Any news from the Amsterdam?

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

How wonderful to see those smiling happy crew members!!

[Himself]

Those were great pictures.  I am happy for those going home but the whole situation saddends me.

[Sir PMP]

MS  Amsterdam now on her way to Manila, arrival May 11...

[DFD1]

I saw thirteen ships on Cruise Tracker waiting at anchor in Manila Bay. I saw none at the docks.

[cruzingnut]

32 minutes ago, DFD1 said:

I saw thirteen ships on Cruise Tracker waiting at anchor in Manila Bay. I saw none at the docks.

 

From what I've seen on the trackers is that they are tendering crew ashore when they are cleared.  I think at this point, since there are so many ships with crew to be repatriated that the officials are letting them do their 2 week quarantine onboard the ships.

 

Linda R.

Edited May 6, 2020 by cruzingnut

[SilvertoGold]

Copper! Than you so much for posting the photos.  Presti,  Afton!  many I recognize form other ships.  Super to see those smiles.

[RMLincoln]

To the happy crew with a giant step forward on their journey home, and to Capt Mercer and those still on Amsterdam awaiting their next steps - Godspeed!  m--

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

MS  Amsterdam now on her way to Manila, arrival May 11...

 

She'll be looking at a fourteen-day quarantine upon arrival there before being able to repat her non-essential Filipino crew, so we're looking at the 25th or later

[Horizon chaser 1957]

26 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

Copper! Than you so much for posting the photos.  Presti,  Afton!  many I recognize form other ships.  Super to see those smiles.

 

I was enjoying the photos, and thinking that if this hadn’t happened we’d still be trading jokes with Afton in the MDR now. The Amsterdam would be approaching Bridgetown on the last week of the GWV, and we’d all be panicking about how to fit too many African carvings into our luggage!

[SilvertoGold]

13 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

 

I was enjoying the photos, and thinking that if this hadn’t happened we’d still be trading jokes with Afton in the MDR now. The Amsterdam would be approaching Bridgetown on the last week of the GWV, and we’d all be panicking about how to fit too many African carvings into our luggage!

 

Isn't Afton a hoot? We had him for a month on the Westerdam.  He can talk about anything and everything and is quite the perfect Assistant DRM.  He talked a lot, very enthusiastically, about his assignment to the WC. 

Edited May 6, 2020 by SilvertoGold

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Capt Mercer just posted a new update.   

 

http://captainjonathan.com/

 

 

[DFD1]

Good pictures on Capt. Mercer's update.

I expect he will have a long wait once in Manila. More than a dozen cruise ships waiting in the bay.

Incredible ordeal for him and his crew.

[RMLincoln]

Capt Mercer's blog said they were able to disembark 172 crew in Jakarta.  I would have thought the number to be much higher.  Were some of the crew able to get off in Freemantle?  I didn't think so..... Or are many of the Indonesian crew remaining aboard?  I'm confused.  Maybe someone can help me make sense of this number. 

 

But I"m very happy for those 172 who are on their way home!  And hopefully Capt Mercer and his wife are also one step closer to home too.  What a trooper plowing through this seemingly endless ordeal instead of celebrating his retirement.  Blessings of fortitude for them all.  m--

[ShipsAreTheBest]

1 hour ago, RMLincoln said:

Capt Mercer's blog said they were able to disembark 172 crew in Jakarta.  I would have thought the number to be much higher.  Were some of the crew able to get off in Freemantle?  I didn't think so..... Or are many of the Indonesian crew remaining aboard?  I'm confused.  Maybe someone can help me make sense of this number. 

 

I don’t know the crew breakdown by nationality,  but while Indonesians serve in the dining rooms and as room stewards (and some other passenger service areas), they also serve as the deck and engine crew (ratings).  Plus some probably also serve in the crew galley - the ship needs to run still (deck and engine crew) and they all (remaining officers and crew) need to eat too - so, not all Indonesians would have disembarked.

Edited May 8, 2020 by ShipsAreTheBest

[RMLincoln]

That makes more sense.  Thank you! m--

[cruzingnut]

ms. Amsterdam is on her way to Manila doing 16kts.  The Indonesian crew are in a very nice hotel in Jakarta in quarantine and awaiting the results of their tests.  I've been in contact with one of the crew and other than the first night, the food has been great and they are enjoying the free WiFi.  Looking forward to getting home but for now they are comfortable and well fed. 

 

Linda R.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

That is great news.

[Copper10-8]

3 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

Capt Mercer's blog said they were able to disembark 172 crew in Jakarta.  I would have thought the number to be much higher.  Were some of the crew able to get off in Freemantle?  I didn't think so..... Or are many of the Indonesian crew remaining aboard?  I'm confused.  Maybe someone can help me make sense of this number. 

 

But I"m very happy for those 172 who are on their way home!  And hopefully Capt Mercer and his wife are also one step closer to home too.  What a trooper plowing through this seemingly endless ordeal instead of celebrating his retirement.  Blessings of fortitude for them all.  m--

 

You will find Indonesians, the largest crew contingency, in just about all ship departments, the exceptions being Beverage, Entertainment and Concessionaires.

