15 April 2016; Civitavecchia, Italy.

It looks as if the summer cruise season is starting earlier and earlier every year. Today the harbor was already completely full with cruise ships having turn overs. We had the Celebrity Constellation, the MSC Fascinosa, the Zenith, the Amsterdam and our Koningsdam together taking up all the cruise docks in the port. Then there were the regular ferries which dock at the opposite side but they are also responsible for a considerable amount of passenger traffic. Approx. 9000 guests moving around in the port today. A far smaller figure than the top scores of Miami and Ft. Lauderdale but then this port is a lot smaller. But all went reasonably well and hopefully it was the same at the airport. My lord and master returned home to day and she did not complain about the airport so things must have been well there.

Today we start a 12 day cruise with port calls at: Katakolon, Piraeus, Kusidasi, Istanbul, Rhodes, Crete, Naples and then returning to Rome on the 27^th. of April. After this cruise, the ship will start its journey westbound ending up in Rotterdam for the christening in the 3^rd week of May. After the big event a series of North European cruises will commence with Amsterdam as home port. After the summer season she will then cross the Atlantic for the 7 day Caribbean season. In a way she is following the successful pattern of the Nieuw Amsterdam which will sail this summer in Alaska as the Koningsdam has taken her place here in the Med.

We were docked next to the ms Amsterdam and all the Amsterdam guests who wanted to were invited to come for a visit to see the new ship. The Koningsdam crew had pulled out all the stops to make them feel welcome with a special logo on the display screens in the ship and a small show by the Cast to show off how our World Stage works as it is so different from the rest of the fleet.  Main comments noted were “it is so different” than from before and yes that is the main impression for all of us. The Koningsdam is the next step in the evolution of HAL cruising in the same way as the S-class was a complete break from the N class of 1984 and the N class was very different from the ships we had before that time. If you compare the old Statendam of 1957 with the Statendam of 1992 and with a Statendam of the future, there are large differences. Not only in size, but also in the way looking after our Guests needs during a cruise. Apart from the guests, the officers and crew came over en-masse as well and the Navigation Officers were all very jealous of the state of the art bridge we have on board, its design based on the input provided by us over the years.

Proud to be part of the Koningsdam Team.

I made a promise a few blogs ago to show some more new crew uniforms. With the arrival of the Koningsdam a change is made in the uniform image, something the HAL does on a regular basis but now it is rolled out as a whole and it encompasses all the crew including the shop staff and the officers. (See the new work uniforms posted yesterday) It is only proper to start with the person who generates the most photos on board the ship and that is the bell boy.  This person is nearly always in the front of the house, either when running errands or when doing meet and greet.  If I would receive a dollar for each photo this guy gets taken, I could live as a very rich man. Also this uniform has changed considerably and with his new kepi, he must be the envy of the French Foreign Legion.

We sailed shortly after 17.00 hrs. with a horn exchange between the Amsterdam and the Koningsdam. The Koningsdam greeted first, as the Master of the Amsterdam Captain Jonathan Mercer is senior to the Master of the Koningsdam Capt. Emiel de Vries.  Sometimes the Seniority between captains is very close and then it is a run  to the whistle button and who gets the first noise out.

Tomorrow we are at sea sailing south towards the Strait of Messina and if all goes well we will get a look at Stromboli.