- Captain Albert's Website and Blog -

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

Month: July 2025

31 July 2024; At Sea.

July 31, 2025 / / 8 Comments

Today we are on our final day of the cruise and sailing south from Norway towards Bremerhaven Germany. Yesterday the Shipping Forecast gave rough weather but we were tucked deep inside the Norwegian Fjords and by the time we came outside it was already a lot smoother. Today we woke up to sunny skies and smooth seas with only a low swell running from the west. That could have made the ship wobbly but for that we have stabilizers. New ones were installed during Drydock 2019 and they are working as expected.

The party place on deck 11 midships. I did not see a single table that did not have a glass of beer, or more on standby. If there were non drinkers on board, then they must have been hiding somewhere.

The daily program was all about food & drink with the first main event being the “Bier Garten” or Beer garden, loosely based on the Munich Oktober Fest and with “Frei Bier” and Bavarian Specialties. As expected the Germans were out in force and most had secured a table well ahead of time with all the seats filled by the time the festivities started. As it was sunny, the crew installed parasols in the center section to ensure that those who did not want a sun burn, would not get one. As most were going to be there from 10.30 to 14.00 hrs. (with free beer and food between 11.30 and 12.30) it was going to be a long day.

The farewell speech of the captain. Followed by a toast on the good cruise had. The captain announced that he had apple juice in his glass and later on I saw a lady sniffing at the glass to make sure it was.

The whole thing is a sort of farewell show with the Captain and Ships staff coming on the stage (with a glass of beer in the hand) to say thank you for being on board and hope to see again. Most of the Cruise and support staff were in various stages of folk costumes from Bayern to give a sort authentic feeling to it all and then the buffet opened and from there it went by itself. “Duo-lin” the two man band from Harrys’ Bar provided German Country and Folk music and by the time that the waiters had gone around for the 3rd time with pints of German Bitburg beer, the mood got very Beer-Hall. The Captain went around with his beer glass (but with applejuice in it) through the crowd to take selfies at the various tables. The ships photographer could have made a lot of money had they been able to go around with him. I calculated that I easily could have been served 6 pints of beer in that hour as the waiters kept, the pace up and even started to bring out free “Schnapps” as well; But as there is always “somebody” watching me, I did not make it that far as I also had to get some of the “Bavarian” delicatessen and had a discussion with the ships Vicar / Reverend who was also on deck and enjoying a drink. I do not like men or women of the cloth who do not drink as they are forsaken a lot of what God has put on this world to enjoy but he was hoisting a pint, so we had a good chat about Maritime Days in Warnemunde and the connection with it to the church. (The full story is somewhere in the daily blogs of 2010) Then we had a quick lunch where I tried the Vegan menu which was amazingly good and spicy.

Tables made ready for German tea in the afternoon.

On the way out we saw the crew setting up the dining room for the afternoon tea (15.30 – 16.30) On port days it is in the Lido and on sea days in the 2 dining rooms. Somewhat like Holland America Line does with “High Tea” but now on steroids’ and for the last sea day of the cruise a bit more elaborate. We did not attend as we had eaten already more than enough in the morning. Plus we had the important challenge of packing our suitcases. The more experienced guests had already packed in the morning, knowing the amount of alcohol coming at them but we decided to pack in the afternoon.

That gave a matrimonial discussion about what to wear as Phoenix Reisen has a formal night on the last evening of the cruise, when that cruise is a shorter cruise. During the first formal, I did not see too many people dressed up, beyond jacket and tie, so we decided to forgo the full formal variation and tuned ourselves down to what most of the Guests decided that was in their eyes “Nice Enough”. So we will be – nice enough – and then pack up the rest. Suitcases out of the cabin is by 2 am. but we will be earlier than that as we are most likely the first ones off tomorrow morning at 08.30. Lesley being an “Alien” in the eyes of European Immigration had to turn in her passport and she can pick it again after arrival. Then when leaving the Netherlands at Hook of Holland tomorrow evening, she will get her check-out stamp so we have proof that she did not over stay her time in the EU. In October Europe goes digital and will then have the same system as the USA, Photo and Finger prints. Not for me, as I am semi British (Settled status which is a sort of Green card), on the Island side and Dutch on the European side. The UK is also planning to do a similar thing but it is rather vague how that supposed to work as their (His Majesty’s) Custom and Border Force is absolutely not ready for it as it has not enough officers. So it either will be postponed or we will have long waiting lines at the airports and ferry terminals.

Final dinner was in the main dining room and our friend Ruud had asked if there was anything Indonesian for dinner as so many of the crew was from Indonesia. To our utter amazement there was and the kitchen was able to provide aside from the German food, also Sate with rice (pork sate with peanut souce) and a Soto ayam soup. (Indonesian chicken soup) so we did not need any main courses anymore. After dinner we did not go to the show as they had done the Revue show (songs from hollywood) at 17.15 hrs. and that was our packing time. The bars were still full with guests all eager to be out for a final night.

Tomorrow will be in the ships home port of Bremerhaven we are expected to be together with the Amadea from Phoenix Reisen. Disembarkation time is 08.45 hrs., with silent disembark so hopefully we will be off by 09.00 hrs. After getting a taxi to the hotel to pick up the car we will go back to England. Our friends will drive to their house in Lunteren ( in the middle of the Netherlands) and we will see them again near the end of the year. We have the night ferry back to the UK so we have all day to get there (It is approx. 5 hour drive) but we also have to go shopping in Holland to stack up on all sorts of goodies we cannot get on the island. Some items like cheese are not allowed to take home anymore since Brexit as the EC health standards do no apply any longer. The UK has not changed those standards since Brexit but it now needs another stamp than before and thus we have extra red tape to deal with. Hence it will be “stroop wafels” (caramel wafers” rice, licorice, and chocolate (You are not allowed to take milk back to the UK but choclate is ok) Weather back home wil the same as we have today 18oC and sunny.

After this blog, there will be one more with “The Verdict”. and an advise if this is of interest to pure English speakers who can think & enjoy themselves a little bit outside the box. I will then also post a link to my friends travel blog with all the food photos of those might enjoy that. That will be posted coming Sunday.

Nice deck chairs for a nice sunny day, and then the deck department starts painting.

Smile of the day: Sometimes things do not go as planned. With a sunny day and most guests on the outside decks, the bo’sun had decided to paint the deck chairs on the shady side, most likely with the un-beatable logic of “the guests want to sit in the sun, not in the shade so I can paint on the shady side. No doubt with good intent but as a deep sea professional it goes a bit against the grain. If the project was authorised by the chief officer, then I will need a good glass of beer to get over that shock.

Luckily the wet paint sign was completely in accordance with International safety rules which require that the text can be in the national language but has to be in an international language that is understood by everybody on board. 

30 July 2025; Ulvik, Norway.

July 31, 2025 / / 2 Comments

The Brakkenes Hotel in Ulvik and official Tender port for the ms Amera tenders.

