Merry Prinsendam and a Happy New Year

Sunday, December 17

Merry Prinsendam and Happy New Year

We landed in Fort Lauderdale late last night and have already recovered from the horrendous temperature shock. Chicago has been enduring temps in the 20's to mid 30's (though I will confess that yesterday Chicago enjoyed a balmy 45 and sunny) so the conversion to outside temperatures that are capable of supporting life - well - it took a few moments.

Tomorrow we will board the Prinsendam for its 16 day jaunt through the Caribbean and our objective is to rekindle the smile on DH's face. Last year we did not leave the frozen tundra of the Midwest and DH frowned all winter.

Our decision to travel 48 hours before the cruise was one of an abundance of caution in the pre-holiday season. We are now encamped in a Fort Lauderdale resort. One side of our accommodation faces palm trees and the ocean, the other faces the inter coastal waterway where we can see at least two cruise ships docked. We wonder if the small Prinsendam will be visible from our temporary abode.

Frankly, I am delighted that this resort still has green vegetation and palm trees after the past hurricane season. The view is very different than that from our Chicago high rise. So we are relaxing and enjoying the sun until we can enter the alternate universe of the Prinsendam.

Oh you lucky thing, you!

Warm weather AND the Prinsendam :)

Looking forward to any posts you have time for and have a VERY Merry Prinsendam and a wonderful New Year.

Enjoy, I did the Prinsendam Holiday Cruise last year and really enjoyed it.

Hope yours is every bit as good as mine was!

Rich

Have a wonderful holiday season on the elegant explorer!

Denise:)

Love your title! Very festive and clever.

Enjoy the cruise!

You'll be even happier that you arrived in FLL when you did, when you see the news that Atlanta's Hartsfield - Jackson airport is at a complete stop due to a power outage. Oh man, I can't begin to imagine what's going on there right now. If there are folks flying to FLL through ATL, they're likely enduring a little bit of stress!

Merry Prinsendam to you!!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Thank you to those who have posted holiday wishes and a Merry Prinsendam to all!

ger_77 - My heart goes out to all who flew (or tired to fly) through Atlanta today. Hope not too many were trying to connect with one of the ships that left today. Luckily we not only arrived yesterday, but we flew non-stop avoiding such complications altogether.

Late this afternoon while sitting on my hotel balcony I heard the Princess ship's horn playing their Love Boat theme and realized that I could see the evening's cruise ship parade - well, sort of see - from our balcony. If it wasn't for all those danged green palm trees in the way the view of the parade would have been spectacular.

As it was, I could see bits and pieces of each ship as they came across my horizon and turned out to sea. I would have been down near the beach to watch had I realized that the show would be here. Made me really anxious for tomorrow when I get to board my favorite HAL ship.

As for the weather - I think I have made the paradigm adjustment to the warm air. It was upper seventies today, sunny, with a little breeze. If the Florida weather could be like it was today all year long I could almost consider setting up home here.

And, from our balcony I also got a glimpse of some local fauna - not sure if it was a large lizard or a baby alligator darting in and out of the vegetation. From my vantage point at the time it appeared to be about 18 inches long, green, but rather slim for an iguana. Whatever it was, the midwesterner here saw it.

Bon Voyage!!

Have a great cruise.

Merry Prinsendam and Happy New Year!!

If you get to the Pinnacle, please tell one of the servers Ruru that her mom and dad (Randy & Lisa) wish her a Merry Christmas. Thanks

Yeh, Arzz is blogging a cruise again. A million thanks for taking the time and $$.

If you get to the Pinnacle, please tell one of the servers Ruru that her mom and dad (Randy & Lisa) wish her a Merry Christmas. Thanks

We are on this cruise as well and will be in Pinnacle tomorrow night. We will make it a point to give her those wishes!

Just on board a few minutes ago - they started boarding at 11:35 - not bad at all. The rest of the boarding process was swift - we walked right thru - no wait.

Already, however, I have noticed one change since May when I was last on board. The Elemis products in the bathroom are now labeled "revitalize me" and have a new, somewhat more perfumed scent. The white soap bar is now larger and oval shaped. Same perfumed scent as the hand and body lotion. Have not showered yet so I do not know if the shampoo, conditioner or bath gel have also changed.

