The summer is coming to an end and this time we did not approach the pilot station in daylight, as was the case during last call. No it was still dark at 3 am. When I arrived on the bridge and twilight only came by the time we were well inside the Archipelago that protects Stockholm from the open sea. The darkness was lit up considerably through by several cruise ships all approaching the pilot station at the same time. Ahead of me were the Celebrity Solstice and the Rotterdam of our own company. Far to the south were several other cruise ships that had planned to use the south (Sandhamn) entrance but were diverted due to the wind as the entrance was closed by the port authorities and the Pilotage Association. Two pilot boats were on station to serve the incoming stream of cruise ships. The wind was still blowing strongly with about 30 knots from the West. The good news for that was that a westerly wind at sea, blows half the speed in the harbour where there is shelter from the city. Further on it was blowing in line with the dock, so I could keep the wind on the bow. Things were looking good. Continue reading

It was raining, blowing, drizzling etc, sometimes in separate occurrences, sometimes all at the same time when we arrived at the pilot station. The weather looked like late autumn not August mid summer. According to the pilot it was not so bad, and if you look at it in reference to mid winter circumstances or autumn gales, he was probably right. However it was only August and I was not happy at all. So I was fully prepared to swing the ship around and to go back to open sea if I did not like what the weather was like inside near the dock. However Vaasa is quite a bit inside, it takes 3 hours by ship, at 12 knots speed to get there and in the harbour is was fairly quiet with only 10 knots of wind. More was expected later in the day, but the wind direction would be all day long in line with the dock and that meant that I would also be able to leave later. The 3 hrs. sailing in meant that we had the pilot ordered for 04.00 in the morning. Continue reading

Although most people refer to the entire water surface around Finland as the Baltic, this is not really true. The Baltic or Baltic Sea has a North West arm that is called the Bothnic or the Bothnic Sea. With Sweden to the West and Finland to the East it goes as far up North to a place called Tornio where eventually Sweden and Finland meet. The Bothnic is separated from the Baltic by a small passage called Alands Hav, named after the largest island just to the right of it. Vaasa is located about half way up the Bothnic and just too far away from Helsinki, to sail the distance in one night. Thus we spent a day at sea going slow speed. Not that the guests minded this; after Warnemunde, Tallinn and two days St. Petersburg most of them were ready for a quiet day at sea. We had a nice and sunny day to support the relaxation as today we sailed between two frontal systems. Tomorrow it will be overcast and rainy again. Continue reading

We saw a full port in Tallinn, a full port in St. Petersburg and now the Helsinki berths were also all occupied. The harbour masters, keen on getting as many ships in as possible, try to park as much ship as they can get per length of quay as possible. Most of the time that means that for a smaller ship as the Prinsendam there is a little corner left in a nice spot in the downtown area. Unfortunately not this time. Therefore we ended up in the West harbour which is about 15 minutes by bus from downtown. For me it is easier to dock here than in down town; the approach is much easier and the docks are newer and better laid out. For the guest the downtown option is better as you can walk to town within 10 minutes. However the agent can only request the best berth. The port decides which customer gets what. Today we did not get the best place for a change. Continue reading

In Russia we bunker fuel because the prices are good and we can get the low sulpher version that we normally burn during these cruises. One of vague things in St. Petersburg is the organization of when the bunker barge will arrive. We always try to get the barge in the morning, when most of the guests are ashore as the barge tends to make quite a bit of noise. The pump room aboard the barge can be quite loud and during the night time it would disturb the guests whose cabins are on the sea side. However finding out and getting a schedule is nearly impossible. Thus the announced time of early (last) evening did not materialize at all. By 11 pm. I decided to give the agent a call to find out what was going on. Due to the language barrier all communication has to go through the agency and they have a set up for this a 24 hrs. Dispatcher with his own VHF channel. It works extremely well. He made another call and suddenly the hours of waiting were reduced to 20 minutes. 20 Minutes Russian time has to be multiplied by 3 and indeed just before midnight the barge was alongside. Continue reading

St. Petersburg is a 3.5 hours travelling distance from the pilot station. Not because it is so far away but because the approach channels are so shallow that higher speeds cause too much squat and bow waves. Thus you travel the whole distance with speeds between 8 and 12 knots and then it takes time to get there. Hence we had to be at the pilot station at 04.00 to be near the dock at a good time. As all the cruise ships sail on similar schedules, it was to be expected that all of them would be at the pilot station around the same time. If you included the ships already docked, it was a real gathering of the cruise world. St. Thomas Virgin islands could be jealous of it. In the port was already the Queen Victoria (Cargo dock) the MSC Lirica (New passenger terminal) and the Seven Seas Mariner, Ocean Majesty, Seabourn Pride (Leutenant Smith embankment = inner harbor) To this fleet another four ships were going to be added. Continue reading

This is the peak time of the Baltic season and it sees each port full of cruise ships. Tallin was no exception with four cruise ships calling at the same time. Zenith, Costa Atlantica, Prinsendam and the Silver Shadow. The two big ones on the cruise pier outside the main port and the two smaller ones docked inside the commercial port where also the ferries dock. Continue reading

Today was a sea day and for most guests a day to relax and to get over the heavy sightseeing day of Warnemunde. Those who went to Berlin for the whole day, came back very happy but very tired and those who stayed near the ship where tired as well after being involved in the German party drive of the HANSA week in the town. When they all stepped back onboard, there was more to enjoy as the Hotel manager had arranged for a German Om-pah band to give a performance. First with a performance around the Lido pool where authentic German food was available; and later in the more formal setting of the Show lounge. We have various sorts of German Beer for sale and the band itself made sure that the barrel level went down considerably in the course of the evening. It resulted in a very quiet morning when the sun arose. Continue reading

Not calling at Kiel in the evening made it easy to be timely in Warnemunde. I wanted to be timely, read early, because we always have issues with the local ferries on arrival. They arrive and depart around the same time as our normal ETA and then we have to wait. The ferries, being on a strict timetable, get preference over cruise ships who only call on a seasonable basis. So after studying their schedules, I thought that I had found the solution. Arriving at 04.30 in the morning and being in the port docking the ship while the first ferry was approaching. It would mean that I would be docked very early but I had to be on time for the train to Berlin. If I manage to get the guests on the train and out of the station by 7 am., then the train will run ahead of all the commuter trains and will arrive in Berlin without delay. As with the ferries, commuter trains have preference and a late arrival in Berlin upsets the whole tour. It also means that the tour will return late and subsequently that will result in a late departure. So I tried the early arrival to see if it would work. Continue reading

For me the Kieler Kanal starts a long time before the guests get their first glimpse. You first have to go on the Elbe River; the river that leads to Hamburg. It is roughly 36 miles from the Pilot station to the entrance of the Kieler Kanal and as I have to be at the entrance at 10 am. it means that I pick up the Elbe pilot at 0700. With three hours for 36 miles, I do not have to run up river full speed and I have also some time on my sleeve in case something happens. As it is a busy river, it always does. This time it was very busy at the pilot station and several small container ships pushed their way in, all being in a great hurry, as they are on tight schedules to deliver their containers on time. I prefer then to take some speed back and wait until they have all scattered their different ways. Thus we had the pilot about 10 minutes late but for these things I had built this leeway in the schedule in the first place. Continue reading