Full control onboard

"Cruising is an easy and comfortable way to travel," says Heller. "You are entertained, fed and you don't have to check in and out of hotels or airplanes. I think of it as a resort that carries you on water. And on the better lines like Holland America, there is no need to think about how anything is done."

A guest's first impression when boarding the Amsterdam is how spic and span everything is. Despite a tight port-of-call schedule, there isn't a deck chair out of place, nor a fingerprint to be seen on any of the ship's interior brass railings.

At every port, the deck crew hoses and scrubs down the 238-meter-long hull, and then touches it up with black paint. And if guests could see it, they would find that even the engine room – typically an oily, noisy and hot place – is quiet, cool, always scrubbed and frequently repainted. The Amsterdam has to look its best at all times.

Majestic scenery, ultimate courtesy

Like Pearl Heller, most passengers don't think about how the ship actually works. They choose the Amsterdam for its destinations and the feeling of luxury onboard. Guests on the Amsterdam are wined and dined in a five-star floating spa/resort/hotel where every whim is accepted with the ultimate in courtesy.

"Our intention is to create a personable, homey and classy environment that makes people want to come back," says Henk Mensink, the Amsterdam's hotel manager. "It is a question of offering the same style of service all the way with a gracious demeanour. We get rated on every cruise and the pressure is always on."

"But it is a misconception that only the well-to-do can cruise," says Corbijn. "We have cabins affordable by all. On the ship we have no class difference."

The Hellers started their 12-day cruise in England, where the Amsterdam set out for famous ports and cities in the Baltic Sea, culminating with a two-day stopover in St. Petersburg, Russia, that included tours to the Hermitage Museum.

They say what they enjoy most on the Amsterdam are the spacious cabins and the two million u.s. dollar collection of art and antiques displayed throughout the ship, including a huge clock tower in the three-deck central atrium, with a carillon in its base and four different faces. They also like the feeling of never being crowded despite 1,378 other passengers and a crew of 650 – the Amsterdam has 10 passenger decks – and they like the high level of personal attention and service.

A strict maintenance program

Keeping the ship running smoothly is priority number one for staff on board, from the bellboys through to the engineers in the engine room.

"These ships are complicated pieces of interconnected equipment," says Jan Bloks, chief engineer. "We run a very strict maintenance program where all machinery is checked, controlled, overhauled on a regular basis. There is maintenance from day one."

Delivered in September-2000, the Amsterdam, built by the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera, Italy, is a colossus of a ship at 61,000 gross tons.

With five large generators driven by Sulzer diesel engines aboard, the diesel electric ship is fueled by heavy fuel oil, treated onboard through various separation and filtration processes. The power generating plant produces some 49,000 kW, more than enough electricity for all the ship's systems, including the ship's main propellers – enough power to supply a small town.

Not only the heavy fuel oil but also the lubrication oils used in the engines and systems are taken care of to keep them running smoothly and efficiently. The Amsterdam burns a higher grade of fuel than actually required in an effort to limit air emissions. Use of newly developed lighter materials in construction has reduced the weight of the ship, and also contributes to increased fuel efficiency and higher speed, permitting longer voyages and more port calls between bunkering operations.

The Amsterdam is the first Holland America ship to have the new Azipod propulsion system, which gives the ship greater maneuverability and operating efficiencies. The two electricity-driven Azipod propellers can be turned a full 360 degrees, propelling the ship at a top speed of 24.5 knots.

Careful waste handling

The Amsterdam generates about eight tons of waste a week, which is carefully separated and processed. Like every ship in the Holland America Line fleet, the Amsterdam has five crew members who deal only with garbage processing, storage, recycling and disposal. The company abides by a zero-discharge policy for plastic and all non-processed waste, and the ship is equipped with mulchers, grinders, glass breakers, densifiers, balers and incinerators.

A comprehensive bilge water management program minimizes the amount of water and oil getting into the bilge. What does get in is separated into water and oil, following strict compliance procedures.

Chief engineer Bloks says that oily bilge water contains no more than 15 parts per million of oil – well within international limits – before it is pumped overboard. The remaining oily sludge is burned in an onboard incinerator.

Making fresh water

The Amsterdam uses about 550 tons of drinking – quality water daily for kitchen and hygienic needs – including masses of ice – and about 100 tons of fresh water for laundry and deck-cleaning purposes. Around ten tons of water is used daily for technical use.

The water comes from deep in the engine room, where the Amsterdam distils its own fresh water from seawater using three freshwater generators.

The three units' capacity of 1,400 tons of fresh water daily means the ship has twice the capacity it needs, says Jan Bloks, chief engineer.

The Amsterdam can fill up its water tanks ashore if it wants, but that is expensive and available water is not always of a high enough standard. "Nowadays, and because we are cruising to more and more exotic ports, it is getting harder to get the quality we need," says Nico Corbijn, the Dutch captain of the Amsterdam.

So the Amsterdam makes its own fresh water below decks, out of sight of its guests – who have already put it out of mind.

The largest cruise company in the world

They started shipping emigrants to the new world, and turned later into five-star cruise ships. Today all ships are equipped with Alfa Laval equipment.

Founded in 1873 as the Netherlands-America Steamship Co., Holland America’s first ocean liner was a much-used carrier of European emigrants to the New World. Later renamed the Holland America Line, the company suspended its trans-Atlantic passenger trade in 1971 and turned to offering cruise vacations full time.

The Amsterdam is the latest addition to a fleet of 10 five-star cruise ships operated by the Holland America Line, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corp., the largest cruise company in the world. The Carnival Group also includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Cunard Line, Windstar Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line and Costa Cruises.

A global agreement with Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval has 100 percent market share with the Carnival Corp. for the delivery of a variety of Alfa Laval equipment which includes: separators used for the cleaning of lubrication oil, diesel oil, and heavy fuel oil, oil viscosity control systems, fuel conditioning systems, oil recovery and sludge treatment systems, bilge water conditioning systems, heat exchangers, desalination systems, and electronic online condition monitoring systems designed to cut costs and improve equipment reliability.

“We have a global corporate agreement with Alfa Laval,” says Marcus Martin, technical purchasing manager for Holland America Line and Windstar Cruises. “We have chosen Alfa Laval as a supplier for equipment and spares as they have met our rigid standards of excellence, dependability and professionalism.” 

The Carnival Group operates a total of 36 cruise liners with 12 new ships on order. Of these, 34 of the existing and all of the new vessels are equipped with Alfa Laval separators. All of the later vessels under construction will be equipped with the newly developed Alfa Laval Separation Units and MEP freshwater generators.