LIVE from the Prinsendam - 24 day Med Rivieras & River Explorer - please join us

[DeeniEncinitas]

Hi Jacqui!!!!!

Tomorrow Prinsendam day!! Yahoo.

thanks again and as daisy said this is YOUR VACATION not a job I spooooo

agree. Smooth Sailings

Denise😊

[*Miss G*]

Can’t wait to see the Fado pics and hear all about it!  Based on your pics I know exactly where you are!  My husband likes to shop too!  And I don’t.  It comes in really handy when I need something from the store because he is always happy to get it for me.  You are doing a lot of work for your blog but we all appreciate it!  Don’t forget to take some time to just enjoy.  We can wait!

[gwilli]

Thanks for the wonderful posts about Lisbon!  Can’t wait for our stop there. One day isn't going to be enough; it’s someplace that we will have to go back to.  

Can’t wait to catch up with you and our other CC friends. Until then ... (only 13 days!). 

Smooth sailings ...  

gwilli

[HomeLover]

Sorry I just got caught up on this.  I love the hotel, and your pictures are great!  I think you definitely are making the most of Lisbon.  It seems even 5 days is not enough time to experience all of Lisbon.

keep up the pictures and running commentary.  Love them!

[0bnxshs]

Looks like a nice and relaxing extended stay in Lisbon.  It is a beautiful country.  Nice to see you and Jose smiling and relaxing and enjoying.  Hi to all!

[1of4]

The day has arrived!  You are probably safely aboard now.  Loving following along your adventures...you exhaust me!  Enjoy!

[kazu]

Well we are on the Prinsendam.

 

But something weird happened and I lost my entire post. 😞 

Our time goes ahead an hour tomorrow already and we have our Meet and Greet in the morning which means I need to be up and awake but, once that is over with I’ll try to catch up on my days in Lisbon for you all.

 

They really were glorious but I’m not sure if it was embarkation day that was tiring or the walking and long night last night.  I suspect it was the latter 😉 

 

Today was a busy day repacking and keeping our nerves of steel during our perioulous taxi ride to the port.  LOL.  Our driver was not from Portugal and it showed. 😉 

 

Embarkation itself was pretty easy - ridiculously easy.  When we got to the port (in one piece), there was a porter running up to collect our bags and escort us to check in.  Passport control done there, security and bags turned over, we were off to check in.

 

We were concerned as we originally approached as we saw a long snaking line.  Thankfully, the Zenith was also using the terminal and all those people were waiting to board her.  What a zoo they were.

 

Us?  Straight through, passport control, security and onwards to check in.  Got to the 4, 5 * & Suite check in and there was NO ONE.  Not a soul.  (I considered we arrived around peak time - shortly after noon).  I asked the two ladies who wanted to fight over taking us.  LOL.

 

In less than 2 minutes we were on the way to our ship, stopped for the embarkation photo (never do that) as he reminded us this was the LAST Prinsendam cruise for us most likely.  So we caved.  Not saying we’ll buy it though, but we let them take it.

 

Boy, we knew it was the Prinsendam.  Two yum yum guys out front to welcome us and no way was he letting me take my carry on up the gang plank.  He grabbed it and tore up the steps and came back down smiling.

 

The crew were all greeting us with a welcome aboard over and over.  And we saw some “old friends” in the crew who gave us warm welcomes back.

 

We had met some roll call members between the hotel and Fado but there were more welcoming us on board.  Lucky to have sailed with some before.

 

Grabbed a quick bite at the Lido (yes they are have premade AND made to order sandwiches) and headed back to the room to face the suitcases and unpack.

 

Muster drill done, (pretty painless), laundry out, wine packages ordered, cellar master booked, Mariner reception done.

 

Looks like we have accomplished all the important things today.

 

ship is just leaving now so it will be too late for Kazu for casino since we are going ahead an hour.  Since the ship leaves at 10:30 - 11:00 pm tonight (we’ve cast off now - as soon as everyone was aboard the Captain said we were outta’ here) the casino won’t be open until at least 11:30.

 

We have our meet and greet tomorrow morning so I’d like to be awake for it and have breakfast 😉 

 

Once all that is done, I’ll try to bring my thread up to date with our time in Portugal.  Our tours were truly fantastic, much longer than they should have been but our guides wanted to show us all and share as much as they could.

 

Cheers from the lovely Prinsendam sailing away from the lovely, lovely city of Lisbon.

 

 

 

 

 

[rafinmd]

Welcome on board.

 

Roy

[cat shepard]

Happy seas!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you are safely on board the Prinsendam.

 

Hope you didn't have the driver we had one time --we stayed in Deerfield  Beach and ship sailed from Ft Lauderdale.  We think he thought the I-95 signs meant he was to drive 95 miles per hour.  I so so shaken up that when we got to the Neptune Lounge, DH wanted to go down to the Ocean Bar to get us drinks but the concierge grabbed his ID card and went down and got the drinks for us.

 

Losing an hour already?  Wow!!

[RuthC]

Welcome aboard that lovely little ship for your last embarkation. Savor this last time on her.

[DeeniEncinitas]

The Elegant Explorer WOW your Swan Song is right! I’m excited to be on this final journey with both you and Jose!  It was so fun with Roy’s blog on her and now with you!, Double pleasure.

Now it is relaxation time, party time, food porn time, and quiet time!

Take care Jacqui look forward to your journey,

Denise😊

[kazu]

Meet and Greet is over and we had a pretty good turn out.  I think at the end only 4 premade name tags were not claimed and their were a few that had to be the “hello my name is”.  

 

Great group of people.  Always nice to put faces to names 🙂 

 

Then it was time for the suite reception in the Captain’s day room.  Our captain is NOT Captain Dag nor is Renee our hotel director.  More on that scuttle butt later.

