 |
|
|
| Pictures and descriptions below are by the grace of the Master of our voyage, Captain Ioannis Papanikolaou. It's his decision to allow these tours and to him I'm eternally grateful. |
 |
Captain on the phone to hotel staff. The hotel staffer guiding the group (striped shirt) informed the Captain that half of the group was spanish speaking and there was no translator. He immediately ordered hotel staff up here to provide a translator. "I don't care who you have to wake up!" They did. There is no doubt Ioannis's compassion about his ship and his passengers is dedicated and complete. A very impressive man, this ships Master. |
 |
Us on the Bridge Left to right - Our Chief Officer who guided the tour, me, Roxanne and Mike. Wife (Janet) taking picture. Captain Spyridon Konidaris, Chief Officer was awesome.
We had an hour on the bridge to look around and ask questions.
This is while at sea, we are not sitting at a port. We're all looking
at consoles and asking questions. There is no rush, no effort to "move
along". |
 |
Wide View of Bridge Guests entering in, obviously excited. This tour was a BIG HIT among the passengers I asked. They all loved it, men and women alike. I guess we can assume that "average hotel guests" are impressed with learning more about the ship that they are on. |
 |
Folks asking questions The Chief Officer answering questions about a console and it's procedures. He also conveyed a very deep pride in his ship, especially systems and the human influence. I was surprised with the intelligent questions the passengers had, they were really curious about the ship. No rush.
|
 |
Navigation is "still manual". Despite the awesome computer controlled systems, GPS and autopilot, the ships Navigator still manually plots the ships path. Nothing is given to chance. In this modern age, navigation is still men/women using the basic means of navigation. I didn't ask if they use a sextant, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did. |
 |
Main Console center top - "Father/Son" engine online indicators click
for 800x600 (sorry about the sun glare on the image, tough shot) |
 |
Navigation Monitor Located next to the chart table, this is a compilation screen of all the computer system input. Using the keyboard, the Navigator can call up whatever data is needed from radar, GPS, Loran-C, etc.
|
 |
Fin Stabilizer Console The Chief Officer actally demonstrated this! He hit the blue "enable"
button below the center LIST indicator (how much the ship is tilting
P/SB), and the turned the knob to the left. 77,000 tons of ship tilted
to the right and we watched the horizon move 5 degrees down. VERY impressive!
Both indicators left and right of the center reflected the stabilizer
postion, left down 5 degrees, right up 5 degrees. The "stabs"
are equivilent to differential flaps on an aircraft except that they
are obviously much more massive and on the hull aft, below the waterline.
(BTW, this was so slight and gentle that pax would not notice) |
 |
 |
Thruster Control To the best of my knowledge, the thruster units (one or more) are engaged by pressing the red engage buttons. Then the amount of P/SB thrust is regulated by the levers. Bow thruster engage left (3), stern thruster engage right (2). Thrusters are 12,000 hp, equivalent to 12 tugs. |
|
Port Side Thruster/Engine Control Station Where Captain controls docking using thrusters and main engine. Bottom left are main engine controls, P/SB. Top left are thruster controls, detailed image to right. |
 |
Thruster Station - looking aft, port side bridge wing. This would be the view the Captain would see while docking the ship next to the pier. I had the unique pleasure of watching this happen on a ship our company
"rented" seven years ago.. awesome. |
 |
| What the bridge crew sees looking
over the bow of Galaxy. click for 800x600 |
 |
Captain Ioannis Papanikolaou with Janet and I. Although he was late for lunch, he took pictures with us and several other guests to his bridge. A measure of the man. Captain Ioannis (third most senior Captain at Celebrity) is due for a well deserved vacation. Celebrity uses "Relief Captains" like the excellent Captain Manaras to replace him. I'd like to thank Peg, from the RTC News Group. She knows Captain Ioannis and the officers well and has made me appreciate them more as individuals. |
| Bridge Tour Questions I asked - click here |
| Feedback? Greg Miller, www.millerweb.com - greg@millerweb.com |