10 May 2012; 2nd day at Sea.

 Today we spent most of the day crossing the entrance area to the Golfo de California. The weather forecast had indicated nearly wind still conditions but we have become a bit leery of believing any predictions in this area. The forecast is most of the time right when it is blowing really hard and most of the time with a North to South flow coming out of the Gulf or a pure westerly wind coming from the Pacific. When it comes to lesser wind velocities then it seems to be less accurate. With a prediction of 10 knots we normally see 15 to 20 knots. For us not much of an issue but for a little boat that might have decided it’s crossing on a favorable forecast it could be. None of us can prove it of course as it would be long time measurements but subjectively spoken it seems to tie in with what we see in other areas. We see more wind in the Caribbean than forecast and when we cross Tehantepec we have to add about 10 to 15 knots to what is predicted to get it right. Also when sailing past Nicaragua again there is most of the time more wind observed than expected, so today we had the same experience again. The wind varied from wind still to 15 – 20 knots and I was looking at a weather forecast of a steady 10 knots all the way. It makes me feel more and more that the weather patterns are changing. Not a change with a discernible pattern but more leaning to the word “unpredictable”. I am just wondering if that will continue to be the case in the coming years. 

Not that it bothered the guests in the slightest as this is one of the days where most of the activities are focused on being inside the ship. Coming closer to the end of this cruise we had the first of two Mariners Luncheons to host. This cruise we have again over 900 guests on board who have sailed with Holland America before. The top scorer this cruise was a platinum mariner with 832 days on board. More common are guests in the 100 to 500 day bracket and today I handed out 30 bronze medals recognizing guests who went over the magic threshold of 100 days. I always like to do this function as I have the impression that it is really appreciated by the guests. For my side it is nice to recognize those who pay my salary as without guests no ship and no captain.

There is much more to the Holland America Line Mariner program than just medals. The perks are getting better all the time (Details can be found on the HAL website) and although it is not the ultimate factor for the guests to choose my company, it certainly helps in enjoying it more. Sometimes making the step over the 100, 300 or 500 day marker affects the cruise that is being booked. I have had several guests explaining to me, that they had decided on a back to back cruise (so a 4 week return transcanal, instead of a one way 14 day) because it would just tip them over the edge and into the next level.

The perks are not directly related to the medal level but to the days accumulated and that goes by Star level. One Star for just joining, to Five Star if you are nearing the 1500 days. You find most of the Five Star Mariners, called the Presidents Club, on the World cruise. If you do a few world cruises in a row, adding each time more than 110 days, than it goes fairly quickly. We have Mariners who do the world cruise every year and throw in the odd cruise during the rest of the year and they are far over the 2,000 or sometimes 3,000 days. That is quite an achievement if you realize that for me as a professional with 33 years at sea, I am somewhere in the region of 7,000 days. That means that these dedicated sailors are spending most of their (retired) life at sea. Not a bad way of living and my wife and I will try to join in as soon as I retire. At the moment I am a Holland America Mariner with 67 days but I am not expecting that it will increase much until I retire.

Those Mariners activities filled up most of my morning and the afternoon was spent on my lecture. The Holland America History Lecture is about 100 minutes but after that there is the chance for another 30 minutes Q & A about history and any sort of passenger ship that ever sailed the seas. Questions about food and housekeeping are for the Hotel Manager, I talk about ships.

Today I had a question that really stumped me. I discuss of course the takeover of HAL by Carnival back in 1989 and the benefits it had. So today came out of the blue the question: We know that Mr. Arison also runs a Basketball team. What do you know about the players and how is the team doing at the moment?

Answer;……………………..I know the name of the team, Miami Heat as I saw them play a number of years ago and that is where my knowledge stops……. But, everybody thinks a captain knows everything, so they ask. This morning I looked it up and they seem to be doing quite well.

Tomorrow we are in Cabo San Lucas and it looks like a wind still day. It will be sunny and we should be at the closest anchorage as there are no Carnival Ships in. It should be a great day.