Holland America Line pop quiz

[Copper10-8]

OK, when a HAL ship enters a port anywhere in the world, which different flags is she flying/displaying under normal/routine circumstances, and from which locations onboard?

[Alphen]

17 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

OK, when a HAL ship enters a port anywhere in the world, which different flags is she flying/displaying under normal/routine circumstances, and from which locations onboard?

The flag of the country entered on STBD side and underneath the quarantine flag. HAL ships also fly the HAL flag, I think on PORT side.

If at that moment a pilot is on board, it will also be flying the pilot flag, I think on PORT side.

And last but certainly not least, when entering port, the Dutch flag will move from sea position (main mast) to the aft flagpole.

Edited March 9, 2022 by Alphen

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, Alphen said:

The flag of the country entered on STBD side and underneath the quarantine flag. HAL ships also fly the HAL flag, I think on PORT side.

If at that moment a pilot is on board, it will also be flying the pilot flag, I think on PORT side.

And last but certainly not least, when entering port, the Dutch flag will move from sea position (main mast) to the aft flagpole.

 

 

You are mostly correct, my friend. The quarantine flag is not always flown from the main mast. The HAL house flag is displayed on the port side of that same mast and yes also on the country flag that is being visited. Having said that, you forgot two important flags and not on the main mast 🙂 

[Alphen]

11 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

You are mostly correct, my friend. The quarantine flag is not always flown from the main mast. The HAL house flag is displayed on the port side of that same mast and yes also on the country flag that is being visited. Having said that, you forgot two important flags and not on the main mast 🙂 

You got me there, puzzled to what you come up with, guess thinking to much navy here, your probably thinking of the Dutch flag on the bow, which differs from the navy, or are Dutch flags flying both on bow and stern while entering port, in stead of only while moored?😁

Edited March 9, 2022 by Alphen

[Copper10-8]

5 minutes ago, Alphen said:

You got me there, puzzled to what you come up with, guess thinking to much navy here, your probably thinking of the Dutch flag on the bow, which differs from the navy😁

 

Yes Sir, prior to a HAL ship entering port, a designated sailor will come up to the bridge to pick up the "benderas" (flags/banners) which is an interesting word in Bahasa because it closely resembles the Spanish "bandera". At the very forward part of the bridge underneath the front windows are "mail slots" for a lack of a better word. Each slot carries a country flag in alphabetical order, so there are lots of them, in addition to standard nautical flags like the ones you mentioned, the quarantine and pilot flags. The sailor will take a smaller Dutch flag (the larger one for the stern is stored elsewhere) and will take them to the stern (the larger one) and to the bow/foremast (the smaller one) where he will affix them to the masts at those locations.

 

Either that same sailor, or I've seen quartermasters do it also, will then affix a minimum of three flags (smaller in size) to the main mast. Those three are the HAL house flag, the national colors (colours for our Brit and Canuck friends, and others 😉 ) of the country being visited and, once again, the national colors of the Netherlands, the country of registry.

 

Right after the ship leaves port, that same process is done in reverse order by that same sailor. Flag are not/rarely flown while a HAL ship is at sea. After he's done with his assigned task, the sailor will once again come up to the bridge, ring the bell and be visible on the bridge door camera. The door will be opened by one of the two quartermasters on duty (unless the SECO happens to be on the bridge 😉), who will take possession of the flags, and will restore them in their assigned slots - unless they are wet from inclement weather, in which case they will be dried out prior to being "housed" until the next port when the entire process will take place again 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

This is the HAL logo prior to 2016 when the current one appeared on scene which had been/is "modernized" - What are the names of the two vessels in the prior logo? Bonus points if you know the Dutch name of the sailing ship 😉  

[Alphen]

4 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

This is the HAL logo prior to 2016 when the current one appeared on scene which had been/is "modernized" - What are the names of the two vessels in the prior logo? Bonus points if you know the Dutch name of the sailing ship 😉  

Nieuw Amsterdam and Halve Maen.

[Copper10-8]

Just now, Alphen said:

Nieuw Amsterdam and Halve Maen.

