And then we did not sail. During the startup procedures the Engineers discovered an anomaly which prohibited the Chief engineer from being satisfied with all the systems being reliable. And then we do not move until the situation has been safely resolved. The yard and sub-contractors experts were on board (that is why we have a shakedown cruise) and they embarked on an elaborate fact finding mission. In the shipping business, not unlike the Airline business, there tends to be a knock on effect and last night it was no different. All was resolved by 18.00 hrs. but that was a conflicting time with the departures of a Costa ship and a Royal Caribbean ship. And thus we had to wait until 19.30 hrs.

That put the Captain in a quandary about what to do with the call at Dubrovnik. We could still go there but we would be arriving somewhere in the afternoon and that would cut the call very short. So after reviewing the situation and with the intent to still give those on board a port day, it was decided to call at Messina on the 3^rd of December. And stay there from 10.00 hrs. until 20.00 hrs.  Dubrovnik is a beautiful city but Messina is a convenient city in that way that while you need shuttlebuses in Dubrovnik, you can just cross the street to get into Messina.

By 19.30 hrs. we sailed from the cruise terminal and through venice to the outside. Venice by night is as if you are driving through a fairytale with the lights shining on the old buildings but, while still impressive, I noticed a lot of lights out this time. I had heard that a lot of surface level installed flood lights had been damaged during the recent flooding’s and obviously they had not been replaced yet.

Our route to Messina. On average we stay 12 miles off the coast until we come to the “Italian Heel” and turn West.

So today we sail down the East Coast of Italy instead of hugging the west coast of former Yugoslavia. By 04.00 hrs. tomorrow we will be sailing along the Southside of Italy, the area that is called Calabria and then come up towards the Strait of Messina near breakfast time. The Pilot has been ordered for 09.00 hrs.

And what was going on onboard last night? Well the place was heaving. We have on board 1762 guests (which includes a few hundred support staff) and 1041 working crew and 1 baby crew (not working). All the venues were open and everybody got a good work out in how to handle the large flow of traffic rippling through the Music Walk. Next cruise we should have more guests on board and so this shakedown cruise is a perfect test to see what works, how it works, what still needs to be done and what we can still improve upon.

Today was the Grand Opening of the Shops on Board. Officially planned for yesterday afternoon, but you can not have a Grand Opening when you are not allowed to open because you are still alongside. It would upset Italian Customs very much if we would try, even while we are paying 22% VAT over each sale as we are sailing in European Waters. The shops on board are a concession and we now have a new one Dufres which also operates Duty Free shops in airports.

The official opening. The entrance to the Merabella shop which sells the really expensive items.

All the familiar routines that we are used to are being implemented. A few days ago the familiar wall boards in the Main Galley appeared, showing all the menu choices for the various restaurants on board. The pictures help the cooks to remember what the perfect presentation for each dish is as envisioned by the designers, the well-known chefs of the Holland America Line Culinary Council.  These Boards are basically cook books for those who know how to cook but need a reference and have to make sure that the tomato ends up on the right side of the dish and not on the wrong side.

The Display opposite the Pinnacle Galley. Looking at this wall is not good for your waist line as it conjures visions of going to make bookings in one of the Specialty Restaurants.

Tomorrow we are in Messina and we are looking forward to a nice and sunny day. We are now much further to the south and thus the weather is getting absolutely balmy compared to Venice. 18oC or 64oF. The only thing that might mar a perfect day is increasing wind in the afternoon and that might mean choppy seas. Not ideal as we want to lower lifeboats for training. So it will all depend on the angle of the wind whether the Staff Captain has a happy day or not.

Yesterday afternoon , sailing into Venice, as beautiful as ever.

The weather is nicely following the forecast and thus we had a quiet but chilly night followed by a quiet but chilly day with a watery sun showing through. Not that it mattered much it as was not supposed to be a sunny Caribbean day but a European change over day. With the changeover being that we had the shakedown cruise guests coming on board.  Some had arrived already last night but the majority joined this morning. A shakedown cruise is really meant to “shake down” the ship for a cruise. It was something that did not happen in the old days. The old Ocean Liners were simply completed and started sailing and that was it. Then in the 1990’s Holland America and every other company as well, started with one night travel agent cruises followed by what was then the maiden voyage.  But the ships got more and more complicated and the service to the guests more and more refined. To such an extent that you could not just have crew walking on board and run a perfect cruise from scratch. Hence the shakedown cruise was invented.  A short cruise to test everything and if it was not perfect than it did not matter as the guests on board did not pay but were there to help out with testing the perfect product.

