06 April 2016; Sailing around the South of Italy.

There is no canal yet, nor any plan to dig a canal from East to West halfway up Italy, so we have to go all the way around it. With a speed of 16 knots it takes nearly two days. If we put the pedal to the metal we could probably reach Rome in the morning but this is a shakedown cruise and thus we take it easy and test what is there to test and let the guests enjoy the sunshine. And a beautiful day we did have to day, it was so nice that by mid morning the clouds descended all the way to the water and we needed to sound the Fog horn for a while to let the wider world know that it was a small world where the Koningsdam was located and that we were in the middle of it.

This is the view from Deck 15, Top deck. not accessible for guests as it is too close to the Radars.

But when it parted, we could see sunny skies, smooth seas and the Italian coast line to the East. The piece of land you can see to starboard is part of the Calabrian coast line, that they call the toe of the Italian boot. We are still heading South West here and around 15.00 hrs. we will make the turn to the north into the Strait of Messina.

One deck down on Sky Deck there is this little display with two dutch coins which were used for the “Stepping of the Mast” Ceremony.

The Guests were put through their paces again today with a second Passenger Emergency Drill. The first one went very well but we recognized areas were we could make time savings to reduce the various waiting and assembly times and thus we did a repeat of the Venice drill.  We were able to nibble some time away from each part of the evolution without compromising the standard of the drill and the reduction in time will benefit both the guests and the crew.

Finally the Sea View deck is used for which is was created. For Guests to relax, instead of being a building site for Yard Workers.

The ship is in full swing and the Cruise Director proudly announced for the evening’s program that 14 events were taking place at the same time and this outside the food and drink activities. One thing we do not have to complain about are the help of the guests for checking out the Food and Beverage locations as each venue is very well attended and thus tested. The companies’ new features with the Grand Dutch Café and the Sel de Mer restaurant are being received very well.  The GDC is very popular as a gathering venue and meeting place as it is directly located opposite the Front Desk and all the various sorts of Coffee, a sort of Starbucks but then the Dutch way, are eagerly bought. What is also on sale is Dutch liquorice, the real Dutch quality and with the number of Dutch on board also this sells well. Apart of course from the fact that the Dutch complain as it is double the price compared to a Dutch Super market. But getting it to the ship involves some costs.  But if a Dutchman or Dutchwoman does not complain then there is something wrong.  One of the reasons tourists find Holland so well organized, laid out, maintained and looked after, is because we complain to everybody and everything, including to the neighbors if something is not completely correct and then it is of course being solved.

The Atrium as seen from the Shore Excursion office. One Deck up is the Ocean Bar on this side and two decks up is the Grand Dutch Cafe on Deck 3.

I have been trying for days to get a good shot of the Atrium with its different lighting and the ceiling with the clouds coming by. I think it needs a professional photographer with a fish eye lens to do justice to it, but here is my little effort. As is already explained in HAL PR publications the stainless steel structure is an expression of a musical instrument which goes up from deck 1 to deck 3. By use of ambient lighting which changes through the day it reflects the mood of the ship and then if you look to the under decks of deck 4 you see a white ceiling with colored clouds drifting by.

The Neptune lounge looking aft. On display old military hats from the days of Napoleon.

Finally also a photo for the posh cruisers among us. This is the Neptune Lounge. Limited with access to those who book the top class suites.  Finally we had the furniture installed and thus I can show it the way it looks.

This evening we will pass close by the Stromboli volcano and we are keeping our fingers crossed to see if we get some action out of the cone. It cannot be predicted but maybe we are lucky. Then for the remainder of the night we continue Northwards along the west coast of Italy and this course will bring us to the pilot station of Civitavecchia around 1.30 pm for a 3 pm. arrival. We have tours going to Rome and to Etruscan land and thus we hope the nice weather will hold.

Another piece of art. Staying in tune with the musical theme of the ship, this is a display case in the entrance to Club HAL.

Little Guitars and a sort of tribute to Bob Dylan.