dawei

Thanks for the fan idea, Liz (or Martha)! We have a small one that produces a nice airflow and works from a USB cable. My other half has MS and gets very easily overheated which is really bad for a person with that disease. So, I've added it to our list for the upcoming Africa/Med on the Prinsendam.

 

David

Here are a couple questions from a first time Prinsendam cruiser: Can you tell me if she usually gets docked in Livorno out at one of the industrial piers or, being small, does she wind up docked at the old Mediceo port area at Liverno? Along with that, is there usually a shuttle bus into town at the pier?

Also, do her cabin electrical outlets accept standard, U.S. flat blade plugs or round pin European types?

DW and I will be on the Africa/Med on Mar. 12.

I agree, this thread is interesting!

Mine is simply my first name as rendered in Chinese pinyn and pronounced like "Da WAY."

The inspiration was our four, older, adopted kids--all from China. Youngest was 9 at adoption. They're all on their own now and doing well, but it's a name my DW still likes to use.

 

David

dawei-- Our first cruise on Prinsendam March 12 Grand Africa and Med.

 

P.S. Jacqui, Hope you have been staying warm up there.

Here's another thank you for the narrated photo tour of the ship, Dave! Well done.

We are preparing for her March 12th Africa/Med Grand Voyage, by far the longest cruise we have experienced.

David

Ooops, that first (for us) Prinsendam cruise is on March 12, not

April.

Thanks to all for sharing your insights about the Prinsendam.

We're booked on the 54 day Med and Africa Grand Voyage next April. It will be our longest cruise so far.

Even though she wasn't built by or for HAL, looking at her deck plan definitely reminds us of our first HAL cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam III.

Do others also see a close resemblance?

My mistake. Estelle was the OP, not jtl John. Sorry about that, Estelle.

 

David

John (OP), I have tried tinypic and as you wrote, it's easy to use and seems to work well. Many thanks for the info!

In reading their disclosure fine print, I learned that tinypic is owned by none other than Photobucket.

 

David

jtl513, many thanks for the info about tinypic. I just gave it a try, and it's quite user friendly compared to photobucket that does, as you wrote, require a sign up and is challenging to figure out if you simply want to post photos on a msg board but aren't interested in purchasing your images.

 

David

Quartzsite Cruiser, I recall spotting the Daphne for the first time from the deck of the Regent Sea during our first cruise in Jan. 1990. We were near the port of St. Lucia, I believe. I have a photo of her I took that day somewhere among old negatives.

 

David

Ours was on the Regent Sea for a 10-day New Year's S. Caribbean cruise in 1990 RT from San Juan. The ship was built in 1957 for Swedish America Line's trans-Atlantic schedule. She was 22,000 GRT carrying 700-plus pax.

Winter storm weather with lots of delayed flights resulted in the first port, St. Barts, being cancelled. I recall the itinerary included a visit to tiny Marie Galante, Guadalupe (haven't seen that on any itinerary since).

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Onboard, we soon discovered that my DW was quite sensitive to motion sickness. Even so, port visits were fascinating, and the cruising experience was addictive. Like so many other couples, it was DW who at first had a strong urge to try a cruise while hubby was not at all interested. Finally, I decided to agree for her sake. Well, I got well hooked, to put it mildly.

Afterward, we thought that it would probably be our first and last cruise, in light of how easily sick DW got. Several months later, she brought the subject up again, and in 1993 we took our first HAL cruise on the (1983) Nieuw Amsterdam.

Beautiful work, Bellair! Not to mention it was a very cool idea. Amazing how smooth and steady that drone is while panning and moving forward. Talk about a special welcome for all aboard the Amsterdam.

 

 

David

Thanks for the explanation, Sail and Lisa. It seems that age of the ship, by itself, is not a major factor in food allowance after all, with the exception being to show off a brand new ship like Koningsdam. Pete's world cruise blog comes to mind on which he reports outstanding cuisine and yet the Amsterdam is not one of HAL's newest ships. This goes along with what you explained, Lisa.

