It is always nice if the weather does what the weather forecast says it should do. But it did. It followed exactly the picture of the weather chart I showed yesterday. Hardly any wind at all while between the islands and then slowly starting to breeze up once we cleared Hispaniola. Now the wind has reached full trade wind force as we are nearing the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Then tomorrow when we come close to Aruba the wind should abate again somewhat but we will have to see if it will really happen. In the meantime the guests could enjoy a very nice day at sea and the captain was getting them in the mood already for Aruba as it will be Carnival Day there.
Category: Staff & Crew (page 9 of 10)
The wind fell away during the night and then the seas quickly abated and thus today we had a normal sea day. That made for a busy day in the shops as quite a few of our guests had to catch up on souvenirs and logo wear for at home. In the Canal the shops had a stand on the Lido deck with Panama Canal logo wear and trinkets and some of it was also on display in the shops today. Looking at the activity today, ……………..it was good to have a backup day………………….. The 900 people of the Canal tour had to catch up sometime.
I am currently involved in a whole series of refresher courses for the crew. They get training and refresher courses from their Team Leaders but a new face (or in my case a very old face) in front of the group helps to re-focus. Plus if there is anything going on that the crew is worried about, or finds that it needs attention then I normally get to hear about it during these trainings as they all know that I have direct lines going everywhere. The Zuiderdam is a happy crew, and so is the crew on the other HAL ships. And the company works hard to keep it like that. Plus the door of the Captain and the ships staff is always open. But ships crews are sailors. And sailors gossip, moan and groan and complain. And moan and groan they do. And they like to moan and groan to me, as I stand with one foot in the ship and with one foot in corporate. Continue reading
We had good hope that the swell would have started to die down but it was in vain as the wind decided to breeze up. We are already on the windiest side of the Caribbean Sea as the wind has miles and miles of sea to increase strength, but then with a frontal system in the area, it can breeze up even more. And it sure did. By mid-morning we had a force 6 to 7 blowing (A seven is near gale force) and that whipped up the sea and the seas whipped up the ship and thus the ships movement continued. It is not just regular rolling (the stabilizers are dealing with that) and not regular pitching as the waves are not directly on the bow or stern but this is a jerky movement. Ship is still and then it goes for a jolt. It does a light pitch (a sort of small up and down) and then another jolt. It does not really make you sea-sick, although the ship was quiet today, but it makes you sort of tired after a few hours. The constant focus of keeping yourself upright and on a straight path takes its toll. And thus napping was this afternoon a very favorite past time. Continue reading
Every time we approach Puerto Limon, there is certain amount of tension on the bridge. What is the angle of the swell into the port? We know how high the waves are as the surf forecasts are quite reliable. But what rolls into port is another question. Today the forecast was 2.8 meters or almost 9 feet and that is way too much to have to go safely alongside with. It would mean that the gangway would also go up and down by that much. But the docks are protected by a stone breakwater and thus it all depends on what the angle is. Will the breakwater block everything, will some of the swell curve around it, or is the angle just plain wrong and the docks are getting the whole 9 feet. And if so, that would mean we are out, and we would have to disappoint 900+ guests who all want to go on the Eco-tours. Continue reading
Today we were asked to be 15 minutes later at the pilot station, to get into the convoy, and we were still early out of the locks. And that is good for everybody. The transit through the Gatun Locks is taking place just after sunrise and then the outside sun and temperature are still reasonable and we are able to anchor earlier in Gatun Lake to get the overland tour off. And that has the advantage that we can go back through the locks earlier and dock in Colon nice and early. The one thing we do not like is to arrive late at Colon and then to find the overland tour (900+ guests) all impatiently waiting. I would park myself in one of the bars and watch the world go by but most of the 900+ see it differently and are not happy campers if they have to wait. We say sorry of course but there is nothing we can do about it. Maybe we should start a moan & groan telephone line to the Lock master of the Gatun Locks as he/she regulates when we are going through. 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
Holland America tries to build in at least one evening call in a cruise of more than seven days. If it is a seven day cruise, we also try it, but that does not always work out due to the distance between the various ports. With the A.B.C islands in such close proximity it is a no brainer to organize such a schedule as the distance between Oranjestad (on A = Aruba) and Willemstad (C = Curacao) is about 80 miles and that is pushing it. Thus we can do a late night departure and still arrive on time, while we almost sail backwards while getting there. The evening is mostly given over to a deck party or the chance to have an evening ashore. Although the option is there not that many of our guests go for it, apart from a few adventurers who go for a dinner ashore or who want to see another variation of slot machine in the local casino.
