MS Prinsendam Baltic, Kiel Canal and Celtic Explorer, May 20-June 17, 2015

[RuthC]

I am so enjoying cruising along via your reports. Your pictures are of quaint towns I would love to visit, and some of the remarkable sites in and around them.

 

Perhaps one day you will be able to get a shot of a sunrise over the bow of the ship? It would be fun to see that area once again. People who haven't been on the ship (or seen pics of the bow area), may be surprised how different it is from the other ships in the fleet.

Of course, that would mean the ship was aimed in the right direction. ;)

[rafinmd]

Sunrise keeps getting earlier as we move north and west, and at 5:05 today the sun was already about it’s own width above the horizon but still quite nice. I walked 2 miles as we continued into Dublin. It’s a sprawling port with many channels and a number of ferry terminals rather primitive facilities for cruise ships. This is my 3rd visit here (Prinsendam 2011 and Crystal Symphony 2012) and I think we’ve been docked at the same place every time. The cargo wharf has an area for disembarkation and bus loading defined by rows of containers, a trailer for visitor information, but little else. It’s an ugly half mile walk to the port gate and another half mile before we come to anything of interest. Fortunately, there was a shuttle into the center of town.

 

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I had 2 very different tours. The morning “Duck” tour had kind of a silly Viking theme with horned helmets for everybody and other trappings of Viking stereotypes.. The hour and a half tour was mostly on land following first along the Liffey with many bridges including the relatively new Samuel Becket (Harp) bridge and then through the center of town. Most of what we saw in town was passed quite quickly but the old parliament house was interesting. With no windows it could easily be mistaken for a coliseum; the windows were all bricked over when an English King waged a tax on windows to finance a war. The building is now a bank.

 

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Towards the end or the tour we took a splash in the Grand Canal Basin. It was a very short cruise but we passed the studios where U2 recorded. Our duck was built in America (one of the few left hand drive vehicles in Dublin) in 1942. Assembled by “Rosie the Riveter” it had an estimated lifespan of 6 weeks, but will soon be replaced by a more modern vehicle due to changing emissions rules. The Dublin fleet is the last in Europe, others have been withdrawn following some accidents. While our vehicle seemed quite sea worthy, floats were attached to both sides before we entered the water. We returned to the ship about 11.

 

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The afternoon tour was a walk around central Dublin. We transferred by coach on much of the route the duck had taken, passing again 2 memorials to the 19th century famine, a “coffin ship” and a collection of statues of hungry Dubliners. We started our walk passing through Marion Square, once private gardens of the area’s lovely Georgian homes. After passing the National Gallery and seats of Parliament and the Prime Minister we stopped at a block of Georgian homes where Mark talked about the symmetry of the homes (largely enforced by the government at the time of construction). All the homes were a uniform height and all the windows got smaller as one went to higher floors.

 

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We passed St. Anne’s Church and stopped at a local pub, where drinks were included. Our final segment was a walk through Trinity College. Originally a Protestant College it is now open to all. We walked through some very nice greens and saw the old library, where the Book of Kells is on display. The library also gets a copy of every book published in the UK and Ireland. After some free time we returned to the ship about 5:25.

 

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Most people straggled into table 151 immediately after their tours. I was second to arrive at 5:35 and we had a full table at 6. Sugeng and Tri delivered entrees as they were ready and the first of us excused ourselves about 7. With all aboard at 10:30 there was no regular ship show. A local group, Ards CCE performed at 9:30. There were 10 musicians, a singer, 3 tap dancers and one other dancer, representing a school which has students of all ages, roughly primary school into adulthood. Two drummers performed a solo on an instrument which I think was described as a boron, a drum with a skin (goat) on just one side. The youngest member of the group did a very well done broom dance. This segment’s Indonesian Crew Show followed at 11. I knew from how drowsy I was between dinner and Ards CCE that I would not make that one.

