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Prinsendam 2005 World Tour... it has begun

Grumpy1

By Grumpy1,
in Holland America Line

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Grumpy1

Grumpy1

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Prinsendam 2005, Feb 10, Day 28

 

Ahhh, so nice to awake this morning to the sound of music... the music was the sounds of the electric hoist that is used to lower the Starboard gangway from its stowed position a couple of decks below Slinkie and Grumpy's cabin. Hearing that sound means the Prinsendam is approaching a dock. Yes, indeed, our corageous captain had found Apia, Samoa and was entering the harbor. Shortly after, as the ship was manuerving into its berth, there was more music. This time it was the real thing as there was a band set up on the pier to welcome the Prinsendam. The Hapag LLoyd cruise ship Europa entered the harbor right behind the Prinsendam and tied up at the next berth. The Europa appears to be about the same length as the Prinsendam, but not as high. It looks like all of the cabins are balcony cabins. She probably carries fewer passengers, as there were only four lifeboats plus the usual stack of inflatables.

 

It was interesting to not that there were lots of buses came to the Prinsendams dock to pick up passengers for tours. There was also a free shuttle to take Prinsendam passengers back and forth from the Prinsendam to the clock tower in the center of town. There was none of that for Europa. There were dozens of cabs available outside the pier area, though. HAL has done an excellent job of making things convenient for their passengers.

 

The tours, which had been scheduled for the afternoon, were moved up to morning since the Prinsendam had arrived about 5 hours early. Slinkie and Grumpy were on a tour that included driving through the various neighborhoods to get a glimpse of how the people live, a quick trip through the fresh market, a stop at the parliament building, a tour of the Robert Louis Stevenson home and museum, and a stop at the National University of Samoa for a native dance program. The brochure states "travel by island style bus"...and that's what they were...open air, wooden structure, unpadded wooden seats... bald tires... Exactly the same as the buses that the local people ride all ovet town. Now our Slinkie does not have an excess of natural padding and wasn't too happy about the bumpy ride. She had a poncho with her "just in case" and sitting on it did help. After returning to the ship and lunch at the Lido, it was time to head back into town via the free shuttle for some shopping. Clothing prices are very cheap, hand carved souvenirs are quite reasonable, but there did not seem to be any bargains on jewelry items... Slinkie still doesn't have any black pearls... Slinkie saw one dress that she really liked, looked at the lablel... "made in India".. and decided to look for something made locally...

 

Everyone on the island must do their own sewing, as there are thousands of bolts of cloth for sale, but very little reary-to-wear womens clothing. The few items that were made locally were cheap, but the sewing quality didn't look too good. Grumpy got a nice shirt "made in China" for $8 USD but Slinkie came back to the ship empty handed... after a bit she decided she really wanted that dress... there was still a couple of hours before sailing, so off on the shuttle they go again. Arriving at the store at about 4:15p, she found that it had closed at 4p...^%$#^&*&%$! She did find another dress in the local "Hypermarket"... that must be one step above the usual supermarket... so all was not lost... and Slinkie and Grumpy were back on board in time to see the native dance show by a local group that had come aboard... Don't think the Europa had anything like that either... The group had to modify their routine a little bit... seems that the regulations do not allow the use of fire batons and such aboard ships... probably a good thing... but it was a very good show.

 

Captain Gundersen announced that he had agreed with the captain of Europa that they would depart first and Prinsendam would depart as soon as they were clear. Just a couple of minutes later, he was back on the horn to announce that the Europa was going to delay a bit so we would leave first. Sailing out, we passed the Europa at a distance of about 100 feet and the dueling Ship's horns began. After several exchanges, the Prinsendam sounded a series of mixed long and short blasts... a short silence and then two short toots from the Europa...Prinsendam wins again!

 

Leaving Apia, the Prinsendam sailed into a very gorgeous sunset... the area over the Island west of Apia was cloudy and there were other areas of clouds. The sky was so many shades of reds and pinks with large patches of blue... Slinky and Grumpy drank it all in from their balcony... Grumpy did remember to take a few pictures, too... Life is good!

