Prinsendam Amazon Explorer, November 26-December 22, 2013

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Rio De Janeiro.

 

Copper, at one time I considered being on part of your voyage. When I was on the Prinsendam in 2011, my cruise was not yet on the schedule. I expected it would be, but to be sure booked the last half of last year's Grand South America. I considered the possibility of taking the first half of the Maasdam's cruise and a short flight between BA and Rio to connect to the P'dam.

 

The tropics are starting to get to me. I cut my walk this morning down to 2 miles, and spent some time on deck approaching Manaus. I hadn't paid a lot of attention, but suddenly noticed that the brown water was off to the side and realized we were on the Rio Negro on the final approach to port. I was at the Protestant religious service when we actually docked, and had just returned to my cabin for my touring stuff when the announcement came that the ship was cleared.

 

Manaus is a major city of 2 million people, although I didn't see much of it today. I was on a river tour arranged through my Cruise Critic roll call, and we left the ship just before 10. I did not find the terminal at Manaus very impressive. There was a space that looked like it may have been a terminal in renovation but can't verify it. We cannot walk from the ship to the street, but must ride a shuttle over rickety roads to get to an ugly parking lot. We were met here by our guide and led off to another dock behind the Prinsendam. There were 16 of us, and we were loaded into a boat with about 20 seats. We started downstream to where the black waters of the Negro met the silt-brown waters of the Amazon. The waters do not mix but you see a black ribbon and a brown ribbon side by side until eventually the two finally merge, but it is beyond sight of where they first join.

 

Our next stop was a floating restaurant with a buffet set out for us. On the way we passed a village of floating buildings, commercial and residential, and even a school boat. The restaurant also had a boardwalk leading to some huge water lilies; on the way we saw a number of small animals including birds, bats, and a monkey.

 

It was about 20 miles upstream to another floating building where there was a chance to swim with pink dolphins. A staff member was in the water feeding the animals and they would at least occasionally come well up out of the water.

 

Our final stop was a native village where we saw a demonstration of native dances, after negotiating a minimalist dock and a cliff. We returned to the Prinsendam about 4:30, passing under the first bridge on the Amazon system.

 

The Prinsendam was very subdued tonight with a very light turnout at dinner and only a movie in the showroom. I think about as close to a parting shot as I get will be this conundrum: While a wonderful experience the rigors of the climate and sometimes primitive infrastructure call for the vigor of youth while only the old typically have the time to do it.

 

Roy

[cruz chic]

Thanks for answering my water question and also your latest updates. I look forward to your thread every day.

[KirkNC]

Great job Roy. I agree with your comments on Canaletto on the Prinsendam, it is the best location in the HAL fleet. We are doing a similar cruise to ours on the Maasdam in 2015 so I am following your adventure with great interest.

Edited December 9, 2013 by KirkNC

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Rio De Janeiro.

 

Thank you KirkNC and cruz chic. I have concluded based on wordpress and email comments that the man with the Crystal Cap in Boca de Valeria was not a HAL crewman, but a local mixing in with the people on the pier. I also had an email comment about the wood smoke on the river. She reported serious problems on one cruise, and hardly any on another. I wonder if that is a seasonal thing.

 

I was still on reduced walking today, and none of it was on the Lower Promenade Deck. I walked about 3/4 mile on the sports deck in anticipation of the sun's arrival, and then a little over a mile in Manaus to the opera house and back. Even that 7AM or so walk was on the sultry side, and Manaus is not that great a city for walking.

 

My morning tour was “Highlights and Opera House”. There were several packed buses (blessedly air conditioned) and our guide pointed some things out on the way to the Opera but nothing really registered. The Manaus Opera House (Teatro Amazonas) was built in the jungle in 1896 in the midst of the rubber boom. It has been renovated in 1974 and 1990, with air conditioning added in 1974. Prior to that there were underground fans blowing across huge blocks of ice. It was always unbearably hot and the narrow corridors were smoking areas in the old days, with the mixture of smoke and sweat becoming very pungent. The Opera House is still used several times a month with the next performance being a Christmas Concert. A large orchestra was rehearsing when we visited, apparently with a conductor who did not speak Portugese and a translator beside him. On some parts of the building our guide pointed out patterns of alternating brown and black wood representing the meeting of the waters. Across one street from the Opera House was the Palace of Justice and across another was Sao Sebastiao. Up the street from the Opera House was a lovely Christmas tree.

