21 Nov. 2014; Walvis Bay, Namibia, 2nd day.
Walvis Bay a town of low buildings with an endless desert at the horiozn
So I had the sincere intention to go ashore today to sample the delights of Walvis Bay. In order to find out what was going on the trainee’s had been encouraged to go ashore yesterday afternoon. They reported that apart from a lot of sand there was not much to do, unless you took the tours. Yesterday evening a lot of the concessionaires went ashore and all ended up in the same Bar/Restaurant. It is more or less the only one there as well it seems and it is so prominent that it is even mentioned in the Wikipedia write up about Walvis Bay. So in the end I gave up and concentrated on today’s task at hand.
Today the ship was staging the weekly 3 alarm cycle drills and that took all my focus. As reported before all Holland America line ships have now adopted the three alarm system and eventually all 110 ships controlled by Carnival Corporation will have the same procedures. Our routines are remaining the same it is only a new frame work that has been established with an extra alarm that gives everybody, crew and guest alike, more time to prepare for the abandon ship procedure. So we also continue our training in the regular way. Today we had a fire drill and the trainees were attached to the various teams to learn the procedures. When we do a drill, we always have an assessor who reviews the procedures and then highlights the good things and the things that can be improved upon. I took that role upon me, as with hopping from ship to ship I can compare various routines and are able to get best working practices initiated. That took most of the morning and then it was time for the class room again to further review the drills and do some more theory. This time NLV procedures were on the list, including washing your hands often to avoid spreading germs.
While we live in our little world on the ship, there are some major changes taking place within our company. As might be known, a year ago Holland America, Hal/Princess Alaska Operations, Princess Cruises, P&O Australia and Seabourn were concentrated in the HAL group under the Carnival Umbrella. Stein Kruse became the leader of that group. The aim was to find common ground between the various brands so all the products could be strengthened while at the same time not losing anything of the uniqueness of each Brand.
This has now been taken one step further with having the operational departments (Nautical and Technical) working very close together as it will improve the operational output and it will not affect the uniqueness of the various companies. We already go altogether to the same simulator in Almere Amsterdam where we follow the same bridge and safety routines (= 3 alarm system) so there is nothing wrong in ordering the same spare parts as well. All the departments that deal with the guest experience, including Hotel Operations, are kept together and now come under a new President.
His name is Orlando Ashford and he comes to us from Mercer, which is a company according to our company’s press release, that is the global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments. This means that Stein Kruse now steps out of the daily leadership of Holland America and will concentrate on overseeing the HAL Group. It is not every day that we get a new President so I thought it would be worthwhile to mention this.
The good ship Rotterdam left from Walvis Bay at 5 pm. Sailing as she had come in, through the narrow dredged channel. Now we will spend two days at sea and then we will come to Luanda for a full day call on Monday 24 November.
The weather forecast for tomorrow is a bit of a mixed bag. A bit of swell and partly cloudy skies, which means it can go either way. Temperatures are slowly rising again and are expected to top 18oC / 64oF tomorrow. It has been strange the last few days to see desert on the land side and to have chilly temperatures that you do not directly relate to the desert. But as the desert can be very cold as well, it is quite normal to have these chilly days in this part of the world. But somehow I relate the desert with always scorching temperatures and sitting in the shade.
Leave a Reply