Mona Lisa Part 5, the final one

Monday 31st August 2009

We are sailing in the North Sea still, en route to Bremerhaven and the end of the cruise;



the pilot arrived by helicopter and saw us safely into the port by 11 a.m. After an early Lido Deck breakfast under a grey sky, it was time for last minute photos and goodbyes, and on my way out I managed to go and see an empty cabin A42 which I had occupied before.

Buses left from outside the Columbus terminal to go to the rail station in Bremerhaven, so in a short time we were on our way to Rotterdam.


We had booked to stay overnight at the Grand Central Hotel, and my goodness that was something of a revelation. Built in 1917, it had many of its original fittings and charms and our cameras were in use again. It was a very basic but clean and adequate establishment, despite some initial misgivings, and excellent value for a city hotel.


When in Rotterdam where does one go for a meal? The old Holland-America Line building of course, known as The New York Hotel, down by the water and fairly near the Erasmus Bridge. I do enjoy going there whether for a cup of coffee or a meal, and that night was no exception.

Ships seen: Maersk Singapore, Chiquita Nederland, car carriers at anchor, and something being towed that looked like two woks on a platform.

Tuesday 1st September 2009

We have to leave Rotterdam today and head for our homes in the UK, but first there was time for a very special treat: we were going to see the good ship ROTTERDAM, now back in Rotterdam! I had seen her arrive in August 2008 and enjoyed my very first sight of the ship then, so it would be interesting to see how the work on her was progressing to make her into a static hotel ship.



Passing some shops on the way down to the water I just had to photograph this shop window, which was not what it appeared at first sight. There was time for coffee at the Maritime Hotel amongst its many ship models and memorabilia; then as we made our way to the nearby Spido ferries landing stage we could watch the famous trams go past, before getting tickets for a 75 minutes sail on the MARCO POLO – no, not that one, but the 1995-built diesel engined little passenger craft, licensed to carry 500 passengers around the river and port. It was not full, so it was easy to move around the ship and enjoy the sights, and shelter from the cool wind on the water.

One of my companions spoke to the Captain of the MARCO POLO and explained that we were thrilled to be able to see the ROTTERDAM, and if it was possible to go close to her on our return route then we would all be very happy and grateful to him. So this is what happened! Before that we could see where the ship had been built, various ships in port and dry dock,






Cats Flexible Packaging (miaow?), a lorry from Carpe Diem (I liked that name) delivering food to a waterside company, Radio Holland offices, and various shipping around us.

Our trip took us really close to the ROTTERDAM and we were able to take lots of photographs, and hope that one day it would be possible to come and stay on board. She was built in 1959 and that was 50 years ago, so it would be amazing to see her life extended in this way.












Lunch at the Maritime Museum followed, and then it was time to get the P&O bus to the ferry at Europoort for the overnight sailing back to Hull. Sitting in the bus waiting to leave Rotterdam I was able to overhear some remarks from nearby passengers. Overweight wife climbing up into the bus said to overweight husband: “I’m knackered, puff, puff, can’t wait to get home”; this was followed by “Nothing to do here, no bingo, no cinemas, no pubs”; then “They don’t seem to have leisure centres here.”; then seeing people cycling past the coach “Can’t see you riding a bike round Brighouse – the kids’d pelt you with stones”. These were silly but sad remarks I thought, as they'd obviously not noticed all the interesting sights of the city around them. When one travels, I think it is a golden opportunity to see and experience new things, and to enjoy them.

So those were some of our last memories of Rotterdam, and ROTTERDAM the ship, before we headed off to the port and sailing to Hull on the PRIDE OF ROTTERDAM. It had been an exceptional trip on MONA LISA, invoking so many memories for me, and happy times for all of us on this lovely ship.

Ships seen: Flintercrown, Flintercarrier, Bebedouro, Stentor, Rotterdam, Marco Polo (Spido), Stena Partner, Pride of Rotterdam, Blizzard, Endeavour, Chiltern

Mona Lisa Part 4

Saturday 29th August 2009

Being in Le Havre overnight meant we could leave the ship as soon as we liked in the morning and wait for the free shuttle bus into the town, and despite being in France we had to endure a typical British Bank Holiday weekend rain shower. In town we met a friend with a small house in Honfleur, over the other side of the River Seine, who invited us to visit for lunch, so that was the next excitement.

