Thread: Looking At Prinsendam 4/25/06 Up The Amazon River

Thinking of doing this one FLL roundtrip. Any one have any info on this ship or this trip?

Thanks!

Tuggers: while we have not sailed that particular itinerary, we spent 14 days on the Prinsendam last summer in the Baltic. Her nickname is "The Elegant Explorer" and we believe, it is a perfect description of the Prinsendam.

We had sailed with HAL 10 times before on 6 different ships and the Prinsendam quickly became our favorite ship. She is the smallest in HAL's fleet, carrying only about 900 guests, so she has a very intimate feel to her. The crew was outstanding, as was HAL's traditional service. Many cabins have true walk-in closets and HAL's beds are outstandlingly comfortable.

If you are OK with a smaller ship, with most of the amenities of today's larger vessels, you should like her. She has only one pool, but two hot tubs and a health spa and a fitness center. She also has a movie theater and several lounges for dancing and socializing. One thing we really liked was the covered deck outside the Lido buffet. You can eat outside regardless of the weather! I can email you pictures of her if you like. Hope this helps!

Thanks, Bill! That would be great! tuggers1 @ mchsi.com

I really like the smaller ships so that part is fine. Is it any more casual do you think, doing this type of 'adventure' cruising?

tuggers: I will shoot you some pics this weekend!

On HAL ships, during day time you can pretty much wear what you want too, but in the Lido, they want guests to wear a robe or wrap over bathing suits and some form of footwear: sandals, thongs, etc. It's after 6pm that their suggested dress code kicks in for the evening. Usually, there are 2 formal nights per 7 nights, but given the tropical nature of your cruise, they may knock it back to one per week. Casual nights are basically sports wear but no jeans or shorts in the public areas at night. If you don't care to dress up for informal or formal nights for the dining room, you can dress casually for dinner up in the Lido-where they serve the same menu but in a casual environment. I imagine that they will probably have a BBQ night or two out by the pool and that is pretty casual dress. Your cruise docs will have more accurate info.

Whereabouts in Georgia are you? I have family in the Macon area, my wife and I are Emory alums and I went through USAF pilot training down at Moody AFB way back when!

Tuggers-

I agree totally with BillS about the Prinsendam being a great ship. My DH and I also fell in love with the little ship. I actually found the group on the Prinsendam to be a bit more dressed than other HAL ships, but I am not sure if that was due to the fact it was a Baltic itinerary. Happy to answer any other questions also Tuggers!!

Bill, I'm in Valdosta (Moody). Although my friends say I just use it for a launch site to my cruising!

I've got this cruise on hold right now and I'm trying to get the visa thing worked out. The problem is that I need my passport for the Mercury 3/27 to 4/7. When I return home on 4/8 I will only have till 4/23 to get my visa back. I have contacted itseasypassport. Has anyone else used them?

On another board I was told that I had to have my yellow fever shot to apply for the visa but the 'easy' people say no, I just need that to actually enter the country. Anyone have any more info on this?

tuggers-well, small world--really enjoyed my year in Valdosta! Would like to visit again!

I have not used the agency you listed but have used Zierer service-they did a great job for our Brazil visas-kept me informed of status every step of the way-they were very prompt and responsive. Give them a call or email see if they can work the short turnaround.

Did any of you take the river cruise? The one that starts out on a 'river' boat and then transfers to a 'motorized canoe'. What i want to know is if it's a REAL canoe or some sort of flatter type boat. I am wanting to be sure I can make the transfer. I'm pretty klutzy and a plus size. Any info?