LIVE from the MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE ROTTERDAM VII - TRANSATLANTIC

[rothbury]

Gangway just pulled back.  Looks like crew standing by to recover lifeboat.

[rothbury]

Moving away from pier.

[kazu]

41 minutes ago, summer slope said:

 

This is why I’m confused. 

Now I am too 😬 

[AncientWanderer]

3 minutes ago, kazu said:

Now I am too 😬 

 

Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the second captain came onboard and would quarantine for a period before taking over?  I thought I saw that on one of the threads.

[Sir PMP]

30 minutes ago, Petunia1950 said:

Me too.  I had read earlier that it would be Captain Timmers and I was happy about that because he was Captain of the Koningsdam 2019 transatlantic.  He was great and I was looking forward to sailing with him again on November 5.  But the Facebook message from Captain van Dreumel spoke of "his team".  We'll find out for sure one of these days 🙂

No. it's Timmers, for sure,  he'll bring the ship over to Ft Lauderdale.

[leerathje]

34 minutes ago, rothbury said:

Gangway just pulled back.  Looks like crew standing by to recover lifeboat.

It was still alongside when she was away from the pier.

 

L.

 

[Travelbug750]

I am so excited to be following along with you on the Rotterdam's maiden cruise.  Were booked on a B2B Norwegian Fjord cruise next June.  I'm so anxious to read your reports and see pictures.  Thanks for the time and effort to do this - much appreciated.

 

Kathy

[kazu]

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the second captain came onboard and would quarantine for a period before taking over?  I thought I saw that on one of the threads.

 

that explains it - absolutely.

 

Timmers is the captain and the new one is on board to quarantine.  Timmers has been there for a while so it would make sense he will need a break after the TA 😉.  

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Wasn't it mentioned somewhere that the second captain came onboard and would quarantine for a period before taking over?  I thought I saw that on one of the threads.

I think that was @Vict0riann on the Eurodam thread. Post #441

 

[tjcox9]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

that explains it - absolutely.

 

Timmers is the captain and the new one is on board to quarantine.  Timmers has been there for a while so it would make sense he will need a break after the TA 😉.  

And he does live in the US as I recall. When we met him, I think his residence was North Carolina, but from something I've seen it may now be somewhere in Florida. Makes perfect sense.

[madera1]

How exciting for you to be sailing on this inaugural cruise. The ship looks beautiful. Have a fabulous cruise. I will be following your posts.

[sailingdutchy]

9 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

I think that was @Vict0riann on the Eurodam thread. Post #441

 

Hope you hada good voyage home Colin , until we meet again . 
 

tony and Martha

[Geerts]

It look liks the Rotterdam will not dock today in Zeebrugge and will be forced to cancel its first port call of this maiden voyage. The Rotterdam should have docked by now but is way out in the middle of the North Sea Channel passing the Belgian coast instead of turning left towards Zeebrugge. The strong autumn storm that hit the North Sea last night might be the reason as this storm also triggered yesterday a significant delay in departure. I also think that for this reason Cpt Van Dreumel - who is replacing Cpt Timmers who worked long months in the shipyard and delivery phase and deserves a rest now - opted for a more Northerly route avoiding the worse coastal weather zone.   So i expect the ship to be heading straight to Le Havre. That is to its positioning info beacon the next destination. 

[sansterre]

Hello from the Rotterdam.

The departure from Amsterdam was delayed due to weather.  Also, it had to be timed right to go through the locks which meant we were supposed to leave at 10:30 last night.

But the worst part of the 5:00 announcement was that our port of Zeebrugge, Belgium was eliminated.  We had planned on sharing a cab into Market Square with another couple and probably a canal boat ride through Brugg.

 

DH and I needed our sleep so we missed everything that happened after 9:00 last night.  I tried to bring up photos of the boarding process and could not.  I'm not sure why that did not work.  Will try downloading again.  

 

Regarding the captain, it is Captain Bas Van Dreumel.  I had expected Captain Timmers;  he is. (or was recently) from Mt. Dora, FL which is not far from us.  We enjoyed talking about Florida flora, fauna, and politics on a cruise a few years ago.

I will call the front desk today to ask about Captain Timmers.

Edited October 21, 2021 by sansterre

[sansterre]

Yes, Geerts is right.  The course we are on now is quite smooth.  The sea looks a bit angry, but the ship is comfortable.  Skies at 10:30 are beginning to clear and I see a few blue patches in the otherwise grey sky.

Trying to be happy with a sea day, but still sad that we missed seeing Belgium..  Could use some chocolate from Brugg right now too!