 

Our second stop was the main market. We are told it has a long history but just reopened 3 weeks ago after several years of restoration. There are sections for meat, fish, vegetables, and general merchandise. We returned to the ship around noon. I made a brief visit to the terminal for wifi, but found it so slow as to be pretty much useless. I tried to duck the heat for the rest of the afternoon.

 

Sailaway was set for 4PM. At 3:30 Captain Gunderson announced we were waiting for the pilot and a few crew with immigration complications. The pilot came soon, but we continued waiting crew man. A van finally arrived from the terminal just after 4, and several crew members boarded but one chap got off with 2 pieces of luggage. He and the officials spoke at the gangway for about 15 minutes and he finally left in a shuttle van. He was not obviously in custody but did not appear happy. As I watched the sailaway. the crew was setting up for a Churrascaria South American BBQ by the Lido pool. I watched our sail down the Negro River as long as I could. One interesting thing about Manaus is that everything maritime is on floating piers. The fuel stations are all floating a few hundred yards from the shore. I had to go to dinner before we passed the Meeting of the Waters. I stepped outside when we passed it but it was not as vivid as it was in the small boat.

 

Despite a low dinner turnout all 8 of us were present at table 151. With early seating I rarely see a sunset, but it was vivid today off the stern of the ship. The evening entertainment was singer (sometimes pianist or tap dancer) Peter Cutler. I retired soon after the show.

 

Today's parting shot comes from the Opera House. One of the real and powerful influences in our life is music. As we toured the Opera House the orchestra was rehearsing a piece of music I didn't know, but with a passage that immediately came to light. Despite different languages, the magic is still there “Oh Come, Oh Come Emanuel”. And it is coming.

 

Roy

[kazu]

Interesting report Roy - thanks! Intrigued about the man with 2 suitcases that wasn't let on. It sounds like you are doing a good job of beating the heat :)

[rafinmd]

Interesting report Roy - thanks! Intrigued about the man with 2 suitcases that wasn't let on. It sounds like you are doing a good job of beating the heat :)

 

Thanks, Jacqui. The chap actually was on the ship and for some reason left (I don't think voluntarily) when the other crew got on. I'm not doing such a good job with the heat, but I think the worst is over. I would have taken a walk this morning, but the Lower Promenade deck was closed off so they could lower the tenders very early.

 

The Crystal Symphony is in Rio De Janeiro.

 

I seem to be fighting some kind of bug and did not do much unnecessary today.

 

Parintins is an island community about 14 km long about 40 km upstream from Boca De Valeria. The population is about 50,000 on the island and another 50,000 in the surrounding area. It's chief claim to fame is the annual June Boi Bumba festival. This is a 3-day battle between red and blue teams, where each team puts on a pageant each day scored on the quality of the presentation. While the ceremony is peaceful, passions run high. Coca Cola, a prime sponsor of the event, produces blue Coke cans for the pageant to avoid offending blue team partisans. The pageant is held in a large open-air stadium.

 

I had booked a Parintins highlights tour which ran a couple of hours in the morning. Parintins is an unusual tender port; the town has a large dock which can accomodate neither the ship nor the tenders. We tendered in and tied the tender up to a local riverboat which had a set of steps leading up to the boat's deck at the level of the dock. Going directly from the tender to the dock would have required stepping about 2 feet up from the tender door to the dock level. Brazil Sea Scouts were on location to help passengers negotiate the ramp up from the pier to the shore and to give directions.

 

There were about 60 people on the tour divided between 3 24-passenger minibuses. My bus had air conditioning but still got quite hot with today's blistering temperatures.

 

After passing the original church (The island appears to be almost exclusively Roman Catholic) we stopped first at a little park which had been decorated as Santa's workshop. We then stopped at the Boi Bumba stadium, with it's concrete parade field and seats painted red on one side and blue on the other. Our most interesting stop was at the red team's complex which had a stage for rehearsals but most of the complex was a warehouse where the costumes are built and stored. Some of our group ventured to try on the elaborate costumes. Our final stop was at the main church, a large, airy structure. I returned to the Prinsendam around 11AM, and spent the afternoon relaxing with perhaps a bit of a nap thrown in.

