Amera accidents and incidents

September 2022Other Incidents

To avoid Hurricane Fiona, three planned Canadian port calls were canceled as the ship was sheltered by/remained docked at Port St Johns (Newfoundland-Labrador) in September 23-25.

The canceled Canadian destinations were originally scheduled for Sept 22nd (St Anthony NL), Sept 23rd (Corner Brook NL) and Sept 26th (Sept-Iles QC). Also the visit to Saguenay (Quebec) was rescheduled for Sept 28th (instead of 27th).

The altered itinerary was the 38-day Transatlantic voyage ("Auf groser Fahrt nach Gronland und Kanada" itinerary Sept 12 - Oct 20/roundtrip from Bremerhaven, Germany) that visited destinations in Iceland (Heimaey Island, Reykjavik), Greenland (Qaqortoq), Canada (Saguenay, Quebec City, Montreal/overnight, Gaspe, Charlottetown/Prince Edward Island, Sydney NS), France's territory Saint Pierre and Miquelon, St Johns NL, Portugal's Azores (Horta/Faial Island, and Ponta Delgada/Sao Miguel Island) and Spain (La Coruna).

21 July 2021Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

On July 21, 2021, Bremerhavener Gesundheitsamt (Bremerhaven's health department) announced that the number of COVID cases on MS Amera grew to 9. The agency also expressed fears that there were more infected among the crew as some test results were still pending.

Initially, the virus was found in 5 of the ~370 crew-staff, with the COVID-19 Delta variant confirmed in 2 cases. Due to the Delta variant, the outbreak was more dynamic. The cases were discovered during onboard testing. Of the 9 infected, 7 came to Germany by plane.

Phoenix Reisen commented that numerous crew were currently traveling from various countries to get on their ship. Each crew has to present a negative COVID test on-site, while another test is conducted onboard. Then the employees are quarantined for 3 days before being allowed to move freely on the vessel.

During the outbreak, the Amera cruise ship was docked at Port Bremerhaven, without passengers, and scheduled to restart operations on August 3.

Update; On July 26, the number of infected grew to 12. Phoenix Reisen announced a plan to disinfect the vessel and bring additional crew from the fleetmate Artania.

29 November 2012Other Incidents

(MS Prinsendam) On November 29, 2012, passengers complained about this voyage, which started with an ~5 hours late departure from Port Everglades (Lauderdale). During all this time, passengers were seated on uncomfortable wooden chairs in the cruise terminal's waiting hall and given no explanation as to the delayed embarkation.

Some deck areas were reported being not clean. Same issues were reported regarding cabin balconies. No explanation was given about the itinerary changes. Call port Kralendijk (Bonaire) was replaced with Oranjestad (Aruba). Several of the scheduled call port stay times were also changed.

17 December 2010Structural and Technical Issues

(MS Prinsendam) On December 17, 2010, one of the ship's lifeboats (number 7) malfunctioned (the motor winch failed). The boat was temporarily replaced with 4 additional davit liferafts (capacity 25 people each).

10 September 2010Ship Listing

(MS Prinsendam) On September 10, 2010, the ship suffered damages in a major storm with strong winds and huge waves in the Atlantic Ocean. At ~7 am, the weather worsened and the vessel started to list heavily for ~90 min.

Major interior damages were reported in the galley (kitchen) and the restaurants, with lots of expensive luxury-brand glassware and dishes being smashed up on the floor. The showroom suffered a broken window.

Later was officially announced the vessel was hit by a G12 level storm (in the hurricane categories). A total of 50+ windows were reported broken. The vessel also sustained a hull dent in its prow (forward-most part).

During the storm, the ship’s infirmary reported 48 passengers treated of minor injuries.

22 December 2007Structural and Technical Issues

(MS Prinsendam) On December 22, 2007, after emerging from a 3-weeks drydock, the cruise ship was apparently not ready for service.

• First, it arrived ~12 hours late in homeport Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) due to mechanical problems.
• When passengers embarked the vessel, they reported cabins lacking some of the standard furniture. Some public rooms were also devoid of furniture.
• During the first 3 days of the voyage, decks 5 and 6’s hallways and passenger staterooms were flooded.
• Since workers continued to paint in some parts of the ship, noxious fumes were also reported.
• Also mentioned were an air-conditioning failure (dining room restaurant), plumbing issues, another flooded deck (on day 2).
• The inoperational (empty) Lido pool was a huge setback as the first 3 days were at sea (no call ports visited).
• Most parts of the ship were not cleaned from dust.
• The level of service was also among the numerous complaints, resulting in long queues of unsatisfied passengers in front of the Reception Desk.
• Holland America Line didn't compensate any of the affected passengers on the most unfortunate 16-day Eastern-Southern Caribbean cruise.
• The vessel failed to pass both USCG inspections, conducted in December 2007 and January 2008.

December 2007Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(MS Prinsendam) In December 2007, although not an outbreak by the CDC standards (at least 3% infected), several passengers suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting and diarrhoea) and were quarantined to their cabins. Numerous cases of respiratory ailments were also reported at the onboard infirmary. Many blamed the ship’s poor condition right after the drydock in Freeport Bahamas.

01 February 2007Structural and Technical Issues

(MS Prinsendam) On February 1, 2007, while navigating around South America, the liner was hit by two 12 m (40 ft) high rogue waves. The accident occurred near Cape Horn (Antarctica) and resulted in 40 injured passengers, broken furniture and tableware.