We approached Horta in the very early morning and dropped the anchor outside the harbor, as close as safely possible to create the shortest tender distance. The port installed fairly recently a new pier which can handle ships up to 800 feet without much of an issue. Anything over is “at the Captains discretion” as they call it. The ship would fit in but the Zuiderdam with 962 feet would have too tight a space to play around in. So it was the better option to anchor and run a tender service.  The swell was very low and thus a regular tender service could be safely conducted.

To my amazement the Cruise Director had to make several announcements to get everybody going. I had expected that our guests would have been piling into the show lounge as soon as possible to get a tender ticket to go ashore, as today was only a short stop but this was not the case. Maybe they had been there already, maybe because it was Sunday and everybody was in church, maybe because they thought it would be the same as Ponta Delgada; I do not know but nobody was in a hurry it seemed.

My job this morning was to train a group of Dining room and Lido stewards in how to handle grumpy and un-willing guests during an emergency. ………….. And during the Passenger Safety Briefing before the cruise starts as well.  As part of our system of getting everybody as quickly as possible to the muster stations when the alarms go, we have groups of crew members whose task it is to find any stragglers, nay-sayers or those who got a last minute accident to their cabin or the lifeboat station. These groups are called Sweep Teams. There is one for the crew areas, the Crew Sweep Team and there is one for the Guests, called the Passenger Sweep Team.

They have a system whereby 2 groups of four walk  passenger decks. One group of four on the portside and one group of four on the starboard side. They cross each other at the bow end of the ship and then walk back again. Each group has a deck plan for verification and they check each space, each open locker and each rest room to ensure that everybody is indeed following the Captain’s orders.  If somebody is found, he/she is politely but firmly ordered to get going and to do as he/she has been told. I do not know how easy this will be in a real emergency as we can only train for that and hope it will never happen but during the Passenger Safety Briefing before the cruise starts it can be difficult.

Almost everybody will “march” to the lifeboat stations as ordered, but…………….there are always a few. Some of them are multiple cruisers who are getting fed up with the same routine every cruise and think they are exempt after so… many 100’s of days of sailing with HAL and then there are some who do not speak any English and try to use that to their advantage during drill time. (Somehow they always seem to be able to read and order from the menu………….) As they all know that they will be kicked out of their cabins by the cabin stewards, they try to hide in the public rooms. And there they come across the Sweep Team.

And the “sweepers” were telling me this morning, they sometimes had to try to get them out of the lounges and even out of the Rest Rooms. Some went as soon as they were directed; but some were sometimes obnoxious and rude and refused to go.  Not easy to handle for a Steward who has been trained to be forever polite and friendly. Thus this morning we went through the tricks of the trade and how to handle these guests.  As we do a bit of acting it out and as it is US against THEM, there is always a good laugh when everybody relates their experiences and how they got this particular guest to the lifeboat station while the person was remonstrating all the way. There is more to a Dining room steward than just serving food. These guys have a very important job in an emergency as we want to ensure that nobody will be left behind.

We left Horta in the early afternoon and now we will be at sea until 08 November. Then we have a call at Nassau in the Bahama’s and the next day the cruise finishes in Fort Lauderdale. The weather looks good for the coming days, it looks like that this wave front to the North which I mentioned yesterday will indeed not reach our course line and thus we are looking forward to a nice Ocean Crossing.

During last night the swells slowly abated although it did not go as fast as the weather chart indicated. But today the swell got back on schedule again and went down to about 6 to 8 feet. Which is similar to the regular swells you find in the Caribbean Sea. Thus we are back to normal.

The Azores are back in the blue and the green. And with a bit of luck the red of another wave field will stay nicely to the North. (Chart courtesy of Surf-forecast.com)

For the arrival the swell did not bother us as Ponta Delgada is located on the South side of the island and thus completely in the lee of any swells North of the direct East and West directions. The Captain swung the ship around on arrival and we docked nose out at the Cruise Terminal. We were later followed by the Aida Vita who also sailed stern in but docked at the inside of the breakwater which is officially the cargo pier.

Docking nose out when possible is a sort of safety routine as you can shoot out from the berth directly into safety; into deep water. The only berth where this does not matter that much is the corner berth of the breakwater. If you are docked there, then you can just give full astern and you are in safety as well. With the other berths where you still have to travel a certain distance to get outside and then nose out works faster.

The cruise terminal with parking on the top and shops and handling area under it.

