Having checked out the workings of the
kitchen and the
bridge, what else is left? Well, how about the
engine room? Mary spoke to the Front Desk, who suggested that we pen a written request for such a tour. Two days later, voila! We received an invitation to see the “innards” of the
Amsterdam. (Requests like this do
not always succeed; we were told that such chores were anathema to the
Amsterdam’s previous captain.)
This tour differed as much from that of the bridge as an afternoon scramble does from a game of … bridge. While the
Amsterdam’s engine room is as neat as any Sam has seen, it is not the place to wear anything you’re planning to keep on as “smart casual” for dinner! We were taken down into an “alternate universe” aboard the ship – a part most passengers never see – with long broad corridors and storage lockers.
Craig John Stephenson, Third Engineer, ushered us into the engine room’s headquarters – an area deceptively like the bridge, with its own banks of dials and gauges. Almost predictably, Craig was born north of the Border; the Scottish appear to have an
affinity for engine rooms and it is rare to find a vessel without a representative as engineer.
We were given yellow foam earplugs, a very good idea in view of the various “levels of hell” we would subsequently visit.
Unfortunately, this made
hearing our guide a
bit problematic, but you’ll hopefully get an idea of what goes on “in the belly of the beast” from the accompanying pictures. At
least, we preserved our hearing!
We learned that while the ship had five engines onboard (with if memory serves correctly, 24 heads under 12 covers – that would be a valve job!), she only needed four at any given time and that if necessary, they could be completely torn apart and repaired while at sea – take that all you land-locked mechanics, who can’t handle having the earth move under your feet! We toured the extensive air-handling/cooling systems that the ship needs just to run, the garbage disposal area, looked at the sewage storage tanks, and –
don’t get too close – walked right past the incinerators (over 600 and 900 degrees Celsius if memory serves us correctly.A quite impressive array of equipment that all hummed smoothly along as we sliced through the southern seas, destination Africa.
Having checked out the workings of the kitchen and the bridge, what else is left? Well, how about the engine room? Mary spoke to the Front Desk, who suggested that we pen a written request for such a tour. Two days later, voila! We received an invitation to see the “innards” of the Amsterdam. (Requests like this do not always succeed; we were told that such chores were anathema to the Amsterdam’s previous captain.)
This tour differed as much from that of the bridge as an afternoon scramble does from a game of … bridge. While the Amsterdam’s engine room is as neat as any Sam has seen, it is not the place to wear anything you’re planning to keep on as “smart casual” for dinner! We were taken down into an “alternate universe” aboard the ship – a part most passengers never see – with long broad corridors and storage lockers.
Craig John Stephenson, Third Engineer, ushered us into the engine room’s headquarters – an area deceptively like the bridge, with its own banks of dials and gauges. Almost predictably, Craig was born north of the Border; the Scottish appear to have an affinity for engine rooms and it is rare to find a vessel without a representative as engineer.
We learned that while the ship had five engines onboard (with if memory serves correctly, 24 heads under 12 covers – that would be a valve job!), she only needed four at any given time and that if necessary, they could be completely torn apart and repaired while at sea – take that all you land-locked mechanics, who can’t handle having the earth move under your feet! We toured the extensive air-handling/cooling systems that the ship needs just to run, the garbage disposal area, looked at the sewage storage tanks, and – 
don’t get too close – walked right past the incinerators (over 600 and 900 degrees Celsius if memory serves us correctly.A quite impressive array of equipment that all hummed smoothly along as we sliced through the southern seas, destination Africa. 
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