Salad days on the Prinsendam - Med/Black Sea Setp/Oct 2013

[OlsSalt]

Our first Prinsendam cruise (Med-Black Sea Collectors Cruise - 28 days - Barcelona to Athens) after many days on a variety of other HAL ships. 28 days and thanks for Jacqui for her encouragement to take up the last minute upgrade offer to a Neptune Suite from an SY verandah - Cabin 002 - the Amundsen Suite, port side right next to the Crows Nest. We could not have been happier with the cabin choice and our original fears about the location and noise were unfounded.

 

We loved the layout of the suite, found ourselves more often than not on the "right" side for viewing from our balcony, were directly above the action from the bridge when coming and going into port, opened out to the lovely wide, art filled hallway leading to the Crows Nest and had the often empty and quiet Crows Nest all to ourselves almost as a direct extension of our suite.

 

Unseasonable weather according to the locals had the most impact on our cruise which required more cold weather clothes, some squally rains, heavy winds and several material changes in port locations, tender operations and timings -all taken in stride with even a few surprises and bonuses. It was a cruise that demonstrated far more of the sea operation realities than just being in floating fixed hotel.

 

More details later when i write up the member review but just wanted a heads up to say our first Prinsendam cruise was an overall delight, and yes we did sign up for another HAL cruise when onboard so our love affair with HAL continues. (Volendam -Singapore to Kobe - 28 days)

 

Salad days refers to our first Prinsendam cruise as well as ordering the dinner salad as my main diner entree so often because the food in ports was so good I was too full to eat, and the sweep of history we enjoyed in every port was the salad days or our Western Civilization.

[Mtn2Sea]

Sounds like you had a great time. Looking forward to "more details."

[sail7seas]

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[RJ2002]

Thanks for your initial report - looking forward to more.

 

Glad to hear you were able to enjoy cuisine off the ship - that is one of my highlights of a cruise. I love to sample local foods.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for your initial report - looking forward to more.

 

Glad to hear you were able to enjoy cuisine off the ship - that is one of my highlights of a cruise. I love to sample local foods.

 

 

I so agree. We take every opportunity to have lunch or dinner in port. For us, it is such a delight to go to local restaurants and sample foods of the region prepared in the way of their culture.

 

[OlsSalt]

What was remarkable about this cruise were the meals provided by the ship's shore excursions were very good in 99% of the cases: Athens by Night, Sevastopol Lavidia Palace, Romania on the tour of the Communist Era and Taste of Bulgaria - Yogurt and Honey making tours were particular standouts.

 

The only one that wasn't a standout was the Igomentsia-Meteora Monestaries restaurant, which was okay, but not up to the same level as the others. Plus what they called "snacks" in Romania and Bulgaria turned out to be full course meals and every bite was delicious, requiring seconds. And this is after greeting you in those countries with delicious, thick home made bread, salt and plum brandy. :cool:

 

Tip for those going to Agropolis (Greece - Cephalonia) is to take the hour long shore line walk to the self-promotional "Oskar's on the opposite side of the little peninsula because it was the best "Greek" we had throughout our whole trip. (Whatever the Greek name, do look for the filo-crusted, fried cheese with sesame seeds and honey - outstanding)

 

The unlikely small port of Sinop in Turkey, Black Sea would win few awards as a favorite port stop but it had the best baklava ever in the local bakeries, which required us to go back for even more after we finished out first tastes - very fine, light, thin, thin, thin sheets of filo, lush with walnuts and a proper honey based fragrant syrup. Worth a trip there again just for this shoreline treat.

 

Thus when we got back to the ship, the salad entree was about as much as I could face to eat later in the day -- after a post-port stop off at the Neptune Lounge for a few little pick-me-ups too, true confessions. The entree salads overall were good and varied in greens, dressings and extras to make this a good choice if one wants to still enjoy dinner but has over-eaten while onshore. First night salads were on the warm side and I thought uh-oh, but then the rest of them were fine and I am happy to have found this is a very good dinner option now.

[rafinmd]

Are you just off? The cruise that ended with the ship going immediately to drydock? IIRC, HAL had also sold a collectors cruise that included the second half of your cruise and continued until about October 26. Did you meet anybody with that itinerary planned, and what did HAL do with them?

 

Roy

[OlsSalt]

Are you just off? The cruise that ended with the ship going immediately to drydock? IIRC, HAL had also sold a collectors cruise that included the second half of your cruise and continued until about October 26. Did you meet anybody with that itinerary planned, and what did HAL do with them?

 

Roy

 

No, we did not meet anyone who had their plans disrupted but there must have been some on that last segment. However, I believe HAL did give those passengers notice well before the end of this trip as discussed here in the past - the dry dock will be in Valetta, and will include more than just the stabilizer repair. These things can and will happen so let's hope there was adequate notice for alternative plans, either land or sea to be made.

 

The weather does get much more problematic in this part of the world the later in the season for cruise ships in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean and we already had to make some on the fly adjustments along the way for our segments ending mid-Oct.

 

I suspect HAL knew it was the best decision to make rather than taking on the seas at this time of the year in this part of the world with less than optimal operating capacity. But then I am one of the HAL cheerleaders who still thinks they make good corporate decisions and regret disrupting passengers plans as much as the pre-booked passengers hate the disruption.. :cool:

[kazu]

Well, I am relieved that my recommendation was ok for you. Love the Sports deck on the P'dam - unfortunately next time we won't be there.

 

Looking forward to further reports as this has some similar ports to what we will be doing next September.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed our favourite ship:D Please carry on:D:D

[OlsSalt]

Overall observations: very few black tie, though women still dressed up for formal night, few gowns but neither long gowns or black tie were out of place.

