Yesterday I ended my blog with the remark that this cruise was not POSH. That does not just apply to this cruise, but basically to all cruises, unless you are on a world cruise which only travels one way. POSH comes from the old days of the British Empire, when company’s such as P & O Lines maintained regular liner services to the colonies in the Far East. P & O still exists as P & O Cruises but the British Empire is long gone. In the heydays of this travel between the colonies there was no air conditioning on board and even worse, many of the ships had a black hull. Continue reading
Category: ms Zuiderdam (page 4 of 7)
Well this cruise started very well. The sea was as smooth as a mirror when we approached Half Moon Cay and the sun was happily shining with just a few clouds in the sky. I had been told that we would be the only ship here but when we arrived the Nieuw Amsterdam showed up as well. I should have checked myself as it is clearly on the sailing calendar. With two ships in there could be about 4000 guests ashore but in reality probably no more than 3000 as a lot of our guests have been there already a few times and opted to stay on board. And that means that the island is still very sparsely populated and there will be no fights over beach chairs. Continue reading
With so many cruise ships coming in, and so many big ones, the arrival parade started quite early as some ships docked nose in and some ships docked nose out. The choice between one and the other has mostly to do with work that has to be carried out on a specific side of the ship. All captains like to dock nose out; always easier for departing. Most of the time you have sufficient time on arrival to swing first before docking as Customs and Immigration do not start until 07.00 hrs. But captains do not always get their way as work might be needed at a certain side of the hull. Continue reading
With a brightly shining sun the ms Zuiderdam continued its return part of the voyage to Fort Lauderdale. We have already left the North western part of the Caribbean with the Yucatan Channel and by 16.00 hrs. we were abeam of Havana Cuba in the Straits of Florida. In the Straits the navigators start searching for the most optimum speed by trying to find the center of the Gulf Stream. For this we are aided by current charts which we receive every day from the NOAA and from other Meteorological authorities who collect Satellite Data, then turn the data into charts and beam them on a daily basis to everybody who can receive them. Continue reading
Today we had our first sea day with beautiful weather and it looks like it will remain so. The frontal system of yesterday dissipated and the next one coming will only bring thunderstorms on Monday and we will be in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday. And that should be a warm day as normally between systems the wind dies down. The route we are taking runs roughly along the east coast of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Mexico before we reach Cuba and the Straits of Florida. I use the word roughly as it is not a straight course. Continue reading
Puerto Limon is one of the two major ports in Costa Rica. There is a 3rd one Porto Moin but I have been told it is too obscure for cruise ships. One port is located on the west coast, Puerto Caldera with attached to it Punta Arenas cruise terminal and on the East coast there is Puerto Limon. Limon is not really much of a port. It is just a corner of a large bay with a cargo pier at the north side and a newer pier with two berths next to it. The cargo dock is lying inside the natural sea wall and that is not for nothing. The coast here is a real surfer’s paradise with swells that built up very high and then roll freely into the bay. Very exciting for surfers who come in droves to this coast to ride the waves. Continue reading
The Zuiderdam has been sailing on this service for quite a while and hence the Captain and his team have become experts in dipping into the Panama Canal and out again. So today was pure routine, although it was a hot routine. Although it was somewhat cloudy at times, the sun burned down upon us all day and there was not much wind to help cool things down a little bit. That was a pity; but on the other hand it is also good as a cool breeze gives the impression that it is not so warm and then the next morning you find out that it was very warm and sunny when you start to imitate a well-cooked lobster. Continue reading
When there is bad weather in the offing, then as a captain you always have to decide: how much are you going to tell the guests, how much detailed information to be given, what is enough to prepare them without confusing the message. Once you have done that, the waiting game starts until the bad weather comes through and you can find out how good your predictions were and if real life –ship in storm- equates to the guests perspective. The understanding achieved by the warnings given. There is no captain in the world who minds to be called a liar if the weather is less bad than he/she predicted but at the same time there is the nagging feeling of will they believe me next time or will they just think that I am always exaggerating. Continue reading
11 Feb. 2018: At Sea.
Yesterday I boarded the ms Zuiderdam in Willemstad after having been on vacation since December 18 after leaving the ms Nieuw Statendam when it ended its maiden voyage in Ft. Lauderdale.
During my vacation time, the IT gurus of Holland America have been moving my blog to a separate server for operational reasons. It should not have affected anybody as I am still linked through via the HAL blog but you can also reach me via www.captainalbert.com.
Never a dull moment when you work for Holland America. Continue reading
The weather gods were with us and we arrived to observe a nice dry Panama day. The schedule worked out this time and the ms Zuiderdam moved into the first lock chamber at 06.30, just when the sun was rising. And that made it not too hot for standing outside on deck and watching the proceedings. By 08.00 we were out and moved to the anchorage to land over a 1000 guests on the land tour. We accomplished that by 11.00 hrs. and then we had to wait to go back into the schedule again.
Sometimes guests ask me how often I have been in the Panama Canal, with these sort of dive in – dive out cruises you quickly build up a good number and I have now passed the 100 times in the Canal, although not 100 crossings yet.
From then on it was less smooth. Some big boys, panamax ships had to come through and they go slow as there is hardly any water flow around these ships as they are so tight to the lock walls at both sides. I think the original designers back in 1900 had never envisioned that some ships would be going through that would only fit exactly in the locks with only enough spare space so that the water could flow around the ship. We have now progressed to the 2nd Panama Locks where post-panamax ships can go through and we saw a few of them waiting today. They are either too long for the old locks or too wide or both.
Still it delayed us and the wish of the Captain for the ship to be docked in Colon by 16.00 hrs. was not going to be fulfilled and we were docked there just after 17.00 hrs. Hopefully the guests who were on the dock by 16.00 hrs. took his advice and parked themselves in the Bar with a cool drink in their hands. It is a very satisfying way to wait and see your “apartment” arriving and being parked in front of you.
With high ships like the Zuiderdam we sometimes have 4 mules aft. Then the very last ones make fast on the mooring deck and the two more forward give out a wire to the Lower promenade deck where we have special Panama Canal bollards installed on the walk around deck. We have then 2 officers aft, one on the mooring deck and one on the higher deck 3.
For the officers on the bridge and fore and aft, the main duty during a Panama Canal operation is to monitor and keep track of what the Canal people are doing. The pilots bring their own sailor crew and their own tugboats, and while going in and out of the locks they have the locomotives or mules control the ship.
Maintaining the ships log on the bridge is the core duty. Since the grey mists of time, ships have maintained ships logs which note the most important things that happen to ensure there are records for just in case………………… In the old days, until about 10 years ago, it was with paper and pen, and then the electronic logs came. For each situation a template was developed and the Assistant officer of the watch fills in the blanks. For the odd situation that there is no template, there is a Free text option to cover the situation.
This is one of the templates which are used to ensure proper log keeping.
The officers fore and aft pass on the information about the entering and leaving the locks and when the locomotives have been made fast or have been released by the Panama Canal Crew. The handling of the wires from the locomotives are about the most dangerous part of the whole evolution so the officers on the mooring decks are watching like hawks to ensure that the work is done safely and with regard for the ships property. Occasionally a tugboat needs to be made fast and that is normally done by the ship’s crew as it mostly occurs when the Panama Canal pilot is not yet on board. Like when we have to wait as the entering of the locks has been delayed.
Tonight at 20.00 we will sail again and head for Puerto Limon in Costa Rico. That will be full speed and even with an hour back it is a very tight schedule. Weather for tomorrow, light winds and temperature of 27oC or 80 oF, with a 50% chance of a shower in the early afternoon.
Captain Albert
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