14 November 2018; Nieuw Statendam Building, 16 days to go.

Another dull morning with fog, but later with a bit of sunshine here in Marghera and it stayed dry and that was all the shipyard could ask for. There is major cleaning going on, on the outside, and the Sea View deck (Lido deck Aft) is finished off little bit by little bit. And for a good job you need good weather; at least dry weather. This morning the HR department announced that we had 841 crew on board and that we were expecting 42 more. So by tomorrow we should be more or less on TOP. ( Table of Personnel) More or less as there will always be a few more coming and a few leaving.  Because the Print shop has not been completed yet, the machines are there and installers are on site, we have a 08.00 hrs. Morning announcement about what can be expected – crew wise- for the day.  Crew has to go to training at various times and in various places so there is a daily reminder of not to forget and to be on time for the first induction training and to check the schedules in the mess room for the other things going on. I expect that, as same with the Koningsdam, as soon as the Print shop is ready, we will start getting little programs with the most pertinent information. Everybody has to test everything out and thus on the Koningsdam they started these little programs to get everybody into the daily routine.

Also our Captain arrived, Captain Sybe de Boer, who has only recently come from the Seabourn Odyssey. As explained in one of my previous blogs Captains, officers and crew have started to rotate through Seabourn. It is the wish of my Seattle management that I am getting myself involved with Seabourn as well so next year you might get some blogs from me from there. It might not be easy as those ships are small and they are always full so I might have to wait until somebody cancels the Owners Suite !!!  I will upload a biography of Captain de Boer in the coming days under the header of Current Captains and their Schedules, elsewhere on the blog. I have known him for a very long time, as a matter of fact he was my Chief Officer on the Noordam in 2001 and not long after he was promoted to Captain himself.

This is a lady with high combed up hair and a sailing ship on top of it. I remember that in the days of Louis IV there was a period where ladies did walk around with all sorts of things stuck on top of their hair and small ships models were one of those. So maybe the artist got the inspiration from there.

In the meantime the “Art People” made up by two carpenters from the shipyard are installing more and more art. More and more pictures, collages and other “creations” are appearing in the ship. I am using the word creations not in a negative way but simply because I do not know if you can use the word “statue” for a paper creation which looks a statue but isn’t. This is the eye catcher located on Deck 3 center elevator landing just outside the Front Desk. A statue, a display, a composition, a display, a creation, an installation none of these words really cover the context of this white paper display that is quite ingeniously made and will certain attract a lot of attention.

We have two of these showcases where day to day items have been embroidered. It cannot have been easy to do this. Just look at the pair of scissors.

And so will other display cases in the ship. To a certain extent it follows the same pattern as on the Koningsdam. There in the forward staircase they have an old Singer sewing machine on display but then transformed into a LP record player. Here we have a more modern sewing machine but now completely embroidered. Also the music team has not been forgotten. The focus point on the two level high wall outside the Club HAL kiddie’s area has been decorated with two large LP records with in its center what certainly are two great music lovers. Who says art cannot be entertaining? More to come.

Time for honoring the music fans, old and young, with records, Walkman, Smart Phone or CD player.

In the ship there are no major things going on at the moment. It is all about the finishing touches. The last two spaces that still require a lot of work, The Rolling Stone Rock Room and the Queens Lounge / BB King Jazz Club are nearing completion as well. Thus we are now entering the phase, “let’s check why it works, so it keeps working”; then check recheck and double check. And a lot of time is spend on this by all the officers. Some of the officers have been with the ship from the very beginning and they all want to deliver the best HAL ship ever.

It looks like that will be another dry day tomorrow and that is all the ship needs to indeed deliver the best ship ever. I am closing for the day with the Kitchen Departments favorite piece of art: hanging on deck 5.

I think this is an Andy Warhol Affiche. As there was a period in his life that he was into Soup. It looks like his signature on the lower left hand side.