Live from the Prinsendam as the wizard & witches cruise May 17 - June 17, 2013

[LindaM]

Thank you for taking the time to post about your fabulous trip on Prinsendam. It brought back memories of our trip in that area, through the Kiel Canal. We too thought Hamburg is a great city. You can tell that it is the richest city in Germany by the well dressed people and fancy cars!

 

And, I am happy to hear that Prinsendam still gets high marks from you and your roll call. We will be boarding Sept. 2! I am already getting clothes ready!!

 

OK, now I am going to make my pitch to you and your rollcall. We are doing the final leg of an exotic itinerary in 2014....it's round trip from Athens, 2 nights in Istanbul, Black Sea, Romania, Bulgaria, Cesme Turkey, Volos, Thesoloniki, Kavala Greece , cruising the Bosphorus. There are people already booked and a fairly decent rollcall for the 2 cruises prior, with one person staying on. Come with us!! At least look at it and think about it! You know how HAL is....if you don't take an itinerary when it's offered, you might not see it again, or they do an altered version of it. The only ones that they seem to repeat are the Baltics. I think your rollcall should seriously consider this one!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wow

 

I can't believe that this cruise is over.

 

The time went by too quickly.

 

Welcome Home Jacqui!!

[erewhon]

Thanks for the thorough reports of your cruise.

 

Congratulations to Jeanette on her win.

 

I hope the Volendam has not been sold.

[jgw321]

They are now anchored just off the island for their first port. It means a tender here (memories of St Malo for those who did the TA section). We were lucky on the Baltic, no tenders required, though the gang plank was a little steep for Hamburg at times when the tide was up. It looks a pretty good itinerary with several interesting ports, just a shame about finishing at Amsterdam instead of calling at Tilbury first to let us off, in which case we could still be on board.

[kazu]

Thank you for taking the time to post about your fabulous trip on Prinsendam. It brought back memories of our trip in that area, through the Kiel Canal. We too thought Hamburg is a great city. You can tell that it is the richest city in Germany by the well dressed people and fancy cars!

 

And, I am happy to hear that Prinsendam still gets high marks from you and your roll call. We will be boarding Sept. 2! I am already getting clothes ready!!

 

OK, now I am going to make my pitch to you and your rollcall. We are doing the final leg of an exotic itinerary in 2014....it's round trip from Athens, 2 nights in Istanbul, Black Sea, Romania, Bulgaria, Cesme Turkey, Volos, Thesoloniki, Kavala Greece , cruising the Bosphorus. There are people already booked and a fairly decent rollcall for the 2 cruises prior, with one person staying on. Come with us!! At least look at it and think about it! You know how HAL is....if you don't take an itinerary when it's offered, you might not see it again, or they do an altered version of it. The only ones that they seem to repeat are the Baltics. I think your rollcall should seriously consider this one!

 

Thanks Linda - it's on the Prinsendam right? Jose had different ports in mind, but this sounds like a nice itinerary - I'm going to take a look at it for the fun of it. After all, I have nothing booked now and am totally at a loss!

[kazu]

I thought I would recap the private tours we used for you.

 

I was pleased with them all (except one that cancelled on us) and believe that the roll call was as well.

 

So, to save anyone research you can either check out our spreadsheet or refer here:

 

For st. Malo - we used taxis-st. malo for a transfer to Mont St. Michel (contact Paul). Despite our tender being nearly 1 and 1/2 hours late they were there waiting for us!

 

For Cherbourg, we went to the Normandy beaches and Bayeux - we used Eva Ruttger (welcome to Normandy) - highly recommended.

 

for Le Havre, we used the taxi company again for a transfer to honFleur and tour around. very reasonable.

 

For the Baltics, we used Alla tours (alla-tours.com). I can't say enough about her promptness with all questions before we sailed. Were my expectations too high with all the prompt service before hand? Not at all. All of the tours were well done and I recommend her.