 

Room service failed after three tries and we did not try it again. Hope they got things fixed.

 

Shore excursions were all excellent and we loved using the headphones in Ephesus and hope they add more of them on future shore excursions.

 

Captain thew in some extra treats and had to struggle with some unruly sea conditions which passengers appeared to take with good humor and patiences as the weather turned bad at several ports. But we got a round trip tour of the Santorini coast as an extra after leaving one Greek Island port, and extra overnight in Sevastapol instead of docking in the morning, a dock in Burgos instead of a failed tender stop in Nessebur, Bulgaria.

 

There was extra time added in port when we had these mainly tendering compromises due to winds and sea and the shore excision people worked hard to get shuttles when unexpected changes came up. And the ship cruised faster than usual to make up for any lost time so we did not lose out on the next ports.

[OlsSalt]

Well, I am relieved that my recommendation was ok for you. Love the Sports deck on the P'dam - unfortunately next time we won't be there.

 

Looking forward to further reports as this has some similar ports to what we will be doing next September.

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed our favourite ship:D Please carry on:D:D

 

I was worried about the smaller balcony but it was fine - a lot narrower than most other ships for the Sports Deck cabins, but it was intimate and we felt closer to the sea - enjoyed it immensely. Table with two chairs, two rattan chairs with foot rests so it met all needs, but no room for entraining others on this shallower balcony than just two people. The verandahs appeared to get wider as one went lower on the decks, due to the ship's design.

 

The one Neptune cabin I might want to avoid was the one right next to the Neptune Lounge simply because the Neptune Lounge deck looked directly into it as it jutted out a bit from the rest of the Neptune Lounge cabins, but then one has the distinct advantage of being right next to the Neptune Lounge so there you have it -- a 50/50 "problem".

 

Any of the verandah floors would be great cabin choices on the Prinsendam - but being on that wide hallway going to the Crows Nest on the Sports Deck felt particularly luxurious so Cabin 002 was a winner for us. Nearly passed it up, and so glad we did not.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the report.

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

We have often just had a salad for dinner as well.

[0bnxshs]

Sounds like you had an adventure rather than merely a cruise and made the best of it! Glad you so enjoyed your time aboard Prinsendam and thanks for the report. Jacqui rarely steers anyone wrong and never purposely.

[kazu]

I was worried about the smaller balcony but it was fine - a lot narrower than most other ships for the Sports Deck cabins, but it was intimate and we felt closer to the sea - enjoyed it immensely. Table with two chairs, two rattan chairs with foot rests so it met all needs, but no room for entraining others on this shallower balcony than just two people. The verandahs appeared to get wider as one went lower on the decks, due to the ship's design.

 

The one Neptune cabin I might want to avoid was the one right next to the Neptune Lounge simply because the Neptune Lounge deck looked directly into it as it jutted out a bit from the rest of the Neptune Lounge cabins, but then one has the distinct advantage of being right next to the Neptune Lounge so there you have it -- a 50/50 "problem".

 

Any of the verandah floors would be great cabin choices on the Prinsendam - but being on that wide hallway going to the Crows Nest on the Sports Deck felt particularly luxurious so Cabin 002 was a winner for us. Nearly passed it up, and so glad we did not.

 

I totally agree - while the verandahs are smaller on the Sports Deck, the rooms are larger and while the verandahs are larger on the Lido but the rooms smaller.

 

It's pretty hard not to like walking down that luxurious hallway that leads to the Crow's Nest and not enjoy going to your room:D

 

Love the Crow's Nest on this ship so the proximity is an added benefit. (at least for us).

[USN59-79]

No, we did not meet anyone who had their plans disrupted but there must have been some on that last segment. However, I believe HAL did give those passengers notice well before the end of this trip as discussed here in the past - the dry dock will be in Valetta, and will include more than just the stabilizer repair. These things can and will happen so let's hope there was adequate notice for alternative plans, either land or sea to be made.

 

The weather does get much more problematic in this part of the world the later in the season for cruise ships in the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean and we already had to make some on the fly adjustments along the way for our segments ending mid-Oct.

 

I suspect HAL knew it was the best decision to make rather than taking on the seas at this time of the year in this part of the world with less than optimal operating capacity. But then I am one of the HAL cheerleaders who still thinks they make good corporate decisions and regret disrupting passengers plans as much as the pre-booked passengers hate the disruption.. :cool:

We are in Athens waiting to board her on Sunday. Had heard that the drydock would be in Piraeus. Are you saying that she is in Malta? Seems like that will take a couple of days out of the DD availability. Incidentally, we did have notice of the itinerary change and decided to enjoy an extra week in Athens. The refund more than paid for the time here.

[rafinmd]

We are in Athens waiting to board her on Sunday. Had heard that the drydock would be in Piraeus. Are you saying that she is in Malta? Seems like that will take a couple of days out of the DD availability. Incidentally, we did have notice of the itinerary change and decided to enjoy an extra week in Athens. The refund more than paid for the time here.

 

According to marine tracking, Prinsendam is in fact in Malta. I'm sure the transfer time was taken into account in developing the schedule. Enjoy your remaining days in Athens and have a great cruise.

 

Roy

[OlsSalt]

We are in Athens waiting to board her on Sunday. Had heard that the drydock would be in Piraeus. Are you saying that she is in Malta? Seems like that will take a couple of days out of the DD availability. Incidentally, we did have notice of the itinerary change and decided to enjoy an extra week in Athens. The refund more than paid for the time here.

 

Several crew members told us they would be in Valetta, Malta and one was even discouraged because it would not be cheap for him to enjoy being there.