Faces of the ms Prinsendam (II) Officers and crew of the final ships voyage (307) – – Captain Albert's Website and Blog – (2024)

Voyage 307. Final voyage of the ms Prinsendam for Holland America Line.

BETWEEN 17 JUNE AND 01 JULY 209 THE MS PRINSENDAM MADE HERE FINAL VOYAGE FOR HOLLAND AMERICA LINE. VOYAGE 307. I TOOK THE LIBERTY TO TRY AND DOCUMENT MOST OF THE CREW OF THE MS PRINSENDAM. THE SHIP WAS BELOVED BY GUESTS AND CREW ALIKE BUT A SHIP ONLY HAS A HEART IF THE CREW FEELS A PART OF THE SHIP.

THIS IS MY TRIBUTE TO THE TEAMS OF CREW MEMBERS WHO FROM 2002 ON WARDS MADE THE MS PRINSENDAM WHAT IT IS. OUR ELEGANT EXPLORER AND THE SHIP WITH THE MOST LOYAL FOLLOWING OF ALL OF THE DAM-SHIPS IN THE FLEET.

xx

NAUTICAL

We start (ofcourse) with my own department, the Deck Department. Two photos, one of the Bridge Officers and one from the Bo’sun and his team.

On all the other ships in the company, the Carpenter team reports to the Facility manager (since recently called the Hotel Services Department) but on the much smaller Prinsendam it was decided to leave the team under the jurisdiction of the Staff Captain. Hence here the line up under Nautical.

As the Doctor is by law reporting to the Captain, the medical department located on Deck 4 is part of the Deck Department. On the Prinsendam there are four medical staff employed on the larger ships 6 or 7.

TECHNICAL

Second Group is the Engineering team. The photo below was taken in the Engine Control Room of the ms Prinsendam. Although the Prinsendam is an older ship and still many things are manual, computerisation is also a major part of a safe running of all the technical equipment and facilities.

As the Prinsendam is only a small ship, also the larger spaces are smaller than on the bigger ships. Hence we took the photo with the rest of the engineering team in the Engine Workshop. Here everything that breaks down and can be repaired, is repaired. Complicated spare parts are ordered from shore but the rest is done by the technical deaprtment while sailing.

The Recyling Team. They are part of the Engine department as their job is quite technical with all the equipment in use and apart from sorting and separating of what comes out of the Hotel Department there is also a large amount of technical items.

HOTEL

The largest group of crewmembers is ofcourse made up by the Hotel department which provide the services for all out guests .

The first group to high light is the Housekeeping Department which together with the Diningroom group is the largest department on board.

The Housekeeping department of the ms Prinsendam. All present in the Stuyvesant Lounge for a safety refresher training. Even when a ship goes out of service, the trainings and drills continue. Mr. Hadi Susanto, the Exe Housekeeper is in the back row 2nd from left next to the Lady.

Down in the dungeons of the ship live a group of crew that is extremely important to the guests (especially if you are five star mariner with free laundry) and particularly noticed if the laundry does not come back on time. But also all the linen (the ships changes bed linen every three days), bathrobes and all the crew laundry.

The Laundry Team with the Laundry Supervisor and team leader to the far left.

The ship carries its own tailor shop. Responsible for making and repairing all the ships uniforms on board but also the emergency repairs to guest clothing (With the emphasis on EMERGENCY) The Chief Tailor has a large store room near the ships laundry with sufficient stock to kit out all new embarking crew. The Upholstery department is part of the deck department but they share their shop with the Tailor shop, hence nbr 3. also in the photo.

The department most exposed to either Guests or Crew is the administration the department. For the guests it is lead by the Guest relations manager for the crew by the Purser and the Crew Office. Short of halfway in between in the Humans Resources Department who reports to the Captain but deals mainly with crew issues and most of the crew comes from the Hotel Department.

The Pursers team consists out of The Purser (Financial transactions and control) the Night auditing officer (when all the invoices and bar bills come in during the night) and the Crew Officer with two clerks who process all the crew matters. (payroll, passports, sing on, sign off) The Printer (in grey) who produces all the daily programs and menu’s is also part of the pursers department.

The Human Resources Manager and clerk belong to the Hotel department but as Crew discipline is coordinated by the HRM there is a direct line to the captain as under Dutch Law falls directly under the responsibility of the Captain. Other work includes Career path counseling and support, emotional issues on board and back home and crew entertainment.

Another important and highly visible group on board is the Entertainment department. Whose major job is to provide information, diversion, entertainment and anythings else that might help to enhance a guests cruise experience.

The Pinnacle Grill is an independent entity within the food service department. They do not swap restaurants as the other stewards do.

The Main Galley team consists out of several groups. Some work in the Galley on Deck 7 behind the Diningroom, some in the galley on deck 4 were all the early preparations are done. For this photo we managed to get nearly all of them to deck 7.

Cooks do not do not the washing up and for that we have a special team. Normally known as the blue boys. Their official title is General Galley Steward.

The Beverage Department as it commonly known is called officially the BLD = Bar Lounge and Deck Staff. They take care of all the bars and drinks outlets and service in the diningrooms and Lido. Both inside and outside.

The Store room team. Responsible for the issuing of all Hotel stores on board. Food, Beverages and dry stores.

NAUTICAL.

Also part of the Deck department but a unit by itself under the jurisdiction of the Security Officer who reports to the Staff Captain, is theSecurity team who does the gangway scanning, the ID card check and makes safety & security rounds around the ship.

Then there are the two Boatmen or officially called Lifesaving Attendants or LSA’s. These are dedicated sailor functions who maintain the lifeboats under the direction of the Safety Officer. These two gentlemen are up and about at the most unusual hours as they are also in charge of opening the access doors to the ship and the safely rigging of the pilot ladder. So lots of broken sleep. Tomorrow morning they will be there at 02.00 hrs. to help the pilot on board, then at 06.00 hrs. to help prepare for the tender service; in the afternoon present again when the tenders are retrieved and then late in the evening again for the access doors for when the pilot leaves again.

The Casino Team is part of Carnival Corporation Miami Casino Operations. I believe that all ship’s casinos in all brands are now operated inhouse.

A SHIP IS ONLY AS GOOD AS IT’S CREW. THE MS PRINSENDAM IS A VERY SPECIAL SHIP, DUE TO ITS SIZE, DUE IT CRUISES BUT MOSTLY DUE TO THE CREW WHICH SOMETIMES SAILED FOR YEARS AND YEARS ON THE SHIP. WHILE IT WAS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO SAIL ON THE SHIP, (VERY HARD WORK DUE TO THE LIMITED NUMBER OF CREW) NOBODY MINDED AS IT WAS THEIR SHIP RESULTING IN A VERY CLOSE KNIT COMMUNITY WHO CONSTANTLY SCORED THE HIGHEST RATINGS IN THE FLEET FOR GUEST SATISFACTION.