Getting ready...

Today was an exciting day because FedEx picked up two of my bags.  On my last cruise I was able to ship two bags for free.  Because I booked a solo cabin I did not qualify this year.  Since I found that not having to schlep all that luggage through airports and hotels was so nice, I decided to pay for two cases to be picked up and delivered directly to my cabin.  

Labels in place and ready to go!

ms Prinsendam

This cruise will be my first (and only) one aboard the Prinsendam.  She is the most unique ship in the Holland America fleet for a variety of reasons.

• Prinsendam is the smallest HAL ship with a gross tonnage of only 38,848.
• She is the oldest ship in the fleet - built in 1988.
• She holds only 835 passengers.
• Prinsendam is known as the "Elegant Explorer" and because of her size is able to do many unique itineraries.
• She is the only ship in the fleet that was not built for HAL.  Prinsendam was originally built for the Royal Viking Line (which is now defunct) and called the Royal Viking Sun, a name she kept even when she became part of the Cunard fleet in the 90s.  She became the Seabourne Sun when transferred to the Seabourne Line (another one of the Carnival Corporation cruise lines).  In 2002 she was transferred to Holland America and renamed Prinsendam.
• Unfortunately, she will be the next ship to leave the HAL fleet.  Having been bought by the German Phoenix Reisen cruise line she will be renamed Amera after July 1.

Choosing the cruise

During 2017 I started thinking about where I wanted to go after the world cruise.  I was drawn to South America since the only country I have been to is Colombia.  The "Grand South America and Antarctica Voyage" was intriguing since it had only two ports (out of 38)I have been to before - Panama City and Oranjestad, Aruba.  It also is on a Holland America ship that is very different from the others in the fleet (more about that in another post).  The viewing of Antarctica (over a four day period) and a week sailing the Amazon River were also factors.  

So, in November 2017 I booked an ocean view guarantee.  The next day one of my Cruise Critic friends let me know that he had changed his booking from one of the two ocean view solo cabins to a regular ocean view.  I immediately got in touch with my travel agent and was able to get the solo cabin (and save some money).

Here is a map of where we are going.

Smooth sailing until next time...