I was fed, dressed and ready to go and in the Pinnacle Bar, the designated meeting place for the Noordam Ship tour at 9:20 am! This was going to be exciting! I have been on a kitchen tour previously – funny enough on the Noordam when it was brand new – however this was going to go to places in the ship that I was really looking forward to seeing! There were 10 other people – 5 couples – gathered in the area too, plus Brendan, the Assistant Cruise Director and Agatha, who also instructs some of the Art Classes. Brendan asked people to gather round and so we did. I sat down on my walker as I thought he was going to talk to us for a bit prior to the tour as he collected our “I am not sick” forms. He had given out lanyards with a little cute orange model of the Noordam on them which actually is a USB stick with photos on it to everyone and then when he got to me, in front of everyone, he asked me why I was there. I saw Agatha’s face fall as it was pretty rude. I told him I was registered for the tour and I believe I am going to take the ADA version of the tour. Brendan was VERY confused at this point. He then left us all and told us to wait while he went to use the phone behind the bar. Soon enough he was back – gave me a lanyard with the Noordam on it and said that I was supposed to be on the tour, however Agatha and I have to wait for someone from Reception to come speak with me. He then took the other tour people to the Deck 2 Galley which is across the hall.
At that point I said to Agatha, why can I not go on the tour? I have been on a kitchen tour on this boat previously and it is accessible. I know there is an escalator to go up, however all I need to do is go out into the hall, up the elevator and back into the dining room and into the kitchen to re-join the tour. She agreed and said that these tours are VERY new – they just started doing them at the end of the Alaska sailings on the last day so perhaps Brendan did not know about that option. At that time a supervisor from Reception showed up and told me that I could watch a video however the only place I could go was the Bridge. I was really frustrated at this point as I knew what was read to me the night prior and that is not what she was telling me. On top of that, the galley tour had just ended as the Chef had just walked past us – so I definitely missed out on that portion!
Sometimes you just have to advocate for yourself. I told the lady from Reception that I wanted to see the galley and I knew that it was accessible and I am pretty sure that other parts of the tour are accessible also – at this point in time she said they were assuming that I was not going to use my walker for the tour! I pointed out what my first message to them said – is this tour accessible for someone who uses a walker and the answer was YES. It was then agreed that I would go with Agatha to visit the galley and that the Sous Chef would give us a tour – it was only 1/2 of the tour as it was only the Deck 2 Galley, which is where the “Al la Carte” Dining is served from (people who make reservations for different times in the evening). I must admit though, when walking through the Galley, which was spotlessly clean, ALL the kitchen staff looked up and said hi to Agatha and I as we walked by with the Sous Chef! They all had such lovely smiles too! As this is the Galley where the lunch is served from, they were already starting to set the garnishes on the plates for the lunch service.
After that quick tour, Agatha and I went back down to Deck 1 to Reception as I said that perhaps saying I was missing the balance of the tour except the Bridge, I could see the video instead? Agatha then talked to the lady who previously met with us and it was agreed that Agatha would be back at 11 am to take me to meet the tour of the Bridge. I then people watched in the lobby of the Noordam for the next 40 minutes as I was traveling light for the tour – no crocheting with me!
At 11 am I met up with Agatha and we then met the rest of the tour on the Navigation Deck (8) where we got to visit the Bridge! We each got to have our picture taken with the Captain and then the Staff Captain (who is next in charge) gave us a tour of the Bridge. It is so quiet and serene up there! I was impressed also – they have quite the stock of coffee and tea products along with a couch and sitting area too! Not sure about the couch – sleeping on the job would not be good! We were not told we could take pictures at that point so I did not take a picture of that area. Once the Captain left, we were able to take pictures if we did not include any of the bridge staff who were working. Here is my tour of the bridge which was fascinating!
