We were invited by the Chief Engineer during the penultimate formal dinner last week to visit the Silver Whisper's control room. More or less at the appropriate time, a deck hand escorted Barbara and me plus one very dour Scotsman guest through a "Staff Only" door and through a long fluorescent lit corridor to the most secure and secret area of the ship, the room where all the booze and wine are stored. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to stop there and instead went to the Main Control Room (there are others?). The "First Engineer" (there must be other engineers if not control rooms therefore), a delightfully nerdy Italian young man tore himself away from the Scotsman who was pelting him with arcane questions such as "Where were the valves manufactured, Finland?", etc. The young man explained with very focused choice of English words--the Captain is Italian and that is the unofficial language spoken for important communication to the engine room as the Chief Engineer is Italian as well--that this place is very important. He meant to say something else I believe when he explained with great gravitas, "The Captain says that the Bridge is the brain of the ship, but this control room is, uh, also the brain, too." We got the point anyway.
As Silver Whisper is 10 years old, the propulsion system is by conventional shaft driven propellers, but the props are variable pitch and can be driven electrically as well as directly from the engines through a transmission (actually a 3.3:1 reduction gear system). The combination of the transmission and controlled pitch allows for much more efficient use of the big assed diesel engines, and a system of clutches and motor/generator assemblies on the main shafts provide for symmetrical thrust when one of the main engines is off-line. The two bow thrusters are driven electrically from the main engines' generators, but they and even the main props can be driven in an emergency from the smaller diesel engine that provides the ship's electrical power or even from the Emergency Generator located on the topmost deck. (Don't ask why it's there. The answer is scary.) The main engines were each providing 7030 HP as we were underway at 17.5 knots enroute the completion of the cruise early Sunday morning at Hong Kong. [Geek note for those trying to decipher the control computer's screen: the port engine was delivering 5237 kw (conversion to HP is 746 watts per horse power), the propeller was turning at 151 rpm which was the 3.3:1 reduction from the engine rev of 494 rpm.] The other very modern feature was that all the monitoring and back ups--and there were lots of sensors and emergency systems--were completely automatic through an extensive PLC (Programmable Logic Controller, a local area network for sensors and controllers) network. I told you the 1st Engineer was nerdy, but I guess I led him on a bit when he found a fellow couple of nerds and didn't have to talk to the Scotsman any more. That guy was now showering the "2nd Engineer" with questions relating to the brand of oil and the size of the bunkering hoses. We didn't visit the Engine Room on this visit, although we did see it on the video monitor that showed various views of the more hot, smelly, and noisy areas. At any rate I had seen the engine room on an earlier cruise a couple of years ago and was impressed by how clean it was. You can see that on the monitor screen shot. The earlier visit to the engine room was actually on a tour of the booze and wine storage area. Make of that what you will.
Sunday, 14 February 2010, Hong Kong to Denver in One and a Half Hours
Got up at 5:30 am to watch the sail in by the magnificent skyline of Hong Kong but saw the inside of the very dense cloud that was enveloping Lunar New Years Day. (I don't know if that is an annual event--the fog, not the new year--but the rain might quiet down the firecrackers during the parade set for Sunday evening.) We left the ship at 9 am and by Sunday evening we were home in Boulder. United 862 departed HKG, my favorite airport in the "gigantic, high tech, so impersonal that it seems like a scene from Brasilia category" at 12:40 pm and arrived at DIA on United 714 from SFO at 2:10 pm the same day. Ain't the world small. Just like I feel today, Monday, as the jet lag seems to be getting worse.
Super cruise on now a bit dowdy ship. Best food and (complimentary) wine by far, mostly great service except for witless butler and a few brand new poorly trained staff, great weather and itinerary. United long haul flights were extremely uncomfortable in Economy, even in best and most coveted seats at forward bulkhead (747 exit rows act as lounge for crowds awaiting inadequate number of toilets). Flight attendants on UA 862 must have been very angry at their supervisors as they were taking it out on the customers (as United calls their passengers.) The attendants did what was required by the company, I believe, but so mechanically that they would go very quickly down the aisles mumbling, "water" or whatever but not stopping to actually deliver what they were carrying. They threw the mid-flight snacks onto up to then sleeping passengers' laps and made a loud announcement on the PA regarding the "Duty Free" sales during the middle of the night when all the lights were out and most were sleeping (up to then). But the flight arrived early. We got a lovely welcome to US soil by the dozen or so scowling heavily armed cops at the terminal end of the jetway. I did enjoy the "randomly chosen" patdowns at Hong Kong and San Francisco, however, and now have the phone numbers of a couple of security guards in case I want a date with either a short polite Chinese guy or a young black gentleman respectively.
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