Although the Europe season is drawing to an end, that is the high season, as some cruise ships will cruise the Mediterranean all year around, it was still busy in port today. Azamara Journey, Nautica, Brilliance of the Seas and us made sure that all the cruise docks were full. Only the “over spill” dock, the container terminal on the other side of the port was not used and thus a container ship was alongside. We were the only ship who had a change over today and thus we were parked at the big cruise terminal. This one has two jet walks as at the airport so guests can go ashore without being touched by the elements. Those elements were quite benign today and the chance of showers forecasted did not materialize. At least not over the port. If there are more cruise ships in port with a change over, then the port authority uses the pecking order system and the largest ship gets the best terminal. There are two more terminals, which are much smaller and are basically semi-permanent marquis structures. For the container terminal which has nothing, they bring in a large marquis which can accommodate 500 to 600 people. Nowadays a necessity as all those boarding people have to shuffle through security screening and that is not very nice if it rains. And coming off the ships, the suitcases should preferably stay dry as well. Continue reading
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Last night we sailed by the volcano Stromboli which was as expected – sort of active- and with that cryptic description I mean it was spewing hot lava at an almost constant pace but in small spurts so there was no big drama and or explosions. Still very nice to look at, as it was very well visible in the dark night. Stromboli has been constantly active for a large number of years but since the 1950’s it has not had a major eruption or explosion. The cone is also not in the center but located on the north east side and that makes it possible that there are approx. 300 people living on the south & west slope of the volcano.
I do not carry a turbo camera with 40 mega pixel etc. So this was the best I could do. But the oh’s and the ah’s from the balconies did indicate that is was appreciated by the guests and the view a lot better than my little camera can picture.
They had a major eruption in 1953 and then about 1700 inhabitants left but nowadays the island is slowly being repopulated. In the summer time it has a lot of tourists who come for a visit as it is quite safe to climb the volcano as long as you know where to go. I was wondering why cruise ships do not stop off here, but due to the exposed landing site for the tenders it would be nearly impossible to plan it into a cruise schedule as 9 out of 10 times the swell might be too high to bring boats alongside. So the tourists come with a ferry boat and that is much easier as those sailings are simply weather dependent anyway.
The passenger terminal as seen from the bridge. Opened in 1935 and since then very little has changed (For more details: https://thebeautyoftransport.com/2018/01/10/neapolitan-delight-naples-marine-terminal/)
This morning by 06.30 we were safely parked at the west side of the Cruise Terminal of Naples which is really the Passenger Liner Terminal from the old days. (The main difference is that the old waiting rooms have been converted into shops and some conference and/or exhibition areas) The building is a left over from the Mussolini period. He might have done a lot of bad things but he did restructure the Italian transport systems. The trains ran on time from that moment on (and they still do to a large extent) and all the squabbling ocean liner companies were brought together into the Italia Line, or when staying out of it, aligned in such a way that there was a good structure to the whole sea going transport system. It also resulted in the only time that that an Italian company won the Blue Riband for the fastest Trans-Atlantic crossing to New York. As the terminal was built in the heyday of Italian nationalism (called Fascism here) the terminal is a concrete nihilistic structure with a little bit of Art Deco elements in it but with rampant horses on the sea side face of the building to give it a macho touch. It has been adapted with fly overs and walk ways in the later years to make it easier for the cruise ships to get their gangways out on an even level.
The San Guisto. Docked in style Mediterranee. The bow is kept in place by the anchor and the stern ramps provides access.
Docked right below the rampant horses was an Italian amphibious transport dock ship of the Italian Navy called the St.Guisto (pennant number L9894). Dock ship means that it has ramps and a dry marina in the stern so it can have on board a number of landing and patrol craft. The sort of thing that you need if you start an invasion somewhere. It has always puzzled me that a war ship would carry the name of a saint, as saints are supposed “saintly” and not involved in warfare. But it is all traditional and the St.Guisto name is not used for the first time in the Italian navy but goes long ways back.
While looking at the Marella Explorer 2, I saw this pink/purple cow on the top deck. I have no idea what it was doing there but…………. the Koningsdam can do better. See below.