 

Nautical Dept - Bosun and Asst. Bosun; Sailors; LSA's aka Boatmen; Quartermasters (new name AB Helmsman); Deck storekeeper; Deck Machinist

 

Technical Dept - Engine Foreman; Motorman; Wiper; Fitter-electrical

 

Galley - Personnel Cook (Indo); Asst. Personnel Cook (Indo)

 

Guest Services - Night Audit Officer; Sr. Night Audit Clerk; Sr. Hotel Controller Clerk; Jr. HR Clerk; Sr. Crew Officer Clerk

 

Housekeeping - various positions (No. 1 largest Dept. for Indonesians)

 

Restaurant - various positions (No. 2 largest Dept. for Indonesians)

 

Stewarding -  General Galley Steward aka "Blue Boys" 

 

Stores - Storekeeper; Asst. Storekeeper

 

    

 

[REOVA]

There was a comment" ship goes to Dubai and we transfer to the Sapphire Princess to wait for our flights home"  So does that mean before Malaysia, Amsterdam has to go to Dubai and back or they will just layup in Dubai? 

[RMLincoln]

11 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

You will find Indonesians, the largest crew contingency, in just about all ship departments, the exceptions being Beverage, Entertainment and Concessionaires.

 

Nautical Dept - Bosun and Asst. Bosun; Sailors; LSA's aka Boatmen; Quartermasters (new name AB Helmsman); Deck storekeeper; Deck Machinist

 

Technical Dept - Engine Foreman; Motorman; Wiper; Fitter-electrical

 

Galley - Personnel Cook (Indo); Asst. Personnel Cook (Indo)

 

Guest Services - Night Audit Officer; Sr. Night Audit Clerk; Sr. Hotel Controller Clerk; Jr. HR Clerk; Sr. Crew Officer Clerk

 

Housekeeping - various positions (No. 1 largest Dept. for Indonesians)

 

Restaurant - various positions (No. 2 largest Dept. for Indonesians)

 

Stewarding -  General Galley Steward aka "Blue Boys" 

 

Stores - Storekeeper; Asst. Storekeeper

 

    

 

 

Thank you for this breakdown John.  My research says that Amsterdam has a crew of approximately 600.  I would think that at least half are Indonesians.  With 172 having departed, that leaves over a hundred to stay aboard to keep the ship working.  And maybe a smaller number of Filipino crew will stay aboard too?  That's still a LOT of people to keep the ship operational.  Multiply that by the number of ships HAL has running around the globe and we can see that it will be awhile before HAL can get them parked with further reduced skeletal crews to catch a financial breath and slow down the payroll so they can make customer refunds. 

 

The picture is coming together, but oh so slowly.  It costs a lot to run crews home by ship!  They need ports to open and flights to open to get crews disembarked, and then get the ships "parked" in lay-up.  Makes us appreciate just how complex the industry is.   <sigh> m--

[DFD1]

2 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

 

Thank you for this breakdown John.  My research says that Amsterdam has a crew of approximately 600.  I would think that at least half are Indonesians.  With 172 having departed, that leaves over a hundred to stay aboard to keep the ship working.  And maybe a smaller number of Filipino crew will stay aboard too?  That's still a LOT of people to keep the ship operational.  Multiply that by the number of ships HAL has running around the globe and we can see that it will be awhile before HAL can get them parked with further reduced skeletal crews to catch a financial breath and slow down the payroll so they can make customer refunds. 

 

The picture is coming together, but oh so slowly.  It costs a lot to run crews home by ship!  They need ports to open and flights to open to get crews disembarked, and then get the ships "parked" in lay-up.  Makes us appreciate just how complex the industry is.   <sigh> m--

It also helps us understand where the money is going. I expect this is higher on HAL's priority list right now than timely refunds.

 

 

[Frank5]

Read somewhere that it takes approximately 200 crew members to remain on board to keep a mid size cruise ship in warm-up condition which is defined as the ability to get underway and resume operations in about one week.  A more complex task and more time consuming may be to contact replacement crew, sign contracts and transport some of them to the ship once a new schedule is determined.  I'd be surprised if all these tasks could be completed in just a week.  Then you need to move the ship to its first embarkation port.  If you must do this for 10+ ships, the logistics must be very challenging and time consuming.

[rkacruiser]

4 hours ago, RMLincoln said:

Makes us appreciate just how complex the industry is. 

 

Having participated in a few Behind the Scenes Tours on both 3 HAL ships and 1 Carnival ship, the average cruise guest has little of an idea what it takes to provide a safe, pleasant cruise experience for them just on that ship.  Multiply the complexity for one ship by the number of ships in a fleet.....

[rkacruiser]

16 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

Guest Services - Night Audit Officer; Sr. Night Audit Clerk; Sr. Hotel Controller Clerk; Jr. HR Clerk; Sr. Crew Officer Clerk

 

I have learned something new this afternoon.  I did not know that most of those positions existed nor that Indonesians staffed them.  

 

The Front Office staff with whom I have met over the years are seemed to be Filipinos.  Sometimes an Officer dressed type woman/man would be observed that was a different nationality.  Usually, I thought, they were British, Dutch, or a North American.  

[Himself]

5 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I have learned something new this afternoon.  I did not know that most of those positions existed nor that Indonesians staffed them.  

 

The Front Office staff with whom I have met over the years are seemed to be Filipinos.  Sometimes an Officer dressed type woman/man would be observed that was a different nationality.  Usually, I thought, they were British, Dutch, or a North American.  

As I recall the non-Filapino office staff would have been Dutch. Guest relations person is sometimes American.