 

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Today’s parting shot comes from the Ards CCE singer, a tribute to the power of music. “This brings back memories you never had”.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

As we sail North and West sunrise keeps getting earlier but I was on deck to capture the very tail end of it at 5:02. Sea days are becoming laundry days and for the first mile of my walk I had a washer busy, while the clothes dried for most of the remaining 4 miles. By 7:15 I had walked all but 2 of my 24 laps (to be finished when I went to breakfast) and my dry laundry was back in my room.

 

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It was a reasonably busy day at sea with still a bit of time for relaxing. Pastor Deb had an interdenominational worship at 9 and there was a presentation on 2016 Prinsendam itineraries at 10. At 11:30 we had the Mariners Brunch for this segment with a slightly different menu from the previous segment, and I enjoyed a quail roast.

 

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For most of the morning we had land in the distance on both sides, Northern Ireland to port and Scotland to starboard. Just after noon we slowed and partially circled the tiny island of Elsa Craig. The small, uninhabited island is 338 meters tall and an occasional quarry. It is one of 2 sources of curling stones. Curling requires a highly polished bottom surface on the stone and the high density marble on Elsa Craig is ideal for the purpose.

 

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The Environmental officer had a presentation at 2 and at 3 Brett gave his talk on our remaining Ireland ports, Killybegs, Galway, and Foynes. At 4PM we passed through a strait only about 10 miles wide, bid adieu to Scotland, and entered the North Atlantic. This was the second of 3 formal nights on the segment and we had a full table 151.

 

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The main evening entertainment was the Prinsendam Singers and Dancers in “Concerto”, a low key production that was 90% singers in traditional renditions of a variety of songs. I did get up to the Crows Nest after the show where Buddy was performing. Sunset was 10PM. I left the Crows Nest a little before that with the horizon pretty well obstructed by clouds. As of that time we are feeling the motion of the North Atlantic a little bit but it is very peaceful.

 

I’ll take my parting shot from Concerto. There were a few solos in the show and all the singers were very good, but when they sang as a group (most of the time) they were AWESOME. Life is like that too, if only we can follow through on it.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I am so enjoying cruising along via your reports. Your pictures are of quaint towns I would love to visit, and some of the remarkable sites in and around them.

 

Perhaps one day you will be able to get a shot of a sunrise over the bow of the ship? It would be fun to see that area once again. People who haven't been on the ship (or seen pics of the bow area), may be surprised how different it is from the other ships in the fleet.

Of course, that would mean the ship was aimed in the right direction.

 

Usually, when I take a shot of sunrise I am walking on the Lower Promenade Deck and the front of the ship from that level doesn’t get much of a view of the bow. I also don’t think of the Elegant Explorer’s bow as unique because it is relatively similar to that on the Crystal ships. My shot of sunset on the 8th

 

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was far forward (taken from the deck 9 “porch” and might have included the bow if I had shot from the starboard edge. Especially for those who have never been on the Elegant Explorer, these are a few shots of the Prinsendam’s bow.

 

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As opposed to other HAL ships, the bow is on the same level as the Lower Promenade Deck and is separated from the walking path only by about a 5 foot wall.

 

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With no diving boards (the little platforms tht swing out from the bow) mooring lines are cast over the side at the bow.

 

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One thing that is very different from the Crystal ships is that there the bow is universally a crew area. I was a bit surprised when we had the sailby of Elsa Craig to find that the bow was actually open. It is kind of a working area on the ship and seems like insurance regulations might discourage it.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I’m beginning to feel like the boy who cried wolf. I keep saying sunrise is getting earlier but it seems to be just up when I go our just after 5AM. Killybegs is in the northwest corner of Ireland. The main industries are fishing and production of wool. The small town gets about 12 cruise ship visits a year, and is quite compact. It is near the mouth of Donegal Bay with the larger town of Donegal about 12 miles further inland.

 

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We pulled up to the dock about 7:45. My tour, “A Stroll in Donegal Town”, met at 8:15 and by 8:30 we started our 45-minute drive up the bay on a coach, parking on the far side of town.

