Guests Jan and Dick Yetke set sail on Prinsendam’s 64-day Grand Mediterranean Voyage in March, and we’ll catch up as quickly as possible. Enjoy the journey with Jan and Dick!

This country and port were a first for us, and for most of the passengers on this ship for that matter. It was a beautiful, great stop! We all loved it!

The local people were very friendly and welcoming. And because we are on this fairly small ship, as cruise ships go these days, we were able to dock right downtown! Awesome! I have also included a map photo showing our route into the town/harbor. Very unique we think.

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Topics: Cruise Diary, Grand Voyages, Mariner Voices, Mediterranean, ms Prinsendam, Shore Excursions | | No Comments

Guests Jan and Dick Yetke set sail on Prinsendam’s 64-day Grand Mediterranean Voyage in March, and we’ll catch up as quickly as possible. Enjoy the journey with Jan and Dick!

Welcome to the beautiful and very interesting city of Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Coast!!! We have been here before but are always happy to return to this location!!!

It was a beautiful day!!! We took the complimentary shuttle bus from the pier to the Old Walled City – a very pretty about 20 minute drive. When we arrived at the plaza just outside the entrance to the Old City, it was mobbed with tourists. Crazy!!! Apparently April is a big tourist month for Europeans. Well, we made our way thru the crowds and into the Old City where we had a great walk all around. We went out to the little harbor, called Old Harbor there and walked around the wall there. Then we started winding our way up stairs and thru very narrow little streets, up and up. Oh, when you first enter the old city (you are on the Placa which is a very wide and beautiful street), you pass by a large fountain (Onofrios Fountain) which was built in the 15th-century. The 16-sided fountain’s carved heads spout cascades of water you are free to take.

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Topics: Art, Activities & Entertainment, Cruise Diary, Grand Voyages, Mediterranean, ms Prinsendam | | 1 Comment

We arrived in Istanbul via the world (it seemed) on May 16, boarded the Noordam on the 17 and finally got to see a little of the city the next day. The ship docked just down from the Galata Tower, a structure built in 528 A.D. It sits atop one of the hills of the city and has a wonderful view of the city and the Bosphorus. The entrance fee is 13 lira or about $60 and of course there is a line to reach the top but it moves quite quickly. If you enjoy views and/or photography take some time to visit.

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Noel Bell, HAL guest and frequent blog contributor, was on Noordam for 21 days and is still sharing photos from his trip. Here is some snapshot taken during his call at Istanbul, Turkey.

A busy Istanbul harbour and cruise terminal on a Saturday afternoon.

Topics: Cruise Diary, Mediterranean, ms Noordam | | 1 Comment

Guests Jan and Dick Yetke set sail on Prinsendam’s 64-day Grand Mediterranean Voyage in March, and we’ve just received these wonderful posts. We’ll catch up as quickly as possible. Enjoy the journey with Jan and Dick!

We had a very nice relaxing cruise down to Piraeus, the port for Athens, from Istanbul. We arrived in Piraeus at 4 pm. I stayed on the ship, but Dick went out for a short bike ride over to the ferry docks (next to our pier) to check out the ferry schedule to and from the small island nearby called Aegina. We have stopped there in the past on one of our sailing trips and he has always wanted to take our bikes back there when we are docked in Piraeus. Didn’t get to do it last year when we stopped there on the world cruise since there was a ferry strike that day. He got the schedule and was told there would be no strike the next day!!! Yea!!

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Thanks to Susie and Glenn for sending in some photos from their recent trip to Italy, Greece and Turkey aboard Eurodam.

We have recently returned from our first cruise taking in sites in Italy, Greece and Turkey. Absolutely loved it. The ms Eurodam was excellent and the staff very warm and professional. Highly recommend this cruise line to everyone. The excursions were all fantastic allowing us the opportunity to see so much and experience even more. Our favorite (if it’s possible to choose) was Ephesus. Our stewards were the best. Alim and Jono … Have taken sooooo many pictures of which I will make movie dvd’s after attending the fantastic techspert, Evan’s classes … thank you everyone for making this such a wonderful trip. Definitely not the last. Already thinking about our next … possibly an Alaskan. My pictures vary, one from breakfast on the veranda, Corfu, Greece, Kanoni, Greece with Mouse Island and the ms Eurodam in port. Thank you again for the memories. Susie and Glenn

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Noel Bell, HAL guest and frequent blog contributor, is on Noordam for 21 days and is sharing photos from his trip. Here are some snapshots taken during his call at Istanbul, Turkey.

Istanbul arrival.

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Topics: Cruise Diary, Mediterranean, ms Noordam | | No Comments

Guests Jan and Dick Yetke set sail on Prinsendam’s 64-day Grand Mediterranean Voyage in March, and we’ll catch up as quickly as possible. Enjoy the journey with Jan and Dick!

Istanbul is a wonderful city to visit! We have been here several times in the past, including staying here for a few nights prior to a cruise once. We have always enjoyed it.

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Topics: Cruise Diary, Grand Voyages, Mariner Voices, Mediterranean, ms Prinsendam | | No Comments