Before we start with today’s adventures I want to share a special photo with you; a view of the Prinsendam seldom seen. Yesterday in Varna somebody operated a Drone above the ship on arrival and then published a series of photos. I have copied below the most interesting one.  It shows the Prinsendam just docking alongside the pier with the bow and stern thruster churning up the mud due to the shallow water.

Aerial Drone view of the Prinsendam. Taken by an unknown spy. (Courtesy: via Capt. Tim Roberts)

We spent the day sailing southward. This morning between 07.00 and 10.00 hrs. we sailed through the Bosporus again. Although it was a bit overcast with rain in the distance, it was a clear day and all the sights came nicely into view. By the time it started to drip, we just cleared Istanbul and entered the Sea of Marmara.  What was also nice was that the outside temperatures are going up again. Once we were in the shelter of the mountains range which guards the North side of the Bosporus the temperature started to climb.

The Istanbul Cruise Terminal. Ships from Oceana, Saga, MSC, Silver Sea and Ile de Ponant all lined up.

Istanbul is becoming a more and more an important cruise port and today it was a full house again.  We saw the Saga Sapphire, two ships from Silver Seas, an MSC ship, an Oceana ship and an Ile de Ponant ship (not visible in the photo) I still remember the good old days, when the arrival of a cruise ship in Istanbul was an important happening and the captain feted as the “messenger of good tiding’s”.  Now it seems that we just one more Tourist Bus parking ourselves alongside. Luckily for the guests it does not make much difference. In a way it is even better as more guests mean a better infrastructure to process the tours.

We went along all day with the sedate speed of about 10 knots. No reason to hurry as we can easily make Lesbos on time but also because the Dardanelles are closed during the day. Today is the National Holiday commemorating the first assembly of the Turkish Parliament, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded modern Turkey and established the democracy which still endures. That happened on 23 April 1920 and all sorts of celebrations are taking place because of it. While we came down the Bosporus, every building was adorned with a Turkish Flag and from one bridge hung a flag which was close to the size of the Prinsendam. Only the mosque’s seemed to have been exempt from this outburst of patriotism.

One of those festivities involves the Turkish Navy doing things in the narrow part of the Dardanelles and for that reason the waterway is closed until 20.00 hrs.  Thus the captain is aiming for a Dardanelles pilot time of 19.45 hrs. and by the time the pilot is on board, it should be 20.00 hrs. and the Navy should be finished partying. It will mean that we will sail through most of the area during the dark. But we saw it in daylight going northbound and going through at night is also interesting as most Monuments are very well lit. In a way the guests now get the both the options in one cruise. At the same time it is Children’s Day which is also a very important event in Turkey. Something that very few other countries have. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc. etc. are more established but Turkey has also a day dedicated to the children.

This closing for one day causes quite a bit of upheaval in the shipping business. All day long we passed ships going very slow or going to anchor as they have to wait until the pilots can catch up with the back log.  Being a cruise ship we have the luck that we are able to bypass all these ships as we get preference. Firstly; as no country wants to have bad publicity and secondly if the cruise ships would be delayed then the cruise company’s might decide to cut out a call at Istanbul around this time of the year.

With so many cruise ships calling at Istanbul early in the year it would cost them a lot of money. So we get preference, can keep our schedule, and in return we will continue to sponsor the locals in the Tourist Industry.

Tomorrow we are in Lesbos and will be anchoring at the main port of Mytilene. We are too big to go into the port and thus we will run a tender service. The weather is looking good and now we just have to hope that the there is no swell which might complicate the proceedings. It is also supposed to be sunny and that might mean a warmer day.

Today we visited Varna which is the most important port on the Bulgarian Coast. Again we are docked here in a cargo port although they now have a Cruise Terminal. It was opened two years ago and the Prinsendam was the first ship calling at it; before it was even opened.

The Prinsendam entering Varna harbor this morning. (Photo Courtesy: Pavlin Penev, ex ships photographer and living in Varna. via Capt. Tim Roberts)

Before this terminal was built the cruise ships would anchor and tender into the down town area. However at that particular call the seas were too rough and the intention was to cancel the call. Somebody was in the port quick in thinking and said, come inside and dock; regardless of whether it has been officially opened or not.  I have seen that different in other parts of the world, where something was ready for use but could not be used because it had not been opened officially.  

