New boat for the next two weeks

[rgreg]

So, after a rocky night thanks to a lively North Sea it was an early morning up to the bridge for our approach to the Kiel Canal. We were joined by a pilot and a helmsman who were to steer the boat through the 60 miles of canal, swapping for a new pair half way. There are some serious ships on this canal and passing places are used for the bigger vessels. The transit took around 9 hours.

Edited October 1, 2018 by rgreg

[mrsmelly]

On 30 September 2018 at 09:05, Laurie.Booth said:

What I don't understand is the high cost of being on a cargo ship, compared to a cruise liner.

You can visit the engine room etc. on a cruise ship and have very interesting chats with the engineers and compare notes on running a narrowboat to a cruise liner.  

I dont think you understand the interest side of things. For instance you couldnt pay me to go on a cruise ship it would be the last place on Earth I would want to be. My x wifes hubby was an officer on the qe2 and is now an officer on a different ship and we have an open invitation to go on a cruise for literaly pennies, we have never and will never take it up. I spent my time at sea on an even more interesting ship with a big gun on the front, there is footage of it in gale force off iceland when I was onboard I discovered on you tube only last week. Now that WAS interesting, but a cruise ship......no bloody way, this trip the op is taking knocks the orrible cruise ship trip into a cocked hat but it wouldnt do for us all to want the same. It is a great idea and they know its better for many than a cruise ship and price it accordingley.

[rgreg]

11 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I dont think you understand the interest side of things. For instance you couldnt pay me to go on a cruise ship it would be the last place on Earth I would want to be. My x wifes hubby was an officer on the qe2 and is now an officer on a different ship and we have an open invitation to go on a cruise for literaly pennies, we have never and will never take it up. I spent my time at sea on an even more interesting ship with a big gun on the front, there is footage of it in gale force off iceland when I was onboard I discovered on you tube only last week. Now that WAS interesting, but a cruise ship......no bloody way, this trip the op is taking knocks the orrible cruise ship trip into a cocked hat but it wouldnt do for us all to want the same. It is a great idea and they know its better for many than a cruise ship and price it accordingley.

Absolutely. If it ended right now, after only 3 days, I've had my money's worth. 

[rgreg]

In the lock, waiting to enter the Baltic.  Second photo is the lock entering the Kiel.

Edited October 1, 2018 by rgreg

[Athy]

Words seldom fail me, but these photos are...er...fabulous. What an experience you must be having.

[rgreg]

27 minutes ago, Athy said:

Words seldom fail me, but these photos are...er...fabulous. What an experience you must be having.

Thanks; yes it's a truly remarkable  experience.  I've told the Captain to expect a few more visitors! He can't understand why I wouldn't prefer to go on a cruise ship because there's "nothing to do on here"! ?

Final views of the day before nightfall.

Edited October 1, 2018 by rgreg

[howardang]

Thanks for the update. You look like you are having a great trip!

 

Every  day( and night) people are making this sort of voyage as a way of life and thank goodness they do, otherwise life as we know it would be much more difficult to cope with, ( and also very much more expensive). I am sure the OP will remember this experience for many years and it is just a pity that sometimes many people in this country don't appreciate how most of the things they use get to the shops. 

 

Great photos rreg and please keep them coming!

 

Howard

 

 

[Richard T]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I can't understand why people go on cruises but your journey is interesting as its on a working ship of the type that help to make commerce in the world happen. Keep posting the pictures.

Richard

[ditchcrawler]

On 28/09/2018 at 19:15, Joe Bourke said:

There are working barges on the European inland waterways offering accommodation for a fee of course. Have a look at binnenvaart cruises.nl

Thanks for that, bookmarked for further reading.

[matty40s]

On 29/09/2018 at 11:58, rgreg said:

So I'm onboard, safety briefed and given a tour of the ship.  There is a crew of 9 plus myself and I've been made to feel very welcome.  The cabin is very spacious and well furnished with three windows and views to port and forward (although I will be spending much of my time on the bridge or outside). I have a free run of the ship and unlimited access to the pantry for snacks. Lunch was a very delicious soup with rolls (ship's time is + 1 hr to uk). Loading continues and we depart at 1500 for Amsterdam. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so which country has ordered the worlds biggest Vapona fly killer??

