Prinsendam 2005 World Tour... it has begun

[blackbird71]

Has anyone seen the 2006 World Cruise itinerary for Prinsendam?

 

Strangely, it doesn't go around the world....

 

 

 

Sadly this is the first WC I would not take if I could. Australia without 500 hours in the air was always my main draw to a WC.

[Sweetdreams]

Slinkie & Grumpy,

Continue to enjoy your posts! Do either of you plan to complete a journal with your pictures & adventures when you return home? What a wonderful momento it would be for you to view years from now!

Reviewed your itenarary the other day while waiting for you to post again. We'll be somewhere in the Caribbean when you pass our way in first week of May-I'll wave :) !

[PRINSENDAM]

Grumpy -

 

 

 

Also - Stephen - I rceived the Cunarder today on the mail - Cunard has a noce article about you & the new book!!!!

 

Isthe champagne chilled????

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm... The Cunarder arrrived here today also... the Australian edition! No mention at all. :(

 

No champagne yet! ;)

 

Stephen

[emerald777]

This joke made me think of Grumpy and Slinkie.... Of course, Our Grumpy is NOTHING like the hubby in the story!!

 

A married couple in their early 60's were out celebrating their 35th

wedding anniversary in a quiet, romantic little restaurant.

 

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table and said, "For being such an exemplary married couple and for being faithful to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish."

 

 

"Ooh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband" said the wife. The fairy moved her magic stick and abracadabra! Two tickets for the new QE2 luxury liner appeared in her hands.

 

Now it was the husbands turn. He thought for a moment and said: "Well, This is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this only occurs once in a lifetime, so, I'm sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me".

 

The wife and the fairy were deeply disappointed; but a wish is a wish.

 

So the fairy made a circle with her magic stick and - abracadabra! - the husband became 92 years old.

 

The moral of this story..... Men might be ungrateful idiots....

But Fairies are......female.

 

[ILuvCruisin']

Cute Jan...Funny...Laughed out loud...but you are right...Slinky's Grumpy would never wish something like that...

 

Thanks Grumpy for sharing with us...I am so enjoying my virtual cruise with you and your Slinky girl as my eyes...I'm thinking about contacting Oprah so she can have first dibs on you all when you land...

[crusinggranny]

Thanks Grumpy for sharing with us...I am so enjoying my virtual cruise with you and your Slinky girl as my eyes...I'm thinking about contacting Oprah so she can have first dibs on you all when you land...

 

 

Sounds like a great idea for me. That is one show that I surely would not miss.

 

Crusing Granny

[stanford's girl]

Cute Jan...Funny...Laughed out loud...but you are right...Slinky's Grumpy would never wish something like that...

 

Thanks Grumpy for sharing with us...I am so enjoying my virtual cruise with you and your Slinky girl as my eyes...I'm thinking about contacting Oprah so she can have first dibs on you all when you land...

How could Oprah say no to the world famous Grumpy and Slinkie? What a great show that would be. I would be glued to my T.V. for that one! :cool:

[bepsf]

How could Oprah say no to the world famous Grumpy and Slinkie? What a great show that would be. I would be glued to my T.V. for that one! :cool:

 

I wanna be in that studio audience - Maybe she'd give everyone tickets for the next World Cruise:D

[Tess2mommies]

I wanna be in that studio audience - Maybe she'd give everyone tickets for the next World Cruise:D

 

If you go to her studio audience can you pack me in your checked luggage so I can get tickets too? :D

[bepsf]

If you go to her studio audience can you pack me in your checked luggage so I can get tickets too? :D

 

Ice--

Of course!!!

You're my 'in' w/ Miss O!:D

BTW - are you coming on the HAL Group Cruise w/ Iggi & I???

Grumpy--

Are you and Slinkie ready to think about the next cruise???:)

[avalon1025]

Grumpy and Slinky,

 

My parents join your group onboard today after their safari (they seemed to be having a great time when I spoke to them at Victoria Falls). Tell them I said hello (Lou and Grace). Bon voyage from Cape Town, enjoy the voyage home!

