Live from the Prinsendam as the wizard & witches cruise May 17 - June 17, 2013

[1of4]

Oh darn....it is a holiday here are I missed the sail by of the Bermuda web cams - NOT because I slept in (well I did, but since I get up at 4:00 sleeping in means 5:30) but I forgot about the time change!:o

 

Jacqui I sent the map of the harbour with the P'dam approaching the dock.

 

Looks like a lovely day!!!

[1of4]

Anyone have a screen grab of sail away with a good look at the flags?

 

I hope someone else knows have to post photos for you. A few people have them but unfortunately none are really that clear. I sent the best ones to Jacqui. If you have an email that I can send them to I would be pleased to do that too.

 

Sounds like a wonderful cruise so far!:)

[jgw321]

Oh darn....it is a holiday here are I missed the sail by of the Bermuda web cams

 

NO worries Gail, old faithful here, I got them. Not good though, as you were not the only one missing, no one was manning the webcam and it was on auto scan. Most of the time the Elegant explorer was hidden behind that great Norwegian hulk. I got a shot before she disappeared but she was a long way away. She then appeared between the two ships but we only had a short while before the pan moved on. I have a shot of her approaching the turn on the pan to the right and one of her after the turn on the pan back. Then it was back to marine traffic and watching the map as she was behind the big one again. No zooms in so the pictures are small. I'll put it all on my blog later on today.

 

If you get any tonight mail me. I have to go to our AGM as I am on the committee.

[1of4]

If you get any tonight mail me. I have to go to our AGM as I am on the committee.

 

I will tell the family to remind me...one hour earlier!!!

 

I hope that huge hulking NCL has moved on too as I only saw her and what looked like a Princess ship (not sure though) when the camera was panning.

 

I will email them to you.

[jgw321]

Anyone have a screen grab of sail away with a good look at the flags?

 

There weren't any good ones of the flags, you can recognise Jacqui's Canadian flag in one. You can see they are flags, but no detail as the camera did not zoom in. This also makes it hard to recognize people. Have a look at http://sturnidae.com/Baltic/TA.htm

 

[jgw321]

I hope that huge hulking NCL has moved on too as I only saw her and what looked like a Princess ship (not sure though) when the camera was panning..

 

I think, judging by the sailaway on her way in from the Med, that they will stay in the gap and zoom in, so better views should be had. The other two are there all day so people will not miss them for half an hour.

[1of4]

JG - I just checked. Sail away from Bermuda will be 4:00 PM my time (EST) so that is good. Not dinner time where I have 3 hungry people staring me down....:p

 

All should be good and I will send you what I get.

[jgw321]

Jacqui,

I posted the latest list I could find (4th April) but two were missing. Are there any other updates which you had after the last posting. Hopefully everyone will check their details and let me know if anything is missing. I changed the time to 10:00 on the assumption that this will be correct if we don't hear differently.

[cruz chic]

There weren't any good ones of the flags, you can recognise Jacqui's Canadian flag in one. You can see they are flags, but no detail as the camera did not zoom in. This also makes it hard to recognize people. Have a look at http://sturnidae.com/Baltic/TA.htm

 

 

Thank you for this post. I looked at the itinerary before and I know it's also been posted recently. I was wondering how many sea days there was on the TA and my question has been answered.

[sail7seas]

I guess he bad news on Bermuda is that Stephen (Topsham) will be leaving you.

 

Roy

 

 

But the GOOD news is he is there now. :)

 

And that is very lovely news.

 

[jgw321]

Jacqui,

I posted the latest list I could find (4th April) but two were missing. Are there any other updates which you had after the last posting. Hopefully everyone will check their details and let me know if anything is missing. I changed the time to 10:00 on the assumption that this will be correct if we don't hear differently.

 

Ignore all this Jacqui. Michelle has put me right. All under control now.

[innlady1]

JG - I just checked. Sail away from Bermuda will be 4:00 PM my time (EST) so that is good. Not dinner time where I have 3 hungry people staring me down....:p

 

All should be good and I will send you what I get.

 

Thank you! I missed the "sail in" So will watch the sailaway for sure.

[rafinmd]

Thank you! I missed the "sail in" So will watch the sailaway for sure.

 

Please excuse the diversion from topic, but are you still doing the Summit to Bermuda?

