Prinsendam 2005 World Tour... it has begun

[Slinkiecat]

Grumpy, we'll keep the 6:00pm dining slot not only to go with the flow but also have more sleeping time to prepare for the morning shore excursions which must get ready to depart mostly before 9:00am. And if we want to eat late one particular night, besides showing up a bit late that night, we can always go up to the Lido restaurant if the Pinnacle Grill is full. Or try to arrange something with the matre'd in advance.

Have you been to the A-196 cabin? Any comment on the room setting, balcony and the "private" deck around it?

 

We liked the dinner mates we had at the 8:15 dining, but one couple was absent half the time. At home we don't eat that late either, but I guess if we had to dress formal we'd eat at least an hour later than we do at home too.

 

If you want to eat in the Pinnacle, you almost have to schedule it several days ahead, or you will have to accept a time outside your normal range. Our Maitre 'd was unable to schedule our group of six for the times we wanted, but on our last night we had a good seating that our tablemates had reserved a weak in advance.

 

We forfeited six dinners in the Pinnacle over the 113 days on board. Two of those we used in the Lido due to lack of availability in the Pinnacle for the dining time of our friends.

 

My objection to the Pinnacle was that our package purchase of wine with dinner was not honored in the Pinnacle - If you wanted to order wine with dinner it had to be by the bottle. It is the same in the Lido - You either order from the Ocean Bar waiters there or you bring your own from your cabin. We did it both ways on our two dinners in the Lido. In my opinion, it is easier to eat in the dining room at your scheduled time.

 

We did always advise our dining room tablemates if we were eating elsewhere so they wouldn't wait for us. Our waiters and they appreciated that.

 

Slinkie

[Slinkiecat]

Yes, Grumpy, I'm sitting to your right in the photo. I'm back home now in the Fla Panhandle and suffering World Cruise Withdrawal.

My luggage was delivered right on schedule (one week after leaving the ship in FLL) and I realize that it's to way to go...use the port service for luggage. I couldn't believe it when I heard one passenger say she came on board with 9 suitcases and left with 27. I bought two extra large ones in Hong Kong myself.

Time to start looking at the next cruise!

 

Oh, I love to hear that! We had the four bags HAL gave us on board and had left room in the ones we packed at home. They were all stuffed full when we left the ship and we arrived home without breakage.

 

Who in the world could go around the world without doing a lot of shopping? It was really wonderful, with great bargains and great adventures into the market places to find the bargains.

 

Slinkie

[blackbird71]

S or G :)

 

Could one of you list all the pillow gifts you received during the cruise?

 

Also what is the "wine package" and how much did it cost if you don't mind.

 

TIA

[itravel2much]

We would like to know about the "pillow gifts" too. We are planning on going on the 2007 World Cruise. How much money did you take with you? What it is like being on a ship for a long time?

[Grumpy1]

Pillow Gifts? Well, actually they were on the foot of the bed, so technically they weren't pillow gifts...

 

Holland America white canvas shopping bag

 

Blue Nylon zippered shoulder bag

Leather day planner/calender

Leather credit card wallet

Leather document wallet

Leather key wallet

Leather luggage tags

Luggage straps

House slippers

dual time zone alarm clock

designer coffee mug

Rectangular ceramic tray with map of voyage on it

6x6 framed tile with a map of each segment (4 total)

4inch Prinsendam tile

Ballistic Nylon wheeled duffle bag

Faces of Africa coffee table book

Blue Nylon hooded jacket

Folding cane/monopod seat with zipper case

ceramic elephant with 50gm tea from Sri Lanka

stuffed lion about the size of a beanie baby

magnifying glass in a slide in case

long shoe horn

gold medallion in a wooden chest (only for full voyage after dinner with captain)

Chocolate Heart box with truffles inside for Valentines day

Chocolate basket with chocolate eggs for easter

 

I think that about covers it. All items were per person, so we have two of everything.