The weather today was cold again but the sun came through on occasion and it remained dry. It gave the port however a very grey and stark look and an impression as if it was still hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Luckily an attempt was made in livening things up by having a part of the inside of the port breakwater painted with a continuous running mural. As it was haphazard in places I suspect it was more graffiti than an official commission but the quality was quite good.

The company laid on shuttle buses to cover the 20 minute distance to the town Centre but most guests were back fairly early and were not very excited. For some Varna was the chance to mark another destination of the bucket list and not much more.  This does not mean that there is nothing to do; you just have to look for it a little bit.

Also here the Romans have been leaving their mark behind with 2^nd century thermal baths. Then there is the period when Bulgaria was part of the Kingdom of Romania and one of the Queens had a summer residence here.  The most important building in the town is the big Cathedral of the Holy Assumption where the choir performs if you are part of the (HAL) tour.  Most unusual I think is the visit to a 50 million year old Petrified Forest where you walk among the now – turned into stone- old trees. Two guests I spoke to had taken a cab to see the Aladzha Monastry which is a complex of caves where monks have been present from the 5^th. century onwards.

I stayed on board taking more crew through their respective areas of responsibility during emergencies.

One of those groups was the Housekeeping department. Most of them are Cabin Stewards and they have the difficult task of moving the guests to and from the cabin during the 3 alarm cycle. When the 2^nd alarm sounds, all guests have to go back to the cabin and prepare for whatever might happen next. The Cabin Stewards have to ensure that everybody puts on warm clothing, a life jacket and that nobody forgets their medicine (Plus their 2^nd pair of glasses and spare batteries for the hearing aids). Then when the General Emergency Alarm goes, they have to guide them towards the lifeboat station by keeping them on the right hand side of the corridor. This to avoid colliding with late arriving guests who still have to collect their life jacket. Then they have to help the guests with Special Needs. Rollators, wheelchairs, scooters, oxygen etc. etc.  It makes for a very busy duty and it has to go fast, organized and without causing any panic, and for those things we train.

We left Varna at 5 pm. and are now sailing south again. Tomorrow between 8 and 10 we are scheduled to transit the Bosporus, sail through the Sea of Marmara and arrive in the early evening at the Dardanelles.

The weather is to remain cold but dry and hopefully it become a bit warmer when we are between the Greek Islands again. Our first Greek Island will be Lesbos and I am looking forward to that one, as I have never managed to get there. Thus far I always had to cancel as the swell was from the wrong direction. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Last night just after 7 pm. we entered the Black Sea and then all shelter from the cold wind fell away. So today, even in the sunshine, it was cold. An optimist put in the daily program 12o C / 53oF but that was probably an observation made out of the wind and with the door closed. The locals call this weather already summer so I really do not want to know what winter is like over here. Still a lot of people seem to be able to deal with it as Constanta is a big place. It is the 4^th. largest port in Europe after Rotterdam, Antwerp and Marseille. As a result we are docked at a location which is surrounded by ships. To our port side we have tankers and a shipyard. A lot of through traffic from river barges and to our Starboard side there is a large Navy base which occupies most of the large breakwater which protects this port from the Black Sea which can be very nasty in the winter. From the Bridge we could see the City in the distance but not as we had in Istanbul where we were almost parked inside the Souk.

Constanta in the distance on a clear sunny and cold day.

For the guests there was luckily enough to do without having to be exposed to the elements all the time. Constanta or Timos as it was called in the olden days has always been an important port. When the Romans arrived they renamed the port after the sister of Emperor Constantine the Great. Her name was Constantianain but that does not really lay easily on the tongue and so eventually it became Constanta or Constanza in the Western version.  After the Romans came the Ottomans and then the Genoese, followed by local governments until The USSR got involved after World War 1. Since the Iron curtain came down Romania has been quickly developing into a very Western State. Because it is more open, we are getting more and more Romanian Officers in our company. Navigators, Engineers but also in the Hotel Department such as our Guest Relation Manager, who was a really happy camper today as she could finally show her family what she did on board.

The larger part of the cargo port with in the middle a shipyard.