 

In 1474 Hugh O’Donnell proposed to his sweetheart. Her requests were not modest; she wanted him to build a castle for her and a monastery for the Franciscans. He complied with both requests, the castle in the center of town and the monastery on the outskirts. Our first stop, the monastery, took on several roles, a place of residence and service for the monks, a place of rest for travelers, and a hospice. The site was raided often and was eventually abandoned by the monks. It was used as a place of worship for many years, but apparently was destroyed in one of the area’s many wars. It is now a burial ground; I saw graves from the 19th century up to at least 2009.

 

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The Castle stayed in the O’Donnell family for about 125 years. When Britain defeated Ireland in the 9 years war O’Donnell destroyed it rather than turn it over to the enemy. The property was turned over to Sir Basil Brook who rebuilt it and expanded it about 1614. A new wing was added and other major changes were made but the property was abandoned again for several centuries. The original part of the castle was restored as a museum in the 1990's.

 

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There was about an hour of free time after the castle visit and I wandered the quaint streets of the town. There were 4 churches (our guide said the population was 75% Catholic, 15% “protestant” [Church of Ireland] and 5% each Methodist and Presbyterian). St. Patrick’s was the largest church, and several of the Catholic churches had spires that resembled gun turrets. We returned to the ship about 12:30.

 

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After a quick lunch stop it was time for a quick walk around Killybegs itself. The port is about a kilometer from the center of town and for most of the walk the shore was filled with fishing boats. Fishing is one of the mainstays of the local economy but there are annual quotas and the boats have all attained them and will be docked until September. The town was quite compact but there were a couple of hotels, shops, and Catholic and Protestant churches. The day had started out quite chilly but by noon was picture perfect. I started the day with a fleece and rain jacket, shed the jacket before entering Donegal Castle, and wore just a light shirt in Killybegs. By then it was probably about 25C.

 

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One of the local sites near the port was St. Catherine’s Well. The well is the site of an annual November 25 pilgrimage and the locals believe the “Holy Water” has curative powers.

 

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Sailaway came quite promptly at 5PM with a full house at table 151. The main evening entertainment was flute virtuoso Stephen Clark. Sunset came at 10:11, not a very special one but the angle over the bow was quite nice.

 

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This was also the evening of the Filipino Crew Show.

 

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As today’s parting shot about 25% of our crew is Filipino. By the time this gets published it will be June 12, Independence Day in the Philippines. May those on the crew and all other Filipinos have a wonderful Independence Day.

 

Roy

[kazu]

Just loving the pics and the posts. Sounds like such a marvelous itinerary.

 

I join with you in wishing a happy Independence day to the Filipinos :)

[RuthC]

As opposed to other HAL ships, the bow is on the same level as the Lower Promenade Deck and is separated from the walking path only by about a 5 foot wall.

Thanks for posting the pictures of that area, Roy. The bow area on the Prinsendam is so very different from the other HAL ships that I expect people who have not sailed on her wouldn't be able to picture what it's like there.

It is truly much more of a "working" area than the other ships appear to have.

[rafinmd]

Thanks, Jacqui and RuthC.

 

Just as the days are starting to get a bit shorter the sun does a disappearing act. On deck just after 5 I walked a couple of laps on the lower promenade deck waiting for the sun to appear but all that showed was a bit of a red band. I never did see the actual sun until almost sunset..

 

Galway is Ireland’s 4th largest city and the largest by far of our west coast ports but our only tender port in Ireland. It is also unusual in not requiring a pilot. It sits at the end of Galway Bay at the mouth of the River Corrib. We dropped our anchor about 7:45 and began tendering about 8AM.

 

My tour left at 9, a visit to the Allwee Caves. The 1 ½ mile tender ride was about 20 minutes and our bus took basically an industrial route away from the port and embarked on about an hour’s journey around the end of Galway Bay. Our route took us through an area know as”the Burren”, a rocky topography used mostly for grazing with numerous stone fences.

 

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Our cave tour lasted about a half hour, following a pretty well developed trail that had a few places with low ceilings. There was ample light for walking but not so much for photography. It seems that under lower light conditions most people automatically go to flash which may not be a good idea. I tried most of my photos both with and without flash with mixed results. Most pictures did not turn out either way, a few were better with flash and some without. One waterfall was particularly striking; it came out pretty well without flash but very poorly with.

