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.

Last night just after 7 pm. we entered the Black Sea and then all shelter from the cold wind fell away. So today, even in the sunshine, it was cold. An optimist put in the daily program 12o C / 53oF but that was probably an observation made out of the wind and with the door closed. The locals call this weather already summer so I really do not want to know what winter is like over here. Still a lot of people seem to be able to deal with it as Constanta is a big place. It is the 4^th. largest port in Europe after Rotterdam, Antwerp and Marseille. As a result we are docked at a location which is surrounded by ships. To our port side we have tankers and a shipyard. A lot of through traffic from river barges and to our Starboard side there is a large Navy base which occupies most of the large breakwater which protects this port from the Black Sea which can be very nasty in the winter. From the Bridge we could see the City in the distance but not as we had in Istanbul where we were almost parked inside the Souk.

Constanta in the distance on a clear sunny and cold day.

For the guests there was luckily enough to do without having to be exposed to the elements all the time. Constanta or Timos as it was called in the olden days has always been an important port. When the Romans arrived they renamed the port after the sister of Emperor Constantine the Great. Her name was Constantianain but that does not really lay easily on the tongue and so eventually it became Constanta or Constanza in the Western version.  After the Romans came the Ottomans and then the Genoese, followed by local governments until The USSR got involved after World War 1. Since the Iron curtain came down Romania has been quickly developing into a very Western State. Because it is more open, we are getting more and more Romanian Officers in our company. Navigators, Engineers but also in the Hotel Department such as our Guest Relation Manager, who was a really happy camper today as she could finally show her family what she did on board.

The larger part of the cargo port with in the middle a shipyard.

With this cold weather I had no intention to go out and I spent the day giving Refresher Trainings to various groups of crew. Normally this stuff is done by the deck officers but it is beneficial if an outsider comes in occasionally and brings a new angle to what has become a boring routine. Target audience today was a group of crew which we call the Pax. Sweep Team. 16 Hotel crew under the leadership of the Asst. Dining Room Manager are responsible for clearing the Public Rooms during an emergency. When the 2^nd of our three alarm system is sounded (the crew alert alarm) all guests are supposed to go to their cabins, prepare for lifeboat stations, and then wait for further orders.

This is a big breakwater. A large and massive outer pier and then after a narrow entrance another large area. No problems for making a sheltered approach.

But not all the guests follow those instructions immediately. Some can still be found asleep in the Library, not willing to part with their food, or simply not appreciating the urgency of what is going on. For those stragglers we have a Passenger Area Sweep Team. Four crew members per deck who check all the public areas, including rest rooms and anything else that might be unlocked and their duty is to shepherd those still present to their cabins. The job of going through the areas is simple enough; with a diagram in hand they can find all the places they have to check. To deal with guests who do not want to budge (I will first finish my Steak !!!!!!!!!) is another matter. For that they get taught Crowd Control and Human Behavior tricks so they feel confident in dealing with such a situation.  After they get used to the concept, most crew enjoy the idea that in an emergency they can order the guests around and achieve the goal of helping out with a 100% compliance at the lifeboat stations.

For the crew area’s we have a similar team, made up from Kitchen personal and those I will see in a few days’ time.

Tomorrow we are in Varna, Bulgaria further up the coast of the Black Sea, and it is supposed to be even colder than today.

We woke up to a very sunny but very chilly Turkish morning. The wind was blowing from the North and as it is still winter in Russia, it caused a chilly day in Istanbul. But cold winds keep the air clear and thus we had the best scenery you could think of.  Although our location might not have been that great in relation to getting off the ship, it could not be beaten for the view. We literally had the best seats in the house.

For those who were going ashore, there was a small shuttle bus between the ship and the terminal and on the other side of immigration, there was another shuttle bus running everybody into town.  Behind us, one by one the cruise ships left and by the time we sailed only the MSC Opera was still there as she had a two night stay. Using the system of one day in port for the guests who were leaving, then a changeover day and then a day in port for the new guests.  We pulled out at 17.00 hrs. to sail north through the Bosporus. As tomorrow we are in Constanta, Romania from 0800 to 2100 hrs.

Sailing at 17.00 hrs. we could do the whole scenic part of the Bosporus during day light. It is fascinating as during a night passage as well but then you only see the fancy lights but no details.  During daylight there are almost too many details to keep track of it all.  Although most guests do not see and realize it, arriving and departing is an exciting adventure in Istanbul.  The current running through the Bosporus can be quite strong. 3 to 4 knots is usual but it can go up to 7 or 8 knots. Especially in areas where the Bosporus is shallow.  As the Salispizari cruise docks are located in the ebbing bend of the Bosporus (e.g. when the water from the Black Sea goes South it makes a wide turn to the West to get around the corner) the current dictates how a ship docks. Yesterday we were lucky that it was flooding and thus we could dock with the nose towards the city.

A little help from a friend does not do anybody any harm.

Today on departure it was ebbing and that meant that the current helped us coming off the dock as the water wedged itself in between the dock and the ship but then the ship had to force it around to face north. To play it safe we had a tugboat hanging on the stern to ensure that the ship would come around fast enough to avoid been pushed towards the City. As Holland America has no intentions of opening a Hotel there, the preference is to keep the ship in deep water. 

The Turkish National Yacht ms Savarona. Once bought as a gift to the founder of modern Turkey Kemal AtaTurk.

Then it takes about 2 hours to navigate the winding path of the Bosporus until we enter the Black Sea. With a strong ebb coming down, the ships going north keep close to the Asian side of the channel avoiding most of that current. We could not do that all the time as we had to overtake several cargo ships and that meant veering out into the vortex of the current.

The Sultan Mehmet Bridge with in front of it Romelian Castle.

The most spectacular parts are the two turns in the channel. First to the west while going under the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge and shortly after a sharp turn to the East.

The Prinsendam turning to the West to get around the corner.

In both cases you cannot see the traffic which is coming the other way and because of that the tankers going up and down are not allowed to have any opposing traffic. A normal collision is not nice, an environmental disaster here would be even worse.

Turn to the right in the Electronic chart

There is also Traffic Control on the shore side which monitors every move of everything which floats. As not every ship is manned with professionals and occasionally very creative moments of navigation can be seen, the people at Traffic Control are kept busy all day long.

Turn to the right as seen from the bridge window.

 By 19.00 hrs. we were back in open waters and could say good bye to our Pilot. As the Bosporus is a very busy waterway and challenging with its currents, a pilot is compulsory. Together with this VTS (Vessel Traffic Control) the Bosporus can be navigated in a safe way.

Tomorrow we are in Constanta, Romania for a full day. We have a few Romanian crew members on board and they are very excited as it is not often that a HAL ship is calling here. With these sorts of visits the ship tries to work it in such a way that those crew members have the whole day off to go home, or get “home” on board. Subsequently I rescheduled some of my trainings and that always makes people happy.