A big taxi took us all over the wonderful river bridge into that picturesque little seaside town for a French lunch in a French house, before exploring the town amongst the tourist crowds. A favourite shop had closed since my last visit, I noticed. A local bus took us back to Le Havre town, and we decided to do the long walk back to the ship in the sunshine.

Most of the other passengers seem to have gone on excursions to Paris (with the inevitable lunch boxes) so the deserted Caribe Bar was a welcome sight for afternoon tea, followed by a rest on a steamer chair on the aft deck. Ah, this is the life.

A tasty gin and tonic in the Riviera Bar prepared us for dinner, having had another fascinating day’s port of call on board MONA LISA. The ship sailed at 8 p.m. ready to sail the 275 nautical miles to our next port of Ijmuiden in the Netherlands.

Ships seen: Norman Spirit, MSC Rebecca (container ship)

Sunday 30th August 2009

How lovely, a morning at sea in sunny weather, before arrival at 2 p.m. at Ijmuiden. I haven’t been here before so it will be interesting to see this port. Meanwhile we had time to enjoy a leisurely deck breakfast and watch BLACK WATCH sailing fairly near us heading north. Another friend was sailing on BALMORAL in the Channel at the time so it was fun to exchange text messages with him. By a great coincidence we knew that BRAEMAR was also to be in Ijmuiden, so it’s a bit of a Fred. Olsen day today.

The Pilot guided us into the port and there indeed was BRAEMAR further along the water. On the other side of our berth was a fantastically long and sandy beach, stretching along the curve of the coast as far as the eye could see. People were flying high on sand kites, and a few were racing along on sand buggies, so there was colour and activity everywhere, and we were also part of it.

I wanted to be out to enjoy it but first we had a Bridge visit, thanks to an invitation by Captain Daoutis. His Greek flag flew from the Bridge in the high wind, and we could look round and take photos to our hearts’ content – more nostalgia coming up for me.

We saw the modern equipment designed to keep the ship safe in all the waters of the world, plus all the original woodwork of the flag storage, the chart drawers and tables under the front windows, the ship’s wheel, the speaking tube from the Bridge down to the Captain’s cabin (Captain Christopher Sample in 1999/2000),


the view up the white-painted mast against the cloudless blue sky, the views aft, the sliding door each side from the Bridge onto the Bridge wings with their scrubbed teak deck and varnished rails,













so there I was back on the VICTORIA’s Bridge again wearing my Centenary Voyage sweatshirt all these years later. What a weird sensation, remembering all the ‘blood, sweat and tears’ of that time



The only thing missing from the Bridge original equipment was the Beaufort Scale. I won’t ever forget that showing Force 12 against the backdrop of mountainous seas, but that’s a tale for another time. I had been on that Bridge so many times and this was probably my last visit ever, so I had a final moment of nostalgia at being on this lovely ship again, and left to collect my going ashore bits.


A brisk walk took me to the stern of the MONA LISA for an unusual view of her,
then up and over the sea wall towards the beach and the sight of her funnel appearing over the top of a row of beach huts.







Crushed shells crunched under my feet as I walked over the sandy beach towards the sea, where silvery waves were curling in gently towards me. People were in the air on sand kites, on land in sand cars, walking around the beach and admiring the endless curve of this North Sea coastline,



making sand castles and sand animals, having bare legs sand-blasted by the force of the wind, and enjoying the sunshine. I wrote in the sand, and then met up with a chum for mint tea in a beach side café.

Next though was to be the 5 p.m. departure of BRAEMAR and I saw this from the beach, with the ship appearing to glide along the sea wall as she left. Soon the next departure at 5.30 p.m. was of KING OF SCANDINAVIA and she too appeared to glide along the sea wall until clear water could be seen under her hull.

Walking back I came across a small bust of Cornelis Vreeswijk, Troubadour (what a lovely job description) which gave his name and Ijmuiden 1937 – Stockholm 1987.