 

After setting back the clocks for another 25 hour day, the Prinsendam is now 12 hours behind GMT. Tonight, the clocks will stay the same, but the calendars have to be set ahead as Prinsendam crosses the International Date Line.

 

Now we all have to agree that the word of the captain is the final word, and the daily program should be considered to be the word of the captain... so here's a quote from the Daily Program: "THE CORIOLIS EFFECT. One of the significant changes you can observe after crossing the equator is the manner in which water drains from your sink. North of the equator, water swirls clockwise in the sink basin. South of the equator, water swirls Counter-clockwise. The Coriolis Effect causes this, which is the result of the earth's rotation. Coriolis gives a clockwise acceleration on all free material in the Northern Hemisphere and a counter-clockwise acceleration in the Southern Hemisphere". No need for Grumpy to do the experiments... the Captain has spoken!

 

SeaRanger, Slinkie would definitely not be happy with a shaved head... she's complaining that her hair stylist, Annette, cut too much off... Grumpy is losing his at a fast enough rate... no need to accelerate the process...

 

JaniceB... about the "earning of the beads"... well Ol' Grumpy has a lot less beads than he used to... and several of the fine women aboard have more beads... but you know that what does or does not happen on the Prinsendam, stays on the Prinsendam...

 

Trulli, Grumpy checked the list of drinks available in the bars and saw that Akakvit Gin is listed. Is that what you were looking for? Of course, Ol' Grumpy, when someone offers to buy him a drink, say's "sure, make that a Remy-Martin Louis XIII" ... $90.00 a shot...

 

ekerr19, DesrtDrmr, all of the others that have recently joined the thread... thanks for all of the kind remarks... I guess Host Walt must be deleting all of the negative ones so Grumpy doesn't see them...

 

This morning, Feb 11, there was another lifeboat drill. This was the first one that was not held after departure on a segment. There were quite a few passengers that got on in Hawaii, but the life boat drill that day was for the new passengers only. Looks like they will be held approximately every two weeks.

 

It's time to see if the internet is working and get this posted. there are probably some questions and comments since post 284 which we'll get to later.

 

Slinkie and Grumpy

 

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RuffinReady

RuffinReady

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Now we all have to agree that the word of the captain is the final word, and the daily program should be considered to be the word of the captain... so here's a quote from the Daily Program: "THE CORIOLIS EFFECT. One of the significant changes you can observe after crossing the equator is the manner in which water drains from your sink. North of the equator, water swirls clockwise in the sink basin. South of the equator, water swirls Counter-clockwise. The Coriolis Effect causes this, which is the result of the earth's rotation. Coriolis gives a clockwise acceleration on all free material in the Northern Hemisphere and a counter-clockwise acceleration in the Southern Hemisphere". No need for Grumpy to do the experiments... the Captain has spoken!

 

Grumpy1,

 

Hmmm, then is it true "that what goes around comes around"? ;)

 

Ruffin

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localady

localady

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Grumpy and Slinkie-

 

From all accounts (well with the exception the island bus/sore tush from Apia;) ) it sounds that you and your Prinsendammers have been enjoying the South Pacific tropical paradise. Can't wait to see your photo account of the journey some day if you had the inclination after the voyage!!

As always, continued safe seas and blue skies to you both.:)

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lipoppop

lipoppop

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Slinkie and Grumpie:

 

I am so glad the captain handles the ship well because his knowledge of physics isn't too good. My upstairs toilet drains counterclockwise while the two lower floor toilets drain clockwise. I don't see the equator running between the floors.

 

As previously posted the coriolis effect is marginal to insignificant as it relates to toilets.

 

I'm glad he is taking good care of you people. Keep the posts comming and follow my family motto: "Shop till you drop!"

 

I recently changed my May 9th cruise on the Princindam to cabin 54. It was 52 but I found a new TA that was much cheaper.