 

For Copenhagen, we had booked a walking tour with Sandemans. This was CANCELLED on us less than 4 days beforehand despite having my money for nearly 5 months. I would NOT recommend using this company. AVOID them.

 

ncgolferette booked our Zeebrugge transfer - I believe it was Robert's taxi but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully she see this and comes on to confirm. The transfer was timely and very reasonable. There are also cabs here so, if you can find people to share you can arrange a transfer to Brugges easily at the port. Otherwise, if it is just a couple it can be quite pricey.

 

Finally for our transfer from Tilbury to heathrow airport and to London, we used Exclusive Airports. They are far more reasonable than many companies (including HAL). They had great reports which I relied on. They were there right to the minute. Excellent, clean vans, courteous driver and a smooth transfer indeed. Highly recommend this company.

 

I hope this helps anyone considering this itinerary.

 

thank you all for following along. There's no one to make my bed this morning, no one to cook breakfast and I have to do my own laundry:eek:

 

Looks like we are back to the real world.

[gigianne]

J - the spreadsheet isn't as accessible as it used to be!

[DrTee]

I thought I would recap the private tours we used for you.

 

I was pleased with them all (except one that cancelled on us) and believe that the roll call was as well.

 

So, to save anyone research you can either check out our spreadsheet or refer here:

 

For st. Malo - we used taxis-st. malo for a transfer to Mont St. Michel (contact Paul). Despite our tender being nearly 1 and 1/2 hours late they were there waiting for us!

 

For Cherbourg, we went to the Normandy beaches and Bayeux - we used Eva Ruttger (welcome to Normandy) - highly recommended.

 

for Le Havre, we used the taxi company again for a transfer to honFleur and tour around. very reasonable.

 

For the Baltics, we used Alla tours (alla-tours.com). I can't say enough about her promptness with all questions before we sailed. Were my expectations too high with all the prompt service before hand? Not at all. All of the tours were well done and I recommend her.

 

For Copenhagen, we had booked a walking tour with Sandemans. This was CANCELLED on us less than 4 days beforehand despite having my money for nearly 5 months. I would NOT recommend using this company. AVOID them.

 

ncgolferette booked our Zeebrugge transfer - I believe it was Robert's taxi but I'm not 100% sure. Hopefully she see this and comes on to confirm. The transfer was timely and very reasonable. There are also cabs here so, if you can find people to share you can arrange a transfer to Brugges easily at the port. Otherwise, if it is just a couple it can be quite pricey.

 

Finally for our transfer from Tilbury to heathrow airport and to London, we used Exclusive Airports. They are far more reasonable than many companies (including HAL). They had great reports which I relied on. They were there right to the minute. Excellent, clean vans, courteous driver and a smooth transfer indeed. Highly recommend this company.

 

I hope this helps anyone considering this itinerary.

 

thank you all for following along. There's no one to make my bed this morning, no one to cook breakfast and I have to do my own laundry:eek:

 

Looks like we are back to the real world.

 

Just to add a bit of a disclaimer, in St Malo our group wasn't happy about where we were let off at Mt San Michel and then again back at St Malo (unnecessarily far away). And in Tilbury there were two delays because of broken down vehicles. Also our group of three had a pretty small car, and I don't know if there was some miscommunication, but we almost didn't have room with our bags.

 

Other than that things went really well and I'm very, very grateful to those who organized these for us!

[sturnus]

I thought I would recap the private tours we used for you.

 

I was pleased with them all (except one that cancelled on us) and believe that the roll call was as well.

 

So, to save anyone research you can either check out our spreadsheet or refer here:

.....

For the Baltics, we used Alla tours (alla-tours.com). I can't say enough about her promptness with all questions before we sailed. Were my expectations too high with all the prompt service before hand? Not at all. All of the tours were well done and I recommend her....