 

At sailaway Captain Gunderson talked about the tendering operations. We had a long tender ride in Parintins because the river is very deep, too deep to anchor securely, and we needed a shallow spot near the other side of the river. In Alter do Chao we have the opposite problem; it is so shallow we must anchor far from shore. We will arrive very early to allow authorities time to process the ship to leave Brazil. We took some extra time before we left to remove debris snagged by the ship's bulbous bow.

 

The dining room was very full tonight as was table 151. My evening concluded with the Prinsendam singers and dancers in Limelight. We moved the clocks forward tonight for the final time of the cruise. We will get 2 hours back in the remainder of the cruise, I would guess on 2 of the 3 remaining formal nights.

 

Today's parting shot will be quite brief. It's been a tough day but as I finish this I feel better than at any time today. As I go online Wednesday morning still not right but a major improvement over yesterday.

 

Roy

[Mckay457]

Hello Roy, sorry to hear you have been feeling the heat, How far in advance do you book your tours, is is possible to decide on the day or did you have to do this way in advance? Have some new entertainers come on board? Are the shows repeated in the evening to accommodate the early and late diners? I am enjoying your reports very much!

[erewhon]

Roy,

Thank you for these reports of your Prinsendam cruise.

[rafinmd]

Thanks Mckay457 and erewhon. Mckay457, I'll get back on your questions.

 

The Crystal Symphony is enroute to Ilha Grande, Brazil.

 

My wordpress post will be delayed today. I lost my best camera at Luke Burrage's show; it was turned in and I got it back just before the crew show but haven't yet had time to process the pictures.

 

While I am not back to normal there was a great improvement since yesterday. When we moved the clocks forward Tuesday evening I did not my alarm clock so the alarm would not go off until 6. I woke about 5:30, still feeling a bit weak but reasonably good. I do not normally use ship elevators but did yesterday. This morning I rode the elevator to the Lido Deck first thing and have not been on it since.

 

We arrived in Alter Do Chao quite early, and while I considered a walk around 6, the Lower Promenade deck had already been blocked off to prepare the tenders for lowering. I did get in 6 laps around 7:30. A consideration for the Prinsendam is that the supports for the tenders come well forward when they are lowered causing a potential hazard at head level. There are cushions over most of the arms, but care is still in order. When we leave for tenders, Whitney the youth counselor has been at the gangway reminding people to have their key cards ready for scanning. Today I asked her about the holiday cruise. She is expecting 28 youth for the holidays, and thinks it is likely a Prinsendam record. Should be interesting.

 

Alter Do Chao sits roughly 20 miles upstream from Santarem on the Rio Tapajos, which we visited on the way upriver. It is a resort community of about 5000, with some nice beaches. It is also home to the Pink Dolphin festival, an event similar to Parintin's Boi Bumba festival. My tour today was “Santarem Highlights” and I got my first look at Santarem since I had gone to the national forest when in Santarem. A fairly long tender ride took us to a small dock which was next to a high boardwalk but did not connect to it; we had to walk about 100 meters/yards on the sand before reaching stairs up to the boardwalk (which appeared to have served a ferry landing).

 

On our way to Santarem we made a stop at a site where various agricultural items and practices were demonstrated. We saw a Brazil Nut Tree and the product we get from it. What is on the tree is a large ball, which is quite hard, heavy, and to be avoided when walking near the tree. Wgeb cracked open, each of these hard balls contains about 20 of the Brazil Nuts we love to eat. We saw an array of Brazilian fruits, and a demonstration of how cassava is processed to make flour, making first a paste, squeezing water out, and finally drying it over heat.

 

In Santarem we made 3 stops. The Cathedral was in the heart of town, a large blue structure. We stopped at a visitor center on the river where we saw once again the meeting of the waters where the brown silty Amazon water runs parallel to the water of the Rio Tapajos. Our final stop was the cultural center in a building which was formerly the city hall, court, and jail.