 

The wine package was offered for pre purchase and you would get a glass of house red or house white each nite with dinner in the dining room. It worked out to about $2 a glass. If you missed a nite in the dining room, our wine steward would make it up the next night. Probably not offered on shorter cruises

 

We took a couple thousand cash along, but only used about $1200. The credit cards, though... well, there still hot to the touch...

 

What's it like to be on a ship for so long? Well... we didn't want to get off... we could take up residence in a heartbeat!

 

Grumpy

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Did you get a monogrammed towelling robe,

and what colour was it?

[blackbird71]

 

The credit cards, though... well, there still hot to the touch...

 

 

Grumpy

 

Thanks for the list Grumpy...

 

 

But you better get those CC into the freezer, I hear somebody in your family wants to go to St. Thomas and everybody knows what happens to credit cards there.... :D:D

[lipoppop]

We just returned from the 5/9 crossing to Barcelona from New York. The only officer on the sailing that was on your cruise was Emily the "bingo bee."

 

She sends her fondest regards to the both of you.

[Grumpy1]

We just returned from the 5/9 crossing to Barcelona from New York. The only officer on the sailing that was on your cruise was Emily the "bingo bee."

 

She sends her fondest regards to the both of you.

 

Poor Emily.... she got demoted to bingo calling...:( ... On the World Tour, it was Steve, the bingo guy.

 

Emily was lots of fun to be around... for that matter, all of the ACD's were great people. They really do a lot to make the cruise even more enjoyable.

 

Did you enjoy the crossing?

 

Grumpy

[Grumpy1]

Speaking of ACD's... Margie Lady, MrsSBI, give those kids of yours a big hug from Slinkie and Grumpy... we miss them... also Liz.

 

Grumpy

[LFL]

The wine package was offered for pre purchase and you would get a glass of house red or house white each nite with dinner in the dining room. It worked out to about $2 a glass. If you missed a nite in the dining room, our wine steward would make it up the next night. Probably not offered on shorter cruises

 

Grumpy, where did you find the above wine package offered? Did you see it online or when you boarded the Prinsendam?

 

Thanks, Lenora

[RuffinReady]

Speaking of ACD's... Margie Lady, MrsSBI, give those kids of yours a big hug from Slinkie and Grumpy... we miss them... also Liz.

 

Grumpy

 

Grumpy1 and Slinkie

 

Writing from Cittaveccia. Randall, Emily, Stephan and Annette send their best regards. Along with TexEm we have been taking flat Grump1 and Slinkie on the transatlantic and now the Mediterranean cruise. We have many pictures of them and will post them sometime after we return and can have access to our home computer. We can tell you that they are having a wonderful time and have made new friends.

 

Help! What we need now is someone who is going to embark at Athens on June 5th to pick them up and continue their wonderful cruise. Please respond as a quote to this posting. I will need your name and cabin number to leave them at the desk as we will be debarking before you arrive. We will be stopping at ports every day execept tomorrow and will try to get back here from time to time.

 

Warm regards

 

RuffinReady

 

P.S. I'll have a review of our cruse after our return in early June

[Grumpy1]

The curvacious Slinkie and pear shaped Grumpy have been to Cittaveccia before... Sept 2002 Honeymoon cruise... and hope the flat versions had as much fun there as the live ones did. Doubt that you will find anyone in the ports that will remember seeing them before..:D

 

Grumpy

[Slinkiecat]

Did you get a monogrammed towelling robe,

and what colour was it?

 

Yes! We got those shortly before the end of the cruise. They're white with black monograms (our choice of letters on them). They're very nice.

 

Slinkie

[Grumpy1]

Grumpy, where did you find the above wine package offered? Did you see it online or when you boarded the Prinsendam?

 

Thanks, Lenora

 

We received a brochure and order form a month or so before the cruise that offered all sorts of packages for prepurchase. Unlimited laundry... drycleaning and pressing... wine by the glass... wine by the bottle... photo packages... internet access... hair styling and blow dry package (for Slinkie, not grumpy)... most of these were tailored to the World Tour and probably aren't offered for shorter cruises. It was good to be able to get some of the packages at a discount price by prepurchasing and also not have those items adding to the shipboard account.