 

Roy

[innlady1]

Please excuse the diversion from topic, but are you still doing the Summit to Bermuda?

 

Roy

 

No, I cancelled it. DH didn't want to dock at the Dockyard. :rolleyes:

[shrimpboat123]

As JG say, the pictures of the Sail Away were not very good. This one is about the best showing the flags. I think Jacqui is the one holding the Canadian Flag.

 

I will also try to capture some of the Sail Away from Bermuda today.

 

 

Jacqui, It's raining and a cold 9 Celsius at home today. Your weather has to be better than ours.

[startwin]

I believe that`s Sapper1 (Bobbie) immediately above the Canadian flag, and I think it is Jacqui to the right.

[kazu]

Jacqui,

I posted the latest list I could find (4th April) but two were missing. Are there any other updates which you had after the last posting. Hopefully everyone will check their details and let me know if anything is missing. I changed the time to 10:00 on the assumption that this will be correct if we don't hear differently.

 

Bless you JG, thanks so much for your help.

 

I am here in Bermuda - with free wifi at the Lemon Tree Cafe so I am desperately catching up as I don't have to worry about copying and pasting (which doesn't work well). I just did a post on the roll call with the new meet and greet times for the two get togethers (2 different times now).

 

Life is all sorted out now - LOL.

 

Thanks again for your help.

[kazu]

I believe that`s Sapper1 (Bobbie) immediately above the Canadian flag, and I think it is Jacqui to the right.

 

Bobbie was indeed above the Canadian flag - I was down further, ironically and not deliberately in front of the Texas flag. A shame you folks coulnd't see them as we had quite the display - Canadian, U.S., New Zealand and the new one as well as a Texas flag. gigianne was waving a Canadian flag for a while as while as was LoveHal waving a Texas flag.

[kazu]

I guess he bad news on Bermuda is that Stephen (Topsham) will be leaving you.

 

Roy

 

You got that right Roy - the roll call was thrilled and many asked me after where they could buy his books or art:D Everyone was taking a new look at the art on the Prinsendam as there are several of his pieces there!

 

Speaking for myself it was an honour to meet him. He is a wonderful person, congenial and a gentleman. A real pleasure and I know it will remain as a highlight for me on this cruise:D

[kazu]

Well folks with thanks to ever patient Georgina (gigianne) I got part of the first report finished and posted (miracles still happen).

 

Bear with me, I am a newbie with an ipad & I swore I would not bring my netbook and Ipad with me, so I only have the Ipad. I'd like to laugh but it's no funny sometimes - one thing for sure - by the time we are done with this cruise I will either know how to use it or throw it overboard (I know - we are not supposed to throw anything overboard)

 

Unfortunately the paste wouldn't work again, so now I am sitting at the lemon Tree in Bermuda where there is free wifi and I no longer have to worry about how many minutes I burn and will simply work on cruise critic.

 

Yes, that's right we are in Bermuda.

 

Anways, back to the report. The dinner the first night was VERY slo. How slow is slow? We didn't see our wine steward until after the second appetizer! The fellow wit the filtered water came b to sell and we said no thanks - we drink regular water and wine. Finally the wine steward arrived and we ordered our first wine package and told him we liked to have it every night with a smile.

 

Later that night, the waiter (Putu) came and apologized for the slow service. There's been a huge turnaround in staff and they had fixed dining for the Grand Voyage so they were adjusting to open and fixed dining again. He promised better service the next nigyt.

 

The meal was very edible and we had great company so all was good overall. First nights are always a challenge.

 

We skipped the show as we were quite tired after all the activities and excitement and adjourned to the cabin for a drink and relaxation.

 

Overall, everyone seems to be hapy on the roll call. Georgina had a great upsell to a suite. Several got the Signature suites (the crew still use the old names) and we got an upsell offer that went back and forth several times and then figuring that this was the itinerary of a lifetime, we took it.

 

My very generous roll call was ver happy for us. Of course, I will never have another Mother's Day present, birthday present or anniversary present until it's our 45th as my husband says (I'm sure I will be dead by then) but we will be putting the thing to full use and enjoy it along with others.

 

Other than that you will hear me refer to the room as our cabin/room unless of course, any of you have any questions.

[kazu]

Reporting in again from the Lemon Tree in Bermuda - LOL!