We were not the only cruise ship in port as next to us was the Marella Explorer II, which had sailed from Malta as well, as it was leaving dry dock the day the Koningsdam left. So they were in port today to start there cruises again after having had their refit. Marella is a sub company of TUI which is a (German) sub company of RCI. Tui in this way operates modern ships by means of the “Mein Schiff” series and then an older ships operation which is called Marella. Marella also employ our old Noordam (III) and Westerdam (II). If I was to explain how this whole operation works with all these sub companies then I could fill about 5 blogs but that information is readily available on Wikipedia.
Because we have a bunny. This statue is located on Deck 14 where the Cabanas are located and forms the focus point of the whole area.
The weather forecast for today, as on arrival, was a chance of showers although it never materialized. But as a result we could not see Vesuvius from the ship as its cone was covered in clouds. Maybe not a bad thing because if it would explode, then there would be instant rain available to douse the flames again. The nice result was however that a large number of guests took their cabin umbrella with them and orange was seen all over the port. The other ships still have blue umbrellas but with the arrival of the Pinnacle Class the umbrellas changed to orange, as now everything that is part of the in-house-design has a touch of orange to it. Starting with the uniforms and ending with the shoe laces of my safety shoes. (orange/black braid)
My day was spent on trainings. These are regular trainings that are normally conducted by the 2nd officer training on board but I have started to realize that in some instances it helps that the crew gets a little push from somebody with authority to realize that they are really are allowed what they are trained for. Especially if it is something that is outside their comfort zone of their job level. It is a big step for a new assistant cook, fresh out of the Philippines, to push the big red button which shuts down the whole galley ventilation, but if it has to be done, it has to be done. And in this way I can provide the backup which can let them say: I did it for safety and Captain Albert told me I could do so.
Tomorrow we are in Civvitavecchia, the gateway to Rome; and for a lot of guests the gateway to the airport of Leonardo da Vinci in Fiumicino/Rome as tomorrow is change over day. Then tomorrow afternoon we start our Trans-Atlantic cruise which will take us to Fort Lauderdale where we are scheduled to arrive on November 13th.
Weather for tomorrow: Overcast with an increasing chance of rain after 10 am. 21oC / 71oF.
On our way to Naples we keep Sicily to the port side and then pass through the Straits of Messina. We can also go around Sicily and avoid Messina but it is a much longer route. Plus this schedule allows us to see the Straits of Messina in daylight and once we are through, we can see the Stromboli Volcano by night. This Volcano is active most of the time but the fireworks are not that exuberant, that it colors the sky even in daylight. Luckily with this schedule it works out just nice as it is an odd 35 miles to travel after leaving the Straits and by that time it should be nice and dark. Continue reading
To my utter amazement all went well with the flights and even my luggage arrived which was no mean feat as, although there was code sharing, it involved three airlines and a change over time of only one hour in Madrid. But by 4 pm. I was happily ensconced in my boutique hotel La Falconeria or the Falcons Cage after having been picked up by our agent in Malta. That was about the only part of my travel that I did not worry about as the Malta agent, together with the one in Copenhagen, have the highest ratings among the captains in the fleet. But the layover of 2 days gave ample opportunity to get over my jet lag, clear up all my administrative paperwork, and even see some of the sights as well. A number of years ago my wife and I spent a week in Malta so I rode all the bus routes of the island while she got pampered with all sorts of Spa activities which I did not even try to comprehend. So Malta is not unknown to me but I had still two things on my bucket list. Continue reading
As is not unusual with the hurricane season coming to an end there are still tropical storms forming in the North Atlantic Ocean just above the Caribbean Sea. They are not strong enough anymore to reach hurricane status and they also do not reach the Caribbean Islands. They normally turn north and then follow the Gulf Stream to Europe where on occasion they create havoc in England where it is then realized that the even a country where it rains a lot is not always ready for a wet present from the Caribbean Hemisphere. What it does do here locally is not “enhance” the Trade Wind. In a simple way I always explain it as “a tropical storm development will suck the wind strength out of the Caribbean”. The weather guru’s will have a very technical explanation for this with moving high and low pressure areas but the end result is the same. The Trade Winds reduce in strength. And that is very nice as it means that instead of having 25 to 35 knots of wind on the portside hull and balconies, it was now barely 20 and thus in port barely 10 to 15 knots as the island creates some lee for the harbor. Continue reading
Normally we spend two days at sea to get to the Dutch ABC islands but you can do it in a shorter period, if you leave on time from Half Moon Cay and keep the pedal to the metal. This means for us about 19 knots and will result in an arrival time of around noon time tomorrow at the Oranjestad pilot station, and then we will be docked about 30 minutes later. ABC islands, stand for Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao the three Dutch islands of the Venezuelan coast. (There is also a Klein (=s mall) Curacao and Klein Bonaire but those are two very small islands and are not in inhabited. The 3 islands form part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands but each has a different arrangement with the mother land. While Aruba is only nominally connected with the Netherlands, Curacao is somewhere in between and Bonaire is still very closely aligned. But they run most of their affairs independently and there is no completely free travel / option to live everywhere. If that would happen that there would be a fair chance that a lot of the islanders would come to Holland as there is more and higher paid work there and a lot of retired Dutch people would settle down permanently on the islands turning it into a big retirement village with no doubt a large hospital as well. So the economies are kept sort of separated and that is much better for the future of the islands. Continue reading
We were the first regular HAL ship that is calling at Half Moon Cay this year. This does not mean that no other ships have been here, or will be, but each company has its own routines and we apply our routines rigorously also to island practices. So today was the first time all HMC facilities were run through their paces in accordance with HAL standards. Tomorrow the Carnival Magic is visiting the island but they do their own thing. (And I have no idea what that is, apart from they use all the facilities as well). Ships from other brands of the Carnival Corporation can use the island as long as they do not send a ship while we are there. Thus tomorrow Carnival Cruise Lines can visit and apart from our island, they also use Princess Cays on occasion. Carnival does not have its own private island but the borrowing system works quite well as the cruise schedules are inter checked with all the brands to ensure that there are no bottle necks anywhere caused by ourselves. What the other companies such as RCI and NCL are doing is be doing is beyond our control so clogged up ports are still possible but the Corporation tries to avoid it. Continue reading
We are always confused on the ships of where we are exactly going. The whole cruise world speaks about Fort Lauderdale where the cruise starts or ends but it is of course really Port Everglades. So I try to explain to everybody that Port Everglades, is what it is, the Port to the Everglades. It is part of Broward County which has a major who is also the boss of Port Everglades. (Please do not tell the Harbor Master) Fort Lauderdale is a separate entity and has its own mayor. For most of the officers on board who cannot get their head around it, the fact that there are two mayors normally makes the penny drop. For the rest it is a bit of a mix. Although the Sheriff of Broward County runs the security in the port we also see police cars from the Ft. Lauderdale police force cruising around but I have no idea if that is for work or on the way through. But no doubt they work together when somebody crosses the dotted line. I remember once, in the gray mists of time, one of our crew members became a little bit too happy in a pub. So happy that he thought that the waitress was in love with him. She was not so she called the police. Up showed Ft. Lauderdale police and then at the security checkpoint of the port he was switched from a police car to a sheriff car. In those days things were quite simple, the sheriff simply asked the captain to do something. And the captain did something. He was booted off the ship in the next suitable port when he was sober again. So maybe he is telling his grandchildren now: Grand dad was once arrested by the police and then released by the sheriff and he only had to change cars to do this. Continue reading
The weather system from the North East Gulf of Mexico came over during the night and by late afternoon we had some considerable rain and wind while the system moved over the Florida Straits. Looking at the USA weather forecast and reports it was not expected that this system would create much turmoil while going overland so hopefully that turned out to be the case. The area where the system was traveling through had been hit hard by a hurricane the year before and now they got a storm coming from the other side. Not much fun. Continue reading
As was expected, the bad weather passing the New York area did not really affect us and the ship was travelling very quietly with no movement what so ever. And that is the way we like it. Cruise ship weather. It was not cruise ship weather completely as it was overcast but the winds were following winds and thus 18 knots less in velocity on the ship than what was really out there. Thus people could be on the outside decks with only feeling a gentle breeze while the real wind was 35 knots or so. Continue reading
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