18 March 2013; OranjeStad, Aruba.

The wind was blowing well over 30 knots when we started our early morning approach and I was on the bridge shortly after 6 am to decide if we needed one or two tugboats and to see (on the radar) how the Horizon was faring as she was going at 06.45. She went in and no alarms were raised and that meant that the conditions inside were not that bad. I opted for one tugboat, not as much to get the ship alongside but to have a backup in case the wind would get stronger while we were still giving out the lines.  Fortune was on our side as we were able to sail in between two squalls and the wind nicely dropped to about 15 knots, coming down from about 30 knots. Then it remained more or less dry for the remainder of the morning and for most of the afternoon and thus the visit at Aruba turned out to be better than expected.  We were at the C terminal which is the closest to the city area but only for the reason that it is much more difficult to dock, when you first have to sail past another ship. As the Horizon came in first, we docked behind her. On departure we will have to sail past her, as she is leaving later, but then we will be able to make speed and that will reduce the drifting.

The Horizon belongs to a company called Pullmantur and is a Spanish subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Group of ships. It mainly serves the Spanish Market which is really up and coming and several of the older ships have been transferred there after a face lift. Zenith and Horizon came from Celebrity and recently the Sovereign (ex Sovereign of the Seas) of RCI went that way as well. As nothing is ever unique, Carnival has a similar subsidiary, called Iberos Cruceros. This company also serves mainly the Spanish Market and older tonnage from Carnival has gone that way as well.  With the Spanish economy in not such a good shape, I do not know how well the cruise industry is doing there at the moment. However the Horizon seemed quite well booked, when looking at the number of people coming off.  The Officers on my bridge had a good day as all those guests had to parade past the Statendam Bridge and a considerable number of young and nubile Senorita’s came strolling by.  It was quite clear that the demographics of Pullmantur are slightly different to Holland America.

The day after tomorrow we will be in the Panama Canal and while I am writing this during my breakfast, the transit schedule came in.  As always subject to very much change.  The ship will be entering the Cristobal breakwaters by 05.00 for the clearance, and then it should go as follows:

Gatun Locks (East Lane) Arriving   0630hrs                     Departing       0755hrs

Passing by Gamboa           1220hrs

Pedro Miguel Locks (East Lane) Arriving    1330hrs Departing      1410hrs

Miraflores Locks (East Lane) Arriving   1435hrs            Departing    1535hrs

ETD Balboa                                  1655hrs.

The Panama Canal company has a webcam on the Miraflores locks and maybe also somewhere else, and they can be accessed via their website.

The passing time at Gamboa is a bit peculiar as it normally earlier. Normally closer to 11.30. It depends on the clearing of the last ship of the northbound convoy, thus if it is this late, then it means I will have to kill time in Gatun Lake. If we are earlier, then the lock times of the last two locks should be about 30 minutes earlier than mentioned. We will see, never a dull moment in the Canal.

We departed from OranjeStad at 17.45 when all the guests were back on board. Sailing away was quite simple as we employed the Blow-Away-Maneuver. The wind pushed us off the dock and as soon as the officer aft reported that he could see passed the ship ahead of us, I gave full ahead and sailed nicely out of the port. 

Tonight and tomorrow we will sail west and later South West, following the coast line of South America. It will be very windy again, but as we are sailing with the wind at 18 knots, and the wind will be between 20 and 26 knots, the relative wind on the deck will only be a gentle breeze.