2008-09-23T14:10:00.000-07:00

The Veendam on the 11th Deck .... you come up by lift to the General Ship Restaurant and to the covered Swimming Pool and outdoor Eating Room which looks out over the water .....…..

...... You could go and get your

breakfast or lunch and bring

it outside into the outdoor Eating

Room which looks out over the water ....

.... On two occasions the Captain had to go out in to the open ocean away from the very still Inside PassageThere were gale force winds with ocean waves up to 6.0 metres high. The ship would sway in the wind and the waves. The water in the swimming pool would surge back and forth to the point of even surging over the pool edge by 10 - 50 mm deep, then it would cascade over the edge and flood extensively across the deck floor by 10 - 20 mm deep. You would wait for the surge or walk through it as it as covered an area up to 20 metres long. Then it would just flow into the gutter on the pool deck edge and away from the area.

On one occasion I was going to get lunch in the general Ship Restaurant. I had a stick to help my walking because my balance is still out from severe brain injury twelve years ago. As I walked through the wide glass doors (which is like supermarket doors ..... they just separate and let you in), there was a uniformed kitchen waiter carrying a tray of metal cups coming towards me. At that moment the ship heaved and the cups flew off the tray and flew across the floor. The waiter had to pick them up.

About 50 metres down the back of the restaurant, there started a wide 0.50 metre serving shelf which held up your tray and plates of food which you would select from the many different food selections. When the ship heaved, a large glass bowl of fruit salad went flying off the serving shelf, smashing on the floor with glass and fruit spreading everywhere. Fortunately there was no one around that area. One of the kitchen waiters would have had to clean it up.

The Veendam 11th Deck Photos