Live from the Prinsendam September 2 - 30, 2018

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Great reports, pleased that you enjoyed the visit to Canterbury Cathedral.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Antwerp, Belgium

If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium! Isn't that the title of an old movie?!

We had an overnight in Antwerp. DM decided to take today off from touring so she could catch her breath. Our time today in Antwerp was cut short by 3 hours, leaving at 1 pm instead of 4 pm. As a result of that change, all HAL tours left quite early.

Since DM wanted some time to herself, I chose to take a tour to Ghent. This one involved chocolate! How could I resist?! We left at 7:15 am. It took an hour to get to Ghent. Most of the historic centre of Ghent is car free. There are still buses, trams, and bicycles so it is not vehicle free and one still needs to be careful when crossing streets. The shops don't open until about 10 am.

The tour consisted of a walking tour of Ghent and a visit to a chocolate shop with a short tutorial on making chocolates. We had some free time, too. Because the chocolate shop is so small, we had to split into two smaller groups of about 18 or so each. My group went with the tour guide who was with us the whole time; the other group went with a guide who met us in Ghent. They were to do the chocolate shop first and we were to do it second. We zigzagged through Ghent looking at old building facades. The guide told us some interesting stories about them and the symbolism. For instance, there is a lovely Marriott Hotel in the centre of Ghent. The original buildings were crumbling down but this Marriott investor who was from Ghent, bought the three buildings and took them down, saving the bricks for the facade of the new hotel. It still looks like three separate buildings. On one of the buildings, there are two golden swans facing away from each other. The guide mentioned that when he got married, the invitations had two swans facing each other; this is a sign of enduring love. This building, with the two swans facing away from each other, used to be a brothel! And now it is a Marriott Hotel! He took us into the hotel for a quick look at the inner courtyard. We all did this quick walk in with an abrupt U turn; rather funny looking if someone saw us. Anyway, the courtyard is stunning. There is a high arch of glass, like a gigantic skylight. The outside reveals nothing of the inside (well, other than the swans...).

He took us to so many places, I can't even think to tell you all about them. We did go to the chocolate shop - after all, that's why most of us booked the tour! We had the short tutorial on how to make chocolate. I was standing next to this big vat of melted chocolate that was constantly stirred in the machine. There was a faucet of dripping chocolate under which I wanted to put a glass (my head wouldn't have fit!). It looked sooo good! Every evening they put in 5 kg blocks of chocolate and the machines melt them slowly overnight and keep them at a constant temperature for making chocolate. This particular shop has three people making the chocolates. They only sell in their shop; they don't export them anywhere else. Of course, we got some samples which were delicious! And we could purchase more, which I did. We'll see if they make it home!! I wouldn't want them to go bad or anything...

We had just enough time after the chocolate shop to tour the Cathedral nearby. This Cathedral was not ornate but some of the decorative components were. We weren't there long, maybe 15/20 minutes. Everyone got back to the bus right on time so we returned to Antwerp on time.

DM spent her morning in bed! She had eaten an early room service breakfast with me before I left and then crawled back into bed and slept for another couple of hours. I had placed the Privacy Please card in the door when I left. She then laid in bed until almost 10 am! A crew drill started that lasted for an hour so she had a leisurely bath and only left the room just before I got back to the ship. I found her starting her lunch in the Lido and reading the newspaper when I got back. We sailed on time at 1:30. However, the Captain announced that there was a harbour pilots strike today in Belgium and so there was no Belgium pilot to take us out. They had been working on that issue while we were touring and had gotten a Dutch pilot to take us out from Antwerp. This meant that we had to make a service call in Vlissingen to drop him off.

Team Trivia saw us come in first with a perfect score! After trivia, Brett, the EXC Guide gave a talk on Rouen. He is very good at presenting the material and always throws in some funny pictures to make his talk entertaining, too.