 

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In our 1/3 mile journey we saw nice examples of flowstone, stalactites, and stalagmites. Our guide explained that the caves were discovered in 1940 but the owner kept them a secret for 40 years.

 

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After the tour there was time for coffee and a scone, and some other exhibits were available on the property.

 

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We returned to the pier about 1. There was really no information at the dock and no marked route into town but the distance turned out to be very short. In it’s early days Galway was a walled city; most of the wall is gone but one arch remains from 1584.

 

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Much of the core of the city is a pedestrian zone with lots of small shops and a large grassy square. The Cathedral was a bit outside my walk area but the Protestant (Church of Ireland) church was open and had a lovely stained glass window and organ, and there was a Methodist-Presbyterian church as well. I returned to the ship about 4.

 

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The last tender was at 5:30 and at dinner we had some difficulty determining if we were moving or not. Captain Roberts came on the PA at 7 with an update that we would stay anchored until 10 due to the short distance we have until Foynes. A cocktail reception was held for Collectors Cruise guests in the Crows Nest at 7:30 and at 8 we were entertained by Matthew Dowden, a magic show with a Hollywood Movie theme including some singing and dancing.

 

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After hiding the whole day the sun made a brief appearance through the clouds about 9:45 before setting at 10. I was in bed soon afterwards.

 

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I’ll take today’s parting shot from last night’s closing. From the dates mentioned Independence and Democracy for the Philippines were 2 separate events. At the close of each Filipino Crew show the story of Democracy is told ad the action of the people and the power of love without a single shot being fired. This has happened several times in recent history with Ghandi as another prime example. May the worlds leaders do as well.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Sunrise is starting to get a bit later but the clouds allowed only a small slit to show. Foynes is about 20 miles up the River Shannon and we started our river cruise around 6:30. I started my 2-mile walk about that time and by the end of the walk we were approaching the narrows, a very narrow channel that we wanted to pass as the tide was receding so that we would be going against the tidal current. Our dock was just past the narrows, on sort of a side channel where the main channel went on the other side of a small island.

 

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Foynes is about 20 miles downstream from the larger town of Limerick, and I had a walking tour there. About 30 of us boarded a coach around 9 to transfer to Limerick, where we divided into 2 groups for the walk after driving by St. Mary’s Cathedral.

 

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Limerick sits at the junction of the Shannon and Abbey Rivers. The limit of modern navigation is about a mile downstream from where we walked, small boats can sail both rivers at Limerick with a dam protecting the water levels in the Abbey and a lock at the downstream bridge we crossed. There are pedestrian walks on each side of the river. While the river looked quite low to us it is subject to flooding and a couple of the small waterside parks we passed had slots for a gate to contain the water in flood times. Near the upstream bridge we passed the “Treaty Stone”, a marker to commemorate a treaty between 2 English kings after a war that occurred in the area The treaty was broken almost immediately.

 

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Across the river from the Treaty Stone sat King John’s Castle. It looked formidable from across the river but the land side the central portion was missing and the 2 ends were joined by a modern glass structure. The walk ended at “The Locke”, a local pub where beverages of our choice were served. The walk did not go into Limerick’s business district but from the bus it looked very reminiscent of Galway. We returned to Foynes a little after 1.

 

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Foynes seems to be just a sleepy little town but it has it’s place in history. The “Flying Boat Museum” sat just a couple hundred yards from the dock. Foynes was the prime landing spot in Ireland in the days of flying boats, from roughly the 30's until WW2. The museum is in the original terminal for the flying boats, although the control tower has been recently recreated. A mockup of the Yankee Clipper, a Boeing Flying Boat is on the property and open for “boarding”. Otherwise, Foynes is a pretty quiet small town. I did go into the grocery store and got distracted by some very nice raspberries. It’s not like I need more food on the Prinsendam but they were just too good to pass up.