With this cold weather I had no intention to go out and I spent the day giving Refresher Trainings to various groups of crew. Normally this stuff is done by the deck officers but it is beneficial if an outsider comes in occasionally and brings a new angle to what has become a boring routine. Target audience today was a group of crew which we call the Pax. Sweep Team. 16 Hotel crew under the leadership of the Asst. Dining Room Manager are responsible for clearing the Public Rooms during an emergency. When the 2^nd of our three alarm system is sounded (the crew alert alarm) all guests are supposed to go to their cabins, prepare for lifeboat stations, and then wait for further orders.

This is a big breakwater. A large and massive outer pier and then after a narrow entrance another large area. No problems for making a sheltered approach.

But not all the guests follow those instructions immediately. Some can still be found asleep in the Library, not willing to part with their food, or simply not appreciating the urgency of what is going on. For those stragglers we have a Passenger Area Sweep Team. Four crew members per deck who check all the public areas, including rest rooms and anything else that might be unlocked and their duty is to shepherd those still present to their cabins. The job of going through the areas is simple enough; with a diagram in hand they can find all the places they have to check. To deal with guests who do not want to budge (I will first finish my Steak !!!!!!!!!) is another matter. For that they get taught Crowd Control and Human Behavior tricks so they feel confident in dealing with such a situation.  After they get used to the concept, most crew enjoy the idea that in an emergency they can order the guests around and achieve the goal of helping out with a 100% compliance at the lifeboat stations.

For the crew area’s we have a similar team, made up from Kitchen personal and those I will see in a few days’ time.

Tomorrow we are in Varna, Bulgaria further up the coast of the Black Sea, and it is supposed to be even colder than today.

We woke up to a very sunny but very chilly Turkish morning. The wind was blowing from the North and as it is still winter in Russia, it caused a chilly day in Istanbul. But cold winds keep the air clear and thus we had the best scenery you could think of.  Although our location might not have been that great in relation to getting off the ship, it could not be beaten for the view. We literally had the best seats in the house.

For those who were going ashore, there was a small shuttle bus between the ship and the terminal and on the other side of immigration, there was another shuttle bus running everybody into town.  Behind us, one by one the cruise ships left and by the time we sailed only the MSC Opera was still there as she had a two night stay. Using the system of one day in port for the guests who were leaving, then a changeover day and then a day in port for the new guests.  We pulled out at 17.00 hrs. to sail north through the Bosporus. As tomorrow we are in Constanta, Romania from 0800 to 2100 hrs.

Sailing at 17.00 hrs. we could do the whole scenic part of the Bosporus during day light. It is fascinating as during a night passage as well but then you only see the fancy lights but no details.  During daylight there are almost too many details to keep track of it all.  Although most guests do not see and realize it, arriving and departing is an exciting adventure in Istanbul.  The current running through the Bosporus can be quite strong. 3 to 4 knots is usual but it can go up to 7 or 8 knots. Especially in areas where the Bosporus is shallow.  As the Salispizari cruise docks are located in the ebbing bend of the Bosporus (e.g. when the water from the Black Sea goes South it makes a wide turn to the West to get around the corner) the current dictates how a ship docks. Yesterday we were lucky that it was flooding and thus we could dock with the nose towards the city.

A little help from a friend does not do anybody any harm.

Today on departure it was ebbing and that meant that the current helped us coming off the dock as the water wedged itself in between the dock and the ship but then the ship had to force it around to face north. To play it safe we had a tugboat hanging on the stern to ensure that the ship would come around fast enough to avoid been pushed towards the City. As Holland America has no intentions of opening a Hotel there, the preference is to keep the ship in deep water. 

The Turkish National Yacht ms Savarona. Once bought as a gift to the founder of modern Turkey Kemal AtaTurk.

Then it takes about 2 hours to navigate the winding path of the Bosporus until we enter the Black Sea. With a strong ebb coming down, the ships going north keep close to the Asian side of the channel avoiding most of that current. We could not do that all the time as we had to overtake several cargo ships and that meant veering out into the vortex of the current.

The Sultan Mehmet Bridge with in front of it Romelian Castle.

The most spectacular parts are the two turns in the channel. First to the west while going under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and shortly after a sharp turn to the East.

The Prinsendam turning to the West to get around the corner.

In both cases you cannot see the traffic which is coming the other way and because of that the tankers going up and down are not allowed to have any opposing traffic. A normal collision is not nice, an environmental disaster here would be even worse.

Turn to the right in the Electronic chart

There is also Traffic Control on the shore side which monitors every move of everything which floats. As not every ship is manned with professionals and occasionally very creative moments of navigation can be seen, the people at Traffic Control are kept busy all day long.

