This morning we arrived at our first port of call of what is called the “To the Top of the World cruise” which is a 21 day effort of which we now still have 19 days to do. Last call we had sightseeing in the morning as our arrival was at noontime and departure at midnight. This time we had an early arrival and a 4 pm departure, so we did the sightseeing on the way out. At least for those who have regular sleeping patterns. I also had to enjoy the morning session. We picked up the pilot at 3.30 am to ensure a timely docking at 8 am. The wind had indeed abated during the night and there was only a fresh breeze blowing at the pilot station. By the time we arrived at Oslo it was wind still but raining and it continued to do so throughout the day in fits and starts. This was a Sunday call which meant that all the shops were closed. However with the Norwegian prices, that might have been a blessing in disguise. My chief officer is still crying over a 300 pound Norwegian jacket that he bought, thinking that it was a lot less when he looked at it. Even the prices at the Norwegian Salvation Army are much higher than in the rest of the world. It is simply a very expensive country. However most of our guests are onboard to see the world and so the lack of shopping was not an over riding factor during this call.

We were the only ship in today and thus we docked right under the castle again as close to down town as is feasible. I had today several items on my agenda, first was the crew cabin inspection. We, that is the Hotel manager, the Chief Housekeeper and me, try to visit all cabins on a 6 week rotation. Here we inspect for cleanliness and tidiness (responsibility of the occupant) and for good repair. (Broken lights, screws that have come loose, non functional TV’s etc. etc.) Apart from the fact that it is a legal obligation of the Master of the vessel to do so; it also helps to keep the cabins in good order. Things that are broken get in general much quicker repaired when a job order comes from the captains list. Otherwise it has to go from the crewmember to the supervisor to Head of Department and then sideways down the chain again. Wherever you have a bigger organization you get red tape and ships are very good at creating opportunities for red tape. Mainly as a consequence of the fact that people onboard work in shifts and do not see the right person for a certain issue very often.

NEOP Gift The bag and the calling card, gifts to new HAL crew.

Next was my regular daily pile of emails and paper work. Most important are the ETA’s to be sent for our arrival times in the next ports. I am normally three ports ahead of the sailing schedule to ensure that any obstacles are ironed out before we get there. Apart from that I confirmed with the agent that we would be on time in Lysefjord (sightseeing tomorrow). Next official thing came at noon time. NEOP lunch with the new crew. I have explained this before I think some time ago. NEOP stands for New Employee Orientation Program. This is an indoctrination program for completely new crew joining the company or crew being new to the sort of ship. For the completely new crew I throw a luncheon in the Pinnacle Restaurant to make them feel welcome to the company. Although they are all nervous to have lunch with the captain, it makes an enormous positive impression on the new crew. Apart from that, they also get a HAL computer bag and a telephone card to call home on company account.

By the time we left the rain had stopped and the sun occasionally broke through the clouds creating perfect lighting for our scenic cruising on the way out. The Blucher was still leaking oil so all guests were happy that they had observed that one. I still find it mind boggling. Norway is one of the most environmentally advanced countries in the world and they have an oil spill as a major tourist attraction. But who ever said that things have to make sense? It is an interesting point of discussion and it gives the travel guide extra material for his scenic narration.

He will have a lot to narrate tomorrow when we are going into Lysefjord for sightseeing, past Stavanger and looking at the Pulpit rock. The rains should fade away but it is supposed to remain overcast and that is perfect weather for the fjords. If it gets too sunny, thick haze, called fog, might develop and that is definitely not good for looking at the scenery.

Note: Also uploaded the new Prinsendam employee of the month as the last one went home. So we had two of them this month.