Prinsendam 2005 World Tour... it has begun

[Grumpy1]

Prinsendam World Tour First Impressions

 

This is the first page of the log of Slinkie and Grumpy as we begin our trip around the world on the Prinsendam. We left our home in sunny Naples, Fl at 10am for the drive across Alligator Alley to Fort Lauderdale. Grumpy's sister also lives in Naples and was the desiginated chauffeur for the trip. With 6 suitcases, a bag of snorkel gear, 2 computer bags, and a couple of miscellaneous bags we were glad that we have a large sedan with a large trunk. We did not take advantage of the free luggage transfer from home to ship as we didn't have any packing done until just a day before.

 

Getting to Port Everglades from Naples is very easy. I-595 continues due East when I-75 turns south toward Miami and at the end of I-595 you just continue straight ahead into the port. We pulled up in front of the terminal just before noon and a porter immediately took all of the luggage. Signs posted at several locations stated that tipping was not required, but the porter accepted the tip we offered and seemed very appreciative. We were directed into the the terminal building and were quickly processed through by a very helpful staff. Since we are on the full tour, our passports were retained along with our WHO Yellow Books. A stop for photos for the S&S card and we were onboard and in our cabin by 12:30. It was time to head up to the Lido for lunch. We were impressed with the food quality and variety. OK, I'm going to have to watch myself, I don't want to test the limits of the waistline on all of my slacks and shorts. It's going to be SO easy to over indulge... After lunch, we prowled around the ship for awhile, getting acquainted with all of the places. The shops were still being stocked, cartloads of materials aqnd supplies were being moved around everywhere. Some of the upgrade work was still being done as we were getting ready to sail. Yes, you can tell that the Prinsendam has a few years on her when you look up at the underside of the decks above and see large rust bubbles, but that is to be expected. The Queen's Lounge appears to be newly decorated as do many of the other public areas.

 

Our cabin, Cat SS number 35, deck 10, starboard, is just forward of the forward elevators. The carpet is already stained in a few places, but everything else is very nice. We have the comfortable Eurotop mattresses. The cabin is about 15 feet across and is quite roomy. The walkin closet is adequate but not overly large for the amount of clothes we brought. The entertainment center consists of a very nice desk, bar, refrigerator, DVD player, 21" flat panel TV and a few storage shelves all built into a dark wood, gold trimmed cabinet. There are two drawers that can be locked and provide medium security for storing laptops and other items that are too big for the safe. A curved sofa that easily seats 4, a cocktail table and an easy chair complete the furnishings on that side of the cabin. On the same side as the bed, there is an L shaped desk/makeup table with large mirror, halo lighted makeup mirror and a 110volt receptacle. The desk on the opposit side of the room only has a European receptacle, so it isn't convenient for my laptop. (Slinkie claimed first dibs on the desk/makeup table area) A converter will be one of the things we look for at our first port stop.

 

The bathroom is very nice and well stocked. We have the extra wash basin and a very large medicine cabinet, so we don't feel cluttered at all. The first "problem" we encountered was when Slinkie tried to follow the directions for flushing the toilet. The sign on the wall says to push down on the button. The button does depress when you push down, but nothing happens. Me, being the contrary type, decided to see what happens when you do the opposite of what the instructions say. Pulling up instead of pushing down works every time! Our cabin steward, Suki, is very friendly and has been very efficient. We condensed our 6 suitcases into the two large ones, which were just a bit too thick to store under the bed, but Suki took them away to wherever it is that they store them.

 

Sailaway was delayed about 1/2 hour as there was a truck with 17 pallets of materials and supplies that arrived just minutes before the scheduled departure. RCCL's Enchantment of the Seas was berthed just ahead of us and departed on schedule. We should have been right behind her, but she was long out of sight when we finally left port. The free drinks on the Lido deck were something blue with rum, lime and mint leaves. Hey, they were free! Who cares what they call them.

 

We had already located our table in the La Fontaine dining room earlier in the day. It is a table for 8 along the outside wall by one of the large windows. We are very pleased with the location. The early dining was running very slow and we weren't seated until after 8:30. We hope that will improve as time goes on. We are seated with 3 couples that are all seasoned world cruisers. 2 of the couples sailed together last year on the world tour and the 3rd couple has done a Princess world cruise. The food was delicious, the service great and our dinner companions are very pleasant. What more could we want. One of our dinner companions had asked during checkin and was told that there are about 300 of us that are doing the full World Tour. The other 450 will depart at various ports, many of them in LA or Hawaii, and be replaced with other cruisers.