 

On our travels our guide explained that Santarem's economy had been based on the rubber industry, and that after that industry collapsed it is now mainly sustained by education, with 3 public and 4 private colleges. Despite the relatively short distance, the trip was pretty close to an hour over not too great roads and with a rather tired bus.

 

We arrived in the town center of Alter Do Chao around 12:30. A 40-minute stop was planned there but I explored briefly and walked the quarter mile to the tender pier.

 

Sailaway was scheduled for 3. If Captain Gunderson made a sailaway announcement I didn't hear it, as Lisa was briefing us on our port call in St. Vincent and Grenadines. We passed Santarem and re-entered the Amazon a little after 5.

 

There were 2 shows tonight. The headline entertainment was juggler Luke Burrage. I couldn't quite place him initially, but saw him previously on my 2010 Queen Victoria cruise. In his interview with Christina on the Morning show he shared that he modifies his act somewhat on the Prinsendam because the low showroom ceilings do not work well with the pins he usually juggles. That was followed at 11 by the Indonesian Crew show. I spotted my waiter Payzil in the Angklung Orchestra.

 

My parting shot today comes from the “confusing signs” department. A sigh at the gangway says “Authorized Visitors Only -- Unauthorized Visitors Wait Here”. Leaves me wondering what Unauthorized Visitors we're anticipating and where they come from.

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

Hello Roy, sorry to hear you have been feeling the heat, How far in advance do you book your tours, is is possible to decide on the day or did you have to do this way in advance? Have some new entertainers come on board? Are the shows repeated in the evening to accommodate the early and late diners? I am enjoying your reports very much!

 

Thank you. I am feeling much better now. A muscle pull from the time I was having other problems is still bothering me, but otherwise I am back to normal.

 

1. I personally booked my tours well in advance (some in June, others in September), but that's just my style, not a necessity. One or two tours may sell out but generally you can book them until about a day or 2 before the port call. There are several options for tours, through the cruise line, on your own, or through your cruise critic roll call). One complication of booking in advance with Holland America is that there is a cancellation fee if you book in advance and cancel on board.

 

2. We have been changing entertainers at our major ports of call. Every 4 or 5 days 2 or 3 entertainers will leave and be replaced by others. We have our own troupe of (5) singers and (2) dancers who have done 3 shows so far and I expect will do about 2 more. The typical entertainer will either perform their own shows 2 nights or do a full show one night and a variety show where 2 of them each perform half the show on a second night. I think some of the entertainers work nearly full time for HAL and others will only do a few HAL shows a year.

 

3. Holland America offers 2 styles of dining, a traditional early (5:30) and late (8:00) seating, or a flexible plan where you can reserve a time or show up with a possible wait. The shows are timed for the traditional dining times, usually 8 and 10 PM. There is an occasional change, as tonight the show for early diners will be at 9 while those on the late seating will have a pre-dinner 7PM show. On rare occasions (often the first and last nights) there will be only one show.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Roy

[Copper10-8]

Hey Roy; enjoying your reporting. Thanks for taking the time and effort to do it! :)

 

Re; the man with two suitcases. When I was on MADM last Feb/Mar, we did pretty much the same itinerary as you're on with PRDM. We quickly learned that the Brazilian authorities can be a "challenge". They frequently "change their mind". We had three guest entertainers in Vitoria who were told by them in the morning that they were leaving in the afternoon and flying elsewhere

 

When you see Whitney again, tell her I said hi please and ask her to demonstrate how to do the Wobble for you ;)Have a continued great time!

Edited December 12, 2013 by Copper10-8

[rafinmd]

Thanks, John

 

The Crystal Symphony is in Ilha Grande, Brazil

 

With a strong current we had been moving quite rapidly down the Amazon and the first thing I did at 5AM was to check my GPS to be sure we were still in the Southern hemisphere (we were). Feeling significantly better, I had set a goal of walking 3 miles and extended it to 4, adding another mile later in the morning. I'm nor sure if it was a weather change or being on the river, but it never got really hot today. The reported maximum temperature was 80, and with a breeze on deck it was very comfortable.

