Virtually Live from ms Prinsendam

Greetings from the lovely Prinsendam in somewhat scenic Tilbury, location of the rather inaptly named "London Cruise Terminal."

Here rather than Greenwich, which still seems to be a bone of contention for some number of passengers, many of whom booked originally due to a Greenwich terminus (ourselves included). Oh well.

Boarded Saturday about one pip emma, and between then and now (less than 24 hours) 3 badly shattered windows in the library have been removed and repaired.

DW has gone back into London for church services so I thought I'd pop in and report.

Any questions will be entertained.

Ruth: Lee the piano man was superb last night in the Crows Nest. Further entertainment news will be forthcoming.

Think I'll go help straighten the bow.... :)

Cheers

Mark

Thanks for checking in.

Will be curious to hear about all the damage that the Prinsendam actually sustained.

looking forward to your posts and reviews. thanks for keeping us up to date on the Prisendam

I am so looking forward to your "Live From" !!!

Glad you made it safely and cannot wait to hear more:)

Joanie

They were also on the previous cruise, so you can catch up with them on the damage.

Lynn

Please report anything having to do with what happened to the Prinsendam. We have all been very concerned since reading about the terrific storm that they have been in. We have been waiting for Captain Albert to write his blog, but I'm sure he has had better things to do than blog---like catch up on sleep.

Also looking forward to reading your blog as we will be on the Prinsendam this coming February. And we also plan to take the repositioning cruise that you are on next September.

I am excited to read your reports. I am interested in your trip AND to hear about the storm and damage to the Prinsendam. Very curious about how they repair that kind of damage without cancelling any cruise days.

Hi Mark, so glad you got onboard safely - can't wait to hear all about your job repairing the ship! :)

Have a wonderful cruise - looking forward to hearing all about it.

Smooth Sailing! :):):)

Gerry

So good of you to check in, old chap. :D Glad you made it aboard safely, and that the good ship Prinsendam is ship-shape to sail. I'm looking forward to hearing your reports, including, but not limited to, the ship itself.

Ruth: Lee the piano man was superb last night in the Crows Nest. Further entertainment news will be forthcoming.

Thank you for mentioning the entertainment. It's possibly the most important part of a cruise to me! At least as far as ship-board life goes, anyway. I never heard of Lee, so am most interested to learn of him.

Have a wonderful time on this very special ship.

Greetings from Zebrugge; if it's Monday it must be Belgium.

The only word I have for the port is "tidy". This is the must uncluttered seaport I have ever encountered. Everything joost zo.

Lovely short trip to Ghent (of treaty fame) for a canal ride and walk about.

If there is a prettier place to listen to Flemish spoken, I don't know it.

Short, uneventful 110NM sail from Tilbury, where it appears that the Prinsendam has been put nearly whole. I am informed that the shattered wi(n)dow total was 56 and that there were no (physical) injuries of note among the crew or passengers. Much of the damage was of breakables (glassware, window, etc) and the bow looks like a semi-successful pugilist after a few rounds, but the ship was thoroughly inspected and would not have sailed from Tilbury if it was not pronounced fit for duty, so I am not worried.

We do have a new captain, an expected changeover. We met him at the Mariner greeting last nite (the whole cruise has been designated a "Mariner recognition" cruise) and he is the funniest Norwegian I have had the pleasure of coming across.

Grumpy and Slinkie were on our tour, and send their regards. We had the pleasure of cruising with them on the first HAL CC group cruise in 2007 and are happy to see them again.

Prinsendam is a unique ship.

We have now been on each class ship in the HAL inventory, and she is unlike any other. Everything is nearby and no one is looking for the rock wall. Decorations are beautiful, and as on other HAL ships, sometimes of museum quality. We are impressed.

Last nite was first formal nite and everyone was properly attired and lovely to behold. Our estimation of tuxes among the gents was about 40%, with the remainder in suits/coat-tie. We dined in the Pinnacle, a gift from our TA and as usual enjoyed a superb meal.

Next stop Le Havre.

Cheers!

Mark

ps

The "we" is NOT royal. Carolyn says "hi!". :)

thanks again Mark. wow, 56 windows. That's a lot of windows. Great that it did not damage the ship so much that you could not continue on your great adventure. hope the seas are smooth for you for the rest of the way.:):)

Great information.......glad the ship and passengers are all OK. Enjoy the rest of the cruise and I look forward to your posts.

Thanks for taking us along with you. Enjoyable reading!