 

James

[stanford's girl]

I wanna be in that studio audience - Maybe she'd give everyone tickets for the next World Cruise:D

Never thought of that. Maybe we could put that together as a pre-party for our HAL-O-WEEN cruise.;)

[Grumpy1]

Prinsendam 2005, April 15, Day 92

 

Happy Income tax deadline day for all of you in the states... No, you can't claim your internet expenses as a medical deduction... regardless of the theraputic benefits...

 

Slinkie and Grumpy are back at sea again after a very enjoyable day and a half in Capetown... Since the Prinsendam didn't arrive until noon Wednesday, there was plenty of time in the morning to get photos of the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope on the way in and also nice views of The Twelve Apostles mountain range, Table Mountain, Signal Hill, and then the city skyline as the Prinsendam made her way into the harbor.

 

There is a dock that juts out about 625 feet into the harbor, right in front of the Table Bay Hotel... hmmm, the Prinsendam is 673 feet long and the harbor is too tight to let the stern hang out past the end of the dock, so that dock just isn't big enough.... Wrong!... The Prinsendam is just about the same length as the pier at the waterline, So Captain Gundersen just brought her in until that bulb on the hull just below the waterliine was just a few feet from the end of the pier... never mind the fact that the bow of the ship was now over the roadway and almost in the lobby of the Table Bay Hotel... It fit just right. It's not often that you get a chance to walk under the bow of the ship... Tight quarters, but a very convenient location.

 

Slinkie and Grumpy had a tour of Stellenbosch and a winery in that area planned, so there wasn't any time for shopping before the tour... The bus took them into the town of Stellenbosch, which is a very nice town with a large university. The drive to Stellenbosch, about 45 minutes from the harbor, was very scenic. There are lots of small craft shops and craft bazaars around the town, and, after driving around the town, the bus dropped everyone off for an hour and a half. The local museum was the suggested place to visit, but Grumpy and Slinkie headed up the street and through the shops. Prices for similar items were higher than in Durban and there wasn't anything that just had to be bought, but it was an interesting place to explore.

 

After Stellenbosch, the bus went to the Blaauwklippen Winery. The tasting room was set up with tables and chairs and 5 wines had been poured at each place. The employee that was conducting the tour and tasting inquired as to the proper toast to use for the Americans present... someone shouted out "Skoal"... which didn't seem to be the toast he was expecting... so he asked if there were any Canadians present. When several acknowledged that they were Canadian, he asked how they toast in Canada... The answer was "More!"... Grumpy knew there was something he liked about his northern neighbors... finally someone said "Cheers" and the tasting could begin. After sampling the wines, there was a brief tour of the wine making facilities and then into the store. Slinkie and Grumpy liked the Sauvignon Blanc that they had sampled and bought six bottles of that. Slinkie had not been impressed with any of the reds that were offered at the tasting, but asked for a sample of one of their Merlots... Finding that it was to her liking, six bottles of that were also purchased.

 

The bus trip back went through very beautiful areas of vineyards and strawberry fields, with magnificent views of the mountains in the background.. What a contrast to the next views, which were of the "informal" housing areas... Mile after mile of tiny shacks, tents and dwellings that were patched together from various discards... supposedly, all will be replaced with "formal" housing by 2010... don't bet on it, they are already several hundred thousand units behind the projected construction schedule... and with unemployment running somewhere between 35% and 45%, more people streaming in daily from the war ravaged countries to the north... it is really a very bad situation.

