Today was the final sea day on this 24-day voyage. There are two ports of call on Thursday (Halifax,
Canada) and Bar Harbor, Maine (Friday).
We were notified that all cruisers must meet for inspection from US
Customs officials on Friday morning.
As is custom, the “Ask the Captain” session was held. The room was packed.
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| Captain Eric Barhorst |
Captain Eric Barhorst is Dutch, and he has such a wonderful sense of humor. He shared information about the ship, and how it doesn’t tip over. It only has 27 feet of ship below the water level. He says the heaviest equipment and tanks weight the ship down and help to make it stable. He would not answer the question related to Covid and how many guests were infected. He said that it is against policy to discuss. He said he believed the ship’s protocols worked well since only one staff member had become infected during the trip.
Captain Eric Barhorst is much younger than I expected. He grew up seeing large ships sail near his home in the Netherlands. He made a decision as a kid to become a sea captain. After naval college, he joined Holland America as an intern. His entire career has been with Holland America. He was the captain of the Eurodam prior to being named captain of the Nieuw Statendam.
The ship's photography team shared the time lapse video of our trip through Prince Christian Sound, Greenland. It was a great video (click here to view), but, in my opinion, the beauty of the Antarctica sailing (February 2018 blog entries) is so much better that the time in Greenland. Click the links and you be the judge of which area is the most beautiful.
Tomorrow evening the packing will begin!
