Today we spent our 2nd day at sea and the weather was a lot better. At least it felt that way on board. It was still blowing hard but now wind and swell were running with the ship and as she was doing nearly the same speed so it meant a wind still situation on the decks. With the sun shining as well it made for a pleasant day. In the mean time I was watching the ships speed. Yesterday wind and current held us back and today wind and current should make up for what we lost yesterday. Above Cuba the wind and currents are in general in the North Westerly direction, going with us towards Fort Lauderdale. When coming out of the Old Bahama Channel, we are getting even more current with us, as we get caught by the Gulf Stream. However it is never certain, or easy to predict, how much current there will be. Strong winds give an extra push to the water but it can also result in the Gulf Stream getting stronger and if the axis moves, some of that water might be diverted into Old Bahama Channel and cause a counter current.
The flow of the Gulfstream as indicated by the flow direction and the temperature.
That did not happen today and that meant that we had a nice push in the back speeding us towards Fort Lauderdale. I can use that current now but the day after tomorrow, when we are going the same way back, it will be against us. So if the Weather Gods are willing to please me, then the winds will have to die down tonight. We will see; it has been blowing now for a few days, so it should stop at a certain moment.
The last day of the cruise is always a happening as you are busy with tying up the loose ends of the ending cruise and re viewing the next cruise. That next cruise has of course been planned already in the past but in the cruise business you can only plan so much. Courses, speeds and other related items yes, but it has to tie in with the hotel operation and the drill calendar as well. So when you review all the plans and schedules that make a ship tick, it takes awhile to get it all in synch. Sometimes it feels like juggling three balls with one hand and each ball wants to be the prominent one.
My focus is on, the cruise schedule (the course, time and speed schedule of the navigators), the Proforma (the hotel schedule that regulates all that goes in the daily program and also what happens behind the scenes) and the Safety schedule (which regulates all the drills that are being organized during the cruise) It basically goes in steps; first arrival and departure, can shore excursions adhere to what I need and want to do, if not can I make it work for them. With that hurdle taken, the final arrival, departure and time changes go into the Hotel schedule. To that is added the meetings and inspections that we have during the cruise and then the hotel operation can be finalized. Our meetings and inspections should never conflict with the guest operation and thus they have to be pre-planned.
With that out of the way I can move to reviewing the Safety Schedule.is That schedule is being made up by an officer who is carrying the title SMS officer. SMS stands for Safety Management System and the SMS is the structure under which the whole safety carousel of the company operates. His job is it to ensure that what we do is in compliance with this SMS. If you are in compliance with that, then you are also in compliance with the Laws, as the laws have to be reflected in the company’s SMS.
My overview comes in for reviewing what he wants to have done every day. I try to avoid doing a drill (with the announcements that come with it) in the middle of a lecture in the show lounge. If that lecture starts at 10.30, I make sure the drill starts at 10.15 etc. If the lifeboats have to go down in the water, then I will move the drill to the port where I can dock so that the side with the boats that will need to be lowered are on the sea side. Etc. Etc. Etc.
It is a nice puzzle and as I always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles when I was young, I do not mind doing it. Tomorrow we should arrive in Fort Lauderdale and it is going to be a windy day with a chance of thunder storms. If those storms are staying away, then the sun might come out. We will be together with our sister ship the Maasdam docked next to us, so we will be able to look at ourselves all day long.
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