With the absence of the regular Carnival ship, we were assigned anchorage nbr 1, which is always nice. It offers the best shelter from the ocean swell and it has the shortest tender distance to the shore, unless you stay on the engines and creep all the way in. If you want to anchor with a ship which needs a reasonable size swinging circle, you have to stay further out as the water near the Cape is very deep. Even at anchorage nbr 1 it is over 150 feet before the anchor touches the ground. I have been staying on the engines, e.g. drifting, here but only when I had been assigned anchorage nbr 3. That is so far out, that unless we start sending guests ashore at 5 am in the morning it is impossible to get them all ashore in time for their tours.  In such a situation I drift in, south of anchorage 1, and stay there until all the tours and the rush is gone and then slowly move towards my assigned anchorage. If you do that very slowly you can continue your tender service safely, as you do not increase the current/flow along the tender platform that much. It is often even much easier for the tenders to remain alongside the platform as there is a steady flow for the tenders to sit in.  Today none of that was necessary and we dropped the hook at 06.30 and were in operation, five minutes later. Continue reading

By 05.00 we sailed into the Bahia de Banderas at which end Puerto Vallarta is located. We were leading the invasion as behind us was the Sapphire Princess with an ETA of 08.15 at the pilot station. Followed by the Zaandam going for 09.00. hrs. We had scheduled ourselves for 07.00 which is just before sunrise and gives the best view for getting into the harbor. The Sapphire Princess had the worst time this morning as on her approach everybody on the bridge would have to glare into the rising sun. By the time the Zaandam arrived the Sun would be high enough for it not to be a problem any longer. With three ships the whole harbor was going to be full as there are three docks now. Berth 1, closest to the flea market; berth 2, closest to Wall Mart and berth three with the best parking area for the tour buses and access to the shopping Mall. (That one is not as popular with the crew as the prices are quite high; it is quite a posh place) We were assigned berth nbr 3 which required a 90o turn in the middle of the harbor so we could dock sb alongside. By 07.30 we were happily alongside and the guests streamed ashore. Continue reading

Today we sailed along the coast of Mexico, about 10 to 12 miles off, and enjoyed the most perfect weather you can have. The sea was as smooth as can be with only a low rolling swell coming in; the sky was partly cloudy and it could not really have been better. The only thing that marred our perfect day was the presence of six pack navigators, right on our track line. The moment we came close to Zihuatenego they all came racing out. On good weather days the sport fishermen come out to about 15 miles from shore for Marlin and other fishing. I think it has to do with the fact that a bit further to the West we have the Middle American Trench, a sort of canyon under water where the sea depth goes down to about 15,000 ft. that means colder water that is then pushed up from these depths and it brings up nutrients and other things fish really like, and that means Fishermen. That means paying extra attention on the bridge, as they normally don’t. When a fisherman’s mind is on fishing there is not much room left for other thoughts. So we zigzagged safely through the area and then continued unhindered up the coast. Continue reading

A sight that is seldom seen was the Golfo de Tehantpec being completely smooth. Just a long underlying swell made the sea surface wavy but for the rest it was as calm as could be.  Different from at any other time. What we would learn shortly after was that when this happens the bay of Hualtalco is also different than at other times. That is why being at sea never gives you a dull moment.  But first we enjoyed the picture perfect weather and approached the Mexican coast line from the south East.  About 10 miles out we were greeted by a fast patrol boat of the Mexican Navy who escorted us all the way in. I have never seen them coming out that far but maybe it had to do with the fact that the sea was so smooth. It made for a pleasant ride for a change, and then…………boys with toys………… you grab your chance. The pilot was waiting at the correct location and after he hopped on board in we went. Continue reading

When coming from Puerto Caldera you have to sail by a whole group of countries to get to Mexico and Hualtalco. During the course of the day we passed Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, until by midnight, we will pass the border with Mexico. Then the crossing of the Golfo de Tehantepec will start but as it is nice weather for a change it will be no different from the sailing mode. That current weather is more or less wind still and very warm. Today we did not have more than a wind force 1 most of the time. Just a small ripple on the top of a smooth sea. The sea was smooth but not flat, as a long low rolling swell was coming in from the North West, all the way from Alaska. The area west of Kodiak is still processing a nasty storm every three days, something that will not change until the end of April. Hence the fact that we are not sailing with the ship to Seward until the middle of May. Part of it is the fact that the Alaskan Interior only starts to open up in early May. All the Holland America Hotels, buses and trains have to be gotten out of hibernation and the roads have to be fully passable again. The other part is that it is not really a bright idea to sail with the ship through a Gulf of Alaska storm as part of the cruise experience, if it is not necessary to do so. Continue reading