 

Winner and I had a feeling you would have no problem with that one 😉 

 

The big ship, Nieuw Amsterdam II (1938-1973) was the second largest ocean liner ever built in Rotterdam in the Netherlands at the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (Rotterdam Drydock Company) as Holland's "Ship of State". Her building was an act of national faith with the Dutch government applying loans and the RDM yard workers volunteering pay cuts to facilitate her construction during the Depression years. A little trivia: her original proposed name was Prinsendam but that never happened. 

 

Nieuw A II was christened by her godmother, HRH Queen Wilheminia, the great grandmother of the current Dutch King Willem-Alexander, and was at that time the largest twin-screw liner in the world. Her maiden voyage on 16 May 1938 took her from Rotterdam to the Big Apple, New York City via Boulogne-sur-Mer, France and Southampton, England. Nieuw Amsterdam III quickly joined the other elite "ships of state" Queen Mary, Normandie, Bremen, Europa and Rex as the Atlantic run reached its pre-war pinnacle. Last leaving Rotterdam on 22 September 1939, Nieuw Amsterdam II made a triumphant return to her city of birth on 10 April 1946 after having steamed 530,452 miles as a British war transport and having carried 378,361 wartime passengers, including the entire Royal Family of Greece. 

 

After a short life as a cruise liner in the Caribbean, Nieuw Amsterdam II ended her life at the breakers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in February 1974 

 

 

The "Halve Maen," old Dutch with the "ae" stands for Half Moon, as in Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island, was a Dutch East India Companay "vlieboot" (similar to a carrack) that sailed into what is now New York Harbor in September 1609. She was commissioned by the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic to covertly find a western passage to China. The ship was captained by Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch Republic. 

 

 

Halve Maen sailed from Amsterdam to the Arctic, turning southwest to traverse the Atlantic Ocean to North America, then sailed from Newfoundland to the south in search of the Northwest Passage. They "bent their course to the south until, running south-southwest and southwest by south, they again made land in latitude 41° 43’, which they supposed to be an island, and gave it the name of New Holland, but afterwards discovered that it was Cape Cod".

 

From there they sailed south to the Chesapeake Bay and then went north along the coast navigating first the Delaware Bay and, subsequently, the bay of the river which Hudson named the Mauritius River, for Holland's Lord-Lieutenant Maurits. Halve Maen sailed up Hudson's river as far as the present day location of Albany, New York, where the crew determined the water was too narrow and too shallow for further progress. Concluding then that the river was also not a passage to the west, Hudson exited the river, naming the natives that dwelled on either side of the Mauritius estuary the Manahata. Leaving the estuary, he sailed north-eastward, never realizing that what are now the islands of Manhattan and Long Island were islands, and crossed the Atlantic to England where he sailed into Dartmouth harbor with the Dutch East India Company ship and crew.

 

In 1618, or a few years after, the ship was destroyed during an English attack on Jakarta in the Dutch East Indies. There have been tow replicas of the Halve Maen built

 

 

[Alphen]

8 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Winner and I had a feeling you would have no problem with that one 😉 

 

The big ship, Nieuw Amsterdam II (1938-1973) was the second largest ocean liner ever built in Rotterdam in the Netherlands at the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (Rotterdam Drydock Company) as Holland's "Ship of State". Her building was an act of national faith with the Dutch government applying loans and the RDM yard workers volunteering pay cuts to facilitate her construction during the Depression years. A little trivia: her original proposed name was Prinsendam but that never happened. 

 

Nieuw A II was christened by her godmother, HRH Queen Wilheminia, the great grandmother of the current Dutch King Willem-Alexander, and was at that time the largest twin-screw liner in the world. Her maiden voyage on 16 May 1938 took her from Rotterdam to the Big Apple, New York City via Boulogne-sur-Mer, France and Southampton, England. Nieuw Amsterdam III quickly joined the other elite "ships of state" Queen Mary, Normandie, Bremen, Europa and Rex as the Atlantic run reached its pre-war pinnacle. Last leaving Rotterdam on 22 September 1939, Nieuw Amsterdam II made a triumphant return to her city of birth on 10 April 1946 after having steamed 530,452 miles as a British war transport and having carried 378,361 wartime passengers, including the entire Royal Family of Greece. 

