Live from the Prinsendam September 2 - 30, 2018

[erewhon]

Enjoying your reports.

Pleased that you got the Future Cruise Deposits correctly.

[Alberta Quilter]

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Portland, England

We actually woke up before the alarm, mostly because the ship was obviously docking. The azipods were working and there was noise and vibrations running through the cabin.

I had a quick shower before our room service breakfast arrived at 7 am. We had booked a private tour for Portland - a tour of the Jurassic Coast of Dorset. The tour was not inexpensive but neither are the ship tours. This tour was soooo much better than an ship tour; it was amazing. We booked with Daren of Dorset Day Tours. Daren picked us up right by the gangway of the ship. Other independent pax, even those on other private tours, had to take the free shuttle through the port area that ran to Portland Castle and Weymouth Town Centre.

What was interesting is that I booked with Daren directly and he advised we would be joining two other couples from the ship but he did not give me names. The other two couples were not given our names, either. Two of them turned out to be CC friends with whom we've been playing trivia! The other couple was one of the couples with whom we toured in Dublin. So, we all "knew" each other, which was very lucky!

We had a great day (I may even be off of probation, now!)! Daren drove us around Dorset in his VW Van, Snowy. The tour started as soon as we left the port because there are two concrete floating "bunkers" (bunkers is not the correct term; we can't remember what the correct term is!) that were used in D-Day in Normandy. They were floated back to England after the war ended. We drove first to Durdle Door which is a natural stone arch in the ocean. Then we went to Lulworth Cove which is a picturesque cove not far from Durdle Door. We saw two huge chalk figures in the hillsides, one was purported to be King George on a horse, and the other is the Rude Man of Cerne. (He is called the Rude Man because he is naked and anatomically correct.) We saw the Roman Townhouse in Dorchester. We saw many thatched cottages; Dorset County has more thatched cottages than any other county in England. We went to Corfe where we had lunch looking at the ruins of Corfe Castle. We saw so much, I can't even remember it all! The weather was perfect; we actually saw the sun today for most of the day. While we've had fairly dry weather so far through the cruise, it has been cloudy most of the time.

We were dropped off at the ship shortly after 4 pm so it was a full day of touring. DM read for a bit before dinner while I typed up some of my reports. Dinner was a little bizarre tonight. Our tablemates had requested an expedited dinner because they wanted to see our sailaway. There was a band playing down on the pier as a special goodbye to us. There was also a three "gun" salute with a cannon. And this is what was bizarre - the soldiers kept practicing their gun salute (without actually firing the cannon) for over an hour. I ran out to the Promenade deck shortly after arriving for dinner to video the cannon firing. After about 15 minutes, I gave up and went in for dinner. They finally fired the cannon three times as we were pulling away from the pier after 6:30. I left the table again, just as dessert was being served to watch the cannon. I must have jumped 5 feet when the cannon went off the first time; I'm sure the video I took will reflect that!!

We took it easy this evening. I went up to puzzle for a little while but I'm not overly interested in the current puzzle. DM watched a movie while I posted my reports, sent emails, checked the news, etc. A quiet evening before going to bed.

 

[POA1]

All caught up. Great reporting!

[kazu]

I'm glad that you have been reinstated as a great travel director ;)

 

Alberta Quilter, if you don't mind me asking...you will soon be at your turnaround day I think?

 

Could you let us know if you have to go the muster drill on turnaround day? thanks :)

[Alberta Quilter]

I'm glad that you have been reinstated as a great travel director ;)

 

Alberta Quilter, if you don't mind me asking...you will soon be at your turnaround day I think?

 

Could you let us know if you have to go the muster drill on turnaround day? thanks :)

 

Day after tomorrow is our turnaround day (Sunday). Yes, we do have to the muster drill again. We got the turnaround information yesterday with our in-transit cards and it says the muster drill is mandatory for all guests.

[kazu]

Day after tomorrow is our turnaround day (Sunday). Yes, we do have to the muster drill again. We got the turnaround information yesterday with our in-transit cards and it says the muster drill is mandatory for all guests.

 

thanks kindly :)

 

Looks like things haven't changed. Much appreciated that you took the time to reply.

 

And I really appreciate the info.

 

Many thanks again for taking the time to help :D

[erewhon]

Thanks for your report.

 

We stayed a couple of nights at Lulworth Cove several years ago.

[smokesmom]

I am enjoying your report. We have booked the 14 day Scotland/Ireland trip for June 2019 (the 2nd to the last sailing of the Prinsendam).

 

Would you tell me the name of the shuttle service from the airport to the Banks Mansion that you pre-booked? We are staying there pre- and post-cruise.