 

Our official equator crossing was at 8:43 (8:42:39 by my GPS), just in time to avoid a conflict with a very busy morning. We had a Protestant get-together at 9, Lisa gave her presentation on Curacao and Aruba at 10, and at 11 Werner Salinger talked about progress being made in India.

 

There was also an equator crossing ceremony at 11 by the opted for Werner Salinger's presentation instead, but it seemed more commercial and less ceremony than our 2011 Arctic Circle ceremony.

 

At his 1PM update Captain Gunderson reported we would be crossing the sand bar at the mouth of the Amazon from about 4:30 to 6PM, and would need to reclaim our sea legs once in the Atlantic. The motion is not bad, but we are clearly at sea. Additional signs of our departure from the Amazon were the reappearance of cloth towels in the public restrooms and a towel animal on my bed after dinner.

 

Christina took ill yesterday (returned this evening) so Lisa took on the Team Trivia with a travel question flair. Only 1 team (not mine) came away with a respectable score. We also had cupcake tea this afternoon in the Dining Room.

 

At dinner tonight several of our people from table 151 reported getting invitations to the Mariner Brunch next week. They were in the name of Captain Tim Robbins so it looks like Captain Gunderson will be able to return to his ski slopes as planned. One of my tablemate's musings about occasionally not getting a centerpiece took a comical turn tonight. Payzil responded with a strange creation made from wine bottle corks, soon followed by the real thing. There was some kind of late night party in the Ocean Bar, and the shows were rearranged to accommodate it, with 7PM and 9PM shows instead of 8 and 10. Dinner service was quite quick and most of us made the 7PM show, concert pianist Naomi Edemarian. I'll take my parting shot from one of her comments although I'm not sure I have the details right. She was playing Gershwin and reported that he went to Paris to study with Ravel who rejected him saying “Why be a mediocre Ravel when you're already a great Gershwin”. While we want to improve ourselves, let's also celebrate the greatness each of us has.

 

Roy

[Mckay457]

Thank you Roy for answering my questions, I am a planning kind of person and it is I good to know that tours of particular interest can be booked in advanced. I look forward to your reports of the next days at sea prior to your next port of call, kind regards!

[cruz chic]

Thx for the update.

[fishywood]

Dinner service was quite quick and most of us made the 7PM show, concert pianist Naomi Edemarian. I'll take my parting shot from one of her comments although I'm not sure I have the details right. She was playing Gershwin and reported that he went to Paris to study with Ravel who rejected him saying “Why be a mediocre Ravel when you're already a great Gershwin”. While we want to improve ourselves, let's also celebrate the greatness each of us has.

 

Naomi Edemariam is aboslutely wonderful. On my QM2 crossing in May she performed three classical matinees including one that featured the complete Rhapsody in Blue using an arrangement for two pianos she masterfully adapted for one. I imagine that would be a bit too heady for the evening's general entertainment, but hopefully she will make another appearance in a more classical vein.

 

Thanks as always for bringing us along on your travels.

 

Charles

[rafinmd]

Thank you, all. John, Whitney sends you her best. Charles, Naomi Edemariam has another performance tonight (shared with Luke Burrage). This is the first time I've seen this talented artist. Unfortunately, the afternoon classical concert does not seem to be part of the HAL culture.

 

As of Saturday morning, the Elegant Explorer is starting to become the Elegant and Festive explorer.

 

My first order of business this morning was to move some very sweaty clothes into the laundry. I think it was technically possible to use the laundry while in the Amazon but didn't press the issue. The job was completed just past the halfway point of my 5-mile walk. We have been pitching (bow rising and falling) all day and the pitch has become more pronounced as the day progressed. It is slow and rhythmic, but definitely moving. The newly repaired stabilizers have just about eliminated any roll.

 

The morning was very busy with the interdenominational service and presentations by Roberta Sloan on comedy improv and Werner Salinger on Japan.

 

I had lunch today in the Pinnacle Grill. The salad and burger were delicious but it was a LOT of food. I went fairly light on dinner as the meal carried me pretty well through the day. It did not seem to have been advertised but there was an International Buffet lunch in the dining room that was quite well received by those who found it. My afternoon was pretty quiet.

