HerInteractive

Last Friday, Steve from Holland America Line, organzied a tour of the Zaandam for a few us to research information about cruise ships. We wanted to know all about their inner workings, secret hiding places, jobs, and processes. Interestingly enough, most travel agents that tour the ships want to know about the sevices and amenities while we were more interested in how things worked.

We started off meeting the hotel manager and he welcomed us aboard the Zaandam. The ship holds 1,432 passanger, 607 crew members, and weighs 61,396 gross tons (one registered ton equals 100 cubic feet). Here's the picture of the Zaandam right before we boarded the ship - she's beautiful and has the elegance of a classic oceanliner.

Next we met the no one less than the cheif engineer in the engine control room where all of the ship's ballisting systems, eletronics, engine controls, and more are kept. Interestingly enough, all of these systems can also be controled from the bridge, but the engineers have control in the port while the bridge officers have control on the sea. The engineers also maintain all of the engine part themselves and bring them into the workshop for cleaning and repair. Additionally, all of the engineers double as firefighters on the cruise ship. We were allowed into the engine of the ship where we could hear the engines churnning and even saw the sewage treatment center. The floor panels are all removable so the engineers can work beneath the floors and there are storage closets in most of the walls.

This is a picture of the control room:

This is the inside of the engine room:

Then we went back upstairs to see the crew quarters. The crew spends 3 months on the ships and 3 months off the ship. Continuing our journey toward the top of the ship, we stopped in a few different staterooms to get a feel of where our characters might spend their time in the ship. There's also a grand stage where performers put on Broadway style musicals every night and dazzle the passengers. If you're not interested in the show, there's always the culinary classes, shops, and the casino on board. Here's a few us enthralled with the luxuriousness of a suite:

And finally, our last stop was the bridge. The officers explained the controls and told us about emergency training practices. With so many buttons on the bridge, it was so hard not to press them and ask what each one does!

Of course, a cruise or a tour of the ship is never complete without a stop at the buffet! We joined the passengers on the pool deck for a little bit of sun and delicious food! We learned so much about cruise ships and were impressed the crew's generosity and helpfulness. Now, we can't wait to incorporate all of this information into one of our games. The team wants to go on a cruise on the Zaandam for vacation to celebrate the GM when it's complete.

Again, thanks to all of the wonderful crew and staff on the Zaandam!

11 Comments:

At May 30, 2009 8:15 AM, Sereina said...: That would be cool to have one of the next Nancy Drew games on a cruse ship. Maybe it could be the Nancy Drew book, The Mystery of the Brass Bound Trunk! That would be awsome!
At May 30, 2009 9:08 AM, Anonymous said...: Ooh! Does that mean a future game is going to take place on a cruise ship!?!
At May 31, 2009 10:48 AM, Anonymous said...: Awesomesauce!!
At May 31, 2009 7:44 PM, Carol said...: Ah the things one must do in the name of research....
Do you need any help with this game?
At June 01, 2009 6:03 AM, HelenaBergFan said...: Wow! That's some sleuthing. A cruise ship with secret rooms sounds juicy. The creation and development of RAN surely seems to be exciting!
At June 02, 2009 8:47 PM, Anonymous said...: I can't wait for Ransom of the Seven Ships!!!
When does it come out!?

I can't take it any longer!
At June 04, 2009 5:12 AM, rose_thorn said...: Cool! I am looking forward to RAN even more now. Counting down the days!
At June 05, 2009 4:19 PM, Pina Colada said...: I wanna come! :D A cruise ship is an awesome idea for a mystery game setting. Especially when people seem to disappear from them way too often.

You guys will post photos from the trip, right?
At June 06, 2009 5:55 AM, Anonymous said...: Methinks that NDD3 takes place on a cruise ship!!! Is my hunch correct?
At June 12, 2009 7:20 PM, Anonymous said...: did you see geogre in the newsletter
At June 21, 2009 1:28 PM, Anonymous said...: I hope its not going to be a tropical setting again! A cruise ship might be cool but not a third tropical setting please!

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Touring the Zaandam

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