No Post on Monday

In recognition of the national Labor Day holiday in the United States, we will not be posting to the blog on Monday, Sept. 1. See you Tuesday!

Welcome Back, Pam!

Our favorite blog correspondent is back on board after a month-long vacation. Look for her continuing coverage of Eurodam’s inaugural events now that the ship is making its maiden calls in the States.

The Order of the Cape Breton Sou’ Wester

Tuesday was a big day for Captain van Donselaar and some of Eurodam’s officers. When the ship called at Sydney, Nova Scotia, select officers were inducted into the Order of the Cape Breton Sou’ Wester during the first-call plaque-exchange ceremony. Captain van Donselaar said it was the funniest plaque ceremony to date.

According to Pam, this registered society has more than 1,500 members worldwide and is composed of captains, officers and shipping executives.

Captain van Donselaar received the city’s port plaque from Bernadette Macneil, Sydney’s manager of cruise marketing.

‘I pledge always and within the bounds of reason, that whenever the occasion arises, I shall do all things possible to promote the numerous benefits available to the Marine Community in and about the ports of cape Breton Harbours and I undertake that, except in cases of dire distress, each year I shall attempt to attend the annual Harbour Ports day.’

Back row, from left: Captain Jeroen van Donselaar, Gerald Devoe, Alex Gilchrist, Assistant Culinary Operations Manager Herman Lantman, Beverage Manager Marc Spijkerboer, Purser Myrthe Coenen, Hotel Manger Stan Kuppens, Guest Relations Manager Geri van Luven and Assistant Beverage Manager Lars Petermann. Front row, from left: Culinary Operations Manager Suzanne de Zwaan, Chief Housekeeper Tetet Prihatnoko, Front Desk Supervisor Iris Knubben and John Shaw. Devoe, Gilchrist and Shaw were part of the Sydney delegation.

Chief Housekeeper Tetet Prihatnoko, Hotel Manager Stan Kuppens and Captain van Donselaar give a “thumbs-up” after being inducted into the Order of the Cape Breton Sou’ Wester.

Meet Employee #121

Aries Tabrani

Each employee with Holland America Line receives a unique employee number when they go to work for the company. The lower the number, the more years of service an employee has with the company. Employee #121 is Sailor Aries Tabrani, Eurodam’s longest-serving employee of 30 years. He comes from the beautiful city of Palopo on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Aries’ first job at sea with was a cargo ship company in Singapore. He then went to work for Holland America on June 10, 1978. During his long career with the line he says there is nothing he has not done or seen. He has held jobs on board such as a fire guard, storekeeper, able-bodied sailor and was a quartermaster for 20 years.

“My favorite job was being a quartermaster and hand-steering the ship”, said Aries, smiling.

His favorite ship was “The old Noordam,” he said. “I have also sailed on the old Statendam IV, Rotterdam V and Veendam III.”

There is not a place Aries has not been to from his first time in the United States at Portland, Oregon, to circumnavigating the globe on world cruises. He also has a lovely family, his wife and three children — sons Rusdi and Fadli and daughter Fatmawati.

When asked when he will retire, he replied, “I might in three years but I just love the sea.”

But for the time being, if you sail on Eurodam, it will be hard to miss Aries’ huge smile, whether he is varnishing the decks, looking after the lifeboats or painting.

Postcards from Ship Café

Hello Everyone,

After being aboard Eurodam for her inaugural festivities and her inaugural voyage to Norway and Scotland, I am pleased to publish a photologue of her on ShipCafé. I am keeping this photologue dynamic as I will be back aboard her soon a couple of times and will add/update photos accordingly so check back later!

As with all of the most recent updates to my site, the newest photologue link can be found on the main page.

Enjoy and have a great day!

Steve J. Garrod
Webmaster, The Ship Café

Postcards from Newfoundland

Yesterday, Aug. 24, Eurodam made it’s maiden call at St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, and the folks there held a Freedom of the Seaport Ceremony to mark the occasion. The Freedom of the Seaport Ceremony originated more than 500 years ago when St. John’s welcomed sailors, pirates and fishing admirals to its seaport. During the ceremony, Mayor Dennis O’Keefe conferred the Freedom of the Seaport upon Captain Jeroen van Donselaar, which is symbolic of the justice and control the city bestowed upon the first fishing admiral to enter the narrows for the fishing season in earlier times.

The official Freedom of the Seaport proclamation.

Captain van Donselaar receives St. John’s port plaque from the ceremony emcee.

The Hon. Clyde Jackman, Newfoundland’s minister of tourism, culture and heritage, presents Captain van Donselaar a gift.

The Church Lads Brigade Avalon Battalion Mass Drum and Bugle Band was formed two years ago with the merger of the St. John’s Companies Drum & Bugle Band, the Foxtrap Company Bugle Band and the Upper Gullies Company Bugle Band. While each band continues to train its members separately, the full band comes together once a month to conduct standardized training in addition to performing at special parades and occasions. The band has more than 30 youth members between the ages of 10 and 20.

The Church Lads Brigade was founded in 1891 in London, England. Through the efforts of a young Newfoundlander, Harold Blacker, a C.L.B. company was started in St. John’s in 1892 — the first C.L.B. overseas unit. Today the C.L.B. in Newfoundland has more than 1,000 members in 22 companies spread across the Avalon Peninsula, with almost half of the entire membership residing in the city of St. John’s.

Postcards from Greenland

Eurodam did some scenic cruising today off the coast of Greenland, and Captain van Donselaar sent us some beautiful shots. These were taken early in the morning near the eastern entrance to the Prince Christian Sund.

Port Lecturer Frank Buckingham (left) gave running commentary about the region and scenery, while Tim Lodder, 3rd officer (and tallest crew member!), made sure things went smoothly on the bridge.

Where Do All the Calls Go?

Telephone concierges for superior suite guests Rechilda Orca (left) and Sara Ann Leutner.

Have you ever wondered when you dial from your stateroom phone or from any public venue on the ship where the calls go and who is on the other end?

The service professionals of the guest relations team at the Front Office answer guest questions and so much more. Behind the Front Office is where the heart of it all takes place. The telephone operator in the 24/7 Front Office manages all calls from 1,052 guest staterooms, including all 911 emergency calls and emergency buttons located in public venues all over the ship.

Eurodam’s Fun Food Facts

With approximately 2,104 guests on board each sailing, a lot of food and beverages are consumed. Here’s a selection of items, including everything from eggs to beer, that tickle the palates of Eurodam guests every week. When you actually see the numbers, it truly is amazing that there’s even enough space on board to store the consumables!

Average weekly consumption of food on board:

Meat and meat products: 11,830 pounds
Poultry: 3,814 pounds
Fish: 1,875 pounds
Seafood: 2,575 pounds
Fresh vegetables: 137,500 pounds
Potatoes: 7,750 pounds
Watermelon: 2,300 pounds
Dairy: 5,500 quarts
Ice cream: 300 gallons
Butter and margarine: 1,675 pounds
Eggs: 23,040
Sugar: 950 pounds
Flour: 3,150 pounds
Rice for crew: 3,500 pounds
Assorted sodas: 362 cases
Assorted beers: 332 cases
Champagne and sparkling wines: 450 bottles
Assorted wines: 1,636 bottles
Water: 280 cases

Meet Second Officer Aafke Bergsma

Second Officer Aafke Bergsma

Do you ever wonder who drives the ship while the captain is not on the bridge? One of the “watch keepers,” formally known on board as a “deck officer,” is Second Officer Aafke Bergsma from Rotterdam. She is one of only 17 female deck officers in the 14-ship Holland America Line fleet and the only woman in Eurodam’s Deck Department.

Aafke is used to being the only female, as the lone girl among five brothers. She also was one of only two women in her graduating class of 25 at Rotterdam Nautical College.

“I am just one of the guys, and it is a novelty, but also a downside as I would like to have another woman colleague and friend with me,” Aafke said. “It’s a shame there are not more women in this line of work.”

Aafke comes from a family of seafarers. Her grandfather was a pilot in Holland, and she recalls riding with him on pilot boats. Although she was fascinated by water as a youth, she admits that she also was afraid of it. She overcame her fear with some unwelcome assistance.

“While we were on a lake, my father put me in a sailboat and just pushed it away and there I went,” Aafke recalled. “The more difficult something is for me to get, the more I want it. The freedom of overcoming something such as fear is a great feeling of success.”

Her training included eight years of school and then another four years of schooling and licensure. She completed cadet training on a cargo ship, then joined Holland America Line. In five years Aafke quickly rose through the ranks of fourth and third officer, and is serving her first term as second officer.

As second officer, Aafke is responsible for the administrative side of navigation such as charting Eurodam’s course on navigational charts.

“There is still much manual planning, like telling the computer where to go,” she said.”Not all is done by GPS.”

She also calculates Eurodam’s sailing speed, calculating distances so the chief engineer can order fuel and plan engine maintenance. The second officer also advises the captain of arrival times so he can order pilots in each port, provides the “From the Navigator” information for the daily program, and inputs navigation information into the chart pilot computer system and the navigational display available on stateroom televisions. In addition, Aafke trains the crew in safety and lifesaving, and maintenance of lifeboats and navigation equipment.

She says her favorite part of the job is “watch-keeping and navigating, being on the bridge and sailing the ship with 3,000 souls on board.”

Aafke even met Queen Beatrix during the naming ceremony in Rotterdam.

“That was very exciting and special for me being from the Netherlands,” she said. “We had a short conversation and she asked if I was the only female officer and where I went to school. It was the icing on the cake for me!”

Aafke says she wants to become a pilot and follow in the footsteps of her grandfather.

For Aafke Bergsma, sailing is not just a job, it’s a way of life, and she enthusiastically encourages more women to go to sea to experience the adventure.