It is almost a straight line to Curacao and because we docked outside we hardly had to chance course at all. It was more a matter of stopping the ship on time and putting the lines ashore. No course changes needed as we were docking at the Mega Pier which runs in line with the general axis of the island. What is more important it also runs in line with the general axis of the wind. Done on purpose so the large ships do not have to contend with the wind which causes drift; no here the wind is full on the bow and thus it only slows the ship down a little bit. Today we were quite happy to be at the Mega Pier as the wind was very strong, breezing up to 30 knots at times.
Long spring lines with the ship sticking out. The same goes for the stern.
The Mega pier is called the Mega Pier as it can accommodate Mega size cruise ships. But it is not really a mega-pier. It is quite a small T pier which requires long lines to be run. For the spring lines to the corner of the dock and for the head and breast lines to a one single mooring bollard on a dolphin. They certainly did not overspend on making captains happy with a plethora of docking options. There is now a plan to build a 2nd mega pier and I have no idea if it is going to be a small T pier again or a mega T pier. I hope for the latter. They are already moving sand just behind this pier so it will not be long before we get an idea of what it is going to be.
Bow and stern lines go to a single dolphin. The green covers behind the bollards are little winches to pull the ropes up from the water.
In the meantime life goes on onboard with the regular routine of trainings. While I am still making everybody’s life miserable by going through their operations with a fine toothcomb, the trainers we have onboard are busy with training on the job. Holland America has a contract with a company who supplies specialist safety trainers (all ex-navy petty officers) who go around the fleet for general but also specific safety and related training. When I left the Eurodam I met one of them who was joining to provide training in a new system of chemical management which the company is introducing.
The trainers we have onboard now are more for the general items. I have asked them to spend this cruise a bit of time with the various hotel groups here in First Response training. This means training crew in the first actions to take when something occurs. If the initial actions are correct, then the occurrence is most likely not turning into a problem. Thus they focus on Cooks, Shops, Dining room, Casino and even on the two man band of the Club Hal kiddies place.
All the shops staff gathered on location in the shop and listening attentively to the trainers.
What we try to achieve is that a shop lady or anybody else will take affirmative action when something happens and will not run away or is not too scared to do something. Call the bridge, use a fire extinguisher, move all guests to a safe area, close Fire screen doors to secure an area. Etc. etc. All these things are not difficult to do but it needs to be trained and crew needs to be encouraged. Remember your first time of driving without a teacher or a parent to support and guide you? That apprehension is exactly the same onboard, we know they can do it, they know they can do it: we just have to offer them the routine and the skills to be confident to do it.
The results can be quite spectacular. A numbers of years ago, we had a small fire in the sauna on my ship. By the time the fire squad arrived the Spa Manager had evacuated the area, rigged up a fire hose and had three ladies on the hose (high heels and all) pouring water into the sauna. The fire was well and truly out before the “professionals” could do anything. I made sure she received an official letter of commendation from me and for all of them a free dinner in the Pinnacle as a thank you. Nobody had expected them to do something with a hose, but they thought it was safe to do so, and so they did. It was very impressive.
Tomorrow we are at sea, sailing North of Venezuela and Colombia on our way to Cartagena. We will have following wind, so the guests should have a pleasant situation on deck.
Today we are in Charlotte Amalie in the natural harbor they call Havensight. So good and so sheltered that in the good old days the pirates sought a safe haven here. Nowadays there are two cruise ship docking locations. The one here at Haven sight , which can handle four medium size ships or 3 big ones, and Crown Bay which can handle two medium to large ships or four very small ones. Crown Bay was an addition in the late 80’s and was originally known as the Submarine Base where the US Navy had a station. When they moved the docking area was redeveloped with the help of Carnival money to create an over flow dock incase downtown = Havensight was full. In the beginning it meant that the Holland America ships went there and the Carnival ships remained at Havensight. Then we were joined by the Princess ships. Now we are going the other way again as the Mega Liners from RCI are directed to this dock. Such as the Oasis and Allure of the Seas.
Havensight under reconstruction. Please note how long the spring is. Only one bollard left to use.
As a result the ms Eurodam docked at Havensight nbr 1. All the way in the corner. Behind us was one other ship, the Norwegian Gem which had been with us yesterday in San Juan as well. What happened to the 3rd one I do not know but if it had been known there were only two ships in, then we could have docked more to the middle and that would have been a lot easier. I already mentioned in my blog in December, when on board the Oosterdam, that the pier section in this area is under repair and it still is. The mess is just less big than last year. The whole pier is been restructured and new and stronger bollards are being installed plus new fenders. Very good for all of us but at the moment the ships are docking in a building site with only a little bit of space left for the gangway. And as most of the old bollards are gone there are not many left to put the mooring lines on.
Where once the Pink Hotel was and to the left, where the blue canopied boat is, used to be a very nice Bar.