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helenp2

helenp2

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Love reading all of your posts - my DH and I hope to go next year. But, reading your almost daily updates is the next best thing. PLEASE, give Johnny a big kiss for me, he is the best and we all miss his great smile and sense of humor. Tell him Lorraine, Francine, Helen & Joe still can't do all those dances he was trying to teach us on the Holiday cruise. Take care and enjoy!

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Grumpy1

Grumpy1

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Prinsendam 2005, Feb 11, (or is it 12), Day29

 

Time to do an addendum to the last post. Sometime during the night, the Prinsendam crossed the International Date Line as officially defined. In this part of the Pacific, the line does not follow the 180 degree Meridian, but has been moved to keep island groups within the same day. Since we are at sea and not on an island, we can determine our own date and do not have to adopt a change until we reach port. So, although we are in the area where islanders would consider this to be Saturday, Feb 12, we are still observing Friday, Feb 11. We will officially discard Saturday and at midnight jump to Sunday, which is the day that will be observed in Fiji when we dock.OK... after rereading this, Grumpy is as confused as you are, but then that's nothing new...

 

As regards the missed port of Vavau'u, Tonga Islands... The denial of permission may have been related to the fact that we would have been there on their Sunday and there would not have been much that was open. Also port people that would normally be off would have to work... it probably would not have been a problem during the week. We have been advised that most places in Savu, Fiji will be closed, also. The Fiji Museum is closed on Sunday, but is going to open just for the Prinsendam tour group. The other tour includes the Arts Village which would probably be open anyway. We just received word an hour ago that their will be a complimentary shuttle from Queen's Wharf to the center of town for those wishing to try some of the local restaurants and check out the shops that decide to open.

 

Aussie Gal, it is 117 miles from Savu to the resort areas on the other side of the island, so tours to that side are pretty well out of the question. Docking on that side of the island instead of Suva was also not an option as it would have added another day... which would have made us late getting to Tauranga... and that wasn't going to happen!

 

No, Slinkie and Grumpy did not kiss the fish... after all, kissing the fish is punishment for being found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors... and we KNOW that Slinkie and Grumpy would never be guilty of any such things... RuthC... what did YOU do that you felt it necessary to attone for your transgressions?... Inquiring minds want to know...

 

MrsSBI, Grumpy also has several pics of your Slimy Son... and there are some for purchase on the wall of the photo gallery... really a rather sorry sight... but I'm sure you can think of a few things he's done in the past that were waiting for payback time... Grumpy saw Johnny today and asked him what he's been up to... didn't get much response... guess he knows it wouldn't be a good idea to share anything with Grumpy... what happens on the Prinsendam stays on the Prinsendam... unless it happens to Johnny I...

 

Today was Mongolian Barbecue on the Lido deck for lunch. Fantastic!! Pick your ingredients from the raw bar... veggies, noodles, pork, calamari, beef, chicken, shrimp... and then get it woked to perfection with a wide choice of sauces. Yummy!

 

Grumpy did hear from one passenger that really likes the ship but is very disappointed about the itenerary changes. They had chosen the Prinsendam over the QE II because the P'dam was going to Tonga and the QE II was going to Fiji. They also mentioned that scheduling any Polynesian port on a Sunday was probably not good planning. They questioned how HAL could not have known about the tide levels at Christmas Island, also. I do know that HAL's most senior captain personally inspects all of the Ports of Call to determine the access, facilities and infrastructure, so something unexpected must have happened... at Christmas Island, it was probably a sand bar that shifted and blocked the tender dock. The captain did state that even at high tide the tender could not have docked with the water level that they encountered. That may be a problem in doing World Cruises with lesser used ports of call. The lesser used ports are an attraction for some of the cruisers, but conditions can change and there would be no way of knowing unless other ships were stopping there on a regular basis and could report back. The planning has to be done a couple of years ahead of time. Grumpy certainly understands the disappointment of missing the ports, but doesn't know what HAL could have done differently. Even the Sunday schedule was unavoidable. Some other port would have to be cancelled to get there on a Saturday or find a port further south for Monday... Grumpy's glad he doesn't have to make all of those decisions...

