15 and 16 July 2015; Juneau, Alaska.

We had a real full port today. When we arrived at 09.00 hrs. (Official arrival time was 10.00 hrs.) The Amsterdam was already in docked at the Cruise terminal, the Ruby Princess was at the A.J dock and we had the Golden Princess at anchor and later on the Grand Princess would arrive, scheduled for the Franklin dock. Together with a few smaller (charter) ships it was a real full house today.  Nobody in Juneau can complain that cruising is not good for the local economy with over 10,000 eager explorers milling around.

What hit me was the fact all the ships in port today belonged to one company, or better said one group. The HAL group; which was put together about a year ago when Andrew Donald the leader of Carnival Corp. started a complete review and revamp of the whole company.  Brands were re-aligned and a refocus was ordered to ensure that Carnival remained the biggest force in the Cruise Industry.  The secret of Carnival Corp. is to respect the integrity of its brands but that does not mean that you cannot tweak around the operational side: as a steak is a steak and a lifeboat is a lifeboat. How a steak is served is a different story. Leader of the HAL Group is Stein Kruse, who moved up from just looking after Holland America Line and his place was taken by Orlando Ashford, who came in from the outside.

So it was found desirable to bring 4 brands together which could thrive on each other’s success while not interfering at the same time.  Hence, Princess, HAL, Seabourn and P&O Australia were put together in the HAL group.  Best experiences are being shared and operational there is integration at office level. We went through such a happening before with the Alaska Overland Tours when the Alaska shore side operations of HAL and Princess merged. These two were the biggest operators and went head to head in competition while both owned by the same company.  That did not make much sense and the operation was aligned into one service group Alaska Tours.  The results were very positive and with grouping resources the service to the guests could be further enhanced. The Princess and HAL product remains separate; but a coach is a coach and it does not make much difference what logo there is on the outside.

So if it works for Coaches than it should work for ships as well and thus we now have the HAL group. And today the HAL Group occupied the whole port.  Still we are two separate companies and a very different philosophy of going about the business.  So while we are encouraged to visit each other it is not as if we go over for a quick cup of coffee. Time does not allow for it anyway, as the officers days are full.

I had to pack up today and go to the hotel to wait for the Statendam to come in the day after tomorrow. So it was saying hallo to the Customs Lady, who beseeched me not to take any plants or fruits ashore, or wood products. So I solemnly promised to adhere to the Laws of the State of Alaska; I was deposited in the Baranof which is Juneau’s landmark hotel. It used to be owned by Holland America’s subsidiary Westmark. It has been sold since but Westmark still has the management. Therefore it is still the company’s hotel of choice for parking crew and others there who are going to the ships.

So what have I done in these last 3 weeks on the Zaandam?  Carried out a lot of inspections / fact finding on behalf of the captain to help prepare for audits; trained the officers, trained the crew and updated paperwork. The Statendam has asked for me to run a number of big drills and that we will then focus on. It will be good to see my old ship again. Only this time I will not be the Captain “on the bridge”, but the Captain “in the bar”. This also has its pro’s.

Today it rained considerably but tomorrow it should be dry with maybe a bit of a drizzle. It will be another busy day in town with the Pacific Princess, Oosterdam, Infinity and the Norwegian sun taking up all the berths.  I want to get to the Franklin dock, to take photos as I have never docked there as it is in principle a Princess Dock. But as we are now all belong to the HAL Group; who knows what can happen in the future.

16 July: In the shop at Franklin Dock.

The USA remains the country of infinite possibilities.  I knew about jelly beans and I like some of the variations. But I never knew that the humble jelly bean could be elevated to Gourmet status. I wonder if they are inspected by Michelin for a one, two or three star status?

I wonder what the difference is between a Gourmet and a non Gourmet Jelly Bean ?