01 April 2008, Cozumel Mexico.

This morning I reboarded the Veendam after spending a few days in San Diego. As you might know, the company organizes each year a SMC. This stands for Senior Management Conference and means that in two groups all ships staff come together for a three day conference and seminar. Only the onboard staff of the Amsterdam and Prinsendam could not attend as it was too complicated to fly them from the other side of the world and their relieves to the ship. Those three days are filled with (office) speakers who give the latest updates about where the company is heading and what new initiatives are being developed to keep the company competitive with the rest of the Industry. For the rest there are breakout sessions for Captains, Hotel managers, Chief Officers and Chief Engineers to discuss the specific issues for their area’s of responsibility. At the same time the ships Environmental Officers get their refreshment course in the latest environmental rules and insights.

From San Diego I flew to Cozumel and after a hotel night boarded the ship. To my great happiness the ship was docked at the Lagosta Pier which is opposite down town and also right opposite the hotel I was staying in. Cozumel has been a difficult season for the Veendam as the ship had to anchor most of the time. We were originally scheduled all season to go to Costa Maya but since the piers were destroyed by hurricane Dean last year, the ship has been calling at Cozumel. Docking spaces are normally booked two years in advance and that means that the Veendam could only dock if there was a space available; we did not have a scheduled berth as such because of the last moment rescheduling. On the standard cruises, that meant that the Veendam had to anchor or drift as with a Thursday call the piers where all occupied with mega liners.

This cruise we are on a slightly different schedule with calling at Montego Bay and Grand Cayman instead of Key West, Belize and Santo Tomas and that meant that Cozumel was a Tuesday call. On a Tuesday not all berths are booked and one open berth was available at the downtown Lagosta Pier. Perfect for the guests of course. Later in the cruise it will also mean that we are the only in ship in Grand Cayman and that is of course even better.

I will now do a four month contract on the ship and will then be relieved on July 28th or so in Vancouver by Captain James Russell-Dunford which has been the alternating captain since 2004.

We left Cozumel at 1900 hrs. with a romantic sail away as Cozumel was lit up against the dark blue sky on our starboard side. The guests were enjoying a barbecue at that time and entertainment was provided by a local Mariachi band, which left the ship about 30 seconds before we pulled the gangway. We are now crossing the western part of the Caribbean Sea on our way to Montego Bay, where we will arrive at 8 am on the 3 April.