Today we were in Ulvik, a small town located at the end of the Eidfjord which is an extension of the much larger Hardangerfjord. In principle it is one of the “fingers” at the far end of the very wide Hardangerfjord. From sea it takes about 4 hrs. to get there, hence an earlier morning for the captain planning on a 0700 arrival. The first section can be done at 16 knots and then with the fjord getting more and more narrow the ship has to slow down to 10 knots. Then when it ends at Ulvik, the fjord widens in a sort of small lake, large enough for the ms Amera to anchor safely. Being so deeply tucked away into the fjords meant that it was a wind still day with partly cloudy skies and an official temperature of 18oC / 65 oF but with the lack of wind it climbed quite a few degrees.

View of the ship from the tender dock

Ulvik is far removed from anything “big” and the connecting road goes from small village to small village and to get to the first major city is a long drive. Still it is a sought after place for people who travel through the country and thus there are 3 hotels here near the water but one seems to have gone bankcrupt as it looked in a sorry state with most of the inventory still inside. But the town is so remote from the major city centers there seems to be a distinct lack of Hooligans available to cause damage. The biggest and most successful hotel, the Brakkenes, had built a tender dock and thus the tenders run the service from there. Quite a clever idea as quite a few guests, after walking around and seeing that there was nothing to do, went for coffee and cakes and sat on the hotel benches to admire the impressive scenery. And that is the main reason we are here to day, the tour busses/coaches had a good place to stop at the hotels parking space and those not on tour could enjoy the scenery. The Norwegian fjords are scenic everywhere but this area gets one of the highest ratings of the “Fjord experts”. Time simply seems to go much slower here thn anywhere else. I wonder if during the winter, it is almost coming to a standstill………………………
The ship could anchor reasonably close to the tender dock, so we had a 2 tender distance today but they started with 3 tenders to get the tours off as the tender dock was big enough to handle 2. It was interesting to observe the tender drivers as some of them had not really mastered the basics yet and one missed – while it being wind still and current free- the dock by about 6 meters. Hopefully the ship has an extensive training plan in place because I wish them luck in the more windy ports.

This is the main sign to protect the ship from local mayhem. It worked without a glitch.

Ulvik is very small and I counted 4 regular shops, which were all closed as they had decided to go on vacation at the same time. The tourist center opened at noon, four hours after our invasion began in the morning and the only place open and busy was the local CO-OP super market. Ulvik’s claim to fame is to have been the birth place of the Norwegian Poet Olav Hakonson. Hauge. (1908 – 1994) He lived there all his life, was involved in Horticulture and published his first poems in 1946. He is considered one of Norway’s most beloved poets and they turned one of the largest houses in Ulvik into a museum. When walking around we found several “traffic sign” size signs with a short poem of his on it, which you could read while looking at the scenery. Quite a nice way to get people focused on poetry. Main traffic on the road were indeed tourists in RV’s or regular cars and we observed a “column” of Dutch cars coming by who had left the hotel on their way to the next beauty spot. Indeed the most foreign license plates you see are from Dutch people, who due to their language skills have no problem, and no fear, to travel anywhere. Years ago, when I was captain of the Prinsendam, I docked in Kirkeness near the North Cape with the bow overhanging the local parking area and right in front of me, taking up half the parking area, were a large number of Dutch Cars. They then biked the rest of the up to the North Cape. Yesterday we saw a 1960’s Volkwagen “flower power style” camper coming by, indeed manned by hippy- type owners and their brood and they had also made it deep into Norway while driving a 70 year old mini van.

Ulviks famous son, the poet Olav Haugh or Hauge. His poems have been translated into English and can be found on the internet.

So we spent 1.5 hrs. ashore for a nice walk, avoided the ice cream stand (55 NOK for a small cornet) and got back on the tender before the tours were coming back. One thing that makes me smile are the security arrangements in each port. Each dock is supposed to conform with the ISPS regulations (International Ship and Port Facility Security), which includes regulations for fences, screening and supervision. In Sandane they had a sign, and nothing else, that said this is an ISPS port and today, there was nothing except the nice ship security lady with a clicker. It must be wonderful to still be able to live in an area where nothing is needed to be safe. But as mentioned above, Ulvik is too far away for any self respecting hooligan to make mayhem, so all is still well in the world here. Norway has very strict fire arm laws, strict enough that it is not needed for the local police to be armed. To get a license there is an arduous process and then one normally only gets a license if there is hunting involved. Then the police will visit your house regularly to see if the fire arm is safely locked away in a safe inside the house.

The main shopping street of Ulvik and all shops closed. All shop owners seem to have decided to go on holiday at the same time. Not a bad idea maybe, as nobody will be confused of which shop is open or not during the summer vacation season.

Back on board we scrutinized the daily program which came today with a flyer for duty- free orders. I assume the prices are good when compared to the German supermarket but we can do better on the ferry back to england so we let it slip by. As expected nothing was happening on board until the evening as the whole “event staff” is escorting tours each day. Highlight of the early evening was a Jewelry presentation in the shops. We went for the ice cream, still the same stand as in the Prinsendam days, except they have removed the Soft ice Machine. I was in line with a little boy who had brought a ships waiter with him to ensure he did get his ice cream with top ups, as yesterday a guest had emptied the whole bin with whipped cream (Slag-sahne) and he was not going to let that happen for a 2nd time. I fully agreed with him, having the right condiments for your ice cream (and you add those yourself) is a most essential part of one’s daily cruise experience. And it is not to be endangered by one greedy guest. So we spent the afternoon people watching as I still try to get my head around how the “German” flow on board works. We have now learned that they all show up about 30 minutes early before an event, so they are in place on time, that no announcements are needed to get people on time to the right location for tours as they all read the paper work, and that everybody is back on board in time (even ahead of time) so that “Herr Kapitan” does not have to wait. Hence we have departed from all ports, exactly on time.

The ms Amera hall. of fame. As other ships, first -port-call – plaques are being put on the wall. Here my Lord and Master is checking if there is any port she has not been to, as the ms Amera also makes world cruises so the collection is going up quickly. This is outside the Crowsnest / Panorama Lounge where HAL left the collection from Royal Viking Sun in place. from the days that the ports still gave very nice presents.

The one thing still to find out is why the shows are not very well attended. We can understand the lack of “full house: interest as Cast shows are not very good but the show of last night, which was very good, was also only about 3/4 full. We sneaked this evening after dinner into the lounge for another Cast Show (now based on the songs of the Rat Pack). The show was slightly better than before but an Englishman trying to imitate in German, the antics of Dean Martin simply does not work. Again the lounge was not more than half full. The rest of the crowd was in Piano Lounge and Harry’s Bar enjoying the music with drinks on the table (and peanuts so even more drinks were ordered). We have not yet inspected the late evening snack so hopefully we will get around to that tomorrow. Here the “midnight buffet” is at 10 pm. which works perfectly after having had a few drinks after dinner in the lounges.

Ulvik Fjord, which country can beat such a view.We left Ulvik “punktlich” on time at 1800 hrs. and then enjoyed a 4 hrs. sail out through Hardangerfjord. Phoenix Reisen has a company tune, that they play all over the ship during the departure, and it gives a sort of Welcome Back feeling. We had our 2nd dinner in Pilchers Restaurant (Pinnacle Lounge) courtesy of having a Gold star cabin and being able to book ahead of everybody else and it was very good again. This time we were the last ones out and the Maitre had time to talk to us and was full of questions about sailing everywhere in the world. So I had time to give one of my 5 minute lectures again with the pro and cons of the Panama Canal versus the Suez Canal. Knowing the Philipinos and the way they enjoy gossiping, it would have gone around the crew messroom in no time.

