As mentioned in yesterday’s blog we docked early in Koper for the medical disembark. It was once again a beautiful day and that meant that this whole cruise has had nice weather everyday. Most of our guests were on tour and as Slovenia is a country that has a lot to offer so there was a great variation of tours available. The tour operators are still developing more tours as they get more experience with the American taste. Hemingway spent time in Slovenia during the Second World War and two of his books are about his experiences in the area. So a Hemingway tour is planned for the future.

For Holland America the two Koper stops were a trial and a success, as they were well received by our guests. Hopefully the ships will return here in the future. For the local pilots the arrival of a big cruise ship was still a learning experience. In Koper they normally only get slow cumbersome cargo ships. Now a very powerful cruise ship is coming in and that is something to get used to. So the pilot on arrival stood there watching in amazement the way the Veendam raced into port, swung around on a dime and then moved sideways to the dock as if it was a speedboat. It turned out that the Veendam’s bow thrusters were stronger than each of the tugboats available in port.

Koper is a short stop and by 2 pm. we were on the way for an early evening arrival at Venice. When we left we had the Bora blowing, that is a local mountain wind. It can reach speeds of up to 40 knots but is much localized. So while it was very windy at Koper roads, the moment we were 10 miles away from the port the wind fell away and the seas were flat calm again. It being a Friday meant that there we not that many sailing boats around and that saved us from dodging them all the way to Venice.

On arrival Venice we had this time a special treat as we had a lecturer on board who had visited Venice many times (she claims up to 500) and had therefore intimate knowledge of the port. During our sail into port she gave a narration from the bridge pointing out the special features and buildings of Venice and not only what they were but also why they were there. Venice still has visible traces of history reaching back to before the first millennium and it is a great thing if somebody can point these conspicuous points out while the ship is slowly sailing by.

We docked at our regular berth and this is one of the things that still amazes my colleagues working on the cargo ships. Cruise ships park on the inch. They have to, otherwise the shore side gangway does not fit into the ships side break door. If you look at the dimensions of a cruise ship, it is indeed surprising. The Veendam is 720 feet long, that is 8640 inches and that whole length has to be parked within a margin of 1.5 inch. Some ports, such as Fort Lauderdale have movable gangways in the same way as at airports. Other ports such as Vancouver and here in Venice, they are set in location before the ship arrives and the ship has to be lined up accordingly. When docking the ship I find it a sport to try to stop the ships momentum at the exact moment the security officer advises that his gangway is lined up. If I undershoot or overshoot the chief officer has to start juggling with the mooring ropes to move the ship in position. Most of the time the exercise is done in close coordination. I put the breaks on timely and the chief officer tightens up the spring lines (those are the ropes leading aft from bow and forward from stern) and the ship can not move anymore even if it wanted to.