 

I would like to add a comment about Alla Tours. In St Petersburg, I did the 2 day Comfort Tour with another 14 from our roll call. The reason why I picked this tour was that I read this on the Alla Tours website:

 

"The 2-day St Petersburg Comfort tour program will be a good choice for the families traveling with kids and elderly people who request frequent stops for rest."

 

I don't think that our guide had read this. On the first day, we walked without stopping for an hour and a quarter to our restaurant (not even enough time to take a photo) and I am talking about people with walkers and with mobility difficulties here. Then after lunch there was a further hour and a half of walking without once being able to sit down for a rest. Several of us complained to him more than once during the course of the day. He said we did not have time for stops and that in fact there was more walking in this tour than in the Grand Tour, which we all questioned.

 

On day 2, we met Alla in the morning to pay for the tour and again several of complained about the amount of walking. She spoke to our guide and from then on things improved a bit. However, I could not in all honesty recommend this tour to anybody who finds it difficult walking for long periods of time or who expects to find it more leisurely than the Grand Tour. The first day was so tiring that one of the group dropped out, which gives an indication of how demanding it was.

[jgw321]

J - the spreadsheet isn't as accessible as it used to be!

 

Oh yes. Maybe Rich took it down as the cruise was over. If it doesn't come back soon I'll put a copy in my blog which I have now started working on.

[sapper1]

I just remembered something I wanted to mention. We ate in the Caneletto on the first leg of the cruise and enjoyed the cotton candy at the end if the meal----the secret kid in me coming out.

 

On the last night of the second leg we ate there again and were told there would be no more cotton candy on the Prinsendam. When we asked why we were told it has become a health issue. I suppose if you have a group of people all digging in with their fingers it could be an issue but it is so sad to see that little delight disappear.

[kazu]

I would like to add a comment about Alla Tours. In St Petersburg, I did the 2 day Comfort Tour with another 14 from our roll call. The reason why I picked this tour was that I read this on the Alla Tours website:

 

"The 2-day St Petersburg Comfort tour program will be a good choice for the families traveling with kids and elderly people who request frequent stops for rest."

 

I don't think that our guide had read this. On the first day, we walked without stopping for an hour and a quarter to our restaurant (not even enough time to take a photo) and I am talking about people with walkers and with mobility difficulties here. Then after lunch there was a further hour and a half of walking without once being able to sit down for a rest. Several of us complained to him more than once during the course of the day. He said we did not have time for stops and that in fact there was more walking in this tour than in the Grand Tour, which we all questioned.

 

On day 2, we met Alla in the morning to pay for the tour and again several of complained about the amount of walking. She spoke to our guide and from then on things improved a bit. However, I could not in all honesty recommend this tour to anybody who finds it difficult walking for long periods of time or who expects to find it more leisurely than the Grand Tour. The first day was so tiring that one of the group dropped out, which gives an indication of how demanding it was.

 

Good point on the comfort tour Carol - we did the Grand Tour as you know.

 

The unfortunate thing is that in St. Petersburg to see the sights walking is still involved. I did suggest to Alla that she change the name of the comfort tour to something else and elaborate further on the requirements that were there for this tour. I think the word Comfort may be misleading. JMO though.

 

Hopefully she changes the name and elaborates further as i hate to see anyone let down on any tour.

 

By the way, I remembered your comment about there being more walking on the Comfort Tour than on the Grand Tour and I asked Alla about this - she told me no way. There is less walking on the Comfort Tour. I did tell her you were having some issues with your guide. I was so sorry to hear that the evening of the folkloric show - I'm glad it improved somewhat for you - but obviously not well enough. Such a shame.

[kazu]

Just to add a bit of a disclaimer, in St Malo our group wasn't happy about where we were let off at Mt San Michel and then again back at St Malo (unnecessarily far away). And in Tilbury there were two delays because of broken down vehicles. Also our group of three had a pretty small car, and I don't know if there was some miscommunication, but we almost didn't have room with our bags.

 

Other than that things went really well and I'm very, very grateful to those who organized these for us!

