17 April 2018; At Sea.

The cold front came over during the night and caused the seas in the Strait of Florida to go really choppy and with the ship taking the occasional hit on the bow causing that banging sound which is not pitching but when an augmented wave hits the hull under the wrong angle. Because the passing of this cold front was exactly on schedule, e.g. the weather followed the weather forecast, the captain made the decision to give the guests a quiet remainder of the night and a quiet morning by deviating slightly from our intended track. So the good ship ms Rotterdam turned to starboard and sailed into North West Providence Channel. That way we kept the choppy seas away from us by using Grand Bahama Island as a buffer. It adds a few miles to the journey but those are the miles we have already gained by the extra push of the Gulf stream since we left Key West. The Gulf Stream peaked this time at nearly three knots where we were sailing and so in one night we gained almost a free hour of sailing time. Had the weather been good than we would have followed the Gulf Stream all the way up to Bermuda. Now we will pick it up later again but in the open North Atlantic Ocean when it is not so strong.

Black was the original plan, green was today’s deviation.

The guests had as a result a wonderful, calm and sunny morning and did not even notice the passing of this Cold front as it came over us at 08.00 hrs. As the rain was not coming down where we were nobody really saw it and the sun remained shining. By noon time we cleared the island and then we finally felt the motion of the ocean a little bit. But as the cold front is now well to the east of us, the changing wind should smoothen down the waves to about 6 to 8 feet and that will guarantee a quiet transit with maybe just a gentle movement of the ship. I have no problems with that, the guests on this cruise want sea days and thus they should feel a little bit of swell, telling them that they are at sea. It comes free of charge anyway.

Returning to Bermuda is something for me as if going down memory lane. Holland America has cruised to Bermuda since the 1920’s but it really became a summer season destination in the 1970’s when both the ss Rotterdam and the ss Statendam where visiting all the time. Then we moved the Veendam and Volendam in, both sailing from New York. The Veendam went straight to Hamilton and lay as a hotel for 3 days in Front Street and the Volendam split her 3 day period in Bermuda by first going to St Georges and then joining her sister in Hamilton.  I did a season on that ship. Those cruises were not great money spinners but did bring in steady earnings. For the crew it was pure heaven as we sailed for 1.5 days between New York and the Island and later back again, and then where basically a hotel for 3 days. Almost always good weather so maintenance work was easy to accomplished and as the watches were reduced to one officer there was plenty of time to go to the beach, to go sightseeing or to party.

The Veendam and Volendam seen here on a rare occasion together in New York. Originally built as the Brasil and Argentina for the American company MooreMcCormack, they came to Holland America after 1971.

When we built the N-ships from 1983, they were especially designed to fit alongside the Front Street terminal with their length and water, oil and sewage connections but with Alaska getting very big, Holland America could do much better business there and so we left. In the last few years we have returned, with the Veendam making summer cruises here, although not a full summer.

This time we are not going to downtown Hamilton but to the new cruise terminal area of King’s Wharf, the old navy port. For the larger cruise ships it was already much harder to get to the downtown cruise dock in the 80’s and if they could then it resulted often in the overcrowding of the main street. Thus now the guests have to travel around the island to get to Hamilton but the largest ships can now visit. The government now let only ships with a maximum length of 720 feet still go to downtown Hamilton, which automatically means only smaller ships. So our Prinsendam would qualify but our S- Class would already be over the limit.

But we are not there yet. Tomorrow is another sea day and it is a special day as it April the 18^th. And that is the Birthday of Holland America Line. On 18^th of April 1873, a small private company went public and the Holland America Line was born. Together with P&O and Cunard we are the oldest still surviving Ocean Liner company in the world. More about that tomorrow.

The weather front that passed over us today, this is midnight English time or 21.00 hrs. ships time and already far away from us. (Diagram courtesy Myfutureradar.com

Weather for tomorrow, it looks good. Sunshine, steady winds and low swells. If the weather forecast is correct then the next weather front is coming through on the 20^th. and then we are well away from Bermuda.