Rhodos was a busy port today. Six cruise ships were scheduled to dock and with some ferry and cargo traffic arriving as well, it was a puzzle for the harbormaster to fit all the ships in. As there is not so much docking space availablein the port, the ships are allocated a dock in such a way that there is the least wasted quay length. This was unfortunate for us because we ended up at the far breakwater. Instead of crossing the road and being in the old town as was normally the case, it was now a good 20 minute walk from the ship, around the cargo docks, to the town. There was a shuttle bus service in operation for those could not walk that distance.

Pilotage is compulsory for every ship that visits Rhodos unless it has a Greek flag. There is also only one pilot in Rhodos who does the cruise ships and he was a busy man, hopping from one ship to the other in the course of 2 hours. He was so excited about all these ships in a row, that he dropped his walkie talkie in the water when boarding us. It was the 3rd one in one year and he was not looking forward to go home and tell his wife. Domestics also seem to apply to the life of a Rhodos pilot.

By the time we were docked, we had about 30 feet clearance at the stern and about the same at the bow. In front of us was a little coaster docked, whose top of the mast did not even reach to our bow railing. When we arrived everybody on board there was still sleeping and I wonder what the captains reaction was when the woke up and saw an enourmous blue bow approx. 15 feet away from his bridge.

Holland America Line ships are very distinctive with their blue hulls. They have this color on purpose. The color is called Holland America Caribbean blue and is mixed by the paint company to an unique specification for Holland America. In the old days the Holland America Line ships were black hulled. Then in 1951 it was decided to go to Dove-grey as the ships were also doing more and more cruises and the black hulls did nothing to help the temperatures inside the ship while in the tropics. When the company decided in 1971 to go cruising only, they looked for a way to stand out from the crowd. As all the new cruise ships were white, and the other ones still had their North Atlantic colors like as Cunard, HAL opted for blue. It would cost about 10% extra in air conditioning power as blue does not reflect the sunlight as well as white, but we did look different. NCL did something similar in 1979 with the Norway. All their ships were white, except the Norway(ex France) who was painted light blue. A number of years later Premier Cruise Lines, came up with a similar idea and painted their ships red. The “Big Red Boat” ships.

Here in Rhodos we stood out again, with all five other cruise ships being white and one big blue boat, us, in the middle. The only other ship that had a bit of fancy coloring was a local ferry whose hull was light blue with the company name in big red letters on the side. Not that it bothered our guests as again we had a beautiful day and everybody was off the ship exploring the sights of ancient Rhodos.

Beautiful day today; with a nearly cloudless sky and a gentle breeze to keep the temperature pleasant. As the tours did not leave that early, I arrived somewhat later as well and sailed in, on slow speed, around the centre volcano cone just after sunrise. The pattern of the call was first stopping at O’Athinios where we disembarked everybody who was on the morning tours and then we moved slowly towards the anchorage at Fira. Today the Veendam was the largest ship in town and thus we where assigned the anchorage. The Grand Voyager (800 guests) and the Insignia (750 guests) had to float for the day. O’Athinios is also the ferry port for the island. A steep road leads down from the mountain top to this little village and 4 to 5 ferries call in each day to take care of the motorized inter island traffic.

However with a maximum of 3000 guests visiting it was a lot better than last time, when we had over 5000 going ashore and when there were long lines for the cable car. This time it was a smooth and no line operation. Most of the ladies are not early risers and that helped to reduce the congestion as well. We saw that the sunken Sea Diamond was still there, with the oil boom still in position. According to the agent the authorities were still deliberating about how to deal with the issue and not much had happened since the disaster. The Anti Pollution Boat (A boat that skims oil slicks from the water) was around and we called it upon arriving at the anchorage. From the bridge high above the water (83 feet), we had a good view and saw several oil sheens around the ship. In the course of the morning these were all “skimmed away”. The the oil boom around the wreck area (the wreck itself lays approx. 550 feet below water) is there to contain the oil that comes to the surface but the wind pushes the oil sometimes over the boom into the bay.

