wowzo
May 17th, 2007, 12:59 PM
Our voyage, the 2o07 Grand Mediterranean & North Africa, started on March 12 and ended May 7th.
This was a good and bad time to travel these destinations. Good - cool weather made touring the ports comfortable. Bad-that the Europeans were on Easter Break and there were alot of tour groups and crowds at all the sites from Barcelona to Rome . Still it was better in the cooler weather, some rain but overall not a problem.
Another weather concern was on the ship - no one sat outside (except very rarely) which made the Lido and the public rooms very crowded. You really need the outside decks for additional seating.
Everywhere we went, all 31 ports, they really rolled out the welcome mat. In most cases, we were the only ship in port-and were treated to local entertainment on the dock & sometimes in the Queen's Lounge. Even a 7 gun salute in Malta. Our Dubrovnik meeting with the Amsterdam was special, too.
Much has been written about the Prinsendam and much of it is true. The crew is fantastic, the passengers ran from elegant to wacky, alot of hard work was put into making these 56 days special - flags of the countries, themed dinners and Balls, many gifts and the luggage to put them all into and us getting our 100 day medallions. A Grand Voyage really is unique.
I had never been to Africa (unbelievable) or Europe - so I was a 'kid in a candy store' !and 2 transatlantics, too.
But I figured if my ancestors could brave the Atlantic to come to the USA - I could too- with stabilizers and gourmet meals !!!
Thank you CCers onboard for such good memories and the crew of the Prinsendam for getting us there & back safely and with first-class treatment.
Any questons ?
MaryAnn
This was a good and bad time to travel these destinations. Good - cool weather made touring the ports comfortable. Bad-that the Europeans were on Easter Break and there were alot of tour groups and crowds at all the sites from Barcelona to Rome . Still it was better in the cooler weather, some rain but overall not a problem.
Another weather concern was on the ship - no one sat outside (except very rarely) which made the Lido and the public rooms very crowded. You really need the outside decks for additional seating.
Everywhere we went, all 31 ports, they really rolled out the welcome mat. In most cases, we were the only ship in port-and were treated to local entertainment on the dock & sometimes in the Queen's Lounge. Even a 7 gun salute in Malta. Our Dubrovnik meeting with the Amsterdam was special, too.
Much has been written about the Prinsendam and much of it is true. The crew is fantastic, the passengers ran from elegant to wacky, alot of hard work was put into making these 56 days special - flags of the countries, themed dinners and Balls, many gifts and the luggage to put them all into and us getting our 100 day medallions. A Grand Voyage really is unique.
I had never been to Africa (unbelievable) or Europe - so I was a 'kid in a candy store' !and 2 transatlantics, too.
But I figured if my ancestors could brave the Atlantic to come to the USA - I could too- with stabilizers and gourmet meals !!!
Thank you CCers onboard for such good memories and the crew of the Prinsendam for getting us there & back safely and with first-class treatment.
Any questons ?
MaryAnn