Eventually home again on the ship it was the usual evening of a social gathering and dinner, bearing in mind that we were to depart at 9 p.m. and sail overnight the 177 nautical miles back to Bremerhaven.











Ships seen: Black Watch, Braemar, King of Scandinavia, Sea Worker (off-shore platform, local vessel), Bar Protector (1981-built dive vessel), Johannan Louisa, tug Amsterdam, Boatman 5, Dumlupinar, Lamlash, Seebad Zingst of Stralsund (built 1963), F.D. Incredible

To be concluded...

Mona Lisa Part 3

Thursday 27th August 2009
What a strange sensation for some of us: English people on a German ship, visiting Dover in England as our first port of call. We had sailed 337 nautical miles from Bremerhaven, arriving
on a damp August day at 7 a.m. , so after a speedy breakfast on Lido Deck three of us obtained our passports from Reception and left the ship as quickly as possible. We headed for the Ferry Terminals as the plan was take advantage of our day here and take a ferry to France and another one back again. As keen ferry folk it seemed an obvious thing to do…

We caught P&O’s PRIDE OF CANTERBURY from Dover to Calais, all the while watching the other ferry movements in the port whilst we waited to sail.

MSC LIRICA berthed ahead of MONA LISA at the Cruise Terminal quay, also under a grey sky, but it gave us a chance to photograph our cruise ship although from some distance away.





PRIDE OF CANTERBURY was built in 1991 as M/S EUROPEAN PATHWAY for P&O European Ferries for the Dover-Zeebrugge route, and in 2003 after re-fitting became
PRIDE OF CANTERBURY on the Dover-Calais route.



Her sister ships were EUROPEAN HIGHWAY, EUROPEAN SEAWAY and PRIDE OF BURGUNDY. The crossing was short and by the time we arrived in Calais the sky had cleared beautifully so walking around the town and harbour was a delight, as was lunch near the pier and the seaside.



There were ripples on the sand as well as on the sea, birds on the beach as well as in the air, and ships sailing to and fro as we watched.



On our return to the ferry terminal we were held up whilst the lock gates were opened to allow a huge deep sea jack-up rig through, with its tug at each end; we could see this would take some time so decided to get nearer the lock quayside. Although a few lock staff were around, they nodded and ignored us (so much for the legalities of where we and other members of the public were) and we could all enjoy the close-up sight of the rig. Back at the Terminal building we had to go through the inevitable Security (I don’t mind that when it keeps me safe), and it was only on getting into the little bus to the ship that we realised that my backpack was still on my back, and had been totally ignored or forgotten about all through the system. Dear oh dear, all these ISPS violations.


We sailed back on PRIDE OF CALAIS, built in 1987, and sister ship to PRIDE OF DOVER, and realised that today we had probably seen all the P&O cross-Channel ships and all the Seafrance cross-Channel ships, Dover to Calais, plus many others.

Back on board MONA LISA we were grateful to see that the ship’s Daily programme had been specially printed for us in English, which was a kind thought, so we could note sailing time at 10 p.m. whilst enjoying a sociable evening and dinner. Overnight we were to sail 148 nautical miles to Cowes, Isle of Wight.

Ships seen: MSC Lirica, Normandie Express, Pride of Dover, Pride of Calais, Pride of Kent, Pride of Canterbury, Pride of Burgundy, Seafrance Rodin, Seafrance Berlioz, Seafrance Moliere, Seafrance Nord pas de Calais, Maersk Delft, Maersk Dover, Maersk Dunkerque, European Endeavour, European Seaway, European Trader

Friday 28th August 2009

MONA LISA arrived off Cowes as planned at 9 a.m. but it was decided that the wind was far too strong for the tender boats to take us ashore, which was so disappointing. All sorts of arrangements had been made to meet friends on the Island, and indeed we saw the Red Funnel ferry (the yellow Ikea painted one) crossing over from Southampton with friends on board. We’d had breakfast and could only watch and wait for the wind to subside – the ship’s draught was too much for her to get closer for shelter.
We sailed back and forth in the seaway, until the news came that the call was to be abandoned – such a shame, but not surprising considering the conditions.