 

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We had a bit of sailaway drama. The planned all aboard time was 4:30 and people started leaving the ship a little after 8. Captain Tim came on the PA about 8:35 and said the pilots had requested (insisted) that it be moved up to 4:00 to get out with a favorable tide. There were some long tours and we had buses arriving well past 4. At 4:15 the Captain said we needed to leave immediately once the current bus had left it’s passengers. One more bus was on the way and it arrived as we pulled away from the dock. At 4:30 we were midway through the narrows. We continued just over a mile downstream to a slackwater area and dropped a tender to return for the last of our passengers. The explanation given was that winds can affect the timing of tides and the winds that day were moving the ebb tide earlier than expected. We had all passengers on board about 5:20 and were on our way for good about 5:40.

 

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The evening entertainment (other than the sailaway drama) was slide pianist Judy Carmichael. We lost an hour (my last lost hour of the trip) as we returned to Netherlands time. Sunset was at 10PM but it was as cloudy as in the morning.

 

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As today’s parting shot, June 14 is 2 special birthdays. Our flag was adopted in 1777; my brother was born many years later. Happy Birthday, Roger, and if you’re in the US today is a special day to display your flag.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

I have updated my limited view cabins site with photos taken in front of the lower promenade deck limited view cabin windows:

 

https://limitedviewcabins.wordpress.com/prinsendam/

 

Similar information is on the unnamed dotcom site with facts about HAL cabins.

 

I also noticed a 2-week gap in the Prinsendam schedule. The 2016 Grand Med ends May 5 and the transatlantic begins May 19. It seems a bit long to be a drydock but that seems like the most plausible explanation.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Well, sunrise today was a lot later than in the recent past but still hidden by clouds. Between the hour we lost overnight and our travel south it moved from about 5:15 to 6:25, but all I ever saw was a little red band along the horizon. Laundry on sea days seems to be becoming standard, but this time most of the finished product got set aside for packing. My morning walk was only 3 miles (due to the later group walk) and at the end the dryer was only finished.

 

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There was not really a lot on my schedule. We had an interdenominational worship service with communion at 9 and that was about it for what became a relaxing morning. Captain Tim’s 1PM update indicated we should have favorable conditions for and at our next port of Le Havre, and the sea all day was quite calm. On Deck for a Cause was at 2, and the weather was a bit windy and chilly but a 100% improvement over what we had on the last segment. It was still chilly enough that I was glad to have purchased an XXL T-shirt on the last segment that I could wear over my fleece and jacket. The event was run without blaring music on the outer decks and the cookies and hot chocolate at the end were well appreciated.

 

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Brett had his talk on our remaining ports of call at 3:30. I have a private tour in Le Havre and have decided not to make any commitments in Zeebrugge. While there is nothing at the port there is a free shuttle into Blannkenberge with train service to Brugge and Ghent. Some tours to Ghent looked interesting but I don’t want to make a big time commitment on the final day.

 

We had a full house at table 151. One of our members was on the final bus to board the ship at the dock and she said she was quite surprised to see the ship leaving so quickly. Apparently word of our early departure had not reached her tour guides.

 

The evening entertainment was the Prinsendam Singers and Dancers in “Stage and Screen”, great songs from West End, Broadway, and the Movies. It was totally enjoyable. Dusk (10:20, just before bed time) was a little better than dawn, but not much.

 

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Today’s parting shot concerns the Prinsendam itself. It is probably the oldest ship I have sailed multiple times but I’ve found it the best I’ve ever seen it. I loved the ship 4 years ago despite some problems with leaks under canvas in the aft seating area and an aft upper deck made nearly unusable by a messed up miniature golf course. Two years later these issues were fixed and I loved the ship even more despite buckets controlling a few persistent water leaks. I know there are some continuing problems with the cabins added 8 or so years ago, but other than one frayed carpet I could find nothing wrong on the ship. Some old ships just get better with age.

 

Roy

[kazu]

thanks for more great reports Roy.

 

nice to hear your comments on the Prinsendam's condition. all good news :)

[RuthC]

The event was run without blaring music on the outer decks ...