We tested that concept with the Koningsdam and it worked beautifully and hence we have continued this now with the Nieuw Statendam. These guests will enjoy a nice cruise but might be exposed to some testing of systems to see if it all works as it should.  One of those guests is my lord and master who descended upon the ship last night after having indicated the desire for inspecting the Nieuw Statendam.  And how am I to say No?  I have learned better than that after 27years of marriage. I am not the only one as there are quite a few of past and present Holland America Line officers and crew members here, who must be in the same situation.

The ships complement is already looking beyond the shakedown cruise, to December 5 when the first paying guests come on board. We are starting the regular cruise calendar for the ship with a Trans-Atlantic Crossing calling at Cartagena, Malaga and Funchal before heading straight for Fort Lauderdale. Once there the ship will settle down in a 7 day cruise routine although the first cruise will be a 3 day one, to get the ship into the regular routine of Saturday departures.

In the meantime all the venues on board will be tested to the limit to see if it all works. Specialty restaurants,  all the venues of the Music Walk, The Green House Spa, and all the behind the scene routines. No doubt Room Service will get a work out and the various Bars as well.  Some guests will have made Holland America cruises before so they will settle into their regular routine but there will be numerous who will have their first taste of a HAL cruise and they will want to taste and experience at all. Thus “Shake Down” here we come.

The final piece of art installed. Simple and clean lines without any fuss.

I promised one more piece of art, the final piece of art which was only installed the day before yesterday and only yesterday the supporting tape came off. For me it is one of the nicest pieces of art on board. I would call it a harp, although it is not one. It is simple, stylish and a proper focus point before entering the Music Walk.

I mentioned in one of the previous blogs that we had 1920 pieces of art on board so it is too much to show them all on the blog. Time for everybody to book a cruise on the Nieuw Statendam and to see it for themselves. But one more unusual piece of art to savor. Standing outside the Tamarind Restaurant on Deck 10 we have 2 Chinese statues but again with a twist. The shapes are normal but the outside covering is different. Starboard side is pink, portside is blue.

When they found the emporrers soldiers in China they said that each statue was copied of a real soldier. Now that soldier has made it all the way from China to the Nieuw Statendam with a new uniform as well.

The weather for tomorrow should be the same as today. Partly sunny but chilly. We should spend the afternoon in Dubrovnik and from their sail for Civitavecchia.  We have done our Guest Boat drill with all the “shake downers” going through the routine so we are ready to go.

No more days to go, today was day zero and we sailed today. During the night the shipyard had cleared away all the impediments along the dock and we were just moored on our own mooring ropes and one gangway ashore. Before we could go there was still the minor detail of the Contract Signing. Same as when you buy a car, they like you to sign the contract before you drive off the Forecourt. So before we drove the ship out of the yard, something had to be signed as well. Hence there was a small ceremony in the Fincantieri yard office, we got the ship and they got the money.

It is a bit of going “around the houses” when sailing from M. to V. but the lack of deep water channels through the mud flats leave no other option.

Then by 11.30am we pulled out and sailed through the narrow channel to open sea. We had “time to say goodbye” playing on the P.A System, a tradition with Holland America that goes back to whenever the song was a hit for the first time, and we had to go slow as there was not much water under the keel hence it took 1 hrs. and 45 minutes to get to open water.

Sailing from the shipyard is only scenic if you like the architecture of Industry. The pilot told me in 2016 that they put here the pipes as a bridge over a channel as it worked better than through the mud. There  was a small chemical tanker waiting in the fairway for us to go by and then follow us out.

Then it was with 16 knots to the north to the main entrance to Venice and we re-entered again at 15.14 hrs. We cannot take a short cut here, even with all the water as it is simply too shallow. The aim of the whole operation with departure and arrival time from Marghera to Venice is, to get alongside the dock before dark, so that we have a good view while sailing and docking for the first time.

The Nieuw Statendam Townhall meeting with our President Mr. Orlando Ashford.

