) and we met for the first time on the Prinsendam in 2010 and have remained friends ever since.
The ms Royal Viking Sun. built in 1988 as the most luxury cruise ship at that time. Introducing cabins with balconies to the industry as a standard feature.
Phoenix charters only uses old second hand tonnage but maintains it very well. As a result all the ships are very individual in character which the managing director of Phoenix described in 2019 as an advantage for his public. “They come to a ship once and if they like it, they stay with the ship. If not then they try another one until they have found the right one and then they stay. This is a total different philosophy from most other company’s, including Holland America who want to have standarization of the product over their fleet as much as possible, and thus a similar lay-out as much as possible. It was one of the reasons for the Prinsendam to leave the fleet in 2019. She was just too different, although she made good money. She was then subsequently bought by a Phoenix Reisen. Phoenix has apart from 4 deep sea ships also a large fleet of inland river cruise ships.
The ms Royal Viking Sun ended up with Cunard who did not change anything except painting the funnel red. Then she was added to Seabourn Cruises and via Carnival Cruises, Seabourn ended up with Holland America. As the Sun was so much bigger then the other Seabourn vessels, the Sun fitted better with HAL and became the Prinsendam (II) (Photo courtesy unknown source on the internet)
Other ships in the Phoenix deep sea fleet:
ms Amadea built in 1991 as the Japanese Asuka
ms Amera built in 1988 as the Royal Viking Sun, later Seabourn Sun and ms Prinsendam
ms Artania built in 1984 as the ms Royal Princesss for P&O Princess Cruises
ms Deutschland built in 1998 for Deilmann Cruises (and became world famous in Germany as “Das Traumschiff” or “The Dreamship# in English. The German version of The Love Boat. The are currently still filming these series but now on the Amadea which is double the size of the Deutschland)
At 1100 we finished our stay at Hotel Liberty in Bremerhaven and left the car in the garage, at a cost of 18,– euro a day but it is the hotel garage and is locked overnight. By 1400 hrs we were at the terminal and the ms Amera was the only ship in port today. The terminal is very long and can handle 4 ships at the same time but if that would be the case it would be very crowded. The Phoenix Reisen system works similar to the rest of the world. There is a separate check-in, Gold for the suites, Silber for the mini suites and then the rest. As we had a suite, we lined up at the Gold line and were the first through. As most of the crew is philipino it was easy to do the check in in English something the check in lady, in normal life Bar waitress on board, found easier as well. Lesley had to hand in her passport as the UK is now a 3rd world country as far as the European Union is concerned since Brexit. When I asked for a receipt, it took just 2 minutes for the supervisor to write one. So apart from HAL, Phoenix is now only the 2nd company we have travelled on, who understands that you need to get a receipt when you hand in your passport , if it was only in case they lose it. (See other reviews on the website where we did have problems even on the six star level)
Security was a breeze with the machine being able to handle laptops and other devices still in the trolley and thus minimal fuss. Once through they had set had setup a welcome champagne bar with tables for a welcome on board drink. The photographer was there of course and we had our welcome on board photo taken, as we do that on most ships and also the prices here are very good. (7.50 a photo). Once on board, being the first ones, there was escort to the cabin. Since HAL time, the suites have been rebuilt and there is now a complete partition between the sitting area and the bedroom area. Gold service comes with a full stocked – free- minibar, 2 water bottles, two logo backpacks, 2 logo big coffee cups, two sets of “gift” toiletries, Welcome on board champagne (in cooler), bathroom slippers and umbrellas. Then it comes with 2 massage vouchers and a champagne breakfast in bed. Dedicated concierge and there is access to the Neptune lounge now called the Gold lounge with free nibbles and free non & alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and coffee. The nibbles are less elaborate than with HAL has in the Neptune lunge but HAL does not do free drinks so it depends if you have guests on board, who prefer to eat or those who prefer to drink. Sofar we are really impressed. This is the “longer cruise” setup HAL had on Prinsendam in the older days.
Boatdrill was at 18.15 and was the old fashioned routine, take your lifejacket, stand under your lifeboat be checked off and then wait for the captain and safety officer to march by. I prefer the post Covid setup where you find your way, at your convinience……… so you remember the route better…… to the lifeboat station and get scanned in. With so many people around and stairway guides pushing you on the way, you tend not to pay attention to your surrounding sand just follow the crowd until you see a lollipop person with your lifeboat station.
As none of us had never been exposed to a German cruise program, we had to find out the “German flow” of things. Tonight it turned out that all the Germans at once marched into the diningroom and the Lido once the doors opened (1800 hrs), so the 4 of us had both lounges (Harry’s Bar ex Ocean Bar and Piano Lounge (ex Explorers lounge and Java Cafe combined) to ourselves for a drink. Suggestion from the Cruise Director was already to show up a bit later. According to the dining room manager it was the bet thing to do until about day 3, when “things settled down”. Maybe the gGrmans have the same scare as we also see on North American ships, that the kitchen will run out of food. So we went in at 19.30 and some tables were clearing out. Food is good, mainstream and the same as on North American ships 4 or 5 star. We were too late for the show, which was a “Around Britain” revue show, possible as the Cast are English. By now we have already found out that although the guests are 95% German (with a few Dutch and Austrian and Luxembourgians thrown in) the crew is very international so for English speakers not much of a problem. There is a whole team of support staff on board and they are a mixture of host/hostesses, shore excursion, cruise staff all mixed into one in turquoise T shirts and jackets. The Captain and Cruise Director are the direct faces of the front of the house, while the hotel staff with the Hotel Director are slightly more in the background and dressed in regular uniforms.