Have a super great time! We will try and watch the sail-away! Merry Christmas!

Enjoy your cruise!

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Following along and wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

Following along with great interest. Will be sailing Prinsendam for first time in 2019 and very excited. Merry Christmas to you and Prinsendam.......have a wonderful cruise.

Already, however, I have noticed one change since May when I was last on board. The Elemis products in the bathroom are now labeled "revitalize me" and have a new, somewhat more perfumed scent. The white soap bar is now larger and oval shaped. Same perfumed scent as the hand and body lotion. Have not showered yet so I do not know if the shampoo, conditioner or bath gel have also changed.

That's strange. When I was on board in June/July I had the same Elemis products that I've had on all the HAL ships for the last several years.

Could it be a function of cabin category? I was in a balcony cabin; do you mind posting what you are in?

I am so looking forward to reading about your cruise on one of my favorite ships. Your threads are always such fun to open.

Thank you for sharing your trip with us.

Really happy to see this thread as your posts are always so entertaining and informative. Hope you have a wonderful time.

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The Sailaway waved you Bon Voyage as you sailed out of Port Everglades!:) Have a wonderful holiday cruise on Prinsendam.

Enjoy the cruise and Happy Holidays.

Keith

Well, since I last posted from my balcony at our Fort Lauderdale hotel on Sunday, we are now on the Prinsendam, all nestled in her comforts.

Yesterday embarkation went well, we were allowed on board about 11:30 am.

Leaving port, as I rapidly posted on the sail away thread yesterday from my phone, we were a tad late. The reason, according to our Captain, was due to the length of time the bunkering process took.

Our Captain is Captain Schuchmann - he was the Captain on our Prinsendam cruise last May.

Our cruise director is Verity, she was also with us last May.

I REALLY miss the list that they used to publish on the first day showing which nights of the cruise are gala nights. I checked my itinerary on the intranet for today and I can find tonight's menu, but the dress code is not published there - at least I could not find it. It should be such a simple thing to add to the itinerary on the intranet ... I should mention that the dress code is on the daily "When and Where" but no list for the whole cruise ... our Gala nights will be a next day surprise since it seems the only time they will be announced is in the "When and Where" which we will find when get back to the cabin after dinner.

RuthC - we were on board in May and had the old Elemis products also - but today the newer soap and body lotion. We are in a simple, plebeian cabin, outside, main deck if that makes any difference - last May we were in the same category cabin, even, on port side. Today we are odd - starboard side (though DH thinks I am always odd). I find the new scent a much stronger perfume than the old familiar one - I definitely always prefer the understated when it comes to perfume scents. As far as I can tell, the solutions in the shower have not changed.

I should mention a small "Happy Holidays" with a picture of holly leaves was painted on our dark blue hull yesterday so that we could see it as we boarded. Nice touch.

Last night there was a ceremony in the atrium to light the Christmas trees on board.

The cushions on the deck chairs on the promenade deck appear new - they are at least twice the thickness of the old striped cushions, are in a light blue fabric, and they are much cleaner than I remember the old striped ones to be.

We eat Main fixed - and once again have been assigned a table in the large dining room rather than the midship dining room which we very much prefer. One perk, however, is that one of our waiters also served us for the last half of our May voyage. Always good to see old friends.

This morning we arrived at Half Moon Cay which we shared today with the Konigsdam. We were warned by the Captain that we would not be able to tender ashore until after the Konigsdam operation was under way - he estimated about 9:30 am. However, the reality ended up a little different. We were not allowed to commence tendering until the Bahamian authorities boarded the Prinsendam and cleared the ship. It was after 10:30 before tendering was able to begin so the Captain has extended our stay here by an hour - last tender back to the ship will be at 6:00 pm ... won't it be dark by then?

Well, it turned out not to be dark at 6:00 pm - I guess the hour that we donated to the gods last night without significant eastward travel is responsible for that.

