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Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

08 March 2016; Marghera, Italy.

One always connects Venice with sunshine and gondola’s lazily moving through the canals as a perfect example of Italian “La Dolce Vita”. Well, today it did not look like it at all. It was miserable and grey with a constant drizzle coming down when I arrived at the shipyard. Not really a place you associate with cruise ships. But then Venice has a very large industrial hinterland which we do not think off as we say Venice. But the shipyard is located in Marghera and this one of those areas considered to be part of greater Venice.

Some decks are nearly finished, apart from the art/decoration in the corridors. Hence it being possible for the officers and crew to go on board.

Some decks are nearly finished, apart from the art/decoration in the corridors. Hence it being possible for the officers and crew to live on board by the end of this week.

As there are only 3 days to go before the crew is going on board, I have been parked in a hotel in the nearby town of Mestre. Not an exciting place either but there is a big shopping Centre just across the road which makes the crew very happy.  For a few days now the first regular crew are arriving and they are staying in  various hotels in the area including mine. The officers who are part of the new building team have been here since last September, or even before, and they live in apartments in the area around Marghera. Marghera is the actual name of the town where the shipyard is located which is just south of Venice. Hence you always see the ships going through Venice itself when leaving the shipyard. It is at the moment the only way out although the local authorities are thinking about a canal which will provide a direct connection with the sea and which will then alleviate the need of having very large ships sailing through the old city. Not so nice for the cruise ship guests but much better for the islands of Venice as the ships wash  can affect /erode the swampy land upon which the whole of Venice has been built.

The two story high Lido deck. Fairly quiet as far as work is concerned as they were busy with laying the deck covering.

The two story high Lido deck. Fairly quiet as far as work is concerned as they were busy with laying the deck covering.

But leaving is still more than three weeks away and this morning Captain Emiel de Vries, Master designate for the Koningsdam, picked me up from the hotel and plunged me directly into the “controlled mayhem” of an Italian shipyard.  I have worked in French and German shipyards so I know what hectic is but here this is taken  to a new level.  The closer a ship comes to completion, the more people are milling around to finish everything off and I have never seen more workers per square yard as I saw this morning.  One always observes in a shipyard more chiefs than Indians (or at least a number of people acting as chiefs) but with the arrival of the Cell-phone this seems to have been taken to a whole new level.  Everybody is working hard; everybody is on the phone at the same time which then results in directing everybody else who happens not to be on the phone at that same moment.  I just wonder if everything would come to a grinding halt if the cell phone network would stop all of a sudden.  Better not, as the ship has to sail on April the 4th.

there are things in life which a simple sailor will never understand. But these balloons have something to do with the installing of the art on this pedestal.

There are things in life which a simple sailor will never understand. But these balloons have something to do with the eventual installing of the art on this pedestal.

My immediate task in the coming days is to study & learn the ship in detail and create search plans for the ship. These are plans which the Master assists in being able to arrange a fast, comprehensive and in depth search of the ship in case it is needed. Guests missing, property lost on board, stowaway reports etc. etc. These plans are normally made by a very experienced person who understands how a HAL ship operates, how all the sub departments and fiefdoms work; and who can figure out of who is exactly in charge of a particular locker, space or corridor. So while I am doing my familiarization of the ship, I might as well create a checklist at the same time and do it all from the perspective of the Captain. It will take a fair bit of walking around as the Pinnacle Class (Koningsdam & TBA-dam) is considerably different than previous Signature class. More about this in the coming days.

The show room at sea is nearly finished and the testing of the 270o digital background is in full swing.

The show room at sea is nearly finished and the testing of the 270o digital background is in full swing.

With the arrival of the first crew there is now manpower to start storing the ship. All the cold rooms are filled up and other store room areas are slowly being taken into use as well. The company has a large warehouse where everything is received and from there distributed to the ship. Except for perishables; they go directly from the delivery van to the cold rooms. After the weekend more and more of that will happen as with sufficient crew available, more and more can be received directly on board.  I just hope for the local weather to improve.

We are not the only ship that creates a lot of fuss and Italian excitement as behind us lays the Seabourn Encore which recently was floated out from dry dock.  For this ship the finishing off is now starting as well and two ships nearing their finishing stages do create for a lively atmosphere.

Weather for tomorrow: Rain and overcast in the morning and then clearing in the afternoon and then Thursday should be a sunny day.

5 Comments

  1. What an excellent report, keep them coming if at all possible. We fly from Australia on the 3rd to be amongst the first guests on the 8th from Rome.

    Cheers
    Ivan

  2. Missed Career at Sea

    March 8, 2016 at 6:00 pm

    Too exciting, Captain! You’ve made it. What I’ve been thinking about for a while now is, how are you time-efficiently going around this humongous ship??? Officers and crew alike have to work on this behemoth of a man made creation. Will some of you be allowed to use an (push-n-kick) autoped such as I remember, was used at the Copenhagen airport in the past? They were not motorized, but you had to pedal with your favourite foot. (Obviously with a fietsbel properly mounted on to abide by safety regulations.)

  3. Matt Rodenbeck

    March 9, 2016 at 7:41 am

    Thank you for the updates on the Koningsdam. We are excited to see the new ship! I use a manual wheelchair full-time due to a spinal cord injury, so we always need an accessible room. Do you by chance know if the accessible verandahs will have easier access than other HAL ships? Current HAL ships have a steep ramp and a heavy door to access the verandah, making it very difficult to do so independently. Access to the verandahs is my only complaint with HAL and I mention it on every post cruise survey. Thanks again for the updates and photos!

    • Thank you for reading my blog.

      I am aware of the ramps on the other ships, as it is the only way to navigate the treshold. Leaving that out would make the cabin prone to flooding from balcony water during torrential rains. The door has to be so heavy as the glass is Safety Glass which needs to withstand a fire. Fires are known to spread quickly over balconies as the wind blowing along with fan the fire.Thus the glass of the door is nearly of the same strength as the steel bulkhead of the ship. The Verandah cabins of the ship are not yet accessible as their interiors are being
      fitted out at the moment.

      Best regards

      Capt. Albert

  4. Matt Rodenbeck

    March 9, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    Thank you for the reply. I understand (and appreciate) the need for the ramp and the heavy glass, but is there a reason a simple automatic opener can’t be installed? It seems like a simple thing that would enhance the cruise experience immensely for those that need it.

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