Almost Live from Prinsendam's Farewell Voyage

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love your reports and pictures.

 

And you are off!!

[VMax1700]

Friday of last week the Prinsendam was in Cobh and King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima were on a visit to Ireland.  They travelled from Cork to Cobh by boat and there was a bit of a tooting welcome from Prinsendam for the royal couple.

[whogo]

Captain Albert J. Schoonderbeek reported that he would be aboard as a lecturer.

[TiogaCruiser]

3 hours ago, whogo said:

Captain Albert J. Schoonderbeek reported that he would be aboard as a lecturer.

They gave us a schedule for the cruise and he is listed twice (assuming he is doing both lectures on the Life and Times, maybe more.) I’m hoping they play them again on the TV system.

[erewhon]

Thank you for posting the cruise schedule.

[kazu]

5 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

They gave us a schedule for the cruise and he is listed twice (assuming he is doing both lectures on the Life and Times, maybe more.) I’m hoping they play them again on the TV system.

 

Interesting that the crew farewell will be at 10:30 AM.  That’s a nice change and I bet there will be few tears.

 

That crew is like a family about to be split up 😞 

 

From what I gathered on my cruise, most are going to the smaller ships.

[ithaca gal]

I never, ever ask this because I never, ever care …….. but may I ask who the Cruise Director is on this cruise?

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, ithaca gal said:

I never, ever ask this because I never, ever care …….. but may I ask who the Cruise Director is on this cruise?

Christine Streets. 

I had to go look it up, as I don’t really care either. 😁

 

Its probably going to take a few days to catch this thread up to where we are.

[TiogaCruiser]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Interesting that the crew farewell will be at 10:30 AM.  That’s a nice change and I bet there will be few tears.

 

That crew is like a family about to be split up 😞 

 

From what I gathered on my cruise, most are going to the smaller ships.

There have been several crew members who have greeted us with the news that she had been sold and this is the final hurrah. 

[kazu]

4 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Its probably going to take a few days to catch this thread up to where we are.

 

We’ll wait patiently for your updates when you have time to do them. 😄 

 

Really appreciate your time, effort and $ for doing it 😄 

[TiogaCruiser]

June 16, 2019 North Holland

 

So Sunday was our last full day in Amsterdam. We had booked a half day bike tour that took us  across the channel to North Holland (Waterland) area over a total of about 20 miles. Being Netherlands is so flat, there were no big hills (actually, no hills to speak of) and it was a very easy ride. We started out by riding to the ferry terminal behind Centraal Station and then rode through paths and small roads, around a lovely golf course, and through the polderlands and farms. Our guide explained that the people had dug canals around the edges of their property to drain the land, and it is those same canals that keep their livestock on their property. 

 

 

We visited the tiny villages of Randsdorp, Durgerdam and Zunderdorp. In Randsdorp we stopped at a 400 + year old church and climbed the 400 foot tower to look out over the (very flat) landscape. In the tower they have a museum centered on the great flood of 1916, when waters from the North Sea drove in from the south and covered the town in several feet of water for several months. It was that flood and the ensuing damage that drove the people of the area to become a part of the city of Amsterdam.  It was really amazing that this countryside was less than 20 minutes away from Amsterdam by bike.

 

Afterward we walked around the canals (Singel Canal and Prins Canal) into the Jordaan district. (Basically this took us from our hotel in the east end of the city, through the south end, and into the west end, all by the canals. We did walk by the Anne Frank Huis, and ended up having dinner again at a Pancakes Amsterdam. This time it was the salmon and cream cheese pancake and another apple pancake. 

 

We’re in the showroom waiting for the shorex presentation for the first 3 Norway ports now. And immediately afterward..... Captain Albert’s first talk. 🙂 Apparently he has 5 lectures queued up. Attended Coffee with the Hotel Director (Rene) this morning. There were lots of questions and discussion about the transition of the ship to Phoenix Reisen. We then had our Meet and Greet and had a great showing. It was capped off by the ship at 73 as the Crows Nest had reached capacity.) A big thanks to TwoFromVirginia for setting that up.

 

 

Edited June 18, 2019 by TiogaCruiser

[Randyk47]

I’m enjoying this thread and report so thank you for posting.   Funny is I’m surprisingly sad about the Prinsendam leaving the fleet.   We had one cruise booked on her but had to cancel and never got back to booking her again.  She was one, and a unique one at that,  of the HAL fleet we wanted to sail on.   Got to be a case of “maybe a cruise next year” and now there aren’t any.    

