My journal for the 19th:- “Non-minimum operational manning, (MOM) disembarking in ‘dribs & drabs’, 17 so far and using the ‘Green Lane’ for non-Filipinos, straight to the airport under escort of Immigration.  Still waiting for swab results.  Sharing tenders for crew exchanges with the “Sea Princess”, “Majestic Princess” and “Ruby Princess”.  The “Queen Elizabeth”, after weeks of waiting disembarks  262. “Quantum of the Seas”arrived today, joining the “Ovation”.  My (possible) relief Jeroen (Schuchmann) has to change his visa, but he has had his Covid-19 test.

23rd  Out for Marine Ops yesterday p.m., back this morning.  Jeroen finally boarded, after protracted (weeks) of officialdom (and, no doubt $) assisted by some very able HAL officers in the Philippines and Seattle, he managed to board, straight into 14-days quarantine.  Thank God he was in the Philippines already and was able to do so. 

Much conversing in Seattle about this (quarantine) quandary no doubt, however the end result has been decided, Thomas will assume command on my departure and Jeroen will take over when quarantine complete.  Dare we think about flights?? 

Having left Fremantle on the 23rd March, we have plodded across the Indian Ocean, stayed off Durban from the 5th April to 10th, plodded back the way we had come, except towards the Malacca Straits this time , towards Batam; refused entry by Singapore (expletive) and waited off Port Klang instead and on the 24th, a 9-hour stop in port and off again.

The remainder of the ‘journey’ is covered by previous posts and so it was, on the on the 25th May, 63 days after leaving Fremantle Karen and I left the “Amsterdam” for the last time.

We had anticipated that we might fly from ‘wherever’ and had packed all our luggage and  8½ years-worth of accumulated ‘stuff’ which was in the cabin was boxed and, like yours, it was moved into ‘A” deck areas, in anticipation of managing to get it off ‘somewhere’ and where it was is closer to the Marshalling area, where it would have to go off eventually.  (We did this because we had crew to assist at the time, none of us didn’t fancied doing it with just officers at some later date )

Flights being handled by our Australian brethren.  Karen I were to board a flight from Manila late at night, through the ‘Green Lane’, however plenty of time had to be allowed; the tender process, the Immigration process and the fact that the airport didn’t open until 8 p.m. and enormous queues could be anticipated.  1 p.m. was suggested as a good departure and Karen and I left the cabin, officers there to take our ‘flight’ luggage.  As a parting gesture, I left my Captain’s epaulettes on the desk for Thomas.  This was sent to me later that evening………  Jeez, he could have waited! 

Having taken the (1) elevator to ‘A’ deck, we were stunned to find officers and crew lining the alleyway and stairs, all wanting to say goodbye.  I was almost in tears, Karen was crying and, to hell with Social Distancing, there were lots of hugs.

Boarding the tender with Sarah Brightman and Andrea Botecelli singing “Time to Say Goodbye” blasting through the P.A.  (Methinks Bruce was responsible for that one), we let go the tender lines.  The decks were lined with crew, those in quarantine were on their balconies, all waving and shouting as we did a ‘circuit’, with Harry at the helm.  Whistles were blowing too.  It was heartrending however marvellous as well.  Normal ‘retirement’ procedure in Fort Lauderdale would have been a whistle blow and a chauffeured limo at the gangway.  What we experienced was far and above the best ‘send-off’ I could have wished for.

It wasn’t quite over though; every morning, the ships of the Carnival Group had a conference call with shore-based management and I had participated in many.  On my last, my superior in Seattle, Rik Krombeen, mentioned at the end of the call that this would be my last and I was leaving the next day and retiring.  On our way to the tender dock we passed HAL, Princess  and Cunard ships; they blew their whistles and officers waved from the Bridges as we passed. (I particularly liked the “Majestic” she played the “Love Boat” theme)!  By the time we reached the disembarkation pier, I was overcome with emotion.

Because of the delays at the airport we were royally entertained by UPL agency, given the use of their (air-conditioned) office until it was time to go for the flight.  Escorted by an immigration officer all the way, we checked in at the Korean Air desk and delighted to find we were booked 1st Class.

Our flight to Seoul was virtually empty, a long lay-over in Seoul airport, as big as Disneyland and absolutely deserted and then a flight to Chicago, also almost empty and thence to Orlando.

And so, dear readers, like you, I follow the journey of the “Amsterdam”, wondering how she is faring, how her officers and crew are and, hopefully, soon relieved after months over their contracts.  Who would have believed that this would be the finale, after leaving Fort Lauderdale this January?  Sold and soon to be the MS “Bolette”.  Certainly not me and I’m sure, you.  However there will be brighter times ahead and I read that 2022 is popular!

I don’t want to leave without sharing some of the wonderful memories we have shared, so here we go.

First though, I have never mentioned ‘Tender 9’ in the blog, I believe I can publish now, it is after all, all water under the Bridge now, (or not under the tender should I say :-))

Apart from the incident itself, I cherish a discussion with one of the guests on board the tender.  We assisted all guests who were willing to walk ashore, those ‘less able’ we invited to remain on board until we re-floated the tender.  An elderly gentleman approached the starboard door, where I was assisting, I was concerned as to his ability to walk across the reef and mentioned this to him; his reply?  “Sir, I have walked across a few reefs in my time, most of them under fire and with a rifle in my hand, this is a walk in the park compared with that”.  I helped him down and watched him walk across the reef, steady as a rock, he even overtook a few of the guests, I’ll never forget that one.

The Police boat came to assist

The local tug starts to heave

I lost a signet ring, which had been in my family for 4 generations and a nice bracelet.  Maybe I should go back with a metal detector?

We had some wonderful times with the President’s visits.

South Africa

myself, Tutu’s brother,Stein, Tutu,Leah, his wife, his daughter and Arnold Donald

Ephesus

The Library facade

The Orchestra

Stein and Orlando address the audience

Guests at the reception near the Amphitheatre

Henk Mensink, our Hotel Director, Gerald Bernhoft, Moi, Stein, Orlando.

The reception, at sunset

The Amphitheatre, the last of the sun’s rays turning the stones red.

Karen, Stein Kruse, Linda Kruse, Orlando Ashford

Stein and Orlando, waiting for guests and deep in conversation

Protected by the Roman cohorts….

The alternative guest reception area, the Amphitheatre in the background

At Sea, February 2016

Stein and I, Arnold Donald ‘photo-bombed’ it

Arnold and I

Karen and I

The party theme was “Australian Beach party’, some of our crew, in Lifeguard uniform

A shot from the Sports Deck, looking down into the Lido deck

April 2018

The ‘Arch’ with Orlando and Gerald Bernhoft

Wonderful dinners

Waiting for guests

Guests dining

Chef Das, Exec Chef Daniel, Tournant David,Asst Chef Clark and Chef de Partie, June

Behind the scenes

The Kitchen Brigade. Executive Chef Daniel (Danny) 2nd from right

Karen with her lobster, Mozambique

Way back, in 2009, I attended a Senior Management course, an annual event, where senior Officers and Senior management met for 3 days or so in a hotel.  At the end of it, during a ‘cheese and wine’ finale, I approached my then Nautical Director and mentioned to him that, before I retired, I would like to do a Grand World voyage.  At the time I commanded then then newest ship in the fleet,.  Later I moved to the “Nieuw Amsterdam” and had hardly got ‘my feet under the desk’, when I received an email to call my ND.  The conversation was short; “Jonathan, we’re taking you off”.  I immediately assumed that something was amiss, ‘what the hell have I done?’  He then went on to add that I was to take 4 weeks leave and join the “Amsterdam” on her Grand World voyage.  After the shock, it sunk in, my God, this is the ultimate, me, on the Grand World voyage, (and not ready to retire)

I joined as a ‘Newbie’, little did I know, the dinners, (eating my way around the World :-), the politics amongst the guests, who-is-who, ‘this is that’, ‘this is it how it works’…….endless matters, Good Lord, what have I walked in to? .  I soon learned ‘the ropes’ and what followed over the years was both fulfilling, exciting and testing.  Without doubt it was the culmination of my career, never, in my wildest dreams, would I, as an ‘apprentice’, ever dream that I would have the responsibility to take a magnificent Cruise ship around the World, not once, but 8½ ( ) times. It was a privilege, one which I will treasure, always.

Although I am now relegated to Facebook (don’t post often, however ‘watch’ a great deal) and WhatsApp to catch up with events, I will never rest easy until the Cruise Industry returns to its former self.  I worry about what lies with the  future of the wonderful Officers and crew I have sailed with and the Company I worked for.  I was instilled with a sense of loyalty as a young man and it has proven itself.  HAL was and is a great company, they have looked after me in illness and health, I owe them a great deal.

On a lighter note, as you know, I love photography, I have an external hard-drive which is full of memories.  Most, however not all of the following were taken on the Grand World Voyages, however I also travelled to Alaska and Europe of course.  So, this is a compilation of my favourite photos, taken over the years. I’m sure you will recognise many wonderful port calls and personalities.   You can become whimsical, sigh and tell the better-half “do you remember”?  I had a really difficult time choosing these, I could have chosen so many.

Stay safe, stay well, my sailing companions, enjoy your cruising, when it returns (and it will, with a vengeance).  I will look forward to your posts and travel photos from  a distance, unfortunately.

I may occasionally post, however this will be the last which involves the Grand World voyage.  Please keep in touch, you’re always there in mind, if not body.

Venice at night, after a wonderful dinner and waiting for a Vaporetto.

Sunset over Kodiak, Alaska

The Amsterdam, docked in Cape Town

Approaching Singapore, a full moon over the city

Antartica, radar with the ice.

Karen and Christel doing their ‘bit’

Medevac off Geraldton, Australia

Antartica, north of Lemaire channel

Violet and Lois on an Easter-egg hunt on board

Petra guards

With the Taj hotel doorman

Refreshment in Tonga

Fresh-baked doughnuts were available too!

The Amsterdam ‘hovering’ off Tahai; one of the Moai in the foreground

My Panama Canal honorary Pilot’s certificate for my last transit

Driving a bargain?

Shiv, our executive Housekeeper bargaining

K wanted a photo with him, I can’t imagine why)

The shopping man (and no, I didn’t buy it)

Hong Kong

Shanghai

Great Wall of China

Aha! The deed is done and money is exchanged, everyone happy!

Enjoying a cold beer

K2, Heidi, K1 and Ivana

Sometimes one catches a break, an elephant strolls out of the thorn bushes, right in front of us

A couple having their wedding photos taken, the Phung Hung ancient bridge as a backdrop.

Want another boat ride?

The laser show

Moi, with my pin. Left to right, Henk, Jan Smit, Staff Captain, moi, Piet Westerhuis, Chief Engineer, Jonathan Bailey, SEH officer, Julie Bernsen, HR Manager

A selfie

Grandson Oliver in his Captain’s uniform

That damn donkey, “Michael Jackson”, almost tried to kill me!

Moi and 4 lovely dancers

The “chicken” is back! Except in the Dolphin bar!

The Longboat house, where their boats are stored,

The right turn ahead

Entering the lower chamber

Our enthusiastic band

2 of the local beauties.

Petr, our Executive chef carries the ‘gunge and fish into the ceremony

The Volendam departing Juneau on a full moon

On a distant hill, the wall continues

Silhouetted by the rising sun,the 5 towers cast their shadows onto the sacred pond.

Voila! A personalised seal

Heaven knows what this weighs

All forms of transport

Karen on the villa platform

This sign in Steinberg car park

White man eating warriors?

Ladies in traditional clothing

Ball’s Pyramid, Lord Howe Islands.

The post The last post first appeared on Captain, who's driving?.

I last wrote from Jakarta and we made our way towards Manila, arriving on the morning of the 12th and have been there ever since.  As we made our way there I was surprised by a wonderful ‘farewell’ reception in the Mainstage lounge.  Karen had told me she wanted to see the movie there and I must wear my Winter Blue uniform; what on earth?  was my immediate reaction, however I acquiesced.  I was greeted with a Lounge full of officers and crew and what followed was wonderful; various speakers, some tongue-in-cheek stories, (Thomas was particularly scathing, every incident he could think of, Tender 9, Bass Strait storm,….they just kept coming).

Karen had a speech too

There are some advantages……

Arriving in Manila Bay, we joined ships from Carnival, Princess, P&O Australia, RCL, Celebrity to name but a few.

Many of the vessels had been here for 3 weeks or so, when they arrived, a 14-day quarantine was required before disembarkation tests would take place.  As a later arrival, quarantine was necessary the night before arrival, so we dodged a bullet, so to speak.  Temperatures of all crew have to be taken twice a day and the disembarking Filipinos have to quarantine before arrival, we have all them in cabins with balconies, so they have some nice accomodation.  The next phase in the proceedings is for Medics to board and check our temperature logs and take temperature checks themselves.  The next phase is for a Coast Guard/Philippine Red Cross team to board and Covid-19 swab test the Filipinos ; that was done the 14th and we now have to wait for results, any time between 3-7 days usually.  If all is satisfactory, they are then in a position to disembark, when a window is available.  We are also repatriating some of our Dutch and American crew, later in the week, all being well.

The medics  (29 of them) disembarking after the tests,

Their stand-by vessel

Some more photos.

As for Karen and I, no disembark as yet.  My relief lives in the Philippines, however he has to go through the same ‘officialdom’ as those disembarking.  It involves Embassies, Philippine Immigration and heaven knows who else, so we both hope that the efforts are successful and we might, eventually, disembark.

The post 15th May, Manila Bay first appeared on Captain, who's driving?.

Well, after 55 days since any of our feet touched dry land, I now have 172 ladies and Gentlemen from our Indonesian crew, ashore.  What a palaver it has been too.  In and out of anchorages, endless paperwork and more officialdom, the day eventually arrived.  6:30 in the morning and tender platform was prepared, tenders swung out so they were ready to ‘splash’ and then, of course, we waited.  Indonesian boats began to cluster around us; Coast Guard, Navy and Harbour authority an armada,  fussing around us like mother hens.

The first tender was loaded, 43 disembarking crew and their luggage and it left the platform, waiting for the 2nd tender to embark.

When that was complete, the Navy escorted them the on their 4½ mile journey from the ship to a disused Container dock, where there were facilities to test them.  If they were ‘clear’, (they should be), they will have 7 days in an hotel before being transported to their abodes.  (I didn’t go ashore to take these photos, they were sent by the agent, have no fear)

All-in-all, after waiting for so long for this day, it all went surprisingly well.  Here are a few photos of our ‘armada’, taken from the ship.

We will now wait here a while longer, we have some ‘fresh’ provisions to get on board and we need to offload our sludge, which is a mixture of water, solid material and high viscosity oil.  This will be pumped into a dedicated tanker from Jakarta.

Once this is all completed, off to Manila for round 2, it should take us 5 days to get there and we will join the ‘queue’, there are literally ‘scores’ of cruise ships making their way there.  Depending when we get away, late 11th or early 12th of May.

Now photos of our men and women, going through the process.

Dock reception

Loading provisions onto the tender

And into an hotel for 7 days

More later, stay well……………………………

The post 6th May, Jakarta first appeared on Captain, who's driving?.

We are still here, waiting for permission to disembark our Indonesian crew, approximately 170 of them  The wheels grind slowly here, officialdom to the fore and added to the mix is that it is, of course, Ramadan,  which affects the speed of that officialdom.  Thank you all so much for your birthday wishes, they brightened my days in this complicated world I live in.

Yesterday, we briefly left our anchorage and steamed north, 20 miles north of Jakarta and conducted some ‘Marine Operations’ which were necessary because of extended stay in Jakarta.  All being well, we will receive permission to enter Port limits tomorrow and begin our disembarkation the next day, (Tuesday).  I write with my fingers crossed, as this is by no means certain.

Should we be successful, we will then move on towards Manila, 5-days steaming away and join the 15 or so cruise ships, (more coming), which are disembarking their Filipino crew.  This involves a quarantine period on board,  in isolation, (14-days at the moment), 2 covid-19 tests, conducted by the Philippine Red Cross and Coast Guard and, if all is well, they can disembark.  More about that at a later date.

The HAL fleet is heading everywhere; The Zaandam is on her way to Rotterdam for lay-up, The Zuiderdam heading for Cape Town, thence Asia, Westerdam to Asia, Volendam to Cape Town, (fuel), thence to Asia, Veendam towards Gibraltar where she will take crew from 2 Seabourn ships and ferry them to Asia, Rotterdam heading towards Cape Town, thence to Asia, Noordam is heading towards Manila, Nieuw Statendam towards Rotterdam with Europeans , Maasdam heading towards Midway (fuel), thence Asia, Koningsdam is off the West coast, a hotel ship for non-Asian crew, Nieuw Amsterdam towards Cape town, thence to Asia, the Volendam is heading for Cape Town and thence Asia.  A veritable convoy…….

As well as these, Princess, has 11 vessels either at Manila or on their way and Carnival vessels, (unknown number) heading this way too, you can only imagine the complications of such an enterprise; more akin to a game of chess.   Some ships will be used later to take other nationalities to their respective countries, India for example.

Some of the the vessels will return to the U.S., others will lay-up in Malaysia, Port Dickson or Labuan Bay until circumstances improve.  As for Karen and I, we take each day as it comes, the priority being our Crew first, complete these operations and we will see what the future brings.

I hope I may be able to send some photos of our crew embarking tenders to take them ashore soon, for we are not allowed dock.

Later then and stay well!

The post 2nd May, Jakarta first appeared on Captain, who's driving?.

The last time I wrote, we were making our way from Port Klang, Malaysia, steaming at a stately 15 knots towards our destination.  Strangely enough, it is the first time we have steamed through the busiest shipping lane in the world, the Malacca Straits, in daylight.  We have always been rushing to Singapore, or leaving Singapore during the hours of darkness; for me it offered the opportunity for some photography, an added bonus.

A radar picture, Singapore Island at 12 o’clock, Batam at 3 o’clock.  The yellow dots are ships

We are approaching the trickiest turn in the traffic lane, a 90 degree turn, with shipping around us. We adjust speed to make the turn without interfering with the other vessels, as they also turn

How it looks out of the window. The black object at 9 o’clock is a wreck, someone got it wrong…….

We pass a drill-ship

We pass Singapore…if only…

Past Batam’s east side and we make our turn to the south, making for Jakarta, thus leaving the busy sea-lane for less congested waters.

The 28th and someone’s birthday, moi!    Wonderful videos from my daughters and grandchildren are on my phone,  cards on my WhatsApp from all of them.  This one is from Emily, my ship is on its way to ‘Amirica’, my cabin entrance is decorated and a cake at coffee, on the Bridge.

I am surprised after lunch………………..Unfortunately I can’t rotate it through 90° for some reason…….

Then to the anchorage, weaving our way to our designated spot, through numerous other vessels.

There are 2 other cruise ships here with us and both have to complete their disembarkation of Indonesian crew before we do.  Optimistically ours will be on May 1st, however, as I have learned from experience, I’ll believe it when I see it.

More later and stay safe!

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