They built a new cruise terminal here a number of years ago, when the three cargo berths were completely insufficient to cope with all the cruise traffic.  This is the first time I have been docked at it, as during past calls my ship was always the smaller ship and then they put the biggest one at the cruise terminal. They did so today as well, the AidaVita is smaller and thus it had to go to the cargo berth. For the guests it means a longer walk as you have to walk around the rim of the harbor. The cruise terminal ends up directly at the main street leading into town.

Ponta Delgada does not have a Big Red Bus to do a hop on hop off sightseeing tour and thus I decided to stay on board. They do some beautiful tours here on the island but you have to book and organize in advance. What many guests do and what works quite well, when not going on a Holland America tour, is to book a taxi. Many of the local taxi drivers speak very good English, are very knowledgeable and very proud to show you their island. The only danger is the ship will not wait if you get back too late, while it will wait from the ships tours if they are delayed in returning.  If you would have missed the ship here, then you could rejoin tomorrow in Horta. There is a ferry system but it runs on a limited schedule outside the peak season.

This morning the whole crew went through the motions again of the full General Emergency system. Starting with a fire drill under the show lounge (First Stage Emergency Alarm) followed by the assembly alarm of all without a function (Crew Alert Alarm), followed by the General Emergency Alarm which calls everybody to the lifeboats and life rafts. Now it was only for the crew but in a real emergency the same system is used for the guests as well. At the Crew Alert Alarm all guests are told to go to their cabins to get ready and then at the General Emergency Alarm they will all go to their Lifeboat stations. So I ran around this morning through all the drills, to see if each and every team followed the company standard instructions and routines. Observations made are shared and then used for further improvement. Training and exercising on a cruise ship never stops as the crew keeps changing and need constant refreshment in the routines to stay on top of their proficiency.

Tomorrow we are in Horta on the island of Faial. This will be an anchor stop and also Horta is on the south side of the island. The only question, which answer we will only find out on arrival, is whether the remnants of the swell are curving around the island or not and will it reach the tender area or that we will have very flat and calm waters to enjoy. In the meantime we are back to a gently moving ship as can be expected on the North Atlantic.

Weather for Horta:  Partly Cloudy, leaning to Overcast as they are expecting rain on Monday and a temperature of 67oF or 19oC.

And in accordance with the weather forecast the ship slowly started to become livelier after10 am. in the morning and by 10 am. the bow started to go up and down on a regular basis. It is not often that the weather operates in line with the forecast but today it did. We had the highest waves around 2 to 3 pm. and then it slowly but steadily started to abate again.  By late this evening we should be back to the regular motion of a North Atlantic crossing. As you can see from the chart, the wave field around the islands is breaking up and by the time we leave Horta (the day after tomorrow) the North Atlantic should be quiet again. There is a disturbance going North East from Cape Hatteras but it is not expected, as of yet, that its wave field will reach the intended track of the Zuiderdam. If that all works out, then we will have had a good crossing. One day of wobbly weather on a North Atlantic crossing in autumn, is not bad going.

Today we went through the deep red of the wave field. As you see they way it is curved, there was also not way to sail around it. This chart is for tomorrow morning when we will be back in the green again. (Chart courtesy surf-forecast.com)

People who do ocean voyages are a different sort of cruise passenger than those we see on the 7 day Caribbean circuit, Alaska or Europe Cruises. They have done those cruises already and they are seasoned sailors.  Therefore I was not amazed at all to see the ship full of people today. Also the reports from the Infirmary indicated that the number of sea sick people were not high. The Front Office did do a roaring trade in Green Apples but you never know if they were taken by those needing them or by those just liking them. But whether it was the Green Apples or the cruising experience, the ship was buzzing and all activities were well attended.  The Captain held a Q&A interview meeting with the guests in the worst place possible for this weather; the Crow’s nest, during the worst possible time 3 pm.  and also he had a full house.  We are sailing with a ship full of cruise veterans it seems.

The mid Atlantic ridge with the Azores on a large triangle to the East. (Chart Courtesy: www.mantleplumes.org)

The Azores are a sort of mountain ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean, there were three tectonic plates meet and volcanic activity coming out of these rifts created a large North – South mountain range, not unlike the Rocky Mountains & Andes, but then under water.  The Azores are located on sort of wider outcropping almost like a plateau to the East of this Mid Atlantic Ridge. The location where the 3^rd plate meets the other two.  There are 9 islands created by volcanic activity and because they are located near the Gulf Stream they have a very pleasant and stable climate. If they were not so far away from anywhere, then they would be a number one area for retirement. In a similar way as you have “The Villages” in the Florida but then on islands.  Half of Europe would descend on them. Now it is just too complicated to get there and those who want the milder weather settle in the south of France, The Spanish Coast or Tuscany in Italy.

