Just had a FaceTime chat with him, his ship is now off the west coast of Cuba heading for Key West.

There was a garbage silo fire onboard at 1am this morning but everything was quickly brought under control after the heat/smoke sensors did there job and raised the alarm.

On the plus side, he informed his mom and I that part of last weeks refit included the installation of 50" smart tv's in each of the officers cabins and he reversed the camera angle to show us some of the options, his favourite being NetFlix which allows him access to series such as Game Of Thrones.

He'll be late to this evenings Christmas Gala Dinner because his watch is 7pm till midnight but coincidentally, his junior officer on the bridge is someone who lives in Seaton Delaval which is only six miles north of here.

Merry Christmas son :sunny:

I didn't know that captains had to stand watch.

Ask your son if he takes control of the ship in every port upon arrival
or departure or does the port captain come aboard and do that?

Perhaps in some ports he has all of the load on his shoulders and that is a heavy load ...
I saw one cruise ship on youtube that missed the dock with a quick turn by only five feet ... that was close.

Congradulations on having a great son too Jim :yep:

He's not the Captain, he's Chief Mate/First Officer (one rank below Captain).

You're correct, the Captain doesn't perform a watch but is on call 24/7.

The Captain is always on the bridge when entering or leaving port and stands alongside the Port Captain/Pilot and can overrule any decision at any time if they, the Captain feel the need.

Much appreciated Sir, thank you :salute:

Wow, great pics, I am proud of your son, good deal, Jim. Thanks for posting.

Cheers Neal, I'll be sure to have him view this thread on his return some time in February. Not sure why but SubSim is blocked on the ships internet.

Maybe your son would like to be Captain of this ship Jim! Not sure I would want to be on it in rough seas though!:)

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...363647211.html

Sure is some size and I notice she is registered in London despite being Chinese built and French owned.

Some mix but sure to be for some kind of tax benefits/loopholes :hmmm:

Sorry sometimes I read too fast :oops:

Still a gret job being first mate on his way to being a captain which I hear takes about 12 years.

Every country has it's own Merchant Marine with the ships being registered wherever they can find a country cheap enough to register.
Like your sons ship is registered in the Bahama's, right?

I found this information about the US Merchant Marine and ships registered in the USA are very expensive.
America only has about 200 ships left due to the high cost of having to pay higher wages.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.b...g06-story.html

I think you've read too fast again. The vessels port of registry is The Netherlands, Rooterdam (see #17 top picture) :):03:

Young buna who is celebrating the occasion of his 27th birthday today with a day off duty in Key West.

Happy Birthday big lad :sunny:

http://i.imgur.com/JrmXl6P.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fFuarjl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jAmHYK9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wzSSiam.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CrYG311.jpg

Happy Birthday Young buna!

:Kaleun_Party::Kaleun_Cheers::Kaleun_Party:

The cake one of the ships chefs made for him :cool:

http://i.imgur.com/sirRh1a.jpg

Ahh Key West remember good times doing the Duval Crawl.

They don't want him to get too excited and start yelling "Dive Dive Dive !!!!!" at a most inopportune time. ;)

BTW... Does mum and dad ever get a free ride?

Let me know if he ever gets up my and stops in Philadelphia. Yes..... I have seen cruise ships docked up there.

And tell him we said Happy Birthday. :woot:

A couple of years ago we were four hours out of sync to joining a cruise commencing at Vancouver and visiting Hubbard Glacier to see humpback whales breeding.

He has his moms holiday dates (mine I can choose at will) later this year, so we live in hope.

@You all....many thanks for the kind comments, they are greatly appreciated.