Rare kazu Posted October 8, 2014 Author #176 Share Posted October 8, 2014 We are scheduled to tender in Hydra Today. It's a short stop but one I have been intrigued by. No cars, just bicycles and donkies. Supposed to be quite artsy and very pretty. As I sit on my verandah and watch the waves and gaze on this pretty island, it hits me that the sea is starting to tip urn quite rough! I head to the Lido to check the other side and it looks no better. Oh, oh. Then the ship turns and the captain comes on. You guessed it, we can't tender. The current and winds are too strong and it isn't Safe. Behind me, I hear a man complaining that the ship was even going to Hydra. What for he says- why didn't we go to Athens straight away. There is nothing on this island Bummer. I spot Georgina and we are both disappointed as we were very intrigued by this port. It just goes to show you can't make all of the people happy all of the time. We wanted to go and obviously the man behind us did not. Go figure:) It's pretty obvious that the seas are getting rougher and we are in for a few bumps as we head to Piraeus. Dh has been really spoiled as have we all as the seas have been like glass. Looks like an 8 hour cruise to nowhere as we kill time for our arrival in Athens at 6:00 pm. Obviously those getting off tomorrow will make good use of the time and pack. We don't have to do that so we just enjoyed the day and prepared for our night out in Athens. We had signed up for a ship's tour......a night in La Plaka. I had heard another guest sign up saying how much fun it was so Gigianne and we decided to give it a shot. We arrived in Piraeus at 6:00 pm. Piraeus is one of the biggest and busiest ports in Europe after Barcelona and Marseilles, so we have been in the three busiest Ports in Europe. The four of us headed out with the shore excursion group. The bus and guide gave us a mini panoramic tour on the way to the restaurant. I know, I'm silly, but I have never understood why they do scenic sights when the sun is setting and you can barely see anything other than to kill time before you arrive at the destination. Of course, it didn't much matter as I had the wrong seat on the bus and couldn't see anything anyways. (Now I remember why I don't do many HAL tours.) Anyways, we arrive at the restaurant and sadly, the seats HAL has are not exactly in the best location to put it mildly. It soon becomes clear that I am going to have a big crick in my neck from twisting and turning it to see the show. There were 6 of us seated at a table that should have only been for four at the most in the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever experienced. Of course, they had to be narrow to fit so many people at the table. The place was huge and they had as many sardines (us) packed in that they could. The chairs were so close together that to get out from the table you had to ask several people to move! The food was definitely decent and the dance performances were pretty good though. The wine was poor. Sadly, there was a singer performing during the costume changes who tended to sing well known western songs instead of Greek songs. I guess that was to give the tourists a bit of comfort but I would have preferred more local songs. The tour is $105, so not a cheap evening. Dh gave it a rating of 7.5. I guess I am not as generous, I give it a 6 out of 10. If the venue was not as cramped, the chairs more comfortable and the viewing better, I could be Kinder. The dancing was good and the rest just ok. As Gigianne said as we were slowly making our way with the bus load of people, I don't think I could do too many of these tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 8, 2014 Author #177 Share Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) I really want to share some pics and have been taking some from the Ipad. The first time I went to attach Cc offered Facebook, so I said fine, and after struggling with my privacy settings I finally got. That done. And now, CC is not giving me that option. I have tried loading pics on both shutterfly and photobucket in wifi ports and basically wasted too much time. I have reduced from all pics to six pics and I was still at only one percent complete. I do this all the time with the laptop and have never had an issue. Is it the Ipad? Is there a trick to it? I have lots of memory and would really like to share so if someone Can help me through this Stumbling block to get them to load ( or how to load from Facebook,), I would love to share some of my pics with you if you want to see them. Live from the Prinsendam where itis costing money.... I must be desperate;) Edited October 8, 2014 by kazu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 8, 2014 Author #178 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I'm late to the party, but thanks for you wonderful report. I would LOVE to sail on Prinsendam as she was the younger sister of my first cruise ship, Royal Viking Sea. Thanks for reading. I'm not the best writer. Sail this ship while she is still in the fleet. This is our tied cruise on her and we are HOME.