In the meantime, inside the ship all sorts of things were happening as well. Our President Mr. Orlando Ashford held a Town Hall meeting with all the crew in the Main Stage. He has been doing this ever since he came to Holland America (Tomorrow he will be 4 years with the company to date) and he presented a multimedia show to give all the crew an impression what has happened to Holland America in the last four years. Most of our crew do not see the Press Releases or come above decks much to see all the changes to the product that we are delivering.  A number of things that were introduced on the Koningsdam have proven so popular that they are now being retrofitted to the rest of the fleet. Profits are up, Crew pay is up, Crew contract length is down, it was a positive message he could bring. The crew really appreciates these sorts of meetings, as it reduces the distance between those in management and those on the ships, and ties shore side and ship side closer together.

A try to make to take the biggest selfie ever on the high seas. Unfortunately the Main stage is round and that does not make it easy for a good selfie.

On the Music Walk the entertainers were playing. Lincoln Art Centre gave their first official performance in the Queens Lounge, which is in the afternoon and early evening the performance location for the Classical Team and then later on it becomes the BB King Jazz Club. In the morning we have America’s Test kitchen there so it will be busy all day. Also the Rolling Stone Rock Lounge Venue was rolling and the band was in full swing with Rock and Roll, at least I assume it was.  I am from the 70’s / 80’s disco era and Rock and Roll has somehow passed me by.

The First Ever official performance of the Lincoln Art Center group on the ship.

We docked at 17.00 hrs. and because we were early we swung around and went stern in. This will make it easier to leave tomorrow as we can save some time by not having to swing off the cruise terminal. This evening we will start the embarkation of the first guests who are going to sail with us, although I have been given to understand that the majority will join tomorrow morning. And then the four day shakedown cruise will start and we can test if everything works as it should be and by the way it is going at the moment I do not think that it is going to be a problem.

Another “official” first. the Rock band in the Rolling Stone Rock room.

I had a question on the blog about the tonnage of the ship. The Nieuw Statendam is now officially measured at 99,902 register tons (read volume tons) & a length of 985 ft. and that means that she falls just until the 100,000 tons limit of ships allowed to sail into Venice. That is one of the reasons that Holland America is not going for the big ships (100.000 tons and up to 3000 guests is nowadays a medium size ship) and otherwise we cannot offer the guests all the 480 ports our ships call at.

Four figures in a box. Far away you can see the figures and the dresses.

When closer you can see that it are blobs of paint on steel spikes.

Today the last piece of art was installed and I will post a picture of that tomorrow. Now two photos of something quite intricate, at least I think it must have taken the artist a long time to make it. A display box hanging in the staircase with figures made out of vertical pins and paint blobs.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny day but chilly 9oC / 48oF.

With one day to go, today it was the big day, as the ship was handed over by Fincantieri Shipyard to Holland America Line. The ship is more or less finished and thus there was very little work going on.

We have on board 1043 crew who are on the crew list and we are expecting another 40 today. On top of that I estimate that we have approx. 200+ support staff on board, which includes a large number of trainers and quality control managers and such diverse groups as Public Relations and wine experts. In the coming days a lot of these people will leave the ship port by port but I believe that the President of HAL and some of the Vice Presidents are staying on board until into next cruise.

Last night there was a cocktail party and subsequent dinner to say thank you to the new build teams of Carnival and Holland America Line. CCS (the new build team Carnival Corporation) oversees the whole operation as Carnival Corp is basically paying for the ship after which the Brand, Holland America Line is operating it. Holland America Line is supervising if it all gets installed according to specification and is then responsible to get the ship setup to HAL standards so we can sail and deliver the product. There were several speakers at the party, Keith Taylor, Orlando Ashford and Stein Kruse with thank you’s and observations but the most important occurrence was the recognition of our new build manager for the Nieuw Statendam.

Mr. Jan Koller, Newbuild Manager and 50 years with Holland America Line. To the right Mr. Stein Kruse who needed notes as he went through Jan’s whole career and there were more Dam-ships to mention than he could remember.

