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Until the government revalues the Turkish dollar every shopper can be a millionaire. For about $6.00 you can be worth 10 Million Turkish Liras. Imagine how many currency notes it would take to buy a home or a car!

Though we had cruised in the Mediterranean twice before, this itinerary was quite new for us, and it was one of our most memorable life experiences. The ports and shore trips were well orchestrated by Holland America to near perfection, safety, and organization.


I always recommend using a ship?s shore excursions in short-stay situations, and where efficiency is paramount ­ like our first ever trip to Rome.

For seasoned travelers exploring on one?s own is the true vacation delight ­ just don?t miss your ship! Our final stop would be Athens ? one of the handful of large cities I would readily revisit. Athens offers culture, history, the magnificent Acropolis and a sense of welcome.

ms Prinsendam: The elegant explorer ms Prinsendam is 38,000 tons and carries a comfortable and intimate number ­ 793 passengers. She is 673 feet long and has a complete promenade deck around the ship for romantic moonlit strolls, or exercise walks.

She was actually built in 1988 for the former Royal Viking Line as the Royal Viking Sun. In 1999 the luxury line Seabourn bought her, and she became the Seabourn Sun, serving with Seabourn until 2002, when sister company Holland America acquired the vessel and re-fitted her as the ms Prinsendam.

Many of the elegant qualities known for Seabourn excellence remain and embellish the ship, such as fine woodwork, marble flooring, and a world class spa.

The Queen?s room provides a main gathering place and entertainment forum for the specialized entertainers such as singers, pianists, magicians and comedians and the faithful cast/crew of the Prinsendam for Broadway-style performances.

The cruise industry is so varied in today?s market that I want to be exact and confident that readers understand this wonderful class of ship, and especially the Prinsendam herself. She is a vintage ship with classic style and lines that is fully worthy of her full and upcoming world exploration. Her deep stable draft-to-size-ratio gives her qualities of sea-worthiness that is not always found in all modern designed ships.

We had one day that faced a stunning gale-force nine wind storm (55 to 72 mph), but the ship braced admirably and even inexperienced passengers faired pretty well. Such conditions were unexpected, and it was comforting to be aboard ms Prinsendam in such adverse conditions.

Prinsendam is different than the mega-ships prowling the seas of today?s market. She has no spiral pool slides, or dancing costumed bears for kids, and she sports no rock-wall, or ice rink. She does show her style and offers all the amenities of classic cruising ­ shows, fine meals, a movie theater, two pools of modest size, whirlpool, spa, well-equipped work-out area, and a staff that caters to its clientele. I attribute this graciousness and dedication to service to Holland America?s cruising standards, and personally to the ship?s hotel manager ­ Mr. Jan Kuipers.

"I feel my goal is to try and offer a level of service to our clients on Prinsendam that approaches that of the world?s finest five star hotels." says Kuipers with pride. Our 13 night cruise verified this striving for excellence. In fact, when issues arose on the vintage elegant explorer with our cabin, we were met by letters of apology and a promise for quick and required services.

Moving and vastly complex wonders like the ships of today will have random issues arise, and it is reflective of a company?s standards when those issues are met with a commitment to quality control plus solutions.

The Prinsendam is now finishing a long awaited project to replace and update the water lines throughout the ship, and once completed will give the elegant ship greater client comfort and a more issue-free service. This project is likely finished as of this writing and was completed as a moving work-in-progress.

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