I remember docking here in the 80’s with the old Statendam which had a draft that allowed it to be put all the way forward and later did the same with the N ships. This berth was always more shallower than the other berths and thus a selection was made on draft. Our old Rotterdam had 32 feet of draft at the stern and had to dock in the middle or near the end of the pier. There was not always space as larger ships – more passengers – would be given preference and thus we had to anchor very often in the bay. The good thing about that was that the guests were taken directly to downtown by ships tender, the bad thing was you had to wait for a tender to go and to return.
A nostalgic view of the late 1980’s. The ss Rotterdam docked behind a Carnival Holiday class ship.
When we could dock, the draft still caused a problem, which the captain solved by giving the ship a list of 1 or 2 degrees so the draft on the high side was 3 feet less and then we would winch the ship against and sometimes a little bit up the sand bank until the gangway could reach the dock. On departure we gave slack on the lines and the ship then slid back into deep enough water. You just had to make sure to arrive on lower water than what you had on departure. If that option was not possible then we had to rig up a long gangway, which we did not like as it was very narrow and tended to sag.
Is it a new Bar Restaurant ??. It looked closed and no details could be seen from the Eurodam bridge
The whole area has now been developed and the old pink hotel has gone, being replaced with more shops and also the old Bar & Restaurant on the end of one of the Marina Piers is also gone and replaced with new docks. That Bar was in the 1980’s a real meeting place for yacht and passenger ship crews as it was for everybody in walking distance, sometimes crawling distance, to the yachts or cruise ships. The ships now have Alcohol policies and St Thomas Real Estate policies so the Bar is no longer there. It looks that they have built something new, a sort of octagonal Dove Cote, but it looked very closed so I could not know yet if it is going to be a shopping hut or if it will be a Bar and Restaurant. It does have a perfect location.
St. Thomas is the furthest point we go on this cruise and now we will sail North West again, retracing our route and then call at Half Moon Cay the day after tomorrow.
The weather prediction of yesterday came partly out. The wind did turn but earlier than expected. It did so at 09.00 and Charlotte Amalie got a downpour straight away. But then it was sunny for the remainder of the day. Going back we will have the Trade Wind behind us and that will be good for Half Moon Cay, where you need Easterly wind to have a swell free beach. If we had gone to Half Moon Cay on the first day of the cruise, we would most likely have had to cancel as the swell and wind would have rolled directly into the Bay. But things look good this time.
Santo Tomas is one of those places were a canal would make the distance a lot shorter even if the distance between Roatan and Santo Tomas is only 142 miles. This is basically caused by the fact that the town is located inside a deep bay. The land is curved around it and protects the whole area from being exposed to the open Caribbean. So while we sail almost straight west from Roatan, most of that straight sailing is above land to reach the bay. Then the ship has to curve back until finally it can go south towards the dock. Just before you enter the bay the curve of protecting land is not very wide and thus a little cut –through would be possible. But looking at it economically the total traffic of ships which call at Puerto Barrios and Santo Tomas is probably not sufficient to even contemplate it.
A little cut at La Graciosa and you could quickly slip in and out of the bay.
As mentioned in my blog of the previous call, the guests here either go on tour or just wander into the terminal or visit the local town. For the latter there is a shuttle trolley service which leaves from the gangway. From the crew only those who have never been here before might go to the local town but all others who have bought the T shirt already normally stay on board. Unless shorex can organize a shuttle boat/ferry to the Amatique beach resort which is sometimes possible if the guests have not bought up all the tickets. But it is six hour happening and apart from concessions and entertainment not many crew have time to do it.
Tank entry by the rescue team taking a plank-type stretcher with them for the extraction.
Certainly not when I am around and I have dreamt up yet another major training. This time on request of the engine department. Enclosed Space Rescues. The engine department often has to inspect, clean or repair tanks and these are not known to be easily accessible or easy to work in. Thus if an accident would occur it is also very hard to get the casualty out. To do an efficient tank extraction you have to train as it is a lot more difficult than it seems. Training in a real tank itself is not so easy as one has to be opened up and also nobody can see what is going on and learn from it as there is most of the time no room to stand around. To alleviate the problem of the very few being able to see something, it is better if we build a sort of mock up in an open space.
A medical equipment on standby and the medical officers giving instruction to the stretcher bearers.
And thus with the aid of the five cadets on board I designed and constructed a complete tank in the Marshalling area; the open space in the ship where we normally handle the luggage and the provisions that come on board. With carton boxes, canvas, the luggage bins and some wood it was good enough for a good drill. The engineers sharpened their skills again and medical could now observe from close by what a ships tank looked like and how difficult it is to get a casualty out as the inside of a tank is normally web constructed which is needed for the strength of the ship.
Moving the Casualty from the back of the tank.