Tomorrow we are at sea and on the way home to Bremerhaven. The weather is supposed to be good. Today while tucked away at Ulvik it was blowing wind force 7 in the open sea but it started to die down in the late afternoon so by the time we are in the open, it should be smooth seas again. Then tomorrow smooth seas and sun for a glorious last day with packing. We have received our landing tags for the suitcases, so what can still go still wrong in the world?

 

 

 

29 July 2025; Bergen, Norway.

July 30, 2025 / / 3 Comments

The ms Amera docked in Bergen. This dock is normally occupied by fishing boats large and small but it fits the ms Amera although there is an overhang with the bow.

Today we are in Bergen, docked at the Bontelabo dock which is at the end of the South West side of the Bergen old town right behind the old fort that guarded Bergen for centuries. With us in port, apart from several Oil Platform Support vessels and a number of large yachts, were the ms Trollfjord (Hurtigruten), ms Costa Diadema (Costa Cruises) and the ms Viking Saturn (Viking Cruises). The latter we had a good look at as Lesley and I will be taking a cruise on her in February 2026. We have heard some very good things about Viking so we are going to do a Mediterranean cruise. For that cruise we will have to fly, which I do not really like but then in each life some rain has to fall. No rain today in Bergen, although the port is quite famous for it, it was partly cloudy with temperatures in the mid sixties (18 – 20oC) and that is perfect sightseeing weather. We have been to Bergen many a time, also because it is nearly impossible not to visit it during a cruise.

It is the only major port on the west coast of Norway apart from Stavanger, and thus it falls somewhat automatically in the cruise schedule. There is Oslo to the South and Tromso & Trondheim to the north and not much in between, size wise. Hence for those with the urge for a good session of “retail therapy” going ashore is a must. There are some very nice department stores in Bergen and a large range of tourist related shops in the “Brygge”, the old wooden housing area on the west side of the harbour. My Lord and Master was going to hunt for Christmas gnomes. We bought some of a special design years ago in Tallin and here in Bergen and it was always the wish to make the series complete. So the Ladies went to the Christmas store and my friend and I marched around the port up the hill to the Maritime Museum.

As in the old days the “Norwegian America Line” used to sail from Oslo with calls at Bergen and Stavanger so there is a good amount of Ocean Liner history and ships models to enjoy. But those are part of the permanent collection and I enjoyed looking at all those years ago. This time my focus was on the bookshop. 10 years ago they had a nice collection of books, old and new, and as it is so difficult to order books outside the UK (since Brexit the postal costs have gone up dramatically, as for the European Union, the UK is now a 3rd world country) and getting them to my house for a decent price, the hunt is on where ever I get during a cruise. After a 25 minute walk into the suburb of Bergen we came to the museum and there was hardly anything there. A few new books, really focused on the main stream reader and small bookcase with rejects from the Museums library / archive. While I was going through , my friend explained to the lady behind the desk what I was doing and she ran upstairs as “there was some more there”. She came back with an armful and among them 2 books that caught my interest. One a bound year of “Sea Breezes” magazine and a book about Australian coastal steamers. Both surplus to requirements for the museum. The helpful lady wanted 20 NOK for the two, so for 2 Dollars or 2.5 Euro I had at least found something and for a very good price. And then we marched down the hill again and caught up with the Ladies who had not been able to find anything in the Christmas store and were drowning their sorrows with a McDonalds ice cream. Then we decided to split up and Lesley and I went back to the ship.

The shore connection for electricity in Bergen.

When at the ship we saw that the ms Amera had been hooked up to Shore Power. When they exchanged all the engines in 2019, the new setup became Diesel Electric and that makes it fairly easy to switch from “one electric plug to another”. Norway has an abundance of electricity available, and apart from reducing emissions, it also reduces the fuel costs. The fuel costs are quite high for the Norwegian waters, the ships have to run on Diesel fuel instead of Bunker C fuel which is about 15% cheaper if I remember the prices right. So an hour before departure the engines sudden came on with quite a bit of shaking as they had to synchronize the output again so the shoreside electric plug could be pulled out.

The whole outside deck full of tea drinkers, and there were a lot more of them inside, for guests who could not find a seat outside.

I mentioned a few days ago, that there is very little to do on board the ship in port, today there were no activities at all, most likely because all the cruise staff are escorting tours, but for this type of cruise passenger it does not seem to matter as they all go ashore or are happy sitting in the lounges with a drink. So the whole front page of the program is given over to the tours, in clearly large spaced letters, the inside is about still registering one’s credit card, an announcement about ships boat drill and then a lot of advice how to get your Norwegian Tax back on anything purchased. Page three inside is all about the evening entertainment and page four outside all about when the ships venues are open. As one can only eat so much we did not go to the dining room for lunch, but took a few sandwiches from the Gold Room (ex Neptune Lounge) For alcoholic drinks and non alcoholic drinks it stocks the same as the complimentary bar in the cabin so it is handy if you run out during the day.

The indoor Lido Buffet with cakes, savoury’s cookies and everything else that goes with a good cup of tea. Note the empty spaces in between the trays. That is the only difference between HAL and Phoenix here. Less variation, not less quality,

With the tour participants trickling back from shore by the early afternoon, tea time (15.30 – 16.30) at the Lido restaurant was well attended. There is an elaborate tea time every day but as today was dry and sunny, most guests were sitting outside. Tea was served and one could get sandwiches, cookies and cakes (including Sacher Torte) from the buffet stand inside. Again compared to Holland America there is less in abundance of variation but not less in quality and quantity. I can only say that for a 4 star product it is all very good and it runs very smoothly. For those who did not like tea, the bars were doing a very good trade and the new outside bar was slowly filling up. partly with smokers but not all of them.

The NEW outside Bar on Deck 7 behind the dining room. If it was not for the smoking you would find me there very often. Holland America had a small round bar one deck up near the aft pool. It is still there but I was advised it only opens up occasionally as it is too small to handle the traffic.

When I join a cruise ship, I always send a letter to the captain to tell him/her that I am on board. Not that I expect anything but it is very irritating for a captain to find out by surprise, that there is another captain on board. And find out they do, as since Covid and the HAL diaspora of crew with the 6 ships sold, you find ex HAL crew everywhere. I have not seen one yet but I have heard that they are on board, in behind the scene functions. Most captains will then send an answer note (only Cunard is very bad at it) wishing me a good cruise, but sometimes they want to talk to me, even if it was only to find out what sort of “idiot” would take bushman’s holiday cruises, after 42 years at sea. This time there was another interest as the captain was eager to talk to me about the ship and compare changes made since Phoenix took over. So at 1800 hrs. all 4 of us were collected by the Hotel Manager (they do things properly here) and escorted to the bridge. Where we had a long chat about engine and bow thruster power and maneuvering with high winds. We only had a short time but I might have another session with him on the last sea day about certain ports where the ship calls.

Capt. Dariel Valdes and guests, seen here  yesterday during the Gold & Silber party. He lives in Panama but has been with the company for about 10 years.

