- Captain Albert's Website and Blog -

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

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03 March 2020; Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica.

Today we are in a hot and sweltering Costa Rica, mainly because there is hardly any wind, or clouds. As mentioned yesterday, this stop is mainly to offer the guests Eco Tours; same as we have other ports for history (Puerto Quetzal) and other ports again for beach and shopping.  When going here, we have the option to dock at Punta Arenas or at Puerto Caldera. The latter one is officially the cargo port. In the old days it was the only port, but then they built a new pier which leads straight into the town of Punta Arenas. The challenge with the new pier is, it is very exposed to current, wind and swell. So to get the ship alongside you have to arrive at slack tide (change from ebbing to flooding or vice versa) and when the swell is running, then the ship bounces up and down the pier all day, which is not so great for our guests. Continue reading

02 March 2020; North Pacific Ocean.

While exiting the Canal we came as close to the equator as we will get on this cruise but still over 400 Miles North of it. From now on we only be going north until we come to San Diego, the end of this cruise. And we will do that just by following the coast. The Pacific Coast of Middle America and Mexico is fairly straight and by that I mean we do not have to sail around large areas of land that are protruding. The only part that sticks out a little bit is The Californian Peninsula but even that we can do on a straight line. Continue reading

01 March 2020; Panama Canal.

We have a schedule, it starts off with the best intentions and then something un-expected happens.  We did arrive at 05.00 and in the end we approached the First locks, the Gatun locks at 07.00 hrs. but by the time we came out, there was a challenge in the works. Ahead of us was the Wind Star from Wind Star cruises which once in the past belonged to Holland America, until it was decided that sailing motor yachts for an incentive market were not really compatible with cruise ships in the premium markets and thus the company was sold off to an equity fund. (Or some similar sort of investor). But sailing ships have very high masts. And she only fits under the Bridge of the America’s at low tide. (That bridge is at the Pacific side and the Pan American Highway passes over it) Once the convoy starts going, then it cannot stop anymore and for some reason there was no option to put the Wind Star alongside somewhere until the tide was right. So we had to wait from some 30+ minutes. Apart from her, there was one other cruise ship in today, the Seven Seas Splendor, which was “one behind” meaning there was another ship in between, in this case a Car Carrier, or “Auto Boot” in the Dutch Language. Continue reading

29 Feb. 2020; At Sea, Approaching the Panama Canal.

The swell is not as bad as I am normally used to over here. It seems that in the last few days the strength and the angle of the wind has been slightly different than what is normal here, and as a result the swell is lower than normal and thus the ship is not rolling as much as it can do here. That different weather can happen here if there is a cold front going over Florida which did occur on February 27. Then if the tail comes low enough, the prevailing winds change and that results in less swell or a swell from another direction. It does not always happen as it depends on how the tail of such a cold front is moving over Mexico and how far south it extends. This cold front was not very nice for Florida but it works out in our favor here in the South West Caribbean as we do not have a wobbly ship.

Continue reading

28 Feb. 2020; Oranjestad, Aruba.

Aruba is a place which make captains always think about it for a second time. And that is due to the wind. The Trade Winds which blow over the whole of the Caribbean gather more and more momentum while getting further to the west and if they are already strong to start with, they are blowing a gale by the time they reach the Dutch A, B, C islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). The problem with Aruba is, that it is flat, really flat, although it has one mountain called the Hooiberg (Hay stack) but that one is too far away from the port to provide any shelter from the wind. In Willemstad, Curacao, it is not so big a problem as the docks are more in line with the Trade Winds, so the wind does not make the ship drift or (for the docks inside the port) there is some shelter from the surrounding land. Continue reading

27 Feb. 2020; Willemstad, Curacao.

And thus I arrived on board the good ship Rotterdam (VI) in Willemstad, Curacao. Since 1997 when she was new, she carries the designation of the flag ship of the company although in 2000 it was decided that she would share that title with the ms Amsterdam. The flagship always used to be the newest (and biggest) ship of the company, where the Commodore would sail on and as he flew his own flag, it was called the flagship. Those days are long gone, the Rotterdam is by far not the largest ship anymore and now we have times where one of the more junior captains sail on the biggest and newest ship. But I still like to use the title as it gives a bit of a historical credential to the whole happening. Continue reading

25 Feb. 2020; At Sea, Day 2.

Today is our second day at sea and we are now firmly embedded in the Old Bahama Channel between Cuba to the south and the Bahama Bank to the north; and that stopped any swell out there. As a result the ship is now as steady as a rock and we are having a wonderful day at sea. We have a following wind, so there is only a gentle breeze on the deck as the ship is almost traveling at the same speed / velocity that the wind is blowing.  Going this way, we have the current with us, as this is the current that will eventually join the Gulf Stream in the Straits of Florida. It is given us a push of about 0.7 knots per hour and that translates roughly in an average of a 0.5 knots all the way from St. Thomas to Ft. Lauderdale. Yesterday when we were in the open there was a lot less water current and early tomorrow morning when entering the Gulf Stream there will be a lot more. But a following current saves speed and thus fuel, so our Chief Engineer is a happy camper. Continue reading

24 February 2020; At sea, day 1.

When I mentioned yesterday that we were going to take the Old Bahama Channel route to evade heavy swells, I forgot to say that we first had to get there. So after departure St. Thomas we had a lively night as we were still in the North Atlantic Ocean. Then by 11 am. we came under the lee of the Turks and Caicos Islands and that took most of the swell away. Now we are sailing North of Hispaniola and the ship is it’s steady self with only a slight movement caused by the regular swell that runs here anyway. This swell is caused by the Trade Winds that have been blowing again on a regular basis and that eventually creates some higher waves. But being south of the Bahamas for the remainder of the cruise means that what is generated at Cape Hatteras cannot reach us. Continue reading

23 February 2020; Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas.

St Thomas considers itself the cruise capital of the world, due to the number of cruise ships calling here. But today there was little of that noticeable as we were the only ship in Havensight. For the shop keepers disappointing as the area is geared up to handling 10 000+ guests a day and then only having 1200 is not very exciting. On the other hand you can give some of your shop staff a day off before they roll in again in their thousands.  But at least for us an empty pier worked very well, gangway right across the main gate into town, what else you ask for. Continue reading

22 February 2020; San Juan, Puerto Rico.

San Juan is blessed with one of the best and largest natural harbors in the Caribbean. Hence the very apt name, Puerto Rico = Rich port. The Spanish were quite quick to realize its potential and built very quickly a large fortress – Morro Castle- at the entrance to the port / bay to keep the enemy out. They did something similar at Cartagena, a port with again a narrow entrance (Boca Chica) and a very large bay and sheltered harbor behind it.  So this morning when we sailed into San Juan we did so while sliding past the guns of the castle looming high above us. Guns so close that it would have been impossible to miss us if they would have gone off. The fortress proved so strong that neither the Dutch, nor the French, nor the British could get at it. Continue reading

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