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, rgreg said:

So, after a rocky night thanks to a lively North Sea it was an early morning up to the bridge for our approach to the Kiel Canal. We were joined by a pilot and a helmsman who were to steer the boat through the 60 miles of canal, swapping for a new pair half way. There are some serious ships on this canal and passing places are used for the bigger vessels. The transit took around 9 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you had a word about the use of the bow thruster.

[Laurie Booth]

6 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I dont think you understand the interest side of things. For instance you couldnt pay me to go on a cruise ship it would be the last place on Earth I would want to be. My x wifes hubby was an officer on the qe2 and is now an officer on a different ship and we have an open invitation to go on a cruise for literaly pennies, we have never and will never take it up. I spent my time at sea on an even more interesting ship with a big gun on the front, there is footage of it in gale force off iceland when I was onboard I discovered on you tube only last week. Now that WAS interesting, but a cruise ship......no bloody way, this trip the op is taking knocks the orrible cruise ship trip into a cocked hat but it wouldnt do for us all to want the same. It is a great idea and they know its better for many than a cruise ship and price it accordingley.

I'm not knocking the cargo trip, I would like to do one, my Auntie did a world cruise on one in the 50's and really enjoyed it. 

It's the price I can't get my head around.

Edited October 1, 2018 by Laurie.Booth

[howardang]

6 minutes ago, Laurie.Booth said:

I'm not knocking the cargo trip, I would like to do one, my Auntie did a world cruise on one in the 50's and really enjoyed it. 

It's the price I can't get my head around.

To my mind the cost is certainly not excessive. I wonder what you think a trip such as this should cost; why not give us an idea of what you think would be reasonable?

 

En suite accommodation, all meals and unrestricted snacking day and night, unlimited tea/coffee, etc. the labour cost of the steward looking after  a paying guest, cabin cleaning, bed making, not to mention meal preparation, provision of PPE etc all incur a cost.  This doesn't take into account the experience of the ship/voyage itself which can't directly be costed, but surely must have a worth. In my view it is much better total value than those horrible, blocks of flats that call them selves cruise ships which are so popular these days. In my eyes, they don't stand comparison with the cruise ships of previous days. 

 

It would also be interesting to hear how your Aunts world trip on a cargo ship (do you know which ship?) compares - especially regarding cost, and don't forget that in those days crew numbers were very much higher then than today with many cargo ships set up to carry up to 12 passengers. 

 

 

Howard

 

 

[MtB]

7 hours ago, rgreg said:

So, after a rocky night thanks to a lively North Sea it was an early morning up to the bridge for our approach to the Kiel Canal. We were joined by a pilot and a helmsman who were to steer the boat through the 60 miles of canal, swapping for a new pair half way. There are some serious ships on this canal and passing places are used for the bigger vessels. The transit took around 9 hours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thats a rather handsome-looking ship you're following down the canal there. 

 

Clearly not a cargo ship. Any idea what it is? 

 

(I'm struck by how gruesomely fugly most of the freight ships are in your photos. Perhaps widebeam NBs aren't quite so bad after all!!)

 

 

P.S. I was vaguely expecting the navigation gear to comprise an iPhone 6....

 

 

Edited October 1, 2018 by Mike the Boilerman

[rgreg]

9 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I hope you had a word about the use of the bow thruster.

Ha, yes of course...amateur! Interestingly no stern thrusters though.

 

[rgreg]

6 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

Thats a rather handsome-looking ship you're following down the canal there. 

 

Clearly not a cargo ship. Any idea what it is? 

 

(I'm struck by how gruesomely fugly most of the freight ships are in your photos. Perhaps widebeam NBs aren't quite so bad after all!!)

 

 

P.S. I was vaguely expecting the navigation gear to comprise an iPhone 6....