Then the Hotel manager (also 40 years at sea) decided to invite us for dinner. Hurrah, ……………….free wine,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, That turned out to be very pleasant as he knew quite a few people in the industry so we could have a good time gossiping. (Sailors love to gossip and we are very good at it). Mr. Christian Schneider also owns a Castle in South Germany near Nurnberg that is run by his Dutch wife. A castle that includes a keep and has in total 22 bedrooms. Then I mentioned my plan to wean Lesley away from cruising (eventually) and take her inland in Europe to see a bit of country away from the ports. And I had the plan to do the “Route des Burges” or the “Burg Strasse”. You book each Castle – hotel for one night and then during the day you sight-see to the next one. Staying in an Castle Hotel has two advantages: A: the rooms are normally cooler then a regular hotel (European hotels often have no A.C) and B:there is always ample off street parking as there is normally land around a castle. And all that sort of conversation took up most of the evening.

Singer Olga and piano player Janibek with their show, “Rise Like A Phoenix”. 50 minutes of International European song and piano play. Here the Italian flag is on the screen and Olga is singing something Italian. It was very good.

We could just catch the most of the show by the couple that normally entertains in the Piano Lounge. They had a show in the form of a musical trip around Europe. And they were very good, a real relief from the Cast shows of the last 3 days. Tomorrow we are in the metropolis of Ulvik located at the very end of the Eid – fjord. It takes several hours to get to the end so it would have been an early morning again for the captain. We are the only ship in port and it supposed to be sunny with temperatures around 21oC / 70oF and no wind, which means it will feel a lot warmer.

Hotel Burg in Abenberg near Nurnberg south Germany. Nothing to do with this blog, but maybe nice to see that some sailors have a whole different life on the side. Most of the rooms are in the big castle-keep tower and the rest plus restaurant etc. in the other buildings. The center courtyard in the summers is used for Jousting Competitions and other medieval fun. (Photo courtesy,  Hotel Burg website)

28 July 2025; Sandane & Floro, Norway.

July 29, 2025 / / 2 Comments

With the constant increase in the number of cruise ships calling at Norwegian ports (and not considered very welcome in Bergen and Oslo), more and more little towns are getting new cruise ships docks. Most of the extensions and improvements of the postal ferry docks (Hurtigruten) but also complete new ones. They are almost all the same, a dock of about a 100 – 150 meters with ships longer overhanging at the bow and at the stern. Sufficient bollards are for that purpose put down further inland so even the big girls (we saw the QM 2 yesterday in Olden) are able to dock. Draft restrictions are normally not there as the fjords are normally very deep with the hill sides sloping straight down under water. So the docks are normally there where a little river found its natural end of run into the fjord and created a small plateau.. Some ports can then also offer one or more anchorages but not all of them, and most captains are not that excited by those that are there, but as long as there is no wind at the end of the fjord those anchorages are do-able.

The tender service to the dock in Sandane.

Sandane has a few small docks but they cannot handle much more than a large fishing boat or very small ferry. Hence we tendered into the small town which had a very nice new tender dock built for that purpose. It can handle 3 tenders at the same time. The tender distance is what we call a “4 boat distance” and thus all 4 tenders (capacity 75 max.) were in the water. That then gives the option of having 1 boat at the ship, one going to the shore, one at the shore and one on the return journey. By 10. am the tours were gone and most of the rest of the 800 as well and it was “open tenders”. E.G no need to get a tender ticket. For the suite people, like us, you can go to the gangway directly anyway, same as with many other companies. As we had waited for everybody to have gone ashore we had to whole tender to ourselves, not a bad way to start the day. We had the Phoenix supplied green (officially the color is turquoise) umbrella’s with us as the mountains had managed to catch some rain clouds and they were busy testing the town’s drainage system.

One of the two main streets in Sandane. To the left a sort of bookstore, luxury department store with a very nice book selection and a lot of children’s toys and puzzles.

Sandane is a small district town so it has a number of amenities needed to serve the locals who come by car down from their mountain homes and farms. 5 hairdressers, 3 or 4 cafe’s, one supermarket in down town, A city Hall & bank, and a nice bookshop (Unfortunately with only one nautical book, about sunken local ships along the coast, so nothing for me. I went in Bremerhaven to the Maritime Museum and there the book shop is completely gone, so I have high hopes for the Maritime Museum in Bergen. Otherwise only Hamburg is left and that is quickly shaping up as the best maritime museum in the world in my opinion.)

We walked the two main streets and then got back on board before the tours were returning. One tour did not come back but was rejoining the ship in the next port of Floro. This is a sixty mile journey through very scenic waters. Now the sun came out and by the time we arrived there at 1700 hrs. the temperatures reached a balmy 20oC / 68oF. A nice temperature for the Norwegian summer and much better than the heat wave they had last week.

Once back on board we went for “Curry Bratwurst” on the open top deck. This is basically a sausage with a curry sauce pored over it, with some paprika and dry unions. Served together with french fries or “pommes frites”. It was not as spicy as you can get on many a German street corner, but Her Ladyship approved of it, so it was good. You could have a normal beer with it or and Irish Beer.

It does not make sense to me, promoting Kilkenny Irish Beer during a German fast food lunch, but the stuff tasted good.

On the way to the next port, we had a gathering of the Gold & Silber cabins in the main lounge. We were expected to be there at 15.30 hrs. but now having learned that the Germans are early everywhere, “to be in position for when it starts”, we made it a point to arrive 10 minutes earlier. Only to find that they were all there already again with the Hotel manager as main entertainment on the stage telling about his career. (He had worked everywhere in his 40 years, so lots to tell) At the entrance stood a rather annoyed captain, who had popped down from the bridge to shake hands with everybody only to find them already all inside. Luckily there was us as he arrived the same time as we did.  10 minutes before start.. So he made a brief speech, explained that he had to be on the bridge and  went back to the bridge.

This made us question whether they really knew what they were doing. The invitation that came to in the cabin should have warned us. It was signed by the Captain, the Cruise Director, the Hotel Manager and the Gold & Silber host. More Chiefs than Indians and none of them seem to have checked on the other to see how it all was possible. Anyway we got a planters punch (alcoholic or non alcoholic version) to keep us happy and then the three left told stories about the ship, the company and answered questions. The Cruise Director had been at sea since the Maxim Gorky days so he also had been everywhere and done everything. The regular questions were asked but it somehow felt wrong that all the answers came from the Cruise Director and not from the captain. Maybe they get it right next time.

The Marina of Floro. Full of pleasure boats but also work boats that serve the fishing industry.

Right after arrival we went ashore, as soon as the initial “invasion” of guests had made it off the gangway. Floro is a similar town as Sandane but with several older buildings in town and two hotels. A nice size marina and some good looking fish restaurants. For the rest a Thai restaurant (and a Thai bar…….. we never found out what that was supposed to be as it was closed) and a pizzeria. NOK 290 for a standard 12 inch pizza (About 10 kroner to the US dollar so $ 29,—), so we decided not to be tempted and returned to the ship.

The main street in Floro. This was around 1800 hrs. and as you can see it was not a hive of activity, even with the nice weather.