Turn to the right as seen from the bridge window.

 By 19.00 hrs. we were back in open waters and could say good bye to our Pilot. As the Bosporus is a very busy waterway and challenging with its currents, a pilot is compulsory. Together with this VTS (Vessel Traffic Control) the Bosporus can be navigated in a safe way.

Tomorrow we are in Constanta, Romania for a full day. We have a few Romanian crew members on board and they are very excited as it is not often that a HAL ship is calling here. With these sorts of visits the ship tries to work it in such a way that those crew members have the whole day off to go home, or get “home” on board. Subsequently I rescheduled some of my trainings and that always makes people happy.

And then we had a bit of excitement after departure. A small cargo vessel had caught fire and thus the Prinsendam went to the rescue. Luckily by the time we arrived the fire had been extinguished by the crew and thus the only function the ship had to perform was to coordinate a salvage tug with the local authorities.

Unknown Cargo Vessel that caught fire outside Kusadasi. (Photo Courtesy Captain Tim Roberts)

This was not so simple because when the fire started the cargo ship was in Greek Waters. So the Bridge called the Greek authorities using a Greek 2^nd officer who we have on board. While this conversation was going on the little ship drifted into Turkish Waters and the Greeks did not want to know anymore. Thus a casino employee was called to the bridge and then she could tell the Turkish locals that it was time for them to do something.  So after a 45 minute delay we were on our way again.

The ship had put on a special Holland America Line dinner by using a menu from the ss Rotterdam from the early sixties. In those days most of the entries were described in French and thus we had that tonight. It was quite interesting to hear the Indonesian Crew taking and repeating the orders in French. Most of them did not, so chicken soup remained chicken soup however hard I tried to get them say: Bouillon de petite Marmite.

Most of the Monuments are located in the area marked yellow on this chartlet.

The weather for today had looked a bit iffy to say the least but on arrival in the Dardanelles it was dry and the sun rose as scheduled, so the guests had a good look from 06.00 hrs. onwards. We in the Western world tend to think of the casualties sustained by the Allied Forces but the other side suffered as much, maybe even worse and for that side there are memorials as well.

One of the Turkish Monuments laid out against the hill side.

One of them we passed around 0700 hrs.  Luckily most sights are on the left bank when going north and thus the sun shone the right way.

By 08.30 the ship was in the Sea of Marmara heading full speed for Istanbul. We were unlucky in that way, that the wind and the rain started to come over and we kept that until arrival this afternoon at 16.00 hrs.  Due to the cargo ship, the wind and the adverse current, the plans of arriving earlier did not bear fruit. But we still arrived on time.

Still nobody had to be outside as yours truly took to the stage to bring 142 years of HAL history in 80 minutes. Everybody stayed but whether this was due to my eloquence or the fact that there was Holland America Cake to be served at the end of it the lecture, is very much open to debate.

Going  by the schedules on line and what transpired from shore side it looked like that we were the only cruise ship in and so it did not make sense that we were sent to a farther out located dock. Not that I minded as I remembered that this dock would put us with the nose looking right at the old city and nothing to hinder our view. And this was indeed the case. While coming in, there were already four cruise ships alongside and we went for the final dock, which is almost on top of the bridge leading into the old city.  Nice to have a drink in the crow’s nest while admiring the skyline of Istanbul. The only thing is, it is a bit of a distance away from the Cruise Terminal and the check in location.

As soon as we arrived disembarkation started for those who had flights booked for the coming night.  Then we are already expecting new guests to board in the course of the evening so it will be a busy evening for the Hotel Department.

My wife is leaving tomorrow and thus we have planned a little farewell dinner in the Canaletto Restaurant on board overlooking the Bosporus. Tomorrow the ship will spend a full day in Istanbul and the weather is supposed to clear going for sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 60’s.

We arrived very nice and very early in Kusadasi, Turkey. Early because of the tours to Ephesus and nice because it was yet another glorious day of sunny but not too warm weather. The people on the tour to Ephesus were lucky as we were the only ship in as such and thus it was a lot less crowded than it could have been. When the cruise ship season is in full swing here, there can be 7 or 8 cruise ships in port with an estimated 16,000 guests ashore of which at least 3,000 go to Ephesus. Today only us and only about 150 culturally inclined souls made the trip.  