We are calling at two islands here; first at Sao Miguel which is the largest one on which Ponta Delgada is located and then at the island of Faial on which Horta is located. In Ponta Delgada we will dock but Horta is an anchorage port as it only has a very small harbor.  Luckily both ports are on the south side of the islands so it is in the shelter of the wind which is still blowing and the remainder of the swell.

We are expecting a partly cloudy day as the current weather front which makes the ship so lively is pulling away and is taking all the rain with it, at least for the call at Ponta Delgada. For Horta it looks a bit more unsettled at the moment.  Temperatures of 63oF or 17oC and a moderate breeze.

Cadiz is sheltered under the Portuguese coast and because of that we did not feel any movement at all during the first few hours. Then late last night, the gentle movement of the ship started caused by the motion of the ocean. Finally we were really back at sea again and so it stayed for the remainder of the night. By this morning, the wind slowly started to pick up from nearly zero to a good 25 to 30 knots by lunch time. As the wind was mainly on the bow, the ship went against it with 15 knots, which is a force 4 and if you would have been able to stand out in the open on the bow, you would have had a severe storm experience. However the Zuiderdam has wind breakers on the top deck and an enclosed promenade deck near the bow and the thus the guests were kept nicely out of the wind.  By this afternoon it started to get overcast with darker clouds and we saw rain developing in the distance. We are coming closer to this weather system which will produce the high waves.

With the increasing wind there should have been more swell already and thus more motion but that was not the case. We had “confused swell”.  Swells and seas from various directions and they dampened each other out quite nicely. Giving for the North Atlantic in autumn a very comfortable ride.  Still there were a few guests rumbling about the moving of the ship and in one instance a gentleman demanded a solution from me at once. I was a bit puzzled about how he singled me out but by now the crew all know me and they gingerly deflected his problems to me. “Ask Captain Albert, he is from Corporate, he knows everything”. ———— I am going up in the world day by day.  So I explained to the gentleman that Holland America had created happy hour in the bars just for this purpose. Two drinks for one and all your problems are solved. The Front Office believes in green apples and crackers, I believe in a planter’s punch or a high ball to cure sickness.  I have never been sea sick on a HAL ship so it must work.  The gentleman did not look completely convinced and opted for a lay down in his cabin instead.

The blue circle was our location today, the green circle is for late tomorrow morning when we enter the wave field. (Courtesy www. Swell-forecast.com)

However the confused swells are not going to last and by tomorrow morning the heavy swells from the North West will start to take over. As you can see from the wave chart we are still expecting 21 feet, while today we had about 12 to 14 feet in confused seas and swell. How much the ship will move will depend on the period of the swell. If it is a nice and long swell then the ship might nicely climb up and go down with the amplitude. If it is a short running swell it might lift the ship up and then drop it down again; we call that pitching and sometimes it becomes severe enough for the bow to bash onto the waves and you get this banging noise which vibrates all the way through the ship.  For those who can stand it, it can give some spectacular water displays over the bow, visible from the crow’s nest. For those who can’t there is the option of green apples, crackers, planters punch and highballs.

With the wobbly ocean it is hard to see night wild life in the ocean and although I looked for a while, I did see anything, neither birds, nor fish. Just a lonely cargo ship heading the other way. For the guests it did not matter that much as the ship was in full swing with lectures varying from flying over the Andes to Portugal and its Empire. Then there was bridge (when isn’t there bridge??) and for the more active people there was Bean Bag Toss, and the Dancing with the Stars competition.  For those battling sea sickness there was Premium Wine tasting, Beer tasting, Mixology class and for the non-alcohol minded the Indonesian Tea Ceremony.  (And that is of course only a small sampling of what is crammed into our daily program)

With the crossing of the Ocean we get time differences and tonight we go our 2^nd hour back and that will bring us on the Azores time. With an hour back it is a good opportunity to have the crew show as it basically means that the crew is not losing any sleep while giving this extra performance for the guests.  Tonight it is the turn of the Philippino’s and if the waves will indeed hold until tomorrow then they should be able to do their regular program.

Tomorrow we will have our 2^nd day at sea and I expect that the afternoon will be quite lively until it dies down again in the evening.  At the moment it does not look like that we have to worry about our call at Ponta Delgada.