Tonight was our first Gala night of this segment. There seemed to be a large turnover in guests between the two segments. On the first segment, I hardly noticed any tuxedos. On this segment, there were many more. Not a ton of them but noticeably more. There are other passenger differences, too, which I will get into in a future report. Back to Gala Night. We have early fixed dining in the forward MDR. This dining room is very much a widened hallway so many pax have to walk through the forward dining room to get to the aft dining room which is a combination of fixed and open dining. DM and I were alone at our table; I noticed one couple come through the "hallway" (they have to walk right past us), she in her "gala" sweat pants and he is his "gala" jeans and tshirt. I did not see them do the walk of shame back through the MDR "hallway" so can only assume that they were allowed to dine. I did hear talk the next morning about people disrespecting the cruise line, and their fellow guests by not following the dress code. Come on, people, there are other ways one can eat if one doesn't want to participate in Gala Nights. OK, this rant is over.

The entertainment tonight was Brett Cave, a UK pianist and singer. He sang songs of Billy Joel, The Beatles and Elton John. He was very entertaining, even if he was a little hokey at times. Even DM enjoyed it and she's not usually very fond of Elton John and barely knows much about Billy Joel.

We lingered in the Library until the elevators were returned to normal use - they're used quite a bit after a show lets out. On our way to the Lido for DM's night time tea, the Captain came on about an emergency. There was an ill passenger who might require a blood transfusion and they were asking anyone who had a current donor card and who had a specific blood type to make themselves known to the medical staff. (Ahhh, the beauty of being behind on one's reports - I asked the Cruise Director the next day if they found a donor and she told me that FIVE people stepped up but the donation was not required YET. Kudos to the five people and hopefully the passenger is getting better!)

Enjoying your reports. Thanks for posting.

Your day in Ghent sounds wonderful, AQ.

I was surprised to hear about the 'gala' attire you observed.

Great reports.

So glad to hear that 5 people stepped up to donate blood. Very encouraging.

It has been my experience that requests for the donation of blood for an ill person on board always results in other folks (both pax and crew) volunteering. it's heartwarming and restores ones faith in humanity. Hope that individual onboard PRDM is stable and/or recovering. Might be looking at a medical disembark in Rouen, France today

They were indeed disembarked. Captain said they were doing okay.

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Don't be to hard on pax with unusual gala attire. We flow in one day before a cruise, and the airline

did misplace our cases, yes, both of them. We did not get them until we returned home. Upset by this

we couldn't dine as we want too. HAL knew of our problem, their air, and they said it was okay to

go to the dinning room as they would be informed of our problem. HAL washed our clothes every

day and returned them to us. We had two outfits. It made for quite the experience. Our cases did travel

Europe, but not where we were at the time. It makes for a great story, but a very upsetting experience.

Enjoying your reports.

Hopefully the ill passenger will not need to have a blood transfusion -- hope that passenger is doing better.

A quick question. What is Prinsendam offering in the way of internet plans now?

Thanks

Roy

A quick question. What is Prinsendam offering in the way of internet plans now?

 

 

Thanks

Roy

They are offering the unlimited plans now. For the 28 day cruise, the cost of the Surf plan was $260.

According to the info in our cabin, the Premium plan is $30/day, the Surf plan is $25/day and the Social plan is $15/day.

I had budgeted $250 for 1000 minutes so paying $10 more for the unlimited was okay with me. The packages seem to go down as the days go on so if you don't need it the first few days, I would buy it later and pay less.

Sorry everyone, I had planned to get caught up again yesterday but it was a rough day. I've not actually been sea sick on a cruise before and I was yesterday. We have a couple of port days now but will try to get caught up as soon as I can.

Sorry everyone, I had planned to get caught up again yesterday but it was a rough day. I've not actually been sea sick on a cruise before and I was yesterday. We have a couple of port days now but will try to get caught up as soon as I can.

Please don't apologize. We appreciate all your wonderful posts when you have time. :D

So sorry to hear you were unwell and hope you are feeling better very soon <3

Hope you are feeling better.

Thank you and I hope you're back to normal soon.

Roy

Sounds like the notorious Bay of Biscay struck again :( All the best AQ!

Sounds like the notorious Bay of Biscay struck again :( All the best AQ!

Actually, it was the English Channel! The Captain said he was expecting some fun in the Bay of Biscay but, so far, it's been okay. Maybe tonight we'll have some action as we sail to Bordeaux. Kinda hope not! Yesterday was more than enough for me.

Thanks all for the kind thoughts. I'm fine now. As soon as the seas settled, all was good with me.

The seas were horrible yesterday. It felt like we were being bounced down a big flight of stairs. Lots of people just stick to their cabins. Went on for about 12 hours.

What a ride!!!

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Actually, it was the English Channel! The Captain said he was expecting some fun in the Bay of Biscay but, so far, it's been okay. Maybe tonight we'll have some action as we sail to Bordeaux. Kinda hope not! Yesterday was more than enough for me.

 

Thanks all for the kind thoughts. I'm fine now. As soon as the seas settled, all was good with me.

Oh my on the ride on the English Channel. It can be a beast. Let's hope that's all the excitement on the high seas for you ;) (yn)

I expect a big part of the problem with the English Channel is that while the seas may not be as bad as in the Bay of Biscay the need to stay in a sea lane makes it difficult to adjust course a bit to get the swells at the best angle.

Roy

Thank you AQ for the interesting descriptions of ports! Oh the Belgian chocolate makes me drool. I was going to ask how the seas were around the UK as I am a fair weather sailor. But I am guessing they were ok. I am sorry you had such a rough ride on the channel. We have friends that worked on the ferries in their youth on the Channel and some of their stories....

I am very impressed in all you were able to see and do on your port visits. We have toured a lot of those sights by land, but there are still many we would like to see.

You are not missing much at home, no smoke but now we have snow. :eek:

Actually, it was the English Channel! The Captain said he was expecting some fun in the Bay of Biscay but, so far, it's been okay. Maybe tonight we'll have some action as we sail to Bordeaux. Kinda hope not! Yesterday was more than enough for me.

 

Thanks all for the kind thoughts. I'm fine now. As soon as the seas settled, all was good with me.

So enjoying your posts! Your posts are making me very happy with good memories of the places you are now visiting--enjoy every moment and you have some great places ahead of you! I will be on the Prisendam this November as it travels for a month from Fort Lauderdale to Manaus in the Amazon, and it will be my first time on the Prisendam. I have done Holland America for other cruises and have loved each one, so I am looking forward to the Prisendam and the adventure of the Amazon!:cool:

Praying that the seas settle down for you and will be well.

Don't be to hard on pax with unusual gala attire. We flow in one day before a cruise, and the airline

did misplace our cases, yes, both of them. We did not get them until we returned home. Upset by this

we couldn't dine as we want too. HAL knew of our problem, their air, and they said it was okay to

go to the dinning room as they would be informed of our problem. HAL washed our clothes every

day and returned them to us. We had two outfits. It made for quite the experience. Our cases did travel

Europe, but not where we were at the time. It makes for a great story, but a very upsetting experience.

Thanks for the reminder about extenuating circumstances.

Thank you AQ for the interesting descriptions of ports! Oh the Belgian chocolate makes me drool. I was going to ask how the seas were around the UK as I am a fair weather sailor. But I am guessing they were ok. I am sorry you had such a rough ride on the channel. We have friends that worked on the ferries in their youth on the Channel and some of their stories....

 

I am very impressed in all you were able to see and do on your port visits. We have toured a lot of those sights by land, but there are still many we would like to see.

 

You are not missing much at home, no smoke but now we have snow. :eek:

Snow?! We've been checking the weather at home and it doesn't sound very good. I had heard snow was a possibility but didn't realize it became reality.

Yes, the seas around the UK on the first segment were quite good. In fact, the North Sea on the first day was as smooth as glass. The Captain commented that it was unusual. On the way back, it was fine but then, we only came from Dover to Amsterdam.