| I flew to Amsterdam on the 5th September 2012 to board my favourite Celebrity Ship, the Constellation. Due to a change of itinerary, she would be repositioning to Southampton until the end of November instead of Turkey - YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She had last been here in April 2007, also due to a change of itin, which is when I first sailed her. This was only a straight two nights, like a taxi service but what a taxi to come home on! She had been the first to arrive in the port. Her company was a little beauty which kept eluding me - Prinsendam. She had been the penultimate ship built for Royal Viking Line (the last being the current Seabourn Legend), then under the Norwegian Cruise Line umbrella. At that time, Royal Viking Line's ships consisted of Royal Viking Star (now Black Watch), Royal Viking Sky (Boudicca) and Royal Viking Sea (Albatros). The new Royal Viking Sun would retain similar design elements but in a modern design, the 37,848grt ship debuted in 1988. As a result of Knut Kloster's bankruptcy in 1994, the ship was bought by Cunard, keeping her name until 1999 when Carnival Corporation merged Cunard and Seabourn, transferring her to the latter brand as Seabourn Sun. From 2002, she was moved internally again, this time to Holland America Line, where she remains with a popular following. |
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| We had been due to sail at 4.30pm with Prinsendam half an hour later but we went at almost her time so she could be seen as we left the lock at IJmuiden. Unlisted on various websites docked the other side of the lock was Deutschland. The 22,400grt ship was built for Peter Deilmann and has been in service since 1998. In 2012, she was a hospitality ship for the German Olympic Committee at the games in London. She is very famous in Germany as the setting for the TV series, Das Traumschiffe, their version of The Love Boat. |
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| Later that night, I noticed lights through the window in Reflections. It was Deutschland, heading for Cherbourg, having sailed at 8pm. Well we were slower than a snail so not surprising she passed us with ease. Also, in the distance was Prinsendam, making her way to L'Orient, where she would arrive on the 7th. |
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| The review of my cruise can be found here. |
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