Having learned now that First and Second sitting is marching in about 30 minutes before the actual dinner time we decided to go for cocktails first in the Piano Lounge and show up at dinner around 20.00. (closing time being 20.30) A large glass of beer is 7.5 euro’s and about the same for a large glass of wine (with a large wine list to choose from) so the prices are very reasonable compared to a company such as Cunard. And you get standard a pot of peanuts while at other company’s you have to ask for it. And that is something I do not understand from other company’s where you have to ask, because as soon as you start eating peanuts, or mixed nuts,  you want to have another drink…………..

The La Fontaine Dining room aft part. Seen from starboard entrance towards the stern. As it was during Royal Viking and HAL days.

We learned something new in the dining room tonight. As we could not find the “daily dishes available through out the cruise” on the menu, something that most company’s have, we investigated and found that you can order from the Room Serve Menu, which has quite a few nice dishes. This included Wiener Schnitzel which is not on the regular menu. Well, making a cruise on a German ship, we could not do without the Schnitzel experience and it was promptly ordered. And it was good, very good. After dinner we poked our nose into the show lounge to see part of the show.

Singers to the right and left and the trapeze lady in the middle. (Apologies for the photo quality but I am not a cell phone wizard.)

Tonight it was again a Cast show, now based on the “Greatest Showman” musical / movie. It was not as bad as the previous two days as the ladies are good singers but the cheography was again very bad. The acrobatic lady hung from the ceiling again, being very talented and this time it sort of fitted in with the “circus theme” of the show, but it does not really work with such a low ceiling. But the audience seems to love it, so for them all was well in the world. I think we are a bit spoiled with our international cruise ship experience. ……………..

The new dining room look with Phoenix Reisen. Taken from the same location as the old photo above. Now the restaurant is called the “Ozean Restaurant”

Tomorrow we are in Bergen. It is supposed to be dry and partly sunny and that is not  so usual for Bergen so everybody will be out in force. Also in port: ms Trollfjord (Hurtigruten), ms Viking Saturn (Lesley and I will be on that one in February 2026) and the Costa Diadema. In total about 5000 cruise guests going ashore. It could be much worse and there have been protests in Bergen against having too many cruise ships on one day. 5000 guests marching through the fish market is already a lot, let alone when the count goes up to 9000 or more. And then add the regular tourists to it who come by sightseeing bus.

One more photo. This is the separate forward part,   “the small dining room”, seen looking aft. To the right used to be a circular staircase going up to the Explorers Lounge. It was removed providing space for a steward station. More to the aft a Buffet has been installed, used in the mornings for breakfast and in the evening for cold orders.

27 July 2025, Flam; Norway.

July 28, 2025 / / 9 Comments

Still in the wider part of the fjord at 08.30 am.

Although the days are getting shorter, it is still sun rise around 5 am. and thus a beautiful sail in with the sun shining on the mountain sides of the fjord. I am never much bothered about having a balcony cabin but when cruising here it does pay off and one can enjoy breakfast on the balcony while seeing Norway float by. Or better said the other way around, Norway stands still and we float by. It is nearly 6 hours from pilot station to Flam, depending how much speed the ship is allowed to make. From the pilot station to where the fjord gets smaller you can run at sea speed but as soon as you get in the smaller parts the ship has to slow down to avoid the ships wake hitting the shore side. It would not do to tip a local fisherman out of his/her boat due to pulling a large wake.

The dock in Flam. There is space for one cruise ship to dock. Right on the grassy area are the souvenir shops, and sitting areas for the local hotel and the new Viking brewery. To the left the walkway to train station and in the back (yellow) the super market..

We could dock today as a larger ship scheduled cancelled for unknown reason their call. This is happening more and more that due to port congestion or weather, ships are re-arranging their schedules and show up another day. Port calls are normally reserved 2 years in advance but there are not many ports that charge for the booking up front, so there is a lot of last minute (read 3 or 4 months) re-shuffling going on and that can indeed still happen at the last minute. But the captain was happy to take the spot and docked stern in so our portside cabin was overlooking the port of Flam and with it the local train station which is the main reason we are here. Guests from the ship and tourists coming in by car, will take the scenic train up the mountain and then either come down again in the same way or continue with a bus or coach further inland and that bus then ends up on the Flam Dock side again. Apart from the train station, there are a few small hotels and B&Bs, a small CO-OP supermarket (open today to service all the cars and RV’s coming in) and now they also have a brewery here. Built in the form of a Viking Longhall (modern version as it has WI-FI) which shows the brewing process and beer for sale. Normally that has my great interest but the “Viking” prices charged made me change my mind.

What made me very happy was the fact that my HAL posters were still there. I put them up in 2010 when HAL added the new cabins on deck 8 aft. There was only this bare brown wall which hides the old lifts going down to the dining room from the demolished Midnight Sun Lounge.

So we waited until the majority of the ship had marched ashore and then took the chance to have a good look around. I estimate that Phoenix Reisen has spent since 2019 about $30 million on the ship. In 2019 during a six months dry dock it was roughly $24 million on new engines, new rudders and a lot of pipe work and renewing of all the cabins. Then later on they did more work on the suites and also made the Captains cabin smaller by putting an extra suite in the sitting room space that we always used for parties.

The Panorama lounge ex Crows  nest. All the same except some chairs added to increase capacity.

If we start on the top deck, deck 12, the Crows nest, now Panorama Bar remained the same. Then a deck down 11, the midship pool was taken out and replaced with a wooden decking for deck parties. This area is now called “Schone Aussichten” or “Nice Views”. See the photos on the blog of yesterday with the deck party/lunch.. Then the Lido part at the stern has been spruced up considerably and what was with HAL a semi outside venue is now completely closed in with good air-conditioning. If you then enter the aft staircase, you can see the 17th. ships painting that was once hanging in the HAL explorers lounge has been installed against the bulkhead. So it was not thrown out, as often happen during refit.

Deck 10 & 9 is still the same with all the cabins having been rebuilt, and to my wife’s consternation the self service laundry on deck 8 was taken away. There is another ,bigger one, on deck 6 but from the top deck cabins that is a long way down. For the suites there is free laundry but it is not always wise to send a Ladies dress to the ships laundry as they tend to kill it with kindness. Then on Deck 8 the public rooms start. The show lounge has not changed at all, even the carpet is still the HAL carpet. Front desk is still front desk and the photo gallery on the portside is still the same as is the cinema. The shops have been reduced to only the center large one and the boutique that was on the port side is now the Future Cruise office for Phoenix Reisen. The Explorations library is still there but much less elaborate than in HAL days. Also the large Captains cabins, where I could hold parties for up to 70 guests has been reduced to a regular officer cabin and an extra suite installed. Makes sense from a revenue point of view but not from a service point of view as now they have to block off part of a public room for a party. For the “Gold service” meeting, the Panorama Bar was closed off and tomorrow when we have the “Gold & Silber cabin” party and they do it in the Main Show lounge at 15.30 in the afternoon. We will see if it works, but I like my parties at cocktail time between 6 and 8 in the evening but not in the mid afternoon.

The old Explorers Lounge looking forward.