Today we were in Cadiz Spain, which is just on the other side of the Straits of Gibraltar when looking west from Malaga. Cadiz is a very popular port to call at as it is located right on the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a regular port for ships which are coming from or commencing a crossing. The city is full of ruins and historical buildings and thus there are plenty of shore excursions available or self-exploring to do for independents.  I had all but forgotten that Cadiz also has a Big Red Bus and by the time I saw one coming by the ship, it was too late to still hop on one. I must remember next time. I have done excursions here before and walked around the place but with regular buses your view is limited as the driver has the best view. But with an open top double decker, you can sit where the driver sits, just one deck higher and have a perfect view. Well I will be here again sometime in the future no doubt.  But this time the Big Red Bus lost out on my contribution towards their yearly profit margin.

It was quiet in port today, hardly any movement of ships and only one cruise ship in port, the AidaCara of Aida cruises. This was the first ship Aida built and formed the base for their great success and current expansion.

I pulled this picture from a spanish website as my photo of the ship in port had too much background clutter. Muchias Gracias to the maker.

But another ship in port was of more interest as it was a square rigger or tall ship and those you do not see that often anymore.  In this case it was the training ship Juan Sebastian de Elcano, of the Spanish Navy.  There are several navys in the world who still have sailing training ships, especially the Latin American ones. Here we find the largest ones. The “de Elcano” is the 3^rd largest tall ship in the world, the largest one is a cruise ship the Royal Clipper, followed by a Russian Training ship.  It is an old ship, built in 1927 but through the years is has been renovated and updated several times so it can still sail as required.

The ms Prinses Margriet training ship of the Dutch Merchant Marine. She was a bit top heavy due to the class rooms and the 2nd bridge on the top and you noticed that in bad weather

There was a time when sailing ships were the preferred way of learning – literally – the ropes, of a seafaring job. It created comradeship and taught you to trust each other when hanging in the top of a mast with wind force 12. There were even shipping company’s such as the Hamburg America Line who had their own training ship. But these ships are expensive to maintain and operate and only some navy’s and dedicated training institutions still operate them.  When I went to my Maritime Academy between 1976 and 1980 we still had a small motor ship on which we went 14 days a year and which was shared with the other Dutch Seafarer’s Institutes. Apart from finding out what seasickness was (that thing seemed to have been constructed especially to make bad weather even worse) and how too many crew could make a big mess, we did not learn much, but it was a nice vacation. I made two trips on this Prinses Margriet and both times we had nice weather, much to the chagrin of the Captain who seemed to specialize in finding even the smallest disturbance out there in the North Sea. The little ship is still afloat after a complete rebuilt and now operates as small cruise yacht called the Sherakhan. They lowered her superstructure considerably which must have greatly improved her behavior at sea.

The Sherakhan. Rebuilt the ship had much better proportions. She is still out there.

That experience has always made me doubtful about the usefulness of training ships for the Merchant Marine and the Dutch Merchant Navy does not have one any more. A cadet training year on a commercial vessel and bridge simulator work is deemed to be much more beneficial than messing around with sails and getting cold and wet on the deck of a square rigger.

Tomorrow we start our crossing of the North Atlantic Ocean. Today the ship topped up all its tanks with fuel oil so we have more than sufficient to get to the other side. If all goes well we should arrive in Fort Lauderdale on the 9^th. of November . It is not a direct crossing as we call at the ports of Punta Delgada and Horta in the Azores.

The weather is now getting harder to predict. For the Ponta Delgada port call we are looking at partly Cloudy with 16oC/61oF. That is the good part. Getting there might be different.

Red is never good on a weather chart. But for tomorrow the waves are still green and thus low. the Azores are in the centre of the chart (Courtesy www.surf-forecast.com)

For a crossing, the wind and rain are not so important, what is of interest is the swell as that makes the ship wobble. And that can reduce the happiness on board considerably. There is a depression out there, north of the Azores with the potential of coming over the Islands and/or pushing a large wave field that way. If that is going to happen, then we might get some lively movement on Friday, the day before we arrive at the islands. We will see.

We were not the only one in today. When we sailed into the port the MSC Davina was already docked and also the Allure of the Seas who was furthermost in but due to its size still stuck out quite a bit. This evening she will have to go astern all the way through the harbor into open sea as it is too tight for her to swing around inside. We did swing around on arrival in the widest part of the port and there we had about 300 feet clearance but the Allure is 200 feet longer than the Zuiderdam (1187 ft. versus 962 ft.) and that makes it a bit tight. Luckily this ship has so much power so such a maneuver is not really much of an issue.

No doubt this was the biggest Apartment Building in Malaga today.