His name is Jan Koller and he is also this year 50 years with the company. And that is a long, long time and not many employees reach that number as either you have to start very young or stay with the company until well past retirement time. But Jan started young, in 1968 we still had cargo ships and his first one had the real Dutch name of Gorredyk. (Gorredijk is a town in the Netherlands and all the Holland America Line cargo ship names had a dyk ending) Jan went through the ranks, stayed on the fleet until he was an established Chief Engineer and then moved shore side when the newbuilding of the R class started. And he has been New build manager ever since. I know Jan since he was 2^nd engineer on the new build of the old Noordam in 1993. Mr. Stein Kruse made a very nice speech and went through the whole career of Jan, which was by us all much appreciated because 50 years is a milestone. Jan has promised that he will also supervise the 3^rd Pinnacle Class which comes into service in 2021. By that time he will have served the company for 53 years.

Mr. Arnold Donald on behalf of Carnival Corporation.

The handover ceremony was planned for 11.00 hrs. and by 09.30 a steady stream of invitees started to arrive. For that purpose the big tent on the dock side was used to check everybody in. Once on board they could go to the Main Stage where at the entrance Service Staff verified your name against a list on a tablet and then directed you to the correct seating area. Lots of shipyard security around but also some “suits” who were clearly special security and later on it became clear that they were attached to the Vice Minister of Italy for Transport and infrastructure.  They must have thought the ship was really safe as they spent a lot of time focusing on the breakfast setup in the Lido.  The Stage was set up with two stands, so Italian speakers spoke from the portside and company speakers in English spoke from the starboard side. The captain made a speech while standing in the middle and I thought that was very symbolic.

Captain Sybe de Boer during his thank you speech. The lady in red was the Master of Ceremonies, the Gentleman in the middle the Director General of Fincantieri Marghera,

It was not just about the High and the Mighty today; the crew was not forgotten and basically the ship is theirs tonight. The shops will be open for inspection, there will be games in the Casino and there will be two shows in the Main Stage performed by the cast who ended the handover ceremony this morning.

The Dance and Light show performed at the end of the ceremonies. The company is called Humanity and they will perform for our crew tonight. Please note the light effects. With this wonderful stage the lights curve 270o around the audience. It is almost as if you are in the show itself.

Tomorrow should be another sunny but chilly day with 7oC /45 oF but with some wind so it will be chilly again. As mentioned yesterday we should be sailing at 11 am.

Today we had a sunny day but there was a bit of wind and that turned it into a “crisp” day. But good for the work that still needs to be done. The yard is very busy with removing the last containers full with carton and other packing materials from the ship and cleaning up the dock side in general as tomorrow there will be the handover of the ship. And it would be quite handy if everybody could walk to the tent on the dock without having to stumble over all sorts of equipment.

After the party last night and a later start this morning because of it (Breakfast available at 08.00 instead of 06.30) the full focus is now going to sailing out and getting into the regular cruise routine. So today we had our first Navigation Briefing where the Sr. Navigation Officer took the whole navigation team, augmented with the Chief Engineer, The Environmental Officer and the Security Officer, through the route we will follow. And that from dock to dock with everything in between. The Chief Engineer is there for propulsion and fuel issues, The environmental officer for verifying that the ship complies with every rule while going from a to b, and the Security Officer as he is in charge of the gangways and needs to know what will be available and how to set up his security systems.

The Bridge Team with all the officers present. The Captain is the 2nd. from left, Chief engineer is sitting next to the (bald) Environmental Officer and the Staff Captain is in the red chair. The meeting is about to begin.

The plan is (subject to change) to sail from the yard on 30 November at 11.00 hrs. and then go with a slow speed through the narrow channel which leads from the Yard to the Open Sea. We will have two pilots and several tugboats. The latter as a safeguard as we will be maneuvering with the ship; for the first time since the sea trials in August. Once outside we sail to the Venice entrance where we hope to be around 14.45. This time depends a little bit on PR photos of the ship. But the plan is to be docked around 1700 hrs. and then we will have an overnight in Venice.

Slowly but steadily more and more Higher Management is arriving. We now have on board Mr. Mickey Arison (and it does not go any higher), Mr. Stein Kruse who is in charge of the HAL Group within Carnival (Holland America, Seabourn and P&O Australia), Mr. Orlando Ashford President of Holland America Line and Admiral Keith Taylor who is the Exe. VP of Marine Services for the HAL Group. His function might need a small explanation as he is not always in the spotlight. When Mr. Stein Kruse created the HAL Group back in 2013, there were two main branches created as well; The Brands (the individual companies as the Guest’s see them) and Marine Services which is the branch which supports the Brands. Keith Taylor retired as an admiral from the USCG, hence his title. I am a bit old fashioned so I believe that titles once given stay with you as an indication of your achievements.

