Dear Readers,
The computer gurus and experts who ensure that the Hal community blogs and related publications work and continue to work both night and day are putting the blog in dry dock for an upgrade.
During that period, I will not be able to post, my apologies, but same as a ship needs a new coat of paint once in a while so does the computer business needs to refresh its “electrons”.
I will be transferring to the Westerdam on March 24, so I expect that my next blog will be coming from that ship. You will get your “daily ping” again as soon as they allow me ” back on board”.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
The ms Westerdam.
March 20, 2017 at 5:56 pm
Captain !! In Dry Dock ?? What information did I miss?? Ruud
March 21, 2017 at 8:57 pm
I don’t see the name of Captain Rens van Eerten on the “Current Captains and Their Schedules”, Captain Albert. Is he still with Holland America? He has been several years on the Westerdam as far as I remember.
March 28, 2017 at 9:40 am
Good morning,
Captain Rens van Eerten is currently serving for a year as trainer at C- Smart in Almere. He has been engaged for maneuvering training with Azi-Pods.
So the should be back on the fleet sometime this year.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
March 24, 2017 at 2:30 am
Hi Captain, we have some family members aboard Westerdam, at this time, headed for Fort Lauderdale and then going on Koningdam for the repositioning. If you come across them, they are the Hiblers, Ron and Marilyn – boarded in San Diego and continuing to Europe. Have a great stay aboard this beautiful ship. I am sure she will pass your inspections.
March 26, 2017 at 1:45 pm
The “new” Westerdam still looks pretty, but I sometimes miss the “old” Westerdam– something about the arrangement of the public rooms felt just right and it was easier to access forward viewing areas not blocked by glass.
Since the notification “ping” is a long time in coming, I read some of the other pages you have, and it is nice to know that the first Captain of the Koningsdam will be on board while I am on board 🙂
Thank you for your blog.
March 29, 2017 at 2:15 pm
Oi, thank you again, Captain Albert, for this explanation. Then, this Captain too I will be missing coming to our downtown harbour. No matter how far the bridge would be parked from the promenade he would always make sure that I would see his high waves with both of his arms 🙂
April 29, 2017 at 10:05 am
when can someone publish pictures of renovated Westerdam ……including signature suites??
thanks
May 15, 2017 at 9:19 pm
Yes, I too would like to see pictures of renovated suites aboard Westerdam. My wife & I are taking a cruise aboard Westerdam in July, and we are hoping that the promised suite upgrades (as per the pics on the HAL site) were indeed done.