The biggest changes made are to the old Explorers lounge area & the casino & the Java Cafe & small bar on deck 8. It has been completely changed. The Casino was removed as Germans do not gamble and replaced by 10 cabins. The the Java Cafe & bar area and the Explorers lounge have been completely ripped out and made into “the Piano Lounge” and it has a large bar. Now many more guests can enjoy this venue and listen to the piano player & singer. Originally this lounge was called the Casablanca Bar and the old Ocean Bar, the Harry’s Bar. Both names taken from the movie Casablanca with Humphry Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Then for some reason the name was changed to Piano Lounge & Piano Bar and they do have a duo playing and singing there.

The new Piano Lounge with bar. The photo  taken from the same location as the photo above. The lounge curves around to the portside at the end.

On deck 7, the old Ocean Bar is now Harry’s Bar. The bar itself has been made larger, the band stand re-arranged, and all the partitions removed so there is more place for sitting. In the starboard forward corner an enclosed Smoking Room has been put in, with glass wall so you can see who is working on a slow suicide. In the afternoon and evening there are two older gentlemen playing (They look a bit like motor cycle lovers with a mid life crises) and they play a mixture of German pop and dance music. Obviously they must think that their public has hearing issues as last night it was very loud.

Harry’s Bar. With Royal Viking this was a dining room. With HAL it was remodeled to the Ocean Bar with band and dancefloor, but with the bar hidden behind a screen. Phoenix has now opened everything up. It has a bigger band stand and much more seating.

Phoenix needed to make these two rooms bigger as Germans go much more for drinks in the afternoon and after dinner drinks and dancing than the Americans with HAL do, and I think they did a very good job, Two very nice lounges, who serve their guests well.

Deck 6, 5 and 4 are cabins again with on deck 5 in the forward staircase there is a multi purpose room, which with HAL was mainly for crew training, incentive group meetings and Club HAL. Now this is a “Kreativ Room” which on this cruise seems to consist out of “Sit & be Fit”. For that purpose a hard wooden floor has been put in while with HAL it was carpet. And then finally, “hurrah” they put in 4 new tenders. That meant installing new davits to hang them from which is quite expensive but they did so.

The menu at Pichlers.

We went for pre-dinner cocktails to the Piano lounge, which was completely empty. We are now getting the hang of the German flow. They were either watching the scenery on departure outside or they marched directly into the dining rooms or Lido. I wonder if they are indeed afraid that the kitchen will run out of food. Then they all congregate in the lounges afterwards where the bars were doing a roaring trade. We had a booking for Pichlers which is the old Holland America Line Pinnacle Restaurant and it is still exactly the same. The system works in a German way, everybody comes in between 18.30 and 1900 which gives the staff time to take your drinks order. Then when everybody is in, they close the doors, ……….yes they close the doors………… and then you get served a set menu served. If there is something you do not like or cannot eat (like milk in a dish) then they will get you something from the dining room. Food is free, drinks, water, tea and coffee you have to pay for. With a specialty restaurant you do not expect to pay for tea and coffee but here you do and they do not tell you. But once having experienced this, you know and can be ready to make a more quantified decision next time. The food was very good and the service very smooth. Even with a full house, there were enough waiters to make it all work perfectly.

That meant of course we missed the show but when we came out, “Die Beatles Show” was still going on, in the theatre, here called “Die Atlantik Lounge”.  Again this was a revue show, so same cast as last night, and again it was very bad. 3 of the four singers are not too bad to listen to , but the sound system, the  back stage lighting and set-up,  and cheography of the dancers is not good at all. Maybe Phoenix should only have bought 3 new tenders and spent some more money on the shows. On the other hand the guests did not seem to notice and were enjoying themselves so what can I say. We will have to find out eventually what quality of the shows are on “Mein Schiff ” and “Aida” but it cannot be that bad. That concluded our day, so time to translate the daily program to Lesley and plan for tomorrow.

Tomorrow we are in Sandane from 0700 – 1300 hrs. then a 60 mile jump to Floro for an evening call. Sandane, is an anchor call, so with tender service, but Floro is docking. We have never been to neither of the two places so we want to step ashore, even if it is only for 5 minutes. Weather for tomorrow, it calls for overcast weather with rain on the mountain but that rain normally has a tendency to come down the mountain at some time during the day. Who cares, the cabin is equipped with 2 large umbrellas so we can handle weather. Temperatures around 61 oF / 16 oC. and maybe somewhat higher.

 

 

 

26 July 2025: At sea;, off the coast of Denmark.

July 27, 2025 / / 6 Comments

Today was our first day at sea and it was a nice and smooth sea day with partly cloudy skies and temperatures around 14oC / 58 oF. A lower temperature than normal for the summer, caused by a North Easterly Air flow from the European Continent. Bad news for sun bathers, good news for the captain as this means no fog. Also good news for those in the cabins behind the bridge as we will not be bothered by the sound of the fog horn.

The old pool area now covered over for multi purpose functions

After scrutinizing the daily pro gram it became apparent that the on board activities are somewhat limited (shuffleboard, darts, church service) and that is tilted towards food and “Vergenugung” which loosely translates as “enjoying ones selves” which includes food and drink in a party atmosphere. For that purpose Phoenix Reisen had already closed in & covered over the midships pool in 2019 and installed a sort of multi purpose area with a stage and and large TV screen. The area can be used as a dance floor, for lecturing, movie under the stars or as for today a sort of “Bier Garten”.

The small buffet setup in front of the Lido Bar.

The ship laid on a small “Maritime” nibble buffet and the cast put on a small show with well known German shanty songs. As all the dining rooms venues would open later anyway, it was only a small food setup but just nice to have with a drink. The Germans call this “Fruhshoppen” and there is really no English word out there that catches the exact meaning. I would translate it as an “early morning knees up”. Chilly but sunny weather and the guests were out in force. Nothing better than to start the day with oysters and a glass of beer. Later on the cruise staff came around with complimentary shots of “Schnapps” (German Gin) and a good time was had by all. Once it was over, the tables and benches were removed and the space was ready for the next happening.

As mentioned before, we are in a “gold ” cabin, a suite on deck 11 & 12 with a total of 19 (it would normally be 20 but the “Kaiser Suite” or penthouse, takes up the space of 2 normal suites). Being “gold” meant we had a meeting with our Concierge Mr. Uwe Noster who in a previous life was a banker but since retirement has found out that there is more to the world then just counting money and was now with the ms Amera as Concierge and Port lecturer. The meeting was in the crows nest/observation lounge at noon time. Here we learned our first lesson of the “German cruise flow” and that is, that if it says 12.00 hrs. or 15.00 hrs. then you do not go to the party/meeting at 12.00 hrs. but you are there at 12.00 as it starts at 12.00 hrs. With HAL you come in at 12.00 hrs. get a drink and once everybody is sort of there, the proceedings can start. Not this time, we showed up at 12.05 and Mr. Uwe was already in full swing. Most of those present had shown up about 15 minutes before so at exactly 12.00 hrs. it could start.