[Ipeeinthepools]

Enjoy the cruise.

[Caribbean Chris]

So sorry you missed Zeebruges - Bruges is such a lovely place to visit. Perhaps you’ll stop there on a future cruise. Meanwhile - enjoy Rotterdam VII!

[sansterre]

At noon, the Captain said we were past the worst of the bad weather (two low systems) and said to watch for the White Cliffs of Dover this afternoon.  We are passing the white cliffs now and have a great view from our Veranda on the starboard side of Rotterdam.

I have taken some photos and after trivia will try to download and post a bunch of pictures.  Perhaps others on our cruise will post some photos too!

Reports are that there are only around 900 passengers on board.  Only the MDR 2 is being used.

But lines were long at guest services this morning with people trying to fill out QR forms for our port in two days, Portland, England.  We spent over an hour there instead of going to breakfast this morning.  It's a lot to fill out for a few hours in a country but these are Covid-times so must try to be understanding.

[Sir PMP]

11 hours ago, tjcox9 said:

And he does live in the US as I recall. When we met him, I think his residence was North Carolina, but from something I've seen it may now be somewhere in Florida. Makes perfect sense.

He lives in Florida

[Geerts]

16 hours ago, kazu said:

 

that explains it - absolutely.

 

Timmers is the captain and the new one is on board to quarantine.  Timmers has been there for a while so it would make sense he will need a break after the TA 😉.  

It is not Cpt Timmers, the Rotterdam is i. the hands of flag captain Van Dreumel

[mcrcruiser]

Bon Voyage & have a fabulous cruise & journey   with calm seas ahead 😄

 

[mcrcruiser]

7 hours ago, sansterre said:

Hello from the Rotterdam.

The departure from Amsterdam was delayed due to weather.  Also, it had to be timed right to go through the locks which meant we were supposed to leave at 10:30 last night.

But the worst part of the 5:00 announcement was that our port of Zeebrugge, Belgium was eliminated.  We had planned on sharing a cab into Market Square with another couple and probably a canal boat ride through Brugg.

 

DH and I needed our sleep so we missed everything that happened after 9:00 last night.  I tried to bring up photos of the boarding process and could not.  I'm not sure why that did not work.  Will try downloading again.  

 

Regarding the captain, it is Captain Bas Van Dreumel.  I had expected Captain Timmers;  he is. (or was recently) from Mt. Dora, FL which is not far from us.  We enjoyed talking about Florida flora, fauna, and politics on a cruise a few years ago.

I will call the front desk today to ask about Captain Timmers.

Sorry yo hear you missed Brugge  .Hope that all goes well for the   rest of your cruise 

[Sir PMP]

1 hour ago, Geerts said:

It is not Cpt Timmers, the Rotterdam is i. the hands of flag captain Van Dreumel

Correct, Timmers left yesterday, he's been on the ship from day one, so it's his break time. I assume it will be Van Dreumel for 3 months and Timmers for 3 months.

[jimdee3636]

4 hours ago, sansterre said:

At noon, the Captain said we were past the worst of the bad weather (two low systems) and said to watch for the White Cliffs of Dover this afternoon.  We are passing the white cliffs now and have a great view from our Veranda on the starboard side of Rotterdam.

I have taken some photos and after trivia will try to download and post a bunch of pictures.  Perhaps others on our cruise will post some photos too!

Reports are that there are only around 900 passengers on board.  Only the MDR 2 is being used.

But lines were long at guest services this morning with people trying to fill out QR forms for our port in two days, Portland, England.  We spent over an hour there instead of going to breakfast this morning.  It's a lot to fill out for a few hours in a country but these are Covid-times so must try to be understanding.

I'm just wondering: if there are only 900 passengers onboard, how many crew members are there? If the ship was fully staffed, there would be about 1000 crew members. My guess is there are less than that now but that they'll be boarding more crew when the ship reaches Fort Lauderdale. But if it's at a 1:1 ratio now, you'd think the service on this voyage would be exceptional.

[tjcox9]

17 minutes ago, jimdee3636 said:

I'm just wondering: if there are only 900 passengers onboard, how many crew members are there? If the ship was fully staffed, there would be about 1000 crew members. My guess is there are less than that now but that they'll be boarding more crew when the ship reaches Fort Lauderdale. But if it's at a 1:1 ratio now, you'd think the service on this voyage would be exceptional.

But, that really doesn't work if the crew has to quarantine for ten days before being allowed to work, it seems to me.