When I was captain on the Prinsendam, I was once docked nearly under her stern (I felt as if I was a tugboat captain) and the Allure had more horsepower for her bow thrusters than the Prinsendam had in the main engine room. You are talking different dimensions here. So when we looked astern today we saw indeed an “Apartment of the Seas” behind us and the ship took up the complete horizon on the port side.  You cannot talk about a ship here any more, this is a floating resort and the on board approach must be totally different than the way we go about our business on Holland America.

On the other side we had the MSC Davina which with 137,000 Gross Tonnage is also considerably larger than the Zuiderdam and that made us the smallest ship in port today. Proof that whatever our guests say about the size of the new Koningsdam, it will still be a medium sized ship compared to what we saw around us today.  In 1936 the Zuiderdam would have been the largest Ocean Liner in the world if it had been built then and now 80 years later it is one of the smaller ones. Do times change.

I do not know if both ships were full, we are, but if they were then today 6300 + 3400 + 1900 guests were invading Malaga and surrounding areas.  Although it is very much a tourist city with 100’s of thousand living along the coast line, there are a lot of things to see. From the ancient days, as the Romans were very much present here, to the current day, with a Picasso Museum. (I wonder how busy it was there today with 11,000 guests ashore who must all have read the ships shorex brochures) Then there are tours running to the Alhambra which is about 90 minutes away with the Coach from the port.  I hope that all the guests had a good day, as it rained and drizzled for larger periods. Not what you expect in Spain but then it is October and the hot summer is over.

I delved today into shipping legislation. That is for nearly every captain a sort of monthly “enjoyment” as things keep changing and it is not always easy to keep abreast with the latest developments. The IMO (International Maritime Organization) keeps producing new rules and regulations and these become law after a certain number of members have signed up to the agreement and its implementation. That can take a few years but then suddenly –pop- it is there.  Sometimes these regulations are frame works and the “Administrator” that is the Flag State has a certain freedom to implement the regulation. Then there is nothing to withhold the company to add more to it.

What had my attention today were the STCW 2010 Manila Amendments. STCW stands for Standards of Training, Certification and Watch keeping. These came into being in 1978 and regulate the operational requirements for seafarers. In 2010 there was a conference in Manila and various amendments were made to these rules based on the experience gained through the years. More and more of these 2010 amendments are now coming into being with the bulk of them becoming compulsory as of 1 January 2017.  To give a simple example: It was always compulsory to have a cook on board. The question was who would officially be the cook and what is a cook (e.g. under the law) Thus far the solution for the Dutch flagged cruise ships was where we can have a 100 cooks on board: It is the most senior Cook, the Exe Chef and he has to make sure that he has the required paperwork.  What was required was always a little bit vague but now under the 2010 amendments, there is an official Cook certificate. Our Cooks are way above the qualifications required for this certificate but they still have to have one. Thus the Dutch government is now issuing these certificates as long as Holland America can prove that the Exe. Chef can cook.  My interest today was to find out what this certificate looked like and when it was coming out, so I could prepare the Crew Officer.  The crew office is tasked with verifying on behalf of the Master if all crew members have the required certificates so they can be signed on and thus they have to know and understand the details.

This evening we will be sailing towards Cadiz, were we will arrive tomorrow morning. Around midnight we will leave the Mediterranean by passing Gibraltar and then follow the Spanish coast towards Cadiz.

Weather for tomorrow: partly Cloudy, little wind and temperatures around 71oF / 22oC.

Alicante is typical of the south Spanish ports. A large breakwater / pier which runs parallel along the coast. The inner side of this breakwater was normally used for ships making short stops and with the increase in the cruise Industry that is where the cruise ships are docking as they normally stay for shorter periods than the cargo ships. Several of these piers have now been adapted especially by building cruise terminals on top of it.  Today we docked at one of those piers here in Alicante and it will be the same in Malaga tomorrow.  (It was the same in Barcelona, only Palma de Mallorca was different) It makes arrivals and departures fairly easy as docking the ship is a matter of slowing down and then going sideways to the dock. In several ports you can even leave by just backing out, something the Rotterdam did when it called at Malaga recently. (See my specific blog in the archives)

The cruise terminal is half way along the breakwater. If we had docked at the end, it would have doubled the distance.