 

Thank you.

[Alberta Quilter]

I am enjoying your report. We have booked the 14 day Scotland/Ireland trip for June 2019 (the 2nd to the last sailing of the Prinsendam).

 

Would you tell me the name of the shuttle service from the airport to the Banks Mansion that you pre-booked? We are staying there pre- and post-cruise.

 

Thank you.

 

Here's a link to the website for the shuttle: https://www.schipholhotelshuttle.nl/

 

We thought it was good and was recommended by Ine on Western Europe forum of CC.

[smokesmom]

Here's a link to the website for the shuttle: https://www.schipholhotelshuttle.nl/

 

We thought it was good and was recommended by Ine on Western Europe forum of CC.

 

I appreciate this information!

[Been There, Planning That]

Your mum, Alberta Quilter is quite the trouper. May she be able to 'troup' for years to come.

 

Ruth

[Merry Cerena]

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise experience. We were considering booking a Prisendam cruise after Christmas. The last 2 Holland ships we were on had eliminated the Neptunes in the Ocean Bar and the DJ in the Crow's Nest. Can you tell me if Prisendam still has dancing in those 2 areas? If they do not, we have to look for another line. Thanks!

Thanks!

[Alberta Quilter]

Thank you so much for sharing your cruise experience. We were considering booking a Prisendam cruise after Christmas. The last 2 Holland ships we were on had eliminated the Neptunes in the Ocean Bar and the DJ in the Crow's Nest. Can you tell me if Prisendam still has dancing in those 2 areas? If they do not, we have to look for another line. Thanks!

Thanks!

 

Yes to the Ocean Bar, at least for the past cruise. I just left the Ocean Bar and a singer was setting up with the band. That seems to be new for this segment. I'll keep you posted.

 

I don't know about the Crow's Nest but I think not. They have the piano guy up there and he wasn't playing what I would consider dance music when I heard him last night.

[Alberta Quilter]

Your mum, Alberta Quilter is quite the trouper. May she be able to 'troup' for years to come.

 

Ruth

 

Thanks, Ruth. She kinda hit her nadir today so we shall see if we need to change things up for this segment. She's going to take tomorrow morning off from touring.

[Alberta Quilter]

Sorry, I know I'm behind again - just having too much fun! I'll get caught up in a few days...

Friday, September 14, 1018

St. Peter Port, Gurnsey, England

The azipods and vibrations woke me up again this morning. We had a quick breakfast in the Lido, prior to our HAL tour in Guernsey.

Today, continuing with DM's desire to see English gardens, we booked the Guernsey Horticultural and Garden Tour. We had to tender to Guernsey, a short tender ride but it was challenging getting on the tender from the ship as the tender kept bobbing up and down. Fortunately, the crew are there to assist you so everyone gets safely on and off the tender.

We were first taken to the Freesia Centre. They grow thousands of freesias for shipping by post to the mainuland. It was a short visit but we were able to purchase some freesias for our cabin. At first we weren't going to buy any because they were 15 GBP for a bouquet. Don't get me wrong, the bouquet was large but that's almost $30 to us! Then he offered me a bouquet of "crooked" stemmed freesias for 3 GBP; we got 16 stems of freesias! That was a much better deal!! They should last us until well into the next segment. We also found some worthy souvenirs to take home with us.

We then drove around the island a wee bit. Even though it wasn't on the tour, we were able to stop at The Little Chapel that one man built. He actually built it a couple of times, this last version in the 1920's. It is covered in broken china, much of it from Wedgewood, similar to Gaudi's benches in Park Guell in Barcelona. DM lost her filter on this tour! She walked up to the chapel and just as she entered, she gasped and said rather loudly OMG (not in a very nice way, if you catch my drift)! It does look a little garish but still... I quietly asked her to keep her thoughts to herself as our guide obviously loved the place. She said it just slipped out! Anyway, it was nice that they managed to include this stop on our tour; I'm glad we got to see it (even if we didn't like it very much). It certainly took a fair bit of work and time to create and is a great use of broken china. Recycling at it's best.

From there, we went to Candie Gardens. I'm not sure if we just visited late in the season, or if the heat earlier in the season did some damage to the plants or what, but it wasn't terribly impressive. The views were lovely but the gardens were just meh. Maybe we've seen too many nicer ones on this cruise, like Alnwick and Powerscourt. We only had 45 minutes there and the guide talked for quite a bit of it. She asked us to stay with her for about 10 minutes before wandering. We left after about 15 minutes and she was still nattering away and showing pictures. We wandered about but the gardens aren't that big so it didn't really take long to see them. They weren't terribly well maintained, either. So, we went the gift shop and purchased some postcards and a stamp so I could send a Guernsey stamp to my friend.