Anchoring is a special trick here. Basically we are sailing in a volcano with high walls, a deep crater and in the middle of the crater a cone. Depths are up to a 1000 feet. Between the centre cone, which sticks approx. 100 feet above water and the Fira side is another small cone, located about 75 feet under water. That is where we anchor. I position the Veendam exactly above the cone top and then watch the echo sounder. The moment the depth after getting less, increases again, we let go the anchor and then drape the chain as much as possible over the shallow area. The bottom here is volcanic rubble that provides a real good holding ground and makes it a very safe anchorage. As there is only one such spot available, only one ship can anchor and that right is given to the ship that carries the most guests.

Smaller ships (less then 400 feet) can also dock on mooring buoys. Right under the cliff there are a number of heavy buoys that can be used to hook up bow and stern lines omitting the need for an anchor. These buoys are most of the time reserved for small cruise ships, cargo ships and big yachts.

We stayed until 10 pm. and as the night was cloudless, it was a beautiful moonlit departure. The lights of the little villages were twinkling on the top and the pale moon illuminated the cliffs towering high above us

As Bari radio promised yesterday, it was a gorgeous day and the ship was buzzing with very happy ladies. The wind had turned to the North West and thus became a following wind which caused just a nice gentle breeze to blow over the decks. As this is a charter cruise, the ships daily life is dictated by the wishes of the charterer. Olivia charters approximately 5 Hal ships a year and have as a result a great experience with the Holland America operation. That makes the integration of our shipboard routines, into their program very easy. The biggest challenge this cruise is apart from the special entertainment that came on board, the items needed for the culinary demonstrations. Our show lounge was not designed to have a full kitchen setup on the stage and that means creative thinking with all the mobile cooking gadgets that we have on board. Luckily with induction cooking there is no need for open flames anymore which makes things a lot easier.

For our Guest Relations manager, this cruise is a little bit easier compared with others. Personally I find this the most difficult job on board. Meeting day in day out with guests who think they have to complain about something and quite often hold the GRM personally responsible. Sitting there, and then having to endure an un-reasonable tantrum with a polite demeanor is not easy. Genuine issues are quickly resolved, it are the not so genuine ones that make it difficult. Always facing complaints, seldom getting a compliment. I do wonder how you can do a job like that day after day with a happy smile on the face. This cruise all cabin assignments and other issues pass through the charterer’s representatives first and only come to the shipside if we have to do something with it, or if we are able to assist. So for one cruise the GRM has a little bit less pressure to live under.

Last night was a very good evening for the GRM. I did my introduction speech and although each officer got a warm welcome from the audience, the applause rose to a great crescendo when the GRM stepped onto the stage. Her being a lady helped greatly ofcourse in being appreciated. Where there is normally a polite clapping of hands, now there was cheering and whistling.

Staying with the GRM duties, one of the major jobs is, the tracking lost luggage and calming down guests who can not understand why it takes so long to get it on board. With a ship it is not easy at all. A hotel does not move and if a flight is delayed the suitcase will still arrive at the hotel abeit a few hours later. For a ship that does not work. If a flight is delayed, the ship might have already departed, so the luggage has to be redirected to yet another port quite often in another country. Here in Europe things are even more complicated by the fact, whether a country is inside the Common Market or not. It is much more complicated, custom wise, to get a suitcase from Venice to Dubrovnik (300 miles) then a suit case from Venice to Athens (600 miles). This because of the fact that Croatia is (not yet) part of the European Common Market)

Every cruise there is luggage lost, most often because the labels have falling off, or because the guest made a tight connection at an airport but the luggage did not. With the ship moving from port to port, it is not always an option to send the luggage to the next port because of the chance that it might miss the ship if a flight gets delayed. Quite often the luggage is send two ports ahead to make certain that it will get on board the ship, by having it there before the ship arrives. One item that is extremely important for your luggage, is to have your name and final destination outside but also inside of your suitcase. Un-identified luggage is opened up at the airport and an address inside does greatly help to speed up the process of tracing the owner.