Adventures from New Guinea to Hong Kong & those Pesky Pirates

 

Things are certainly getting a little more exciting on the ship.  Yesterday we had an engine room fire and went dead in the water for a while.  It was really no big deal but when  you hear the fire alarm followed by “This is not a drill;” it makes you sit up.  Then today (3/14)we received our piracy instructions as we entered dangerous waters.  The ship has rigged four Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD), mounted fire hoses along the Promenade deck, established night vision anti-piracy watch, and rigged razor wire along Deck 3.  If we hear the appropriate announcement we are to move into hallways and sit down, prepare for the ship to heel over due to extreme maneuvering, and prepare to be moved to safe areas as danger areas are identified.  Last week we saw the movie “Captain Philips.”

We had our first pirate drill today (3/16).  The ship sped up to 25 knots (we usually cruise at 13 to 15 knots) without using full power.  Then we did some minor rapid maneuvering for practice.

I took this picture of our assistant room steward siting at his passenger muster station for his area of rooms.  We would be sitting around him.

Fire hoses and razor wire rigged around deck 3, the Promenade Deck. 

LRAD mounted and close-up.  This non-lethal device emits sound waves capable of knocking a person down.  You can see the field of effectiveness below.

 

Following are pictures from our voyage in 2011. I’m showing these to note there is no razor wire or rigged fire hoses on Deck 3.  Holland America started those additional precautions last year. Maybe an increased threat?  Regardless we are prepared to repel boarders and search for buried treasure. 

Night Vision Device Security Scan.  She is looking at a picture on a computer screen.

Back to our cruise.  Alota and Madang, Papua New Guinea are not very developed.  We stayed close to the ship.

Our welcome in Madang.

In Madang the arrival of our ship was reason for the locals to come out to see the largest ship to dock in a while.

Our Captain tried to sneak away but we caught him and brought him back to the ship.  BTW, the Captain lives about four miles from us on Merritt Island.

This was the market.  We were here in 2011 and it was raining.  The market was in the same place just a lot muddier.

Our next stop was Yap Island, Micronesia on February 24th.  Yap is best known for the round stone money used by the locals.  This road is known as the bank, really, and the stones along the side belong to people and have value.  There is another bank Road on the other side of the island.

Yap is also known as a great diving location and for large manta rays.  I went diving at a Ray cleaning station.  Mantas circle around this areas and smaller fish clean their gills and bodies of parasites.  The largest Ray we saw was about 16 feet across. 

We sailed on to Manila arriving on February 28th.  On day one I went to Corregidor and Noreen did some local sightseeing.  How does the Captain know where to stop……….

Our welcoming to town; bands and dancers.

Many of our crew are Philippine and the ship sponsors their families when we visit Manila.  These are just a few of the hundreds of families waiting to board the ship.  I can tell you there were no cookies or pizza available while all those kids were aboard.  It was a wild, crazy, and wonderful time.

I was off to Corregidor.  I don’t have the space to tell the story of battles of Corregidor but you can get the story by a quick Google.

Entrance to the main tunnel with the hospital and command and control.

Inside the tunnel.

The overall tunnel layout.

All of the WWII era buildings are in this condition from the war not from deterioration.

Mortar battery that was the last firing defense.  Note shrapnel damage to barrel.

Largest gun defending Corregidor with shrapnel damage to barrel.

The Peace Memorial dedicated to Americans helping Philippians during WWII.

The site where MacArthur boarded a PT boat to escape from Corregidor.

On day 2 Noreen and I took it easy and spent the afternoon having a nice lunch and visit at the historic Manila Hotel.  And on to Hong Kong.  Our first day in Hong Kong we spent getting ready for our trip to mainland China.  That evening we took a harbor cruise to watch the famous Hong Kong Harbor light show. 

You can tell the weather by Noreen’s happy face.

Our boat arrives.

Passing our ship

The happy cruisers selfie.

The Hong Kong skyline.

 

A couple of miscellaneous items.  Remember I told you that people decorate their cabin doors.  I have to admit we are kinda boring.  Our door is plain.

i think I told you that a presenter had to cancel and the cruise director asked me to step in.  I presented my four part series on early manned space flight.  Here I am in the main showroom.  For my presenting colleagues, no I don’t stand in front of the screen.  I am done and moved over to answer a question from the audience.

Thanks for traveling along with us.  Next time we’ll be off to mainland China.  Let us know any questions or thoughts.