17 August 2013; Gulf of Alaska.

Today we sailed through the Gulf of Alaska and the weather was not exactly exciting. Overcast and gloomy with a lot of showers. Strong winds from the East but as they were following winds, the relative wind on the deck was merely a gentle Breeze. There is very little sightseeing on this part of the voyage. When the weather is very clear you can see the Fairweather Mountain Range but that is about it. In the afternoon you pass Capt. St Elias on Kayak Island and then it is only open water again. Even the whales are not that prominent here; most of them are closer to the coast where the feeding is better. Near the end of the season, when the migration starts again, then we will see more of them.

Still for the cruise experience itself it does not matter that much during this last day. The Daily program, which has now been renamed to “On Location”, is choc-a-bloc- with activities and then there is the challenge of packing as most guests will leave the ship tomorrow in Seward. The renaming of the daily program is part of a revamp, refocusing or rebranding, whatever you call it, of the way we present the product to our guests.

Most guests come on board Holland America ships, not only to enjoy themselves but also to see something, learn something and take something home with them from the cruise. The company is focusing on this and that is called “On Location”. The idea is quite simple. When a ship goes somewhere, then everything on board should be tuned into that. This means that if we would call at ports in Spain, then the lectures on board should be related to that. The food should be related to that, the drink specials should be related to that. And if possible entertainment and daily activities as well. Not only the ship is docked “on Location”, the whole guest operation side of it should be in synch. as well.

With this new way of approaching the subject of entertaining and enriching the guests, the On Location program that is produced on a daily basis is now so extensive that you have to spend quite some time to read through it and make up your mind of what you want, or not want to do. Best thing is to carry the program with you and for that purpose it is now folded vertically in three parts so it fits easily in the pocket.

When talking to the guests I get the impression that it works as most of them are expressing appreciation of the fact that the company is trying to pull the outside world into the life on board and make it presentable for all to enjoy.

I do not always follow the program and what is going on, as we have an internal schedule (on which the On Location is based) which shows in one-liners what I am involved in and where I have to be at certain times. So last night when I made a round through the ship, I suddenly came across a group of children on the way to the “pajama party” at club HAL. Never knew that they had one. Ashore everybody would turn their head around in the street if they would see a whole group of children running by in their p-j’s but on a ship everybody seems to consider it normal.

As the day activity in the Club HAL had been, write a note to the captain, they had all found out what I looked like and thus it was picture time. Not so long ago, it was the parents who showed up with camera’s but now each child seems to have a digital camera and or phone in the pocket and thus there was no escape possible. So by tomorrow I will be immortalized on Facebook as the center of the “Pajama troupe”

Tomorrow we will be in Seward where it will be an early arrival. We will have the pilot on board by 04.00 hrs. and be docked by 05.15. Then the luggage offloading starts and by 06.00 the first guests will leave the ship to travel to Anchorage or to fly home or go into the interior of Alaska for the remainder of their vacation. The weather is supposed to be a bit so-so. Overcast with a chance of showers but not much wind.