Although the sun was out, the sea was choppy
and the ship was listing with the force of the wind, which made for some fun pictures with a couple I met on an aft deck.







The pool was roped off,

the chefs prepared a Lido Deck buffet,



NORMANDIE EXPRESS went past making very heavy weather of the sea conditions, NORMANDIE went powering along,
BRETAGNE could be seen at a distance heading back for Portsmouth, laid-up car carriers could be seen off the Isle of Wight, a huge container ship went past and even that looked as if she was struggling against the wind, so lunch on deck was enjoyed despite everything.

Then came the news that we were to stop sailing up and down between the Isle of Wight and the English south coast, and would head for our next port of call at Le Havre in France, where we were due tomorrow. That was excellent news as it meant more time at sea in daylight and we would be in port late this evening. I then heard a helicopter on an overhead course, and discovered that this was the arrival of the Le Havre pilot, being lowered by rope to the H mark on the aft deck. Don’t think I’ve seen that happen before, but then this is to be a long pilotage and obviously the safest and quickest way to get him on board.

During the afternoon I had unexpected time to make my way around the ship enjoying the sights, and reminiscing in my mind about the Union-Castle Line Centenary Voyage on this vessel. VICTORIA the ship was specifically chosen for the Centenary Voyage because of her age and teak decks and similarity to many Union-Castle ships; the air of extreme comfort and care for passengers that was so obvious in 1999/2000 does not appear to have continued in quite the same way since that time. The colour palette for furnishings on board has obviously been changed to appeal to its current clientele, which is understandable, but the attitude and bearing of some of the staff suggests that the current owners/charterers are perhaps not asking for or, more probably, paying for higher standards. I think the age of the ship is now beginning to show, both inside and on deck, and maybe too much money would have to be spent to make it any different. Of course we also have to bear in mind that SOLAS regulations come into effect from 1st October 2010.

I remember so many social events held on the Lido Deck in so many different climates; I remember the funnel that we had arranged to have repainted in vermilion red with a black top, which looked so stylish and was photographed so many times;

I find the picture of Mona Lisa staring out at me from each side of MONA LISA’s funnel slightly unnerving; the Starlight Lounge is so calm and ideal for daytime sea viewing and that comparison hasn’t really changed, with the pale blue upholstery and woodwork, the charts and binoculars on the forward ledges, and the ship’s model in the glass vitrine beside the dance floor, but with the same carpet; the Library is still appealing with its lustrous wooden bookcases and panelling and air of comfort, and the memories of photos with lecturers Murray Walker and Stirling Moss linger in my mind;
in the small port side room ahead of that, we noticed that in here now a lower part of one of the window frames had partially disintegrated inside; I walked past the private carpeted stairway up to the Bridge and remembered the times I had raced up there for arrival and departure from every port; in the Coral Restaurant the surroundings were much the same with the glorious wood and lighting, but afternoon tea was not the same without remembering my first invitation to join lecturers Mr Frank and Mrs Doris Braynard one afternoon;

the Riviera Bar is still comfortable although the furnishings are very red, and I was interested to see a small P&O semi-circular ‘sunburst’ sign on one of the glass entrance doors.









Where there had been a glass vitrine containing a Union-Castle ship model, now there was nothing at all, and it looked so bare; the walls had insignificant pictures on them, rather than large pictures of Union-Castle ships of the past, which in fact had been hung all around the ship. The Princess cinema looked much the same, with the beautiful woodwork, but without the original pieces of artwork.


On Lido Deck it was good to sit outside in the shelter of the glazed area, and wear my Centenary Voyage sweatshirt all these years later; when it was seen by the Security people at the top of the gangway on another day, two of them exclaimed and said they had been on the ship then, so there was a lot of nostalgic talk at a convenient time.











I had my memory moments and came back to reality during the unexpected journey to Le Havre in daylight. This was the here and now and to be enjoyed, with a Pirates dinner, followed by a funny ventriloquist entertainer (Frank Rossi). We berthed at 11 p.m. in time to see NORMAN VOYAGER depart, and then go for a quick walk on the quayside.

Ships seen: Red Funnel/Ikea ferry, Normandie Express, Normandie,Bretagne, Norman Voyager

To be continued...