Next to us was another cruise ship belonging to Lois Cruise Lines and to my utter amazement it was the old Song of America. Now it is employed on 3 and 4 day cruises from Limassol and they do 2 ports a day. This means every stop is about 4 hours.  Cheap Cruises in the style of roll your own luggage on board and that is what we saw happening today. Kusadasi was a sort of embarkation port and we saw groups coming on board pulling their suitcases.  The ship was in by 0600 and was gone again by 13.00 hrs. and I believe they were going for Patmos with a 15.00 hrs. arrival.

Most of our guests have been to Kusadasi so their focus was on shopping. Kusadasi offers good prices for leather and jewelry as long as you know what the prices should be and you can haggle the prices down.

One of Kusadasi’s many shopping streets.

My roving reporter was going for a walk about and promised to shoot some scenic photos of Kusadasi.  Thus please have a look at her favorite leather shop calledB Dennys (with stores in Ireland, Russia, Romania, Tirol and Belgium) Lesley bought me a short black leather Jacket and herself a medium length cream leather coat.

Leather Galore.

With Bargaining skills honed by long years of experience she got at least 50% of the asking price for both so my Dutch mind was put at ease; we did not pay too much.

I did not mind spending money as having a birthday is a good excuse. Not my birthday but the company’s birthday. Today Holland America is 142 years young. It is being celebrated with a special dinner as was served a long time ago on the old ss Rotterdam and tomorrow with my History Lecture in the Showroom At Sea. The Hotel Director has promised everybody a piece of Birthday cake and thus we could have a very Full House. As the ship is not completely full we have at least the chance to get everybody in if they want to. There is a segment change over in Istanbul with more guests coming than leaving and then we will have a real full house, while the ship sails from Istanbul to Civitavecchia.

Our arrival tomorrow in Istanbul is between 2 and 4 pm. The captain is trying to get in a bit earlier to help with the ships clearance and give those who are leaving still a chance to see a little bit of Istanbul before they fly home. If that works will depend on how the voyage progresses between the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. Our official arrival time is 1600 hrs. so if we make it earlier than that it will be an appreciated bonus.

Tomorrow we have two scenic moments. First at sunrise we will sail through the Dardanelles at Cenekale. Then if the sun rises in a clear sky then its rays should give a stunning view of the Monuments on the West Bank.  Then we continue and by 1 pm. we hope to enter the south end of the Bosporus and have our scenic arrival by sailing past the Tokapi Palace and the Agia Sophia all located on the European side of Istanbul, which will be on the port side of the ship. The new part of Istanbul will be clearly visible on our starboard side. With the early afternoon sail in, the sun should be on our stern and thus both sides of Istanbul should not be in the glare of the sun.

Then the ship will stay overnight and sail at 17.00 hrs. on the 20^th. The weather forecast is a mixed bag with rain in the morning and partly cloudy skies later on.

We had a scheduled arrival today of 10 am and that also gave the not-so-early risers the chance to see the ship coming into port. Bodrum is located in a curve of the land at the end of a very wide inlet. I call it a curve as it is really too wide to be called a bay. In 2010 they constructed a pier long enough to take two 1000 ft. ships and that is where we docked. We were the only ship in, as the real cruise ship season has not yet started.

Prinsendam as seen from a cafe on the sea front near the Castle.

Also the Holiday Makers are not there yet. It is still too chilly to bake on the beach and for most Europeans it is still too early for a vacation.  Come back in 4 weeks’ time; and Bodrum will be buzzing. But today the guests had the whole area virtually to themselves.

When coming in, there is one building which dominates the area and draws all attention; Bodrum Castle or St. Peters Castle. A Roman Catholic name as it is a left over from the days of the Knights of St. John who had a base here since the Middle Ages. The current building was constructed from 1402 onwards and was modified several times to deal with threats by Muslim Forces and impact of gunpowder. The Castle was built as a strong hold to complement the Knight Templars hold on Kos, a Greek Island not too far away. Most of the material for the Castle came from the Mausoleum of Mausollos. With every expansion and strengthening of the building more material was “borrowed” until hardly anything remained of the Mausoleum. The Castle is in such a good condition as it never saw real warfare. It was handed over to the Ottoman Empire when the Knight Templars lost their stronghold on Kos.  Now it is a museum for underwater archeology and a very famous one as well, with a very nice layout. Mausollos was a Satrap in the Persian Empire and when he died his wife built a tomb for him so magnificent that we still use the word Mausoleum to indicate a magnificent or important place where people are put to rest.