Today we thus also parked at the inside of the breakwater and although that was easy for the ship, it meant that it was a long way from the city, made even longer as we were at the Cruise Terminal near the end of this long breakwater.  But with plenty coaches around everybody who wanted to go, could get to the town. There were however quite of few guests who decided to stay on board today to catch their  breath and to build up stamina for Malaga tomorrow. As it was nice weather, sitting on the outside deck and lazing the day away is also part of cruising. Plus often there is the added bonus of seeing the sailors working on the outside decks and there are few things nicer than watching other people work.  (Plus it gives a good feeling to know that your cruise fare helps them to make a living)

As mentioned yesterday, today we had our weekly Fire drill and the focus was this time on the Engine Room and what to do when the normal fire fighting procedures do not work. That means we have to go to the final resort or releasing CO2. The problem with cO2 is, that although it is a good extinguishing agent, it works the best when the temperatures in the Engine Room have not yet reached a too high a value. The longer the fire rages, the more damage and the greater the chance of Reflash due to the longer natural cooling down period. Co2 does not have as much of a temperature reducing capability such as water has. Thus the rule of thumb is that the Master has to make up his mind within 10 minutes after the fire has occurred and the CO2 should be released within the next 5 minutes to be the most effective.

That means the necessary procedures to establish if we need to release CO2, if all crew is out, and if the ER is completely closed and locked down has to be done in that short period of time. CO2 works by replacing Oxygen and is thus fatal for crew still in the area concerned and also very dangerous if it would leak out of the area concerned.  And for that you really need to train well. Coordination between the Chief Engineer who assesses the situation, the Master who makes the final decision and the Officers in the CO2 room who release the agent,  have to be seamless to ensure it goes fast, achieves the objective and there are no casualties. For the older cruise ships it means losing all propulsion power and most of the power for the ship as well. (Only the Emergency Generator is left) for newer cruise ships which include the Zuiderdam it has less of an impact as the ship has two separate engine rooms. The idea being is, if one is out of order than the other one still works and takes over.

These are the officers and crew who man the fire teams. You have to be young and strong to be able to carry the heavy gear and fight a fire at the same time.

An important part of the drill sequence is the debriefing afterwards. Doing a nice drill is good fun but the objective is to learn from every drill. That is why I act during these drills as Assessor. Going around and observing.  Checking if the policies are being followed, issue compliments where things went well and note the items which could have gone better. Those are discussed and then kept on file to be incorporated as objectives in the scenario for the next drill. In this way we create a continuous learning and improvement process which increases the proficiency of all the crew involved.  Normally the debriefing takes as long as the whole drill, as each participant is given the chance to speak up and help with the debriefing process.

Tomorrow we are in Malaga and the weather will be less good than today. On departure today we already saw dark clouds gathering at the horizon and there are rain clouds coming over the southern part of Spain. According to the weather forecast there is supposed to be very little wind in those clouds and thus all should be well for arriving on time.

As most ships do when going towards the south, the Zuiderdam sailed and kept the Balearic Islands on its port side and then came around the south west side of the island and approached the pilot station from there. With “another day in Paradise” on the cards, the ship docked at one of the cruise and ferry piers. This one called Estacio Maritima nbr 1. With us in port were two cruise ships from Aida. The Aida Vita and the Aida Diva. They are also part of the Carnival Corporation but are solely dedicated to the German market. Their product is more resort type; buffets and flip flops and the larger ships have their own brewery on board; which I think is the best cruise ship invention since cash free billing was introduced.  Maybe something for one of our future new builds: “Dam –beer” Dutch Craftsmanship and Mastership on the high seas.

Today my day was filled with various projects. First there was the General Emergency Drill for 25% of all the Boats and Rafts, then there was the fire drill for tomorrow to plan and then there was the review of the Mustering procedures on board.

Although the SOLAS rules came into being in 1914 as a result of the sinking of the Titanic, these rules have not remained as is, but evolved with whatever lessons were learned at sea or whatever new idea of ship design was and is dreamt up by the cruise companies. Designers are normally thinking outside the box and sometimes they are that far outside the box that their design would be positively dangerous if not kept in check by some logic rules, like not capsizing and being a safe haven for the occupants while on board. Especially cruise ships are the recipients of constantly updated regulations. This makes sense as with the boom in the cruise business, more and more innovative ships are coming out. Not too long ago it became law that there should be a weekly cycle of at least 25% of the crew going through Emergency Training. Before it was just that everybody should be trained on a regular basis (monthly) to be proficient in their safety jobs. To ensure that this did not result in monthly “mass” trainings to comply, the 25% rule came into being.

Today a very un-romantic photo of the ships C02 room. The C02 is stored in pressured bottles and can be released by means of the cabinets on the left. The size of the Engine Space on fire will dictate the number of bottles needed.