 

Grumpy

[TexEm]

Hi, Grumpy and Slinkie--the ship and crew were fantastic! By the end of the 17 days we really got to know a lot of the staff and passengers, and when we returned from shore excursions and the crew said "Welcome Home!" I really felt they meant it. I can only imagine what it was like to have been on for the entire world cruise--we had a world cruiser at our dinner table from FLL to NYC, and she was a gold mine of information, and so funny, too! (She reassured us that we could tell people we had been on the world cruise--we had just been on a 3 day segment of it!) As you know, the Atlantic from FLL to NYC was the pits--pretty rough--things got much much better after the Azores. Of course, my mom and I were pretty far forward (107), but feeling the ship rhythmically slamming down into the water throughout the night was pretty exciting. That, plus putting our clocks forward every night (it seemed) for awhile---"sleepless on the Prinsendam"! Our new cruise director, Peter Daems, joked every night about having "Good News and Bad News"--the bad news was always that we had to set our clocks forward again.

 

Well, as you know, RuffinReady and his wonderful wife, Pat, now have Flat G & S and are treating them well. Hope their presence on the Prinsendam can be continued for awhile. The crew who knew you got a special kick out of Flat G & S! (the ship's photographers were so excited after RuffinReady and Pat had their photo taken with Flat G & S before touring in Lisbon, because they remembered you).

 

Are you totally unpacked yet? Can't picture coming home from a world cruise and doing all that unpacking....

 

BTW, one of our tablemates was from Naples (lives on Boca Ciega Drive). Hope to see him sometime when I visit my brother in Punta Gorda.

 

Thanks again for all the wonderful stories and beautiful writing.

 

Mary

[Grumpy1]

TexEm...

 

Be sure to let us know when you will be in the Punta Gorda/ Naples area and we'll get together for drinks/dinner. It sounds like you had a really good time.

 

Being new to world cruising, we wanted gangway photos from each port, so we bought a package that was offered for all of the gangway pics at a very reasonable price. Usually there were only a couple dozen people that would stop and get their photo taken, so the three photographers got to know us rather well.

 

We had lots of 25 hour days and... a few 24 1/2 hour days... but only a couple of 23 hour days... Our condolences on losing an hour so many nights in a row... but look at the bright side... you got to your port that much quicker.

 

Grumpy

[TexEm]

Grumpy--it was 2 female photographers that knew you...sorry, didn't get their names (one was small, probably Japanese American). Sounds like you had access to a lot of great packages during the world cruise. It'd be nice if HAL continued a photo package like that for other cruises, too. I know some of the beverage packages went up in price after the world cruise ended, because one of our tablemates had the old price list in his cabin and ordered something from that. When they told him it was more expensive after NYC, he politely told them that they needed to adhere to what was printed in his cabin, and they gave him the world cruise price.

 

BTW, our table's world cruiser, Barbara, said what astonished her was not that other passengers asked her how many cruises she'd been on, but HOW MANY WORLD CRUISES SHE'D BEEN ON!!! She said she met some who were on their 15th...that's amazing.

 

Hope to get to Punta Gorda soon, have to see how they repaired my brother's house after the hurricanes (it took a long, long time). Will definitely let you know prior to the trip.

 

Another BTW--the Prinsendam passengers were a pretty good group, too--not too many complained about the rougher weather, just went to the front desk to get their meclizine--or drank more--or something. Most were in good spirits. One of the new ACDs, though (who shall remain nameless, in case someone from the ship is lurking), was on a first cruise, and didn't tolerate the pitching and rolling very well, finally emerging from down below with a set of sea legs and a smile.

 

Mary

[blackbird71]

Here I was at the Crab Shack on Gandy Blvd, St Pete Florida having a nice meal when I looked up and saw a guy with Prinsendam World Cruise 2005 tee shirt. :p

 

Gee I remember hearing about that world cruise from someplace. :rolleyes: So I went over and talked to him. They were in cabin 367 and their names were Alan, Elva, and Ruth, they said Hi to their fellow cruisers known online as Grumpy and Slinkie. (I told them I only know G&S by their screen names not their real ones).