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted October 8, 2014 #179 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I'm late to the party, but thanks for you wonderful report. I would LOVE to sail on Prinsendam as she was the younger sister of my first cruise ship, Royal Viking Sea. Do go with realistic expectations, and not expect to repeat your Royal Viking experience. A number of Royal Viking crew ended up on Crystal and I know those standards and they trump even the Elegant Explorer. Be prepared for the absolute pinnacle of a mainstream cruise experience, but still probably a step down from Royal Viking. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimp56 Posted October 8, 2014 #180 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Do go with realistic expectations, and not expect to repeat your Royal Viking experience. A number of Royal Viking crew ended up on Crystal and I know those standards and they trump even the Elegant Explorer. Be prepared for the absolute pinnacle of a mainstream cruise experience, but still probably a step down from Royal Viking. Roy Oh I realize that. I just would like to see how much of the original layout remains. I'm a happy HAL-er these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrTee Posted October 8, 2014 #181 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I really want to share some pics and have been taking some from the Ipad. The first time I went to attach Cc offered Facebook, so I said fine, and after struggling with my privacy settings I finally got. That done. And now, CC is not giving me that option. I have tried loading pics on both shutterfly and photobucket in wifi ports and basically wasted too much time. I have reduced from all pics to six pics and I was still at only one percent complete. I do this all the time with the laptop and have never had an issue. Is it the Ipad? Is there a trick to it? I have lots of memory and would really like to share so if someone Can help me through this Stumbling block to get them to load ( or how to load from Facebook,), I would love to share some of my pics with you if you want to see them. Live from the Prinsendam where itis costing money.... I must be desperate;) Jacqui, It probably is the IPad and its annoying inability to use Flash, which some sites require for uploading photos. Glad you're having a great time, but I'm not surprised since you have the right attitude. I leave in 9 days and board in 12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vict0riann Posted October 8, 2014 #182 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Maybe when you get home you'll have time to post a few photos at the end. We're looking forward to seeing them. We leave here on October 25th, going to TO to visit DD. She has told me she has a hand-me-down ipad mini for me, so I'm very excited, but I don't think I will be able to post anything, including photos, until we get back in December after the cruise. It's going to be a learning experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted October 8, 2014 #183 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Oh I realize that. I just would like to see how much of the original layout remains. I'm a happy HAL-er these days. When you go, be sure to check out the big model of the Royal Viking Sun in the forward stairwell (I think the lido deck but may be 1 deck off). There have been a number of changes but it still has a lot of the original character. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrimpboat123 Posted October 8, 2014 #184 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I really want to share some pics and have been taking some from the Ipad. The first time I went to attach Cc offered Facebook, so I said fine, and after struggling with my privacy settings I finally got. That done. And now, CC is not giving me that option. I have tried loading pics on both shutterfly and photobucket in wifi ports and basically wasted too much time. I have reduced from all pics to six pics and I was still at only one percent complete. I do this all the time with the laptop and have never had an issue. Is it the Ipad? Is there a trick to it? I have lots of memory and would really like to share so if someone Can help me through this Stumbling block to get them to load ( or how to load from Facebook,), I would love to share some of my pics with you if you want to see them. Live from the Prinsendam where itis costing money.... I must be desperate;) If you want to email the pics to me Jacqui, I'll post them on this thread for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HALGirl Posted October 8, 2014 #185 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Wifi is not bad on the ship. It doesn't seem as fast as last time but I have been using it at the wrong times. Best times are early morning or very late at night and I didn't do that (dumb, dumb, dumb). Part of the problem is also cruise critic which can be slow on its own sometimes. I checked our bank account today and was in and out in less than 3 minutes which I think is pretty decent since the page does have to load. There has definitely been some refurbishment on the ship. The verandah chairs we have and cushions have all been replaced. The Prinsendam, sign at the sea view