On the way back to the ship, some of us got off along the waterfront so we could poke in some shops. We contemplated having lunch there but DM was turned off when she saw one menu offering "Half fresh caught Lobster salad". She thought if it was half fresh, she didn't want it! I tell you, she's getting punchy as the cruise gets on! I didn't push eating there because of the prices!

We managed to mail the postcard before going back to the ship. There were two mailboxes, one for mail within the "bailiwick" (comprising of the Channel Islands) and one for "other destinations". Who knew that's where "bailiwick" came from?!

We returned to the ship; the tender didn't bob quite so much on the return. After getting our freesias into water (we bring a flat, moldable vase that I keep in my accordian folder for all the paperwork), we went and had fish and chips in the Lido. Much better price than the Guernsey pub with the half fresh lobster!

DM had a short rest and I went up to the Library to puzzle until it was time for trivia. We lost again. On port days, Team Trivia is held at 4 pm which coincides with Happy Hour in the Ocean Bar. Well, I suggested to DM that she stock up on beer 1) before the next cruise starts and there is more general chaos and 2) while I was there to carry it for her. So, she called over the beverage steward and ordered six Grolsch. Now, no one heard her actually place her order. One of our team mates almost dropped his teeth when the steward brought over a large bucket full of six beer and ice! It looked like DM was about to party hearty!! Of course, I'm the one that has to carry this abomination to our cabin; thankfully, it had a handle. One couple we passed commented that they knew where there was going to be a party. I responded by saying it was all DM's. Our team mate overheard all this and yelled down from another floor that I wasn't lying. We were able to get most but not all of the beer into the cooler. The remainder will go in as the cold ones are consumed.

Dinner was quite good; both DM and I had Sole Meunière. The Chef even came around to inquire how we liked it. They have had some fresh fish on this cruise and it's been very good. The DRM keeps telling us he caught it while we were on tour!

The entertainment tonight was the Singers and Dancers doing another show that appeared to be concentrating on Dance. We did not go; we're not fond of the dance portion of these shows. DM went to Adagio which she has really enjoyed on this cruise, and I went and puzzled for a little while. While the show was in full force, I did go to the Front Office to ask them to review my account as I didn't think I got the refund for our cancelled Canaletto dinner from earlier in the cruise. They will look into it. I haven't checked the account as yet.

Still a fabulous cruise...

 

[john2003]

No Azipods. Just thrusters and traditional propellers and rudders. Glad you are both having a really good time.

 

Sent from my LG-H812 using Forums mobile app

[kazu]

Great reports AQ :)

 

It was nice of them to include the chapel for you. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I think it's a "must see".

 

Congrats on the flower purchase. Always so nice to have flowers in the room from a port. :)

 

LOL at your bucket of beer story. Too funny :)

[Alberta Quilter]

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Dover, England

We had decided a long time ago that today we would go to Canterbury to see Canterbury Cathedral. The HAL tour was only 4 hours for $90/person and travel time one way was about half an hour. We wanted a longer time than that in Canterbury. While our main focus was the Cathedral, we also wanted to poke about Canterbury itself.

So, I looked into doing on our own. I opted for a taxi to the train station, train to Canterbury, and walk ten minutes to the Cathedral and then do all that in reverse on the way back. So, last night, I confirmed the train times and we figured out when we would have to leave the ship to have enough time to get our train tickets and get to the train station. That all went to he** in a hand basket when we talked to the taxi lady! She suggested that we take a taxi all the way into Canterbury for 35 GBP (I had figured the train was going to cost us 34 GBP one way). DM's eyes lit up at the mention of the taxi so how could I say no? It really was a very easy way to go and probably the right thing to do. The taxi driver dropped us off at the end of High Street and told us where to turn to get to the Cathedral. The only thing was that we were now a little too early. We had planned to do the 10:30 guided tour of the Cathedral but had an hour and a half to kill before that. We walked the length of High Street to the gate at the other end. On the way back, we found the Visitor Information that we had missed on our first pass. We picked up a map and walked to the Cathedral. We passed at least two HAL tour groups along the way.