 

This was our first full sea day so, of course our Meet and Greet was set up for 11:00 am. That day. I had 87 people registered, 2 added at the last minute on top of that. Only 4 couples were missing. The Crow's Nest was packed and we 'owned' it.

 

We were fortunate to have both Captain Andre and our Hotel Manager Firmen there as well as Stephen Card. I asked all three to speak and certainly Captain Andre and Stephen share some history - including the take over of the Prinsendam by Holland America. Very interesting and great to listen to.

 

Before we introduced everyone, I crowned Georgina (with a tiara) the queen of nametags and poppies (she has made poppies for everyone who are going to the Normandy beaches). Also gave her a book on the Canadian perspective of Normandy which I think she and her dh (who served in the armed forces) will like. Of course, it wouldn't have been appropriate if we didn't acknowledge Rich (0bnxshs) for his wonderful spread sheet. Cheers abounded throughout the room. I gave him a collector's figurine of an ape (his avatar). Hopefully he liked it. I was then embarrassed when the witches and wizard and Tin Man gave me a gift. Had a hard time not crying.

 

LoveHal (Marty) announced the winner of the guess the number of posts contests - maygrovecruisers (Jeanette) - our New Zealand friends won with the guess of 4720 posts as of May 15th (the close off). They get some free drinks from Marty.

 

After that we went around the room to hear from everyone and the one resounding thought we heard was how it felt like people were meeting family.

 

With the officers gone we got into the nitty gritty of our planned wine tasting contest, any tour questions, trivia, photo club etc. stuff.

 

We adjourned around 12:15 with some staying for questions, etc.

 

The nametags that Georgina made were fantastic and reminded me of Stephen Card's work. They are re-usable and she also made some for those joining us on the Baltics which we will pass out at the next meet and greet.

 

Missed lunch in the MDR as the time changed at noon. We are moving our clocks ahead at noon hour so, answering questions and stuff it was really after 1:30 and the MDR was closed. Jose and I headed to the Lido and despite code orange, the service was quick and easy. The food was absolutely delicious and we enjoyed eating in the new aft section which was enclosed at the last dry dock. I just might change my mind about eating in the Lido - at least on this ship!

 

This night is not a formal night. Because of the two sea days, formal night has been set for the second sea day.

 

The suite reception which is usually on embarkation night was set for tonight. I liked that a lot better actually as the first day can be quite rushy. As usual, the suite reception was in the Captain's quarters. Always a nice touch. I was very impressed with Captain Andre. I asked him if he would be on for September for Lina M (didn't know that copper had replied to her) and he took me into his computer room and gave me a listing for the entire year of what captain serves when. He said he knows that people on cc ask and I was free to post it. I was afraid it would be an issue - and he said certainly not - it's public knowledge.

 

So, I will post that later if people are interested.

 

Too funny - Georgina, gigianne - asked him if he was old enough to drive the boat (agh she said BOAT). Well, he dragged her into his office and they came out shortly after that with a picture of his family. He said he was tired of being asked if old enough to drive - and proceeded to tell us the ages of the people in the picture (his oldest child is 19) except of course, his wife - he's not allowed to disclose her age. Everyone was laughing quite hard. He has decided to hang the picture in his day room so that people know he's not young. He does look young indeed (and nice looking) but he is obviously older.

 

Proceeded to the MDR and WOW, what a difference. Service was much faster, wine steward was there within seconds of us arriving. We were out at least 1/2 hour sooner than the night before - now it's more like the Prinsendam I remembered.

 

headed up to the Crow's Nest to enjoy a bit of piano and the company of some cc friends.

 

That's it from the Lemon tree in Bermuda, poor Jose is getting tired of me piddling on the internet - so I think I had best go.

 

I will try to catch up with the rest later.

 

 

[Vict0riann]

Loving to hear about the Prinsendam, Kazu, we loved her. I would like a full description of your "cabin" please! We had a very comfortable suite on board, and we also enjoyed that rear deck of the Lido, and it was sort of sheltered, I think, but not completely enclosed. Can you get any fresh air? I won't go on, but want more descriptions! Have a wonderful time, and thanks, Ann

[Copper10-8]

Taken yesterday from PRDM's Bridge, in the North Atlantic while heading for Bermuda

[josie724]

OMG...the water is like glass...talk about smooth sailing.

[mamaofami]

Jacqui, so glad you're having a good time.

 

Curious minds want to know: what was your up sell to?