Nice and quiet Bodrum.

Our roving reporter was not on tour today as Bodrum and tomorrow Kusidasi have been reserved for looking at the shops. Looking only, which resulted in buying today, yet another handbag. (Number 183 if my count is right, although Lesley claims it is only 41) Turkey is a great place for leather with great prices as well and that is something that has to be taken advantage of.

For the rest Bodrum is a very much a tourist area which came into vogue when the Europeans wanted something different than the SE & South coast of Spain. As a result the area is very popular for package holidays combining cheap flights, cheap hotels and lots of party options. But today it was still quiet and the guests could enjoy a peaceful quiet town. The dock is located about 20 minutes from the downtown area and the ship lay on shuttle buses to accomplish this. For those of course who were not on tour. Yesterday we left a group of guests behind who went on the overnight tour so they could visit Pamukkale and Cappadocia.

Pamukkale is known for its hot springs and the deposits generated by those springs are very colorful and beautiful to look at. The tours to Cappadocia focus on the area of the underground city. Multi levels of underground chambers were cut out of the rock and if I am not mistaken they are still finding more and more. Why the elaborate digs were done in the first place is still a partial mystery as the total size goes far beyond of what would make sense as temporary shelter from invaders and others.

My day was spent on training again and one of the groups was the Laundry Team. Since the introduction of the 3 alarm system, the laundry guys are responsible for clearing the decks of deck chairs and anything else that might be in the way, before the guests arrive on deck.  I love working with them, as they are eager, on the ball and very disciplined. When you make a cruise next time, have a look near the bow area of the Deck where you assemble for the Boat drill before departure. You will see the boys in blue waiting for further orders after they have completed the first clearance.

We sailed almost an hour late as we had to wait for the return of the overland tours. We will still be on time in Kusidasi as the distances here along the coast are not that big. The sunny weather and not too warm temperatures are set to continue so we should have another glorious day to enjoy.

At the moment the weather is holding and on a mirror flat sea the ms Prinsendam entered the port of Antalya. Looking at it the port with the eye of a sailor it comes over a bit strange in comparison with other ports. First of all it is pristine in its cleanliness. Not just the cruise terminal but also the cargo berths. I was used to that for Kusidasi but that is mostly a Cruise port only. Today we saw large bulk carriers docked here and it is still spotless, while they can be quite messy while loading or unloading. Turkish Harbormasters must be very fastidious.

A port overview from the Electronic Chart. The Prinsendam is on the angled dock to the mid left.

The port is sort of L to U shaped with a breakwater protecting the U. To the west there is a large marina, in the middle the cruise terminal and to the East regular cargo docks and this time they were mainly occupied with bulkcarriers. The port has a Free Zone which means visiting ships can purchase stores and provisions tax free.  Antalya always used to be a small town but has in the last decades it has grown to over a million people in the greater Municipal.

This makes Antalya a town of two faces. The old town with the port and then on the far side on the top of the hills a white city with apartment blocks where the majority of the locals live. The two seem to be fairly well separated as the old town area which is not exactly busy with locals. So the new world must remain more or less at the new world side.

Hadrians Gate survived for nearly 2000 years, the end parts still in good shape but the middle has been reconstructed.

However we called here basically to see all the old stuff. And there is a lot of it and some of it survived very well through the ages. Our roving reporter was today on the city tour which included a visit to the local museum and a walk through the old town.  Most prominent item in the old town is Hadrian’s Gate. Erected after 137 AD when he came to visit. He must have instigated quite a few buildings and other construction throughout the realm as on the opposite side of the Roman Empire, in Britannia, he had Hadrian’s Wall built to keep the Scottish out although in that period they were still called Celts. If things go the way the Scottish want it at the moment, Hadrian’s Wall might be resurrected again in the near future if Scotland would go independent.

Romans did all sorts of good and bad things but nobody can accuse them of not focusing on cultural things and through the ages a lot of it has been excavated.

Emperor Hadrian. In the days before newspapers and photos, I suppose the only way to show what the big boss looked like was to put up a statue in the most prominent towns of the Empire

The nicest finds have been brought together in the local museum and our friend Hadrian is there again as well.