If only the rest of the fleet would take up this practice! I used to love to sit on the promenade and cheer the walkers on, but can't do that anymore. That awful music, blasted loud enough to wake the dead, would drive anyone inside.

 

Thanks for your continuing reports. You mentioned packing---are you taking another cruise now, or heading home?

[cruiseclues]

Thank you for sharing your adventure. :):):):)

[rafinmd]

Thank you cruiseclues.

 

The morning started out windy and a bit chilly and never changed much. I walked about a mile, ending when the sun should have risen but it was totally missing. I returned to my room for a while but before I knew it (about 6:15) the port was right outside my window. I walked an additional mile as we approached and tied up to the dock.

 

LeHavre is a pretty ugly port. The cruise terminal is nearly surrounded by oil tanks and there seemed to be a smell. The AIDAbella tied up across the dock from us.

 

There was a shuttle bus into town but I had signed on with a private tour arranged through my Cruise Critic Roll Call. 8 of us met at 8:30 and were greeted by Dominique who was driving a Renault minivan for a tour of sites related to D-Day. LeHavre is a HUGE container port and we drove for about 12km before we even cleared the port. It was about 90 minutes until we reached our first stop, Omaha Beach after crossing the Seine which looks much different here than in Paris.

 

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The Germans had fortified the entire coast but the ports were especially hardened. That did not mean that invading the beaches was easy. They were mined, obstacles placed in the water, and gun bunkers covered the entire beach front. The invasion was originally set for full moon, just past low tide on June 5, 1944 but was delayed for a day due to the weather.

 

Omaha Beach itself looks like a pretty normal beach but the German bunker remains uphill behind us. The guns were set to fire laterally across the beach making access extremely difficult.

 

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Our next stop was the American Cemetery, just a few miles away. There are about 9300 people buried there and a memorial wall honors about 3,000 missing in action. A handful of these people have been recovered and a little dot marks those names.

 

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There is a small chapel in the middle of the graves and an vantage point looks out onto Omaha Beach.

 

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Our next stop was the village of Saint-Mere-Eglise. It was one of several drop zones for paratroopers who were to take the western part of the beach where there were cliffs and mount an attack on the Germans from behind. This village was chosen because it was one of the critical intersections for moving troops and supplies although the intersection seems tiny and insignificant by today’s standards. A sign at a plot of land there identifies it as a former American cemetary Right after the war there were 9 American cemeteries.. About 30,000 lost their lives in the invasion, 2/3 were returned to the US and the remaining graves were all consolidated in the single cemetary.

 

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The key feature of the town is the church. In the attack one of the paratroopers, John Steele, had his chute caught in the bell tower and a mannequin hanging on the church recalls the incident. Steele was eventually cut down and captured by the Germans and taken prisoner. He escaped 3 days later and continued fighting. The first paratrooper to arrive, Robert Murphy, has a street named in his honor.

 

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The church is still an active place of worship. Two stained glass windows have been installed, recalling the events of D-Day. When I entered the church, Bach’s Toccata in D was playing, presumably recorded on the church’s lovely organ.

 

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Leaving Saint-Mere-Eglise we visited some small monuments, 2 to a party of paratroopers that eliminated a gun position overlooking the beach, and a WW1 monument in a small town that had been updated to r\reflect WW2. We returned to the ship about 5:35 and sailed about 7:15.

 

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The evening entertainment was a repeat performance by flautist Stephen Clark. I skipped it and spent time both with Buddy in the Crows Nest and Adagio in the Explorers Lounge. Sunset was a little after 10 and was about the most we saw of the sun all day.

 

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Today’s parting shot is stolen/borrowed from a past trip in 2013. It comes from the Casabari Rock Gardens in Aruba and while it doesn’t exactly fit the talk about hallowed ground and sentiments seemed to fit as a dedication to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Normandy:

 

“Pause friend and read before you enter here. This old stone wall encloses hallowed ground. Here in a mellowed garden dream away the years steeped in serene, sweet light and muted sound. Here in tranquility peace abounds.