 

Although everything is fine in our cabin, we do hear rumblings of problems in some cabins. Some friends down on main deck say that all of the cabins in that area are sweltering. I don't know how wide spread the problem is but there are some unhappy cruisers already. This morning, we walked past one of the public restrooms on Lido deck and say water starting to run out from under the door and spread quickly across the carpet. We didn't stick around to see how bad the flood was. The forward, starboard elevator, which was working earlier, was stuck on deck 12 from last evening to this morning. It's back in service this afternoon, but an aft elevator is now out. We take the stairs everywhere, so it doesn't bother us, but it seems that they haven't solved all of the elevator problems yet.

 

This morning, they were replacing tables chairs and lounges on Lido deck. The new chairs are lighter and more surface area than the old green and gold chairs, and were sliding around the deck on the open deck aft of the Lido buffet. The chairs are a bit wider to accomodate the fat a**ed cruisers of today.

 

By the time we finished dinner, we were in some fairly rough seas and were rolling quite a bit. Not having developed our "sea legs" yet, we were a comical sight as we moved around like a bunch of drunken sailors... well, some of us were drunken sailors, but that wasn't the main factor. We really enjoyed being rocked to sleep by the ocean, though, and both of us slept really well.

 

In the internet cafe we were told that we would not have wifi access from our cabin, but would have to take our laptops to the library, the internet cafe, the neptune lounge or a couple of other areas. Still being contrary, I booted up the laptop in our cabin found the wifi network and logged in with no problem. Signal strength varies from low to good, but seems solid. Although the network is fine, there is apparently a problem with the satellite link today as we haven't been able to log in since last night. We write everything off line so that we can do a quick cut and paste into a thread when we sign on. We will try to scan the replies and answer questions, but the answers will probably lag a day or two behind.

 

We are meeting a couple of other cruise critic members in the Crows Nest this afternoon. There is another couple from another board that we just happened to see while waiting for the dining room to open. Slinkie had been exchanging Emails with them and had exchanged pics, so they recognized each other. They will also join us in the Crow's Nest. We will have a second meeting of CC'ers in the Crow's Nest after we pick up the ones joining us in LA. We know of at least 3 more couples that will join us there. Slinkie is already plotting devious ways to separate Grumpy from some of his hard earned money when we get to Georgetown, Grand Caymen, tomorrow. We will post more as we sail along.

 

Grumpy and Slinkie

 

[Sage]

Grumpy and Slinkie,

 

Thank you so much for including us in your world cruise. I have enjoyed reading your first installment and look forward to more. I hope that you have a wonderful cruise.

[grannynurse]

Thank you so much for your great description of your SS cabin. We are considering the Prinsendam for on of her longer European cruises and really appreciate your perspective.

 

After being on the Rotterdam for 34 days last summer and reluctant to get off, I really envy you on your world cruise.

 

I am looking forward to traveling vicariously with you, thanks again, so much.

Blessings on your travels,

PS, I love your style!

GN

[Grumpy1]

Prinsendam 2005 Page 2

 

We arrived at Georgetown, Grand Cayman, right on schedule this morning and were just about to anchor when the port authority decided that the seas were going to get too rough for tendering operations and closed the port. Looks like another sea day... probably will be easier on Grumpy's wallet though. We didn't have any shore excursion planned, just shopping, but did have a list of items we had wanted to purchase in port

 

Our friends down on main deck report that they still have no hot water, but the air conditioning is starting to improve. Everything has been fine in our Verandah deck cabin. If the hot water problems on main deck continue, we may start a shower concession... recoup some of our costs...

 

We brought our XM satellite boom box along. It's nice to be able to listen to something other than CNNI. I have the antenna taped to the balcony railing and, so far, it works fine as long as we are headed East or South. When headed west, as we were yesterday while cruising past the North Shore of Cuba, the steel deck above blocks the reception. We also have a Garmin V GPS and can check our location. It has built in world map software and we can see the names of some ot the islands we are passing. The Prinsendam does not have a channel on the TV that shows our location so we like being able to find out for ourselves just where in the world we are.

 

The internet was down all day on our first day at sea, but is working fine today. The speed is better than AOL dialup, but not as good as the cable access that we are used to at home... our other home, that is... People that are using the computers in the internet cafe report that access is very slow. Slinkie and Grumpy both have their laptops with wireless cards. We have one account but can log in from either computer, just not at the same time. I have used hotel networks where we had to swap the wireless card from one computer to the other to log in, but this network doesn't care what equipment we use, just that we have the right username and password.

