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

Category: Europe (page 2 of 3)

26 June 2019; At Sea.

June 26, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Today we are sailing Southbound in the Norwegian Sea. And the weather is not too good but also not too bad. With not too good I mean that for the time of the year it could be full summer in this area with sunny skies and warmer temperatures and that is not the case but it is also not too bad as we do not have storm and a bouncing ship. We have some (cold) wind and some waves but apart from a gentle movement at times the ms Prinsendam is as steady as a rock. And thus we have nothing to complain about.

Geiranger Fjord. We will follow the dotted line all the way to the end. Geiranger pilot station both serves Alesund and the rest of the fjord.

Due to angle of the coast, the Prinsendam stays far offshore and will eventually come closer to the coast again when getting near Geiranger Fjord pilot station. That will be 2 am in the morning and then it is another 60 NM. to the end of the fjord. As we cannot race with 20 knots full sea speed through the fjord it will take much more than two hours to get to the end and thus we expect to be at the anchorage position around 07.00 hrs. Continue reading

22 June 2019: Norwegian Sea.

June 22, 2019 / / 2 Comments

Today is our sea day to get to the North Cape and Honnigsvag. The weather followed the weather forecast and it was nice, quiet and dry for most of the day. In the afternoon we got a bit of motion of the ocean courtesy to a weather front behind us which is creating some waves but the Prinsendam is a good surfer and thus the dis-comfort is very minimal. We are on average sailing a distance 12 miles from the shore. Partly because the dotted line between the pilot station of Trondheim and where we go around the corner of the North Cape makes it so, but also partly to stay out of coastal waters.  There is the 3 mile zone (full territorial waters) and we try to stay out to avoid the local rules; and there is the , 12 mile zone, where we stay out of if possible as here the international regulations might vary from country to country. The latter can be quite complicated and brings headaches to every captain. IMO (International Maritime Organization) sets the standards that are approved by every member. But the regulations are allowed to be “amended by the local administration”. So a measure of a Liter of paint in Europe might be a Gallon of paint in North America, and a Jin in China. To avoid going mad and/ or making mistakes we try to plan our courses outside the 12 NM. Continue reading

20 June 2019: Alesund, Norway.

June 20, 2019 / / 4 Comments

Alesund is one of the better ports in Norway at least from a Navigators perspective. It is sheltered from most winds, it has nice docks, we dock with the gangway in downtown and downtown is worthwhile to visit. Most of it is constructed in German Jungendstil style or related to it after a big fire they had here a long time ago.  There are some other good ports as far as shelter or docks or downtown distance is concerned but there are not that many Norwegian ports that have it all together. You might think about Oslo but this port is located at the end of Oslo fjord which is so wide that the wind can still blow the ship all over the place or keep it pinned to the dock. So Alesund is very highly rated on the list of ports that come closest to a Cruise Captains dream of having the best of all. And I fully agree as it even has a Big Red Bus for hop on hop off and for an initial exploration of a city it is one of the best ways to go. Holland America also recognizes that and nowadays you can buy the tickets on board. Continue reading

19 June 2019; Stavanger, Norway.

June 19, 2019 / / 7 Comments

The weather turned out better than expected and under dry skies we picked up the pilot at 05.00 hrs. and docked just before 07.00 in Stavanger. Today it was a busy day in port with four cruise ships in. Our good selves, the Costa Favolosa, the Costa Mediterranea and The Viking Sky (*). Being the smallest ship meant we went to the smallest dock but in this port that does not matter that much. The downtown docks of Stavanger which are now mainly used for the cruise ships are surrounded by the town and that means that downtown is nearby at all sides.  If we dock at the official cruise terminal, then we are opposite the Maritime Museum and while we now are docked here, we are across from the Pub so both docks have its advantages. Luckily downtown Stavanger with is large park behind it is fairly spacious so it could easily absorb the approx. 8000 guests going ashore (Not to mention the about 3000 crew members. (*)) Continue reading

17 June 2019: Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

June 17, 2019 / / 3 Comments

Today we witnessed something totally new for Holland America; Entertainment employing a nautical person to make a cruise successful.  And to ensure that this milestone was indeed taking place, yours truly joined the ms Prinsendam (II) today in Amsterdam from where she commenced her final voyage. This is a 14 day North Cape cruise, calling only at Norwegian ports, and the final port is Amsterdam. Then she will sail to Germany for handover in dry-dock and a large refit. Eventually she will emerge as the Amera for Phoenix Reisen. To make the investment by entertainment worth their while I have offered to do 5 lectures and the Entertainment Manager is trying to squeeze it all in. For the rest there will be the social stuff. I always say, it is great to be the Captain on the bridge, but it is not so bad either to be a Captain in the bar. And as a Norway cruise is an extremely busy one for a cruise ship captain, I have no problems to volunteer to take over the time he cannot be in the ship to entertain. So I stopped over at home to change my work uniform for formal wear so I can be presentable in accordance with the company’s dress code.  Continue reading

26 April 2019; Santorini, Greece.

April 26, 2019 / / 21 Comments

With sunrise at 06.00 and a hazy sky we serenely sailed over a flat calm Mediterranean and then into Santorini. The hazy sky was courtesy of the lack of wind today but it all cleared up by 09.00 hrs. when the sun burned it off. The high pressure system over the Balkans which causes the winds in the Aegean Sea is not yet permanently in place (they also have cloudy days on the Pusta’s) and thus it was wind still, yesterday and today. The captain had opted to come in via the South West entrance and then sail north to our “floating area”. The Celestyal Spirit was already at anchor on the hump as she is larger than the Ovation in guest capacity and makes more calls but still small enough to leave plenty of space to come close to the town.  Sailing into Santorini is always interesting as parts of the outer Crater wall loom overhead and the black core creates a sort of round-a-bout where the ships have to sail around to get wherever they want to go. Continue reading

Captain’s Log: A Special Donation in Barcelona

November 23, 2010 / / 0 Comments

As part of the continuous upgrade of the Prinsendam, the ship received 320 new cabin chairs during the call at Barcelona on 15 November 2010. The new chairs have a slightly higher back but most importantly are more fire retardant. Chief Officer Ryan Whitaker, in charge of interior maintenance, asked the agent in Barcelona whether a charity would be willing to take the 320 old chairs coming of the ship, which were still in good condition.

The charity that responded was La Nau, which specializes in collecting non-food materials for the socially excluded. Items obtained are cleaned and repaired and then forwarded to welfare organizations. Thus retirement homes, orphanages, night shelters, etc., will now all benefit from our gift. As can be seen from the photos, Housekeeping and the Deck dept. set up a system whereby the old chairs were removed from the cabins and unloaded in the morning and the new chairs loaded and brought to the cabins. Before departure all guests had a new chair to sit on. The carton was recycled on the dockside at the same time and thus did not have to come on board.

At Barcelona, Spain.

Albert Schoonderbeek is master of Prinsendam.

Prinsendam Crew Enjoy Bordeaux Wine Tour

July 21, 2010 / / 0 Comments

On July 11 and 12, the ms Prinsendam made her yearly visit to Bordeaux — a city that can only be reached by the elegant explorer after a six-hour journey upriver.

The Prinsendam beverage department had the chance to visit the vineyards of this area and see for themselves the origins of the wine that they sell on board. The group visited Chateau Bailly and gained valuable background information on the production of the great wines from the Bordeaux. As the group found the visit very useful and informative, they discussed their experience with the guests on board, while selling and serving wine. This led to positive comments from our guests who appreciated that the Prinsendam crew was willing to spend their free time to enrich their knowledge in order to enhance the quality of service to the guests on board.

Albert Schoonderbeek is Prinsendam’s captain.
Photos by Cellar Master Leo Flynn.

Captain Albert: 31 May 2009, Sevastopol, Ukraine

June 1, 2009 / / 1 Comment

Captain Albert SchoonderbeekCaptain Albert Schoonderbeek

The exit of the harbour of Sevastopol is facing west and thus you sail east while going in. With the sun rising in the East it means that you have the sun in the face and that makes it difficult for scenic viewing. We had to wait until we were past the first land on the starboard side before we could view the surroundings by looking aft instead of forward. The pilot boarded right on time and we then continued at slow speed towards the entrance. There is a speed limit of 6 knots all the way in, so it takes time to get to the dock, whether we like it or not. But as it was a beautiful morning, we did not mind and binoculars were applied frequently by the deck officers while I kept conning the ship to the dock. The pilot came on board with a VHF and two cell phones and was fully occupied with receiving calls and talking to other people. I did not know that it was so complicated to get into the port, that the whole world had to be called, but he kept at it. In between he smoked bad quality cigarettes on the bridge wing.

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Captain Albert: 20 May 2009, Civitavecchia, Italy

May 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Captain Albert SchoonderbeekCaptain Albert Schoonderbeek

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.

We were not the only ship in port. Apart from the regular ferry traffic was an Apartment of the Seas (Voyager with 3100 guests on board) and the Grand Celebration with 900 guests. (This is the old Carnival Celebration which now sails for the Carnival subsidiary Ibero Cruceros of Spain. With a base capacity of 1500 beds, the ship was not very full). What also was not full was the container terminal and the new car receiving area next to our dock. It was distinctly empty, a sign that the recession is still in full swing. The port has recently extended the terminal area by filling up part of the North side of the harbour but it looks like that they will have to wait for an upswing in the economy before more cargo ships are coming in. However the container dock is shared with cruise ships and thus the investment is at least partly paying off.

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