 

For God walks here at cool of evening tide.

 

Pause, friend, and strip from out your heart all vanity, all bitterness, all haste.

Quench for this hour the fewer of your fears. Then, treading softly pass with-in this gate, there, where the ancient trees wait, hushed and dim. May you find God and walk awhile with Him."

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

thanks for more great reports Roy.

 

nice to hear your comments on the Prinsendam's condition. all good news :)

 

Thank you and congratulations on 30,000 posts.

 

If only the rest of the fleet would take up this practice! I used to love to sit on the promenade and cheer the walkers on, but can't do that anymore. That awful music, blasted loud enough to wake the dead, would drive anyone inside.

 

Thanks for your continuing reports. You mentioned packing---are you taking another cruise now, or heading home?

 

I can pretty much tune out the music but it’s MUCH more pleasant without it.

 

This is the end of my current string of cruises, and while on the Prinsendam my immediate plans have changed a lot.

 

I was due to be on the Maasdam Boston to Montreal August 15, take the train to New Brunswick and connect with Blount’s Grand Caribe back to Portland. My Grand Caribe cruise was cancelled and they substituted the reverse itinerary starting August 13, but there was no way I could combine that with any of the Maasdam’s offerings..

 

I have 2 October transatlanntics, QM2 and Allure OTS with a week in between that I’m stll working on. The other biggie is Crystal Symphony to Antarctia in January. My next HAL cruise is now the Veendam to Bermuda in May.

 

Roy

[sagavista]

Thank you for your wonderful account of your D-day tour. Every time I visit this area I leave with a sadness in my heart for the brave soldiers who gave their life for freedom.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Thanks for sharing your Prinsendam cruise with the rest of us.

I'm so happy to read your accounts and especially that the Prinsendam is still good.

[kazu]

Oh my Roy, I remember when we were there. It was a very, very moving experience. I had no idea it would touch me to the extent that it did and it is one of the memories that will never go away.

 

I totally understand your post.

[RuthC]

So sorry to see this adventure coming to an end, but I know it must.

Thanks, once more, for taking us along.

 

Now I can look forward to the next one! :D

[rafinmd]

Thank you, St Pete Cruiser, sagavista, Jacqui, and RuthC.

I started my final full day on the Prinsendam with a 3-mile walk. There were clouds near the horizon, but the sun did make an appearance just a bit past official sunrise. We had a bit of a late arrival, picking up the pilot at 8 and pulling up to the dock at 10.

 

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Zeebrugge is an industrial port and we were not allowed to even walk away from the ship. The port provided a shuttle that went just to the port gate and a Holland America shuttle went to the train station at the nearby town of Blankenberge. Zeebrugge itself is a sleepy little town. We drove through it on the Holland America shuttle and there was a church, a couple of stores, and a small maritime museum with a submarine and light ship to tour, all about a half mile from the port gate.

 

I opted for the Holland America shuttle. On arrival I had about a 30 minute wait for my 11:42 train to Ghent and walked around the shopping area a bit. There were at least 2 churches midtown, one with a very imposing steeple.

 

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The ride into Ghent was about 50 minutes through very pleasant looking farmland. I walked around Ghent a bit but did not want to be too long and didn’t find the map very helpful, so I only stayed about 50 minutes. I was glad I had left a lot of time because the train would split in Brugges, with half returning to Blankenberge and the rest to a different town. As it was, I did find the correct car on the train, but being early relieved a lot of potential stress. I reboarded the Elegant Explorer for the final time (at least for this trip) about 3.

 

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Dinner was a time of sad farewells. 3 from table 151 are leaving while the remaining 5 have 2 weeks left. Sugeng is headed home to his family. There was a cast chat at 8 with a tour backstage. I skipped the finale of Dancing with the Stars but spent a few minutes with Adagio in the Explorers Lounge before calling it a night.

