Where is Captain Albert ? Can't find his blog anymore on the HAL website......

[sailingdutchy]

We have often followed Captain Albert's Blog specially around the time with the newbuilts of the Koningsdam and the Nieuw Statendam  he is a very fine story teller and kept us up to date  .  We have also met him a few times on the Premier Voyages of these two ships and even had a wonderful dinner one night with him in the Tamarind with our friends .

Captain Albert is for us THE historian of the Holland America Line who also had fantastic presentations  with lots and lots of slides and great stories on the World Stage to a full house with people sitting on the stairs and standing in the back.  To Holland America he also was very valuable and went around the fleet training the crew in safety for passengers and crew.

 

He has written and co written a number of books 

Since the Covid break he was at home in England while updating special events and also the schedules of the Captains of the Companies fleet .

For the last couple of weeks I have not been able to find his Blog which was separate but still part of the HAL blog.

 

I sure hope this is not another cost cutting measure , that would be a great loss to Holland America and to us the passengers who are interested in the companies history ,and if so that would be a great loss to the HAL  in my opinion !

Ourselves we were hoping he would be on the Rotterdam celebrating with us the 150th Anniversary in April.

 

Tony 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by sailingdutchy
language

[boeckli]

Is this what you're looking for?

https://www.captainalbert.com/

[SilvertoGold]

Yes, but this was updated November 1, 2022 whereas the linked one on the HALBlog was dated December 1, 2022. I hope he is continuing to update his website!

 

I used the Feedback feature on the HALBlog last week to ask about how to find Captain Albert's Section and did not receive a reply. I am really disappointed.

[Copper10-8]

He's been back home in the UK as opposed to taking on his duties onboard one of the dam ships

 

This was his post one year ago this month

 

My blog is still in limbo as far as daily posts are concerned as I am still at home. I have not been able to obtain an L visa from the USA embassy in London yet as they are on reduced capacity and HAL Marine operation is also not ready to let me start hopping  from ship to ship again.

[jakkojakko]

Will he ever be back at all?  He is on the backburner since the outbreak of covid. Surely, with all ships operating now, he (or HAL) would have been able to get all the paperwork in order. 

Just speculating, but given that apart from historical updates he is now incommunicado for over half a year, maybe his job position has changed or even cancelled.

 

Hopefully not as I also liked to read his experiences.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

8 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

He's been back home in the UK as opposed to taking on his duties onboard one of the dam ships

 

This was his post one year ago this month

 

My blog is still in limbo as far as daily posts are concerned as I am still at home. I have not been able to obtain an L visa from the USA embassy in London yet as they are on reduced capacity and HAL Marine operation is also not ready to let me start hopping  from ship to ship again.

He did the 150th  crossing on the Rotterdam Oct 15 to Oct 30  with the big party in N.Y.C.

[Sir PMP]

Appie  has house arrest in England for secretly signing an order for 3 1400 pax ships at Maghera.

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

He did the 150th  crossing on the Rotterdam Oct 15 to Oct 30  with the big party in N.Y.C.

 

Thanks, but he wasn't it working, right? 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

18 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Thanks, but he wasn't it working, right? 

He was the captain. He did twice ask the captain the cruise before he did one in Dutch.

When we were in N.Y.C. he was on the stage with Gus. There might be a You tub of the evening ceremony. It was a big deal with Ellis Island and N.Y.C. on the Rotterdam 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Just now, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

He was the captain. He did twice ask the captain the cruise before he did one in Dutch.

When we were in N.Y.C. he was on the stage with Gus. There might be a You tub of the evening ceremony. It was a big deal with Ellis Island and N.Y.C. on the Rotterdam 

We even had dinner with him at Ruddi's

[sailingdutchy]

3 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

He did the 150th  crossing on the Rotterdam Oct 15 to Oct 30  with the big party in N.Y.C.

 

Thank you very much for that information @Gail & Marty sailing away . One of the main reasons of   me raising this question was to see if anybody had seen or met the captain and also if by chance somebody from the company is reading the CC posts to shake them up a little bit .

In our eyes Captain Albert is a very large asset to the company who should not just disappear , the excuse of not being able to get a visa due to Covid restrictions is getting very old and unbelievable .

 

Hopefully the Captain will also be on the 150 Anniversary of the Company in April , which I was going to ask him about on his blog .

Thanks all for your reactions ! 

Tony 

[ShipsAreTheBest]

2 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

He was the captain. He did twice ask the captain the cruise before he did one in Dutch.

When we were in N.Y.C. he was on the stage with Gus. There might be a You tub of the evening ceremony. It was a big deal with Ellis Island and N.Y.C. on the Rotterdam 

I was on this voyage.  Captain Albert was not on board, not as master or even as guest speaker.  The ship was under the command of Captain Werner Timmers for that voyage.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

13 minutes ago, ShipsAreTheBest said:

I was on this voyage.  Captain Albert was not on board, not as master or even as guest speaker.  The ship was under the command of Captain Werner Timmers for that voyage.

You are CORRECT it was Captain Werner Timmers

SORRY my mistake .....

[Copper10-8]

8 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

You are CORRECT it was Captain Werner Timmers

SORRY my mistake .....

 

So, in a nutshell, Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, not to be mistaken with Capt. Werner Timmers 😉, is still AWOL 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

13 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

So, in a nutshell, Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, not to be mistaken with Capt. Werner Timmers 😉, is still AWOL 

My mistake.

[Copper10-8]

9 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

My mistake.

 

Not a problem; happens to me daily! 😉

[St Pete Cruiser]

28 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

So, in a nutshell, Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, not to be mistaken with Capt. Werner Timmers 😉, is still AWOL 

Now there is a happy Captain!  I knew Oprah was on the Nieuw Statendam, but was this on the Rotterdam?

With Carnival continuing to lose money, $1.6 billion in the 3rd quarter, there will be more cost savings measures.  As a fan of Captain Albert and his blogs, I can understand the company not bringing him back just to be a lecturer.

[Copper10-8]

Just now, St Pete Cruiser said:

Now there is a happy Captain!  I knew Oprah was on the Nieuw Statendam, but was this on the Rotterdam?

With Carnival continuing to lose money, $1.6 billion in the 3rd quarter, there will be more cost savings measures.  As a fan of Captain Albert and his blogs, I can understand the company not bringing him back just to be a lecturer.

 

 

That pic with Capt. Buckens and Oprah was taken when she performed her Godmother duties on Nieuw Statendam!

 

I hear ya, but Capt. Albert, the HAL historian, is/was just not a lecturer but, as Traveling Fleet Master, gave onboard courses to crew - That has come to a stop also since Covid 

[SilvertoGold]

4 hours ago, sailingdutchy said:

 

Thank you very much for that information @Gail & Marty sailing away . One of the main reasons of   me raising this question was to see if anybody had seen or met the captain and also if by chance somebody from the company is reading the CC posts to shake them up a little bit .

In our eyes Captain Albert is a very large asset to the company who should not just disappear , the excuse of not being able to get a visa due to Covid restrictions is getting very old and unbelievable .

 

Hopefully the Captain will also be on the 150 Anniversary of the Company in April , which I was going to ask him about on his blog .

Thanks all for your reactions ! 

Tony 

Agree with all you say.  Might be an idea to write a note to the HAL President's Office and ask about the HALBlog.