My visit on the Nieuw Amsterdam.
Aft looking forward on the Lido Deck
Whilst I waited for Magnus to join in Civitavecchia I wandered the ship. It is rather larger than Seabourn Odyssey and took a bit of time to orientate myself. The port was very busy with 4 other large ships in port. P+Os Oceania was ahead of us and the Costa Fascinosa was astern. The port was heaving.
Costa Fascinosa lies astern.
Once Magnus arrived we introduced ourselves to the Captain and his Staff Captain. We then spent time riding the bridge to get a feel for the ship.
Tuesday saw the ship in Naples. We docked in the same position on the same berth where I joined Minerva 2 for the very first time all those years ago. The view from the bridge was identical.
Vesuvius from the bridge on a perfect morning in Naples harbour.
This role is completely new to me and these few days have been very interesting. To sit back and watch a bridge team in action has been very useful. To watch the team dynamics has also been useful to me when I eventually return to my own ship 2 years hence.
I now have 9 days leave before going to our simulator centre in Almere near Amsterdam for 5 weeks for some training and a bit of teaching then home for Christmas and New Year.
I will leave you with a few photos taken onboard.
Captain Magnus Bengtsson typing up his notes. I take over the Fleet captains position from him.
One of the bridge teams on MV Nieuw Amsterdam.
Nieuw Amsterdam berthed in Livorno. Time to fly home.
Getting there
Magnus and I on the MV Nieuw Amsterdam
This is my first visit in my role as Fleet Captain. I am travelling with the outgoing Fleet Captain Magnus Bengttsonj to get a handover. This role will take me around various ships in the Carnival Corporation and not just Seabourn ships. In fact it is highly likely that I will spend more time on ships outside the Seabourn fleet. There are three Seabourn ships and 101 others.I have been seconded for two years to the Carnival Corporation along with a number of other Captains from across the brands to ride the ships offering advice and assistance to Captains and bridge teams on our bridge procedures and getting their feedback. I guess you could say it is rather like a check pilot with the airlines.
I have already attended some training at our simulator centre in Almere were all the new Fleet Captains including yours truly received some coaching so that we are all aligned and take the same messages around our fleets. More on that amazing place in future blogs.
After that we convened at Fort Lauderdale in the USA where, with the Fleet Chief Engineers and various Operations Director from the various brands we discussed the next year and our various strategies.
From there I flew off to joint the Nieuw Amsterdam of Holland America Line with the outgoing Fleet captain Magnus Bengtsson for a familiarisation trip in my new role.
The trip to Civitavecchia was a little interesting. I flew United to Newark and onto Rome. It was ok. Nothing special and a long way behind Emirates Business class from a comfort and service point of view.On arrival to Rome airport you find you are some distance away from the city. There is a good train link though. 22 Euros gets you the non stop train that takes 30 minutes. 11 Euros gets you the local stopper that takes more than hour. I paid the 11 Euros and got pinged by the conductor. I did not realise the difference as I just jumped on the train that had Rome Central as its destination. I was relieved of a further 11 Euros.I would avoid given a choice.
Now Rome Central station is somewhere.I could not find any information about a train to Civitavecchia. What information is shown is poor and shows the final destinations only. So I enquired of a young lady wearing an ‘ask me for information’ badge. As I was talking to her a young man passed by and said, “attention, watch your bags” and he kept walking. Once the young lady had helped me get my ticket and show me the correct platform she then started asking me for money and was extremely persistent. Be warned. I thought she was station staff. She was not. I saw quite a few of the people all wearing the same badges milling about.
I made it to Civitavecchia and stayed in the Hotel De la Ville. Its an impressive but faded pile not 3 minutes walk from the railway station. In its day it must have been something. Now it is a bit of a relic from bygone days. It was comfortable for a night.
Next morning I took the shuttle bus from the station to the cruise terminal for the prickly sum of €2.00.
Hotel de La Ville, Civitavecchia.