San Juan is a port which is often on the cruise schedules with an abnormal arrival time. Whereas in most ports we are docked by 08.00 in the morning and stay a full day, San Juan is the exception to the norm. They only time ships seem to arrive there early is when it is their last port of call or when they do a longer loop cruise. Today was not different. The Crystal Serenity was docked by 10.30; the Oosterdam was docked by 11.00 hrs. The Eurodam was docked by 13.00 hrs. and the Freedom of the Seas started docking at 14.00 hrs. Then at 14.30 the Celebrity Silhouette came in who was not even on the pilot’s schedule. All we are now waiting for (4 pm. in the afternoon, while I am writing this) is the arrival of the Regal Princess. We had much less wind than expected today as the wind suddenly changed from East South East to South West and then dropped down to almost zero. Very usual for San Juan. The South West winds, when blowing, can bring in quite a bit of rain but as the wind change came at 09.00 hrs. there is a fair chance it will remain dry until at least the early evening hours. It will all depend on when the wind gathers force again.
Sailing into San Juan harbour is always nice. This is Morro Castle seen when looking back to sea.
We arrived nicely in the way I had described yesterday, except the pilot came out early not doubt inspired by the nice weather and thus we were docked earlier and that meant the ship cleared well before our scheduled arrival time. San Juan is one of those ports where you are right on top of the town. Walk out of the gate and up the hill and then you only have to aim for the old city. Docking at 1 West is even better but the Oosterdam is really to long for the dock to be comfortable and thus the port authorities prefer the longer ships at berth 3 and 4. Berth 4 has a terminal constructed about 15 years ago but berth 3, of a more recent date, is just an open space. You wonder why but my assumption is that if they would have made the dock wider to construct a terminal, then the distance between a ship at 3 East and 4 West would have become a little tight so to speak.
Berths 3 and 4. Berth 3 completely flat and berth 4 with a terminal on it.
This means that ships that have San Juan as a home port will have to be assigned to berth 4 for luggage and clearance purposes. I do not know if there is currently a large ship home porting in San Juan but Holland America did so for a year with the ms Veendam, when the ship was new, and it turned out to be quite a challenge with flight arrangements and lots of moaning guests who were greatly affected by the heat when coming out of the airport and then having to lug their suitcase(s) to the taxi. The idea behind it was: if you start a cruise in the Caribbean then you can offer more ports as you do not have the sea time between Florida and Puerto Rico. Great Idea but our guests preferred embarking in a US port. Easier to get to and the sea days were to be appreciated as well.
No doubt the Authorities will do something about this one. Ropes touching the catwalk is not good for anybody.
When we docked today, the officer on the aft mooring deck was not a happy camper. The port authority had decided to install a catwalk to the last stern bollard to make the handling of the mooring lines easier and saving the linesmen the hassle of having to climb onto the bollard, secure the rope, climb down again in their boat and then go and get the next mooring line. Great idea but when you put a catwalk there you have to take into consideration where the ropes need to go to and install it in such a way that it does not hamper the free running of those ropes. The catwalk had been installed yesterday and we were the first ship “to benefit” from it. By the time I took the photo, the Port Director was on the dock and already indicating that the catwalk had to be shifted so it did not block the ropes any longer. So we will see next time. Luckily with today’s weather it does not matter that much but when it is very windy and the stern ropes need to take a lot of strain it would have been unpleasant.
Tonight we sail at 23.00 hrs. and so will the Eurodam as we both go to St. Thomas. Who goes first will depend on whose guests are back on board the earliest. For the distance and approach it does not matter. For the captain whose ship goes out first it has the benefit as he will be off the bridge first and can get to bed first as well. The Eurodam will dock at Crown Bay and the Oosterdam will go to downtown to Havensight. We would normally have gone to Crown Bay as well but the Oasis of the Seas is in port and then she goes to Crown Bay as it is a better fit there with the dock.
Weather for tomorrow in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas: Same as today, Warm but with more wind expected.
November 30, 2016 at 3:33 pm
Captain,
I’ve been googling Holland America’s ships and I’ve noticed something regarding the use of rat guards. On the web page below, the Rotterdam has some white ones up at the hull, while the Eurodam has some red ones at the pier.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MS_Rotterdam_and_MS_Eurodam_docked_in_Tallinn_Estonia_DSCN0400.jpg
On the web page below, the Zuiderdam has red ones at the hull
https://rokman61.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/zuiderdam-skagway-2013-09-17-3820.jpg
On the web page below, the very same Zuiderdam has blue ones at the pier and they definitely belong to the Zuiderdam.
http://www.travelingwiththejones.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/IMG_9804.jpg
Since there are many different configurations, what is the story? Does the ship always provide the rat guards, or does the port provide them sometimes?
Inquiring minds need to know these important issues. They were rat guards when I was in the Navy, no doubt there is a more socially accepted term these days.
Thanks for your time.
Bob US Navy radioman from the 1960’s