pool has been replaced (and looks good) and the Dive In has arrived on the Prinsendam, haven't tried it yet. One person said it was awful on day one. Someone yesterday said it was very good. I'll report when we try it :) I think a number of soft goods have been replaced - the couches look different than last time in our cabin. I haven't seen any dripping in hallways or in the Lido so, so far everything looks very nice. Oh, and the manager of the Pinnacle Grill is a woman - Elvira from Romania. She is very nice and very efficient. We have had breakfast in the Pinnacle and lunch today. So far, this Pinnacle grill is still the best in the fleet. By the way our PG manager has been with HAL for 9 years so probably some of you have met her. She says this ship is her favourite, but what else is she going to spay? LOL We are going to the Cellar Master dinner and Le Cirque and have PG dinners planned after that so I will certainly give you our impressions. Prinsendam is offering the Wine around the World again this cruise. That was really good last time, so we will definitely try that again. The wine choices were really nice last time and hopefully it will be the same this time. I'll let you all know. Rich - it's a different adagio this time and if you thought the last two were great, wow. I have to get their names. She is an artist on the violin. Te music they played tonight had people on their feet applauding. The explorers lounge is full and with very good reason. They are incredible. They had a request from a musucian for a very difficult piece and it was absolute magic. I am still catching up and forgive me if I add things later. We have Durres Albania tomorrow and a very early start! Hi there, I was on the Prinsendam Sept 7 to Sept 21. Tell Elvira in the Pinnacle that Karen and Joanne say HI. She is a wonderful Manager. We found the food much better in both MDR and PG then on most of the other ships. Probably due to cooking for less people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted October 8, 2014 #186 Share Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) I really want to share some pics and have been taking some from the Ipad. I do this all the time with the laptop and have never had an issue. Is it the Ipad? Is there a trick to it? J - Try this site: http://postimage.org/ Select the option that resizes the image down to 1,024x768 or 800x600 so that the images don't take forever to load for your faithful and loyal readers. Edited October 8, 2014 by POA1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sppunk Posted October 9, 2014 #187 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I always use postimage.org. You can select multiple photos at once, size to "message board" for quick uploading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted October 9, 2014 #188 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I always use postimage.org. You can select multiple photos at once, size to "message board" for quick uploading. Sorry. I should have given you the hat tip for recommending it. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruzin Terri Posted October 9, 2014 #189 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Jacqui, I am enjoying your blog. It is interesting reading. Just a heads up. George from taxi Katakalon, (I have used him twice) is presently quite ill and hospitalized in Athens. Thought you might want to know. Terri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sapper1 Posted October 9, 2014 #190 Share Posted October 9, 2014 (edited) I really want to share some pics and have been taking some from the Ipad. The first time I went to attach Cc offered Facebook, so I said fine, and after struggling with my privacy settings I finally got. That done. And now, CC is not giving me that option. I have tried loading pics on both shutterfly and photobucket in wifi ports and basically wasted too much time. I have reduced from all pics to six pics and I was still at only one percent complete. I do this all the time with the laptop and have never had an issue. Is it the Ipad? Is there a trick to it? I have lots of memory and would really like to share so if someone Can help me through this Stumbling block to get them to load ( or how to load from Facebook,), I would love to share some of my pics with you if you want to see them. Live from the Prinsendam where itis costing money.... I must be desperate;) Jacqui, if you have the Tapatalk app installed on your iPad then posting pictures on CC is a breeze. This is from someone who couldn't post a picture on CC in the past if her life depended on it. You don't have to use Photobucket etc. --Just post directly from Tapatalk. Edited October 9, 2014 by sapper1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 9, 2014 Author #191 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Jacqui,I am enjoying your blog. It is interesting reading. Just a heads up. George from taxi Katakalon, (I have used him twice) is presently quite ill and hospitalized in Athens. Thought you might want to know. Terri How sad Terri. We really enjoyed him. I hope he is healthy soon. I will send him an email. Thanks so much for letting me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 9, 2014 Author #192 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Jacqui, if you have the Tapatalk app installed on your iPad then posting pictures on CC is a breeze. This is from someone who couldn't post a picture on CC in the past if her life depended on it. You don't have to use Photobucket etc. --Just post directly from Tapatalk. I do have it I think. Will check it. Might have deleted it as I didn't like it but I can get the app back. IRL that doesn't work, I will email some to my buddy shrimpboat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 9, 2014 Author #193 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Thanks POA, sspunk and shrimpboat123 and everyone else. Really appreciate the help. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 9, 2014 Author #194 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Athens After spending the night here, most of the passengers are disembarking. About 150 people are staying on board for the next cruise including yours truly. Gigianne has arranged for a private tour that will take 8 of us around Athens for some of the key sites. When we disembark at the end of the cruise, we will use the same company to visit Corinth and then be transported to our hotels. Knowing that the public rooms could be busy, everyone came to our room to meet and we headed out. Frank did a great job. You can't get tired of the Acropolis and the other fabulous sites in Athens. We headed to La Plaka (both areas) and enjoyed some sights, a light bite and drink and savoured the flavour. Of course we made sure we were back on board for the life boat drill or in this case, the mustard drill (that is not a typo). This really was a mess. The passenger demographic has changed substantially and the ship is doing the new method now with the alarm ringing and stay there until you are called. In the meantime, our stewards are coming to the room calling out lifeboat drill!!!! We were there on time of course and waited as people strolled along one after the other all arriving late as the time ticked away. Finally, it was over and the cruise had begun. Headed to the sea view pool as some on the roll call had said they would be there and We were happy to see ski ww one more time - HUGE hug. I love their cc name. Ski ww stands for spending our children's inheritance world wide. I doubt they are really doing that but they are certainly well travelled and a very nice couple. I also had the pleasure to meet some roll call members joining us on this segment. We've done a fair bit of emailing and posting (who me? Post? Never :)). So nice to finally meet them. When I had free wifi in port I noticed the thread on rude behaviour. Well, the captains welcome was tonight and a fellow walked up and was ticked off that the captain didn't shake hands. now, it was in the on location that they wouldn't be and I think most of us know the reason for it, especially in the first 48 hours, but in any case, he came back to the captain with " who the H are you and what do you do here anyways?" Then, after that was over, ( the rest has been left out discreetly) He came back and Said and by the way I am Mr. x ( left out to protect the innocent). One of the rudest behaviours I have heard of on any ship, especially this one. We had fun in Athens and we are back in the forward dining room at table 9. Actually the table We had last time for the second leg. Maribela has already been around to make sure that we are happy with the new table and we are. Happy, happy, happy. I really love that forward dining Room. Much quieter than the bigger one. Now that I have done both I can sappy without hesitation that the smaller forward dining room is better by far. Oh my heavens, we have started the second leg and I have this glass half empty attitude as the cruise is half over. Uggher If you thought it was port intensive before, the fun is about to really begin and it looks like the weather is going to turn on us and be a challenge. Please not for Meteorra. Live from the Prinsendam as the waves lap softly against the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 9, 2014 Author #195 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Where is a Copper when you need him? Wish we had his help on board. Sadly last night, DH was in the oak room and left his camera there when we went to dinner. He quickly realized it had been left behind and left the dining room to pick it up. 45 minutes had passed and the camera was gone. Even worse, so are the pics on the memory card. It is now the next day And so far neither the memory card nor the camera have turned up. We can only hope that the person who has it has a change of heart. The camera has a little something that DH put on it that makes it easy to spot so I will be keeping my eyes out. I composed a note asking for the memory card to be returned to be put at everyone's mail box, but of course the ship doesn't want the theft known so it can't be done, Sadly, I was going to download the pics two days ago and DH said it could wait as he had lots of gigabytes on the memory card. Lesson learned. Fortunately I started using my iPad for pics and DH has taken