On this cruise we will be sailing through the straits of Messina twice as the cruise is a loop cruise to and from Civitavecchia. As the stretch to Katakolon is not a very high speed run, I set the speed in such a way that we would be passing through the Straits around coffee time. That meant Stromboli at 8 am. so those who went for breakfast around that time could see the volcano cone on the port side. It was a bit hazy when we passed by with the smoke being absorbed by the clouds so we did not see any plume at all. Continue reading

Today we ended our 20 day cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Civitavecchia. The cruise was called “off to Rome” and to Rome we made it, at least to the port of Rome. We were blessed with yet another good day full of sun shine and little wind and as we were saying goodbye to about half of our guests, I approached the port early. Luggage had to be taken off and then there was the ride to the airport near Rome. Traffic in the Rome area can be horrendous and thus a timely departure from the ship is of the essence and then it helps if I dock the ship on the early side to give the Hotel department a good head start. Continue reading

Another beautiful day and another beautiful port. As Monte Carlo is facing east, it is always a pleasure to approach the port in the morning as the rising sun shines over the whole area. Apart from a few fishermen there was nothing in the way. The Sunday sailors and gin palaces were still happily tucked away in the harbour and so we could proceed unhindered to our anchorage. As we were banned to Fontveille, due to the preparations for the Grand Prix, I had to find another anchorage. Our regular anchorage is just to the North of the new pier. Right abeam is the Hotel under which the race cars run their race, but using that location now would result in a much too long a tender distance. When going further to the South, the water gets deeper and the only shallow place that is really nice for anchoring is prohibited. The Oceanographic museum has some sort of water inlet system at the bottom of the cliff and thus we cannot drop anchor there. Continue reading

The distance between Naples and Elba is just too long to have an early morning arrival and so we were scheduled to be there at 10 am. That is a decent time anyway. Time for a leisurely breakfast onboard, followed by a nice stroll into town. Having the best of both worlds. It was indeed a beautiful day and when we approached the island from the West, the sun beamed its rays over the green hills of Elba. We approached from the West as the entrance from the East side is a bit tight. Although there is enough water, it has several death angles (e.g. you cannot see around the corner) and if suddenly a fisherman comes in the way there would be nowhere to go but to put on the breaks very hard. Engineers do not like that very much so I prefer to go through wide open waters if the ship has a high average speed to maintain. Continue reading

It turned out to be a beautiful day in Naples. Almost no wind, sunny skies from arrival to departure and temperatures in the mid 70’s. Just the weather that a cruise should have. The Prinsendam arrived as scheduled at 7 am. at the pilot station and as the pilot was already waiting we could just continue directly to the berth. Sometimes the pilot likes to do some work but not today. Which meant that I just continued conning the ship into the harbour and after swinging around docked starboard side alongside the cruise terminal or Stazione Marittima as they call it here. Continue reading

There was less wind during the night than expected and so I was starting to wonder whether this whole bad weather thing was going to happen at all. It would not have been the first time that a weather front changed direction and throw the meteorologists completely off track. By 5 am. in the morning it even turned wind-still for a little while. However this was the “silence before the storm”. When we approached the Messina pilot station the wind gradually started to pick up and kept picking up. The pilot came on board while it was wind force four; when we made the turn into the Strait of Messina it was wind force six and by the time we were in the strait it was wind force 10. Continue reading

Today we were in transit to Naxos. Not the Greek island Naxos but the little town of Naxos/Gardina which gives access to Taormina with the Volcano Etna. This port is not much more than a Marina hidden behind a small breakwater in a wide curved bay. The bay is basically a dent in the coast line and fully open to the Ionian Sea. It is located about 40 miles south of the Messina Straits. This is a port that has only recently appeared on the Holland America Calendar and was a new port for the Prinsendam. In order to get there we had a fast run from Ibiza across the middle part of the Mediterranean to the Strait of Messina. The course line took us about 12 miles south of the island Sardegna and by late evening it ran north of Sicily for the approach to the Strait of Messina. Continue reading

During the night the wind died down completely and apart from a low running swell, the sea was smooth. However in the tail of the weather front that generated all this wind was a certain amount of moisture, also called rain, which decided to deposit itself on Ibiza as soon as the Prinsendam was safely docked. You really do not relate Ibiza with rain, more with a sun soaked baking in the sun island, but today was not such a day. Thus: The rain in Spain did not stay on the plain as in the musical My Fair Lady but it did come down on Ibiza. Continue reading

The sea was as flat as a mirror when we approached the harbour entrance and it beame a clear and dry day. Although the harbour basin is quite big, the authorities had decided that we should be parked at the East dock and that gave not that much room to swing the ship into the berth. But as the East dock is also the Eastern breakwater it was at least close to the entrance of the harbour and that saved timed. On advice of the pilot we docked stern in, as there was the expectation of wind in the afternoon and if you are then docked nose out it is all a bit easier. The East dock was just a short walk away from the boulevard and large enough to have buses and taxi’s come to the gangway. There was even a little sightseeing train that offered an hour tour of the city for 5 euro’s, so not bad at all. Continue reading

During the night the wind got less and less and by the time we approached the pilot station it was calm. The swells were still running but as the port is inside a shallow bay, the swell is stopped by a long breakwater and inside it was as flat as a mirror. The weather forecast for the day was uncertain but in the end it was bright with sunshine all day. The approach to the harbour is very peculiar as the green buoys on the right hand side are located well inside the reefs and the reef buoys on the port side when going in, are over in the fairway. So if you would hug the green buoys when going in, what you normally do, then you would be aground almost at once. So when going in and when going out you have to favor the red side of the channel. That means that Port Control keeps an eagle eye on all the ships going through the channel as you do not want to create collisions with this peculiar setup. Continue reading