I know this island well, one might say ‘intimately’, for not only did I call here on the ‘Mail’ run, but I also spent over a week here, after abandoning my ship, along with 83 others, we were brought back here by the tanker which sighted our lifeboats and rescued us. Having nothing but a… read more of “Captain’s…”
St. Helena An island that I once called at regularly on the ‘Mail’ run, little seemed to have changed since my days of calling. Once again, an anchorage port and as we rounded the headlands on our approach, a ship was already there: the R.M.S. “St. Helena”, (the RMS being Royal Mail Ship). She replaced… read more of “Captain’s…”
Another port I had visited during my early years, in those days on cargo ships and loading bags of fishmeal, now I was here on a magnificent cruise ship; I wonder what thoughts would have been passing through my mind, had I seen the Amsterdam arriving during my days as a cadet…… A gale was… read more of “Captain’s…”
Our voyage towards this beautiful city paralleled the South African coast and as we made our way south-west we passed some of the ports I used to call at during the days of my early career. I used to visit South Africa regularly, when I was a junior officer with the Union-Castle line and grew… read more of “Captain’s…”
Here are some belated pictures of our Oriental dinner aboard Amsterdam.
Richard’s Bay, South Africa When I left you, we were heading south towards this port on the Natal coast of South Africa. I had last been here on a bulk-carrier, loading 100,000 tonnes of coal for Europe, now I was appearing on a luxury cruise liner, how times change. The good news is that we… read more of “Captain’s…”
Maputo, Mozambique Maputo lies on the East African coast and I last visited there during my ‘general cargo ship’ days of the 1970’s; then it was called Lourenco Marques and was under Portuguese administration. As a cadet, one could use bars of soap as currency, this came in handy because I only earned $15 or… read more of “Captain’s…”
Here are some great photos from when Rotterdam’s crew visited the ancient ruins of Petra, located in Jordan. P.L. Kaham is Rotterdam’s human resources manager.
