After our spectacular day in Grand Turk, we have an even nicer day at sea to day. It remained indeed wind still, or nearly wind still, and the sun shone as it if it had to catch up from long time before. Also the high ocean swells that had been bothering us for most of the cruise were subsiding and as a result the ship was a steady as a rock. Important for the guests, as it makes the enjoyment of the last day greater and it also makes it easier to pack the suitcases. The last part is always an un-pleasant high light of the cruise. I know there are quite a few guests onboard who try to put off the packing to the very last minute and if then confronted with a rocky ship, they can run into time problems. Today was a perfect cruise day at sea. Still time to enjoy the sun, the ship and having comfortable circumstances for all the packing and trying to figure out how to get the contents of three suitcases into two.
The latter is one thing that I do not suffer from and that is due to the fact that I am sailing on the Prinsendam. Everything that we accumulate during our time onboard can stay onboard. Eventually the ship will transport it for us to Europe where I can off load in my home country, when we call there. So, tomorrow one suitcase will take it all.
Tomorrow is going to be a very hectic day not only for us but also for the Amsterdam. She will be in port with us, docked at the next terminal and she is starting her annual world cruise. We are starting our Grand Voyage and as we are doing two in a row, it will not be much different than a world cruise only that we call again at Fort Lauderdale in between. So the challenges are there to make it a success and it takes a lot of planning to get it done properly. Thus we check what is expected to arrive at the ship for supplies and stores; where it is the best to load it and in which sequence. Everything has to go directly to the store rooms and thus a correct loading plan is of the essence. It is one of these days where each department is involved with the work of the other department to make it all happen.
Thus we will see the Chief Officer being involved with loading 30 boxes of costumes for the new Cast coming onboard. As the Showroom at Sea is at the bow we load those boxes with the bow crane to keep them away from the other stores. One of the peculiar things about working on a cruise ship you train as a Navigator and you end up being a Roadie. Similar for the Chief Engineer; he has to land a large box with a Rotor inside and this has to be done before the Hotel mayhem starts. The box is big enough to block the complete supply route and that is a hiccup that we cannot afford. A new Rotor will come on board in a similar box and that one will have to go in at a moment that we do not load any frozen items. Otherwise the ice cream will melt while the engine department maneuvers the thing out of the way.
We are expecting new cabin chairs and pillows and they will be walked onboard by House keeping before the loading of paper starts, paper for the print shop and enough to last us for the whole 70 days. So it will go on until just before departure.
The final challenge will be to get all the wooden pallets off the ship before we sail, pallets on which all the supplies arrived. We have no room to store them, and off loading in other ports is very expensive and thus we do our utmost to clear them out before sailing.
I will be docking tomorrow at 0500 hrs to get a head start with the bunkering of the ship, so we can get that out of the way ASAP. It will free up engineers for other work, as we normally get a lot of service people on board as well.
This is my last blog until 12 March 2011, when I will return to the ship for the 2nd Grand Voyage. I hope you enjoyed my daily stories about the exciting life on board the Prinsendam and all that goes with it. Keep an eye on the blog on occasion I will continue with uploading ships histories and I am also starting with a new project, Biography’s of Captains from the Past.
January 5, 2011 at 7:10 am
Hi Captain,
Thank you for taking time to write your blog, it is much appreciated.
It it great to get a ittle insight into the operations of a modern cruise ship and being reminded that they are ships and not floating hotels.
Enjoy your break.
Looking forward to your return in March.
January 5, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Thank you Captain. Always enjoy reading your blog first thing in the morning here in cold New England. WIsh we were joining you for your next Grrnad Voyage but work gets in the way. However are looking forward to a HAL Cruise in March on the Noordam! Enjoy your time away and I hope it Warms up and snow less in England!
January 5, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Have a great break ! Here is to that first beer !
January 5, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Sorry you won’t be aboard for the Grand Voyage. We will miss seeing you.
January 5, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Is there a reason why PRINSENDAM doesn’t do the World Cruise? Would it not have been possible for AMSTERDAM to do the 2 Grand voyages while PRINSENDAM does the World Cruise?
