05 November 2011; At Sea.

After leaving Puerto Quetzal we sailed on a straight south easterly course towards the most south western point of Panama. As can be seen on an atlas, the whole area of Middle America is very crooked and that meant that we were sometimes close to land and sometimes quite far away. Around 0400 we were passing the border between Guatemala and El Salvador, followed around 0630 by El Salvador and Nicaragua and then by 0930 Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Due to “the bend” in the land Costa Rica has a large coast line and it will take us the remainder of the day to pass by there. No wonder that the coast line is mentioned in the name of the country; Rich Coast. By noon time we were abeam of Golfo de Nicoya which gives access to Puerto Caldera where we call at on the way back instead of Puerto Quetzal. Our Westbound cruise is slightly different to the eastbound cruise to give guests who are doing a “Back to Back” cruise something new to see. This cruise we have about 20 of them on board. Some of them because they do not want to fly, some of them because they simply like to be at sea as much as possible and some of them to clock up a few extra days to get them over the next Mariner level.

This cruise we are blessed with over a 1000 mariners on board and that means that we have to throw three mariner parties to get them all in. Today we had the medal award ceremony and the gathering of the four star mariners. The HM had to block the crow’s nest off as there were so many. Through the years that I have been digging through Holland America history, I have come across the occasional tit bits about the Mariners Society and what was there before. The Mariner society was officially founded in 1971 but before that time there was already the recognition of multi voyage travelers. However it was done in a more haphazard way. As far as I can reconstruct at the moment, the booking department would on occasion advise the Directors about a long time cruiser and the need for recognition and then the big guns would be rolled out. The oldest on record that I could find came through via the memoires of Captain Haagmans (See under the Captains from the Past subdirectory of this blogsite) his uncle who was the principle organist of St. Patrick’s Cathedral went over several times a year to Holland and eventually clocked up 100 voyages. The company gave him the next one for free. That sounds generous but before 1900, making a Trans Atlantic crossing was not for the faint hearted. The ships were small, the seas were rough, safety was not regulated that well and thus the ships were not always built with safety in mind. That would start to change after the Titanic disaster. Thus having somebody going to and from who did put his trust in the captains and ships of Holland America for voyage after voyage it was something that had to be recognized, big time.

In the 50’s and 60’s there were more impromptu recognitions of well known and long time cruisers. By the late 60’s, when the ships cruised more than they did trans Atlantic, it was recognized that there were now so many loyal customers who came back time after time, that it was necessary to formalize that recognition somehow. That led in 1971 to the start of the Mariners Society. First there were little gifts of Delfts Blue Ware varying from little plates, dishes, to sugar pots and small vases. The same sorts of items that will you buy when visiting Delft in Holland. However the company very quickly found out that guests liked to show off the number of cruises they had made and as you cannot walk around with a whole pile of dishes under your arm, they came up with the medals. First for miles and later for days. More recently the 2, 3 and 4 star mariner system has been added that gives perks to the days accumulated. Now we see great enthusiasm for gaining the 4 star mariner status, as it gives FREE laundry. I personally like the wine package better but I am greatly out voted here by the ladies.

So today we had our medal recognition and then the next two sea days we will have the mariner’s luncheons. Tomorrow evening we will arrive outside the Panama Canal for an evening stop at Fuerte Amador. However tomorrow day time will still be spent at sea.

Being in the open sea meant that we had our regular companions again, the brown boobies.