We have similar rules for Fire drills. There should be every week a real drill / simulation of an emergency / and there should be monthly extra training to support the proficiency in these drills. To avoid too much routine in the drills (how many new drill scenarios can you keep thinking of?) I normally offer to bring some new “inspiration” to the proceedings. Tomorrow the plan is to put the whole Engine room on fire (simulated) and then let CO2 in to extinguish it. This means that all the crew has to follow strict protocols as CO2 is deathly as it displaces Oxygen. But as it is not a cooling agent, the temperature of the space that was on fire only goes down very slowly. Until it has cooled down there is always the chance of a fire Reflash if somebody would open a door somewhere and let fresh oxygen in.

Muster procedures is something every crew member has to deal with, signing on for the job on board. I normally check on each ship the completeness of all the paperwork of those officers and crew who can be given the watch on board. Each ship has a minimum number of officers required and that is noted on the Safe Manning Document which each ship receives from its Flag State when coming into service. To be qualified for these functions on board you need an enormous amount of training certificates, endorsements and licenses. (I have about 25 certificates apart from my master License, to qualify to be Master on a Dutch and a Holland America Line vessel). The company ensures that we have all those certificates but because there are soo many and there are soo many regulations the administration on the ship can be incomplete. Not because the Officer in charge is sloppy but because it is so complicated to comply with it all. So on behalf of the Master of the Vessel, I spend a day going through each seaman’s book and verifying each certificate and official document to ensure that every dot and comma is in the right place.

Since Barcelona we have started our southward journey which will lead us eventually back to Florida. Tonight we will continue southwards and tomorrow we will visit Alicante on the south coast on Spain.

Weather, mainly sunny with little wind and temperatures in the around 68oF / 20oC.

At 07.00 this morning the Zuiderdam sailed into the port of Barcelona over a flat calm sea towards the berth at the Barcelona Cruise Terminal. Not a bad way to start the day. Today there were three ships in, the Marina (Oceana Cruises), the Costa Fascinosa (Costa Cruises) and us. The Marina had a full change over today, the Costa was expecting about 50 new guests and we had heavy loading. Very heavy loading; as apart from all the stores and supplies coming on, recyclables going off, we also had fuel bunkering and we were getting all new chairs and foot rests for the balconies.

Starting to unload 2 x 40 ft. containers. This was shortly before the Cabin steward brigade came out to cart it all away.

Changing furniture is always a major upheaval for a cruise ship as we cannot store all those boxes on board and then leisurely unpack them and bring them to the balconies. And then keep the old furniture somewhere until it can be landed. No it has to be done in one day. So the Cabin Stewards were put on alert and first all the old furniture came out, went ashore, and then the new furniture came the other way. Unpacked and then the empty carton boxes went straight to the recycling. Balcony furniture is replaced on a regular basis as the elements play havoc with the rattan. It would not make any difference if we had other material as the combination of salt, sun, rain and cleaning will eventually conquer the sturdiest materials. So by tomorrow all the guests will have nice new chairs and food rests on their balconies again.

Cabin Stewards waiting for new furniture on the Navigation deck.

While we are on the topic of furniture and decoration, the Zuiderdam has a sort of Italian theme throughout its public rooms and staircases. As is known Holland America has a tradition of putting antiques & art on their ships for the guests to enjoy while cruising. Something which really started on a grand scale with the Nieuw Amsterdam of 1983. This ship had as a theme our previous Colonies in the West, New York included. The Noordam of 1984 had the former Colonies in the East and with the S and the R class this continued although not so strictly focused. But Dutch heritage, craftsmanship and artistry continued to be put on display on a grand scale.

The large wall painting opposite the Explorers Lounge. Showing the Grand Canal of Venice.

With the Zuiderdam, the first Vista class, this changed a little bit. The Netherlands did not have sufficient colonies to stretch the theme forever. (Just think what we could have done, if the Dutch had had an empire similar to the British………) Thus the theme of the Zuiderdam went Italian with a few deviations to ensure that the guests were still reminded that they are on a Dutch ship.  The easiest this can be seen is in the Explorer lounge. All the ships that went before had a Dutch nautical scene of some sort on the large wall painting; the Zuiderdam has a city view, still from the water, but of Venice.

The Carnival display opposite the Art Gallery. due to the glass, the photo is less than perfect, but I am also a less than perfect photographer.

Then there are more touches which reminds of Venice. That Venice was taken as the Italian theme made sense as the ship was built there; just to the south of the city in the town of Marghera. Apart from furniture in the staircases and statues in the hall ways, there is the big Venetian Carnival Costume Display just opposite the Art gallery.  As we all know Venice has the most elaborate Carnival of all, with costumes that are both chique, stylish and elaborate. Rio de Janeiro might be the most exotic and have the least clothing on show, but the costumes of the Venice Carnival ensure that you cannot even see who the other person is who you just have been dancing with.

