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 | | 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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Topics: Cruise Diary, Grand Voyages, Mariner Voices, Mediterranean, ms Prinsendam | | 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

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!

We have been to Kusadasi many times before and we really like it there. It is a big tourist destination, with one of the main attractions being the the city of Ephesus that is being uncovered!!!

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

Thanks to Sharri Scott for sending in this beautiful picture with her mother aboard Veendam.

I have cruised with HAL 3 times with my mom, but the very first was in September 2004. It was 8 months after my Dad passed away. He and my mom had loved cruising with HAL and had been on about 10 different trips I think. After he died, Mom wanted to take me and give me a taste of what they had loved so much, so she took me on the Veendam to Alaska. It was awesome, and got me totally hooked! It was a special time for us to talk about our memories of the wonderful man we’d lost, and I will never forget it. I’m enclosing a picture of us from formal night. Can’t wait to travel with you again!

Sharri Scott and her mother

Topics: Mariner Voices | | 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!

Marmaris, Turkey, was a first-time stop for us. We really do like the Turkish coastal towns, so we figured we would like this one, too. It was very interesting! We once chartered a sailboat for a week out of Gocek, Turkey (a moorings base near Fethye and not too far from Antalya), which was great.

Today we took an all-day tour to Dalyan, Caunos, and Iztuzu Beach from Marmaris.

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Topics: Cruise Diary, Grand Voyages, Mariner Voices, Mediterranean, ms Prinsendam, Shore Excursions | | 3 Comments

Thanks to Mariner Bradley Elliott for sharing with us this stunning online photo book from his latest Grand World Voyage.

This is my fourth world cruise and I cannot tell you how pleased I am with Holland America. It would be my pleasure if you would share my photos on your blog. I learned this skill from the HAL Digital Workshops. World cruising with HAL is like no other cruising in the world!

After looking at all the pages you can then order a copy of the book if you wish. The pictures in the book are also available on my blog http://mrvideo1949.wordpress.com and they are free for the taking. I also learned this skill from the HAL Digital Workshops.

To access the photo book, click here to go to the My Publisher website.

Editor’s Note: This is a photo book made on a photo-sharing website. This is not a book sold for profit.

Topics: Grand Voyages, Mariner Voices | | No Comments

Mariners Dwight and Connie Cenac recently performed in the Dancing With the Stars at Sea competition on Maasdam. It looks like they both had a great time with their partners!

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Topics: Art, Activities & Entertainment, Mariner Voices, ms Maasdam, Videos | | 1 Comment