 At 3 am we started entering the Golfo di Nicoya at which end Puerto Caldera is located. As expected the fishing boats were out in force and as usual they were sitting right in the approach route to the pilot station. It is a given factor that the best fish are swimming where the big ships are travelling and that accounts for the reason that everywhere in the world fishermen are always in the way. It meant winding our way through them but luckily progress has also reached Costa Rica and the end of the nets they now all had lights on them and that made it possible to refrain from cutting through them. So we zigzagged our way through the boats and the nets and the quartermaster behind the wheel felt as if he was driving a Grand Prix car on the streets of Monte Carlo. Port Control had a bright morning and called us before we got the chance to call them and that was a first. By 5 am. we were at the pilot station and while we were approaching the dock, the pilot hopped on board and confirmed that I was going the right way. So all was well in the world. Continue reading

 After all the excitement of yesterday, today was a nice quiet day at sea with a bit of sightseeing in the afternoon. As predicted it was indeed wind still and the seabirds appeared as if scheduled. They only stayed until lunch time and were then not seen for the remainder of the day. I think it was simply too hot. Without wind and with few little clouds in the sky, temperatures rose well into the 90’s (30+oC)and that gives food for thought for tomorrow when we are in Puerto Caldera and much closer to the rain forest. The ships speed provided a little breeze but it was very warm today. There is not much change forecast and that might mean that the coming Mexican ports are also going to be a very warm affair. Continue reading

We arrived bright and early at 05.00 hrs. at Cristobal breakwater; although bright is too much of a word as it was overcast with showers in the distance. For a change it was fairly quiet at Cristobal and later in the day we found out that for some unknown economic reason, traffic from the Atlantic to the Pacific had been much slower in the last few days than it had been the other way around.  That also gave the reason why we were scheduled to sail so late past Gamboa as I mentioned yesterday. Indeed this was confirmed by the pilot, and our southbound convoy only had 14 ships, while northbound had 27.  Number 27 was scheduled to clear Gamboa at 11.20 so we prepared accordingly and hoped that all might go a bit faster than foreseen. I wanted to do most of the Canal as soon as possible as there was no rain forecast in the Canal and that meant it was going to be a very hot day. Continue reading

 Right outside Aruba the wind up picked up again, although this time it was of less concern as it was a following wind and the weather forecast indicated that outside the Panama Canal it would be wind still. Thus 30 knots of wind in the back was not a problem. It gave the ship a bit of extra speed, free of charge, and it made it nearly wind still on the outside decks and that made the open decks a pleasant place to be. The strong winds have one disadvantage and that is that there are no birds to be seen. A soon as it goes over wind force 4, about 14 knots, all the sea gulls, brown booby’s and starlets disappear. For any life in the ocean it is the same, they either dive under, or the waves with the whitecaps and foam make it impossible to see them. As a result we did not see much at all during the last few days. I expect that it will improve once we get to the other side as it is nearly wind still in the whole area between the Panama Canal and Puerto Vallarta. Continue reading

The wind was blowing well over 30 knots when we started our early morning approach and I was on the bridge shortly after 6 am to decide if we needed one or two tugboats and to see (on the radar) how the Horizon was faring as she was going at 06.45. She went in and no alarms were raised and that meant that the conditions inside were not that bad. I opted for one tugboat, not as much to get the ship alongside but to have a backup in case the wind would get stronger while we were still giving out the lines.  Fortune was on our side as we were able to sail in between two squalls and the wind nicely dropped to about 15 knots, coming down from about 30 knots. Then it remained more or less dry for the remainder of the morning and for most of the afternoon and thus the visit at Aruba turned out to be better than expected.  We were at the C terminal which is the closest to the city area but only for the reason that it is much more difficult to dock, when you first have to sail past another ship. As the Horizon came in first, we docked behind her. On departure we will have to sail past her, as she is leaving later, but then we will be able to make speed and that will reduce the drifting. Continue reading