Meanwhile, I guess a Canada NE cruise I took a couple years ago was an exception to the supply and demand formula. It was just 5 days and it was "bottom, basement pricing" advertised a couple months in advance; Boston up to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia on the Carnival Glory. We grabbed it because we had promised to get a daughter on her first cruise and it fit in with her tight schedule. Carnival's fleet is apparently large enough to allow them to keep a couple ships for Canada NE and still have a good number for the usual Caribbean, Alaska, etc. BTW, DW and I wound up enjoying that short cruise up to St. John and Halifax.

 

David

Interesting about the per diem factor. So, what dictates these rates as based on the itinerary? Why is NE higher than the Caribbean? Is it the port charges that vary so much? I'd be interested to learn.

 

David

NCL like HAL gives an allotment for food budget aka quality higher for their newer ship just like HAL does.

 

My DW has another view of this although the end result is the same. Her thought is that the difference in food allowance is not a result of the ship's age, per se. Rather, it's because older ships carry fewer pax. Since newer ships carry many more pax per trip, they offer the cruise lines a higher profit margin and thus can increase the culinary budget. I know HAL's ships get larger as they get newer; I don't know about NCL's, but it's probably the same situation.

 

David

Times certainly have changed. I was fortunate to go on engine room tours of the Ryndam and the ss/Rotterdam some years ago. Back then, there was no charge, but one had to write a letter to the chief engineer expressing one's desire and stating if any particular motivation. It was then entirely up to the chief engineer if he would allow a tour and who would be invited from the applicants. My acceptance came a couple days later via letter. I clearly recall that the up-close sound wall of those diesels (covering the entire audio spectrum) was breathtaking, not to mention the heat. Both ships were underway when the tours were conducted. On the Rotterdam, I recall trying to talk to a quite young novice engineer over the noise of the steam boilers, turbines, etc. When I asked him why he was working on a steam ship instead of a newer diesel, he said he wanted to learn as much as possible, even though he knew it was fading into history.

I did take photos.

 

David

LMaxwell, I just noticed that I echoed your post without realizing it.

 

David

Queen Mary 2.... well, call it as a liner if they want. I say she is more a strong-built 'cruise ship'.

 

The present ROTTERDAM... she has more a fine hull than many cruise ships. She was built for speed... 25 knots... remember her name 'FASTDAM'? She was built to be a good world cruise ship.... as is AMSTERDAM.

 

Stephen, regarding speed, I notice that QM2 can do 30 knots; meanwhile, QE2 could reach 32 knots. I have the idea that draft, shape of the hull, especially the bow, and speed were all important distinctions for ocean liners. Am I off the mark?

 

David

Pete, the internet speed test you posted is more than pretty bad. It reminds me of our DSL speeds before the phone co. tech installed a filter in the interface box where the phone line enters the house. It's amazing you are able to post as much as you do. It must take patience.

Like everyone else, I'm greatly enjoying the trip with you.

 

David

Although I'm a newbie to the world of port webcams, all the posted screen shots of yesterday's departures from Port Everglades looked very familiar. Thanks for providing the links, Peter.

Also, last week's visit by the QM2 was most interesting along with the business of ship's horns (whistles) and one of QM2's being an original Swedish Tyfon horn from the original QM.

It seems to me that toots heard via webcams usually sound so unimpressive because they are so loud at the port that nearby webcam microphones are simply overloaded with audio, resulting in a very distorted sound. This is especially true of the Port Everglades webcam which is only a few yards from ships passing on the Stranahan River channel out to the Atlantic.

 

P.S. Good sailing, Peter.

 

David

My answer to your question: Yes, there is significant difference in felt ship motions between an inside cabin on Main vs Navigation Decks on the Eurodam (or similar deck comparison on other ships). My DW is prone to sea sickness, and this has been our experience. As a result, we book inside, low and amidships to minimize the potential problem. Of course, it's a personal opinion and depends on a person's sensitivity to motion sickness.

 

David

Sorry, SilvertoGold. You wrote that it's some Filipinos, not Indonesians, who are quartermasters. My mistake.

David

I'm sure it's very easy for your DH (and you) to tell crew members' home country by simply listening to conversation. I didn't know that some Indonesian crew members work as quartermasters as well as the other jobs. Interesting, thanks for posting.

David

One more exception comes to mind, MDR wait staff in my experience has also been Indonesian.

David