Prinsendam 2007 Voyages

[PRINSENDAM]

Re Prinsendam's two cruises at the beginning of 07:

 

Has anyone seen the fares for these cruises?

 

I wonder what the charge willl be for the Penthouse?

 

Just 'wondering'!!!!!:)

 

Seriously, have the prices been published yet?

 

Stephen

[RevNeal]

For the Penthouse my guess would be about 25% more than my annual salary, not counting onboard expenses or shore excursions. :) Per-person, of course.

[Grumpy1]

Stephen, I haven't seen the pricing yet, but my guess is that it won't be too much different than the 2006 pricing on a per day basis. I have no idea when the pricing will be released.

[JaniceB]

Grumpy,

 

I am thinking that Slinkie might like a trip to Haifa, Isreal. My husband tells me the diamonds their are first rate. He has visited during his days in the navy. I wonder if the market would be open on Good Friday? That might put a damper on diamond shopping.

 

Janice

[Grumpy1]

Pricing for the 2007 Amsterdam Grand World Voyage and the 2 Prinsendam Grand Voyages should be out before the end of August.

[blue whale]

Dear Grumpy, We are trying to decide whether to do the full world in 07 or half from Hong Kong to NYC. Question: when you were doing the world in 05, did you notice any world cruisers who had "an attitude" toward segment people—we are better than you are attitude? Also did the segment people receive pillow gifts that you received on the segments they were doing? Were there any activities for segment people to help them integrate into the social milieu already in existence? Or did the world people stay by themselves in the social groups they had already formed? I would appreciate any points you have in this regard. My husband is not inclined to take cruises longer than about 60 nights. He gets antsy after that. Thanks

[wander]

Blue Whale, - I know that you asked this question of Grumpy, but as a segment person I thought that I would answer as well.

 

When we went on several segments of the World Cruise (2002) we got all the pillow gifts given during those segments. There were no special events to help us integrate.

 

Now, about attitude. While I would guess some felt that way, we never experienced it in any overt manner. However, it was more a matter that their friendship groups were well formed and active and they were not necessarily looking to expand them. There were a number of private parties each week, which were, of course, for their established friends. It is sort of like noving into a well established older neighborhood versus moving into a brand new neighborhood where everyone else is just moving in as well, or joining any well established club or group at home. You may just luck out and be welcomed warmly from day one, or you may find it harder to really get integrated into the group quickly. With time it comes, but it is not the same as joining a group starting from day one.

 

We were fortunate as we had several couples who we knew well from previous cruises on the full World. Because of them we got in involved in some parties that we would not have otherwise. Believe me, they were wonderful parties and we were so glad we were invited, they were beyond the normal cruise experience. Unless one's cruise experience would be ruined by seeing private parties you were not invited to, it would not have impacted the cruise. There were plenty of segment folks to enjoy.

 

There is one thing that may have been different in our experience than that of Grumpy and Slinkie's 2005 World. Our World was on a larger ship (Rotterdam or Amsterdam), while they went on the Prinsendam. From HAL folks it is my understanding that one of the reasons for switching back to the larger ship in 2007 was that they sell many more segment packages on the larger ships, versus the Prinsendam which was quite full with full cruise folks. It this is true, then on the Prinsendam things might have been different for segment folks.

 

Well, I am sure that this is more than you ever wanted to know. By the way, we did get to eat with the Captain, even as segment folks.

 

From our experience, I would not hesitate to do segments or the World, particularly when it goes back to the larger ship.

[Slinkiecat]

Thanks, for the info on shuttles. We are booked on the Prinsendam for the west Africa out of Lisbon cruise and waitlisted for the world. First, is anyone else doing the fall cruise of 06 on Prinsendam? And has anyone who has done the world cruise ever felt that it was too long a time to be on ship? The longest we have done in the past is 64 nights on circle pacific. I wrote this message once and lost it, so it may get posted twice. D

 

As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing that could be considered "too long a time" on a ship. Our world cruise was utterly fantastic, and we would have happily spent another three or four months, but they dumped us off back at our starting point, and we're landlubbers again. I would go back and do it all again in a heartbeat. We will go back to some of those wonderful countries again.

 

Slinkie

[Grumpy1]

Blue Whale... even though there was a very high percentage of the pax on the Prinsendam that were full world, there were still a lot of segment people getting on at various points. We met quite a few of them and our dinner table for 8 saw new faces several times. We had couples onboard that had been on as many as 14 world cruises, many that had cruised together before, and found them to be quite cordial to us newbie world cruisers. I had thought that we might not be welcomed by the "established" cruisers, but did not find that to be the case.

 

Of the many segment cruisers that we met, I didn't hear anyone express any feelings of being snubbed by the full world cruisers. Quite a few of the organized activities were designed to run by segments so the new people coming on wouldn't be frozen out. Although there was no special attempt that I saw to integrate newcomers, it seemed that everyone blended in very nicely.

 

There were quite a few cocktail parties that were for specific groups, but they were quite often for the purpose of getting segment passengers acquainted with the ones already onboard from that group. We tried to make sure the CC members were welcomed aboard. AAA/CAA had a rep on board and they hosted a coctail party early in each segment, as did Ensemble and Cruise Specialists. These were generally held in the lounges. There were also small group cocktail parties in suites. Some may have been planned prior to the cruise, but some were to get acquainted with a speaker from the exploration series. Invitations to those usually included pax from various cabin categories as well as segment and full cruisers.