An open air “Back Gammon” table.

What intrigued most of the visitors was the Roman Backgammon table (or a similar ancient game played in the same way) made out of a sort of concrete. (This was also a Roman invention). The town was very much appreciated by the guests and that normally means it will come back on the schedule.  For Antalya the challenge is that the port is not so big as far as maneuvering space is concerned.  An S class or R class is not an issue, a Vista might work but anything bigger will be a challenge. Thus I do not expect the real big boys to come in.

On departure the Prinsendam churned up a lot of silt while leaving from the dock and silt indicates clearly: deeper drafted ships will face a challenge. Most of the very large cruise ships do not have that deep a draft, they solved the challenge by going for a broader beam but they still draw about 5 or 6 feet more than the Prinsendam.

Tomorrow we will visit the 2^nd Turkish port on our cruise along the coast and that is Bodrum. We will arrive at 10 am in the morning and dock at the new pier which can take cruise ships of any size.  The Prinsendam with yours truly on board inaugurated that pier in 2010 when it was still under construction. Before that time we used to anchor and ran a tender service straight into town. Now we are way out of town but the company will run a shuttle bus service all day, so the result is the same. We will get everybody in an easy way to downtown.

Weather for tomorrow: Sunny, with a gentle breeze and noon time temperatures hovering around the 21oC or 71oF.

(All photos courtesy of Roving Reporter Lesley)

After a successful call at Israel we sailed away last night from Haifa heading towards Turkey. To reach our next port of call, Antalya, we are spending a day at sea and pass the South West side of Cyprus. As a matter of fact we could see Cyprus on our starboard side for most of the afternoon at a distance of about 12 nautical miles. If all goes well we will arrive at Antalya at 8 am tomorrow morning. Antalya is historic town located on the south coast of Turkey.   The area which is now Turkey was for most of its history a battleground between various empires and the results are still very visible today. This means that Museums and Ruins are an important part of most of the tours which our guests can take.

Nothing has really changed to the current day as the Middle East continues to rumble on with Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. I wonder if 2000 years from now mankind will gaze at artifacts left behind by our period of time in the same way as we are doing now. History is being written every day and the nice thing is with a cruise, we can sail from location to location to have a look at what was written in the past.

In the meantime life on board goes on and the guests are all recuperating from two intensive days in Israel. When I went for breakfast this morning at 06.30 I was the only one there for a while, a new experience as we have quite a few early risers on board. Normally the Gym is already active by 0600. But this morning it was me and two cooks in the Lido who greeted a beautiful sunny day at sea.

My task today was to create mayhem in the ship and then to give the ship’s crew the chance to get things under control again.  The law requires every ship to conduct a fire drill once a week on top of whatever training that might take place to retain the proficiency of the crew. With my rather unique position within Holland America I have the chance to get everybody running, from the Captain down to the Laundry, by throwing drills which are based on my own and others experiences — on what went wrong in the past and what improvement we made then —.

The biggest challenge is most of the time not the act of extinguishing the fire itself. We all get training for that. The biggest challenge is the need for a very fast reaction to an occurrence, to keep oversight, and to stick to protocols (which the company developed through the years) all the way to the end of an evolution. We have about 50 people going during a regular fire drill, all willing and eager, but if they all do their own thing than the end result might be the opposite of what they were trying to achieve.

By far the biggest challenge is an Engine Room fire. One of the reasons is: there is a lot of stuff down there that burns. Another reason: it burns a lot easier as the average temperature of the area is already higher. A fire needs heat to burn as well as a fuel source and oxygen and a higher temperature makes ignition easier. Then there is the imminent danger of the fire affecting the main and aux. engines and then the lights go out and nothing works anymore. The Emergency Generator will come on line but this engine only provides the most basic power needed to save everybody’s lives on board.

So today we exercised a “losing battle” scenario. Everything was failing step by step. We put the oil separator room on fire; it burnt through into the Main Switch Board and it burnt through into the Main Engine Room. Thus we had to simulate releasing CO2 to extinguish the fire in that big Main Engine Room space and that meant a total loss of all power; and not being able to regain power again for a prolonged period. Why do we do these sorts of drills? We try to fight the fire but while we want to save the ship we do not want to lose anybody. So at all times the focus is on safe procedures, the proper coordination of all the teams and the making of timely decisions to ensure that if we have to leave the ship, everybody can do so safely. The company can always buy a new ship; you cannot buy a new life.