 

It is a small world.....

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy1]

TexEm... If you get to Punta Gorda during the summer, we will miss you... heading to Ohio for the summer next week... will be back around the first of October. But with a little luck, our paths will cross somewhere...

 

We ran into a lot of passengers that had been on several World Cruises.... seems to be addictive or something... now where did I put that brochure for 2006?.. Getting withdrawal symptoms... need to book a cruise...

 

I think someone messed up on the info in the cabins... our steward came in the last afternoon and changed out pages in the book that gives all of the prices for beverages ordered through room service... after he left, I looked to see what was changed and could not find one updated page so I suspect that he was given the wrong package of new pages and actually just replaced the old pages with new copies of the same thing... Glad someone was able to take advantage of the world tour prices...

 

blackbird71... The names don't ring a bell, but might know them by sight...

 

We haven't been to the Crab Shack in St. Pete, but have one here in Naples (if it's Joe's Crab Shack) that we go to once in a while and also up in Ohio.

 

Grumpy

[blackbird71]

 

blackbird71... The names don't ring a bell, but might know them by sight...

 

We haven't been to the Crab Shack in St. Pete, but have one here in Naples (if it's Joe's Crab Shack) that we go to once in a while and also up in Ohio.

 

Grumpy

 

The Crab Shack is a very old one of a kind dumpy looking place with great food priced right. :) Alan told me the last meal before the WC and the first after it were at the Crab Shack.

 

Alan is late 50s early 60s and the two ladies are in their 80s. One is his mother.

 

His mother was wearing a gold medalion of the World, I expect they got it on the cruise.

[KathieKata]

Grumpy: If you get a chance can you send me a e-mail so I can get your e-mail address. Had a few questions I wanted to ask you. Thanks. Just take out the "#" sign and you'll have my e-mail address. I hate to put it on here the right way in case it gets mis-used!!:rolleyes:

Detserb#@Hotmail.com

Are you totally unpacked yet??? I really miss reading your reviews on here. Hurry and go on another vacation or cruise soon!!

[Slinkiecat]

Hi, Blackbird,

I love Joe's Crab Shack and virtually every restaurant we've found with a similar name. Maybe I just love crabcakes! If you have a picture of Alan, Elva and Ruth, maybe we'll recognize them. I know that even when we were disembarking at the end, there were people we had never gotten to know. Different schedules and interests make for different contacts. Even among the people we arranged before the cruise to meet, some we saw rarely on board and would not have recognized without the scheduled face-to-face meeting up front.

 

I imagine that on the bigger ships with very short cruises it is much harder to meet and get to know other people, and truly there are so many fascinating people to meet. They all add to our lives.

 

Slinkie

[blackbird71]

Hi, Blackbird,

I love Joe's Crab Shack and virtually every restaurant we've found with a similar name. Maybe I just love crabcakes!

 

Slinkie

 

If you are up in the Baltimore area or want to order online their lumb crabcakes try Timbuktu http://www.timbukturestaurant.com/index.html I was working a NASA contract outside DC and living between DC and Baltimore. One of my table mates on a cruise was from that area and she told me to check out Timbuktu and I did and it is GREAAAAAAAT....

 

Maybe Alan will post on this thread in the future. I told him about CC but he came back to St. Pete because his mother had the "crud" and he has no puter down here.

 

LOL as for meeting people I had the opposite problem on the RSSC Mariner with open seating. I can not remember my own name :p much less other peoples names that I only have meet once. I would be walking around the ship and ppl would call me by name that I had sat with one night at dinner.:rolleyes:

[Grumpy1]

The Crab Shack is a very old one of a kind dumpy looking place with great food priced right. :) Alan told me the last meal before the WC and the first after it were at the Crab Shack.

 

Alan is late 50s early 60s and the two ladies are in their 80s. One is his mother.

 

His mother was wearing a gold medalion of the World, I expect they got it on the cruise.

 

Sounds like my kind of place... From your description, I'm pretty sure I know who they are but don't recall that we ever spoke with them... Our loss, I'm sure.

 

Grumpy