After dinner we looked to have another drink but now all the bars and lounges were heaving with guests, so we decided to call it a day. Tomorrow is a sea day, with very good weather expected. Partly Cloudy, smooth seas and temperatures in the mid sixties. The ship only has to maintain an average speed of 16 knots to get to our first port of call Flam so nothing to worry about. The next day we are arriving at Flam Norway around lunch time. Thus time to enjoy a scenic drive sail in.
July 26, 2025 at 11:35 pm
Fabulous review. With cruising on HAL since 1963, i imissed cruising in the Prisendam. But I had several clients that cruised her when ever the opportunity presented itself.
Always a joy to follow your adventures.
Have a wonderful cruise! And thank you.
July 27, 2025 at 12:02 am
I really enjoyed sailing on the Prinsendam.
I miss most of the smaller HAL ships. I joy your reports. Thank for the memories.
July 27, 2025 at 12:25 am
It must be so exciting for you to be back on board the ex Prinsendam. Such a lovely ship when we sailed aboard to the Black Sea with HAL.
I will be interested to hear your comments regarding the changes that have been made.
Enjoy yourselves,!
July 27, 2025 at 2:25 am
Looking forward to read all about one of our favourite ships the “old” Pinsendam and look forward to see your opinions of what Phoenix Reisen has done with the ship .
Thank you for alerting me by email about this cruise . This has to be very special for you having been the Master of this ship for a few years! Enjoy
BTW any cruises planned over the next year on a HAL ship ? We would love to meet you again and hopefully be present at one of your wonderful presentations.
July 27, 2025 at 2:54 am
Hello Captain Albert, this is sooo good to read your post, I spent 56 days onboard the MS Prinsendam in 2007 with Captain Gunderson. My wife and I and many new friends had the time of our life. I remember well, near the end of our cruise we all, crew and passengers assembled in the theatre for a fond farewell. There was not a dry eye in the house.
It’s so good to be reading all about your cruise on the Almera. Look forward to it all.
July 27, 2025 at 2:54 am
Hello Captain Albert, this is sooo good to read your post, I spent 56 days onboard the MS Prinsendam in 2007 with Captain Gunderson. My wife and I and many new friends had the time of our life. I remember well, near the end of our cruise we all, crew and passengers assembled in the theatre for a fond farewell. There was not a dry eye in the house.
It’s so good to be reading all about your cruise on the Amera. Look forward to it all.
July 27, 2025 at 4:37 am
I hope you post as much as you can on this voyage as I loved the Prinsendam and usually had the Captain Cook suite, so your impressions would be comparable to what I experienced on the PDam.
I stopped cruising once HAL sold her.
July 27, 2025 at 6:10 am
Hi Captain Albert,
We have sailed on the Prinsendam II for a total of 441 days starting with HAL’s 2005 World Cruise and ending with the 2017 South America-Antarctica. We loved that ship. On several of the cruises you were the Captain. We were very sad when HAL sold her. These days, except for the Volendam and the Zaandam, we are not too thrilled about HAL’s fleet.
Glad you are enjoying retirement and love hearing about your travels.
July 27, 2025 at 7:27 am
Always nice to read, about a ship i have sailed on.
July 27, 2025 at 10:29 am
Dank mooi verhaal prikkelende tot reizen.
We voeren met Pdam naar Spitsbergen, Nord Ostseekanal – haar laatste reis aldaar – en Trans-Atlantisch; heerlijk schip.
Hoewel status Cunard en HAL een na hoogste nu Azamara.
Interessante havens – heerlijk veel tenderen – meer contact bemanning bv. deels op mijn verzoek op zeedagen koffiepraatjes met velerlei officieren als scheepsarts, F&B, CD, HWTK, HD, provisiemeester, beveiliging, show, jongere stuurlieden, milieuofficier etc. Kapteinstafel inclusief champagne in diens hut (ooit ook op Coronia) en tafel HD, CD, F&B, sales.
Goede reis.
July 27, 2025 at 11:26 am
I, too, loved the Prinsendam and miss her lovely itineraries. We spent 2 summers on her in Europe in 2014-15.
It must be nostalgic for you, but interesting to see her from the passenger perspective. I’m curious to see the changes and your take on them.
July 27, 2025 at 12:42 pm
Have enjoyed your blog for years and hope it will continue long into the future. We sailed with you several times on the Prinsendam . Miss her and the Amstersdam very much. The large ships just don’t give the same experience.
July 27, 2025 at 1:12 pm
The Prinsendam with you as Captain were my favorite cruises. We rarely cruise any more as the ships are too large and impersonal. Miss you
July 27, 2025 at 1:23 pm
Keep it going, we have spent many days on her since 2004.
July 27, 2025 at 1:58 pm
How much passenger space was recovered from Captn Gunderson’s apartment?. I remember when they added rooms behind the casino to add more cabins….oh…the Oak Room with the fireplace and stuffed chairs. So many memories of that ship.
July 27, 2025 at 2:26 pm
Longtime reader here of yours, dear Captain! I’m so looking forward to anything and everything you tell us about your experience. I loved the Prinsendam; such a unique ship. DH and I did several Grands on her. I don’t know if you remember/knew Peder Lindquister (F&B manager) from her but we ran into him on a Princess ship a few weeks ago. That was a fun reunion! Being a HAL fanatic, we were on Princess since they are our fall back during the summer when HAL isn’t here is S. Florida.
July 27, 2025 at 4:37 pm
Captain A Our cruising days are over so we love to follow you and your bride as you sail. Love your posts.