We did it, and we're glad!

[dakrewser]

Booked another HAL cruise, that is! It's the June 24, 2006 sailing of the Prinsendam (16 days R/T Amsterdam) to the Baltic - including 2 nights in St. Petersburg and a rare overnight in Gdansk (full itinerary here (http://crm.hollandamerica.com/broadbaseema/ha4009/europe/jun24.htm).)

I know that RevNeal was considering this cruise, so Greg (and anyone else who's interested) - see your T/A and sign up now!

[FoxyTerrier]

WOW the itinerary sounds wonderful. I'm sure you will have a great cruise - this sounds like an expanded version of the normal HAL 10 day Baltic which is also fabulous.

[jasl]

Saw your previous post where you were pondering which cruise to take. We have done the Baltic two years in a row and loved every minute. The Prinsendam has a wonderful itinerary and the ship is great. Enjoy . . . . . . . . . . .

[cruznon]

Dave,

Congrats! This sounds fabulous! :)

[tiffnco]

Sounds great! Congrats!

[grannynurse]

I thought the June 24 2006 Baltic had 3 days in St. Petersburg.
Why don't you look again.
GN

[bepsf]

Congrats, Dave!


I don't know if you're a car enthusiast, but it would be interesting to go visit the Valmet factory in Uusikaupunki, Finland (@ 45 km north of Helsinki) where they assemble certain Porsches and Volvos.

Of course, you'd have a hard time sneaking one of those little souveneirs onto the Prinsendam...
;)

[jhannah]

Great itinerary! We loved the Baltic and hope to go again some day. But we're already planned for travel through 2006.

[ger_77]

You know, we were considering that cruise, but it's school year-end up here in the frozen tundra (Canada), and I can't possibly get away at that time, so we booked the Ancient Wonders cruise for October/06 when school settles down again. I hope you enjoy it - and will watch for a review from you when you get back.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Time2sail]

This cruise sounds like a dream:)

[dakrewser]

Thanks everybody!

GrannyNurse - we are in St. Petersburg for all or part of three days - but that's still just two nights :)

Brian - hmm. Does Porsche offer Finland delivery? Could I pick up a Boxster there and hide it in a tender? :)

ger_77 - while I do understand how work issues can interfere with a good vacation, if you want to sail the Baltic then you might need to beg off some end-of-term issues. Still, there are some 12-day baltic sailings on the Rotterdam in July & August...

[Ziggy7]

Wow Dave, Congrats! Nice cruise! Someday we will do that one too :) Will be looking for your review !

[grannynurse]

Sorry about the miscommunication. I envy your booking this trip, it's the one we really wanted but can not manage due to time constraints.
The itinerary is fabulous. Have you gone through the Kiel canal before? We wish we were going too. I'll look forward to your review even tho I have to wait 15 months.
GN

[dakrewser]

The itinerary is fabulous. Have you gone through the Kiel canal before? We wish we were going too. I'll look forward to your review even tho I have to wait 15 months.
GN

THis will be our first trip thru the canal - one of the reasons for wanting this itinerary. It will be oujr longest cruise yet, also - another reason to book that far ahead so DW can plan vacation time better. I'm just not very good at handling anticipation - for our first cruise in Europe I gave DW 45 days warning (and did manage to get passports in time!)

[Ine]

You also will go through the Northsea Canal on your away from Amsterdam to the Northsea. In IJmuiden the ship has to go through a lock (mini-Panamacanal)?. Always nice to watch how it is done.

Enjoy Amsterdam.

[Iggipolka]

Ooo..this sounds like a wonderful cruise! A friend of mine just booked the same cruise yesterday and his TA told him that he got the last cabin on the ship!!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Dave, this sounds like a magnificent cruise! Lucky you! I imagine you'll be bringing your laptop and giving us a day by day diary?

Now all you need is a nice relaxing 7-day Caribbean cruise around 10/29/06 with some of your bestest friends:D . You could sit back, hold court and tell us endless stories of your experiences in the Baltic. Picture it, Dave. We'd even buy your drinks!!!

[shipcafe]

Booked another HAL cruise, that is! It's the June 24, 2006 sailing of the Prinsendam (16 days R/T Amsterdam) to the Baltic - including 2 nights in St. Petersburg and a rare overnight in Gdansk (full itinerary here (http://crm.hollandamerica.com/broadbaseema/ha4009/europe/jun24.htm).)

I know that RevNeal was considering this cruise, so Greg (and anyone else who's interested) - see your T/A and sign up now!

Hi Dave!

I've just returned from Amsterdam (the City, not the ship) and it is a fantastic city for pre- or post-cruise activities. I highly recommend spending additional time there and they have wonderful cruise facilities. Let me know if you should have any questions and I have some city photos up on my site now.

You'll have a blast !

Steve

[dakrewser]

Hi Dave!

I've just returned from Amsterdam (the City, not the ship) and it is a fantastic city for pre- or post-cruise activities. I highly recommend spending additional time there and they have wonderful cruise facilities. Let me know if you should have any questions and I have some city photos up on my site now.

You'll have a blast !

Steve

Just goes to show you how subjective this stuff is - friends of ours were in Amsterdam for a couple of days last fall and claimed it as the dirtiest, rudest city in Europe (and they went there directly from Paris! :rolleyes: ). WE haven't decided yet on pre- or post-cruise time. Getting DW to agree to a 16-day cruise was hard enough!

Heather: "We'd even buy your drinks!!!" You do make it sound tempting, but I'd have to go by myself (and probably need to find a doghouse to live in when I got back!:rolleyes: )

Iggipolka: I can believe that it might be all sold out now. My TA warned me that waiting any longer could have put the whole trip in jeopardy...

Ine: How tall are the locks? When we did a trip on the Briere canal in France, one lock was three times as high as the boat! Needed to kept the portholes closed for that one.:rolleyes:

[xpcdoojk]

congratulations, Dave! Have a great trip! I hope to do that itinerary one of these days!

jc

[Ine]

Sizes etc. are my weakest points, but I know 2 ships can go through the locks at the same time.
For many years all ships go through these locks.
On this site you can see some picures about it:
http://www.ijmuidenstrand.nl/

[dakrewser]

Sizes etc. are my weakest points, but I know 2 ships can go through the locks at the same time.
For many years all ships go through these locks.
On this site you can see some picures about it:
http://www.ijmuidenstrand.nl/


Thanks for the picture link, it does look interesting!

[iluvcruzin]

Wow.. St. Petersburg sounds fabulous. I would love to see the palaces there someday.

[Aussie Gal]

Dave,

What a wonderful itinerary and also going on the lovely Prinsendam. You will enjoy every minute of your cruise. I know you have made the right choice.

We did the Baltic back in 1999 and would love to do it again especially now that the ships are going to Gdansk.

The Prinsendam is very special and I am sure you will enjoy your time aboard her. We loved our cruise on her last year and it has been improved since then.

Jennie.

[jhannah]

We'll be on the Prinsendam again in August, so can report more on the SOE enhancements when we return in September.