With everything close to ready, the artists are moving in and we see rehearsals going on. This is Billboard on Board with the dueling pianos. There is a training coach with them to ensure that Billy Joel is going right and not wrong until the routine settles in,

Under the Exe VP, there is a Vice President for the Holland America side of Marine Operations (read the nautical side) his name is Eric Chamberlain and he is an ex USCG Captain. Then we have a Sr. Director called Capt. Rik Krombeen (his bio is on the blog site as he came from within) and then we are far enough down the totem pole to come to the Captains, which includes me.

That is only the nautical side as we also have the technical side and the Hotel side. The latter is by far the largest as the Hotel department on board is the largest of course and thus is there also a large support staff shore side. Starting with a Sr. Vice President called Michael Smith and then going all the way down to various support staff.

The one person who is still missing from this list is Mr. Arnold Donald who is in charge of Carnival Corporation which controls all the Brands under the Carnival umbrella. He is expected tomorrow.

Two carpenters from the yard busy with the finishing touches of the last major piece of art that was still missing.

Today the last pieces of art went up. This one is standing in the lobby of Deck 3 just outside the Main Stage. The design corresponds with the Light Fixtures in the lower and top entrance to the Main Stage. It is similar to the one on the Koningsdam and there I was told that by using the same light construction in and outside the Main Stage it would provide a flowing link between the Main Stage and the rest of the ship.

The Beatles, also known as the Fab. four. Looking at the hair style, this photo must have been taken in the early years.

A much simpler piece of art hanging in the staircase is a picture of the Fab Four, showing off their chewing gum skills.

Weather for tomorrow, another sunny day with little wind but the temperature is going down to 8oC or 46oF. It is time to leave.

A look over the Seaview Deck. I think the yard cannot wait to get us out of here as all that blue steel are the first pieces of a puzzle to construct a Costa Ship.

We woke up to a nice and dry day and later on the sun came out and it was very pleasant outside. The Norwegians would have called it a warm day; the Italians were all bundled up as to them it was still a cold day. For me as a Dutchman, I could walk outside in just a shirt if I was on the sunny side. So very pleasant. For everybody the regular work continued with finishing up, cleaning and installing equipment and materials so the ship can run as expected.

Last night we had the black out and in a period of 2 hrs. the Chief Engineer and his team shadowed the yard while they went through all the tests. On the bridge the same was happening. At 19.35 they stopped the main engine and then all the lights went out. The emergency generator came on and the tests started. One of the important tests is to see if all elevators come down to deck 3 (lifeboat deck) and remain there with the doors open. If not all elevators can be used, the Chief Engineer will assign one in each Staircase and these lifts will be manned by the Emergency Elevator Operator team, who will be riding the elevators from deck to deck so every deck receives equal service. Also Watertight Doors and Fire screen doors were tested, as they have to work without any power available. For that they have compressed oil pressure or compressed air pressure in bottles.

Now there is the option that the Emergency Generator will fail. If that happens we have a battery backup. Enough power to keep emergency lighting and other important equipment going for about 30 minutes over the whole ship. That 30 minutes links into the requirement that we have to be able to lower all the lifeboats and life rafts in 30 minutes. Which means we will have light for the whole period that the embarkation goes on and the lowering away.

By 21.30 hrs. everything was finished and all the crew, who had gone to the movie ashore, could walk back on board. A lot of crew had gone into Venice (the local bus stops outside the door) and they came back at their own convenience.

The Crows nest is receiving its furniture and the styles reflect the multi purpose room it is to be.

As we are nearing the end of our stay here, the immigration officials required a full face to face check of all crew on board. In a similar way as the CPB in the States does every 90 day with a Full Crew Inspection. That took quite a bit of time as every crew member was checked against the European Database to see if all passports were in order. But now we can sail.

Tonight we have the crew party ashore. It is a way for the company to say Thank you for  all the hard work done by the Officers and Crew. Some of the Officers such as the Staff Captain, Chief Engineer, Hotel Director and quite a few deck officers and engineers have been here from nearly the beginning and they have done a lot of work to help getting the ship to where it is now. We did the same for the Koningsdam and everybody is going to the same place again where the “Heineken Experience” will provide a party. I went last time and it was not good for my ears so this time I will stay on board and make sure the ship does not sail away without us.

