With a lot of bag pipe music on the pier, it was really the “massed bands” of Invergordon who sent us off, as it seemed they had asked everybody available to come out for the farewell of the ship. So we had a very nice and very Scottish sail away although the weather was a bit un-Scottish, very sunny. Next is our North Atlantic crossing towards Iceland. To get there we have to sail either through the Pentland Firth between Scotland and the Orkneys or go north of the Orkneys but that is a much longer distance. The Pentland Firth is a fairly narrow passage and the currents can be very strong there. 14 knots has been measured on occasion and 10 knots is not unusual. Thus the ships select the slack tide or the beginning of the Ebb tide when you sail through with the current in the stern. Saves fuel and you do not have to buck the tide.  

Our crossing to Iceland with the Norwegian Sea to starboard and the North Atlantic Ocean to port. The 18 islands of the Faroer remained several hundred miles away from us.

For us this was around midnight and the Koningsdam sailed a bit faster from Invergordon than the average speed needed to get to Iceland to get there at the most perfect moment. Once in the entrance it could go back to the average speed required and now we are happily moving along with a speed of 19 knots. Sailing through an area where normally a lot of depressions move through, pushed along by the Jet Stream and fed by the warm water of the Gulf Stream.  Hence me saying yesterday that I only believed the forecast for the little wind once I saw it with my own eyes.

The Shipping Forecast clearly shows that we are in the good area and somewhere south they are not in a very good area. We are sailing through a section called Bailey. (Courtesy the Shipping Forecast, England)

It did it start out that way; the North Sea East of Scotland was very nice. North of Scotland it was nice as well and when going clear of the coast, it was not bad either. Then the wind and waves started to increase. Not caused by any naughtiness in the area we are sailing in but influenced by mayhem in the south west of England. Here a wind force nine depression is expected to bring rain and wind into Ireland and from there into the English Channel. Although it will stay far away from us, a 976 millibar low pressure system (that is very low…………..) will always influence a large area as it draws the winds towards it from higher pressure areas. Thus we are now having winds which vary from the NNE to the ESE and that makes them following winds. Their velocity is about the same as the ships speed and thus there is nobody complaining as it is quite bearable on the outside decks. With the sustained winds there will be an increase of swell, also going with us, and it will be interesting to see how good a “surfer” the Koningsdam is. We have already found out during last cruise that she is a very good sea ship with getting very bad weather on the bow, now we will be able to find out what winds and swell on the stern do.

Our location at the moment is South West of the Faroer, the island group half way between the Orkneys and Iceland. They are just outside the current weather band and they had very nice weather today. We are somewhat in between, and further down to the south it is just plain miserable.  I am just happy that at home the balcony painting was finished before this wind and rain is starting to come over. The refurbishment of the outside of my apartment building is still going, and while away, I had organized for a painter to touch up a number of balconies where the Scaffolders (see May entries) had been less than gentle with their equipment.

On board, life goes on and we have a very diverse clientele on board not just because of Nationality but also in interest. There is a part ship charter for art on board (we have 80 pallets of paintings on board) for exhibition and to buy; and on deck 1 where we have the meeting rooms, there is a Quilt Seminar in action with ladies (although I think I saw two men as well) who are quilting their way from Amsterdam all the way to Iceland and back again.

It looks like Iceland is going to stay completely clear of the mayhem near the English Channel and so we are expecting partly cloudy skies and temperatures around 17oC, or 62oF and little wind. We are expected to dock around 2 pm. and then stay overnight. We will not be by ourselves, if the cruise schedule of the port is still correct, then we should be in port with the MSC Splendida which has 3300 lower beds, against the Koningsdam 2600. Luckily Reykjavik & Iceland is more than big enough to accommodate around 6000 eager explorers.  Might a bit tight at the blue lagoon though if they all went at the same time.

Question from one our our blog readers: How did we get those very long lines ashore yesteday in Invergordon? : By Boat.

Heavy work boat, big buoy, long ropes and lots of man power to get the Koningsdam safely moored.

South Queensferry is located deep inside the Firth of Forth and Invergordon has a similar location but then in the Cromarty Firth; and the only way to get from one to the other is to sail back out, go up the coast and then sail back in again. And that is what we did. By 00.30 all the guests (we had 419 on tour this evening) who went to the Edinburgh Tattoo or to the Fringe Festival were back on board and then we sailed after what was an extraordinary day in the Firth.

The ms Koningsdam basking in the Scottish sunshine at South Queens Ferry anchorage.

It is seldom as nice as it was during the call to Queensferry. Hardly any wind, lots of sunshine and not too much current to make the life of the tender drivers miserable. As it can be a very challenging place for a tender service, if the weather is a bit worse than it was today.

Oil rig alley, while sailing up the Firth.

And thus we were looking forward to another sunny day as Scotland seems to go through a heat wave at the moment and we are taking advantage of it. Sailing into the Cromarty Firth (Cromarty is the county around the Firth) is very interesting as it is Oil Rig alley. Rig after rig is there in lay up or under repair for the oil industry.  The oil industry is at the moment in a bit of a slump and thus there were a good number of rigs or platforms parked along the Firth while we sailed in. Also at the 2^nd pier of the town there was a large one parked and it was clearly visible that a lot of work was being carried out. The Cromarty Firth is nice and deep in the center and the large tidal variation makes it possible to park these giants on the flat bottom and have the tide lift them off again when the time is there.

The Koningsdam basking in the Scottish sunshine in Invergordon. The barge alongside was there to collect the ships recycleables.

Invergordon is a little bit hampered by the lack of a good cruise ship pier or ships pier in general. They have one major dock which is in use by oil tankers and that is also the dock for the cruise ships. For smaller ships it is not such a challenge, as long as they are not larger than the oil tanker the dock Is meant for, but for a large ship as the Koningsdam the dock is a bit on the small side. Apart from one line, going to a buoy and all our other lines were spring lines. Normally you dock 5 or 6 and 2 here (5 or 6 headlines and 2 spring lines) today on the bow we had 1 and 7. One head line to the buoy and all the other lines were leading aft and thus became spring lines.

A short pier means very long lines.

Not dangerous, today was a very nice day, but it meant that the bridge was on heightened alert in case the wind would pick up. Then we would have to put bow thrusters and Azi pods on to keep the ship safely alongside in that way. Koningsdam is not even the largest cruise ship that calls here and those ships must have even more challenges. Hopefully the local authority will use some of the tourist dollars we bring in to install another dolphin or another buoy so a large cruise ship can lay alongside a bit more comfortable. It is calculated that in each port the average cruise guest spends between 100 and 120 dollars on tours or other items to support the local economy. So today the local economy was boosted in the region of $ 350,000 by the Koningsdam guests not counting what the company pays in fees to be able to be here.

The long part of the T pier is quite long as the dock has to come to the edge of the deepwater part of the Firth.

Still the town did their best to make the guests feel welcome as they always do. This is the only town / port where there is a constant bag pipe player in attendance. So you know that as soon as you step off the gangway that you are in Scotland. Normally on departure the lone piper has found a few friends by then to help out and then there is always a nice send off for those still on deck to wave goodbye.

This is our last port in Great Britain. Tomorrow we will be at sea and on the way to Iceland. We will arrive there the day after tomorrow in the early afternoon and then stay overnight. In the same way as the Rotterdam did a few weeks ago. Iceland has simply too much to offer to see it all in a few hours.  As a result it will be getting chillier and the temperatures on deck should be in the region of 12oC / or 50oF with a chance of rain later in the day. Good news is that very little wind has been predicted for this sea day but for this area I will believe it when I see it.

During the night we crossed Hadrian’s Wall (if it had been extended over the water) and entered Scotland. And by 05.30 this morning we had dropped the hook outside South Queensferry for our call at Edinburgh. As the name indicates there was a ferry here that goes to the other side, the North side of the Firth of Forth. There has been a ferry connection here since the 13th. century and as Edinburgh is a Royal Burgh the connection with a Queen is not so difficult to imagine.

Calling at Edinburgh has its issues as is does not have a harbor itself and what it has is only big enough for cruise ships the size of the Prinsendam.  On the East side there is Leith which harbor can be reached by going through a lock. So the ship that wants to go through has to fit in. Then you can only go through the lock at high water as that is the only time when there is sufficient water in the approach to the lock. Thus leaving depends on when it is high tide and that creates a challenge for the cruise schedule as the tides changes about 50 minutes every day and you can be “adrift” from your planned cruise schedule of about 6 hours. Thus if the cruise planner decides in 2014 that the ship should sail at 6 pm. from Leith, the captain might have to wait until 9 or 10 pm. before there would be enough  water to make it possible.  Thus Leith is a limited option.

The other port where you can dock is Rosyth. Again it cannot take too large a ship, not because of the dock but because of getting in and out. You have to make two almost 90o turns to get out of the port and to go under the bridges. And those bridges are the second hurdle. Large ships do not fit under them. The Koningsdam does not for certain and so we have to stay east of the bridge. Then there is the option of anchoring more towards the Leith area on the East side of Edinburgh and tender into New Haven. Very well doable but a very long tender ride. The Celebrity Silhouette was doing that today.  Two other cruise ships, the Astor and the Seven Seas Navigator, which we also saw in Newcastle upon Tyne, went to Rosyth. The only real big dock is the oil terminal. In the past the Queen Elizabeth 2 docked there once but I have never seen another cruise ship going there so I assume it was not a spectacular success.

The ships radar screen. The green stripes indicate the bridges over the Firth of Forth. The red “Pac Man” circle around the ship indicates the safe swinging area the ship has to stay in.

So we anchored just north east of Queensferry as close as we could safely do near the Railroad Bridge. They have three bridges over the Firth of Forth, a railroad bridge and two car bridges. When you swing around on the tide and the chain gets stretched, you have to ensure that your ship lying behind the stretched chain does not come too close to the bridge. When you then anchor on the outgoing tide the ship looks to be quite far away from where you have to go but when the ship swings around on the incoming tide, you are suddenly much closer. Still it is a fair distance to travel and we had six ships tenders in operation and an extra shore tender to keep a good and fast tender service going.

The “Maid of the Forth” which can take 180 guests and that helped to relieve the pressure on the tender service.

The tender pier is not the greatest of tender piers as they go, as it is a ramp. This is not so much of an issue for the guests but it is for the tender operation. With the incoming tide we have to shift the tender landing location further and further up the ramp and with the tide going out, we have to go the other way again. I hope one day, that the Edinburgh council sees the light and builds a pontoon pier to dock at, which will go up and down with the tide and if we still have to tender then also a pontoon / floating dock for the tender service. In Alaska they have been doing that for years and even in remote places such as Manaus in Brazil it is not an issue. So Edinburgh……………………………please………………………

This is the Hawes Pier and the tender landing we have to use. Not the easiest of docking locations.

When the first guests where coming ashore, they were greeted by welcoming bag pipe music and then we really knew we were in Scotland. Most went to Edinburgh but Queensferry itself is nice as well. Not too big, but if you decide to visit each pub in between each historical sight, then you will still have a very happy day.

We were blessed today with wonderful weather.  At 0700, we suddenly could not see anything as a low white blanket blew in from the sea but it lifted shortly after and then the sun came out in full swing. Scotland looks very nice on a sunny day and our guests were making the most of it. Nearly the whole ship emptied out. We are staying here until 01.00 am, or until everybody from the evening tour is back and then hop on to Invergordon where we should be docked before 13.00 hrs.

The weather looks good again 68oF/ 20oC with partly sunny skies and hardly any wind. The Scots might find it wee bit too warm to wear those heavy kilts tomorrow.

Today we were from 08.00 until 17.00 hrs. in Newcastle upon Tyne which is located on the East side of England just south of the Scottish border. Although it is more the area which is also called Newcastle upon Tyne, than the city itself as the terminal itself is a fair ways from down town.  

Newcastle Upon Tyne is really made up out of a lot of smaller towns. Newcastle itself is more to the centre left. (Map Courtesy Google…….)

The Cruise terminal, although it is not much more than a dock with a security railing, is located on the north bank of the river Tyne. It is a busy port, it is a main hub for the car carriers and there were several in port today loading and unloading cars, mainly of Japanese brands. It has a ferry connection with Denmark and it is a favorite port for cruise ships. Partly because of the hinter land and the city, and partly because it fits so very nicely in most cruise schedules. When we arrived, the Aida Vita came out as she vacated our berth to make room for us, after an overnight. Then there was the Seven Seas Navigator and at lunch time the little Astor came in as well. The port is also used as a changeover port but I would really like to see a covered terminal before Holland America would attempt it here. New Castle Airport about 20 minutes away and that helps considerably with international connections. They have a Big Red Bus here but the route does not come to the cruise terminal. If they did with over 4000 cruise guests into port, they would have made a killing.

Radar shot showing the whole route from Pilot station to dock.

Newcastle is not an easy port to get in and out of. Especially not, if you are the size of the Koningsdam. The cruise docks are 3 miles inland from the harbor entrance, which means you have to swing on the river to get the nose back to open sea gain. There is a turning basin with the official claim for having space for a 350 meter ship, but 300 meters is about the max, you want to do. The Koningsdam is just shy of 300 meters and with ships parked along the docks at the swinging basin, it just fitted for our ship. And then there is current which means you are to sitting in a fixed location while spinning around.

I like Newcastle but if this claim is right……. I leave open for discussion.

So the good ship Koningsdam arrived at the pilot station at 06.00 hrs. and then sailed upstream for the next 30 minutes. I use the word stream, as the water is really “streaming” here. The River Tyne is an estuary river which means the ebb and flood is pushed in with great force and has hardly anywhere to go, so it has to go up on the flood tide. Today we had about 12 feet (3.30 meters) of tidal difference. When we came it was flooding and it made the turning around in the turning basin even more interesting. We docked at 8 am which was one hour and 16 minutes before high water and then between 9. 20 and 14.30 we went up those 12 feet. Then water started to rush out again so by the time we left at 17.00 hrs. we had a nice push back to sea. And that means fussing around with gangway’s to prevent them from going too steep. The port is well equipped for this and has special gangways available which are long enough to make the steepness not too spectacular.

So all the guests went ashore under sunny skies and hopefully had a grand day seeing the North of England and the City of Newcastle. The crew who went ashore today had another focus: Pound land. For non-British this needs a big of an explanation. In the UK we have a store chain called Pound land where everything costs 1 pound or less. As it is a discounter you never know what they have and which brands but it is something that you need, and it is extremely good value. I buy my lightbulbs there if I get the chance. Our crew can get really excited about this and normally come back loaded with gifts for the home front. If you are an Asian crewmember you normally have an extended family with lots of small nephews and nieces and they all want a gift. And fluffy toys for under a pound keep everything within a reasonable budget. I once saw a Pilipino Bartender go home with 57 fluffy toys in a carton box. Must have had a very large family.

Tomorrow we are at South Queensferry one of the landing points for visiting Edinburgh. We should have the anchor down by 07.00 hrs. and stay until 01.00 in the morning as we have over 400 guests going to the Edinburgh Tattoo or performances at the Fringe. It is a tender port and thus we all have a long and strenuous day ahead of us to maintain an all day tender service. Weather for tomorrow: Partly Cloudy, gentle breeze and 66oF / 19oC. Could be a lot worse in Scotland.

Ships as the Koningsdam are too big for the North Sea Canal to fit in sideways. To still make it possible for large cruise ships to visit Amsterdam part of the canal was to be widened to create a turning basin. This give the peculiar situation that a ship first has to go up the canal for about a mile in order to be able to go down the canal back to sea.  In the old days only small ships and river barges could go beyond the location of the cruise terminal but then in 2009 the area was dredged out to 32 feet (10.5 meters) and a basin was created of 375 meters which gives the Koningsdam ample room to swing around.

Approaching the Turning Basib, The yellow boat is an escort vessel from the Amsterdam Port  Authority to keep all the six pack navigators out of the way. In the white shirt,  is the officer who has a range finder to call out the distances to the shore while swinging.

Once lined up, you sail past Central Station for the most scenic part of the canal trip. Here you can see the west part of the old town, a lot of new apartment buildings and a large part of the port of Amsterdam. The area around the Cruise terminal was where once the Passenger ships docked which were connecting the Dutch Empire to the West and East Dutch Indies. But that land is now all taken over for housing. Also on the Northside the industry is slowly moved out of the city and replaced with more housing. There is still one ship (repair) yard there and next to it a sort of impromptu shipping museum with a Russian submarine, a yellow submarine and a lot of locations for partying and modern art. Very conspicuous is a white structure which looks like a hotel. And it is, but as it is sitting on a barge it is called a Botel.

It says botel on the top so that is what is under it.

It takes roughly 2 hours from the terminal to Ijmuiden locks but the transit time depends on the traffic and if the Lock master has the gates open. The Ijmuiden locks are there to keep the water level on the North Sea Canal (which changes at Amsterdam in the Amsterdam – Rijn Canal) constant all the way up to the river Rhine itself. Tidal differences are normally about 3 to 4 feet (1. 20 Meter) but when calculated right a ship could sail directly through the locks when the water levels are level which they normally are 4 times a day. Still the locks are used to stop the inflow of salt water as much as possible.

The bridge team in action. Helmsman, Captain Navigator, Co Navigator and two pilots in the front. We have two pilots due to the width of the ship.

Today the Koningsdam will spend the day in the North Sea. If we would have put the Pedal to the Metal we could have reached Newcastle in the early afternoon but as this is a 14 day cruise, we start it in a decent way and spend the first day at sea. So the ship is making a nice wide turn over the North Sea and will line up for 0600 pilot at Newcastle tomorrow morning.

There is another good reason for a day at sea and that is to make time for Immigration. The United Kingdom is only partly part of the European Community (and two years from now completely out of it due to the Brexit vote) and has its own immigration rules. They include a face to face inspection of everybody on board, including myself who lives in England. With over 2600 guests on board that would take a very long time to do when coming off the ship. And thus the UK Border Agency was willing enough to send 5 Inspectors to Amsterdam and sail with us and do the inspection on board. So in the course of the morning everybody had their face compared with the picture in their passport. A bit of an exercise but it will help enormously with speeding things up on arrival.

By the time they were out of the Showroom at Sea which is called the World Stage on the Koningsdam, the Show Cast of the ship moved in as we are in the process of changing the shows. The old cast who have been on board since the shipyard will be going home and a new group has arrived and are now rehearsing. They bring with them a complete new set of shows which are being phased in one by one. To get the routine going with the size of the stage it takes a lot of rehearsing and thus at noon time the doors to the World Stage closed and rehearsals started again. I poked my nose in yesterday and it is looked very impressive of what is going to be put on the stage now. The stage which we have, and which is unique in the fleet, makes it possible to create a show with very unusual viewing angles as it is round and gives a totally different perspective.

Tomorrow we are in Newcastle upon Tyne and the weather looks good, partly cloudy 68oF / 20oC with a gentle breeze on arrival.

Today was a typical Dutch Summers day. It was nice and warm in a gentle way but mainly overcast with always the feeling: It might rain, while you know it will not. For all accounts it was perfect bike weather and it seems that today the whole of Amsterdam was either on the bike or on the water.

For the crew there was less time to take it at leisure as it was change over day. The very vast majority of our guests went home. I think there are about a 100 who are doing the next 14 day cruise as well. Those who are staying are making a 3 week cruise, the 7 days Norway which we just have completed and then a 14 day cruise which includes the Top of Great Britain, Iceland and then back via Norway. Combined the cruise is called Norse Legends and Northern Isles.

As we have a predominance of Europeans at the moment who have time available as the schools are out and most take their main vacation in the summer months, there are not that many who have to travel a long way home. I saw a long line of people with suitcases walking to the train station again and an even longer line of taxi’s picking people up and most of them had been pre ordered. There were still bus transfers to Schiphol Airport but not the convoy’s as we normally see.

About sixty crew disembarked and most of them are also very happy with this taking place in Amsterdam. The majority of the officers live in Europe and then it is very easy to get a flight in and those who have to travel further afield  can take the late afternoon flights and still arrive in daylight in North America.

For the company Amsterdam has two options, either where we are now, downtown Amsterdam at the Cruise terminal, or Ijmuiden at the entrance locks of the North Sea Canal which leads to Amsterdam. It was decided to have the Koningsdam in Amsterdam for the scenery and the ease of public transport but also because the Koningsdam could fit the extra hours it needs to get to and from the port to open sea into the schedule.  The Prinsendam is using Ijmuiden. The main reason is it is very tight to get to the Kieler Kanal the next morning if you also have to depart from Downtown Amsterdam. I did it one summer with the ship and you really needed for everything to go right to ensure that we could be in the first locks at 10.00 to embark the Oompa – Oompa band who plays during the transit of the Kieler Kanal.

You would think going through the Kanal was all about the sightseeing but is not. If the weather is bad or there is restricted visibility, nobody complains. But if there is no Oompa band, then the Hotel Director  will hear about it loud and clear. One of the major tasks of a Captain is to prevent the Hotel Director from either getting a heart attack or from contemplating to kill somebody, and therefore a timely arrival is of the essence. Now the Prinsendam docks in Ijmuiden and that gives them a minimum of 4 hours extra to get the Oompa band on board.

Looking at the body language the deliverer is not that happy with what the Culinary Operations manager just said.

Here in Amsterdam no Oompa band but lots of stores to load. What might not be that well known for guests, is that each pallet which comes on board is checked. General provisions are done by the Provision Master or the Controller who are in charge of maintaining the stock, but special loadings call for the Head of Department to come out. And thus you see the Executive Chef out on the dock, squeezing apples and oranges, sniffing at the fish and approving alternative choices in case the brand that was ordered is not available.  Here we see the Culinary Operations manager inspecting a trolley with crockery to see if it is what we really ordered. This little trolley can easily be worth up to $ 10,000 and thus we have to be on the ball.

It leaves very little time for sightseeing or running ashore. Although down town is close by, only 15 minutes at a decent pace, the super markets within radius are not that big, for that you have to go deeper into the city and for that there is no time, as the ship is sailing once again with a full house.

Tomorrow we will spend the day at sea, sailing a slow boat to our next port of call, Newcastle Upon Tyne, right on the border between England and Scotland. We should have decent weather with maybe an occasional fog patch but nothing or real significance. Hence the reason we had such nice and not too warm weather here today in Amsterdam.

After departing last night we sailed through the 4^th. longest fjord in the world and the 2^nd longest one in Norway. Eidfjord and connected Hardangerfjord are considered to be one fjord. I do not know how they measure a fjord exactly, I suppose it has to have an end somewhere but the statistics said so: 4^th. largest, and it will stay that way until somebody digs a longer one. We sailed under the Harfangerfjord Bridge which is the longest in Norway but it was not that spectacular as it should have been as the fjord was very misty.

I have never seen it so busy with guests in the Lido at 6 pm. A ll skipping the dining room experience, just to see the sights.

While I was having dinner in the Lido, I had to think about the Hobbits travelling through the Misty Mountains. It had that sort of atmosphere. About two hours out we stopped at a waterfall and the Captain gave the Koningsdam a complete spin to give everybody everywhere a good look at it. There is less room on the bow of this ship than on some other ships even with it being two levels, as the designers had allocated this as a crew deck with a guest viewing option. Still it would never be able to take all the guests, so a 360o spin works much better.

The Furebergfossen waterfall. The picture is slightly bluish due to the green reflection of the scenery and the falling evening, as it was almost 9 pm when we were there. Note the Road/bridge at the water level.

There are several nice water falls which come cascading down the mountains in the Hardanger fjord but according to experts this is one of the most spectacular ones. It is called The Furebergfossen Waterfall and Furebergfossen means something as Tree on the Mountain. Looking at the waterfall there were a lot more trees around but maybe there was once one very big one. They built a road in front of the fall which to a certain extent spoils the view from the sea but on the other hand gives a very good idea of the size of this waterfall, a size which otherwise would have been very hard to judge.

Map courtesy www. GraphicsMaps.com

By 1 am in the morning we had said goodbye to our Norwegian Fjorden pilot and turned the ship south towards the end of our cruise, back to Amsterdam. The weather remained hazy and gloomy until late morning when it cleared up a bit but it remained overcast.

It is almost a straight North to South run and the same route as we came up the coast 7 days ago. Today we did not see all the Oil Rigs as the visibility was not that great, but most guests had seen them on the way up, as the heavy storm did ensure very clear skies.

My day was taken up with the teaching sailors. Apart from being involved with mooring lines, docking procedures and ships maintenance, they also run the tenders when we are in a tender port. Before they are allowed to do that they have to be qualified and that qualification is a mixture of theory and practice. They have to have a full Lifeboat commander certificate, which is a week’s training at a shore side facility; a facility recognized by the company and by the Flag state. Then they have to a have a Certificate of Competence as a bridge look out so they are qualified to be involved in navigation and then they need to do computer training courses to gain detailed knowledge in tender operations and some of the equipment. When that is all done, there is the Tender Operator Course which is given on board by a senior officer. I shouldered the task this time as the Koningsdam deck officers are going through relief cycle and it is never good when a new officer has to take over from one who left.

The ship produces little charts for every tender port, it shows which route to follow and where not to go. The ship in the lower right was not there as the anchorage buoys had been damaged but those buoys are a recognition point during tender navigation.

The whole course includes a week of theoretical training and knowledge refreshers and then a number of practical sessions. Theory is mainly knowing the WHY behind everything. They all know their buoys, the why is, why is that buoy there. When the tender is in operation the driver has a tender chart in his cockpit for reference. He needs the knowledge to be able to properly read that chart = the WHY behind giving him the chart. Then there are the Rules of the Road and especially what to do, if the other boat is not following those rules (Six pack navigators!!) Then there is practical training, with not just sailing the tender, but how to sail, if you only have one engine or if suddenly the visibility goes down to zero.

Apart from other work, that will keep me gainfully occupied for the next ten days.  And it keeps the sailors occupied for the next 10 days as well; including some the evenings as the company’s computer courses are not simple.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to be at the Ijmuiden pilot station at 02.45 in the morning and then sail through the North Sea Canal to the dock. That will take a few hours as we are not allowed to go faster than 7 kilometers an hour at some places to avoid suction and swell damage.  The weather is supposed to be a lot better than today with partly sunny skies and noon temperatures of 70oF or 21oC and with hardly any wind in the mornings and a gentle breeze in the afternoon.

Today we observed Norway in the rain. Not with heavy down pours but with steady rain and drizzle. For Eidfjord that is not really a challenge. You either go out on tour and sit dry in the coach or you have a quick walk around, count all 530 inhabitants of the town and come back and stay on board and are dry as well.   And that is what most Guests did today.  A lot of guests went on tour and that is here a good idea anyway as the area has a lot of old Norwegian history. Those who did not discovered like I did today, that the town has a Tjuk-Tjuk train. One of these little road trains that takes you around the town and past the nearby sights worth seeing. I had not seen it in port during my last visit on the ms Rotterdam but now it was there and it was doing a roaring trade. I was caught up on the ship all day so I could not find out what the route exactly was but it must have been worthwhile. I saw it coming by three times and there was never an empty seat. Maybe they did go around all the houses so you could count all 530 inhabitants. (2013 census)

A Tjuk tjuk Train. After the Big Red Bus my favourite sightseeing form of transport.

The ones who got a real workout today were the Dive In and the New York Deli & Pizza. As most guests went ashore for only half of the day, the other half was spent on family bonding. I have learned by now that a good family bonding involves food, preferably fast food, and the Koningsdam offers the best.  I always like to beat the drum for Holland America but even without doing that the Dive Inn hamburgers and hotdogs are the best I have tasted anywhere.  Same for the pizza’s as long as you like the flat version and not the deep pan. Everything is cooked to order and everywhere there were people with a pager in the hand, waiting to be called to collect their order. So the whole upper level of the Lido pool area was one happy pizza party.

Part of the Kitchen staff of the ms Koningsdam. Pizza, Hamburgers, Lobster, you name it; perfect cooking and service with a smile.

Today the ship exercised the monthly Abandon ship routine: the full drill. Starting with the First Stage Emergency Response drill (also known as Fire drill) organized by yours truly by putting a part of the Engine Room on fire. That was simulated to go beyond control and then we went to Crew Alert, which means all the crew is going to battle stations ready to guide the guests to wherever the captain wants them to go. Once that is accomplished the final stage of “Abandon ship” arrives whereby all guests and crew assemble at the muster stations ready to embark into the lifeboats and life rafts. The funny part is always to hear these serious announcements and then to see the guests looking. The Cruise director announces that the ship is being abandoned and the guest thinks…………….. me as well, but I just walked on board…………..  I saw one gentleman getting confused while waiting for the elevator but he was assured by his wife: “Henry, it is only the captain; he is just doing his thing”

There are about 50 support staff to get 4 firefighting teams safely into a danger zone. The gentlemen in yellow are Dressers. ensuring that the fire fighting suits are worn correctly.

Doing “his thing” meant in this case lowering all the portside lifeboats, all going for a nice drive near the ship. Luckily the ms Koningsdam has covered lifeboats and thus none of the crew was the worse for the weather. That kept all crew happily occupied until noon time. What I find so amazing is that with all the crew on deck, the Executive chef still manages to open the Lido on time for lunch time service. I find that truly amazing as I already have a challenge with cooking rice on schedule.

Eidfjord has for the crew the great advantage that it has excellent cell phone connections so nobody is really bothered much by the lack of excitement Eidfjord has to offer, or the high prices in Norway; no it is a great opportunity to catch up with email and to call home.

You seldom see a spring line of 400 feet in length but that was what we had today.

We will sail this evening at 6 pm. and for the deck crew is means starting very early with taking in the lines. The Koningsdam overhangs the dock on both sides for a very long distance and the result is very long lines – extremely long lines. Even longer than yesterday in Bergen. So with the thrusters keeping the ship alongside, nearly all the lines are taken in much earlier than would be the case in ports where there are bollards everywhere.  This evening we will do some sightseeing by passing under the Hardanger bridge (the longest one in Norway) and then later on past one of the nicest waterfalls of Norway.

Tomorrow we are at sea, heading southbound on our way back to Amsterdam. Once there we will start a 14 day cruise leading over the top of the British Isles all the way to Iceland.

We left Geiranger just before 10 pm. last night and then had to sail 4 hours back to open waters. Contrary to the Inside Passage of Canada and Alaska you cannot sail from one fjord to another through an Inside Passage. You have to go back to open waters and then sail up or down the coast to enter the next one. Some fjords are interconnected, or branch off, or merge and some are singular cracks in the mountain stone and have no side branches at all. Some are very deep fjords such as the Hardanger Fjord, the Oslofjord and the Geiranger Fjord and some are very short or are really water ways around small islands or bare mountains tops.

Bergen is located very close to the sea, located behind a large number of small islands and coastal strips of rock which offer easy access, and at the same time a great protection against bad weather. This is one of the reasons Bergen is so popular with the Oil-Offshore. Plenty of safe anchorages in shallow and deep water and with the sound infrastructure of the town Bergen very close by. Being so close to open sea we could we pick up the pilot at 10 am. and started to dock by 11.30 and ready for our scheduled operation by noon time.

Today the sun was shining in Bergen and the temperatures reached 15 to 16oC or 61oF in the shade. Out in the sun it was a few degrees more. Still we had to re-arrange visiting this port as two days ago it was mayhem here. Although the port is well protected from a too great an onslaught by bad weather, winds of 50+ knots can get in even if the waves are held back. So does the rain and Bergen had to cope with 8 cm (4 inches) of rain while the storm system moved over. Even for an area where it can rain heavy at times that is a lot. And thus we had to stay away until things cleared up.

The bridge from a very unusual perspective. This photo was taken from a tender, which hangs partially outside the ship.

Although to get to Bergen is not a long way and the waters are deep, there is one obstacle which makes every captain grab for his calculator. They built a bridge over the main access route to Bergen harbor.  Whatever size ship you have, the first thought is always do I fit under? And do I still fit under if the tide is high?. Many a Ship’s captain ended up with a lot of paperwork because there was an inch too many in height and it did not fit. We know we can sail under the Askoy Bridge and we always check. The tidal difference in Bergen is not that great but still……………………  The top of the funnel of the Koningsdam cleared the underside of the bridge by 6 meters to day. The bridge itself has a 62 meters clearance above chart datum and then often you have to take a little bit off for the water height. Today we had only 2 feet in tidal difference (60 cm.) and thus we had nothing to worry about.

Today Bergen showed itself from it’s best side and pleased a lot of cruise guests. Apart from us the Amadea (the old Royal Princess of 1984) now sailing for a German charter company and the Horizon (from 1991 and used to be owned by Celebrity) but sails now for Croisieres de France were in too. The rest of the port was given over to local cargo ships and a large number of offshore vessels waiting for assignments.

The two other cruise ships. Please note the length of the bow lines running ashore. In perspective the Blue Horizon is about 85 feet wide.

We docked today at Bontelabo which was constructed as a fisherman’s dock and hence way too short for cruise ships. Even our small Prinsendam sticks out, let alone the length of the Koningsdam. Still the dock is long enough to be able to have two gangways out even if the ropes have to run very, very long. We will have something similar in Eidfjord where we are tomorrow.

We are staying in Bergen until 8 pm. and then sail back to open waters again, turn south and then enter Hardanger fjorden of which the Eidfjorden is a part at 2 am, to get to the dock by 8 am. in the morning. The weather tomorrow might take a dip, as rain is expected and with it comes a low temperature of 8oC or 47oF.

Well, the winds died down and so did the waves but much later than forecast and not after showing us that the “venom is in the tail”. I do not know if that translates exactly the right way into the English, it might be “sting is in the tail”, but you will get the meaning. In the cause of the afternoon the waves deepened out and reached 10 to 12 meters (30 to 36 feet) at times and the wind peaked at 56 knots. That is serious stuff and although the Koningsdam is turning out to be a very good ship in bad seas, you have to be respectful of such ferocious weather and treat that weather gently. Otherwise there will be damage to the ship and much worse damage to its occupants.

Then, late in the evening, the winds eased off and the waves started to die down, but it had affected the schedule again. First the storm had caused us to stay longer in Amsterdam and to re-arrange the cruise and now we could not keep the schedule once again. It was still possible to keep the noon arrival time at Geiranger but only if the service stop at Hellesylt was cancelled. And then as captain the need to make a very difficult decision: Will you deprive 300 guests of their tour or will you let the other 2300 guests arrive at least an hour late at Geiranger? And of those 2300 more than 800 were going on tours which might have been put in uncertainty as well.

As unpleasant as it is, if safety is not the overriding concern, then the need of the majority prevails and quite rightly the Captain opted for bypassing Hellesylt. Those who were now without a tour received their money back and/or were offered the option of another tour.

By the time we left the open sea it had completely come to rest and nice weather prevailed once again. Even the rain only brought out a few drops instead of the big showers which were forecastd.  We picked up the pilot at 0800 hrs. and then sailed into the fjord and managed to be at the anchorage location at 11.30 and had our tender service going by noon time. As scheduled and as planned, although it had taken some suffering to do it.

The Seven Sisters. Water coming down several hundred feet straight into the fjord.

It is acclaimed that the cruise into Geiranger offers some of the best scenery in the whole world, including looking at some of the highest waterfalls as well. These are called the Seven Sisters, for obvious reasons, and we sailed by them just after 11 am., shortly before coming to the port, and of course when you think you have everything under control, there is always something else. In the fjords, you try to sail in the middle and when there is opposing traffic both ships will go a bit to starboard and make room for each other to provide a safe passage.

Why do they always have to sit in a location where the big ships HAVE to go ?

What did we find in the middle, right in our way?  A group of canoe’s admiring the scenery without a care in the world. So we honked the horn but it took several blasts before they got the hint that we did it to alert them. They moved a few tentative strokes and then sat happily waving to all the guests on deck.  I do not think they even realized in what sort danger you can be in when you come close to a huge ship with a strong wake. This was some sort of sightseeing/ paddle tour and the tour leader should have known better. Hopefully the Pilot was later able to contact the canoe company and raise some hell with them. So the Koningsdam had to slow down to what was safely possible and had to make a wider turn than would normally have been proper seamanship. From previous blogs you might remember that we call these people “six pack navigators” but I do not think that this applies in Norway with alcohol being so expensive here. Some other salty words come to mind.

And so the big ship curved around them ensuring we made no wake.

The main anchorage at Geiranger had been damaged last year (where you drop the anchor and tie up the stern to the shore) and thus the ship had to stay further out and drift on the engines. From there we run a full tender service with all the six ships tenders. Tonight we will sail at 10 pm. and then arrive tomorrow at noon time in Bergen.

For me the most fascinating house in Geiranger Fjord. All by itself. Perched on the top of the mountain. I do not envy the newspaper boy who has to go there every morning on his bike.

You will read this a day later than normal, as the mountains sides of Geiranger Fjord are so high that there is no internet communication at all, until you are at the entrance again.