A nice sleep-in and Mass at 8.00. Unfortunately, because it wasn't in the calender, none of the non-denominational people turned up at 9.00, so I won’t see any of them again; however, it’s been a blessing being able to go to Mass every day and hear a priest so gifted in bringing the Word of God alive.
I went to a second Mariners' lunch, got my free glass of wine and another Holland America tile. An interesting fact came out about our departure from Santorini: apparently we had a very near miss with the Norwegian Spirit; apparently, she was leaving much later than scheduled because of late passenger returns. Because of this, I'm going to the Q&A with the Captain in half an hour, because you can bet one of the questions will be in that area: he may not answer, and in fact, if it's the subject of an investigation he won't be able to, but it will certainly be interesting to hear more.
Captain Smit had proven himself a little quieter and less chatty up till now, the few times I had heard him speak. The showroom was quite crowded. When he came to the stage he introduced himself with a little bit of background and then said before he started his presentation, he would talk about yesterday's incident. In fact, he said he knew that was why we were all there, because normally the Captain's Q&A only gets a handful of people. He explained that he couldn't say much because the incident is under investigation but suffice to say that the Norwegian Spirit made a manouvre which in his 30 years of sailing he has never seen happen. Not only was there immediate reaction with head office involvement, but he said he is still in shock and didn't sleep at all last night. He spoke extremely well and left us in no doubt that all safety precautions came into play in ensuring that the Westerdam negotiated the situation successfully. Apparently we came within about 250m of each other. I wouldn't be surprised if it has made news somewhere by now. The rest of his presentation was fascinating, focusing on the space-age bridge and its functions, and he was very engaging in answering questions. I was really glad I went.
Tonight is formal night; I’ve started packing because tomorrow, the last full day, I’ll be out on my wonderful, exciting excursion all day, and will only have after dinner to get my packing finished and have the suitcase out for collection.
Captain Smit had proven himself a little quieter and less chatty up till now, the few times I had heard him speak. The showroom was quite crowded. When he came to the stage he introduced himself with a little bit of background and then said before he started his presentation, he would talk about yesterday's incident. In fact, he said he knew that was why we were all there, because normally the Captain's Q&A only gets a handful of people. He explained that he couldn't say much because the incident is under investigation but suffice to say that the Norwegian Spirit made a manouvre which in his 30 years of sailing he has never seen happen. Not only was there immediate reaction with head office involvement, but he said he is still in shock and didn't sleep at all last night. He spoke extremely well and left us in no doubt that all safety precautions came into play in ensuring that the Westerdam negotiated the situation successfully. Apparently we came within about 250m of each other. I wouldn't be surprised if it has made news somewhere by now. The rest of his presentation was fascinating, focusing on the space-age bridge and its functions, and he was very engaging in answering questions. I was really glad I went.
Tonight is formal night; I’ve started packing because tomorrow, the last full day, I’ll be out on my wonderful, exciting excursion all day, and will only have after dinner to get my packing finished and have the suitcase out for collection.
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