 

 

This one. It was some kind of passenger ship. I'll post some pics of other ships when I get better signal as it's very weak just now in the Baltic.

[rgreg]

7 hours ago, howardang said:

To my mind the cost is certainly not excessive. I wonder what you think a trip such as this should cost; why not give us an idea of what you think would be reasonable?

 

En suite accommodation, all meals and unrestricted snacking day and night, unlimited tea/coffee, etc. the labour cost of the steward looking after  a paying guest, cabin cleaning, bed making, not to mention meal preparation, provision of PPE etc all incur a cost.  This doesn't take into account the experience of the ship/voyage itself which can't directly be costed, but surely must have a worth. In my view it is much better total value than those horrible, blocks of flats that call them selves cruise ships which are so popular these days. In my eyes, they don't stand comparison with the cruise ships of previous days. 

 

It would also be interesting to hear how your Aunts world trip on a cargo ship (do you know which ship?) compares - especially regarding cost, and don't forget that in those days crew numbers were very much higher then than today with many cargo ships set up to carry up to 12 passengers. 

 

 

Howard

 

 

I think some ships may have a steward but this doesn't. Apparently the cabin was originally made up by the cook! Nobody has serviced the cabin so far and you make your own bed but that's not a problem and as I expected. The whole experience is absolutely worth the cost.

Edited October 2, 2018 by rgreg

[mrsmelly]

8 hours ago, Laurie.Booth said:

I'm not knocking the cargo trip, I would like to do one, my Auntie did a world cruise on one in the 50's and really enjoyed it. 

It's the price I can't get my head around.

I think Laurie its probably supply and demand? There are millions of those horrific cruise ships around which is simply why they are cheap because they have to fill them so are cheap. Also a bit like moorings, its cheaper for instance to moor in a fully serviced marina because they are horrible in many cases than my present fab online offside mooring with water and hook up so many of us think thats the best available and its more expensive than the local marina.

[Bee]

Hmmmph. S'all right I s'pose. (Just a bit jealous)

[howardang]

2 hours ago, rgreg said:

This one. It was some kind of passenger ship. I'll post some pics of other ships when I get better signal as it's very weak just now in the Baltic.

I don't know the individual ship but the funnel markings very similar to Bergen Line. They used to have a number of small passenger ships, probably the most famous were "Venus" and ""Leda" who used to cruise to Las Palmas in the winter (Venus being known as "vomiting Venus in some circles!) and I think in the summer they ran passenger services from Newcastle to Norway.

 

Edited to Add: I think I have tracked this vessel down to one of two older ships run by a company called Vestland Classics, who cruise around the Baltic. Link here including ship details. http://www.vestlandclassic.com/

 

Howard

Edited October 2, 2018 by howardang

[howardang]

3 hours ago, howardang said:

I don't know the individual ship but the funnel markings very similar to Bergen Line. They used to have a number of small passenger ships, probably the most famous were "Venus" and ""Leda" who used to cruise to Las Palmas in the winter (Venus being known as "vomiting Venus in some circles!) and I think in the summer they ran passenger services from Newcastle to Norway.

 

Edited to Add: I think I have tracked this vessel down to one of two older ships run by a company called Vestland Classics, who cruise around the Baltic. Link here including ship details. http://www.vestlandclassic.com/

 

Howard

The ships is Norwegian, called "Nordstjernen" (North Star) 150 passengers. She was built in Hamburg in 1956 for the Norwegian Hurtigruten service but now cruises round the Norwegian Fjords. Once a year she does a cruise to Hamburg hence her appearance on the Kiel Canal. G

 

here is a link to a very short video of her

 

 

A fine looking ship with great character.

 

Howard

Edited October 2, 2018 by howardang

[rgreg]

A few more

[Naughty Cal]

Certainly looks to be a very interesting trip. This appeals to me far more than the big cruiser liners.

[doratheexplorer]

If people are interested in viewing engine rooms, I offer tours of mine for £2 each.

[rusty69]

9 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

If people are interested in viewing engine rooms, I offer tours of mine for £2 each.

How many engine rooms you got then?