 

If you book with a TA that is affiliated with someone setting up a group cruise, you'll probably attend a couple of cocktail parties. Otherwise, you might get an invite to a special party or you might have to "settle" for attending the captain's cocktail reception.

[blue whale]

Thanks for all the information. We are really thinking seriously of doing half of the world cruise in 07, or---maybe---the entire route, if we can get our act together. I think that we will get to know some pax ahead based on CC postings, too.

[blue whale]

Well, one more question--when we did the Rotterdam 36 night cruise last summer out of NYC to North Cape and return, the tips of 10 dollars per day were added to the bill. Nonetheless, others at our table tipped generously at the end. If we take half the world, we will be on for 54 nights, so over 1000 will be added to our bill for the two of us. For the west African trip, 900 will be added. I know that world cruisers get tips included. In addition, was it expected that you also tip your dining and room stewards generously as well? That determines how much cash we must carry with us. Thanks, blue whale.

[Grumpy1]

Well, one more question--when we did the Rotterdam 36 night cruise last summer out of NYC to North Cape and return, the tips of 10 dollars per day were added to the bill. Nonetheless, others at our table tipped generously at the end. If we take half the world, we will be on for 54 nights, so over 1000 will be added to our bill for the two of us. For the west African trip, 900 will be added. I know that world cruisers get tips included. In addition, was it expected that you also tip your dining and room stewards generously as well? That determines how much cash we must carry with us. Thanks, blue whale.

 

On the 2005 World Tour, the tips were not prepaid, but were posted to the shipboard account at the end of each of the five segments. Most people tipped in addition to the automatic amount... guess it would depend on whether you were the tipper or tippee if the word "generous" would apply.:rolleyes: .. Some people tipped at the end of each segment, others waited until the end. And then there were those that removed the automatic tip and gave a tip that would be more appropriate for a 10 day cruise and thought they were being generous... :(

 

We did take extra cash with us just for the purpose of tipping in addition to the automatic amount, and to also tip for any special services provided.

[blue whale]

Thanks for the info about tipping. In the "old days" when HAL did not add tips to your bill, we always figured at least 3.50 per day for room steward, same for dining steward, 2.50 for assistant dining steward, and then a small tip to the area supervisor and to the head of the dining room. We actually followed the guidelines suggested by Princess and Celebrity. That came to about 11 dollars per day per person. Now that HAL is already taking 10, it appears that if we tip the same way as we used to, we will be getting charged twice in a way? When HAL announce that they were putting tips right on the account I thought that would be great because then we would not have to carry so much cash. And I would make up my envelopes for the entire cruise on the first days and stash them at the back of the safe so that I would not spend that money. I like to shop.!

[blue whale]

Is anyone thinking about the world cruise or segments of it in 2007?

[bruceh4]

Is anyone thinking about the world cruise or segments of it in 2007?

In case you did not know it the 2007 world cruise will be back on the Amsterdam.

[blue whale]

I see that you are doing the 64 day Circle Pacific this fall on Amsterdam. We did that cruise in fall of 02. It was WONDERFUL! We thought that we might do it again this fall, but then decided to try other itineraries. Thus we did half a world cruise this spring through Suez and will do western Africa next fall. But you will love the Asian Pacific. Have you ever been to China? Have you ever been to Sydney? We enjoyed every moment and met some wonderful fellow pax. We did it on Volendam. Amsterdam should be even nicer.

[bruceh4]

I see that you are doing the 64 day Circle Pacific this fall on Amsterdam. We did that cruise in fall of 02. It was WONDERFUL! We thought that we might do it again this fall, but then decided to try other itineraries. Thus we did half a world cruise this spring through Suez and will do western Africa next fall. But you will love the Asian Pacific. Have you ever been to China? Have you ever been to Sydney? We enjoyed every moment and met some wonderful fellow pax. We did it on Volendam. Amsterdam should be even nicer.

Blue Whale, thanks for your nice note. This will be the first time for my wife and I to cross the Pacific. We are both very excited about it. I had booked the cruise in the fall of 02 on the Volendam and my wife got cold feet about the length. But now she is looking forward to it. In Dec 04 we were on the Prinsendam for the Amazon River and we were surprised at the number of people who said they were on the Volendam for the fall of 02 and how many are going back with us in Oct. In fact a lot of people were trying to book the Pacific cruise and were very disappointed that it was already sold out. I booked with a friend as soon as it came out in May 04.

[blue whale]

Blue Whale, thanks for your nice note. This will be the first time for my wife and I to cross the Pacific. We are both very excited about it. I had booked the cruise in the fall of 02 on the Volendam and my wife got cold feet about the length. But now she is looking forward to it. In Dec 04 we were on the Prinsendam for the Amazon River and we were surprised at the number of people who said they were on the Volendam for the fall of 02 and how many are going back with us in Oct. In fact a lot of people were trying to book the Pacific cruise and were very disappointed that it was already sold out. I booked with a friend as soon as it came out in May 04.

 

You will have a wonderful time. Make sure to take the overnight in Beijing. We also enjoyed the glow worm cave tour in Auckland. We have friends who are going this year again—people we met on the Volendam. We loved to sit in the Explorer Lounge in the evenings. We met lovely people there. Enjoy!