In real life such an evolution would nearly take a day, during a drill we can compact it into an hour. After completion we held a debriefing which lasted almost as long as the actual drill. The whole drill was reviewed step by step with everybody getting the chance to explain what they did. Learning the lessons provided by the drill. Then we can apply them during the next drill to ensure that everybody reaches an even higher level of proficiency in a skill which we hope that we never have to use.

Would it really come that far in a real life situation? I doubt it as all these spaces have individual fixed firefighting protection systems which would normally drench out any starting fire before it would be become a challenge.

I was very happy today. All involved followed the scenario, everybody followed the protocols and the coordination was great; if the ship would burn out, everybody on board would have been kept safe. In a week from now we will have our next drill and then we are going to see what happens when individual teams face individual obstacles and how they will overcome them.

With calm seas and a rising sun in a cloudless sky the Prinsendam sailed into Haifa. Ahead of us was the Seabourn Sojourn who had left last night before us. The Thomson Spirit had a change of plan so instead of going with us to Haifa they stayed the night in Ashdod. I assume it was for the evening tours as going out in the evening by one’s self is quite a costly affair in Israel. Today our Roving Reporter had to pay close to 4 Euro’s for a ………….very small……………. Ice cream. I wonder how much a glass of beer costs.

Again Haifa is the focus for more tours and again the ship emptied out and all work on board could be done by a skeleton crew. So the Lido operated with only one side open, the dining room was closed for lunch and for the rest not much happened anywhere. The dock at Haifa is easier to negotiate than in Ashdod. There our guests had to take a shuttle bus to the nearest shopping mall and go from there. In Haifa you can just walk out of the gate (Read: cruise terminal under construction) and most of the town is walkable. Also the train station is right across from the terminal and it is 15 minutes by train to Tel Aviv. Plenty of easy to do options.

Baha’i Hanging Gardens. The bow of the Prinsendam can just be seen in the top right hand side.

For the avid walker you can do most of the sights by foot but you have to be agile as Haifa is constructed against a hill and it goes up quite steeply. Against that hill are the Baha’i Hanging Gardens are located which form a major attraction for the locals and for the tourists. Thus nearly every tour stops or passes by there for a good look and photo shoot.

All seats in a row and no trace of partitions. Going to the loo in Roman Days must have been a social affair.

Today the tour of our roving reporter went to Caesarea. Once the Capital when the area was under Roman control. This was around 0 AD or 0 BC. Most of it was constructed during the period of Herod the Great who dedicated the city to Caesar Augustus. Thus the area is littered with ruins and some of them have been rebuilt a little bit. This includes the theatre which is used for performances and Herod’s palace where the Royal Toilets are on prominent display.  For those who have little or not enough imagination the visitors center offers a multimedia presentation and a chance to do a Q & A with virtual figures from the past. So you could ask (push button) a standard question and a hologram figure will answer the question. Unfortunately Lesley could not ask how many people went to the Royal Toilet at the same time. There was no standard question covering that one.

Apart from the half day local tours in Ashdod, Caesarea and the day long tours to Jerusalem & Bethlehem there was also the option of overnight tours. Being in the same country and the two ports being very closely together gave the option to do a two day tour to Petra and to Masada.  Both are located in the far south of Israel (Petra is just over the border in Jordan) but the country is not so big that it causes difficulty to get there by Bus. Those tours left in the early morning yesterday and came back today late afternoon.

Tomorrow there is a sea day and then we start exploring Turkey. First port is Antalya followed by Bodrum, followed by Kusidasi, followed by Istanbul. In the latter port we stay two days as it is a partial change over port where some or our guests, who only booked a segment of the cruise, will leave or join. From there the ship will then start its last leg of this Grand Mediterranean Voyage visiting Greece and Italy. This year the cruise ends in Civittavecchia (for Rome) but next year it is a complete loop cruise again beginning and ending in Ft. Lauderdale.

According to the Weather Guru’s we are supposed to keep this calm and sunny weather for a few days and if the wind does not turn to the North, then it might get steadily warmer.

I will be throwing one of my specials at the ship tomorrow; An engine fire drill in which we simulate that the whole ship loses power………………. what to do about it and how to deal with it.