03 Nov. 2015; At Sea.

Today we had rain, courtesy of the tail of a weather system north of us which is moving to the East.  It also brought wind and resulted in a bit of a miserable day; but as there was no swell involved the ship was nice and steady so the guests could enjoy the day fully. The temperature is slowly rising as well and out of the wind we almost had a tropical feeling for a while. We are sailing away from weather system by going West and the system is moving away from us by going east and tomorrow it should look a lot better.

The ship is gearing up for arrival Fort Lauderdale. Gearing up early because it is going to be a very busy day. With 6 days to go everybody is already on full alert. As the ship has been away from the USA for the whole summer it means that we are going to be inspected by the USCG. Since a very long time they carry out a Control Verification program to ensure that the ships calling at the USA are safe. The countries in Europe are doing this as well but there is no coordination or joint agreement between the old world and the new and thus we will have our USCG inspection. Even while we had inspections on the other side of the pond as well. There is a yearly one which is quite elaborate and then after six months there is a follow up inspection which is apart from the full safety drill a walk through the ship. That one lasts normally about 4 to 5 hours, the full – yearly – inspection lasts the whole day. And we get the full one.

Then there might also be a USPH inspection, which takes place twice a year and for that one we also have been away for more than six months. They come on board to ensure that we are all still washing our hands and following all the protocols they have established to ensure a healthy ship and healthy guests and crew. USPH tries to schedule themselves in such a way that they do not conflict with the USCG so they might come next cruise. The USCG cannot wait another cruise; they have to do their inspection during our first call as our USCG certificate has expired as we have been away.  If they both come, then it will take a lot of coordination from the ships staff to get it all properly done and still sail on time.

But that is not all of it as far as inspections goes. We will also get Customs and Border Protection with all guns blazing. We are coming from foreign and that means that all the guests have to go through a face to face inspection. But again as we have been away from USA for longer than three months all the crew has to go through a full 90 days inspection.  So all 800 crew have to march past the CBP officers and have their ID 95 issued which allows them to go ashore. The crew office is currently making all those little white papers which are then verified against the Passport and crew Visa and stamped off. 90 days later is then the next inspection. I will not be part of that as due to the quirks of the immigration system I need another visa, an L visa, (which allows me to travel between ships over US soil) and for that purpose I am considered a passenger who is entering the States and thus I have to show my face as soon as all the guests have been seen. I belong to the category of the non-revenue-passenger in CBP speak.

With all of this going on, we also still have to disembark all the old guests, embark the new guests, load fuel, load water, load all the provisions, give ashore all the recyclables, do a large crew change, have repair and maintenance people coming on board and have a lot of visitors and other important people coming as well. Thus it is going to be a busy, busy day. Captain Turner and his crew will have their work cut out for them. Frustrating for me is, that I cannot be of much help here as I have to get off the ship to enable the required “zero” count so the CBP knows that indeed everybody is off the ship. Even in-transit guests have to leave the ship, wait for the zero count and then they can come back again.

To get it all organized the Front Office is sending out letters to ensure that all the guests know what to do. Most of them travel on an ESTA – or Visa Waiver but they have to make certain that their Esta is up-to-date. Thus the Front Office is sending out reminders.

Tomorrow is our next day at sea and if I interpret the weather chart correctly, we should get some sunshine.