That sailing away is getting easier as today the Yard removed all the Storm Lashings. All the heavy wires and hawsers, which kept the ship in position, regardless of the weather. Now we are moored with just our own mooring ropes as we normally do in every port. The weather is forecast to remain nice for the remainder of the week, so we do not foresee any issues.

This is hanging in the forward Pax. staircase. To stay with the ships musical theme. J.S Bach could have looked at it but also the Beach Boys as it links both eras.

Another piece of art today. At first glance it looks like a painting that would be more at home on the ceiling of a 17^th. Palace than on a HAL ship. But if you look closer you see that it is painted on a surfboard……………….. The people who have selected all these paintings and other artwork, ArtLink, are also the ones who have taken over the Art Concession on board.

The Art Gallery on Deck 3.

Their Gallery is located on deck 3 forwarded of the upper level Queens Lounge, and their art is going to be considerably different than what was offered by Park West the previous concession. Today they were hanging the first pieces on the walls and what I saw did appeal to my personal taste. Luckily I will not be tempted to buy anything as my apartment has mainly sloping walls and what is straight is already full.

Weather: The same as today, dry and most likely no clouds. Good for all the work going on.

The ship is nearly finished and at the moment we have more Fire and Security Patrol people on board than workers. Yesterday there was even more security when we had all the local guests on board. The last group of them left last evening and hopefully they have been suitably impressed with what Holland America ordered and what their family members constructed.

Overview of the completed Lido Pool Area.

So we are back to ourselves and with ourselves we mean 1032 crew, which include a few people like me, who live with 2 feet on board but who are not part of the regular crew list. Then I estimate that there are about another 200 specialists and support groups on board who have to install, or finish a very specialized item and these people come and go depending on the project. Our piano tuner (he was here again today and has now progressed to Billboard on Board) is one of such specialists.

The Queens Lounge also completed. This is a mock up of how the stage will look like with the Lincoln Arts Center classical music on stage, before it becomes the BB King Jazz Club. The A/V guys threw some fancy lighting in as well.

I had a question in the comments of who the Cruise Director for the maiden voyage is and I only met him yesterday. Although already longer on board, he spends his drill time on the bridge assisting the Captain. With all these drills going on, everybody runs around making it happen and my position is then running around the ship as well, to ensure that everybody is running the right way. thus I did not see him until very recently. But his name is Ross McTaggart and he has been around a long time working for the company, holding various functions in the Cruise Staff Department. And now as the first C.D of the Nieuw Statendam.  The Cruise Director’s function is to be the front of the house person and in that way he/she is present where ever something is going on. Then there is the back of the house person by means of an Entertainment Coordinator. This person schedules all the activities and entertainment that is going on in the ship. And with all these happenings on the Music Walk that is not an easy job. Moreover as there are entertainers involved and that gives High Drama even at the best of times. Then there is an Assistant Cruise Director, five youth staff to man club HAL, a Digital Work Shop Host (the person for the computer lessons), 17 crew for back stage and audio /visual activities and the Cook for America’s Test Kitchen. Although the official title is Host, not Cook. This person falls under Entertainment and not under the Kitchen staff as it is a front of the house = guest focused activity. I assume what the Chief Cook does with his team is more stomach focused…………..

The Lido deck aft outside. Or officially called the Sea View Deck. Not really the place to be at the moment too cold and too chilly but it is ready for business.

We now have USCG on board who are involved in pre departure checks before the ship sails. The USCG is a Port State Inspection as most countries have. When we are in an American port they come on board to conduct a CVE or a Control Verification Examination. There is one a year where they do an in-depth inspection and there is the 2^nd one, when they just do spot checks, a walk through of the ship and the emergency drills. There are a number of checks that you really cannot do during an inspection in a turn over port and for that reason we invite the Coast Guard to come to the new build.

