I am a happy man as the weather is following the forecast again so my predictions are still coming true. By noon time the swell was almost gone and now we are back to a breezy North Atlantic but with very low waves. Once in a while we still catch a small “bump” in the road but if there is anyone on board who would complain about this making them sea sick; then my suggestion to them is to attend Happy Hour. A few discounted drinks (with free snacks in the Grand Dutch Café) and you walk exactly in sync, with the minute movement of the ship. The wave chart below gives blue colors again and that means that all is well in the world. Please note that in the area around Cape Hatteras to the North West from us the next wave field is building up again, in the same way as ours did three days ago. But by the time that this new wave field would merit any focus and consideration we will be docked in Fort Lauderdale. As we have now 37 hours to go from the moment I am writing this and that includes 1 more hour back tonight to get on the Florida time zone. Continue reading
Category: Technical (page 4 of 10)
The weather system with its wave front came our way and since lunch time today the ships moving a little bit more than before. But the forecast indicates that the wave field will veer away to the North East and thus by tomorrow morning, the little wobbles that we feel now, will be completely gone. See the wave chart below. This means that day 11 and 12 should be nice and quiet and tomorrow we can then see what the Weather in Florida will be. Normally a three day weather forecast is very reliable, unless there are hurricanes around but for Florida I prefer not to do any predictions until I am down to two days. The influence of the Gulf Stream is a major factor in the local weather and 72 hours is then a long period. Continue reading
Another nice day at sea with the sun shining. We did have a shower in the morning, when the ship sailed through a narrow band of rain. This time it was the ship that caught the shower but in the last few days we also had showers catching up with the ship as it was blowing harder than the ship was traveling. On land it is not always easy to see how fast a shower is coming your way but at sea where everything if flat and open, the edge of the shower is quite often very clearly defined and you see a vertical curtain of dark matter coming closer. Rain is not dark, except in maybe very polluted areas but as the rain is dark due to the condensation moisture inside, it looks darker than its surroundings. Most guests who were exposed to it, ran inside for a cup of coffee and were then back again to catch some more sun. Continue reading
We are experiencing now nice autumn North Atlantic weather with sunshine and clouds and a considerable breeze outside. But for the wind we have glass wind breakers all over the ship and thus nobody is affected by it. As can be seen from the wave & swell map, the ocean is blue and that means the ocean is flat. Or better said as flat as can be, because the North Atlantic swell is always there, as swell is defined by waves caused by something that has already passed by. The wind that is blowing will make some waves but nothing that really affects the ship. Occasionally we feel a little jitter when a waves comes by that is too fast for the ships stabilizers to catch. Stabilizers can dampen out about 90% of the motion otherwise felt, so sometimes we notice the 10% that does not get caught. Continue reading
And we wobbled happily during the night towards Funchal where we arrived almost on time but as we were last in the pecking order for docking we had to slow down and let the AidaStella and Mariella Explorer 2 go first. They had been exposed to the same weather and must have wobbled more than we did as they were still in the docking process during our official arrival time. As a matter of fact the Koningsdam was already going stern in while the Mariella Explorer 2 was still doing the same thing behind us. It all cost us an hour but, this is the luck of so much time on an ocean crossing, the captain decided to stay an hour longer so the port time remained the same. The weather for the crossing is expected to be good after tomorrow and thus it will be easy enough to make up 1 hour over a period of 6 days and nights. Continue reading
Although the Europe season is drawing to an end, that is the high season, as some cruise ships will cruise the Mediterranean all year around, it was still busy in port today. Azamara Journey, Nautica, Brilliance of the Seas and us made sure that all the cruise docks were full. Only the “over spill” dock, the container terminal on the other side of the port was not used and thus a container ship was alongside. We were the only ship who had a change over today and thus we were parked at the big cruise terminal. This one has two jet walks as at the airport so guests can go ashore without being touched by the elements. Those elements were quite benign today and the chance of showers forecasted did not materialize. At least not over the port. If there are more cruise ships in port with a change over, then the port authority uses the pecking order system and the largest ship gets the best terminal. There are two more terminals, which are much smaller and are basically semi-permanent marquis structures. For the container terminal which has nothing, they bring in a large marquis which can accommodate 500 to 600 people. Nowadays a necessity as all those boarding people have to shuffle through security screening and that is not very nice if it rains. And coming off the ships, the suitcases should preferably stay dry as well. Continue reading
On our way to Naples we keep Sicily to the port side and then pass through the Straits of Messina. We can also go around Sicily and avoid Messina but it is a much longer route. Plus this schedule allows us to see the Straits of Messina in daylight and once we are through, we can see the Stromboli Volcano by night. This Volcano is active most of the time but the fireworks are not that exuberant, that it colors the sky even in daylight. Luckily with this schedule it works out just nice as it is an odd 35 miles to travel after leaving the Straits and by that time it should be nice and dark. Continue reading
We were the first regular HAL ship that is calling at Half Moon Cay this year. This does not mean that no other ships have been here, or will be, but each company has its own routines and we apply our routines rigorously also to island practices. So today was the first time all HMC facilities were run through their paces in accordance with HAL standards. Tomorrow the Carnival Magic is visiting the island but they do their own thing. (And I have no idea what that is, apart from they use all the facilities as well). Ships from other brands of the Carnival Corporation can use the island as long as they do not send a ship while we are there. Thus tomorrow Carnival Cruise Lines can visit and apart from our island, they also use Princess Cays on occasion. Carnival does not have its own private island but the borrowing system works quite well as the cruise schedules are inter checked with all the brands to ensure that there are no bottle necks anywhere caused by ourselves. What the other companies such as RCI and NCL are doing is be doing is beyond our control so clogged up ports are still possible but the Corporation tries to avoid it. Continue reading
We had a bit of a bumpy ride last night but not as bad as was forecast. Today we had a dry day but the promised sun did not materialize and the wind blowing was much stronger and colder than predicted. Maybe because it is the 13th. today, the weather guru’s had a day off. Or what they say most of the time, the weather pattern did not follow the prediction of the computer model. These sort of things always remind me of the weather predicting capabilities of one of my uncles. He used to look at the sky and would then say, “Well if the weather does not change, I am sure it will remain dry today”. Sometimes his computer predicting model was off and it rained cats and dogs a few hours later. Continue reading
We had a miserable and overcast day today and most guests, who were not on tour, did not venture any further than the cruise terminal where they could pick up a few local souvenirs or listen to fiddle concerts. What was special was that I have never seen it so busy in Sydney, in all the years that I have been coming here with the ships. And that goes back to the early 1990’s we had a few visits here with the old ss Rotterdam. Today we had four cruise ships in. The Zuiderdam alongside, the Norwegian Dawn (who had followed us from Charlottetown) at the nearest anchorage, then the Riviera at the middle anchorage and far, far way a Silversea. The last one did not tender into the cruise terminal area but to a small local pier and had a shuttle service from there. The poor people of the Riviera (Oceana Cruises) had a long tender ride in the cold and the miserable rain. Although Oceana is supposed to be a notch better than Holland America (rated close to Seabourn) you had better sail with us, as at least we dock. Seniority rights do make a difference sometimes. Continue reading
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