Lido Pool Looking Cool

Jan Ellison sent us this colorful photo of the Lido Pool dressed up for a party on a recent Caribbean cruise. Thanks, Jan!

Captain’s Log: Oct. 30, At Sea

Captain Jonathan Mercer

It seems some time since I last sat here and wrote, the past few days have been somewhat hectic and opportunities to being able to relax and write have been few.

Arrival in San Juan on a sunny morning, at a civilised time, was a treat. We embarked our pilot at 8:30 a.m. and proceeded towards the imposing entrance to this natural harbour. As in most Caribbean ports, the pilot left it to me to con the ‘E’ in. I have to admit that I like this arrangement, as one is not constantly worrying what he or she will do next.

Having to take pilots is a strange occurrence and an equally strange arrangement. Pilots are usually compulsory in most ports around the world. In many of them, their local knowledge is invaluable and appreciated, however, despite a pilot taking the ‘con’, it is the Master who is still responsible for his actions. I liken it to someone coming onto the flight deck of an aircraft, taking the controls and telling the pilot that it’s his fault if he crashes it.

Back to the arrival: El Morro, the imposing Spanish fortress that guards the entrance to the harbour, passes our port side and our decks are crowded with guests, cameras in hand, as we do so. We berth at #4 west, a nice terminal not far from the Old Town, the historic area of San Juan, and a short walk from the pier.

I have a plaque ceremony and the number of guests is so large that we conduct it in the Queen’s Lounge, as our normal Crows Nest venue would be too small. Dignitaries from the government and port are there as well as officers from the Coast Guard and agencies. We exchange plaques and niceties before a session of photo-taking and TV cameras.

Our day continues as we have fire drill for all of us, (excepting guests) and numerous meetings. We have gentlemen from our corporate office on board and they are conducting an audit of our operations. This comes in the form of constructive criticism and also acts as a conduit through which we can impart concerns as to some of our requirements, so it is a useful exercise. They have been on since Port Everglades and will stay with us until we return to that port.

We left San Juan at 11 p.m. Again, I wish that I had the opportunity to take night photographs, (difficult at the best of times and impossible when conning 935 feet of steel down a channel. El Morro looks truly magnificent as we pass it, the scenic lighting on its walls and towers heightening its majesty. Once clear of the channel, we set courses for the U.S. Virgin islands and St Thomas, a gentle ‘pottle’ tonight, just 11 knots are required to be at the pilot station for 7 a.m.

We berthed in the Crown Bay facility on time on another beautiful day. There is a weak tropical wave due over the islands later today and sure enough, the intermittent showers start later. The Crown Bay berths are sometimes ‘frowned’ upon by our guests, as we are not in the hustle and bustle of Havensight, the alternative berthing area. However there are some definite advantages to being in CB, and first and foremost, it’s traffic. Where we are, it’s a straightforward ride to Charlotte Amalie and its shops and places of interest — we even have a water-taxi service, which takes 10 minutes at most, to the centre of town. In contrast, one has to allow 30-40 minutes just to get from a ship in Havensight to the town, as the roads are so congested.

I have another plaque ceremony in the morning, this time conducted in the Crows Nest and my work is compounded by the unannounced arrival of United States Public Health inspectors. Every cruise ship is inspected by the USPH every six months. The inspections take approximately five to six hours and involve food sanitation, temperatures, storage, cooking, washing, a whole plethora of subjects in fact. They also involve water sanitation, pools, whirlpools and equipment.

I chuckle to myself when I read the local restaurant health inspection report in the local paper, and find that all that is noted is a fire extinguisher was out of date. Cruise ships, without doubt, have the cleanest, most rigid sanitation procedures anywhere in the world, and we’re proud of it. We pass our inspection with 95 points out of 100, our only fault being that some documentation was not correct. We are disappointed of course, since we all strive for 100, however, there will always be a ‘next time’ to rectify those lost points.

Passing Noordam in the Caribbean Sea.

Today finds us at sea, on our way to Half Moon Cay for Friday. We are east of the Turks and Caicos as I write and have just passed one of our Vista-class ships, the Noordam. We arrange a passing so that our guests can enjoy a photo opportunity and then she’s gone, heading south.

We are under the influence of a cold front and the weather could be better. We have low cloud and rain showers, with winds of over 30 knots, not at all what one would wish for. However, I am optimistic that as get further north it will brighten up.

The Love Boat

Tom and Veronica Steer at the Giza pyramids in Egypt.

Meet another Eurodam “Love Boat” couple: cruise consultant team Veronica and Tom Steer. Tom is from the United Kingdom and Veronica is from Canada, and they are Eurodam’s resident connoisseurs on the world of cruising with Holland America Line. They have sailed on every class of ship, and in their first year of dating they sailed to every continent together.

When they met on board Veronica was part of the cruise staff team and would always pass by Tom’s desk, which was located next to the cruise director’s office.

“She would walk by my desk every day and I finally plucked up the courage to ask her out,” said Tom. Their first date was in Melbourne, Australia.

Veronica added, “Whenever I would meet guests that expressed interest in future cruises, I would advise guests to see Tom and say that Veronica sent you!”

Tom proposed in Sifnos, Greece, on a mountaintop, and it only gets more romantic — their wedding reception took place at the historical Chatham Dockyard in the Commissioner’s House, the oldest naval building in the U.K., built in 1703. Since they married in June, the newlyweds have been on a working honeymoon until they disembark in January. When asked where they were thinking about taking their delayed honeymoon, Veronica replied, “Somewhere hot, like Cuba or Dubai.”

I was curious about the challenges they encounter on a daily basis as working partners. Indeed, they certainly are busy, as every time I have passed their desk there is a consistent queue of guests wanting to book their next cruise. However, they manage the future cruisers quite well, with one speaking to waiting guests to get a feel for what they are looking for and the other at the desk making the bookings.

“Our mantra is, we are never closed,” said Veronica. “We have been walking off the gangway to go ashore and guests would see us and want to book a cruise, and we would come back on board and book them.”

Not familiar with the cruise consultants and their services? They are your personal link to getting firsthand knowledge of Holland America Line’s ships and itineraries. By booking your next cruise while on board with a $100 deposit per person, you get a host of advantages such as dining preference, access to greater availability, a shipboard credit for your next cruise up to $200 per stateroom on select sailings, and, if you wish, bookings can be rolled over to your home travel agent. Just don’t ask for a cruise to Switzerland — yes, they have been asked that!

“The most popular ship we have booked is Prinsendam. Why? It only carries 793 guests and offers such unique cruises,” Tom explained.

Behind every great couple there is a great story, and the Steers are no exception. Tom and Veronica are a quintessential on-board couple and a team armed with immeasurable cruise expertise that will never let you sail you in the wrong direction.

When you’re on Eurodam, be sure to pass by their desk and tell them, “Pam sent me.”

Training the Next Generation of Chefs

Party Planner Michelle Walton teaches young cruisers how to make pizza in a kids’ cooking demonstration at the Culinary Arts Center aboard Eurodam.

The kids — ages 8 to 12 — made personalized English muffin and focaccia bread pizzas. Approximately 60 children sailed on the Oct. 25 Caribbean cruise.

Event staffer Karyn Campbell (right) gets the pizzas ready to pop in the oven.

Grand Turk Plaque Ceremony

Eurodam called at Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos, yesterday for the first time, and port officials came on board for the traditional plaque exchange.

Captain Mercer accepts a port plaque from Theo Forbes, marine operations manager for the Grand Turk Cruise Center.

Captain Mercer presents Theo Forbes with a Holland America Line Delft plate.

Meet Chief Engineer Marcel Kiers

Chief Engineer Marcel Kiers with daughter Floor

Although we haven’t yet introduced him on the Eurodam News Blog, Chief Engineer Marcel Kiers was part of a team that was at the shipyard to complete the building of Eurodam. During his 15 years with Holland America, Kiers has been involved with several newbuilds for the line.

Despite coming from the middle of the Netherlands with no connection to the sea, Kiers followed in his older brother’s footsteps and graduated from the Willem Barentsz Maritime Institute. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life, and his brother’s positive experience encouraged him to follow the path that led him to become Eurodam’s chief engineer. His younger brother would eventually go to the institute as well, making it a family affair.

When not on board, Kiers devotes most of his time to his partner, Marianne, and their 16-month-old daughter, Floor, who is a world-traveler already. He also enjoys playing golf and skiing.

As chief engineer of Eurodam, Kiers oversees a team of approximately 65 officers, petty-officers and crew.

Fort Lauderdale Plaque Exchange

We just got these photos from the plaque exchange in Fort Lauderdale Oct. 15. Even though it happened last week, we still wanted to post them for you to see.

From left: Port Director Phillip Allen, Captain Jonathan Mercer and Hotel Manager Stan Kuppens.

County Commissioner Suzanne Gunsberger presents the key to the city to Captain Jonathan Mercer and Hotel Manager Stan Kuppens.

Captain’s Log: Oct. 21, Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Captain Jonathan Mercer

The typical sunshine and showers greeted me when I went to the bridge for arrival this morning. The thermometer on my balcony window was already registering 29C, 86F and it was only 6:30 in the morning. It was going to be a hot one.

As we approached the port, the rain showers were passing over it, however, further to the west the sun was shining. The bauxite export berth, better known as Reynolds Pier, was visible through the misty rain; it doubles as a cruise-ship berth and today, the “Carnival Triumph”, 30 minutes astern of us, is due to berth there. (It is also famous as a film set, James Bond’s ‘Dr. No’ was filmed here and the buildings were used as the ‘lair’ of Dr. No).

We are going to berth at #2 today, a 130-metre-long pier and adjacent to the shopping plazas and the fabulous beach. We need line-boats today, they will take our headlines and sternlines ashore, only our springs will go straight to the pier, others to dolphins, (not the mammal, the concrete ones). The harbour is a natural one, sheltered from the swell which often rolls in here, by a reef. The Reynolds Pier is more open to the sea and as a consequence is more susceptible to this swell, I see the captain of the “Triumph” has turned and berthed with his bow pointing into it, a wise move.

He has done so because his stern (and ours) presents a very wide and low area to any swell and Azipod-drive vessels are susceptible to even the smallest of waves because of this design. The swell (or waves) get under it and literally ‘slap’ it. The result is that, because of our longitudinal framing, these slaps are transmitted along the length of the ship, resulting in a sort of ‘bouncing’ movement along our length. It’s not dangerous, in fact, because the ship is so long, it is designed to do this; however, it would result in an uncomfortable period for guests during the time in port.

We have on our bridge all manner of instruments, one of them being the Conning Pilot. It has all manner of functions, from ‘conning’ the ship (i.e., keeping it on track when in open water), to recording a ‘history’ of our movements. It is this that I will write about today.

The ‘history’ feature is not only useful for recording past events in open water, it can be used in our BRM talks too. BRM is an acronym for Bridge Resource Management and under this umbrella there are diverse subjects, everything from preparing for arrivals and departures, the voyage itself (and anything of concern during it), environmental restrictions, etc. On the ‘E’, BRMs are carried out for each consecutive port, in other words, when we have arrived at one port we carry out a BRM for the next. Trying to remember an entire voyage would be too much, so it is broken up into sections.

Our berthing today was as I intended and how I described it to all the Deck Officers during our stay in Nassau, so there isn’t much to review in the ‘history,’ however, sometimes (not often, I’m pleased to say) some unforeseen factor (such as wind, visibility or the presence of other ships) can make it necessary to alter one’s intended plan. (A case in point would be the Corner Brook blog page, where the wind played a large factor).

On these occasions one can review the ‘history’ for lessons learned, perhaps thinking of alternatives and involving the Bridge Team in them. It is a far more democratic process than when I first went to sea. Then, the Captain’s word was God and don’t you dare question it. (In fact, when on watch, I wasn’t even allowed on the bridge itself, I had to stay on the bridge wing and speak when I was spoken to and not before.)

It is very important to involve even the youngest of officers, to give them the knowledge that they have as much right to speak up and ask questions. If I had done that in the early ‘70s, I would have been hung from the yardarm, not literally, but I would have received a ‘roasting’ that one would never forget. So, I’m pleased to say, matters are very much improved.

Back to the ‘history’ …

Here you see a ‘plan’ of Ocho Rios harbour. The ship outline can be seen, as can part of the pier we are tied up against. As one can see, the pier is ‘kinked’, there is another small section astern and to starboard (right). Reynolds Pier can be seen to the west of the stern. The dolphins to which we send our lines are the black dots. The shallow water, (light blue) and the reef (light green) can be seen ahead of us. Two beacons marking the south end of the reef can be seen north and north-west of us. Further away, to the north-west is a ‘green buoy’ which marks the west end of the reef. Our track entering the harbour is the black line. At this point I should tell you that the buoy (black) that I appear to have run over is not actually in that position, it’s further north and I left it 15 metres (50 feet) on my port side, so no comments please!!!

Because the ”Carnival Triumph“ was not yet on Reynolds Pier (and therefore providing a rather large extension to it), I used the space between the pier and the buoy to my advantage, saving me turning through 90 degrees and instead being able to make an angled approach to the pier.

This will give you some idea of how it works and, of course, this can be done for any port, at any time.

I leave you with a picture of Ocho Rios, taken from my balcony. “Irie Mon!”

Postcards from the Three-Day Bahamas Cruise

Becky Holtrop sailed on the recent three-day Eurodam cruise to Nassau and Half Moon Cay, and sent us her thoughts and a link to her photo album from the cruise:

The Eurodam three day Caribbean sailing was a wonderful cruise, but too short! The highlights were exploring the beautiful new ship, feeding parrots at Ardastra Gardens in Nassau, spending a morning at Half Moon Cay and having lunch at Tamarind. I enjoyed following the ship’s progress on the Blog and then being able to see it in person. The best part is that I can say I’m going back in December!

Here is a link to my photo album.

Eurodam Captured in Delft Tile

During his recent visit to Holland America Line’s headquarters in Seattle, Wash., Siebe Kamer (right), managing director of Royal Goedewaagen, presented Stein Kruse, president and CEO of Holland America Line, with a beautiful hand-painted commemorative tile picture of Eurodam.

Royal Goedewaagen has been providing Delftware to Holland America for nearly 50 years, and the company has been in business for nearly 400 years.