We found out later in the evening with dinner that it works the same way. Opening time was 18.00 and 20.00 hrs. so we showed up at 18.00 hrs. and everybody was already there. The system is, you go in anytime between 17.30 and 18.00 hrs.(*), find a seat and exactly at 18.00 hrs. you get your menu in front of you. More about this further down. (*And in some cases, run for your favourite table and be highly annoyed if somebody is already sitting there. Heinz & Helga seem to like their routines)

While enjoying a glass of German champagne/sekt some of the cruise staff team and the hotel staff were introduced and the Hotel Director came over for a chat. He speaks fluent English, German and Dutch. The latter courtesy of being married to a Dutch Wife. (Best way to learn a language, is to court a foreign girl so you have to go the other way and you will get fluent, or more really fluent very fast if she starts looking deep into your eyes). He had been at sea all his life and worked for a whole range for cruise company’s so he was very happy to have a conversation about ships instead of just the regular “guest chat”. From him we found out that Phoenix Reisen does not have a “Repeater program”. No tiers with discount, no medals or pins. They prefer to keep the prices the same for everybody and if you want free laundry (big thing with Holland America guests), you book a silver or gold cabin and it is included. They do record your sailing days, so if you hit a milestone,, they will recognize you but in a different way. When you board the ship, the carpet says “Willkommen zu house”, “Welcome home” so the company creates a sort of we -all-belong-together-feeling in a different way. And I get the impression that it works. The party/meeting also had the advantage that we could book the “Pilchers Restaurant”. This is the old Holland America Line Pinnacle but with this company it is free of charge, you just have to stand in line at some time in the afternoon to speak to the Maitre. No pre booking, no reservations over the phone, you have to line up. Luckily for our cabins, the Maitre d’hotel was there and we avoided queuing. It pays to travel posh……

Then it was lunchtime then and we went to the dining room which has been greatly remodeled since the Prinsendam days. In line with the current taste of Cruise ship design, the colours were in grey and
brown, with more partitions than with HAL. I will have to count the tables in the coming days to see if they lost seats over it as it looks much more spacious than before. But they removed the large Captains table and put 4 smaller round tables in so they gained space that way. In the coming days I will post a few menu’s, as for Lesley they have an English version available and so far after 2 meals, I can only say that the food is fully comparable with Holland America, Cunard, Fred Olsen or Princess. (It is just less elaborate in choices) Our friends, really enjoy their food so each dish is posted on their family travel blog and they are also happy with what is offered, including the wines. Again the guests come in 20 to 30 minutes before the official opening so they are “in position” for when the menu’s come out. The stewards tend to start a bit earlier with the orders, because getting 400 appetizer orders in the kitchen at the same time is not easy for the cooks. Here on the Amera there is still the double kitchen, left over from the Royal Viking Days, so they have more capacity than a 800 guest ship would normally have but a smooth flow is still important..

We had scrutinized the daily program carefully and again, not many activities going on in the afternoon, although the line dancing in the show lounge was well attended, as well as the 15.30 tea in the Lido. The rest of the guests were in the bars or on the sun loungers around the ship. Tonight was the Captains welcome party and that is done in two regulated sittings. As the dining has open sitting, that does not work if you suddenly have to deal with two starting times for the captains welcome and the show. So what they have done here, is send you to dinner by deck. So decks 6,8,10 and 12 went to the welcome party at 1900 hrs. followed by the show and dinner and decks 5,7,&11 went to dinner at 1800 hrs. followed be welcome on board party at 2100 hrs. followed by the show.

Captains Introduction. The green jackets to the left are the Cruise Staff and the white, the senior officers. The captain is a rather small man and can be seen in the middle.

And it worked……. only with Germans you can do such a set this up and make it work. With the caveat that the Lido was extremely busy again but I could not figure out if this was because of the “seating” system or because of the dress code for the evening. The guests were invited to “dress up” but the result was very mixed. I only counted during our sitting 5 gents in full smoking (and that included the two of us) quite a few in jacket and tie but the majority of the gents found a jacket good enough or not at all. Ladies are always difficult to judge as they normally dress up a bit for each evening but it was not as “gala” as I think they company would have liked it. We also found out that free wine is served in the dining room, although they keep it very quiet as they want you to buy bottles. We inspected the table (Spanish) wine and decided to buy a bottle, giving the wine team (bar waitress and table waiter combined) the chance to make a little commission. The wine list is quite varied and this cruise there is also a promotion going on with South African wine. Our friends who are somewhat of connoisseurs declared the wines more than adequate. They had my favourite Austrian wine, so we had a bottle, but for the rest they have draft beer everywhere and thus I am a happy camper anyway,

After registering our credit car, picking up Lesley’s passport and being recognized by ever more crew as being “the old captain of the Prinsendam” we retreated to the cabin, got changed and joined our friends in their cabin, to drink the welcome on board champagne (the real stuff) that came to the cabin on embarkation day. We also get chocolate petit-fours on Formal the day but they arrived after we had to go for this early deck – by deck dinner. But then chocolate for breakfast is not a bad thing either. The dining room was waiting and we had a table at the window near the stern and when looking outside, we saw that Phoenix had built an outside bar under the overhang that HAL constructed in 2010 to make the back pool bigger and also stop it from overflowing. So we have to investigate that tomorrow. This is also a smokers area but if there is a bit of wind, it should not bother us. There is a 2nd smoking area on board, a real indoor smoking room (screened off with a glass wall), in the corner of the old Ocean Bar (now Harry’s bar) and that also works well.

Captain Valdes.

The Cruise Direktor. Herr Liemberger from Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we had the party. Captain with photo opportunity on the portside and direct entry at the starboard side. Knowing that the side lines of the lounge are not that great, I herded our little group in as fast as possible to get the best seats / un-obstructed view, and where then ready for more complimentary champagne and nibbles. As it used to be with HAL and still is with Cunard and Fred Olsen. For a 4 star company this is shaping up as a really good quality product even putting some of the more pretentious companys to shame. The crew kept coming around with refills and “re-nibbling” and then the parade started. Because Phoenix is putting so much focus to direct service to the guests, there was a large cruise staff team on the stage and a large number of officers, making the stage a bit crowded to say the least. The master of the vessel is captain Dariel Valdes, who went through the ranks with Phoenix, (the company exists since 1993) and is a very affable man. I do not think he likes speeches very much as his little speech was completely rehearsed and very P.C. So the hotel staff were introduced by the Hotel manager and then all the cruise staff by the Cruise Director. Captain then came back with the champagne toast. This was followed by the Revue show who produced something called “Let us Entertain you” with songs by Elvis P, Tina T and a rock and roll medl. At certain moments a lady popped up to hang upside down from a rope from the ceiling. Unfortunately the ceiling of the lounge is very low so the effect was somewhat limited . Not all of the cast could sing that well and I have seen much better cheography on the small stage in Prinsendam days.. Let’s say the next show can only be better.

Nice touch and never seen before, your name on the petit-fours plate.

That concluded our evening as by now, we had had enough to eat and drink to last 3 days. Tomorrow we have the pilot at 04.00 hrs. and then a sail in to Flam with a docking time at 11.00 hrs. We were supposed to anchor, but a bigger ship scheduled to dock, cancelled and so we are going alongside. Our friends are going on the Flam- train excursion but as we have done everything and anything there is to do in Norway we will enjoy the ship and used the large ironing room on deck 6.. Weather for tomorrow, partly cloudy, partly sunny, chance of a rain drop and temperatures in the low sixties. (14 – 17oC) Not a bad start for this seven day cruise at all.

