So I made the transfer to the Westerdam from the Zuiderdam leaving in Willemstad. There are several ways of getting back to Florida, either via Atlanta or to Miami by plane and then further by car. The office chose for the last option and thus I ended up in Miami and from there in a hotel in Weston. The company normally has us staying either in a hotel in Miami or in Fort Lauderdale, but today we had several large ships in port and they all had crew changes and thus the most obvious hotels were full and we ended up in an hotel in Weston. I have now learned that Weston is about half way between Miami and Fort Lauderdale so this morning we travelled the remaining distance to Ft. Lauderdale.
The most amazing thing today was that I bumped into the same security officer whom I have known since 1981 and then he was already on the job for a few years. This year he is on the port security for 38 years and runs Pier 26 and that means he is always attached to Holland America.
As explained before, my main purpose here on board will be to train a class of 6 new navigators who will then fly out to their respective ships or might still enjoy a Christmas at home before the real life starts. It all depends on the scheduling of the Human Resources department. They will come on board next Saturday giving me a week to prepare myself to brief the ship and do a few things for the ship as well.
The Westerdam is on a 7 day cruise cycle and thus we will be back in Fort Lauderdale every seven days. Today we had a busy day, hence all the Hotels were full, as it was a Saturday. We had in port the Navigator of the Seas, the Oasis of the Seas, the Emerald Princess, the Carnival Conquest and our own Westerdam. Because the ships are from different companies and have different sizes, they all dock at their own docks, if and when possible. Princess is normally at Berth 04, Holland America at 26 and the Oasis at 18. When there are more ships in then it goes by size and what fits where. When I came here with the Prinsendam we were always at 04, which is a small berth and the Prinsendam just fitted in. So two ships where sent to where they fitted. For the remainder of the season the Carnival Conquest will be at 19 and the Navigator of the Seas at berth 29. Berth 29 is the least attractive berth, at least for the captains as you have to back up such a long distance up the IntraCoastal Water Way. That is one issue but if the ships at Pier 26 and 25/24 are delayed then you have to wait until they are gone as it is really tight to get around the ship at Pier 26, if you are a big boy. And the Navigator is a very big boy.
This cruise we will first have a day at sea, followed by Grand Turk Island, then San Juan (afternoon and evening), St Thomas ( full day), a day at sea again and then last but not least at Half Moon Cay. Back on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale and then sail the same day on the same schedule. The Westerdam is under the command of Captain Rens van Eerten who I have known since we sailed together in the 90’s on the previous Westerdam (II). He went ashore for a while to be a pilot in England, where the family lives, and then he came back to the company. When I sailed with the Prinsendam out of Tilbury I had him once on board as a pilot. It is still a small (Holland America) world.
Today the weather was very rainy and I hope that this weather will move away as this is a beachy – sunshine cruise and having rain clouds all the time would just not do. At the moment it does not look great so we all have to send out positive –vibes to get it changed.
We will sail today at 4 pm. and then go East to get to Grand Turk Island skirting the Bahama Banks on the north side in the Atlantic Ocean. The other option is to go south via the Old Bahama Channel north of Cuba but that is a longer route. So this time we will not have the chance to see Cuba in the rain. The weather is not supposed to move much in the next 24 hours, before it will start to dissipate on Monday.
November 15, 2015 at 6:18 pm
Hi Captain Albert:
Three simple questions:
1. Re your hotel accommodations, you mentioned “we”, so are you traveling with “management” (Lesley). If so good, I like her pictures.
2. You live in the UK, and apparently so does the Westerdam Captain. Are there compelling reasons for HAL Captains to reside there as opposed to in Holland? (never mind if that is sensitive).
3. I imagine the cruise lines, including HAL, are eager to include Cuba/Havana in their future itineraries, if for no other reason than to offer something different than the standard age-old Eastern/Western Caribbean itineraries. Care to comment on what such new itineraries might look like?
Thanx as always. I faithfully read your blogs every evening when you are at sea (I guess over 10 years now).
Ruud.
November 15, 2015 at 7:14 pm
Good evening,
Very simple to answer:
1. No my lord and Master is at home looking after my 94 year old mother in law. I was travelling with with a Lady from the front office who was transferring to the Eurodam.
2. Both Rens and I married English Ladies and she who will be obeyed decided……………
3. Cuba will eventually come, but Carnival Corp is treading carefully. They are first sending their brand fathom which is half a cruise company and half a help organization. There is nothing in the near company future which indicates if and when HAL will start calling at Cuba but no doubt some day we will.
Thank you for your continuious support.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
November 17, 2015 at 5:01 pm
“I’ll rephrase, Captain.”
Nice to know a little more about Captain Rens van Eerten who I remember climbed up from First Officer within a short time to Captain. Truly amazing.
And, to make sure one more time; did you start blogging in 2004 or even earlier, Captain?
… Have you been blogging since 2004 or thereabouts?