And for those who paid attention you could feel (and see) us sailing through the various wind systems. After departing Half Moon Cay the ship had a bumpy ride as the North Atlantic waves found their way between the islands. Once clear and entering the end of Old Bahama channel this became even more pronounced. I could feel it very well as I have a bow cabin this cruise. Nice view forward but also the weather on my door step.
Then early morning we entered the Windward Passage and a serene peace came over the ship as the island of Hispaniola now protected us from wind and swell. It takes about 12 hours to sail the whole stretch of sea which is protected by the Haitian mountains and around lunch time it was almost calm of wind. The last part of the Windward Passage near the Jamaican Channel is very shallow and as the sea had only its waves and no white caps you could see the white sandy bottom about 45 feet below us. In the distance were various fishing craft as the fish likes to be at the edge of shallow and deep water due to the cold water welling up from the dee[, bringing all sorts of nutrients.
Cape Tiburon in the far distance. Most southwesterly point of Haiti on the island of Hispaniola.
That lasted to just after 2 pm. and then we cleared the island and portside came full into the “view” of the Caribbean Trade Wind. It came as quite a shock to all the guests sitting, relaxing or being “not there” in the deck chairs when the wind suddenly blew around Cape Tiburon, the southwest point of Haiti.
My travels through the ship took me today back in the Engine Room. We have two trainers on board who make a regular circle around the fleet giving basic trainings and do catch up work and thus can I concentrate myself on my ships review. Looking for the trees in the forest because when you work too long in the same environment you do not see the Forest for the trees anymore. (Or something like that)
The Engine room on the Vista Class runs the whole length of the ship on D deck and gets slowly smaller in size on the higher decks. On C, B & A deck it is down to about 40% and then there is only the uptake to the funnel left which takes up about 10% of the ships space per deck. The 5 engines of the ship (and a Gas turbine generator = which is not used anymore as it is too expensive with the current fuel prices) are divided over two separate engines rooms. 3 engines in the aft part and 2 engines (with the gas turbine) in the forward part. The idea is, if we would have a fire in one part, the other one would be able to take over and run un-affected.
For the rest the engines spaces are divided for dedicated purposes, all separated, section by section by watertight doors. Most of the engine room is under water and thus compartmentalization is required to ensure that when water would come in, it would stay in one location and not endanger the ship. We can have two of the largest engine compartments full of water and the ship will still stay afloat.
The main engine rooms. To the aft left and right are the Purifier rooms for cleaning the fuel oil and forward in a separate space the evaporators for making potable water.
The Layout from stern to bow:
- Aft compressor Room with the cooling installation for all the Provision Rooms
- Auxiliary room. Here the Engine crew have some of their workshops
- Aft main engine room. Runs all the way to deck 13
- Forward engine room. Runs all the way to deck 13
- Evaporator Room, here we make fresh water from sea water using excess engine heat
- AC Room, where we have four big compressors to cool the whole ship down.
- Potable Water Room
- Treatment Room
- Pump Room
- Forward Sewage Room. (the aft one is combined with the aft compressor room)
More about tis tomorrow.
For the remainder of the day and night we will sail through the Caribbean Sea until we come to the Pilot station of Oranjestad Aruba. That should be around noon time or shortly after. We do not know exactly as we are hot berthing with the Coral Princess. And if she has a load of eager shoppers ashore then the Coral might not sail on time. And then we have to wait as Aruba has no anchoring option near downtown. The other part of the dock is taken up by the Celebrity Eclipse who was on an overnight stay.
Weather expected, almost overcast with a windy day and temperatures of 28oC / 82oF.
March 11, 2017 at 1:51 am
Captain Albert
I shared most, but not all, of your March 9 lifeboat piece on Ships Nostalgia
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com
Forum: News and Views from the Shipping World
Thread: Lifeboat Lessons Learned from Costa Concordia Passengers
Greg Hayden
Vista, California
March 13, 2017 at 6:58 am
Good Morning Captain Albert,
It was great reading your March 10th 2017 Post. My wife and I are excited about coming aboard on the 22nd in Fort Lauderdale. I loved reading about the engine room and how you as Captain navigate the waters. There so much to know about the various routes the ship takes and the degree of challenge each one presents. I’d love to know more about how the ship functions. Making Potable water??? Never heard of that. So Interesting. Can’t wait to come aboard. Be safe and see you soon.
March 13, 2017 at 5:58 pm
Once upon a time I sure messed up “them trees for the forest” or something like that, in a comment in the heat of defending you on one of your blogs … Thank you for showing me proper English 🙂
March 17, 2017 at 5:32 pm
I’m sailing on the 22nd from Ft. Lauderdale and I have a CPAP machine that I need for sleeping. Do I need a converter/adapter to plug in the CPAP and my iPad charger? Or is the ship’s power in U.S. 110 voltage?
Thanks for your reply.
Looking forward to sailing with you.
Cathy Ferrere
March 19, 2017 at 4:21 pm
Thank you for reading my blog.
There will be at least one 110 and one 220 plug in the cabin. Most cabins have two of each. So a regular 110 US plug should work without any problems.
the plugs are located above the desk, so if your machine can not stand there, ask the cabin steward for an extension cord.
Best regards and have a great cruise
Capt. Albert
March 27, 2017 at 12:31 pm
Capt. Albert,
I’m hoping you can clarify a concern I have. I’m sailing in Sept. on the Koningsdam and am looking forward to our cruise. However, I read a review from someone who just sailed on this ship and stated that on Deck 4 there was a lounge/bar used by the crew/staff, where they could smoke, resulting in the hallways and staterooms smelling of smoke. Our stateroom is on Deck 4 and I am highly allergic to smoke, especially cigarette smoke, which will bring on asthma attacks. Can you please confirm/deny this as I will have to change decks. Thank you for your assistance. Looking forward to sailing with you and your crew. I have read many good things about the ship and people on it.
March 28, 2017 at 9:31 am
Hallo Paula,
There is a crew smoking lounge on the crew area all the way forward on Deck 4. The crew access it from the crew staircase in the bow.
I was on Koningsdam during the new building and there are at least 3 doors and a big emergency staircase between the guest area and this crew area. So I do not understand how a guest could smell smoke as it can not get to the guest cabin area.
I hope this helps
Best regards
Capt. Albert