Tonight we will conduct a full blackout and then we see what still works, and what has to work is indeed still working. Black outs on cruise ships do not happen very often but sometimes, if for one reason or the other, there is a power surge and a second engine does not come on line automatically, the engine load goes too high and the engine shuts itself down, and then the lights go out. Not dangerous but very inconvenient. However during a real emergency, let’s say with an engine room on fire, some power is still needed to keep the ship safe. Nowadays most of the larger ships have two engine rooms, separated by a fire proof bulkhead so the chance is very, very small but the regulations are still there. The most important item to test tonight is to see if the Emergency Generator (see one of my recent blogs) starts up automatically within 10 seconds and if it then powers a whole list of machinery which is important during an emergency situation. As an example the Elevators; required is one elevator in each staircase but Holland America has them all on emergency power. No lights in the cabins but there will be limited lighting in the hallways and the public areas. Also we have nowadays (not legally required) some spare power for keeping some AC, Cooking and the Toilet Systems going.

The theme of the Sea view Deck is The Sea and surfing so there is “Surf Board ” art around and today they were adding some wall pictures also with Sea and Surf.

For this black-out happening all crew will have to leave the ship for 2 hours and the Yard is going to show a movie in the cafeteria next to the ship.

I expect we all have to march through the rain again, as although it was dry part of the day, we are expecting more rain again tonight. But that should be the last rain for a while. During the night it should all move away and the long term weather forecast gives 7 days of dry weather in a row.

Today while it was a rainy day, it was also visiting day for the Yard. It seems to be a sort of tradition for when the shipyard is delivering a ship that the families of the yard workers receive an invitation to come and see what has been constructed. Starting from late morning until late afternoon large numbers of families came on board in groups, could walk around and were then surprised with a light and dance show in the World Stage. A “spectacolo” it was called by an Italian Lady who was making announcements to get all the visitors to the Main Stage and later off the ship again. I had a quick look inside and it was indeed a spectacle with a dance group who danced in the dark and then the light effects made them visible. With our 270o LED screens all around the audience is was quite impressive and also quite loud. The speaker system worked very well.

The “Spectacolo” in the Main Stage. Very difficult to take a picture of with a simple camera. But I caught the 270 degree wrap around screen to a certain extent.

For that reason the Lido Restaurant was closed today for the officers and staff as the yard has requested food (read pasty) outlets and the ship happily helped out. Instead the Dining room was open all day for us giving the stewards at the same time to chance to polish their skills a little bit more.  As is the same for the guests, the dining room is wonderful but it is not good for the waist line. Hence my personal preference where I can keep the number of calories a little bit better under control.

With no Lido available I went to the Dining room for lunch. After having lived for 26 years in England, I can even appreciate the local cuisine once in a while. This is the Holland America way of presenting Fish and Chips. (With vinegar on the side for the purists)

Our Holland America Line Crew was in full swing with cleaning the ship from top to bottom and more and more inventory arrived in the cabins. Today my cabin received a laundry bag, glasses and blankets for the balcony chairs. As far as I can see the only thing my cabin is still missing is a trashcan and a fruit bowl. So we are getting there. Every day more boxes are popping up with goodies to supply.  And for the rest, cleaning, cleaning and cleaning. Today was the day of the Vacuum Cleaner. Henry’s everywhere.

Because the yard people were not working we had a quiet day with the P.A system, apart from the occasional announcements by the Italian Lady about the “spectacolo”. For the last 10 days we all have been exposed either to either loud music or to constant announcements with “test, test, P.A test” or “test, test Muting Test”. All in various versions of Italian and English. Apart for Guest announcements the P.A system is also important for the safety of the ship. And as such an emergency P.A system is required under the SOLAS regulations.  We also have two systems, one for the whole ship and a 2^nd one for the lifeboat and life raft stations only. So outside on Deck 3 there are two speaker systems, just in case the regular / normal system would fail. However that is easily tested as there are not that many speakers and it is all outside., nobody notices it very much.

The regular speaker system is much more complicated as it has to work everywhere and it has selector switches for certain areas. Holland America normally does not make announcements in the cabins and that means already one option to filter out. In that way we have about 10 different areas which can all by combined or separated. Then the Main Stage is a separate challenge. It is not a nice situation if an entertainer is in the middle of his/her act and suddenly the bridge comes blasting through with an announcement about “Whales on the port side”. From experience I can tell you, the whales will win. Thus the show lounge can be muted. But the system must have the capability to override this muting function in case of a real emergency…………. when we press the ALL CALL.  To figure that one out, and to see if all speakers are following suit, the whole ship has been exposed all week, to Test, Test, Muting Test.

The Statue outside the Green House Spa on Deck 9. Please scroll down to the end of the blog to see what he is holding in his hand.