We got to the Cathedral and paid the entry fee (24 GBP for the two of us). The 10:30 guided tour would be another 9 GBP. We opted not to wait for that. Instead, we found that there were audio guides for 7 GBP. That worked well for us, we could hear the guide and we could go at our own pace. There was a map; the Cathedral is so large, one needs a map!!! We did get turned around a time or two but managed to get back on track. It's a wonderful Cathedral. I think I like it because many of the other churches I've seen have been so gilded and over the top that they really turn me off. This Cathedral was so much simpler and plainer. It really is very nice. We followed the audio guide in and out, saw where Thomas a Becket was murdered, went down into the Crypt which is huge! Basically, we had almost free run of the place; nothing was closed today. Afterwards, we sat in a little park created by the Friends of the Cathedral, under the largest oak tree I've ever seen, to rest up a bit. We then wandered in the back of the Cathedral and found the Cathedral herb garden. DM checked that out carefully. The shortest way to get back was to cut through the Cathedral and go out the exit (again).

We stopped first in the Cathedral gift shop to buy some postcards. Then, as we found our way back to the High Street, we stopped in a pub for lunch. I had a beef, ale and mushroom pie (which was huge) and DM had pulled ham hock and piccalilli relish of sort. DM's was cold; mine was hot but both were good.

Since I had another postcard for my friend, I had to get a stamp. We had seen the post office sign right by where we were dropped off by the taxi driver so that's where we went. Well, the post office was on the second floor of a WH Smith bookstore. Not only did they sell stamps, they also were a foreign exchange outlet. The lineup was huge, about 20 people before me. And they only had two clerks, one of whom stopped serving people to do other duties. It took forever! Then the first clerk returned to serving people and the second one stopped. Some patrons were quick about their business, some took a little longer. Anyway, after about 20/25 minutes, I got my stamp and left the postcard with the clerk to mail. Thank heavens we had plenty of time.

The taxi driver picked us up promptly at 2 pm and we had a fairly quick, uneventful drive back to Dover. We opted to go back to the ship as we were a little tired.

After a little rest, we met our team mates for Team Trivia. We lost. What a shock, eh? I can't remember what we had for dinner, sorry about that. I'm sure it was really good, though. The meals have been really good and they've been hot, too! Well, I mean the hot dishes have been hot, instead of lukewarm.

Tonight's entertainment was a Variety Show comprising of the last three performers. We didn't go so I can't tell you how it was. DM read in the Library while I and some others started a new jigsaw puzzle. We got all the pieces sorted, got the edge together and then I did one section. We got quite a bit of it done. A good start for the next segment...

 

I will admit to feeling quite smug about all those poor people who had to pack and get their luggage out and we didn't. I know I'll pay for that in two weeks...

[Alberta Quilter]

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Turnaround Day

We took it somewhat easy today. We couldn't sleep in because the MDR was only open for breakfast until 8:30 am. We got there at 8:15! After breakfast, we got ready to go. The crew has so much to do, we think it's just easier to get out of their way and disembark, even though we didn't really have to leave the ship.

We opted to do the HOHO bus today. I didn't see any tourist representatives in the terminal building to offer any information so we walked to Centraal Station. There we found a company selling HOHO passes. We opted to buy a combo bus/boat pass. We also found that they had a stop on two routes for the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA - the cruise terminal). We rode the entire bus route first then we changed to the boat at the first stop and rode that in it's entirety, too. We were going to hop off at the Albert Cuyp stop (there's a market nearby that I wanted to go to) but they told us the market was closed on Sundays so we stayed on. It's really amazing how exhausting sitting on a bus or boat and being driven around can be!! We were both really tired. After returning to our starting point on the boat, we opted to stay on to the next stop which was closest to the PTA.

DM had a rest and I went up to work on the puzzle. Well, I thought I would work on the puzzle. Imagine my dismay when I found the puzzle table was totally cleared. Someone had taken the trays of sorted pieces and dumped them back into the box; they had taken apart the pieces we had put together and put those in the box, too. I would have liked to have seen my face. Frankly, I nearly cried. Then I pulled up my panties, opened the box and started sorting! I later found out that the staff clean up the puzzle at the end of every cruise. With so many of us doing the next segment, I was a little surprised that they would do this but who said life is fair. This is where I really miss the librarian because he/she either would have warned us that this would happen or would have known that some of us were carrying on with the cruise and may have left the partial puzzle intact.

There were only two of us at dinner tonight. We went a little early and asked for a quick dinner because we wanted to go to the movie at 6:30. Well, of course, it being the first night for many people, it was a little chaotic. We're in the forward dining room which is used for fixed seating and some people needed directing to the aft dining room which is used for both open and fixed seating. I think it helped our servers to get our meals quickly so that they could explain things to the newbies. They were so quick I was actually done my entree at 5:45! So we had dessert and lingered a bit before leaving at 6:15 for the movie.

