31 March 2013; At Sea, 2nd day.

I forget yesterday to put in the chartlet of the cruise we are currently doing. So here it is. This is our regular East Panama Canal cruise of which the ship has done 4 this year. Last year it was six but as the company is phasing in longer cruises, the number of trans canals are getting less. For the coming year 2013/2014 it will be less again as there is an extra South Pacific cruise, and a long cruise down to the west coast of South America with a three day stay over in Callao; and also a Mexican cruise going into the Sea of Cortez. So it will not be until 2014 that we are going back to Florida. The requests from guests living in the San Diego area are getting louder and louder for more cruises from their home port and the company is obliging. We have now two ships calling there in the winter; the Statendam and the Zaandam and things are going well. At least as far as the occupancy rate goes. We are full each cruise. I have no insight in the pricing  as such, but I do not hear too much moaning and groaning so marketing and sales must be reasonably pleased. All reasons to be very happy.

I have another reason to be happy and that is with the ships speed. As is known the ship went into dry – dock last January and got a good “cut and shave” under water. Then a new sort of paint was applied promising less friction and thus less resistance when the ship moves through the water. That does not mean that we are suddenly going much faster, it is only a few 10ths but over the year it reduces the fuel bill greatly.

The underwater hull, being cleaned with power jets. After 30 months in the water marine growth starts to attach to the hull.

At the same time new propeller- blades were installed, which is an expensive thing to do, but the experts have calculated that (if they are right) we should get our money back within a year’s time. That means that the coming years will be pure profit on the investment. It is too early to cry victory but the initial signs are promising. In the long run, keeping the fuel consumption down is in the interest of everybody, as it trickles all the way down to the customer. If we can keep our costs down, then the ticket price that the guest will pay, will be the best value for money that the company can offer. The fuel costs makes up a considerable part of the cruise ticket price and so each drop of fuel saved can be a cent off the cruise price.

By 11.30 we turned the corner at Cabo San Lucas and we were able to do a partial sail by. Staying in 1,000 feet water and a mile off the coast, while we made the turn. We could not sail all the way to Cabo San Lucas as there was a cruise ship at the anchorage. One of the “Apartments of the Seas” and the whole area outside Cabo was full of sightseeing boats. There were some whales around and that got everybody there into a frenzy.  Thus we had a good look at the 7^th most beautiful beach in the world (according to Playboy 1987) and then turned back to open waters.

The Gulf of California, the stretch of open waters between the Californian Peninsula and the Mexican Main land can quite often be very windy and choppy. That is caused by a southerly outflow of wind out of the Sea of Cortez. But today the weather patterns were such that there was hardly any wind at all and the sea remained smooth all the way over. Tonight we will enter the Bahia de Banderas, the bay/inlet at which end Puerto Vallarta is located and that is always a quiet area, unless it is hurricane season.  We will be approaching the pilot station at 07,00 hrs. and I have asked if I can dock again at berth 3, as it is so easy for the guests to get into the tour buses and taxi’s.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I Iam leaving you today with a photo of another 35 year celebration on the ship. Our Canaletto (Italian Restaurant) manager has clocked up 35 years of service. That we celebrated on the stage during captains intro’s, as 35 years is something to be VERY proud about and honor. Later on he will have an official dinner with the whole dining room to celebrate the event. 

Mr. Apprianto Fermansyah. Canaletto Manager and 35 years with Holland America.