VISIT TO THE BRIDGE - MAY 10TH



Probably in recognition of our recent surpassing 500 days of cruising with Princess, we were invited by the Captain to an exclusive visit to the Bridge on Friday morning - not everyone onboard gets to do this.  The bridge is on Deck 8, the same deck as our stateroom and can actually be seen from our balcony.  Although our stateroom 8011 is considered in the “forward” section of the ship, the Captain’s and his officers’, as well as the Cruise Director’s, staterooms are even more “forward” and closed off from the rest of the passengers. 

Gathering at 10 a.m., we were escorted through those locked doors down the corridor passing various staterooms and brought into the bridge area.  









We were greeted by Rob, one of the Officers onboard from Canada.  He was very gracious and accommodating and answered questions as we went along.  Lots of technical information was given but the bottom line is:  “We are very safe on this ship from any type of catastrophe that might occur.”  The officers on the bridge are constantly monitoring the waves, the stars and equipment and have sophisticated telecommunications onboard in order to stay in touch with the rest of the world - particularly when we’re in the middle of nowhere!  



We had lost power the night before while we were dancing in the Pacific Lounge - all electricity (which controls everything on the ship) went out; we were in the dark for about 30 seconds and the emergency generators kicked in.  Although asked about this glitch, Rob couldn’t or wouldn’t say one way or the other what the issue was other than the ship’s generators are extremely efficient and there was absolutely no loss of control of the vessel.  








I have never gotten seasick onboard but I have never been on the bow of the ship before and while Rob was explaining about some of the equipment, I started feeling very clammy and can only attribute that feeling to being so far forward and actually seeing the horizon from the front of the ship.  I turned to Michael and said, “I have to leave, I’m not feeling well” and asked the gal who brought us in to please take me back to my cabin.  I left quietly so as not to disturb anyone; she brought me back to our stateroom and left, only after making sure I was ok.  I laid down on the bed and in about 15 minutes Michael arrived after having his photo taken, once again, with our Captain.  





Although I hadn’t planned to take “notes” regarding specific information as I usually do on an excursion, and we were permitted to take as many photos as we’d like, I came away with a feeling that our safety is always the Captain’s first priority and that things were under control. 

MICHAEL’S OBSERVATIONS:   The bridge is an absolute electronic wonderment.  The place is filled with tv screens, sonar screens, radar screens and two different satellite phones.  The most amazing item I found was a gizmo that needs to be reset every ten minutes by the officer on the bridge, otherwise it sends out a signal that someone is asleep at the wheel.  Most of the information was way over my understanding or interest but clearly the ship is set up with numerous back-ups and fail safe systems and what a great view they’ve got on that bridge! 


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