The interesting thing for me this time is that I have never worked on a Vista Class ship, and that means that I have to learn my way around. To find where everything is, where everybody is working and living and also the routines on board which are different to the smaller ships, simply because the ship is bigger.
As the HAL ships are progressions of each other, it is not so difficult to get a handle on the whole thing as the setup is very similar but with small twists.
When Holland America built the S class, the guests were very happy with the end result. Spacious and comfortable ships with all the gadgets which were up and coming and exciting in 2002. A space ratio of 43.8 was the highest in the cruise industry for the premium market and that is still more or less the case. There was basically only one complaint and it was the fact that there was such a large distance between the forward and aft elevators. As Holland America tends to listen very carefully to the comments that are brought forward it resulted in the R – class which did have a 3rd or middle staircase. The extra section also gave space for more cabins and that made the accountants happy. A larger engine room space meant room for bigger engines and thus longer cruises or more ports could be done during a same length cruise.
The ms Noordam III when she had just entered service.
The next desire of the guests was: more balconies and the result was the Vista Class. Holland America went a little bit bigger because the competition went to Mega ships and being only slightly large meant we still could go through the Panama Canal. The next craze was more food outlets and thus with the Signature class the Tamarind restaurant made its entry. We still do not have 10 restaurants on board as NCL does but with a Main Dining room, a Lido, a Pinnacle, a Canaletto and a Tamarind we are not doing that badly either. I believe the lower number of restaurants will be rectified with the Koningsdam.
If you keep this evolution in the back of your mind, then going from class to class of ship there is not so much of a difference. The biggest difference is at the bow, the 3 story theatre which means that the forward section is configured totally different internally, and the lower stern section as the ship has Azipods and not conventional propellor propulsion.
So today, having done all the administrative prep work and trying to chase up all the materials needed for the class, I went around to get into the “Vista Groove”. I think I walked about 10 miles and as I refuse to use an Elevator those 10 miles had quite a few vertical challenges to it as well. One confusing thing is, compared with the S class, is the numbering of the decks. Soon after the S class came in service it became compulsory for the cabin numbers to correspond with the deck number. Thus cabin 1118 where I am living this week has to be on deck 1. On the S class cabin 701 is on A deck or deck 4.
On the Vista class A deck is the highest crew deck, while the highest crew deck on the S class is B deck. The Bridge on the S class is on deck 10, on the Vista class on deck 8 Etc. Etc. As a captain you really know your ship by heart, inside out and then changing ships causes a few days of adjustment. This is the reason the company now has a system to ensure this is taken care of. New captain on new class of ship, 14 days overlap. New Captain on a same class, 7 days overlap. Same ship, same captain, 1 day hand over.
Today we were sailing in the Old Bahama channel, north of Cuba with a beautiful sunny day. Strong winds but they were following winds so it was very pleasant on deck. Tomorrow morning the ship will dock around 07.00 hrs. and then I will have to present myself to Immigration. I have been promoted to a “downliner” which seems to be a person working on board who did not join in the USA port of departure. That is a new one to me so all will be revealed tomorrow.
The weather for tomorrow, sunny and warm. Florida seems to be heading for the summer already.
March 8, 2015 at 7:32 pm
I believe in past posts, you mentioned that there is an orientation period required for a Master moving from one ship to another. I think that is a great policy. As a guest, it helps me, even more so, feel that I am in competent hands.
Since this is your first experience on the larger vessels, if it is available for Officers, the Hydrothermal Pool and Thermal Suites in the Greenhouse Spa, that the Vista and Signature Class ships have, are pure delights! I hope you may be able to experience them for yourself!
March 10, 2015 at 3:32 pm
You’ve long lost me with the equations of ‘on this class and on that class”, Captain! I had problems getting to Deck 6 on board the Zaandam last Fall, since I only remembered my way to Deck 9 on the Statendam! Fortunately, officers have uniforms on and thus attacked the first one I saw to get me to my favourite lookout for my first departure. Ah, us landlubbers; just let me loose on the 6 floors in the Headquarters I had to run through on a daily basis.
With the overlap times for captains, does that mean, ‘new Captain’ goes around the ship in civvies to check out his new green pastures, Captain AJ?