[TiogaCruiser]

We just had our first Gala Night.

(Arugula and frisée with vinegrette, escargot (my first), Stuffed Ricotta Shells and lamb chops for us.)

 

When we returned to our room a few minutes ago we had a pillow gift awaiting us:

 

 

[kazu]

WOW!  Nice pillow gift 🙂 

 

How did you enjoy your first escargots?

 

I’ve normally found them quite good on the Prinsendam (and I am fussy) so I hope they were up to form for you 🙂 

[TiogaCruiser]

26 minutes ago, kazu said:

WOW!  Nice pillow gift 🙂 

 

How did you enjoy your first escargots?

 

I’ve normally found them quite good on the Prinsendam (and I am fussy) so I hope they were up to form for you 🙂 

Being I’m not sure what proper “form” is, I’m not sure, but they sure were tasty. I’m guessing the yellow was turmeric? (What was the bread for?)

[kazu]

1 minute ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Being I’m not sure what proper “form” is, I’m not sure, but they sure were tasty. I’m guessing the yellow was turmeric? (What was the bread for?)

 

If they were tasty, they were good 🙂 

Prinsendam usually does them with some butter, garlic and other spices.

 

Glad they were tasty 😄 

[Copper10-8]

On 6/17/2019 at 1:25 PM, TiogaCruiser said:

They gave us a schedule for the cruise and he is listed twice (assuming he is doing both lectures on the Life and Times, maybe more.) I’m hoping they play them again on the TV system.

 

He wrote he had offered to present five lectures. Looks like he got downgraded by P-dam's entertainment manager 

[calteacher]

In February 2018 we booked the Prinsendam trip for a cruise around the British Isle, having lots of port calls in Ireland.  Several months later we were informed that the Prinsendam would not be in their fleet for our August 4 cruise.  Instead, we are on the Rotterdam, and since it is a larger ship, the only port in Ireland is Dublin.  Quite a disappointment, but nothing we can do about it now.  Don't know if we would have booked that far in advance had we known we would not get the cruise we wanted--not the ship and not the itinerary.  But, we plan to enjoy it anyway.

 

Ironically, we specifically wanted that cruise in August as my husband has always wanted to attend the Edinburgh tattoo.  However, in the last year his hearing has decreased so much that wearing hearing aids and loud music just doesn't go together.  So while we will be in Edinburgh for the tattoo, we will not be attending it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I love those apple pancakes in Amsterdam -- have had them several times there.

 

Love your pillow gift.

 

Enjoying your reports and pictures.

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

We just had our first Gala Night.

(Arugula and frisée with vinegrette, escargot (my first), Stuffed Ricotta Shells and lamb chops for us.)

 

When we returned to our room a few minutes ago we had a pillow gift awaiting us:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those were 2017 Amsterdam Grand World Voyage gifts based on past HAL ads. They're nice!

[RJ2002]

TiogaCruiser, really enjoying your reports from this very special final voyage.  Thanks for taking us along.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Love the pillow gifts a lot! 

Your gala dinner looked wonderful and I love escargot 🐌!!! I’ve never had bad ones on HAL.

Apple pancakes!!!Im getting FAT LOL😮

Denise😊

[rafinmd]

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

He wrote he had offered to present five lectures. Looks like he got downgraded by P-dam's entertainment manager 

I suspect he's doing other lectures as well.  I can imagine him doing "145 years" , "The Heyday of Ocean Liners", and "The Advent of Cruising", as well.

 

Roy

[erewhon]

Thank you for your update and photos.

Those lamb chops look far more appetising than the lamb chops I was served in the Pinnacle Grill on Maasdam.

Guess the Hotel Director is Rene Tuinman.

[TiogaCruiser]

 

2 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I suspect he's doing other lectures as well.  I can imagine him doing "145 years" , "The Heyday of Ocean Liners", and "The Advent of Cruising", as well.

 

Roy

 

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Those were 2017 Amsterdam Grand World Voyage gifts based on past HAL ads. They're nice!

When he did the first lecture yesterday he gave the schedule and it is the 5 on history. One he said would be 80 minutes, so bring your lunch.