More about the Prinsendam

I found a number of fascinating stories and clips about the Prinsendam and about cruising in general:

About piracy and security issues aboard the Prinsendam as it sailed around Africa in 2008.
http://eptours.com/X-Africa-Circumnavigation-Cruise-III.pdf

About a rogue wave that hit the Prinsendam on February 1st in South America.
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=8983933&postcount=44
http://www.cruisebruise.com/High_Waves_Prinsendam_February_1_2007.html

About an award that the crew received for its weather reporting:
http://www.vos.noaa.gov/MWL/aug_08/awardsdetail.shtml?photo=15

About the history of the ship
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Viking_Sun


An unrelated, scary video (forward 1min into it) about big waves hitting another cruise liner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMk6D11FAhg

Fri. Jan 2nd , Ft. Lauderdale

Arriving before sunrise. Have about 2h for breakfast and good-byes. Disembark around 9am. Everything is well organized but still the stress level increases right after leaving the ship: First we have a bit trouble finding Bianca’s carry-on luggage. Then we stand in the wrong spots according to custom agents. Then my bean shell (picture) causes trouble: custom agents keep referring the issue up their chain of command. Then the shuttle bus driver offloads our luggage at the wrong terminal.

Long wait at the airport even at the 1st class check-in. The underwater camera is using ISO 800 film and can not go through the X-ray. It causes a pad-down of yours truly at the security check-in.

Back home I find out that my video tape is missing. I call the ship twice per satellite phone for $16/min but don’t hear back. I also send e-mails, call a friend who used to work at HAL and call their lost and found department. Nothing so far and chances are slim.

Thu. Jan 1st, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

First time we have to tender to get to shore. No wait, other than for more passengers on the tender boat.

Bianca and I have a shore excursion: ‘Stingray encounter’ on the far side of this little island. We get snorkels and even wet suits. Bianca doesn’t go all the way into the water. I do a little snorkeling and under water picture taking. There are nine stingrays, the instructor knows them all by name. They get up to 65 years old. The ones in this park are between 40 and 60 years old. Other fish and sea cucumbers are also there.

The rest of the day until the scheduled 2:30pm all-aboard we spend on the beach. I swim twice a long distance, Bianca plays in the kids area, we have some BBQ, the other two families show up and join us. Jenny’s family did horse back riding, part of the path was in the ocean. The sand here is very fine. Bianca feeds some fish with bread from the BBQ. She is quickly surrounded by a swarm of small fish. The water is very clear, the weather perfect. We get lots of sun.

Back on the ship Li, goes to see one more performance by the flute player. Bianca still hasn’t had enough from the water and plays more in the pool on the ship.

An erroneous charge for a wine bottle we never ordered is taken off our bill.

Wed. Dec 31st, Grant Turks

I do the ‘Ultimate Snorkeling’ excursion with Holland America. A boat takes us to two snorkeling sites. Lots of corals, shallow, good visibility. I see a stick fish (?), a Barracuda, s hiding lobster, and many other very colorful fish. I take underwater pictures. Our guide brings up a life conch shell. You can see an eye lurking out.

After the snorkeling, the three of us walk the quiet undeveloped shore and pick up large conch shells. I find a shark head and wonder if it was cut off by a bigger shark or by an angler.

Back at the ship Carlos has decorated the kids club very nicely for a New Years party. Bianca always enjoys going there and even more with Jenny.

The New Years eve party is well done. A band plays music in the Queen’s Launch, some people dance, others watch, have a drink or just talk. Balloons are everywhere, we get to wear party heads. Champaign is handed out.

Tue. Dec 30th, at Sea

We have breakfast and lunch at the formal Restaurant for the first time. It’s nice and quiet.

Nice calm day. I spend it sun bathing and in the salt water pool on the back of the ship. Relaxing. It is Jill’s B-day all three families meet for high tea. The flute-lady joins us. Evening show is done by a couple that tap dances, does ballet, dancing and acrobatics.

Passengers who have been with HAL for many cruises get medals. I met someone who has been cruising a combined 330 days with HAL.

Mon. Dec 29, St. Thomas, U.S. V.I.

A total of five ships are in town! Three at the downtown dock and two more at a nearby dock. One bigger then the next. The biggest ship has more than 3000 passengers and comes from Europe.

The town looks much like cities in the US. But there is a big difference: traffic flows like in the states but the cars have their steering wheel on the left (British) side!

We go with Godfred in a safari minibus. First he drops us downtown for some shopping. And there is a lot of it. And lots of tourists. The crowed swells as the day goes on. It rains multiple times but we always happen to be under cover. Later we drive up to the tallest point where it rains. He does a good job of explaining: Much of the island was destroyed during hurricanes and some homes did not get rebuild because people had no insurance and that was because insurance had gotten too expensive after a previous hurricane. It took $3.2billion to rebuild St. Thomas after the last hurricane. The city also had to deal with theft and looting after power and water outages. Many folks were homeless.

The Island was bought from the Netherlands in 1917, a small remaining piece was bought in the seventies.

Many more islands can be seen from lookouts. One island is owned by the DuPont family. Some are too small to live on.

Cruise ship business in their No 1 industry. But it is only 6 out of 12 months. Ships stop coming during the hurricane season.

Godfred takes us to Coki beach. We rent and snorkel gear ($5) and get some fish food. The fish are coming in swarms or better schools :). There are several different kinds of fish and they are very tame and about a foot long. They literally eat from our hands. Li enjoys this too. Bianca doesn’t want to use the swim mask but also has much fun with the fish. It showers a few times but that hardly bothers us.

Back on the ship. It’s Chocolate night. The displays are really impressive. I go for chocolate covered pineapple and strawberry.

Sun. Dec 28th, Philipsburg, St. Maarten

The ship is already docked when we awake. By the afternoon two more ships have docked – both bigger than ours. All looks very modern and developed. The concrete peer looks brand new and very long. The island is dryer, vegetation not as lush. Mountains are not as tall as in Dominica. There is no third-world feel here but also no high rises. There are many nice looking colorful buildings.

After breakfast we take a water taxi into downtown. It’s Sunday but many shops are open. There is a power outage and then another. Shopkeepers are nice and helpful. Not aggressive. Li buys jewelry – there are sooo many jewelry shops but also electronic and photo shops. Bianca goes on a hunt for free trinkets of jewelers to lure in customers.

Shops are owned by Dutch, run by Indians while restaurants are run by Chinese. We end up doing nothing but shopping on Front Street.

Back to the ship for lunch and then back into town once more for more shopping and also some beach time right by the water taxi dock. Traffic and tourism picks up as those two other cruise ships spill out their passengers. A couple from our ship buys a $3000+ camera kit. Bianca and Jenny buy finger nail polish from DelSol. We collect some shells on the beach and realize that we have to hurry back to the ship.

Only 10 more passengers aren’t back when we check back into the ship.
Too bad that we didn’t make it to the French side of this small island. It was drizzling on and off and not the best beach weather.