Photo Tour of Holland America's Maasdam

When Maasdam entered service in 1993, she was one of the largest ships ever to be built for Holland America Line. However, as cruise ships have grown ever larger, at just over 55,000 gross tons, Maasdam is now relatively small. Indeed, she is 30,000 tons smaller than HAL’s most recent ship Eurodam.

However, her size has let her find her own niche. She is large enough to roam the oceans of the world but small enough to visit ports that the new larger ships cannot. She is large enough to have most of the amenities that one would expect on a modern cruise ship but small enough that it is easy to get around. With some 1,200 passengers, there is the opportunity to get to know a variety of people but not so many passengers that one feels lost in the crowd.

Life on Maasdam seems well-ordered and serene. One is surrounded by displays of museum quality art punctuated by displays of fresh-cut flowers. The lighting is kept low giving a restful ambiance to the public rooms with their contemporary designs and superior quality fabrics. Passengers tend to indulge in quiet conversation, social dancing and the ship’s enrichment program, which includes cooking demonstrations, lectures and films.

Maasdam offers a premium cruise experience. This means that in addition to nice surroundings, the line strives for service excellence. The ship has been continually upgraded over the years with new features while at the same time adhering to traditional values.

My profile of Maasdam can be found at http://beyondships.com/HAL-Maasdam.html and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://beyondships.com/HAL-Maasdam-Tour1.html

On the military side of the site, I have posted an article in which Assistant Secretary of Defense Tom Hall discusses the transition from a strategic reserve to an operational reserve and how that has affected America’s armed forces Reserve and National Guard. http://beyondships.com/sspi-hall.html

When they introduce the senior officers at the captain’s reception on a cruise ship, most people have a good idea of what the hotel manager or the chief engineer does. However, the role of the staff captain onboard is not as immediately clear. The closest analogy would seem to be to the executive officer on a warship but that is not an exact fit. Since it is the number two position on the ship, I thought an article about what being a staff captain entails would be in order.


To find out what the position entails, I say down with Trevor Lane, Staff Captain on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. Trevor has had a remarkable career. In addition to being the navigator on the legendary Canberra during the Falklands War, he has served on a wide variety of ships ranging from the Orsova to the Caribbean Princess. Moreover, given the prestige and size of Queen Mary 2, I felt that a description of the duties of the staff captain on that ship would encompass pretty much all that the position entails on other ships.

Trevor did not disappoint. Bright and articulate, he gave a concise but through description of his various responsibilities. In addition, he spoke from a personal view point so there is the human element as well. The resulting article can be found at http://beyondships.com/QM2-lane.html

In addition, I have posted a retrospective article about QE2 that was recently published in the Navy League Log. In it, I wrote about the ship’s career and gave some anecdotes that I came across during my 70-odd voyages on that ship. http://beyondships.com/QE2-farewell.html

Finally, for those interested in military ships, I have posted an article about the amphibious assault ships USS Nassau and USS Bataan. http://beyondships.com/USN-Nassau.html

Cruising on Carnival Splendor

Carnival Splendor is an evolutionary ship. Nautically, she is a refinement on a design that has been developed in a series of ships from Carnival Destiny (1996) to the Costa Serena (2007). Over this period the ships have grown larger, with more decks and more features. At the moment, Splendor is the largest of this series but will be surpassed by the Carnival Dream in September of this year.

Splendor also reflects the evolution of Carnival Cruise Lines. With the development of the cruise industry, the cruising public has become more demanding. Consequently, in order to remain competitive, Carnival has striven to improve the food quality, the variety of activities and the level of service. In addition, the ships have had more and more features. Splendor, for example, has an expanded spa complex incorporating new amenities and with associated spa staterooms. The midsection of the ship has a retractable glass dome so that the main pool can be used and movies shown on the giant LED screen no matter what the weather. The children’s play area has been expanded and an outdoor water park added.

The feature that impressed me the most on my recent cruise on Splendor was the alternative specialty restaurant, the Pinnacle Steakhouse. Having one or more alternative specialty restaurants on new ships has become standard throughout the industry. However, the level of service and the quality of the food at the Pinnacle was outstanding. In addition, a very pleasant ambiance is created by the live music and large dance floor. It was comparable, if not better, than the equivalent venues on some of the premium lines.

My profile of Carnival Splendor is at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalSplendor-Profile.html and the photo tour and commentary begins at http://www.beyondships.com/CarnivalSplendor-Tour-1.html.

At the Helm of Ruby Princess

As I have mentioned previously in these pages, I was very impressed by the Ruby Princess when I cruised on her in November. The Grand Princess class ships offer a good variety of activities and amenities and I have found the service to be consistently good on those ships. However, everything seemed to come together particularly well on Ruby Princess, which is quite amazing for a new ship.

Much of the credit for this must go to the man at the top because the character of a ship is often influenced by her captain. In addition, since Ruby Princess may well be the last Grand Princess ship built for Princess (there is another Grand under construction but she has been earmarked for sister company P&O Lines), the person assigned to be her first master must be a special individual.

