No more days to go, today was day zero and we sailed today. During the night the shipyard had cleared away all the impediments along the dock and we were just moored on our own mooring ropes and one gangway ashore. Before we could go there was still the minor detail of the Contract Signing….   read more of “30 November 2018;…”

With one day to go, today it was the big day, as the ship was handed over by Fincantieri Shipyard to Holland America Line. The ship is more or less finished and thus there was very little work going on. We have on board 1043 crew who are on the crew list and we are…   read more of “29 November 2018;…”

Today we had a sunny day but there was a bit of wind and that turned it into a “crisp” day. But good for the work that still needs to be done. The yard is very busy with removing the last containers full with carton and other packing materials from the ship and cleaning up…   read more of “28 November 2018;…”

We woke up to a nice and dry day and later on the sun came out and it was very pleasant outside. The Norwegians would have called it a warm day; the Italians were all bundled up as to them it was still a cold day. For me as a Dutchman, I could walk outside…   read more of “27 November 2018;…”

The ship is nearly finished and at the moment we have more Fire and Security Patrol people on board than workers. Yesterday there was even more security when we had all the local guests on board. The last group of them left last evening and hopefully they have been suitably impressed with what Holland America…   read more of “26 November 2018;…”

Today while it was a rainy day, it was also visiting day for the Yard. It seems to be a sort of tradition for when the shipyard is delivering a ship that the families of the yard workers receive an invitation to come and see what has been constructed. Starting from late morning until late…   read more of “25 November 2018;…”

Today was not a good day for the shipyard as it rained considerably. Everything gets wet and also the work slows down as all the yard workers are walking around with an umbrella in their hands and with one hand it is hard to carry something, so you need two people for the same box…   read more of “24 November 2018;…”

We have seven days to go so next Friday we will leave the yard and go around the outlying marshes to Venice. There is a small channel that runs from Marghera /Mestre to Venice but it is much too small for a large cruise ship. When in are in Mestre you can take a Vaporetto…   read more of “23 November 2018;…”