The weather was lovely, sunny and not too hot. Half Moon Cay looked beautiful but DH and I, well, we just had too much inertia today and we stayed on board. We do enjoy the ship when it is only sparsely populated.

It was perfect for our daily sport - The NY Times Crossword. This trip DH and I have been in training - I had purchased two copies of a book full of NY Times mini puzzles and we have been competing over those for the past several weeks to hone our skills. Today's puzzle: accomplished.

We also spent time today walking the promenade deck, DH spent time in the gym and I spent a lot of time napping.

What follows today are two days at sea on our way to Santo Domingo.

Thanks for giving Ruru a "Merry Christmas" for us. She just messaged me. A little confused but happy. Thanks again.

Randy & Lisa

No dress code listing for the entire cruise? not even on the shore port on listing schedule that is in the cabin? I don't blame you for missing that at all. It really helps with "planning" specialty dining, etc.

Nice to hear of the special decoration for the holiday. VERY nice :)

Great reports - thank you as always. You are always so much fun to follow.

Each sea day blends into the next. The day begins for us with a dining room breakfast, followed by the New York Times puzzle, time on the promenade, and for DH time in the gym and in the sun on deck.

We usually lunch in the Lido - which I have to say both last May and this trip has very good service supplying beverages to us at our table and checking in often. There are now signs on each table identifying the waiter or waitress assigned to each location. There has also been someone making sandwiches at the sandwich bar every day and yesterday we could also order bitteballen or krokketten which they fried up to order.

Of course, on the Prinsendam there has always been an extensive self service salad bar on a second buffet line next to the starboard side serving line. It is still self service as it would be awkward to assign someone to serve from that location.

Yesterday we did little more than read in the shade on the promenade deck enjoying the wind and the seas. Our weather has been spectacular, our seas extremely fair, and today has been exceptionally bright with the sun sending almost blinding reflections back at us from the water.

Since we are five star mariners we were invited to a cooking class by America's Test Kitchen. Last night we received two lovely red Test Kitchen aprons along with a reminder of the time and location. When I arrived at the Wajang theatre the doors were closed with a "private event" sign taped to them. I was prepared to be wowed.

In retrospect I am not sure why we got the aprons except that they are a nice five star perk since the presentation was entirely a demonstration by the professional chef and prerecorded videos. Homemade stuffed pasta in brown butter sauce was prepared, recipes were distributed, and all we got to do was watch - not even taste the prepared food. A mildly entertaining production with a large hint of "so what?" We might as well have been watching on our cabin TV. I did, however, learn that there are 65 five star mariners aboard on this cruise.

Last May on the Prinsendam we were invited to see Belgian specialties prepared by a local chef, an invitation we declined, since it took place during our port time in Brugge and we wanted to go into town. Do not know if that would have been different - I cannot recall if America's Test Kitchen was in charge last May ...

This afternoon we enjoyed listening to Gabe Abelson, stand up comic and comic writer for the likes of David Letterman and Jay Leno. He spoke about the "business" and told funny stories. That was fun.

Last evening was our first gala night on board. There were no chair covers in the dining room. There was the requisite photographer and we did collect our one purchased photo souvenir for this trip. We buy one each cruise - nice way to remember a sailing.

In the past year I have been letting my hair grow from the short cut I have enjoyed for the past twenty plus years to the shoulder length locks that I now display. I am a very basic person and do not like to fuss over the little stuff, so I just wash and air dry my hair which at home. Even this past summer it has worked very well presenting a somewhat disorganized but eclectic look. DH calls it "fluffy". I did not properly, however, take into account what effect the salty sea air and wind would have on my frizzy mane. Suffice it to say I did something yesterday that I have never done on board a ship before. I let the Steiners wash and blow dry my hair. I ended up with a very 1962 "flip" - (I stopped the stylist just as she was starting to "rat" my hair to give it more height which would have definitely sent me into full "Hairspray" mode). As it is it is a bit retro but attractive and is now immortalized forever in our gala night photo. The other gentleman at our dining table had a definite deja vous moment.

You can probably get a list of formal nights from the salon.

Can't wait to se a picture of your new do [or is it don't?].