I want to post the a copy of the pics of who the officers are.

 

Our captain seems quite congenial though and said if we see them out and about just to tug on their shirt sleeve if we needed to talk to them - LOL.

 

Then the wine tasting - I slipped out after the first white as I didn’t care for the 2nd white and while I can sip reds, I don’t dare drink them for the tannins.

 

To their credit, one of the wines (the first) was from the Cellar Package #2, not number 1 and one I enjoy so I enjoyed that.

 

The day is slipping away fast and bingo time will soon be here so we will see what we can do in between and after.

 

 

[kazu]

14 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Welcome on board.

 

Roy

 

Thanks 🙂 

14 hours ago, cat shepard said:

Happy seas!

 

Thanks - seas are quite smooth.  Captain warned of rocky waters but honestly they seem very smooth to me.

14 hours ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Glad you are safely on board the Prinsendam.

 

Hope you didn't have the driver we had one time --we stayed in Deerfield  Beach and ship sailed from Ft Lauderdale.  

 

Losing an hour already?  Wow!!

 

Thanks.  Our driver was from Africa and he blamed all the Portuguese people for the bad driving.  Umm, if I were to judge (who kazu, judge?), I’d say it was his driving that was poor.  In any case, it was a short ride and we got there in one piece.  

13 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

The Elegant Explorer WOW your Swan Song is right! I’m excited to be on this final journey with both you and Jose!  It was so fun with Roy’s blog on her and now with you!, Double pleasure.

Now it is relaxation time, party time, food porn time, and quiet time!

Take care Jacqui look forward to your journey,

Denise😊

 

Enjoying being on her again.

T

[0bnxshs]

5 minutes ago, kazu said:

SNIP.....

 

Then it was time for the suite reception in the Captain’s day room.  Our captain is NOT Captain Dag nor is Renee our hotel director.  More on that scuttle butt later.

I want to post the a copy of the pics of who the officers are.

 

Our captain seems quite congenial though and said if we see them out and about just to tug on their shirt sleeve if we needed to talk to them - LOL.

 

.....SNIP

 

Is it possible the Captain and HD are from Phoenix Riesen already?  One of the cruise ship tracking apps already has Prinsendam renamed as the Amera on the map. 

[kazu]

I really feel sorry for those getting on this ship for her last cruise.

 

Already you can see some changes being made.  The lovely light coloured bannisters are being stained a very dingy brown.

 

The Germans are on board to prep and they have already been in to measure our windows to change them.

 

Apparently they intend to totally change the ship.  I hope that not too many changes have not been made by the time of the last sailing.  They are small but obvious to those of us that know her. 😉 

 

One thing that hasn’t change - the staff.  They are absolutely super and bound and giving their traditional service.

 

Some of them have been on this ship for years and talking to a couple, she said it would be a very sad day when they get off (like we will) and know they will never go back.  Most of them are going on vacation on July 1st.

 

 

 

 

[kazu]

Just now, 0bnxshs said:

 

Is it possible the Captain and HD are from Phoenix Riesen already?  One of the cruise ship tracking apps already has Prinsendam renamed as the Amera on the map. 

 

Hmm - interesting thought Rich.  I don’t think so.  Our captain is Dutch but not a name I remember from past sailings - May be the case but I don’t think so.  Once I get to my cabin, I’ll post the officers info.

 

The inside scoop is that Captain Dag “retired” as he said he would but was supposed to come back on out of retirement to give Captain Jerome a break.

 

What I heard through the scuttle butt is that he “retired” and then went to work for another line with small ships.  Not sure if that is true or not, but that was the story people got on the TA portion.

 

Renee (the HD) is coming back on the ship - so that hasn’t changed.  He’s just taking a little break visiting family.  He was on the Grand and before so it makes sense.

 

I’ll have to give up my spot in the sun and go to my cabin to take a pic and show you who we have.

 

I’ll do my best to get it done.  Busy day at sea - LOL.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

On the December  Holiday cruise, we were told that Captain Dag would retire in July. Guess he changed his mind and left earlier.

[kazu]

So, as promised, here is who our officers are on this cruise:

 

[0bnxshs]

19 minutes ago, kazu said:

So, as promised, here is who our officers are on this cruise:

 

 

 

I do recognize the Captain's name but have never sailed with him.

[kazu]

Here is the Voyage Planner for this segment

 

I like this for “planning” purposes 😉 

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Don't like the idea that the Germans are on the ship already and starting to change a few times and measure other things to be replaced.

[drowelf]

21 minutes ago, kazu said:

Here is the Voyage Planner for this segment

 

I like this for “planning” purposes 😉 

 

Thats really nice to see. I don't remember seeing something like that before. Is it new? Was it in that big stack of stuff you find on your bed when you first arrive in the cabin?

 

We had our Mariner lunch at Renee's table back in August and he mentioned that he would be on board for our portion of the cruise. Good to know that he kept to his plans. 

[RuthC]

Representatives of the new owners were aboard during my Sept. '18 cruise, measuring things, and taking lots of notes. They were unobtrusive, and plans did need to be made for any renovations they plan to make. That's fine.
But making the changes in advance, especially when there are passengers sailing, can change the atmosphere and also interfere with the enjoyment of the current cruise.

At least it is HAL staff & crew, with the great service provided on the Elegant Explorer.

[Sir PMP]

On 4/3/2019 at 9:18 AM, kazu said:

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to seeing you all SOON!  🙂 😄 

 

 

 

Marco Carsjens is a great captain and  Bart was always on the Prinsendam before Renee replaced him, all old time Hal staff..