 

The dining room was running right on schedule last night. The wait staff seems quite efficient and friendly, but very busy. There have been several from other parts of the dining room that have stopped by our table to greet the two couples that have cruised the Prinsendam World Tour before, but always have to rush off to tend to their tables.

 

We are impressed with the menu choices and food quality. Last night was prime rib for Grumpy, cajun grouper for Slinkie. Both were quite good. Slinkie thought the grouper would be a bit spicier... she likes blackened... but it was perfectly cooked and very tender. Grumpy couldn't resist the King crab appetizer... should have just told them to keep them coming, nothing else needed... and the bananas Foster dessert. Slinkie seldom does desserts... gotta admire that gal's "won't power". She's determined that there will not be any shrinkage of the clothes during the cruise. Our TA gave us a coupon for a Pinnacle night, and the ship has given us coupons for 4 more, but we haven't used any of them yet.

 

[Sage]

Grumpy1,

 

I love reading your postings, and I agree that you have a wonderful style. Thank you again so much for taking us along. I can't wait to hear what happens next. May your cruise be filled with joy and calm seas.

[localady]

Wow, what a great start to a world voyage lived vicariously!!!:D

 

I am looking forward to each and every installment! So glad you 2 have settled in to your accommodations and hope the seas are a little less rough so you can actually make your next "land day". Looking forward to the next installment!:cool:

P.S. In your "ship wandering" would you check out the newer cabins on the back of the Promenade deck? My question is whether cabin A196 and A197 have windows looking out that back wall. We are booked in one of those cabins this summer and are curious to know. Thanks in advance!

[FlorenceItaly]

What a privilege it is for us to be sharing this journey with you. Thank you.

 

Marie

[jhannah]

The Prinsendam does not have a channel on the TV that shows our location so we like being able to find out for ourselves just where in the world we are.

Check again. We looked at it regularly on our Mediterranean cruise last September. I'm with you in that I like to keep track of where we are. I've thought about getting a good GPS, but just haven't yet.

 

Thanks so much for your posts. Makes me feel right at home! We enjoyed our SS cabin on the other side of the ship ... #65. Next August we'll be in #51 for our British Isles cruise. I'm really looking forward to the SOE enhancements. Especially the 21" TV. All we had was a 9" Sony, and it was impossible to read anything on it while reclining in bed.

 

We'll all be awaiting your next post.

[RuffinReady]

Hello Grumpy1 and Slinkie,

 

What a wonderful report! You must have done this as a profession in the past (or present). It is very vivid and I feel as though I am living the experience with you vicariously, at least. It looks like you have brought amost everything in the way of needed things (including toys) for this cruise. I would never have thought to bring a GPS, what a great idea. We are looking forward to going on the Prinsendam on May 9th and after your reminder about the food, I am going to have to begin my diet now to prepare for the feast to come. I wonder if they have been able to fix the laundry onboard so that it doesn't "shrink" clothes, that is always a problem for me. Like everyone else, I am looking forward to your reports. Thank you very much.

 

Ruffin

 

Bahama Star (long time ago!)

S.S. France (Transatlantic -1965)

S.S Atlantic (Transatlantic, Mediterranean - American Export Lines - 1966)

Europa (Caribbean - 1969 - North German Lloyd)

Statendam (Caribbean - 1975)

Sunward (Bahamas - c. 1980)

Song of America (Caribbean - 1988)

Crown Princess (Alaska - 1999)

Crown Princess (Baltic - 2001)

Royal Princess (B2B to South America - 2001)

Royal Princess (B2B2B; Transatlantic, France, Belgium, Holland; Gt.Britain-2002)

Galaxy (Caribbean - 2003)

 

Prinsendam (B2B; Transatlantic NYC to Athens – May/June 2005)

 

 

[elmorejj]

Thank you so much Grumpy and Slinkie, I know I`m going to have a wonderful time travelling along with you on your world cruise...even if its only in my dreams! Keep them coming....jean :cool:

[WCB]

Hi Slinky and Grumpy,

 

Enjoyed reading your witty reports so far on the trip. Too bad you had to miss Grand Cayman...lovely place to shop! You have inspired us to start packing so we can join you soon. Sounds like the ship is still catching up on repairs.Are they still upgrading as you are sailing, or is most of it done?

Have fun in Cartagena. Maybe you can check out their emeralds!!

See you soon, Mary Ann and Bill

[cathykb]

I know I am going to enjoy your trip, right along with you. I'm bookmarking this thread, so I can check in with you.

 

Have a wonderful time!