We are staying late here, only sailing at 22.30 this evening as, it is just a short hop to Mallorca. Holland America has a policy to stay, if possible, during each cruise one evening late in one of the ports of call and for this cruise that is Barcelona. You could not ask for a better port.  I do not know if many guests are going ashore tonight, they might all be tired from all the sightseeing, but the crew is certainly going. At least those who can. There was a long row of people outside the crew office this morning, all wanting to cash money, to support the local economy tonight. Plus Europe goes back one hour tonight to get on winter time and that means that if some of the crew come back a little bit too happy tonight, they will have an extra hour to get over it again.

So tomorrow we will be in Mallorca and the weather is holding although with a bit more clouds than today. Temperatures around 67oF / 19oC. and very little wind. That is a lot better than being in Puerto Vallarta where Hurricane Patricia is creating havoc at the moment.

During the night the Mistral in the Rhone area thought the better of it and decided to abate completely so this morning we only had a long running swell left and a flat calm sea. As the Zuiderdam was happily pottering long with a speed of 11 knots it did not even make the ship move.  It was full on the bow and thus it could have created a pitching movement but we hit the waves so gently that there was no wobbling whatsoever.  Also for the remainder of the day it looks like that the wind has gone completely. During the late afternoon and early evening we will sail just south of the Gulf of Lyon and if the Mistral would have been still there, large waves would have coming rolling out of it. But we are lucky today.

I would love to take credit for this photo but the few times I have seen a Fin whale this close, there was no camera handy. (Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia)

Some guests were lucky today as well, as we had a number of Fin whales coming by. The bridge counted 5 or 6 of them but I only saw one and that was much later.  Still seeing a Fin whale in the Mediterranean Sea is not as usual as seeing Humpbacks in Alaska and seeing 5 or 6 together is quite rare.  The navigators and quartermasters easily recognize the various whales as we are all trained in doing so. Holland America stipulates that each person who keeps a look-out on the navigation bridge is proficient in recognizing the various sorts of whales. If we recognize them, then we also know what sort of behavior to expect and that helps to make a more quantified decision in how to avoid them.  Fin whales we can recognize in two ways: looking for the small dorsal fin near is tail or by the exhaust plume (expelled air) which has a very distinctive shape.

In this case the whales happily swam along on either side of the ship and thus no course changes were needed. When we are near whales we are also advised to slow down to 10/11 knots to reduce the chance of a collision even further but as we were already doing that speed, we were in compliance without having to take any action. The whales did not take any action either to make our life difficult and thus everybody was happy.

Although we are sailing between the Island of Corsica and the Italian main island, the sea is still quite deep here, up to 9300 ft. in the North Western part and that would make Corsica a very high hill if we could pump the Mediterranean Sea empty. But the sea is full and Corsica is a big mountain top called an Island, right between Livorno and Barcelona.

Safety Indoctrination by Matt the 2nd officer for the new HAL employees. In the audience, the ships doctor, the piano player, photographer, beautician, sailors and fireman greasers.

One of the things, which I am exposed to every time I change ships is the Shipboard Orientation Program. Everybody has to attend it, from the captain downwards and thus I happily show up each time and watch the proceedings. There are two parts: 1. when coming on board, before you allowed even to start to work you need to get familiarized with the basic safety concepts of the ship and your safety duties while on board. Then there is a second more in depth part on the 2^nd or 3^rd day, depending when is best as long as it is within 72 hours of boarding. Captain and Ships Staff, introduce themselves and speak some wise words, the ships nurse tells us where to find the hospital and how to stay healthy and the Security Officer tells us to be alert and wear our I.D’s at all times. Then there is a session with the Safety and Environmental Health officer, who touches on all the basic concepts we have to follow.     Then the crew who are not new, or have sailed on the same class of ship in the last 3 years are dismissed and can go back to work.

The rest have to stay for a walk about to get some explanation about watertight doors, fire extinguishers, station bills and everything that might just be different from what they were used to before, or what is completely new to them. I normally trundle along with this group as it gives me the chance to observe the quality of training being given by the Training Officer.  He did a very good job and the audience remained alert. Thus all went well today and one hour later the whole group was dismissed.

Tomorrow we are in Barcelona, where we stay until late in the evening. We will not be the only one; The Marina, the Costa Fascinosa and the Berlin are also expected. Weather sunny with temperatures in the mid 60’s or 18 to 19oC. Perfect day for sightseeing.