Bergen is tucked away inside the Norwegian Fjords and as a result it takes a while to get there. Regardless whether you come from the North or from the South, it is a considerable distance to the dock. Thus the pilot boards early to enable a timely arrival. We had a bit of a wobbly night, with a long swell running from the Greenland area where they had had some very inclement weather a few days ago and the swell generated by that weather front came rolling all the way down the Norwegian Coast. We had wind as well, coming from the South West and so the pilot boat skipper decided to wait a bit further inside the entrance before he came alongside.
That was just fine by me, because then I was also completely out of the swell. Once you are inside the mountains on the side of the fjords they provide great shelter from all the elements except rain. The whole coast line of Norway is dotted with pilot stations serving all the various small and big ports inside the fjords. The Pilotage system is divided in area’s as the whole coastline is much too big to take one pilot onboard and keep him onboard for all the calls. Each port that we do this cruise we will stop at a pilot station, get a pilot onboard and disembark him/her again at the end of the call. Same as we do on other cruises, only this time it is all within one country. Continue reading

Today was our first sightseeing day and it was a great day. Most guests are hoping for sunny weather during their cruise but that is one thing you do not want to have when sailing through the fjords. The sun creates glare that makes it more difficult to see the sights, also you cannot see very much at the “sunny side of the ship” and if the sun lasts for a few days you get that hazy stuff called fog and then you do not see anything at all. Overcast is perfect even if it means the occasional shower. You can also watch the scenery from the bar, preferably with a glass of wine in hand. At least that is what my wife and I do when we are cruising in our spare time. Lysefjord is not that far away from Oslo so we trundled up the coast in a nice and sedate way, to be at the pilot station at the Brochure time of 11 am. The pilot had obviously not read that brochure as he came racing out early and was onboard just past 10.30am. Not that I minded we could just do a bit more sightseeing this way. Continue reading

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

Departure Yesterday was a continuation of the day; it was a very breezy affair. First I had expected to be delayed due to the luggage loading. In Dover you cannot use a conveyor belt or put luggage cages onboard. This is due to the tidal height difference, so what they do here is use a cradle and lower the luggage down towards the break door of the ship and then lift each bag into the ship one by one. That is time consuming but it is the only way possible. However they did finish on time and as soon as the Balmoral was clear of us, she left 30 minutes earlier, it was our turn. While we were waiting for the Balmoral to pass by, dark clouds were coming closer and closer from over the ocean. So I told the pilot that I was not leaving until this heavy shower had passed by. There can be strong winds hiding inside a shower and that would endanger our departure maneuver. It was going to be an interesting affair anyway without this extra wind. Thus we waited another 20 minutes until most of the rain had passed. Continue reading

Thus we raced with full speed from Guernsey to Dover, trying to stay ahead of the inclement weather. I did not make it as early as I had hoped for, the current in the channel was stronger than expected and against us. However the wind stayed away and we were treated to a spectacular thunder and lightning show; caused by a large rain system laying over England and France which moved as fast to the North as we were approaching England in the same direction. Thus we could see ships lit up against the horizon from miles away. A very strange experience indeed. As explained before, the Dover Strait is covered by a Vessel Traffic Separation scheme and that means that you first have to travel up the channel on the French side and then make a perpendicular crossing to the Dover side. By crossing on a 90o angle in relation to the other traffic there is no confusion on the other ships about what you are doing. Sometimes there is a ship that ignores the rules but as all traffic is closely monitored by both sides of the channel, advice to “better your ways” is quickly coming. Continue reading

We had a beautiful day today, the winds had died down over night and the anchorage is sheltered from Westerly swells. Thus by the time we approached the anchorage it was nearly wind still and as flat as a mirror. Quite a difference from the last few days. The pilot was happy to see us, as tourism is a major part of the islands revenue and more cruise ships also means more money for the pilot. The weather forecast was advising that the weather was going to change for the worse but that would not happen until much later in the day so therefore we could enjoy an undisturbed day in the town. This is an anchor port for any cruise ship over 120 meters and even then those smaller ships have to anchor most of the time as the berths in the port are mainly occupied by ferries. During our last call, we had an almost ferry-less day as the calling schedules were outside our visiting period but today we had some traffic. Continue reading

The Gales did not relent so once again we had a wobbly night, now sailing from Falmouth to Portland. The good news is that the gale is supposed to fade away today and if that happens then we will have a great day in St. Peters Port tomorrow while at anchor. However our approach to the port of Portland was still very windy. Some time in the 19th century they built an enormous break water that surrounds a large anchorage area. I only knew Portland from “Portland cement” for the housing industry and nothing else. However upon consulting Wikipedia, I found the following Continue reading

After our departure from Newport the weather did not improve very much and the moment we cleared the Scilly Isles the wind picked up to wind force 8. Luckily we were going eastwards and so the wind was blowing from behind with the waves doing the same thing. Hence the ship was fairly stable compared to what it could have been. Falmouth is located on the SE side of Cornwall and is a harbor fairly sheltered from the elements. The port is swell free from all directions but not completely sheltered from winds coming from the seaside. The port is very well known to ships historians for the claim to fame that its river, the river Fal, has been used from the mists of time as a layup port. Ships waiting to be sold, ships in the reserve fleet, or ships waiting to be scrapped, all were anchored up stream in the river. I have quite a few photos in my collection that show historic P&O and British India vessels laid up in the river, awaiting their final disposal and this was round the turn of the century. Northing has changed since then; and although it cannot be seen from the port itself there were a number of cargo ships laid up again, this time victims of the credit crunch. The river is preferred, because upstream it is very sheltered and quite deep so it can take almost any size vessel. Continue reading

With cruising being so popular and the well known ports filling up with the ever larger cruise ships, Holland America is very active in developing new cruise destinations and ports of call. One of the issues with visiting Wales is that it is a great country but not so easy to access. Also the country is quite long; running from North to South and you need several access ports to get guests within reasonable distance to the attractions. There are several ports available but they are not so large and are mainly focused on the cargo trade. Thus the company developed the plan to call at Newport. As the river Severn which leads to Bristol has a very large tidal range, the ports along the shores are all protected from the tides by locks, so that inside the locks the docks have a constant water height. The lock at Newport is of the same size as the one in Leith 31.5 meters wide and that means that out of all the HAL ships, only the Prinsendam fits in. Hence our appearance today at the place. Continue reading

With the severe weather warnings announced on the vhf channels during the afternoon of our Dublin call, I was getting grave concerns about our call at East Dunmore. The anchorage is quite open there to the elements and also because the anchorage area is so shallow, the waves tend to build up. With Westerly winds and swells you are ok but as soon as it becomes South West or South South West, it can be very nasty. Thus I started to formulate my plan B. I knew that there was a power plant further up the river where we had docked a number of years ago and I inquired if we could go there again in case that the tendering circumstances were not good enough. The Dunmore harbour master advised that the container dock just further up the river was available and that we were most welcome there. A container dock means plenty space for parking busses, so the answer was yes please. Continue reading