Good afternoon, Ms Pfeiffer,
Although I’ve long since returned to my daily routine after a wonderful trip, I’d finally like to give you some feedback. First and foremost: the service provided by your travel agency is truly excellent; at every stage of the process – which was clearly well outside my area of experience – I felt very well looked after and supported. This was also true of the two staff members I was in contact with. As a result, the trip ultimately lived up to the ‘brochure promises’ in every respect – promises that one usually ends up having to compromise on. Looking back, I can say: everything was just right, everything was fulfilled and made possible, and it was an experience that exceeded my hopes and expectations.
As I wanted to board directly from home for family reasons, I didn’t mind the two-day delay to Good Friday (caused by cargo problems in Dublin). I was therefore able to take the lost notification dated 31 March in my stride with a smile on 1 April, five minutes before the scheduled departure, when I saw on Vesselfinder that the ship had only just reached Landsend and therefore couldn’t possibly have arrived in Rotterdam on 1 April.
I am by no means mentioning this as a criticism (I tend to blame the internet service provider for the lost email, as it was demonstrably not the only email sent to or from me around 1 April that Microsoft let slip through the cracks). Rather, it is a suggestion that you might include a reference to a vessel tracker in your – admittedly very carefully prepared – information pack. Firstly, it allows you to ‘travel along’ on screen a little in advance, so to speak, and, above all, it provides you with information – albeit non-binding – about any changes to departure and arrival times.
I foolishly didn’t ask whether this is generally the case, but on the ship, UTC was the on-board time, which wasn’t changed either. During the journey, it was already summer time in Germany (and in Ireland too), but not yet in England. So it seems to me that 5 pm ship time as the departure time turned into 3 pm local time. “I need to have her on the ship by 3 pm,” was Melissa’s panicked message to Driving4U, which effectively wiped out my two-hour safety buffer for the shuttle service, given that the estimated departure time up to that point had been midnight. It was only the captain’s phone call, once I was already seated in the shuttle, that gave us back those two hours, and everyone was able to relax – especially me. Incidentally, the staff at Driving4U also went to great lengths to help; I’d like to give them a special mention too.
Everything was fine on board; the officers and crew were very approachable, helpful and happy to provide information. Even as we were leaving the harbour (without a pilot), I was allowed to take the second officer’s place on the bridge and enjoy the magnificent view over the bow. And of course, I didn’t get in the way or touch the joystick, as the captain had requested with a wink.
We then reached the area off Landsend in what, by my standards, was heavy seas with a storm – though for the professionals it was harmless – as the ship reared up and then plunged into the troughs of the waves, whilst simultaneously rolling from port to starboard due to the side waves and swells. That was exactly what I’d hoped for, and for a landlubber like me, it was adventure enough.
The ship’s cook was so kind to us all that I had to skip one of the three hearty, hot meals a day every now and then, so that I wouldn’t have to be hoisted out by the harbour crane during one of our three shore leave trips (twice to Dublin, once to Cork).
And here’s a single, minor point of criticism to pass on to the shipping company. It was compulsory, particularly in the harbour area, to wear the high-visibility vest and helmet provided. And that’s where I was a bit put off, because the headband was quite sweaty; I don’t think I’m overly fussy, but I did have to steel myself a little. Of course, I don’t expect a new helmet, but perhaps the padding on the straps should be changed every few trips.
My daily, enthusiastic reports to the 76 sponsors and people interested in the trip are true proof of what I said at the start: it was simply “GREAT”. And as far as I know, there’s already at least one person who’s followed suit, having learnt about the opportunity this way and is interested in a trip through the Kiel Canal to Sweden.
Warm regards