 

The dining room was relatively quiet at dinner as well. One of our tablemates was not up to dinner, and I think a number of other people were missing as well. While the ship was still moving quite a bit there was still quite a good crowd in the showroom. At 7:30 we had a game of “Call My Bluff” (also known as Liars Club) with Cruise Director Christina, Youth Counselor Whitney, and juggler Luke as the participants. The main attraction was a repeat performance by singer Peter Cutler (8PM and 10PM performances).

 

Today's parting shot is a happy one. Just under a year ago I was also sailing towards Barbados, but this time on the Celebrity Summit in celebration of my nephew's wedding. It will be one year ago to the day when the Prinsendam reaches Barbados. Happy Anniversary Keith and Tracey.

 

Roy

[KirkNC]

You forgot to include the location of the Symphony :D!

[cruz chic]

Thanks for the update.

[rafinmd]

You forgot to include the location of the Symphony :D!

 

Cut and paste error: Paraty, Brazil

 

Roy

[rafinmd]

The Crystal Symphony is in Santos (San Paulo) Brazil.

 

The somewhat busy seas got busier overnight. I started walking the Lower Promenade deck and after 7 laps discovered that the door by the dining room was roped off, and took that as a clue to hold off a bit walking. The forward doors were never sealed, and I did do some additional walking around lunch time, for a total of 3 1/2 miles, but it was not a good day for walking. It was also very cloudy in the morning but the sun did come out later in the day with a high temperature around 27/80. If you have sea legs it's definitely better here than in New England and Canada, but that's a big if.

 

Inside the Elegant Explorer it was another very busy morning. It is becoming the Elegant and Festive Explorer as Chrismas decorations are going up in most areas of the ship. Communion was served this morning at our Protestant gathering (in deference to the seas we declined to stand for the hymns), and there were presentations by Werner Salinger on Korea and Vietnam, and by Stephen Sloan on

“Demystifying Intelligence”. As the religious service was winding down a crew drill was announced. The alarm bells went off just a fraction of a second after we finished our final hymn. The “fire” was down in the bowels of the ship but the crews were dressing and mustering to fight it just outside the Showroom at Sea.

 

At his farewell update Captain Emeritus Gunderson reported that the busy seas would continue until Barbados. We are about 200 miles off the coast of Guyana, and will enter the harbor about 7AM and be docked by 8. There will be Thompson and Aida ships in port (both dis/embarking passengers) and will be assigned to the “sugar berth”. Captain Gunderson said he enjoyed his time at sea but seemed ready to return to his Norway ski slopes. I participated in team trivia but my team did not do well and I was little help with today's questions. The Cha Cha round of the Dancing of the Stars contest was held during the afternoon.

 

I went to one of the computer classes. Unfortunately, it has had little effect on my opinion of Windows 8, but I did find one piece of software that will make things a little easier.

 

All of us were present at table 151 and the motion seemed to be a little less than during the day. The evening entertainment was a variety show featuring Luke Burrage and Naomi Edemarian. Burrage had a routine which was part juggler and part contortionist where he donned a large fleece and first put both arms into one sleeve, juggled tennis balls with his wrists together, then crossed his arms into the wrong sleeves and juggled with crossed arms, and finally twisted the fleece backwards with his arms in the right place but the hood covering his face and juggled the balls blindfolded.

 

Today's parting shot is a wish for those in the North of North America to stay safe, warm, and dry.

 

Roy

[kazu]

Hope the seas smooth for you Roy. Sounds like it's not having a bad effect on you which is great to hear. Good thing the stabilizer was repaired :D

 

I bet the ship is very pretty by now:D

[rafinmd]

Hope the seas smooth for you Roy. Sounds like it's not having a bad effect on you which is great to hear. Good thing the stabilizer was repaired :D

 

I bet the ship is very pretty by now:D

 

Same sea conditions but smoother due to our new direction of travel. Fortunately, I do well in rough seas. I'll have more on the decorations from land.

 

The Crystal Symphony is at sea to Rio Grande, Brazil.

 

The seas stayed heavy until we pulled abreast of Barbados, and we had quite strong winds all day on shore. We passed the breakwater around 7, tying up to a dock opposite the Aidaluna and Thompson Dream. The sugar berth (where the Elegant Explorer also docked last year) seems a bit crowded with 3 large towers for transferring bulk cargo coming within about 10 feet of the lido deck. This is my third visit to Barbados, after disembarking the Wind Surf here in 2009 and a Celebrity Summit port call next year. I plan to return on the Amsterdam in April and on the Wind Star in November.

