First Officer Ivo takes the ship away from Varna, his home port
The ship has spent the past few days in the Black Sea. We conducted a maiden call at the Bulgarian port of Burgas, visited Varna and Constanta. We were supposed to go to Nessebur. We dropped anchor there but the swell was far too much for our tenders so we repositioned and berthed in Burgas and ran the tours from there.
I thought that today I would highlight a few of the staff that you would probably not see as a guest. Starting with Ivo, one of our First officers. He took the ship away from his home port of Varna whilst his wife and baby stood on the quay and waved us away. Having crew families visit the ship in their home ports is so important. It boosts morale but is important for kids to see what mum or dad does when they leave home for months at a time.
Yesterday we were in Constanta in Romania and today we are at sea heading for Sinop in Turkey. It is a beautiful and warm day on the Black Sea with a light East wind blowing. Whilst the guests have relaxed in the sun the crew are as busy as ever. Today is a sea day. Today is Galley Market day!
Vangel, our Garbage Manager in his domain. He stands in front of the plastic compactor.
During rounds this morning I popped into our garbage processing room to see how things were there. Vangel, our Garbage Manager has the unenviable task of processing all the garbage generated by the ship. This is no mean feat. Without him the operation would grind to a halt. All the garbage comes through this room. Glass bottles are ground down into silica sand, plastic is crushed and compacted into bales, metal cans are ground down into small chips, food waste is processed, cardboard and paper are compacted. Everything is sent ashore to be recycled in the various ports we visit. Other waste is incinerated. This is a man rarely seen if ever by the guests. Without him we cannot operate.
The garbage processing room. Everything has its place here.
On the bridge whilst in Constanta the new recruits into our Academy paid a visit to the bridge with the training manager Sergio.
Our new recruits visit the bridge.
Today is the famous galley market. Tonight is our club dinner. A 7 course feast. The diet has gone to pot today! The chefs under Head Chef Kurt put on a feast whilst the restaurant and bar teams serve the guests. It is the ultimate team event and a Seabourn favourite. I will leave you with a few shots of the day.
The team at the ready. Kurt, second from left visits the team to ensure all are ready.
In the galley, more chefs are ready. The first guests arrive.
Anastasia at the ready.
Pasta anyone? Or maybe salt crusted salmon?
Without these two the dishes would not get done. They wait for them to arrive.
The naughty table. The baked alaska will arrive soon on the brown platter.
So there you have it. A few more days in the life of the Seabourn Odyssey.