Today we are at sea crossing the North Sea going Northbound. The normal course for this is to cross the North Sea as quickly as possible and then hug the English East coast. That has the advantage that you keep your ship away from the flow of traffic curving around the North of the Dutch and German Islands, traffic that is heading to the German ports, Scandinavia and the Baltic. Traffic on the English side is much less as there are only a few ports there.
And today it was a cool day with temperatures around 12oC / 54oF, windy and sunny. So apart from the sheltered areas on deck and the enclosed Lido pool there was not much chance of sitting in the sun. Hence the ship was heaving with guests running all around the various activities made available. Since my last time on board the ship in 2019, the company has greatly increased the number of activities that are held by the cruise staff and the various Concessions on board. They have also changed the Captains Corner (portside aft Crows nest) into an Arts and Craft room. Not my cup of tea but it works and this week we have a complete group of Arts & Crafts people on board making the cruise from the USA so the place is heaving. I was glad to see that Bingo is still there, held in the afternoon in the Rock & Roll Lounge on Deck 2.
Last night a large number of guests used the Lido Restaurant as a lot of them were tired from flying in or travelling to the ship by means of other transport. This evening after a quiet sea day and maybe a nap in the afternoon everybody was out in force. Tonight was “Dressy Night” what in the good old days was called Formal or Gala night. Some company’s have done away with dressing up at all and have gone for “elegantly casual” for the whole cruise but Holland America decided on this hybrid name and as a result everybody gave it there own fill in. So we parked ourselves in the Billboard Bar with a pint and watched the world go by. And it was interesting to see what came by: varying from those who went for “full gear”, Smoking/Tuxedo and long dress to those who thought that “dressy” meant a clean T shirt. My Lord and Master and I fall under the first category as we believe that dressing up is part of enjoying a cruise. Everybody to his own but I live in the vain hope that one day Holland America will allocate a section of the dining room (or a specialty Restaurant) to those who still like to relive the glamour days of Ocean Travel.
Queens ferry weather. This is the Shipping Forecast where each true mariner swears by. The North Sea and all around the UK has been divided into sections. So for South Queens Ferry we have to look at the section “Forties”. The crucial word, see above, here is backing south 6 to gale 8 later……. and then seas becoming moderate or rough later. That sets off the alarm bells for tender service. Luckily by 1600 the local weather indicated that the wind would abate during the night.
By lunchtime the captain advised that it did not look good for South Queens Ferry due to the wind and he was exploring other options. Unfortunately there are not many ports nearby that can handle a ship the size of the Nieuw Statendam. Only Newcastle and it became clear later on that, that spot, had been taken by another ship. The rest of the ports like Aberdeen and Inverness are too small. I looked at the Shipping Forecast and Marine weather and it looked Touch and Go for arrival but getting better later in the day. And indeed the captain later on advised that he was going to try it as there was no other option anyway and he also hoped for an improvement during the day.
Welcome on Board Captains Toast. Only the Cruise and Travel Director, General Hotel Manager, Chief Engineer, Staff Captain, Exe chef and the Future Sales team get introduced. Missing from the line up was the Environmental Officer.
We went to the Captains Welcome Toast and I was disappointed to see that the Formal Uniforms have disappeared as well and they were all wearing the regular day uniform, except the Cruise and Travel director Karlein who was in a nice glitter dress. From there it was to dinner in the main dining room and as most of our evenings are in the specialty restaurants we had opted for “As You Wish” dining with the advise that 19.30 would not be so busy. We were not expecting a dining experience as it is more a conveyer belt happening but taking that into consideration it still was not great. It was chaotic with slow service, lots of noise and food not cooked according to request. No complains about the hard work of the staff trying to make it work but the crew is pushed by a system that really cannot handle the influx of guests at certain times. The Supervisors and Asst. Maitre’s were running around to put out the “mishap-fires” but it did not give a good feeling. Maybe the fixed dining on the upper level of the dining room is better. Tomorrow evening we have Canaletto so we ourselves should not see a repeat.
The show in the World Stage was very good. Two male singers and 6 dancers took us through a journey of locations from Hollywood across the country to New York with an all American song book. The 270o LED screen is so good that regular staging is no longer necessary although the cast used a few props.
Tomorrow we will be in South Queens Ferry and on arrival (0700 hrs.) we first have to see “His Majesty’s Border Force, Customs and Excise” before we are let into the country or in our case being let back into the country. Karlein the Cruise Director started plugging this today with good reason as it will take a while before the penny drops with everybody. It will be interesting to see how many guests have to be chased up. We are in group K with an expected time to be scrutinized of 08.40 hrs.
Weather for tomorrow as far as I can glean from the local marine forecast: overcast with showers but also sunny spells. Approx. 25 – 30 knots of wind and that will give 2 feet of swell. The captain has ordered two shore tenders and thus I foresee not too many challenges as the Azi-pods can easily make a lee.