 

After a short life as a cruise liner in the Caribbean, Nieuw Amsterdam II ended her life at the breakers in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in February 1974 

 

 

The "Halve Maen," old Dutch with the "ae" stands for Half Moon, as in Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island, was a Dutch East India Companay "vlieboot" (similar to a carrack) that sailed into what is now New York Harbor in September 1609. She was commissioned by the VOC Chamber of Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic to covertly find a western passage to China. The ship was captained by Henry Hudson, an Englishman in the service of the Dutch Republic. 

 

 

Halve Maen sailed from Amsterdam to the Arctic, turning southwest to traverse the Atlantic Ocean to North America, then sailed from Newfoundland to the south in search of the Northwest Passage. They "bent their course to the south until, running south-southwest and southwest by south, they again made land in latitude 41° 43’, which they supposed to be an island, and gave it the name of New Holland, but afterwards discovered that it was Cape Cod".

 

From there they sailed south to the Chesapeake Bay and then went north along the coast navigating first the Delaware Bay and, subsequently, the bay of the river which Hudson named the Mauritius River, for Holland's Lord-Lieutenant Maurits. Halve Maen sailed up Hudson's river as far as the present day location of Albany, New York, where the crew determined the water was too narrow and too shallow for further progress. Concluding then that the river was also not a passage to the west, Hudson exited the river, naming the natives that dwelled on either side of the Mauritius estuary the Manahata. Leaving the estuary, he sailed north-eastward, never realizing that what are now the islands of Manhattan and Long Island were islands, and crossed the Atlantic to England where he sailed into Dartmouth harbor with the Dutch East India Company ship and crew.

 

In 1618, or a few years after, the ship was destroyed during an English attack on Jakarta in the Dutch East Indies. There have been tow replicas of the Halve Maen built

 

 

I remember having read or seen in a documentary somewhere that Nieuw Amsterdam had a special place in the hearts of the Dutch, because of her WW2 role (I think troopship) and her triumphant return after the war and subsequently returning to her original service.

[St Pete Cruiser]

One of the brightest things onboard the fleet since the "pause" is the Origin Story of Holland America.  It is presented in the Main Stage, and is narrated by Bill Miller, the author of several ocean liner books and onboard ship speaker.  The cruise director adds his/her live comments.  The Nieuw Amsterdam III is prominently featured and many of us will have a few tears as she is described as the "Darling of the Dutch", converted to troop transport for WWII and returned to Rotterdam for service with Holland America after the war.  Bill Miller adds enough humor to make it enjoyable for even those with no strong feelings for the company.  A MUST SEE when you return. 

[oakridger]

I'm enjoying the history lessons.  Thanks John and others for sharing.  I'll definitely be going to the "Origin Story" on the Nieuw Amsterdam in September.  I sure hope they are still showing it by then.

 

~Nancy

[Copper10-8]

5 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

One of the brightest things onboard the fleet since the "pause" is the Origin Story of Holland America.  It is presented in the Main Stage, and is narrated by Bill Miller, the author of several ocean liner books and onboard ship speaker.  The cruise director adds his/her live comments.  The Nieuw Amsterdam III is prominently featured and many of us will have a few tears as she is described as the "Darling of the Dutch", converted to troop transport for WWII and returned to Rotterdam for service with Holland America after the war.  Bill Miller adds enough humor to make it enjoyable for even those with no strong feelings for the company.  A MUST SEE when you return. 

 

 

Bill Miller is the author of a nice book on SS Nieuw Amsterdam II "The Darling of the Dutch" which details her history with the line in pics and word. Available on Amazon.com and I don't get a penny and/or a Canadian Loonie for promoting it 😉 

 

[ski ww]

Very interesting & informative, thanks for the history lesson. 

[Alphen]

14 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

One of the brightest things onboard the fleet since the "pause" is the Origin Story of Holland America.  It is presented in the Main Stage, and is narrated by Bill Miller, the author of several ocean liner books and onboard ship speaker.  The cruise director adds his/her live comments.  The Nieuw Amsterdam III is prominently featured and many of us will have a few tears as she is described as the "Darling of the Dutch", converted to troop transport for WWII and returned to Rotterdam for service with Holland America after the war.  Bill Miller adds enough humor to make it enjoyable for even those with no strong feelings for the company.  A MUST SEE when you return. 

We enjoyed it on Eurodam in September, but there it was presented and narrated live on stage by the Cruise and Travel Director. 

