And so I joined today the good ship Zaandam in Montreal today. The Zaandam is one of the four R class ships, made up of the Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Volendam and Zaandam. Although one class, the Rotterdam and Amsterdam are real sisters and so are the Volendam and the Zaandam. Main difference is that the RTDM and the AMDM have different funnels and different propulsion and those two can sail a bit faster. This was done as they were in the beginning earmarked to do the long cruises, e.g. longer than three weeks and with ocean crossings. With the increase in fuel price in the mid 2000’s that idea wķent out of the window and all the HAL ships now sail at the most economical speeds possible. So the Zaandam is nearly identical to the Volendam which I reported about before I went on leave in May. For the guest, the difference between those ships is merely the décor and art inside the ship. The rest is behind the scenes where localized “creativity” by the ships complement and/or different dry dock refits resulted in some minor operational differences.
The Zaandam is involved in 7 day Canadian Maritime cruises. 7 days up to Montreal and 7 days down again to Boston. She started this run a few weeks ago and we are still early in the season which means that the cruise is still dictated by the height of the St. Lawrence River. There are still large amounts of glacier and snow water coming down creating a very high river level. So high that on the first cruise, the ship could not even go under the bridge in Quebec and thus had to do a turn over there, instead of in Montreal. Guests disembarked in Quebec and then went by coach to Montreal airport. The plus side of that is: you get a free shore excursion through the Quebecois landscape. The minus side is that you have to get up very early to make it to the airport on time.
5 knots of river current swirling around the buoy opposite the cruise terminal.
Now the water level has dropped sufficiently for the ship to sail to Montreal and thus this is the first call of the season here. But the water level is still too high to go to the passenger terminal because we have to sail under another bridge and for that passing the river level is still too high. There is good hope that we can do that next cruise. Thus the ship docked this time at the 2nd cruise terminal of the city, berth 34. One which is further down the river and only used when there are multiple cruise ships calling at Montreal at the same time. Guests will prefer the (new) cruise terminal as it is laid out better; for the captains this back up terminal not a bad alternative as the docking here is much easier. I will explain that when we go northbound next time.
The 2d cruise terminal in Montreal. Not as flash as the new one up river. But not much different than the cruise terminals we use in Civittavecchia for Rome.
Master of the ms Zaandam (III) is Captain Ane Smit who has been with the company since 1984. He sort of followed me
Captain Ane Smit of the ms Zaandam.
through the ranks as he was cadet in 1994 when I was Chief Officer and we were both on the Noordam (III). Then he was my staff captain in 2010 when I was captain on the Prinsendam. His short biography is on the blog site here under Current Captains.
The river level is now low enough that we could reach Montreal but it still dictates what the ship can do. So we left punctually on time at 16.00 hrs. as we have to pass the Quebec bridge at 04.00 hrs. tomorrow morning, when it is low tide otherwise we still will not fit under it. The distance itself would make it possible to leave later but we cannot go very fast on the river.
This is caused again by the very high water level. If we go faster than 10 knots we create a bow wave, which is normally not an issue as the waves just hit the riverbank.
But with the water level being so high there is not much river bank and the bow waves might easily roll over the top of the bank and into people’s gardens or the streets along the river. Sailor’s logic is then: You should not build a house where we sail, if this can happen; landlubber’s logic is: I have my garden here, so you have to slow down. Guess who wins the argument………….. and thus we slow down.
So tomorrow we are in Quebec and we should be alongside by 05.00 hrs. We are going under the bridge at low tide when the flood is just starting to run, and therefore we will dock with the nose into the current, facing downriver.
Expected Weather: Overcast with rain. Temperatures 11oC / 52oF.
June 2, 2019 at 5:16 pm
Nice to see back Captain. I hope you had a good rest .
June 2, 2019 at 5:20 pm
Welcome back Captain A. We look forward to your stories from the sea.
Roger T
June 2, 2019 at 9:13 pm
Welcome back.
June 2, 2019 at 9:31 pm
Great to have you back! I am on the Zaandam at the end of June, will you still be aboard? Very happy to hear it may be able to dock at the usual pier.
June 2, 2019 at 11:17 pm
Are you all rested up??!! Glad to have you doing your blog again. I have learned so much from your blogs, on the operations of the ships, and though much of the information goes over my head, I have picked up enough that it is very helpful to me, especially when I cruise!!
June 2, 2019 at 11:19 pm
Good to have you back, Captain. Did you get your “honey do” list completed 😄
Water levels everywhere here in Ontario and Quebec have been very, very high this year, partly because of the snowy winter and the rainy spring. Am not surprised the ship couldn’t get under the first bridge….not the first time this has happened.
June 3, 2019 at 6:52 pm
No not really.
I still have to paint the ceiling of the 2nd bathroom as we installed a bigger shower cubicle last year. On the list for August.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
June 3, 2019 at 1:14 am
My wife and I are frequent HAL Cruisers and enjoy your blogs. Hopefully, we will be able to meet you on one of our future cruises. Welcome back!
June 3, 2019 at 3:12 am
Welcome back, Captain Albert. In 2012, we did back to back cruises on the Nieuw Amsterdam. The Captain the first cruise was Vincent Smit. Is he related to Captain Ane Smit?
June 3, 2019 at 6:50 pm
No he is not.
Smit, Jansen and “De Vries” are the three most common names in Holland. When Napoleon ordered all of us to have last names for registration, instead of Jan – Janszoon etc. there must have been a lot of Blacksmiths in the Netherlands as there are Smits everywhere. Capt. Ane Smit comes from the very north, Capt. Vincent from the south.
Best regards
Capt. Albert
June 3, 2019 at 5:01 am
Very glad to have you back, Captain. . I always look forward to your postings and really enjoy learning from you.
June 3, 2019 at 2:25 pm
Back to sea again. I bet it is chilly along the St Lawrence at this time of year. I have done the Montreal to Florida in both directions. It is an interesting 2 week cruise. Long lines at Canada airport to get thru customs and immigration.
I sailed with you a few times on the Prinsendam (my favourite HAL ship) and also on the voyage of the Vikings – Maasdam? Safe sailing!