After our pictures were taken, we then stood at the middle of the Bridge looking out. Many of the things mentioned in the Captains talk – the small wheel with a piece missing, the joysticks etc were pointed out. Basically a LOT of redundancy on the Bridge in case something goes wrong. As we were in the middle of the ocean it was a bit hard for the Staff Captain to show us the overlay of the chart display and the radar display – my picture did not work out of this either due to the flickering of the displays. I did ask at this point, when in the middle of the ocean if there are certain “routes” they have to follow, especially at night – where I correlated this to airplanes flying at certain heights depending on direction or in the Vancouver, BC Harbour (where the Noordam sails) there definitely is a “shipping” lane. The Staff Captain said no, not really out in the open ocean – maritime rules apply smaller has to give way basically and most ships/freighters and other craft can pass using radar with plenty of distance. On that note though, he did point out that there are at least 2 people on the Bridge at all times when at sea – there was what I would call a “seaman” who was at the front just watching with binoculars and gazing the horizon and then a uniformed person who was at the helm, when we were not standing there – watching the instruments.
The other really interesting thing that happened when we were at the helm was a demonstration of the “Alexa” of the seas. The Staff Captain, when standing in a certain spot announced “Noordam alter course to 244 degrees” (I do not remember the actual number he said but it had 4’s in it!) and slowly the ship moved 5 degrees to the port! Very cool! This is a brand new “feature” for the ship. Not sure how much it is used – I personally would just use the joystick in front of me!
Then we moved to the Port Wing of the ship – I tried to see our cabin veranda but could not! Nothing like standing above the sea with a very thick Plexiglas floor tile looking down! At that point the Captain appeared again and warned us all about being good visitors to the Bridge as they do have an escape trigger for the floor tile! Funny – NOT! The other cool new toy the Staff Captain pointed out is the device that measures how close to the dock the ship is getting – previously this was done by radio between a guy down below on the ship radioing up the position – however now this display shows them exactly the ships position in relation to the dock – down to the foot!
We then walked back towards the main part of the bridge and then into a room behind it called the “Command Centre” where there is a huge long board with lots of red and green lights on it. Basically it shows every fire and water door on the ship – so if there is a fire – they can control the doors open and closing features from the Bridge! Very interesting! What I found more fascinating though was a set of buttons nearer to me which were to empty the pools! The Staff Captain indicated that there are situations where they sometimes need to empty the pools really quickly – such as rough weather – so all they do is press a button and each or one of the 2 pools are drained in a few minutes out to the sea!
Then the tour came to an end! I really enjoyed the Bridge tour, however I was really frustrated with the Noordam staff on the lack of communication and expectation setting on what I was going to be able to do – especially when the night before what I was read from their manual indicated I was to be ASKED and OFFERED options. I never saw the video of the portions of the tour that I missed. I ended up writing some feedback to the ship, again through the app, regarding the tour and what had happened and lack of communication. As the tour cost people $189 to go to 7 parts of the ship – that was basically $27 per area. Not that I am a numbers person at all – I wrote them that as I did not see the video, was not offered the option to watch the video and only saw 1/2 of the Galley, had to spend 40 minutes waiting in the middle of the tour and then was able to visit the Bridge – I suggested that $54 was a better charge for my portion of the tour. Then I waited for a reply….
In the meantime – off to lunch we went and we got to sit at the VERY back of the ship! The only way to get farther back is to walk around the stern! I had ordered macaroni and cheese for lunch and I was quite happy to see that comfort food show up! Then it was off to the Art area to get my creative side of me working again! Time to paint another picture! This time it was a Dunes at Sunset painting!
Today we sent in a TON of laundry so we get it back tomorrow which is our last day at sea! However tonight is the last formal night of the cruise and the night I have been WAITING for and looking forward to for the last 26 days! Surf and turf! However for me it will just be surf, surf and more surf!
That said, I was to have the most interesting start to my dinner! On the menu was a “Pina Colada” soup which was marked naturally gluten free! As I love coconut and pineapple and virgin Pina Colada’s in general, I decided to order it! Wow – what a surprise! Yes, it is a cold soup with 2 strawberries in it! It was bizarre having a Pina Colada soup…. I could not finish it – it was just too sweet for me! Next time – I will stick with the drink!
The main course was awesome though – not only did it come with veggies (veggies have been lacking on this cruise) but the lobster tails were just perfectly steamed! Ooh la la! Went down without the need for butter! Then same the piece de resistance! Andrew gave me his lobster tail too! Mmmm good!
The only thing not pictured as I was in a seafood daze, was the small chocolate lava cake that came for dessert…. Okay – this was a good dinner and end to a kind of stressful day!
Tomorrow is relax and pack time!