some pics on the other camera but there are still a lot of pics gone including some of Master Marles growing up. Sad to think that someone would do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted October 9, 2014 Author #196 Share Posted October 9, 2014 The other reports are behind. This is current Istanbul is starting to cause some concern for some passengers. I have heard some say they are now not getting off the ship! Apparently 20 were killed last night! Any concerns That were growing were greeted with this letter last night: NOTICE Turkish Port of Calls Dear Valued guest, As many of you are aware, there have been ongoing protests and sporadic unrest in several areas of Istanbul. First and foremost, we want to assure you that the safety of our guests and crew is our highest priority and we are monitoring the situation very closely. At this time we plan to make our Turkish port calls as scheduled. While we feel there is no undue risk, we do want to encourage you to exercise caution when ashore. We urge you to avoid all public demonstrations while visiting any port, particularly in Istanbul. In general, it is wise to avoid travelling alone, and to refrain from drawing attention to yourself through the display of large amounts of cash or expensive jewellry. Finally, while we want you to enjoy your time in each port of call, we also want to remind you to please be aware of your surroundings and any suspicious activity while you are shoreside. As we approach Turkey we will advice you of any additional precautions that may be deemed prudent to ensure your safety ashore. On behalf of the Officers, Staff and Crew of the Prinsendam, we will endeavour to provide a safe, secure and enjoyable voyage. We are, as always, at your service. Best Regards, Captain Andre Captain Andre has come on today ( we arrive in Istanbul at 6 pm) to advise that they have been in close contact with tour operators, local authorities, Seattle, etc. and that the old town and the port area have not been affected by the demonstrations. We have a private guide who is number one on tripadvisor, so we are hopefully in good hands for our tours tomorrow and the next day. Hopefully the weather improves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted October 9, 2014 #197 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I have been really enjoying your updates but these last few...oh dear. I so hope that you get the camera back and that rude hebaviour is behind you. Try not to let these things don't put a damper on the whole vacation for you. I am sure you will be in good hands in Istanbul and you are aware enough to be fine. We now have to turn the news report off the TV after the weather as DS can't take any more bad news and is now starting to fear too much. Sad. It was 2 degrees when I left home this morning and the leaves are "past peak". Really windy yesterday when I drove home. Enjoy your day. I have always wanted to go to Istanbul! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted October 9, 2014 #198 Share Posted October 9, 2014 My fingers are crossed for your camera. I've always had good luck with dropped cameras, especially on the Prinsendam. Mine fell out of my pocket in the showroom, and when I noticed it a half hour later it was already at the front desk. I wa's walking on the Lower Promenade the next morning and the person who found the camera came up to me to verify that I had retrieved it. I hope things are going well in Istanbul but I'm a bit confused. I thought Captain Tim was coming on in Rome. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ger_77 Posted October 9, 2014 #199 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I am so sorry to hear about hubby's camera . . . I can't believe the gall of some people; if you find something, take it to the front desk or hand it over to one of the servers in the area so it can be put in Lost & Found. I really hope you get it back, I know how precious those photos can be. You can always replace a camera, the memories, sadly, not. Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :) Gerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sail7seas Posted October 9, 2014 #200 Share Posted October 9, 2014 It is instances like this that keep people coming back to HAL. I remember our first experience in the PG on the Prinsendam - midway through dinner I needed to use the ladies room, so I went to the desk to ask for directions. The dining room manager offered me his arm, walked me to it, waited a discreet distance away, and escorted me back to my table. I was smitten! Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :) Now that's class; she could have had them feeling quite embarrassed about not being eligible to go to the PG for breakfast, instead, she likely chatted them up the whole way to the MDR and made them feel like valued guests. Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :) THIS is HAL. We always said for us, HAL is all about the people of HAL and all the rest comes next. Don't we all love to read of guests being treated in such gracious manner. Wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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