 

2025 July 25 Boarding the ms Amera in Bremerhaven

July 26, 2025 / / 17 Comments

Three days ago we left England and drove via the Hook of Holland overnight Ferry to Bremerhaven. Here we stayed for 3 nights in an hotel (Hotel Liberty at the edge of the old port) to have a look at the maritime museums before joining the ms Amera today.

The ms Amera of Phoenix Reisen. Seen here in what looks like sailing into Antigua. (Photo Courtesy Phoenix Reisen)

The Amera is the ex Prinsendam (II) and I was captain on her from 2009 to 2012. The daily stories are in the Blog archives see link on the front page of this website. I wanted to see the ship again as Phoenix Reisen had made a number of changes on board, some of them we as crew had asked HAL for, for years, but never got.

The ms Prinsendam  of Holland America Line. Seen here sailing in the Bosphorus in 2002 just after she joined the company,

Phoenix Reisen is a German 4star segment operator and concentrates on the German market. It will be interesting to see if they are any other none Germans on board, except me, my wife Lesley and my two Dutch Friends who came with us. He is the son of Captain Van Deventer (see his biography elsewhere on the website) and we met for the first time on the Prinsendam in 2010 and have remained friends ever since.

The ms Royal Viking Sun. built in 1988 as the most luxury cruise ship at that time. Introducing cabins with balconies to the industry as a standard feature.

Phoenix charters only uses old second hand tonnage but maintains it very well. As a result all the ships are very individual in character which the managing director of Phoenix described in 2019 as an advantage for his public. “They come to a ship once and if they like it, they stay with the ship. If not then they try another one until they have found the right one and then they stay. This is a total different philosophy from most other company’s, including Holland America who want to have standarization of the product over their fleet as much as possible, and thus a similar lay-out as much as possible. It was one of the reasons for the Prinsendam to leave the fleet in 2019. She was just too different, although she made good money.  She was then subsequently bought by a Phoenix Reisen. Phoenix has apart from 4 deep sea ships also a large fleet of inland river cruise ships.

The ms Royal Viking Sun ended up with Cunard who did not change anything except painting the funnel red. Then she was added to Seabourn Cruises and via Carnival Cruises, Seabourn ended up with Holland America. As the Sun was so much bigger then the other Seabourn vessels, the Sun fitted better with HAL and became the Prinsendam (II) (Photo courtesy unknown source on the internet)

Other ships in the Phoenix deep sea fleet:
ms Amadea built in 1991 as the Japanese Asuka
ms Amera built in 1988 as the Royal Viking Sun, later Seabourn Sun and ms Prinsendam
ms Artania built in 1984 as the ms Royal Princesss for P&O Princess Cruises
ms Deutschland built in 1998 for Deilmann Cruises (and became world famous in Germany as “Das Traumschiff” or “The Dreamship# in English. The German version of The Love Boat. The are currently still filming these series but now on the Amadea which is double the size of the Deutschland)

At 1100 we finished our stay at Hotel Liberty in Bremerhaven and left the car in the garage, at a cost of 18,– euro a day but it is the hotel garage and is locked overnight. By 1400 hrs we were at the terminal and the ms Amera was the only ship in port today. The terminal is very long and can handle 4 ships at the same time but if that would be the case it would be very crowded. The Phoenix Reisen system works similar to the rest of the world. There is a separate check-in, Gold for the suites, Silber for the mini suites and then the rest. As we had a suite, we lined up at the Gold line and were the first through. As most of the crew is philipino it was easy to do the check in in English something the check in lady, in normal life Bar waitress on board, found easier as well. Lesley had to hand in her passport as the UK is now a 3rd world country as far as the European Union is concerned since Brexit. When I asked for a receipt, it took just 2 minutes for the supervisor to write one. So apart from HAL, Phoenix is now only the 2nd company we have travelled on, who understands that you need to get a receipt when you hand in your passport , if it was only in case they lose it. (See other reviews on the website where we did have problems even on the six star level)

Security was a breeze with the machine being able to handle laptops and other devices still in the trolley and thus minimal fuss. Once through they had set had setup a welcome champagne bar with tables for a welcome on board drink. The photographer was there of course and we had our welcome on board photo taken, as we do that on most ships and also the prices here are very good. (7.50 a photo). Once on board, being the first ones, there was escort to the cabin. Since HAL time, the suites have been rebuilt and there is now a complete partition between the sitting area and the bedroom area. Gold service comes with a full stocked – free- minibar, 2 water bottles, two logo backpacks, 2 logo big coffee cups, two sets of “gift” toiletries, Welcome on board champagne (in cooler), bathroom slippers and umbrellas. Then it comes with 2 massage vouchers and a champagne breakfast in bed. Dedicated concierge and there is access to the Neptune lounge now called the Gold lounge with free nibbles and free non & alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and coffee. The nibbles are less elaborate than with HAL has in the Neptune lunge but HAL does not do free drinks so it depends if you have guests on board, who prefer to eat or those who prefer to drink. Sofar we are really impressed. This is the “longer cruise” setup HAL had on Prinsendam in the older days.

Boatdrill was at 18.15 and was the old fashioned routine, take your lifejacket, stand under your lifeboat be checked off and then wait for the captain and safety officer to march by. I prefer the post Covid setup where you find your way, at your convinience……… so you remember the route better…… to the lifeboat station and get scanned in. With so many people around and stairway guides pushing you on the way, you tend not to pay attention to your surrounding sand just follow the crowd until you see a lollipop person with your lifeboat station.

As none of us had never been exposed to a German cruise program, we had to find out the “German flow” of things. Tonight it turned out that all the Germans at once marched into the diningroom and the Lido once the doors opened (1800 hrs), so the 4 of us had both lounges (Harry’s Bar ex Ocean Bar and Piano Lounge (ex Explorers lounge and Java Cafe combined) to ourselves for a drink. Suggestion from the Cruise Director was already to show up a bit later. According to the dining room manager it was the bet thing to do until about day 3, when “things settled down”. Maybe the gGrmans have the same scare as we also see on North American ships, that the kitchen will run out of food. So we went in at 19.30 and some tables were clearing out. Food is good, mainstream and the same as on North American ships 4 or 5 star. We were too late for the show, which was a “Around Britain” revue show, possible as the Cast are English. By now we have already found out that although the guests are 95% German (with a few Dutch and Austrian and Luxembourgians thrown in) the crew is very international so for English speakers not much of a problem. There is a whole team of support staff on board and they are a mixture of host/hostesses, shore excursion, cruise staff all mixed into one in turquoise T shirts and jackets. The Captain and Cruise Director are the direct faces of the front of the house, while the hotel staff with the Hotel Director are slightly more in the background and dressed in regular uniforms.

After dinner we looked to have another drink but now all the bars and lounges were heaving with guests, so we decided to call it a day. Tomorrow is a sea day, with very good weather expected. Partly Cloudy, smooth seas and temperatures in the mid sixties. The ship only has to maintain an average speed of 16 knots to get to our first port of call Flam so nothing to worry about. The next day we are arriving at Flam Norway around lunch time. Thus time to enjoy a scenic drive sail in.

 

 

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