January 5, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Love reading your blog. You are an excellent writer. Have a good break and looking forward to your next adventure.
January 5, 2011 at 9:39 pm
Tot ziens Captain and Lesley. Looking forward to your next blogs
Ruud Hartog
January 6, 2011 at 12:30 am
Captain, i look forward to reading you everyday, you will be missed have great break.
January 6, 2011 at 10:07 am
Hello Captain,
Thank you so much for all your most interteresting daily blogs.
Looking forward to the Biography’s of Captains from the Past! Indeed there have been several interesting masters and commodores with their specific qualities.
Wishing you and Lesley a very recuperating time at home.
Elbert L.J.
January 6, 2011 at 1:33 pm
Thanks as always for your blog – most enjoyable and educational. Safe journey and enjoy your leave. Hope all is going reasonably well with your Mother. Look forward to your Biography’s of Captains from the Past.
January 6, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Captain Albert,
My wife and I enjoyed our past two weeks on the Prinsendam’s Holiday Voyage and want to thank you for all the extra efforts on your part to find alternate ports and moving to the “town dock” in St. George, Grenada. We look forward to cruising with you again in the future.
January 26, 2011 at 1:44 am
Enjoyed our short time with you last year on the Grand Med/Black Sea cruise. You sailed from Ft. Lauderdale and left the ship in St. Barts and Captn Gunderson came back on board for the rest of the 62 day cruise.
We will be joining you on March 12th for the Grand Africa/Med cruise.
This will be our 6th cruise on our favorite ship — the Prinsendam!! We have also cruised this ship with Captn Turner.
February 1, 2011 at 5:09 am
Hi Captain,
will you be aboard the Prinsendam September 12 out of Tilbury, we are doing a 28 day collectors voyage. we enjoyed our travels with you last year to the top of the world,and hoped you may be with usagain on the elegant exolorer
February 2, 2011 at 9:53 pm
I will be on board for the first part. 12 september to 26 september, Rome. Your 28 day falls apart in two separate cruises, thus due to the scheduling you will have two captains. So hope to see you on board.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
February 4, 2011 at 3:52 am
Thank you Capt Albert, we look forward to seeing you onboard, we are hoping we will still be able to go to the Land of the Pyramids, with the current problems there at the moment I guess alternative ports would have to be looked at. No doubt Holland America has all that in hand.
Best wishes
Jennifer
February 5, 2011 at 7:20 pm
We will be on the Grand Africa/Med cruise with you on March 12th. Do you have any information about our scheduled stops in Alexandria and Port Said?
Since many passengers on the Grand Cruises are “experienced” travelers all over the world, we, like many, would like to see a small “out of the way” port or ports substituted instead of the “popular” stops in Istanbul, Samos, Micenos (sp), Santorini, etc..
Our current sailing schedule is Ravenna, Italy followed by two days at sea prior to Cairo. It gives us an opportunity/flexibility to port any place between Italy and Israel.
February 7, 2011 at 9:53 am
Good morning,
at the moment the cruise is as per brochure. What will happen once the cruise starts and gets in the middle East is another story. As long time travellers know, in that area the political situation is always a factor to take into consideration and no doubt HAL will monitor the situation very carefully. If adjustments have to be made it will be closer to date and where we might go then is a totally different story.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
February 7, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Captain Albert,
Thank you for your honest and prompt response. The reason I asked was to be able to plan ahead and pre-arrange for private tours at the revised location(s).
February 9, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Good morning, Captain Albert – may I hope that you will be the master of the Prinsendam on the May 13th transatlantic? I hope so.
Thank you,
Aimee Worsek
February 26, 2011 at 7:08 pm
Well, our luggage is picked up Monday, Feb 28th and we leave in two weeks.
Are you starting to pack as well??
5 Ports with disturbances (Athens, Alexandria, Port Said, Casablanca, and Agadir). Any word yet on itinerary changes? Will you be determining the safety of the ports prior to our scheduled arrival there?