 

My tour today was “Barbados by Segway”. I've done one segway tour before (Crystal Symphony in Santa Barbara) but this was very different. My first one was on an ever urban boardwalk. Today about a dozen of us took about a 40-minute ride to the Northeast corner of the island and arrived at an abandoned windmill in a pasture. We had offroad segways with fat tires, and donned knee and elbow pads and helmets. Our guide gave us brief instructions and pointed out the main hazzards, touching another segway's wheels will cause problems, as will rocks, roots, and coconuts as the machines have only about 3 inches ground clearance. Finally, we are to avoid mud and “cow pies” as a spinning segwheel will cause the machine to lose control.

 

With that we set off across a field, dodging most of the obstructions the guides had mentioned (no mud) and stopping at 4 spots overlooking the Atlantic. Our final stop we were actually on the shore, accessed by Little Bay Road. At our final stop there were a couple of caves and a natural bridge. We returned to our bus around 11 and were back at the ship around noon.

 

After lunch in the lido I went to the terminal which has wifi but I found it so slow as to be pretty worthless. I don't know if it's always that way or was just overwhelmed by 4000 cruisers. I took a walk into town (The port exit is like an obstacle course but then there's a lovely seaside walk into town). There's a beautiful small boat harbor and some nice mounments. I found a Burger King where I got a diet coke and installed a large update on my computer. I finally returned to the ship around 3.

 

Our Protestant service was at 4:30 and all aboard was at 5:30. I handed in my order at the dining room and went up to deck 13 for sailaway. returning to the dining room just in time for the second course.

 

This evening's entertainment for me was a real miss. I'm sure Duo Acrobatique is talented but I don't think it really fits with the sight lines and layout of Prinsendam's showroom. The song says “For everything there is a season”, and I think there's a place as well, but this is not it. I gave up after about 15 minutes, but got up to the Crow's nest for Derek's salute to Lionel Ritchie.

 

As today's parting shot, it's a rare cruise that has 2 Captains. It was a real joy to have a chance to sail with Halle Thon Gunderson and Tim Robins is among a handful of my favorite captains. I'm sure this arrangement has placed hardships on both of them but I'm glad things are back to normal and I've really enjoyed the combination.

 

Roy

[cruz chic]

I've found the wifi to be pretty slow and worthless there as well. Honestly, I'd rather have the option of paying a few bucks to get decent wifi. Usually the free stuff is pretty poor. Thx for the update.

 

cruz chic (formerly lorekauf).

[rafinmd]

Thanks cruz chic

 

For those who prefer to stay with Cruise Critic and haven't gone to my wordpress blog, here are (I hope) links to my photos of the decortions. Clicking on each link should take you to that picture and the names should be self explanatory.

 

http://amazonextended.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/diningannex.jpg

 

http://amazonextended.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/diningfoyer.jpg

 

http://amazonextended.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/oceanbar.jpg

 

http://amazonextended.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/frontstairs.jpg

 

The Symphony's decorations started going up in mid-November while the Prinsendam had nothing until recently. Part of the reason may be that some of the displays are coming from the pastry shop and could not have been done earlier due to shelf life considerations:

 

http://amazonextended.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/drlobby.jpg

 

http://amazonextended.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/7forward.jpg

 

Oops, I mislabeled those last 2 pictures. The one labled drlobby is actually the forward staircase landing on deck 7 and 7forward is actually outside the dining room between the staircase and the door to the forward dining room annex.

 

Roy

[Hawkeye1946]

Hello, Roy.

My name is Sue and I have been thoroughly enjoying travelling vicariously through your wonderful updates.

We have some wonderful former neighbors who are travelling with you. I'd be very surprised if you have not already met them. They are George and Pauline from Tucson. He is a very well-travelled retired Presbyterian minister. Both of them are quite short and chances are good that George is wearing an

Aloha shirt. If you see them....say "hi" to them from Sue & Steve.

Thanks!

Sue