 

Now for the oppossing view with regard to the Tonga/Figi change... There is a couple at Slinkie and Grumpy's table that are delighted with the change... Seems they were supposed to go to Fiji a few years ago, but because of civil unrest in Fiji, went to Tonga instead. Now they finally get to go to Fiji...

 

Grumpy is starting to get a little grumpy with the message board. He tried several times to post this yesterday and kept getting that "slight problem with the database" error page.$^*(^#@!

 

I'll try to attach a picture of Johnny I and the Ice Cream Man

 

Slinkie and Grumpy

670536357_JohnnyIandtheIceCreamMan.jpg.47aebeeef320e1d2687ae6c8aed6d789.jpg

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mrssbi

mrssbi

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Grumpy, thank you, thank you, for the wonderful picture of Johnny being slimed - I love it and have printed it out with your log of the day to be included in the binder of all your posts. I know, what happens on the Prinsendam stays there so that's ok. Last night we had messages of data base errors too so were unable to access the boards. Continue your wonderful writing and have a great time.

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Aussie Gal

Aussie Gal

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Grumpy

 

I had also a lot of trouble trying read the Board yesterday, it kept coming up with some sort of difficulty so gave up in the end.

 

I hope enough shops were open for you and Slinkie today. Fijians do respect their sabbath and it is usually not a very desirable day to visit.

 

Jennie

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Ziggy7

Ziggy7

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No, Slinkie and Grumpy did not kiss the fish... after all, kissing the fish is punishment for being found guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors... and we KNOW that Slinkie and Grumpy would never be guilty of any such things... RuthC... what did YOU do that you felt it necessary to attone for your transgressions?... Inquiring minds want to know..
hahahahaha Yes RuthC do share with us hehehehe !!
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Welshapple

Welshapple

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Grumpy:

Many thanks for checking up on the lobster and the availability of Aquavit on the Prinsendam.

We were wondering if Slinkie dug the Fijian men? A few years back an Australian lady we were talking to in a hot tub in Costa Rica told us that they were the handsomest guys she had ever come across. And a 95 year old maiden lady, who was in Fiji back in the 1950's, told us the same thing. What was Slinkies take on them?

Did you try any of the Fiji bottled water? It's amazing that they are able to ship it and sell it in the USA.

Have they served an Idonesian rijsttafel on board yet? Try it if they do, with plenty of Dutch beer.

Glad your voyage is going so well. Your postings really make it come to life for those of us just reading about it.

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HeatherInFlorida

HeatherInFlorida

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Grumpy, just a hint on getting onto the boards when there's a database problem. In your browser, if it says ...boards2.cruisecritic, etc., put a "1" where the "2" is. Or other way around. Or if there's just ...boards.cruisecritic, try a "1". When I couldn't get on the other day and night, this quick fix put me right on there. 'Course there were only about 10 other people on here and nobody posting, but I was here!:o

 

Don't share this with anyone, though;) , because I think if too many people do it than that will crash, too!!!:D

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Sinbad37

Sinbad37

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:confused: And DH wants to know why I spend so much time on the computer?

:rolleyes: Inquiring minds already know what they don't know!

(I'm always learning from all of you!)

:mad: Grumpy & ;) Slinkie especially! ...:D

Thanks to you two - "Who knows"?..(other than THE SHADOW) ....

(I am printing out your journey and enjoying every post!) Like a good book, this will never go out of "style".

Question for Ruth C... or is that "chocolate" lady?

Does a very special card and box of GODIVA on the pillow mean anything I should know about? ( Can I pack my bags?)

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JaniceB

JaniceB

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Thank you for the update on the Mardi Gras beads and for filling us in about the Captains word on the The Coriolis Effect. I am still wondering if the water draining from the sink drains differently prior to actually crossing the equator, at the equator or right after crossing the equator. Thanks for sharing the picture of the King Neptune ceremony participants.

 

Continue having a wonderful journey. I really enjoy your posts.

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