seachef318

Good morning-  

Has anyone done the Blend wine blending class on the N. Statendam?  Any insight?

I did 3 seasons in Antarctica on an expedition vessel.  (Roughly 30/36 drake crossings).  Of those I’d say 6/8 were as calm as the Mediterranean.  3/4 were enough to warrant us serving mostly room service to I’ll passengers. 1 was bad enough that I got seasick myself.  And the rest - you could feel motion and may have to hold railings to walk but wasn’t terrible and minimal guests had seasickness.  A lot of it depends too on how the waves are hitting - if you are pitching (forward to aft movement), rolling (side to side) or corkscrewing (both at the same time)

There really was no way of knowing too far ahead of time either.  Hope that helps! (Our ship was 100 meters, 121 passengers  so way smaller than HAL ships) 

As a side note - there are quite a few ports that do not allow cleaning/maintenance  to be done on the outer areas of ships docked and it is dangerous in certain sea conditions for it to be done while at sea. 

A reusable water bottle or tumbler with lid/straw.  

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/21511-grand-bahama-shipyard-open-for-business-2.html

I worked on ships (not HAL) for a few years.  Yes, we received a list of onboarding guests as did the all of the hotel crew members, it mentioned dietary issues and if they had sailed before with us (but not when or what ship).  I honestly couldn’t remember people by name when they returned but often I could remember how they took their coffee or their cocktail of choice years later.  And my crew members, especially the bar tenders remembered even more guests than I! 

It is a strange skill you gain in hospitality.  As for talking about guests after they leave - no one has time for that! They are too busy getting the ship ready for the new guests!  Unless it was some crazy story of course.....

I think as long as you stay away from highly religious themed cards the crew would be thrilled to receive a holiday greeting.  Knowing someone thought of them is huge.   I worked on ships for a few years and would do 12 days of Christmas in Christmas stockings for my crew who weren’t all Christian and they loved it.  

The New Food Lover's Companion https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764112589/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_bovBDb3X50035.This is the one chefs used back before the world of google.  It’s 6 x 81/2  inches and probably 2-3 inches thick but it has all the culinary terms from most cuisines.  

20 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

Is it common for a USPHS inspection to take place at a port of call? When I've heard about them it has been at the embarkation port.

 

USPHS can board at any US port,  as can the Coast Guard.  I worked on expedition ships for 5 years and there was nothing more stressful than a USPHS inspection