Dave

Hi,

I was happy to read everybody is OK on board. I know from experience that the North sea and higher up can be a rough place to be sometimes. I hope you enjoyed your stay in Belgium. I didn't know that Ghent was also popular with cruisers, I thought they always went to Bruges (except for when they dock in Antwerp and you can just walk of the ship into town -market=centre of Antwerp just 500 meters away from the shipping terminal). I hope you tried some of our local beers, the flemish always gets better after a few.

Nog veel reisgenot (which means enjoy your travels)

Sonja

Glad to hear you are enjoying Lee. He was aboard when we joined the ship in NYC in May and we really enjoyed is laid back style. In Ft Lauderdale, before we left for the TA portion of the cruise, he went on vacation and was replaced by Stryker who was certainly talented, but anything other than "laid back."

Hank

Howdy

Sorry for the disappearing act, but between home and work quasi-emergencies, DW and I blew thru our internet packages rapidly and mutually decided to not renew. We do actually have a budget.

Prinsendam 9/11-9/26 in a nutshell:

The Good : (1) Usual fabulous HAL service, with a few minor glitches (see below). Room stewards introduced themselves on day one and then were nearly invisible. Room always top-notch. Lido stewards were always ready to assist. Every single crew member was polite helpful and smiling. (2) The Prinsendam, wow-so elegant and easy to get around. Give this ship a try only if you enjoy classics and class. (3) Traditional dining (@8) with another set of lovely dinner companions. Once again I was the least interesting person at table. (4) Port guide Frank Buckingham. Mr. Buckingham could make the least interesting port seem fascinating. (Oh wait, he did. See below). His knowledge of everywhere is matched only by his delivery style.

The Bad: (1) Dinner table location and initial meal service. Our table was located directly between 2 service stations and was (conversation limitingly) LOUD. Those metal plate covers make great cymbals. Our lead dinner steward was perfect but seemed to be hamstrung by his assistants. Asking for anything other than one starter, one soup/salad, and one entrée totally threw them off balance. We did not get menus until 8:20 or later the first three nights, and often the table was being made up until 8:15 or 8:30. We were always the last to be served and were usually done after the show had started. It seems that the previous occupants were always very late getting to table and that totally messed up the rhythm. He was too polite to do anything but accept the entire blame himself. We asked that he explain the situation to his boss and things got better each subsequent night; even a little quieter. The dining room manager visited our table several times to inquire if things were satisfactory. They ultimately were. Have the ships been plundered to staff Nieuw Amsterdam? (2) Wine stewards. If it is a profit center for the line, why is it so hard to get a drink, either wine or cocktails, at dinner?? We had to regularly ask our steward to shoo the wine steward over to us. Too few wine stewards? (3) Shore excursions. Port and sherry tastings on tours at 10 AM? Doesn’t mid-afternoon make a leetle more sense? (4) Melilla Spain. There is no there there. Mr. Buckingham made it almost interesting. (5) Space in the Lido. Very cramped and more then the usual number of slower moving people made it seem even smaller. (6) Internet cost and connectivity. ‘nuff said.

The ugly: Nope, nuttin’, honey. (OK, several towel animals were recognizable only by a xenobiologist.)

Itinerary was different, one of the attractions to us. Starting in London and ending in Rome, all the intermediate stops were small(ish) cities with history. (Lisbon is a world capital, but NOT a metropolis). We spent time at each end.

I purposely did not mention food, because it is hard for me to categorize easily. Meals were ample and well-prepared, but …uninspired. Pinnacle was excellent and the Pinnacle chef did a special Indian Night dinner that was both fun and delicious. Salad fixin's were always crisp and fresh. Lots of Med seafood, fresh but boringly prepared/assembled. I tend to be hard to please food wise.

Entertainment: A Juggler, illusionist, and a violinist walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, some kind of joke?” We do not generally attend the shows, but most of the comments I heard were positive. My dinner companions were very complimentary about the three mentioned above. The Philipino and Indonesian crew shows were as usual great and fun to watch. Various musicians were good to excellent. I think the librarian was in cahoots with the internet manager, as many of the daily quizzes were difficult and only solvable by Googling.

We personally experienced no A/C, plumbing, or odor problems, but overheard complaints at the front desk. I watched one guest lie in wait and ambush the Captain about his complaint.

That’s about it y’all. Any questions?

Cheers

Mark

Thanks for your reports and all the information.

I am looking forward to checking out the Prinsendam in January. After 66 days I should know her well!! I am excited due to your positive reports.