Some days ago I posted a statue standing outside the Green House Spa, still wrapped up in plastic and waiting for an unveiling. Well the plastic has come off and the statue is a see through version of a very famous Statue. I will leave to the cultural experts among my readers to figure out who made the original and what it is called. But as art on the Nieuw Statendam falls under the headings of Music, Whimsical or both, this belongs to the “whimsical” department. Just look what is in the left hand ……….. and this is real.

Tomorrow the yard will start buzzing again and the weather will remain un-stable. Not much wind so it will not be too cold but with a chance of showers in the afternoon. It might help the deck department with cleaning the outside decks a little bit.

This is Culture with a twist. Hopefully it will make the Guests smile.

We have seven days to go so next Friday we will leave the yard and go around the outlying marshes to Venice. There is a small channel that runs from Marghera /Mestre to Venice but it is much too small for a large cruise ship. When in are in Mestre you can take a Vaporetto (water taxi) to Venice and back and then you get of course the Scenic tour when sailing into Venice but for the rest these channels are mainly used for barges to transport cargo.  So we have a 2 hrs. sail (slow speed) from the Shipyard to dock to open sea and back in again to the Cruise Terminal.

This morning the yard was testing the bottle throwing device. I assume for the dedication in February as they won’t have much time left to fine tune as the angle must be exactly right otherwise the bottle will not break and that would bring bad luck.

This morning we had a full drill again, as we are getting ready for the official drill tomorrow morning, which will be viewed by Lloyd’s Register Inspectors to see if we are proficient in everything so they can give the ship her passport. This passport is a certificate called the PSSC or Passenger Ship Safety Certificate. This is the main piece of paper that gives the right to sail. If that one has been issued then all the other certificates fall into place. Next important one is our Bare Boat charter certificate, which is issued by the Flag State and it is basically saying who the owner is and that the captain is allowed to play with the ship. It is called a charter as an operating company charters it from the owning company. This is nowadays the standard way the ships business is organized. In a sort of similar way as shore side when you lease a car. You get the whole car and you can do with it what you want but you do not own it directly.

The art in the corridors is very similar to the Koningsdam. Enlarged photos of Musical instruments such as microphones, tape decks, amplifiers etc.

Having a “Bare Boat” means that the company which charters it can put their own crew on board. So the owner of the ship (which in this case we are ourselves but legally under another company name) does officially not provide the crew. For larger companies that is the normal way of doing as it stays in house but there are two entities involved. But you find in the cruise industry, mainly in the 3 star segments, other charter options. Whereby a shore side travel agency charters a ship from totally different entity and then put the guests on it who have booked through that agency. A good example is Cruise and Maritime Voyages which mainly operates in the United Kingdom. The owner provides the ship and quite often also the Deck and Engine crew and then the Hotel department is another entity which is hired to make the cruise ship crew complete. Then the Travel Agency designs the cruises, sells them and puts the clients on board. This can work very well but it can also have its challenges as all these different groups have their own focus points and their own bottom line to look at. So all the big companies who operate in the four, five and six star segment have everything in house.

The Piano Tuner happily tinkling away while around him the yard is finishing up and also touching up.

We can really see that we are now getting to the last finishing touches. The shops staff are stocking their the Shops located around the upper level of the Queens Lounge, housekeeping is fitting out the Suites (the coffee machines went in today), the yard is bringing in more and more chairs into the lounges and the piano tuner arrived. Now this is a typical Cruise Ship Life thing and a service you will not find on any other sort of ship. So the Steinway was placed on the stage and the piano tuner was tinkling away. It will take him quite some time to get it right as the piano has been in a big crate for a while and it has traveled from the factory to the ship through all sorts of weather and temperature conditions. One Board the temperature does not fluctuate that much and then the weekly visit take a lot less time. In mean time the yard kept doing “yard things” around him.

We have quite a few Diorama boxes hanging in the ship. Full of whimsical things of which we do not really know what it is or is supposed to be.

But that does not mean that it is not very nice.

With all the protective paper, bubble wrap and carton coming down, more and more artwork is revealed so another sample of what the guests can see when they walk around. Suspense is building though as there are still a few pedestals empty.

Weather for tomorrow, it is getting warmer again with some showers during the night time and dry weather in the afternoon.

What it is I do not know but it is quite nice.