[Copper10-8]

What is the original name of Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island in the Bahamas and, besides HAL, which other cruise line calls there?

[Essiesmom]

Little San Salvador?  And Carnival calls there.  EM

[MAVIP]

42 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

What is the original name of Half Moon Cay, HAL's private island in the Bahamas and, besides HAL, which other cruise line calls there?

Little San Salvador . Carnival Corp owns it, and I donot know whether only HAL and Carnival cruise Line ships call at Half Moon Cay or once in a while ships from other Carnival Corp Cruise Lines.

[richwmn]

The stop that HAL calls Half Moon Cay is just the HAL portion of Little San Salvador Island. There is an island off Honduras (Half Moon Cay is part of the Bay Islands, which lie about 30 miles off the north coast of Honduras. The Bay Islands were British until 1861, and English is still spoken in all the islands.) actually named Half Moon Cay.

https://www.halfmoonisland.com/

It is funny that the web site for that island claims that it is the island voted best private island

 

[MAVIP]

4 minutes ago, richwmn said:

There is an island off Honduras (Half Moon Cay is part of the Bay Islands, which lie about 30 miles off the north coast of Honduras. The Bay Islands were British until 1861, and English is still spoken in all the islands.) actually named Half Moon Cay.

 

I understood that the name of that Island is Half Moon Caye. 

[Sir PMP]

The 'Halve Maen' was mijn stamcafe in Rijswijk...

[richwmn]

1 hour ago, MAVIP said:

I understood that the name of that Island is Half Moon Caye. 

The website referenced uses Cay, not Caye. Both are essentially common spellings of the same word.

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Little San Salvador?  And Carnival calls there.  EM

 

Winner/First One! Great job! 😀

 

Little San Salvador Island, also known as Half Moon Cay (pronounced Key), is one of about 700 islands that make up the archipelago of The Bahamas. It is located about 100 miles southeast of the capital of the Bahamas, Nassau, and roughly halfway between Eleuthera and Cat Island, administratively in the Cat Island District. It is named after the much larger San Salvador Island which Christopher Columbus, who discovered it on October 12, 1492, named after Christ the Savior.

 

Holland America Line purchased the island in December 1996 for a price of US$6 million. It has since developed 50 acres of the 2,400-acre island, with the stated goal of maintaining as much habitat as possible for wildlife. The island is also a significant nesting area for waterfowl. The island does not have deep water docking (although a dock large enough to accommodate cruise ships is in the planning stages however, slowed down by Covid), requiring the use of tenders for cruise ship passengers to disembark and embark. HAL and Carnival Cruise line are the only member of the Carnival Corp. conglomerate of cruise lines who call at HMC 

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, MAVIP said:

Little San Salvador . Carnival Corp owns it, and I donot know whether only HAL and Carnival cruise Line ships call at Half Moon Cay or once in a while ships from other Carnival Corp Cruise Lines.

 

Yes, Carnival Corporation & plc owns HMC through HAL who purchased the island, although it remains part of the Bahamas. For that reason, every time a HAL or Carnival Cruise line ship (the only two lines who call there on a regular basis) arrives, a single Government of the Bahamas customs officer, who travels with part of the island crew back and forth to nearby inhabited Eleuthera Island via the 'Half Moon Clipper' supply ship on a daily basis, is the first one to board the cruise ship to clear its pax and crew to visit the island. The new Half Moon Clipper (see below) replaced the old one in 2019 

[MAVIP]

4 hours ago, richwmn said:

The website referenced uses Cay, not Caye. Both are essentially common spellings of the same word.

Thank you for the information about the spelkling. On this WIkipedia page I found some extra info:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Moon_Caye

[MAVIP]

1 hour ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Yes, Carnival Corporation & plc owns HMC through HAL who purchased the island, although it remains part of the Bahamas. For that reason, every time a HAL or Carnival Cruise line ship (the only two lines who call there on a regular basis) arrives, a single Government of the Bahamas customs officer, who travels with part of the island crew back and forth to nearby inhabited Eleuthera Island via the 'Half Moon Clipper' supply ship on a daily basis, is the first one to board the cruise ship to clear its pax and crew to visit the island. The new Half Moon Clipper (see below) replaced the old one in 2019 

That officer has a interesting nice job. Once in a while a busy day ......