JWinchester

Lucky me! :D I sail both HAL en Phoenix regularly.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Much appreciate your opinions. I'm not particularly worried about making do with the three of us (we've done it before), and two of us are kinda neat freaks :) But I'd never considered using things like ziplock bags for keeping stuff apart in drawers, so thank you for the suggestion!

Also good to know the third bed is most likely a sofa bed that'll be folded up during the day. Makes a huge difference, I think. The cabins do seem to be on the small side for 3, though. We may have to reconsider...

The rest of my family swears by the Australian Kwells, which don't do a thing for me. Bonine, otoh, works wonders. Even more so than the local brand, which should contain the same effective ingredient in the same amount (though it could also be my imagination at work :) ). So, yes, as others have said, you may have to experiment to find out what works for you.

I was wondering: does anyone have experience booking a triple cabin on the Prinsendam (3 adults)? We're currently looking at a triple A or AA cabin on the Upper Promenade deck.

Some questions for those who did share with 3 adults:

1) How would you rate the space available? I have experience with a D cabin on the Dolphin deck, and on the deck plans, they seem a similar size (though there's more square feet listed for the A's).

2) It seems the triple cabins are the ones with shower-only. Does leaving out the bath mean extra space in the room? Or only in the bathroom?

3) Do the cabins use sofa beds or another variety for the third person?

4) If using sofa beds, do they make up the bed into a sofa during the day, or leave it out?

Any advice or hands-on experience you can share will be most welcome. As would any other suggestions about traveling on the Prinsendam with 3 adults.

Thank you.

JW

Aww, she looks so tiny compared to the skyscrapers :) And now I wish to be there... (Luckily, I get to board the Prinsendam from IJmuiden in 8 days' time :D)

I've been booked on Cruise and Maritime Voyage's cruise on the Discovery for Oct 2014 since last year. Recently I've had trouble finding this cruise on their website and so I called the CMV office in Florida. They told me that this cruise has been cancelled.

Is that the one to Cape Verde and the Canaries? Cause that is still listed on their website and seems to be bookable (for obvious reasons, I didn't finish the online booking :) )

I'd definitely try to contact CMV and/or your TA again on Monday. I can imagine the scare you got, learning that it was cancelled after making so many plans. Hopefully it's not time to panic yet, it might just've been a weird glitch in their computer system? With a not very knowledgeable employee answering your call?

Good luck, and I hope it all works out for you. That itinerary looks wonderful.

We'll go to Lubeck in the morning and do Kiel in the afternoon. :)

May I suggest you skip Kiel and take your time in Lubeck? You really won't miss much in Kiel, and Lubeck is definitely worth some time exploring.

Maybe I don't understand what you're asking. If you want daily position reports, give them marinetraffic.com, but that will only work when you are in range of the AIS.

I think what the OP is looking for is something similar to what the German cruise company Phoenix is doing: they have a separate "current cruise" page for all their ships, which shows all the regular info from the booking page (minus the Book-button, obvs. ;))

They also offer a "where are our ships now" page for each ship, listing GPS location, a web cam shot, the daily program and the MDR menu.

It makes it real easy (and fun) for the folks at home to "sail along" by checking every day. I've had people complain how much fun it was for them when I sailed with Phoenix last year, and how much they're gonna miss that when I sail with HAL on Tuesday.

I really hope that this Bon Voyage is in time for them. !!

Have a great cruise and a wonderful time!!!

Rotterdam, 22 april 2014, 18 days, Mediterranean Rivieras (Athens to Rotterdam)

Prinsendam, 27 july 2014, 14 days, Iceland Adventure

For those solos who don't mind a German-speaking ship, MS Azores (Ambiente Kreuzfahrten) has recently released their 2014 itineraries. There are a few zero supplement or 25% supplement routes, and it seems their regular supplement on selected cabins runs to 50%.

I'll certainly give that a try the next time I'm in a buffet, although mostly eat in the MDR.

You could also bring a sweater or a vest and leave that hanging (obviously) over the chair back. Works for me :)