 

Lou I'm not sure who booked your vehicles in Tilbury, but I had emailed them about bag size, etc. That is the biggest fall back with any company in europe. That's why we booked two 8 person vans even though there were only 10 of us. that way, we had room for everyone's bags:D The cost to go to the larger car was minimal (6 pounds if I recall correctly). The website was specific on how much luggage could be included with each car but the cautious person I am I asked what they considered to be a medium size luggage (it was 62" - the same as most airlines).

 

Just to elaborate on Mont St. Michel - the taxis are only permitted to go where we were left off. the shuttle was about a 10 minute walk max as I recall and that too is on the Mont St. Michel website. It probably would have been not as noticeable if the weather was nicer:rolleyes: after all we had pouring rain and cold weather. Not the best by a long shot.

[kazu]

Oh and before I forget. At Tilbury, we did not get that nice Collectors' mariner bag that I was waiting for after all this time.

 

I asked, and was told that they have discontinued those nice Mariner bags. However, they did say that they had loaded up and may have a couple left.

 

So, greedy me, I asked that if they did if they could give me one as I was looking forward to it. We found one in our room that night:D

 

But heads up to those booking collectors' cruises - it looks like those nice bags are now gone - unless we all protest;)

[gigianne]

I organized the Tilbury transfers - there were 9 of us - so according to their website - a car for 4 people (used by 3) and a van for 8 (used by 6). We barely had room in the 8 person van for the 6 of us and our one piece of luggage each and one carryon. The tires were almost flat and we had over an hour wait because the vehicle they sent broke down (before we ever saw it) and a replacement had to be sent. The specs were on the EA website and so that is how I booked the vehicles. BTW Tom and the others with him experienced the same problem as we had - vehicle breakdown - replacement sent .... I would suggest that anyone using EA should have a cell phone # so you can be contacted when delays happen. I was woken up at 3:00 am on the 17th June by someone in London at EA looking for Tom! BTW - Tom and the others made it to London albeit later then expected - I went back to bed - shaking my head!!!

[NoWhiners]

Hi kazu

 

This isn't as fun a question as some (and I have been keeping tabs on you and this cruise) but I was wondering what the self-serve laundry is like on the P. DH refuses to use HAL laundry ever again and vows he will saty up late to do laundry. So, i thought i would ask if you have any experience or info. We are on the Main Deck, D365, near a laundry room (I think).

 

Thanks and so happy you had a good time on the cruise

ML

[rafinmd]

Admittedly, it's been almost 2 years since I've been on the Elegant Explorer, but the free self service laundry was quite good. You should bring your own dryer sheets, but that should be all you need.

 

Roy

[sturnus]

Good point on the comfort tour Carol - we did the Grand Tour as you know.

 

The unfortunate thing is that in St. Petersburg to see the sights walking is still involved.

 

Absolutely. I read the tour description very, very carefully before deciding on this tour and knew all about the walking. I asked Alla questions about it too. But I (and most of the other people with me) didn't expect to be walking without any breaks for hours on end. The Alla website did say that the tour was "a good choice for ..... elderly people who request frequent stops for rest." That is completely unambiguous and it bears no resemblance whatsoever to what happened on the tour.

 

I did suggest to Alla that she change the name of the comfort tour to something else and elaborate further on the requirements that were there for this tour. I think the word Comfort may be misleading. JMO though.

"Comfort" is definitely misleading and she really needs to remove all reference to "frequent stops".

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[PathfinderEss]

Oh and before I forget. At Tilbury, we did not get that nice Collectors' mariner bag that I was waiting for after all this time.

 

I asked, and was told that they have discontinued those nice Mariner bags. However, they did say that they had loaded up and may have a couple left.

 

So, greedy me, I asked that if they did if they could give me one as I was looking forward to it. We found one in our room that night:D

 

But heads up to those booking collectors' cruises - it looks like those nice bags are now gone - unless we all protest;)

 

Yeah, we haven't gotten any of those nice Mariner's bag on the last two Collector Cruise's we have been on. So I had presumed it was fleet wide.

