The Caribbean Sea is still a blow hole at the moment and that meant, when turning into the gulf of Panama, that we had 35 knots of adverse winds on the bow. Not good for my speed. It slowed me down with about 1.5 miles in the hour and that means an early arrival in Fuerte Amador did not happen. So we just made it on time and then with having to start up the tender service it was 30 minutes past the official arrival time. Not much I could do about it, the weather does not always follow the Holland America Cruise brochure. (Otherwise it would be sunshine and wind still weather all the time, plus always a nice lady on the beach to look at with nobody else around) The one thing I could do and did was to race down to the anchorage as fast as was safely possible. Today we were in luck as the Panama Canal anchorage was nearly empty so I could cut across the area instead of having to go around it. That saved at least 10 minutes. An unpleasant obstacle was the fact that a small oil tanker had parked itself on the regular cruise ship anchorage and I had to anchor further out; which increased the tender distance. Still all went well and with using the stern thruster I could create a good lee for the tenders and the tender operation went smoothly.
The pilots claim that they are still fighting for the fact that the anchorage should be regulated by the authorities so that the cruise ships that are calling at Fuerte Amador are getting the most optimum anchorage location. At the moment it is first come, first served, but if you cannot anchor under the lee of Flamingo Island then it increases the chance that a cruise ship cancels the call. Tonight we could make the call as the wind dropped under 18 knots and that kept the waves down sufficiently. More wind, and you could have an issue.
A crew member that you never see above decks is the Ships Butcher. Even with the dining room parade on the last night, when most of the cooks are there, he is missing. At that moment he is on standby for last minute orders. The Exe. Chef is very good at estimating the number of steaks needed during a dinner session, but it is better to err on the short side and have a few more cut, than to have left overs. So he is waiting for any last minute orders to come in.
Sr. Butcher, Mr. Ric de Vera and assistant Butcher Mr.Michael Bala.
We have two butchers on board, the Sr. butcher and his assistant. They live a fairly independent life. The orders come in, and as long as they stick to the orders, stick to the budget and stick to the USPH rules, nobody will bother them. Plus it is a skilled job that very few people can do and not everybody finds it appetizing to look at bloody meat all the time. So the butcher shop is most of the time a very tranquil place.
We use onboard North American meat; meat that meets the standards of the USDA. This does not mean that European meat would not do that, but it does not have “the all important stamp of approval”. So when we are in Europe we get frozen meet imported from the USA or Canada. For a few years we had a contract with one Canadian village that supplied all our meat. For them a steady income, for us a reliable source. I do not know if that is still the case as I have not heard anything about the contracts lately. When away from North America, we do buy local meat products, sausages and other local delicatessens but we have to ensure that before we return to the USA, that it is all gone and also that any packaging is gone. If not, then the USDA will declare all waste contaminated and everything that we land will have to be incinerated. That is quite expensive, thus on an ocean crossing back to the New World we have to ensure that everything is used up and all packaging burnt in the incinerator.
We operated the tender service until just before midnight and then closed the doors, waiting for the call from the Canal Authorities to join the queue. E.G. the Northbound convoy going through tomorrow morning. We never know when that call comes exactly as the timetable which we get is always an estimate. At the moment I have to be ready and standby at the pilot boarding ground at 04.45 and that means raising the anchor at 03.45. So I will be hopping about on the bridge by 03.15, if the schedule is not brought forward.
Weather for tomorrow morning calls for mostly over cast skies and that is good for the guests on the open decks. Less sunburn and less chance of fainting guests on the deck.
April 9, 2013 at 12:58 am
When you showed us the butcher shop on Prinsendam, I was astounded that it is so small, when such wast volume and variety of meat and meat-products have to got thru there, and kept separated from each other. I marveled at their organizational skills!!