Enroute Manila, Pirates and Darken Ship
March 11-16, 2025
We left Darwin and headed north through the Timor Sea on our
way to Manila. It will take us four sea
days and nights to travel through the myriads of Indonesian islands between New
Guinea and Borneo. It is nearly 2000
miles as the crow flies, and it must be considerably more as we zig zag through
this area. We often see mountainous land
masses off the starboard from our balcony.
We will traverse the Banda Sea as we skirt the island of Buru east of
Sulawesi. Then into the Molucca Sea,
around the northeast peninsula of Sulawesi, into the Celebes Sea. I know this sounds like a lot of
gobbledygook, but I just wanted to make a point that this area is crowded with
islands. Even though the water is deep,
the last report was about a mile and a half!
Can you imagine what this area would look like if you could drain all
the water away! I’ll move away from
this for now as we are only about halfway to the Philippines and it’s 7,641
islands, of which the seven largest islands compose 95% of the land area. Only one-third of the islands are inhabited.
Thursday, March 13
Pretty much a quiet day at sea. We were again invited to join the captain for a cocktail reception complete with hors d oeuvres, ice sculptures and a large cake that showed the ship’s route since leaving Southampton.
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| Our Cruise Cake |
These are held in the Panorama Pool section are for World Voyagers only.
Friday, March 14
Happy Pi day!! We set
our clocks back yesterday for 30 minutes, and another hour this morning. So, now we are in sync with Manila time and
eleven hours ahead of Iowa time.
Everyone on board has to apply for entry into the
Philippines Islands (PI) by filling out the visa form online. And nearly everyone on board is having
trouble and they are all showing up at the Pursers office to get help, the queues
were so long they moved the operation to an entertainment area. Sue managed to get it done on her phone, but
I could not get past a verification step.
Come to find out, due to some phone settings, it works better on another
phone. So, I ended up using Sue’s
phone. We must do the same for our visit
to Namibia in Africa. Sue can’t get this
to work, but they won’t help until they get everyone ready for PI. So much for the ease of international
travel. All countries should be like the
U.S. and just walk in!
We have routinely been in the 12-14 range! I have been working on my tan while at sea but try to limit my time to 15-20 minutes on a side. I have been at it a few days and do have some red spots but nothing serious. I normally tan easily and rarely burn under normal conditions, but these are not normal conditions!
We crossed the equator last night although no mention was
made of it. They do plan another initiation
ceremony, but I think it will be after we reach Singapore. Sue plans on taking part this time to get her
Shellback certificate. We passed through
the Molucca Sea and will soon be entering the Sulawesi Sea before entering the
southernmost islands of the Philippines and the Sulu Sea. Our captain came over the intercom the day
before yesterday and informed us that when we approach this area, there would
be danger of piracy. It has been a
historic hot spot and activity has been on the increase. Indeed, the original travel schedule for this
world cruise included going up the Suez Canal, but due to increased Somali
pirate activity, other ports were substituted.
Many passengers cancelled after that was announced, but they filled up
again. She stated for security reasons,
the ship’s outside lights that are normally on all night will be shut off. She requested we do not go outside after 9PM
and that we close our balcony curtains to maintain darken ship conditions. Other security measures would be taken as
well. We do have a security department
aboard which I’m sure has access to armaments if necessary. In
today’s announcement at noon, she again reminded us of those precautions and to
be aware of charged fire hoses on the promenade deck. I assume these would be used to help dissuade
unwanted boarding. Let’s hope they are
not needed!
We had signed up to go on a “Behind the Scenes” tour of the
ship. This is an escorted tour to areas
of ship that are not normally available to guest passengers. It cost US$120 each but we thought it would
be worth the time (estimated three hours) and expense. We were not disappointed.
We were instructed to meet in the Chart Room and were not
allowed to take any cameras or recording equipment. In fact, a crew member from security was
there to give all 16 of us a going over with the wand. Once cleared, we were issued a badge with
ribbon to carry around our neck. Before
we left the Chart Room, two actor/dancers from the resident stage performers
gave us their history of how they got their jobs and what goes on to prepare
for the various productions that continuously change throughout the voyage.
First stop after that was the Forward Mooring Deck where Staff
Captain Horsburgh was introduced. This is the area where all the lines are
stored for mooring or anchoring the ship while at the pier or anchored in the bay. He said these are all “lines”. There is only one rope aboard the ship and
that is on the Ship’s Bell. Which, by
the way, I haven’t heard. In my Navy
days we heard it all the time as the boatswain mate sounded it every half hour
during the day. A deck crew member was
on hand to demonstrate how he throws a small line, weighted with a sandbag, (we called this a monkey's fist back in the day) to a
waiting shoreman or tug crewman. They in
turn haul over the larger line. He does
this from a platform that hydraulically folds down from the upper part of the
hull. The line is then fed through an
open in the hull and secured to large winches that are designed to keep a
constant tension on the line to maintain the ship against the pier. This same procedure is repeated aft by
another crew in the Aft Mooring Deck. Of
course, this can be done from either side, depending on conditions. He pointed out that rat guards are still used,
(required), and still effective. I have
noticed them, and you may have also saw them in some of the pictures that I have posted. The anchor and chain, which are only present here
in forward mooring, serve to keep the ship from drifting while anchored. He explained that the chain itself, when
played out to the proper length, plays just as big a role in securing the ship. It weighs much more than the anchor itself. Also, the ship’s electronic engineering,
using advanced GPS, keeps the ship in position by constantly adjusting the thrusters and azipods (more on these
later).
Our next stops were Decks A, B & C which are below Deck
1, the lowest passenger deck and normally off limits to passengers except for
certain areas like medical and sometimes to board tenders. Deck C is the only one below the waterline
and is obvious by the change in doorways which are designed to maintain watertight integrity in
case flooding. These decks are where stores
are kept, main food preparation is done, laundry, engineering, medical and crew
areas for sleeping, dining and recreation.
The kitchen area was huge!
Stainless steel counter tops, ovens, dishwashers etc. I’m sure our visit was timed to arrive at the
least busy time. This area serves the
main seated Britannia restaurant which they said could potentially handle over
15,000 items passing through during one meal period. They have a conveyor system which can wash,
rinse and finally use ultra hot water to sterilize, all in a continuous 2-minute
process! As far as returned food waste,
they have “pulpers” that grinds all food matter into a fine pulped liquid that
can be discharged into international waters, all in accordance with the
Maritime Pollution governing body. It is
fish food. They have two silo incinerators
so that paper and light plastic can be burned.
Aluminum, tin and glass is recycled to shore outlets.
We visited the butcher shop where several workers were
cutting fish, red meat and chicken. All
in separated areas. The provisions area
has 21 refrigerated rooms and freezers to work out of. The Inventory Manager, the head of an eleven-man team, is responsible for loading, storage and issuing all the Stores. We replenish at major ports of call,
generally around every 12 days on average.
Here are some interesting quantities consumed for that time period:
Fresh
Fruits & Fresh Vegetables 50
Tons
Meat Eight
Tons
Poultry
(Chicken, Duck, Turkey) Two
Tons
Seafood 13
Tons
Dairy
Products Two
Tons
Sugar Two
Tons
Fresh
Milk 9,200
liters
Eggs 6,300
dozen
Flour Four
Tons
Rice Two
Tons
Can you imagine the logistics of getting this replenishment
throughout a 100+ day voyage! Of course,
it is preplanned months in advance. But
there are always complications. Missing
Brisbane due to Cyclone Alfred, for example, all those Stores that were scheduled
to be loaded, had to be trucked to our next major port, Darwin. Because the following two visits in Airlie
Beach and Cairns, we were anchored and unable to take on Stores.
From there we were given an overview from the ship’s safety
officer on how his department prepares and trains for different types of disasters
that could occur. They train on a weekly
basis and have to satisfy different countries’ requirements before the ship is
permitted to dock. He provided a display
of some of their equipment from one of the many lockers strategically placed
around the ship.
A visit to the Engineering space was next and it was like
stepping into a miniature NASA space center with all the digital screen displays
with accompanying control panels.
Nothing like you might expect. We
didn’t get into the actual mechanical room where the four MAK diesel generators
are located along with one Caterpillar 12-cylinder emergency diesel engine. We have four of these!
The four MAKs provide up to 12,600 kW of
power with the help of two turbochargers for each engine, to operate the ship
including the two main propulsion units called Azipods (Azimuthing, electrically
driven propulsion pod unit). Yes, we are
driven by electricity, not steam nor by mechanical drive train. These two pods can be used independently and
have a 360-degree movement.
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| ABB Azipods |
I was somewhat surprised to learn that we are being pulled through the water, not pushed. This is more efficient and the most efficient speed is 12-14 knots. Anything above or below requires more energy. The heat from the engines is captured to be used to provide hot water along with auxiliary boilers. Although disappointed that we didn’t get to see the actual power plants, it was very enlightening to learn how modern cruise ships are powered and propelled.
Next was the laundry.
This is a very demanding part of the service area as you can imagine
with all the staterooms, restaurants, crew and passenger clothes, towels from
the various pool areas all demanding to be cleaned daily. I saw one pile of sheets that I’m sure would fill
up our stateroom easily. Of course, they
have heavy duty equipment to handle it all, but it still is very labor
intensive. Our bed sheets are replaced
every 7-10 days and there must be some sort of schedule, so they don’t all come
at once. Tablecloths are replaced
after every use and probably get turned over two to four times for each meal. We are informed that crew members are provided
five sets of their particular uniform and are allowed to turn in four items
daily for cleaning.
Our last stop was the bridge. It is located on Deck 8. We were met by the Watch Officer who introduced
us to the other personnel there, another Deck Officer and a Navigation Officer,
a Cadet doing part of her training, and two Able Seamen who are constantly on
visual watch with binoculars. The bridge
is manned 24 hours per day and is the operational center of the ship. Most shifts are four on and eight off giving
ample time other duties and for rest.
This isn't our bridge,
but our looked very similar
The captain’s presence is not always required but she is present during
busy times (i.e. arrival into port, bad weather or heavy traffic). As expected, this area is quite spacious with
continuous windows forward and to both sides.
There is an overhanging area port and starboard, called the Bridge
Wings, that allows visual sighting down both sides of the ship and a view window
on the deck which comes in handy when they are docking.
The fully integrated bridge system comprises a series of
sensors and items of equipment including: Gyro Compass, speed log, satellite navigation,
radar, echo sounder and ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information
System). The information from these sources is all displayed on one user-friendly
console giving immediate access to important information. There is also a repeater console located port
and starboard. The ship’s course is
charted on the screen and is capable of fully autopilot operation to follow the
charted course. There are always
different things to deal with to stay on course including wind, ocean current
and traffic. Standard rule is to stay a
minimum one-half mile away from small boats and a mile for larger ships. It is interesting to note that what controls
the ship, i.e. the Azipods, is a little joystick no bigger than a stubby
pencil.
Toward the end of our bridge time, the captain appears and comes over and asks how we enjoyed the tour and what we found interesting. Most of us had comments for her and she was very pleasant and visited for about 15 minutes then offered to have our picture taken. One of the ships’ photographers just happened to be standing by. She will be leaving us in Hong Kong to go on holiday. This isn’t her first command. She was captain of Queen Victoria in 2010. I believe they have a rotating system of captains giving each adequate time off between command assignments.
One final note before I close out this blog. Our cabin steward, Regine is from the
Philippines. He is married and his wife
is four months pregnant. Our steward, Regine
He will be
getting time off while we are in Manila, and he is reuniting with his sister,
but his wife is unable to travel. He is
very accommodating and takes very good care of us. I have been tipping him every couple weeks, but
today I gave him a little extra to enjoy with his sister. He shares in the 15% gratuity added to our
stateroom cost, but I’m not sure what that really amounts to after it all gets
divided up.
More after Manila!
Another great report about the ship!
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