Accordingly, I was very pleased to be able to spend some time talking with Captain Tony Yeomans in his office near Ruby Princess’ bridge. Captain Yeomans is a soft-spoken native of Derby, England who is quick to smile. He takes an understated approach to command that reflects confidence. Indeed, Captain Yeomans has a wealth of experience to draw upon having commanded nine Princess ships and having served on such legendary ships as Canberra and the first Royal Princess.

I spoke with Captain Yeomans about his career and about bringing the Ruby Princess into service. My interview appears in the Ruby Princess section of my website at http://beyondships.com/Princess-RU-art-Yeomans.html.

For those who are interested in military ships, I have added an article to the website about the various naval attractions open to visitors to Portsmouth, England. http://www.beyondships.com/sspi-RN-Ports.html

The Inside Story On Celebrity Mercury

This week we continue our look at Celebrity Mercury by talking to two of the people who play a key role in shaping the vacation experience on the ship - - the hotel director and the cruise director. My goal in presenting this type of interview is to let the people who are actually running the ship explain what they are trying to do. One can learn a lot about ships by reading facts and figures but I don’t think one can get a feel for what a ship is like without hearing from the people who actually sail the ship.

Sheldon Thompson is the Hotel Director on the Mercury.. Since he is in charge of all the services and facilities that immediately impact the guests, he is a particularly good position to talk about the experience that they seek to provide on the Mercury. In addition, Mr. Thompson and has worked on nearly every Celebrity ship since before the line was acquired by Royal Caribbean. Thus, he was also able to explain why a between a Celebrity cruise is different from a Royal Caribbean cruise. My interview with Mr. Thompson appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Mercury-art-HD.html

Lisa Richard did not follow the usual path to becoming a cruise director. She did not come up through the ranks in the cruise line. In fact, she had only been on one cruise before Celebrity hired her. However, she had been a senior executive with a multi-national corporation and thus had the skills and managerial experience to handle the behind-the-scenes administrative and planning aspects of being a cruise director as well as for supervising an array of employees. In addition, she came with theatrical experience including four years in the cast of the hit musical “Mama Mia.” In addition to discussing her career, I asked Ms. Richard to give her views on why Celebrity Mercury is so popular, particularly with repeat passengers and other experienced cruisers. My interview with her appears at: http://www.beyondships.com/Celebrity-Mercury-art-CD.html

While we are on the topic of Celebrity Mercury, I thought I would mention that I traveled from New York to Baltimore, Maryland where Mercury was beginning the cruise via Amtrak. In fact, I have now done several cruises from Baltimore and each time I have traveled by Amtrak. It only takes a little over two hours to get to Baltimore Penn Station from New York and the price is reasonable, particularly if one books in advance and takes the Northeast Regional train. From the train station, it is only a short taxi ride to the cruise ship terminal. If one is traveling light with one or two bags per person, I have found it to be a viable alternative to driving.

Cruising on Navigator of the Seas

I was finally able to take a cruise on Navigator of the Seas last month. Navigator was one of those ships that I kept encountering when on cruises - - in Southampton, in Cozumel, in Fort Lauderdale. Big, yet sleek. Always impressive looking.

She is one of Royal Caribbean’s Voyager class of ships. There aren’t too many passenger ships that are bigger - - over 3,000 passengers. However, there are many different things to do and that distributes the passenger load so that it does not seem overcrowded.

The lifestyle onboard is relaxed. Royal Caribbean aims toward providing an active adventure vacation rather than a cultural/intellectual experience although the ships have interesting art collections. There are lots of bright lights and Las Vegas flash but at the same time there are quiet areas done in a more restrained contemporary style. Consistency is achieved through the good quality of the materials used throughout.

I was particularly pleased to find that Captain Erik Standal would be at the helm during my cruise. A ship usually reflects the character of the person at the top. I had interviewed Captain Erik before when he was in command of Explorer of the Seas and knew him to be relaxed, friendly and professional. Just as on Explorer, the crew on Navigator reflected these traits.

This was just a short cruise to the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale before Navigator went into dry dock. Captain Erik pointed out that ships are required by law to go into dry dock every so often for inspection and that such occasions allowed the cruise line to do some routine maintenance and sprucing up. For example, some carpeting was going to be replaced.

The voyage was all too short. Arriving early, I was onboard within 20 minutes of arriving in what has to be the quickest embarkation process I have experienced. From then on, the time was packed with action - - ice shows, production shows, street parades in the Royal Promenade, comedians, waiters singing in the dining room. Yet, there was also time for a round of mini-golf, unwinding on the stateroom balcony, a drink in the champagne bar, joining in a trivia contest, and for sitting and having pizza in the Royal Promenade and watching the people go by.

My profile of Navigator of the Seas is at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-NOS-Profile.html and my photo tour and commentary - - including some comments by Captain Standal - - begins at http://www.beyondships.com/RCI-NOS-tour.html.