We have of course equipment on board to help with this but you have to exercise this to ensure that all the pieces of the puzzle fit together if something would happen. Enclosed space incidents are still very common in the industry and not only at sea. Workers who do not realize that in a tank there might lack of oxygen or all sorts of gasses and the work surface is seldom ideal. Thus the regulations before we can enter a tank are very strict to ensure that those who go in also come out again. A lot of extra casualties are caused because workers see a collapsed colleague inside and run in to help. Which only results in yet another casualty. Hence nobody goes into a tank for rescue and extraction without wearing breathing apparatus. The bottle on your back is very cumbersome when getting in and out but it is a life saver. We also have oxygen masks connected with a long hose to a bottle which can then remain outside but then you still need somebody else to watch over that hose so it does not get stuck behind something.
The casualty coming out. The opening is the average man hole size of a real tank. (some are a lot smaller)
Tomorrow we are in Costa Maya which lies 180 miles to the North from Santo Tomas and which will be our final call for this cruise. It should be a full house tomorrow with all the three berths occupied; the ms Oosterdam, the Rhapsody of the Seas and the Norwegian Jade. Weather: partly cloudy skies, 80oF / 26oC and a gentle breeze. So it will be a warm day there.
We had a glorious day at sea and the guests could sit outside to their hearts content and bake in the sun if they wanted to do so. Those who did move outside helped to ease the traffic inside a little bit as this cruise we are sailing with a full house. Although the Oosterdam has a space ratio of 44.2 which is one of the highest for the larger ships, it can still be busy. We have this cruise a real full house with every cabin occupied. Part of all these happy people on board is a large group called First Nation who have turned this into a sort of sub charter although the other guests do not notice very much of it, apart from seeing the bright blue T shirts which are being worn. They have gatherings in the show lounge but as they show lounge is mostly empty during the day, outside the lecture hours and the rehearsals of the Cast, it works out very well for everybody.
Holland America Line has incentive groups on a regular basis, sometimes a small group, sometimes a large group which books in at 1st or 2nd sitting and sometimes there are charters which take over the whole ship. The amazing thing is, these charters vary enormously in background and focus and it indicates to me that people from all walks of life feel at home on Holland America. We have Church groups, Retails groups (selling products over the phone or franchises) Gay groups, Music groups, Nudist groups, Doctors, even once the FBI. The latter was very interesting as I did not know that the FBI also had undercover agents who did not look like anything like the image the FBI tries to project to the outside world.
Music charters are quite common and are good for the ship as well; as those guests tend to enjoy listening to music with a glass of something or the other in their hands. One such group is the Delbert McClinton charter, a gentleman who is very famous in America in the blue grass scene. They charter the whole ship and for 7 days the place is really heaving. I had them for the first time on my Veendam in 2006 or something and that was so successful that they have chartered a HAL ship every year since. It was interesting to be part of it as I had never seen a jam session with six Hammond Electronic Organs. They have their next charter here on the Oosterdam on Jan. 06, 2017 and there is a whole array of musicians and bands coming with him. Basically continuous music for 24 hours a day. I do not know what the public is now but back in 2006 they struck me as people who had woken up in 1968 and had decided to stay there. I could not agree more with them as some people had a real good time in those days so then why not continue them?
It might not look that impressive but there is 3 to 4 bar pressure on the water.
Today, I threw one of my specials again a practical Damage Control Drill for the engineers. I offer this every time I am on board a ship as a practical drill for this is hard to achieve. You cannot just poke a hole in the ship and then start practicing. Thus the trainings and drills that are being done on board are often just a simulation of the real thing.I can afford to spend a few hours rigging up something more realistic and thus the Chief Engineer went or it. With the aid of the Bo ‘sun and his sailors we built a wooden wall against a scaffolding on the forward deck, rigged up four fire hoses, and presto you have a hull with ingress of water.
Starting the work in full gear trying to install Domes over the holes in the hull. But quickly the coats came off as it was too warm. Helmets stayed on to protect the eyes against salt water.
We have a lot of material on board to help stopping, plugging or reducing the ingress of water but there is no strict science of how to deal with it as every situation is different and every hole in the ship will be different as well. Thus the Leader of the attack team (officially Damage Control Team) has to think outside the box on how to use whatever he/she has available or can get from somewhere in the ship. Damage Control falls under the focus of the engineering teams as it is dealing with steel, broken pipes and electricity. However this morning the deckies wanted to have a go as well, get soaking wet and spending a good 90 minutes in the sunshine to do a bit of training to plug holes and to find out how it feels to have to work against 200 tons of water per hour ingressing into the ship.
Why do humans like it so much to mess around with water? These are all grown-up men, married with wives and children but they went for it.
Tomorrow we are in Mahogany Bay, Roatan for a full day at the local resort. According to the cruise schedule we are the only one in port but you never know for sure as it is always possible for another ship to be deviated because of whatever reasons. We will be at 07.00 at the pilot station and should be docked 45 minutes later. Expected weather: wind, sun, clouds and rain; all expected in one day. Still it will be warm: 80oF / 27oC and a 75% chance of showers.
Captain Albert
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