We saw Kidnapping Mr. Heineken, starring Anthony Hopkins as Freddy Heineken. It was the inside storey of the planning, execution and aftermath of the kidnappers of Mr. Heineken which resulted in the largest ransom ever paid for an individual. It was okay. The moral of the story is, of course, that crime doesn't pay.

Afterwards, we went up the Crow's Nest to see us going through the Canal. The Konigsdam had, again, left before us but we couldn't see her progress through the canal as we did last time. It was quite a bit darker two weeks later so once we got in the lock, we really couldn't see anything. I returned to the puzzle and DM went to bed.

 

[Alberta Quilter]

Monday, September 17, 2018

Vlissingen, The Netherlands

Antwerp, Belgium

HAL has changed our port times for this segment. I guess the notification was sent via email about a week or so ago. I heard about it on the CC Roll Call (since I don't have access to that email account while travelling). Those of us onboard were not notified until Friday or Saturday. According to our notification, the change was due to tidal conditions. The changes affect our port times in Vlissingen, Antwerp and Rouen.

Our time in Vlissingen was cut short by an hour. There aren't many opportunities for private tours in Vlissingen with such a short port time. There were free shuttle buses to the Maritime MuZEEum in Vlissingen for independent passengers. We opted for a HAL tour to the Delta Water Works. That was quite interesting. We were bused out to the Storm Surge Barrier. In the Visitor's Centre, there was a movie to explain the problems that The Netherlands has had with floods from storm surges. The last major flood was in 1953 and over 1800 people were killed. The movie also explained how they built the Storm Surge Barrier. After the movie we were then taken to the barrier and could walk into it, and outside to see it close up. The gates of the dam are only lowered in storms when the water level is expected increase substantially. When the storm passes, the gates are reopened so that the tides can go up and down as normal. It has been working very well since it opened. I'm not explaining it very well so if you're in the area, make sure to go on this tour and see it for yourself.

We got back to the ship in time for SailAway at 1:30. We had a quick lunch. For some reason, DM was quite exhausted after this tour. She needed a break from touring. I went to the CC M&G that one of the roll call members set up. For some reason, the HAL rep assigned us to the Explorer's Lounge which is basically a wide hallway, with chairs and couches, on this ship. It wasn't conducive to a M&G, IMO. However, we made it work. After everyone introduced themselves, those that had made private tour arrangements met up with the organizer and others on their tour. It was good to put faces to names!

After the M&G, I met up with DM at Team Trivia. We have two new people to our team. They were part of another team on the prior segment but the rest of their team left in Amsterdam so they were invited to join us. We tied for first but lost on the tie breaker. Oh, well.

Dinner was very good. DM had veal, I had Prime Rib. They've offered Prime Rib a few times during this cruise. We arrived in Antwerp at 6 pm (was originally supposed to be 8 pm) with the ship being cleared by 6:30. DM and I joined two other ladies to go walking about in the historic centre of Antwerp. The mission was to find Belgian Chocolate! For those who may be here on a future cruise, Leonidas Chocolate was open until 8 pm tonight. We were out for less than an hour. We walked about a bit, took some pictures, got the chocolate and went back. The other ladies had Main Dining so wanted to be back for their dinner. DM was still tired so she was just as happy to return.

The show tonight was a repeat from the prior segment, Atlantic Crossing, with the Prinsendam Singers & Dancers. Since we had seen it before, we skipped it and spend the evening in the Library - me on the puzzle and DM reading.

 

[kazu]

Excellent posts AQ. Sounds like fabulous days. :D

 

Really appreciate the report on the Canterbury Cathedral as we are going there next year on our way to Dover and decided to just do the audio guide, too.

 

Glad you got your chocolates in Antwerp. Such a pretty city.

 

I don't blame you for feeling smug when you saw the suitcases out and you didn't have to put yours out. It is a nice feeling until it's your disembarkation time ;)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your reports as they bring back many memories of the times we toured all those areas.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for putting in the time and effort to write such an extensive and detailed report of your travels! Enjoying it! :)

[Alberta Quilter]

Excellent posts AQ. Sounds like fabulous days. :D

 

Really appreciate the report on the Canterbury Cathedral as we are going there next year on our way to Dover and decided to just do the audio guide, too.

 

Glad you got your chocolates in Antwerp. Such a pretty city.

 

I don't blame you for feeling smug when you saw the suitcases out and you didn't have to put yours out. It is a nice feeling until it's your disembarkation time ;)

 

Got even more chocolate in Ghent today!

[kazu]

Got even more chocolate in Ghent today!

 

YAY:cool:

 

Oh you HAVE to get more chocolates in Ghent :D:halo: