Today I boarded the Zaandam in Vancouver which was parked at Canada Place on the West Side at Berth 5. There was one other cruise ship in, the Infinity from Celebrity cruises which is a good deal bigger so she was docked at Berth 1 and 2 on the East Side. Berth 1and 2 are in line, which makes it possible to dock 2 smaller ships there or one big one. The West berth is angled between 4 and 5 and that means that an R class of Holland America is about the biggest cruise ship that can dock there. With the average size cruise ships of nowadays it means that you can have a maximum of three cruise ships alongside Canada Place, if one is a biggie. If there are more in port, then those ships go to Ballantyne a bit further up the river. Because there are during the height of the season always more cruise ships in port, Princess cruises has made Ballantyne its regular dock. The last time I docked there was before Canada Place was opened in 1986 and it was not a bad place if you want to go to China Town. Canada Place is right on top of regular down town and that makes China Town a long walk. Why do I mention this because Chinatown is a big focus point for our Asian crew.  Although they can get everything they like on board, everybody has their own taste in noodles and other snacks; and full boxes are being brought on board. The company allows this with the stipulation that all those snacks will be consumed in the crew mess room and not in the cabin.

The Zaandam is making a seven day cruise up to Seward and then seven days down again. You can combine this and make it a 14 day complete round trip which some guests indeed do. Most though have a seven day trip and then either go home or disappear into the interior. If you go for the latter option then there are multiple choices and I believe the longest one offered is over 30 days and goes up as far as the Arctic Coast on the North side of Alaska. Then there is the option to leave or join at Skagway which is yet part of another overland tour. More about that once we get to Skagway.

The Zaandam was parked nose out and that is not completely normal.The manoeuvre  which is the easiest is to go nose in so you can see the ship “diving” in the narrow part of the dock, as across from Berth 5 is a building with restaurants and bars and it does not leave much room. Then on departure you simply go astern and once clear of the dock you have all the space in the world to swing around.  It makes arrival shorter and departure longer. Docking nose out results in arrival taking longer but departure is a very short affair: Let go ropes and race away.

Today the ship was docked nose out for two reasons; first it is the only way to get two gangways into the ship, due to the line up of the shore side facilities. We like two gangways as we can get the guests who go directly to the USA off the ship without having to go through Canadian Immigration.  The ship has come directly from Alaska and is still USA cleared. By sealing off a part of the terminal, the pathway is considered to be “CBP approved” and the guests go directly in a Coach which remains closed until it has passed the USA border. It saves everybody, including the CBP itself, a lot of hassle.

Second reason is that the departure only takes 5 minutes instead of 20 minutes. And today the Zaandam was in a hurry. Captain P.J. van Maurik had decided to go for the early tide at Seymour Narrows and with a slack tide around 22.00 hrs. it means you have to be at the entrance of Discovery Pass around 21.15 hrs. and this leaves just under 5 hours to cover 98 miles. Thus “pedal to the metal” all the way. If you can then shave 20 minutes  off your departure time/ manoeuvre, it makes a big difference in the speed to maintain.

Based on that planning the Zaandam took off as a “Jack –out-of-the- box” just before 17.00 hrs. and cranked up to full speed as soon as she cleared the Lions Gate Bridge.  If we clear the Narrows on time, it means we have a lot of spare time to get to Ketchikan and my colleague has already promised he will go sightseeing.

Weather for tomorrow: Partly cloudy with temperatures in the low sixties. As it has been extremely nice weather in the last few days (read much too warm for the Inside Passage) we can expect a bit of Very Low Hanging Clouds during the night and the Navigator will be happy to announce this by sounding the ships whistle. I have a cabin on the lowest guest deck so it will not bother be. I just have to hope I do not have an aspiring Opera Star next door who feels the need to exercise in the Bathroom.

Normally I do not like airport hotels very much, I prefer to be somewhere in downtown, but due to my delayed flight last night it was convenient. I could just walk through the terminal and straight into the Hotel. Today is a layover day before I join the Zaandam tomorrow.

Yesterday I mentioned that exciting things were coming to Holland America and the first one is being worked on right at this moment.  We are getting a new Head office.  With the creation of the HAL group there were a lot of rumors flying around: Will we merge with Princess and move to Santa Clarita, will Princess merge with us and move to Seattle? Then there was a vague plan to have a new office closer to the airport, which for many who work in the office would have been easier as it would have avoided the horrible rush hour traffic into the center of the city. None of it happened as suddenly we were advised that the company had bought the whole block right behind our current building.

Old buildings are being removed before construction can start. This was the situation on June 5; 2015

The current building 300 Elliott Avenue west is not owned by HAL but we lease several floors. 1, 2 and 4. The 3^rd floor is taken up by several medical company’s including one which makes (or sells) wheelchairs and other gadgets. Some of their products we see every day on our ships.  But if you lease a building you are stuck with what the lessor allows in the building as far as layout and operation is concerned. If you build from scratch then you can do whatever you want to do with the lay out and that should result in the company philosophy being embedded in that building.

300 Elliott Avenue West has been our home since 1983.

So I am really looking forward to what the final result will be. I am not an office person and only visit once or twice a year but for those who spend their lives there it is important stuff. Promotion goes from a cubicle to an inner office, then to an outer office and after that the size of the window and/or the view becomes more and more important it seems. As far as the view is concerned the move will be a downgrade. Currently many offices have a magnificent view over Pudget Sound and see the ships coming in and going out and also the ferries going to the other side. Unfortunately you cannot see the HAL ships coming in as they dock north of the office but you can see the competition, Celebrity and NCL whose ships dock down town. I still have not figured out which dock is the best one, but for taxi’s and coaches the Holland America dock is certainly superior. Lots of parking for loading and unloading. For the crew it is a bit more difficult as you cannot run off the ship for a quick hour ashore.

If all goes well, the new office should be ready near the end of 2016 and then HAL will move from the current office where we have been since 1983; when HAL and Westours started their cooperation and later on merger.  Before that we had offices in Rotterdam, New York and Stanford but in 1983 it was all consolidated in Seattle. Now we go to a new office, the first new build since Holland America built according to its own design at the WilhelminaKade back in 1900.

How it is going to look is still top secret as it is still under development, but it suits me as it remains close to the hotel which I normally use while visiting Seattle. One block away, remains one block away. A longer distance is not a problem during nice weather but it tends to rain quite a bit in Seattle and that rain often comes with wind gusts and then an umbrella does not work very well.

Tomorrow morning at 06.30 the shuttle bus of the local courier will be collecting me and whoever else is going to the Zaandam and then real life will start again.

Weather forecast for Vancouver: Warm and Sunny.

Sunday I will start my seafaring exploits again and currently I am on the way to get there coming from Miami. Vancouver Sunday boarding of the ms Zaandam.  However thus far my endeavours to get there are being stalled by Delta airlines losing a crew somewhere near Phoenix. Causing a delay from 19.55 to 23.03 in Seattle Airport.  So I found myself a quiet corner with an electric socket to bring you up-to-date about 14 days in Miami for the 2015 Senior Management Conference.  They are trying to do their best to make us happy with free soft drinks, nibbles and a pizza party. The pizzas are going down very well for some reason with the Asian group, while the Caucasians seem to be more focused on chips and chocolate bars. If you enjoy observing people an airport is a great place to be as you see the most unusual things.   Including the amazing sight of seeing a very tiny Pearl of the East devouring half of an 18 inch pepperoni pizza.

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I had expected to be back with my blog (and on the ships) in the beginning of June, however I work for a shipping company. A cruise ship company on top of that. So everything is always subject to very much change and this time around it was not different.

Instead of going back to the ships I was drafted into Seattle Office to help prepare for the Senior Management Conference (SMC) in Miami. This is an affair which the company stages about every 18 to 24 months. The idea is to announce the latest developments and plans for the near and far future and to listen to feedback from the ships.  Apart from it being very useful for both the ships and the office side it is also good fun as we meet everybody again, who we might not have seen for years.

There are two SMC’s, with a few days in between, so the Captains and Ships Staff can rotate and everybody gets a chance to go.  There are a lot of presentations to support this SMC program and as a result I was suddenly sitting in Seattle office making power points for supporting the various Nautical discussions.

The first conference took place between 15 and 19 June and now the 2nd one is in progress.  More about that in a few days.

The second conference will end coming Thursday and then on Sunday I will join the Zaandam in Vancouver for three weeks. I have posted my complete schedule for the remainder of the year on the Tab: Notes for the reader and my schedule: at the top of the blog. I will also be in Europe and the Caribbean in the autumn so I hope that there will be enough variation to keep all readers happy.

My main activity during my last leave was organizing maintenance of the upkeep of the apartment building where I am living and now I am an absolute expert in scaffolding. As this time we tackled part of the outside of the building and the roof.  But I also had time for a little bit of work for the blog and added to “captains of the past” section where the bio’s of Capt. Scriwanek and Capt. Reedijk are located. Plus the history of the ss Burgerdijk which ties in with the Capt. Scriwanek story. As more relatives and descendants are finding out about this blog section, I get more and more info and photos, so there will be more momentum in updating the various bio’s.

I will be back in a few days with some titbits about Seattle Office and about the SMC and then it is time to go to Alaska with the ms Zaandam from Vancouver.

The weather forecast was right and it was a wonderful morning to arrive and to sail into the Volcano. Yesterday it was windy and tomorrow it will be windy again but today it was wind still.  Which helped the ships operation immensely as the only anchor spot in the area was allocated to another ship. This cruise ship the Celestial Crystal calls here much more regularly than we ever will and thus gets the better spot. But no wind means, no drifting and indeed the Prinsendam could float serenely in front of the main town.

Holland Glory, a bright new and clean flag hoisted from the stern at 08.00 hrs, as per protocol.

Today was also the Kings Birthday in the Netherlands. It used to be April 30 when we had Queen Beatrix, who kept the National Holiday on her mother’s birthday (Queen Juliana) but when King Willem Alexander ascended to the throne he moved it to his own, 3 days earlier.

On the ships we have the tradition of Dressing Overall (or: Van Top Vlaggen in Dutch) This means more Dutch flags on display and the regular dressing flags out, which we normally only use during Embarkation day. So being the Teacher that I am, I went around with the sailor to ensure that protocol was followed.

The main fuss is always to ensure that we do not put a larger Nation flag up, than the flag of the country (Greece) which we are visiting bigger. That would not be polite and respectful. When not docked we normally do not fly a flag from the stern but today was a National Holiday and thus we got a new flag out of the locker.

Before we could go to Thira we first had to stop at 0’Athinai to send away the overland tour.   We have a tour going from here which will travel by coach over the part of the island to the east which you cannot see from the ship as it on the East slope of the Volcano rim. The tour then rejoins the ship at the main stop of the Santorini call which is a town called Thira (or Fira).

The Crystal on the only anchorage, a small under water bump rising up from a 1000 ft. In the foreground the shore tenders of Santorini.

Thus we entered from the West as O’Athinai is located on the southern side of the Island. Apart from having only one anchorage, there are no docks and thus we also drifted here. When we cannot dock we run a tender service with our own tenders. But here in Santorini it is compulsory to use shore tenders. There is an organization called The Boatman Union of Santorini and they take care of all the shuttle traffic in Santorini between the cruise ships and the shore side. None of us really minds that, as it saves the ship a lot of hassle, and if there are more ships in we do not have to fight over the tender docks. Now it is in the hands of one organization and they have to provide everybody with the same service as that is what they get paid for.

To the left the Cable Car system and to the right the zig-zagging stairs to the top.

In O’Athinai there is a zig-zag road going up the mountain from the little ferry port. This is not the case at Fira. There is a pier, called the Skala pier, and from there are stairs to the top. You either walk or you can sit on a horse and be carried up and down. Not a very satisfactory state of affairs but help came in 1979 when the Nomikos foundation paid for the construction of the cable car system. (Or funicular to use a very English word) Nomikos was one of the Greek shipping owners who made his fortune in the interland island ferry service which saw a great expansion right after the war. For many years he bought ferry boats which were too old for use in northern Europe and used them for their inter island service. It was not until fairly recently that the Greeks started to use purpose built ships for their services.

So now instead of climbing a lot of stairs, the Austrian built Cable Cars zips you up the mountain in 3 minutes. When there are a lot of cruise ships in, especially big ones, it can be a real Zoo at the cable station with long waiting times but today with only two small cruise ships in us and the Crystal, it was a pleasant affair.

Santorini is a Volcano with a crater cone in the middle. And the ship = the red route, you can completely sail around it in very deep water.

So today was a great experience, sailing in and while sailing out with the sun shining brightly on the white houses at various locations on the Volcano rim.  For me it was a nice last day on the Prinsendam. My 23 days of training, instructing, facilitating and supporting have come to an end and I will now have a vacation until the end of May. Then it will be back to the ships but it is too early to say to which ones.

So for a while my blog will be intermittent but I once again hope to start adding more material to the historical side of the blog.  While at home I will be busy. My apartment building is having roof maintenance done and I as I am on the Board of Directors, my responsibility is the maintenance and thus I will be climbing scaffolding and scrutinizing roof gutters.

To all my readers thank you for reading my blog and if all goes well, I will be back by the end of May with daily postings.

Another new port today and what a beauty. Safely tucked away in a deep bay, and with an entrance guarded by a large cone shaped island; making it almost impossible to see from the open sea. The words Safe harbor comes to mind. And very safe it is. Proven by the large Marina’s scattered throughout the bay. Including right where we docked. Some clever clog had the brilliant idea to create a marina and turn the sea or boundary wall into a cruise dock.  The only disadvantage for the guests is, it is a fair distance from the town. But then things are never perfect.

Our way in, and also way out. (Courtesy Mamaris Port)

It is still before the sailing/vacation season starts and thus all (1000’s of them) the sailing boats are still alongside, which is a good thing for us as it means getting in and out of the bay is not fraught with challenges. I have railed in the past in my blogs about six pack navigators doing everything except what they are supposed to do. I do not know if the phrase six pack navigators is acceptable in Turkish Waters but we can also call them Ouzo –Mariners. Same result. Grey hairs for the Captain and the Navigators. We won’t have that problem today.

Marmaris from the ship.

What started out as a chilly morning turned into a glorious sunny day with just a nice touch of wind to keep the temperatures very pleasant. It looks like Turkey is making up for the cold weather in the Black Sea. I did not get ashore as I had a large fire drill to organize today and more trainings to give.  My stay on the ship is coming to an end and we try to get all the wisdom dispensed packaged in as much ————- to remember and use—————— moments as possible.  So we had a simulated fire in the Laundry, all crew assembling for roll call and we finally simulated a complete abandonment of the ship.  What pleased me was that all crew were saved even those who had a (simulated) accident and could not get to their mustering stations. They were found by the Sweep Teams, delivered to Medical and then taken to the Tenders, so Medical could look after them also after the ship had sunk.  (Also simulated)

But I was going to explain about a Bright Star Alert. Every company has code words to signal an emergency, and those code words are used to reduce a long announcement to a short and to the point message. Bravo Bravo is probably the best known as several companies use that to stand up their Fire Fighting Teams but there are a lot of others out there as well. The most unusual one I have ever heard was “Johnny Walker call the Gangway” which was an announcement to indicate Officials coming on board to conduct an inspection. (Not our company!!!!)

However Bright Star was created by Holland America to get medical attention and support teams very quickly to a location where there is a medical emergency. As we are a floating village we have the regular village issues and that means on occasion we have people who get a life threatening occurrence such as a heart attack or stroke. For a situation where 2 or 3 minutes can make the difference between life and death a quick P.A call can just top the balance. So we train this evolution as well. But we are also required to test this un-expectedly or un-announced. If you always announce it, as with a drill, then everybody mentally prepares themselves and is already on standby. That does not synch in with real life where things are always just different than what you have trained for.

As we are a little village, everybody knows everything and that makes it difficult to do something really un-expected. Thus Yours Truly got involved as nobody really knows what my schedule is and why they see me nosing around everywhere. So with only the Captain in the know, I pushed the Dead man’s button in the men’ sauna and waited for results. And the results were impressive. Less than 30 seconds and I was found. Less than 3 minutes since the start and the first medical equipment (AED & CPR) was on scene. Less than 6 minutes since the start and the whole medical team and all equipment was on site including stretchers etc. to set up an impromptu hospital.  I do not think that on the shore side they can beat that.

So very happy with the result, everybody could return to lunch, as nasty-me had pushed the button right during everybody’s lunch break of course.

We left beautiful Mamaris right on time and sailed back out of the bay. We will pass the Island of Rhodos and then tomorrow morning we will have a spectacular entrance into Santorini. The weather looks very good again; the only thing to contend with is one other ship in port, which means our guests have to share the cable cars with the competition.

For those who do not know where Mamaris is.

We were lucky today. There was no wind. When the Prinsendam arrived at 07.00 hrs. in the morning there was just a small ripple on the water and that was just what we liked. As mentioned yesterday the dock is perpendicular to the prevailing wind, which comes all the way from the north and when it hits the Island, it even increases a bit more when it funnels down the mountain range. Many a time did a cruise ship have to abort docking as the wind simply blew it away.

Then anchoring is always an option but Mykonos town is far to the south of the dock and the bay is large enough for the wind to whip up the waves. And that brings us to the discussion, do we dock or anchor? When we dock we need to use a 10 minute shuttle bus ride into town.   When we tender, we land our guests directly into down town, which is more convenient but for that they have to endure a very wobbly 10 minute tender ride. So what is wise?  10 minutes in the bus or 10 minutes in the tender? For me it is simple I prefer to dock because at least I avoid the challenges with getting a lot of very mature guests safely in and out of a rocking tender.

The docking maneuver is quite simple here. Approach from open sea: put the brakes on and pull the stern in.

And today we could do that. We docked with no wind and even when we left there was not that much wind either. The pilot had been predicting South Wind force 6 but maybe that was in his back garden as we did not see it.  The pilot here comes on board more out of habit than out of necessity and this morning he hopped on board about 2 minutes before the ship docked.  There are no navigational challenges here in Mykonos, apart from the wind. So while the captain started his Master – Pilot Conference the Staff captain was already docking the ship. We only needed the advice from the Pilot to say exactly where he wanted us to park.  As the pier is also used by ferries, that is an important thing to know.  Also we were expecting the ms Minerva (formerly Swan Hellenic) but they decided to go to anchor and tender in.

And that was what the Staff Captain did. Put the brakes on, on time and pulled the stern in.

When I came here the first time in 2001, I asked if a pilot was compulsory and the answer was, we can get you one, but he has to come from the mountain and he does not want to. Well if a pilot is not compulsory then I do not use one and we went happily alongside without one. I was then also lucky that there was no wind blowing. However I was quite curious why a: a pilot lived on top of a mountain and not close to the sea and b: why he did not want to come down the mountain and make a bit of money. It turned, he had a goat farm on the top and it was the lambing season so he did not wanted to leave his goats behind. Later on he called the ship and told me he had been following me with his binoculars and I had done a fine job of not hitting the dock. ………….Always nice to get a compliment.

Mediterranean Style of docking. More ships can now use the same dock than otherwise would be the case.

The Ferries dock stern to the pier (Mediterranean Style: bow anchors down and stern ropes ashore) to get the cars in and out via the Stern Ramp. That means that when they dock they do not have not much issue with the wind. For reasons unknown the port authorities do not like it when cruise ships want to do that as well. It requested this once during a windy day as it would mean only a very short tender ride to the little port behind the cruise dock, instead of the bumpy ride to down town. But the answer was no and thus I had to go to the anchorage outside Mykonos and tender into the fishing harbor/the old city.

I spent my day involved in trainings and drills again and executed an unexpected “Bright Star” drill. More about what that is tomorrow.  We left nicely on time to sail for our next destination, Mamaris in Turkey, just around the corner. Although the Greeks and Turks are not the best of friends, they have to live together as some of the islands are only a stone throw from each other and belong to one or the other, all mixed in.  The plan is to dock and that will be interesting as I have never been there.

Weather forecast: Very Nice, 22oC / 77oF.

Lesbos is a rather large island and Mytilene is for island standards quite a big town. As a result it has a reasonable size harbor with two ferry docks. The only problem for us was that the draft allowed in there is a maximum of 7 meters and the Prinsendam goes just a little bit deeper. Also the ferries were running and thus even with the correct draft we might not have been able to dock. As a result we anchored today and had to run a rather wobbly tender service due to the incoming swell. Still we made it while we have not been so lucky in the past.

On arrival we had a bit of excitement as we saw the Greek Coast Guard sailing towards the port with a boatload of Refugees or Illegal Migrants depending on what you want to call them. These were not coming from Africa but from Turkey, although looking at the ski color I suspect they had travelled via Turkey to get into the European Community that way. At the moment there are migrants /refugees everywhere and the Coast Guards of Greece, Malta and Italy pick them up by the hundreds every day. Libya is collapsing, things are not going well in Syria and other areas of the Middle East and 1000’s are on the way.  I could not make sense out of this group though as there were no families; only males and all in roughly the same age group of between 20 and 30.  Let’s hope that this can be resolved in the near future but it will take some courage and creative thinking from our political leaders.

Rescued migrants being processed by the Greek Coast Guard on the shore side.

I saw them coming ashore as I had taken the first tender over with the Security officer to see the town as I had never been here. Both times when the Prinsendam was scheduled to call here I had to cancel due to the swell and wind and sailed over to another island. There are plenty of them around and I just asked Shore Excursion which one they wanted. The locals are quite used to it and normally they can organize a local tour with sufficient Buses in an hour or two. Just the time the ship normally needs to get to the location of choice. And as long as that location is on the leeside with the wind compared to the original destination then I am a happy camper.

Mytilene Port with a Inter Island ferry at the dock

I went over early as I had to be back on board by 10 am. The Chief Engineer had asked me if I could give training about Confined Space Entries.  The Chief is about to embark on an inspection program of the tanks and that can be very dangerous. If tanks have not been opened for a while, or even for a short period, then there is normally a shortage of oxygen in the tank. Without oxygen we cannot live and thus we have to follow very strict protocols to ensure that it is done safely and if we go in with 5 people that we also come out with 5 people.

To streamline this process the company has created an Enclosed Space Entry Permit system, a check list, cum approval paper which ensures that all the necessary steps are been taken and each person involved has done his/her job as required and is fully aware of what the evolution is going to be. It involves a whole chain of people and in certain cases even the captain.

1. Entrant…………. Person who goes in.
2. Attendant………………person who watches outside the tank.
3. Supervisor…………… in charge of the work.
4. Responsible Officer …………….. responsible for the whole operation.
5. Authorizing Officer…………………. The person with the total oversight not only with the work but who also knows what other issues might have an influence.
6. Finally the captain might be involved in case it is a tank which will affect the stability of the ship.

There are still casualties occurring in the shipping Industry with these tank entries and often multiple fatalities when a second person sees that something is wrong and also hops into the tank.  Scary business. So today we did the theoretical part; how the permit works, what to look out for and how to adhere to the protocols all the time. Then we did a table top; on paper we simulated how we would enter a tank based on the safety requirements. Tomorrow we will do a practical drill about how to safely remove a casualty if something should go wrong.

Tomorrow we are in Mykonos.  This place has a lot of windmills, indicating that it can be very windy here. In the summer the Etesian winds blow straight over the island. Good for the windmills not good for us. The dock is built fully perpendicular on the wind and thus we need a calm morning so the ship can dock. Otherwise we have to invoke plan B; going to anchor.

Today it was mid-sixties in Mytilene, so a big improvement from yesterday. Mykonos is supposed to be the same.

Before we start with today’s adventures I want to share a special photo with you; a view of the Prinsendam seldom seen. Yesterday in Varna somebody operated a Drone above the ship on arrival and then published a series of photos. I have copied below the most interesting one.  It shows the Prinsendam just docking alongside the pier with the bow and stern thruster churning up the mud due to the shallow water.

Aerial Drone view of the Prinsendam. Taken by an unknown spy. (Courtesy: via Capt. Tim Roberts)

We spent the day sailing southward. This morning between 07.00 and 10.00 hrs. we sailed through the Bosporus again. Although it was a bit overcast with rain in the distance, it was a clear day and all the sights came nicely into view. By the time it started to drip, we just cleared Istanbul and entered the Sea of Marmara.  What was also nice was that the outside temperatures are going up again. Once we were in the shelter of the mountains range which guards the North side of the Bosporus the temperature started to climb.

The Istanbul Cruise Terminal. Ships from Oceana, Saga, MSC, Silver Sea and Ile de Ponant all lined up.

Istanbul is becoming a more and more an important cruise port and today it was a full house again.  We saw the Saga Sapphire, two ships from Silver Seas, an MSC ship, an Oceana ship and an Ile de Ponant ship (not visible in the photo) I still remember the good old days, when the arrival of a cruise ship in Istanbul was an important happening and the captain feted as the “messenger of good tiding’s”.  Now it seems that we just one more Tourist Bus parking ourselves alongside. Luckily for the guests it does not make much difference. In a way it is even better as more guests mean a better infrastructure to process the tours.

We went along all day with the sedate speed of about 10 knots. No reason to hurry as we can easily make Lesbos on time but also because the Dardanelles are closed during the day. Today is the National Holiday commemorating the first assembly of the Turkish Parliament, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk founded modern Turkey and established the democracy which still endures. That happened on 23 April 1920 and all sorts of celebrations are taking place because of it. While we came down the Bosporus, every building was adorned with a Turkish Flag and from one bridge hung a flag which was close to the size of the Prinsendam. Only the mosque’s seemed to have been exempt from this outburst of patriotism.

One of those festivities involves the Turkish Navy doing things in the narrow part of the Dardanelles and for that reason the waterway is closed until 20.00 hrs.  Thus the captain is aiming for a Dardanelles pilot time of 19.45 hrs. and by the time the pilot is on board, it should be 20.00 hrs. and the Navy should be finished partying. It will mean that we will sail through most of the area during the dark. But we saw it in daylight going northbound and going through at night is also interesting as most Monuments are very well lit. In a way the guests now get the both the options in one cruise. At the same time it is Children’s Day which is also a very important event in Turkey. Something that very few other countries have. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc. etc. are more established but Turkey has also a day dedicated to the children.

This closing for one day causes quite a bit of upheaval in the shipping business. All day long we passed ships going very slow or going to anchor as they have to wait until the pilots can catch up with the back log.  Being a cruise ship we have the luck that we are able to bypass all these ships as we get preference. Firstly; as no country wants to have bad publicity and secondly if the cruise ships would be delayed then the cruise company’s might decide to cut out a call at Istanbul around this time of the year.

With so many cruise ships calling at Istanbul early in the year it would cost them a lot of money. So we get preference, can keep our schedule, and in return we will continue to sponsor the locals in the Tourist Industry.

Tomorrow we are in Lesbos and will be anchoring at the main port of Mytilene. We are too big to go into the port and thus we will run a tender service. The weather is looking good and now we just have to hope that the there is no swell which might complicate the proceedings. It is also supposed to be sunny and that might mean a warmer day.

Today we visited Varna which is the most important port on the Bulgarian Coast. Again we are docked here in a cargo port although they now have a Cruise Terminal. It was opened two years ago and the Prinsendam was the first ship calling at it; before it was even opened.

The Prinsendam entering Varna harbor this morning. (Photo Courtesy: Pavlin Penev, ex ships photographer and living in Varna. via Capt. Tim Roberts)

Before this terminal was built the cruise ships would anchor and tender into the down town area. However at that particular call the seas were too rough and the intention was to cancel the call. Somebody was in the port quick in thinking and said, come inside and dock; regardless of whether it has been officially opened or not.  I have seen that different in other parts of the world, where something was ready for use but could not be used because it had not been opened officially.  

The weather today was cold again but the sun came through on occasion and it remained dry. It gave the port however a very grey and stark look and an impression as if it was still hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Luckily an attempt was made in livening things up by having a part of the inside of the port breakwater painted with a continuous running mural. As it was haphazard in places I suspect it was more graffiti than an official commission but the quality was quite good.

The company laid on shuttle buses to cover the 20 minute distance to the town Centre but most guests were back fairly early and were not very excited. For some Varna was the chance to mark another destination of the bucket list and not much more.  This does not mean that there is nothing to do; you just have to look for it a little bit.

Also here the Romans have been leaving their mark behind with 2^nd century thermal baths. Then there is the period when Bulgaria was part of the Kingdom of Romania and one of the Queens had a summer residence here.  The most important building in the town is the big Cathedral of the Holy Assumption where the choir performs if you are part of the (HAL) tour.  Most unusual I think is the visit to a 50 million year old Petrified Forest where you walk among the now – turned into stone- old trees. Two guests I spoke to had taken a cab to see the Aladzha Monastry which is a complex of caves where monks have been present from the 5^th. century onwards.

I stayed on board taking more crew through their respective areas of responsibility during emergencies.

One of those groups was the Housekeeping department. Most of them are Cabin Stewards and they have the difficult task of moving the guests to and from the cabin during the 3 alarm cycle. When the 2^nd alarm sounds, all guests have to go back to the cabin and prepare for whatever might happen next. The Cabin Stewards have to ensure that everybody puts on warm clothing, a life jacket and that nobody forgets their medicine (Plus their 2^nd pair of glasses and spare batteries for the hearing aids). Then when the General Emergency Alarm goes, they have to guide them towards the lifeboat station by keeping them on the right hand side of the corridor. This to avoid colliding with late arriving guests who still have to collect their life jacket. Then they have to help the guests with Special Needs. Rollators, wheelchairs, scooters, oxygen etc. etc.  It makes for a very busy duty and it has to go fast, organized and without causing any panic, and for those things we train.

We left Varna at 5 pm. and are now sailing south again. Tomorrow between 8 and 10 we are scheduled to transit the Bosporus, sail through the Sea of Marmara and arrive in the early evening at the Dardanelles.

The weather is to remain cold but dry and hopefully it become a bit warmer when we are between the Greek Islands again. Our first Greek Island will be Lesbos and I am looking forward to that one, as I have never managed to get there. Thus far I always had to cancel as the swell was from the wrong direction. Keeping my fingers crossed.