 

Slinkie and Grumpy did not have a tour planned for the second day, but had made note of all of the "must do" things that you had all mentioned. First things first, though... with all of those shops right next to the ship, some shopping time was required... They picked up a few souvenirs while trying to figure out how they were going to see everything in such a short period of time. The answer to the dilemma was found just outside the V&A complex... Helicopter tours!... Yesss!... So Slinkie and Grumpy soon found themselves in a helicopter with a cute blonde pony-tailed pilot that took them all around the area for an hour... She pointed out the various landmarks... the community where Madonna and Elton John have homes... flew over the Cape... dropped down low over False Bay, but didn't see any whales or great white sharks... over the penquin colony at Boulder... fabulous views of the city, the mountains, the Prinsendam from overhead... Yes, it would have been nice to see everything from the ground, too, but when time is limited, helicopter flights are a good way to see a lot in a short time. Slinkie was up front beside the pilot and Grumpy had the back two seats to himself so he could take pictures from either side...

 

After returning to the Prinsendam for a late lunch, it was back to the waterfront for more exploring through the shops. Grumpy managed to convert all of his remaining Rands to souvenirs before returning to the ship for sailaway ceremonies... comnplimentary wine and cheese on the aft promenade deck... Dayum, there were so many people back there for the free wine that Grumpy thought the stern would surely drag bottom... but with the help of a couple of tug boats, the Prinsendam was able to get turned around and headed out of the harbor.

 

Slinkie and Grumpy are looking forward to meeting Mariner05 and party this afternoon in the Crow's Nest, but first things first... they are finally going to show the film "Sideways"... about a wine tasting tour... Hmmm, there's a pattern starting to develop here... Grumpy and Slinkie were going to watch it a couple of weeks ago, but it was cancelled "due to technical Difficulties"... so they'll catch it this afternoon.

 

Time to post

 

Grumpy and Slinkie

 

[Sweetdreams]

I wanna be in that studio audience - Maybe she'd give everyone tickets for the next World Cruise:D

 

Brian,

This is a great idea! What a great cruise it would be to have Grumpy & Slinkie along too! Why don't you start working on this? It's a great human interest story. Don't know if you saw mention in any of my other posts but we lost our son 1 1/2 yrs. ago to cancer. He wanted so much to take a cruise but was too sick. I wish he could have read Grumpy & Slinkie's WC thread/vitrual WC tour. There are so many people who are only to be "armchair travelers"-what a great opportunity for them to share the adventures!

[Sinbad37]

TIME TO TOAST! I think all of us enjoying this adventure through the generous sharing by Grumpy & Slinkie should get off an email to Ophra! Cheers! :D

[louiskam]

May we know Ophra Show's producer e-mail address for this?

[Sinbad37]

http://www.oprah.com/email/reach/email_showideas.jhtml

 

This link will allow you to request "GRUMPY & SLINKIE'S"

"PRINSENDAM 2005 World Tour ... it has begun" to become a "show" !

 

They do deserve "Celebrity" status for their efforts to share!

My day begins with their activities of the day, so much so that I have printed their adventures to keep for future reference.:D

[Rotterdam]

Too funny - a few weeks ago I sent an email to the Ellen Degeneres show telling them about Grumpy & Slinkie....where is Steven Spielberg??????

[bepsf]

Thanks for the link, Ginny!

 

I sent my note to Oprah today!

:)

[stanford's girl]

I have sent my letter to Oprah. I hope everyone who reads the adventures of Grumpy and Slinkie will do the same. It would be nice to be able to share them with the world that they brought to us everyday. :D :cool:

[Sinbad37]

STEVEN SPIELBERG ???

WOW.... His Agent and Publicist are listed at:

 

http://www.filmmakers.com/artists/spielberg

 

Keep us posted!:D

[Sinbad37]

WE HAVE THE ADVENTURE ALMOST DAILY...WHAT ABOUT YOUR ROMANCE?

INQUIRING MINDS ARE INTERESTED! :D YOU KNOW OPRAH WILL ASK! :D

[Luiza]

Does anyone know if the Prinsendam stops in Manaus on this voyage?

[Ziggy7]

Oh my, before you all write Oprah, you better be sure Grumpy and Slinkie approve :)

[Margie_Lady]

No stop in Manaus. Remaining ports are Namibia, St Helena, Ascension Island, Brazil, Barbados, Half Moon Cay. Fort Lauderdale, and New York.