[RuffinReady]

Grumpy1, I just noted the posting from Mary Ann and Bill. If you were "worried" about Slinkie putting a dent in your wallet shopping in Georgetown, it will really put a hole in it in Cartegena. Emeralds are more expensive than diamonds. BTW, it is my understanding that the round, "brilliant cut", ones are usually the best quality. You might want to check that out as quality in Emeralds varies quite a bit. Happy shopping!

 

Ruffin

[lizzielady]

Thank you. You do a wonderful job helping us experience this fabulous trip vicariously! My sister and I will be on the Prinsendam in Oct. for the Black Sea trip. We're in SS55-just down the hall from you!

 

Thanks again--I look forward to every one of your posts.

Carolyn

[dakrewser]

We also have a Garmin V GPS and can check our location. It has built in world map software and we can see the names of some ot the islands we are passing. The Prinsendam does not have a channel on the TV that shows our location so we like being able to find out for ourselves just where in the world we are.

 

We aleways bring our Garmin along on trips, too. With software on the laptop to sync its signal with a more easily viewable world map. It settles many an argument of the "which island is that?" sort.

 

Loving your postings, thanks!

[shipcafe]

Grumpy & Slinky,

 

Wishing you all of the very best for smooth seas, wonderful adventures, and making new friends ...

 

Steve

[Kapuna]

We are joining your cruise in Honolulu and would be grateful to you if you could kindly share your observations with respect to formal nights .

 

Specifically I would like to know what proportion of men are actually wearing tuxedos ? Can I get away without one ?

 

With thanks in advance and Aloha !

[RuthC]

is to take a virtual World Cruise.

Thank you so much for taking us with you. I'm looking forward to sailing along on your adventure. (Strains of We Were Sailing Along On Moonlight Bay are playing in my head.)

[Cruiseoften]

Great thread! We're hoping to travel Prinsendam this fall.

 

Have you met anyone from the Lower Prom cabins? - seems it's where we will end up......verandha space is all gone.

 

The two dining rooms - which is preferable do you think.

 

Looking forward to the next instalment :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Hi Grumpy and Slinkie! This is so absolutely fantabulous that you're sharing your exploits with all of us. When I saw your thread today I was so excited!!! I didn't know you were going to do this so it's a special treat.

 

If you think of it, when you write can you post the date you're actually writing? Because I know you might not post until the next day. Iwould love having a feel for where you are timewise. I have to download the itinerary so I can follow along. Sure wish the Prisendam had a Webcam!!!

Thank you so so much for sharing this dream journey with us. It's the only way I'll ever experience it. Love to you both

[Aussie Gal]

Slinkie and Grumpy,

 

It is wonderful reading. I can imagine you in your cabin, as we were in SS53 just down the hall from you. In October, we like Vegas Jim could watch on the TV where we were going, so perhaps they haven't turned that channel on yet. I am sure Suki was our steward and if so, he was excellent.

 

It must be wonderful with a larger TV in the room. You say the carpet has dirty marks already, our carpet was very stained and I thought that they were replacing all the carpets, perhaps they haven't finished the job.

 

Your descriptions and text are the next best thing to being on a World Cruise, something I can only dream about.

 

Jennie

[Cristiano]

Hello Grumpy & Slinkie,

 

my very 1st post and what a better way than to say hello to you two and the vivid images of your prose.

 

 

I come from the "Land Down Under" and look forward to seeing the Prinsendam in Sydney and following your journey to our city.

 

 

My DW and I are booked on the Prinsendam out of Piraeus on 4th June 2005 and we will be in SS 027 and therefore your description of your cabin and its environment were greatly appreciated.

 

 

Having been to Europe over 16 times in the last 20 years and having driven well over 150,000 K's it should be a totally different experience for us and your recount of your journey only but wets our appetite.

 

 

We wish you smooth sailing and fair weather and look forward with anticipation to the next chapter.

 

 

Cristiano

[RuffinReady]

Aussie Gal, what ship is that you use on your signature?

 

 

Ruffin

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Slinkie and Grumpy, Like everyone else I am very appreciative to your posting, it is just another way to cruise thru others in thier posting and a World Cruise WOW:D You have a delightful way of writing and I am really enjoying this.

 

Thanks

[Aussie Gal]

Ruffin,

 

The ship on my signature is none other than the Prinsendam. I took this photograph after we had disembarked and we were staying in our hotel in Venice. The next day the ship sailed right past our room and I took it from the window as it sailed up the Lagoon on its way to Dubrovnik and to Athens eventually. In the background you can see the spire of the Bell Tower of San Giorgio Maggiore which is on its own island.

 

Jennie