Howdy

 

Prinsendam 9/11-9/26 in a nutshell:

 

The Good : (1) Usual fabulous HAL service, with a few minor glitches (see below). Room stewards introduced themselves on day one and then were nearly invisible. Room always top-notch. Lido stewards were always ready to assist. Every single crew member was polite helpful and smiling. (2) The Prinsendam, wow-so elegant and easy to get around. Give this ship a try only if you enjoy classics and class. (3) Traditional dining (@8) with another set of lovely dinner companions. Once again I was the least interesting person at table. (4) Port guide Frank Buckingham. Mr. Buckingham could make the least interesting port seem fascinating. (Oh wait, he did. See below). His knowledge of everywhere is matched only by his delivery style.

 

Mark

Thanks for your update on the Prinsendam. Frank Buckingham is simply the best port guide at sea!

The CD Thom Faulkner was great. Just the right mix of subdued ringmaster that I look for in a CD.

We stopped in Barcelona, NOT a smallish town, and overnighted.

Cheers

Mark

Howdy

Sorry for the disappearing act, but between home and work quasi-emergencies, DW and I blew thru our internet packages rapidly and mutually decided to not renew. We do actually have a budget.

 

Prinsendam 9/11-9/26 in a nutshell:

 

The Good : (1) Usual fabulous HAL service, with a few minor glitches (see below). Room stewards introduced themselves on day one and then were nearly invisible. Room always top-notch. Lido stewards were always ready to assist. Every single crew member was polite helpful and smiling. (2) The Prinsendam, wow-so elegant and easy to get around. Give this ship a try only if you enjoy classics and class. (3) Traditional dining (@8) with another set of lovely dinner companions. Once again I was the least interesting person at table. (4) Port guide Frank Buckingham. Mr. Buckingham could make the least interesting port seem fascinating. (Oh wait, he did. See below). His knowledge of everywhere is matched only by his delivery style.

 

The Bad: (1) Dinner table location and initial meal service. Our table was located directly between 2 service stations and was (conversation limitingly) LOUD. Those metal plate covers make great cymbals. Our lead dinner steward was perfect but seemed to be hamstrung by his assistants. Asking for anything other than one starter, one soup/salad, and one entrée totally threw them off balance. We did not get menus until 8:20 or later the first three nights, and often the table was being made up until 8:15 or 8:30. We were always the last to be served and were usually done after the show had started. It seems that the previous occupants were always very late getting to table and that totally messed up the rhythm. He was too polite to do anything but accept the entire blame himself. We asked that he explain the situation to his boss and things got better each subsequent night; even a little quieter. The dining room manager visited our table several times to inquire if things were satisfactory. They ultimately were. Have the ships been plundered to staff Nieuw Amsterdam? (2) Wine stewards. If it is a profit center for the line, why is it so hard to get a drink, either wine or cocktails, at dinner?? We had to regularly ask our steward to shoo the wine steward over to us. Too few wine stewards? (3) Shore excursions. Port and sherry tastings on tours at 10 AM? Doesn’t mid-afternoon make a leetle more sense? (4) Melilla Spain. There is no there there. Mr. Buckingham made it almost interesting. (5) Space in the Lido. Very cramped and more then the usual number of slower moving people made it seem even smaller. (6) Internet cost and connectivity. ‘nuff said.

 

The ugly: Nope, nuttin’, honey. (OK, several towel animals were recognizable only by a xenobiologist.)

 

Itinerary was different, one of the attractions to us. Starting in London and ending in Rome, all the intermediate stops were small(ish) cities with history. (Lisbon is a world capital, but NOT a metropolis). We spent time at each end.

 

I purposely did not mention food, because it is hard for me to categorize easily. Meals were ample and well-prepared, but …uninspired. Pinnacle was excellent and the Pinnacle chef did a special Indian Night dinner that was both fun and delicious. Salad fixin's were always crisp and fresh. Lots of Med seafood, fresh but boringly prepared/assembled. I tend to be hard to please food wise.

 

Entertainment: A Juggler, illusionist, and a violinist walk into a bar. The bartender says, “What is this, some kind of joke?” We do not generally attend the shows, but most of the comments I heard were positive. My dinner companions were very complimentary about the three mentioned above. The Philipino and Indonesian crew shows were as usual great and fun to watch. Various musicians were good to excellent. I think the librarian was in cahoots with the internet manager, as many of the daily quizzes were difficult and only solvable by Googling.

 

We personally experienced no A/C, plumbing, or odor problems, but overheard complaints at the front desk. I watched one guest lie in wait and ambush the Captain about his complaint.

 

That’s about it y’all. Any questions?

 

Cheers

Mark

Mark, I noticed you had some understandable issues with your dining room table location. Would you mind sharing your table number?

We are trying to figure out where to request to be and looking at the more forward location but I can't figure out where the waiters' stations are and concerned about some of the traffice from the AYW diners.

any help would be appreciated. Thanks again for your very interesting thread.:)