05 July 2017; Enroute to Zaandam.

For all American readers, happy 4^th. of July. I hope you had a great day as I had while in Seattle. Historically speaking I always feel a sort of Dutch – American connection during this day as the Netherlands were the first country in the world to recognize the independence of the new USA. It did so by raising the flag when an American warship came to the island of St. Bartholomew in the Caribbean shortly after the declaration. During the day I had a walk around the Space Needle area which is a congregation place for outdoor activities with buskers and huskers. One fixed group are Peruvians, I can see their Inca descendants, who for several years already have a fixed location opposite the entrance to the Space Needle.  In the evening  I went to see the Fireworks of Seattle over Lake Union and to my great happiness there was an outlet where they sold Summer Ale made by the locate Fremont brewery. There is nothing better than watching culture with a pint in your hand. Seattle had perfect weather for a 4^th. of July celebration which to the utter amazement of the locals has now been the case for three years in a row.  No rain but sunshine………………………..

Our new Seattle Head Office. The main entrance is behind the silver car halfway up the hill.

The day before I reported to my head office as I had to renew my security card, had a meeting with the Sr. Director of Marine/Nautical Operations and took the chance to see our new office building. Holland America moved buildings in January 2017. The new building is one block higher up the road and now has great views of the Pudget Sound when you are in the Restaurant on the top floor. 300 Elliott Avenue West is now empty for a larger part and there is work going on inside to make it ready for new tenants. Holland America had in the end three offices in Seattle but now everything is back under one roof.

Looking Down in the Atrium from Deck 3. To the left the :”bridge” to the North section of the building.

Our new office which is called 3^rd on 3^rd, as it is located on 3^rd. Avenue is not owned by HAL but there is a very long lease. Long enough to make it possible for HAL to be part of the design team. As a result the architect has tried to give the interior a nautical flavor. There is an Atrium with bridges on each level to connect the North and South Pier of the building and in various areas lights and other fixtures look like portholes. The floors are called decks and named after continents.   The whole complex is a big improvement on the gloomy aspect of the old building. My only observation would be that for my taste it does not look “shippy” enough. Too many bare walls but maybe that will change with the years. There are ships models on every level and to my delight also one or two old ones. There is a model of the Haelve Maen, the sailing ship which until recently graced our Ships logo and a model of the Homeric before it became the ms Westerdam. And of course all the blue hull models of our current fleet.

I sent the Rotterdam V Bell to Seattle in 1997 where it found a place in the entrance of the old building. Now it is standing here in the new buildings lobby,

The designer choose for an open office plan, which means everybody has a work station and not an enclosed office anymore. The old building had a large number of”Aquariums” as I called them arranged around central areas with office cubicles. Now Sr. staff and Jr. Staff have work stations in the same area and in the central nave there are meeting rooms (named after ports of call), telephone rooms and sitting area’s to meet people.  As a shipping office runs on coffee, on each level there is a coffee station with a sitting area next to the central staircase. I think that is the most successful part of the design as it gives the option to do some informal business without having to hang around the coffee machine or sit in a stuffy meeting room.

The building is occupied by Holland America Line, Seabourn and a section of Princess Cruises. The latter’s main office is in Santa Clarita but as we share the overland tour business with Princess and all three are now part of the HAG (Holland America Group) Princess also has a presence here which is mainly noticed by white hulled ships models in the waiting area’s around the Atrium.  For the rest you do cannot see it as the computer work stations look exactly the same.

What has not been moved yet is the old Veendam anchor which is still standing outside the old office. Nobody could tell me if there were any immediate plans for it to be moved closer to the new building. There is a little of space outside the main entrance to the new office so it would be possible. We just have to wait and see. It is not easy to walk away with 12000 pounds of steel so I assume the owners of the old office building will not be in a hurry to have I removed.

The builders model of the ms Westerdam which came to Holland America when it took over Home Lines in 1988.

Tomorrow I will join the Zaandam in Juneau and then we will return to the Alaska Cruise schedule of calling at Seward. The Zaandam sails the opposite way of the Noordam and they will pass each other tomorrow evening when the Zaandam comes down from Haines and the Noordam goes up to Skagway.

The oldest piece of history in the office. A Jacobson painting of the ms Maasdam II of 1889. It hangs outside the Board room. Around that time the locals in New York had the tendency to call a line serving New York after it’s home country. So there was the French Line but Holland America was often called the Netherlands Line and even promoted itself as such.