 

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Today’s parting shot originates from an email I received while still on the Crystal Serenity. While I spent my working life as an actuary, sometimes basic arithmetic escapes me. I have been retired for 8 years now, after 42 years with the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Chief Actuary. Only after an email from a former colleague did it occur to me to put those together and come up with a total of 50 years that the office staff has been part of my “family”. Social Security will celebrate it’s 80th anniversary soon (8/14) and as part of the celebration my colleagues will have a softball game on June 17. Best wishes to the OCACT softball team and happy 80th anniversary, Social Security.

 

Roy

[Ine]

Thanks for all your reports and photos.

Now it seems it is time to go home? Have a safe trip.

[olson99]

While I did not post much, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts and seeing your pictures, especially as I board the Elegant Explorer today for 28 days.

Paula

[kazu]

Sorry to hear that it's your final full day as that means that all this fabulous reporting will soon come to an end.

 

Thanks for taking us along on the Elegant Explorer Roy and for sharing so many wonderful moments with us.

 

Safe travels to you on your journey home.

[rafinmd]

Thank you Ine and Jacqui. Paula, wishing you a wonderful cruise.

 

I was a little slow getting on deck and the sun was still low but definitely risen at 5:25. By the time I finished my mile and a half walk the coast was quite visible looking forward, and the pilot was just coming onboard.

 

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After my morning omelet I finished organizing my little daypack, and it was nearly time to leave. My tour was called almost precisely at the predicted time of 7:45.

 

If I had flown on Wednesday I would need to make a choice. Either I would be rushed to attempt an 11AM flight out of Amsterdam or would be rushed to make a tight connection in London. I opted instead to stay in Amsterdam and fly home Thursday. HAL offered a morning tour that ended at the airport.

 

The Netherlands (Holland is a part of the Netherlands) is a very low country laced with many little canals and rivers. People started using windmills around 1600 for many purposes, including pumping stations to control the level of the canals and rivers. The Netherlands gets about 300 windy days per year, a problem if flooding occurs on one of the other 60 days. When steam power became practical in the early 19th century, the days of the windmills were numbered.

From 1000 windmills in their heyday, the number was reduced to about 20 by 1920. Many of the remaining windmills have been collected in a museum on the Zaan (as in Zaandam) River.

 

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We spent about an hour in the sprawling complex where the biggest attraction was a paint windmill that is open for visits. We walked on the actual windmill level where a large wheel allows the operator to swivel the mill to face into the wind, and stood next to the huge blades. The operating windmill turned huge wooden gears which powered a grinding wheel where materials were finely ground to be used as pigments in paint. Casks of the finished product were on display. I saw the gears turn about a quarter turn, but the wind or the mill were not really cooperating.

 

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There were picturesque houses on the opposite shore of the Zaan, and there were other things on the property including a shop where wooden shoes are made.

 

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Leaving the museum we had about a half hour drive to the small village of Edam. It is a picturesque little town with quiet streets and canals running through town. Many of the streets cross a small canal on drawbridges, our guide told us if a boat needs to pass, there are no bridge control houses but a man on a bicycle rides from bridge to bridge raising them as necessary. One of the canals also had a small lock.

 

 

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One church seemed a bit odd. The steeple looked huge in comparison to the roofline next to it. I only saw the upper levels of the building so a lower story may have been bigger but it sure looked odd.

 

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Near the end of our walk we passed a cheese shop and the local weekly market.

 

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Time management became an issue as some people were late at the windmill museum and a woman fell in Edam and needed the guide’s assistance getting back to the bus. Our driver assured us Amsterdam was an efficient airport and everyone would be fine. We left Edam an hour late and had another delay at the tunnel on the way to the airport. Fortunately I was fine, and might not even have had a room ready at the hotel if we had been on schedule.

 

I am booked at the airport’s Holiday Inn. It’s not ideal as the shuttle is infrequent and awkward and there isn’t much around it but I probably need a quiet night anyway. It was a sunny day but turned cloudy around 5 and as of 9:30 it seems to be raining.

 

I’ll go cheap on a parting shot today. News was somewhat spotty and I just heard at last night’s dinner, congratulations to the Golden State Warriors.

 

Roy