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! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LUDERITZ, NAMIBIA – APRIL 6TH

Image
I just finished going through our photos and, although we didn’t go on an excursion to the famous Ghost Town of the Namid or a trip to see the “Wild Horses of the Namid” which two of our fellow passengers thought was not a very accurate name for the excursion (they said it should’ve   been the “Feral Horses of the Namid”), our photos brought back sights and memories of this unusual town in Namibia.   Namibia, means “vast place” in the Khoekhhoe language, the native people of southwestern Africa and is located on the southwest coast of Africa; South Africa is to its south; Botswana to its east and Angola to its north.   Luderitz was founded by Adolf Luderitz, a German merchant, in 1883.   It sits in the southwest corner of Namibia on the South Atlantic Ocean and has a population of approximately 15,000 people.   It has a mild desert climate with temperatures around 70 degrees throughout the year.   English is the official language and the Namibia...
Read more

CONTINUED LIFE ON THE PACIFIC AFTER HONOLULU AND LAHAINA

Image
Life continues on the Pacific Princess.   We were in Honolulu on Saturday (the 26 th ) and Lahaina on Sunday (the 27 th ).   We’ve been to both islands, Oahu and Maui, so we didn’t feel compelled to take any excursions or do any sightseeing.    We did go to the local Walmart in Honolulu, which is always a joke any time you’re on a cruise.   There are always passengers and even more crew members at the local Walmart.    Michael was in search of his shoehorn, which he didn’t find in Walmart, but our terrific cabin steward found him one on the ship.   After the laundry losing several pairs of our underwear early on during our first week, we bought some extras, only to have the bag of our laundered items recovered, again, by our diligent cabin steward.   We have definitely settled in to our “home away from home” and Michael has already commented today that he feels as if we’ve been on the Pacific Princess longer than just 10 day...
Read more

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – February 12th

Image
We missed Tonga altogether because of the weather in the Pacific so the Captain headed directly from Raiatea to Auckland, New Zealand with an estimated time of arrival at 8 p.m. on Monday, February 11 th .   On the way there, on the evening of the 10 th , we were able to see a volcanic island somewhere in the Pacific.   From what we were told by some passengers (and we have come to take what we hear with a very small grain of salt), this volcano erupted in 2017.   It’s still smoldering and spewing ash.   Michael was able to take some pictures;   I had never seen a volcano that is still active like this one.    We were on our balcony as we approached Auckland on Monday evening and we could see the skyline from a distance.   As soon as we got closer and closer, we began to see various watercraft, i.e., sailboats, motor boats, cargo ships, and even some type of water skiing with what looked like a parasail (no motorboat), ferries, and...
Read more