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

Category: South America

06 March 2020; At Sea.

As mentioned yesterday, we prepared ourselves for the Tehuantepeccer storm that would be blowing this morning. And we prepared with an abundance of caution. And it was a good thing we did so as this was a real nasty one. We always expect 50+ knots of wind and heavy seas (away from the coast) but it blew a lot harder than 60 knots at times. The Captain reported that the highest wind gust observed was 88 knots and periods of a sustained wind of 70 knots between 05.00 in the morning and 07.00 in the morning. That is Hurricane force wind strength. Seas were observed between 12 and 18 feet at times. So much wind blowing caused the ship to list somewhat, although the engineers pumped everything they had from the low side to the high side to minimize the effect. Continue reading

Captain’s Log: A Major Donation in Manaus, Brazil

On December 10, the crew of the ms Prinsendam donated over 40 boxes with pillows, bedspreads, curtains, personal clothing, housekeeping items and medical materials to two good causes in Manaus. Our first donation took place in March of this year, when we donated bathrobes and children’s clothing. That was followed by our most recent donation that grew into an excess of 40 boxes.

In the past month, Holland America Line has been upgrading the ms Prinsendam’s guests cabins with soft goods. As we were going up the Amazon during that same period, we were able to donate the replaced items to these good causes. All of the items went to the children’s home of Lar Batista Janelle Doyle (wwww.larbastistamanaus.com.br) and a retirement home called Fundacao de Apoio ao Idoso Dr.Thomas, two well-known organizations in Manaus.

Hotel Manager Francois Briarda, myself, Human Resources Manager Mike Willock and the representatives from the children’s home.

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