[Vict0riann]

I got one of the good bags on our Collector's Cruise in April - didn't have to beg - but I would have! :)

[jgw321]

no more cotton candy on the Prinsendam ... a group of people all digging in with their fingers

 

I am confused here, cotton candy is a term we don't know in UK. I had always assumed that it was what we call candy-floss. Which is spun sugar wound up on a stick and looks like cotton wool. Over here it is made on a machine with the stick put in the drum to catch the sugar as it is spun out like a centrifuge and wrapped around the stick until there is a sizeable ball of sticky fluffy stuff on the end. So what is cotton candy?

 

We noticed sweets and treats in bowls outside the main dining room but though tempted avoided them for the same reason. People dipping in who do not use the hand santisers and blow their noses on their knapkins.

[kazu]

Hi kazu

 

This isn't as fun a question as some (and I have been keeping tabs on you and this cruise) but I was wondering what the self-serve laundry is like on the P. DH refuses to use HAL laundry ever again and vows he will saty up late to do laundry. So, i thought i would ask if you have any experience or info. We are on the Main Deck, D365, near a laundry room (I think).

 

Thanks and so happy you had a good time on the cruise

ML

 

I didn't personally use the laundry as used HAL's laundry service. It was very good by the way. Bobbie (sapper1) reported that she was very pleased with HAL's laundry on this ship as well. However several others did use the self serve and said it was good. They seemed pleased with it. hope this helps a bit:D

[kazu]

I am confused here, cotton candy is a term we don't know in UK. I had always assumed that it was what we call candy-floss. Which is spun sugar wound up on a stick and looks like cotton wool. Over here it is made on a machine with the stick put in the drum to catch the sugar as it is spun out like a centrifuge and wrapped around the stick until there is a sizeable ball of sticky fluffy stuff on the end. So what is cotton candy?

 

We noticed sweets and treats in bowls outside the main dining room but though tempted avoided them for the same reason. People dipping in who do not use the hand santisers and blow their noses on their knapkins.

 

It's the same thing JG:) In Canada (and I think the U.S.) it was very prominent at circuses and was called cotton candy here - at least back in the days when I used to go to the circus.

[kazu]

I organized the Tilbury transfers - there were 9 of us - so according to their website - a car for 4 people (used by 3) and a van for 8 (used by 6). We barely had room in the 8 person van for the 6 of us and our one piece of luggage each and one carryon. The tires were almost flat and we had over an hour wait because the vehicle they sent broke down (before we ever saw it) and a replacement had to be sent. The specs were on the EA website and so that is how I booked the vehicles. BTW Tom and the others with him experienced the same problem as we had - vehicle breakdown - replacement sent .... I would suggest that anyone using EA should have a cell phone # so you can be contacted when delays happen. I was woken up at 3:00 am on the 17th June by someone in London at EA looking for Tom! BTW - Tom and the others made it to London albeit later then expected - I went back to bed - shaking my head!!!

 

Thanks Georgina for elaborating. We had 10 people all together - so 4 in one car of 8 and 6 in the other car of 8. I booked the 8 people vans for both as the number of carry ons, etc. gave me pause and I didn't want to ride with luggage on our laps:rolleyes: We did put a couple of pieces of luggage for the group of 6 in our van that had 4 people. I totally expected to do this though as quite often people have at least one carry on.

 

I totally agree with you about the cell phone. It's always good to have your cell phone with you for any private tour so you can be contacted and/or reach your company.

 

Wow - two vehicle breakdowns! Incredible. Our cars were in great shape. it took about 2 hours to get to the airport - but that was simply due to traffic and not totally unexpected.

 

What would be the odds? two vehicles breaking down and one of HAL's buses breaking down as well (sapper1's HAL transfer). Must have been break down day:confused::eek: