Cruise review of M/V VAN GOGH to Spitzbergen from 23 June to 6 July.Historical overview (from the daily program)
The VAN GOGH was built as the GRUZIYA in 1974 in Turku with a capacity of 330 passengers in cabins and 110 in couchettes and 255 cars. The car deck could accommodate armoured vehicles in war time. She was converted into a cruise ship in 1992, renamed in 1995 to ODESSA SKY under Liberian flag. In August 1995 seized by the Canadian Coast Guard for unpaid bills. Further arrested in 1996 in Wilhelmshaven. In 1997/8 she was rebuilt in Bremerhaven (removal of car deck) after sale to Eltek BV. Renamed CLUB1 she resumed cruising for Club Cruise, Rotterdam, first for a Dutch clientele, from 1999 to 2002 for Nouvelle Frontières and then for Travelscope Holidays Ltd.
I have first seen the ship in 1997 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and she looked like she would go nowhere anymore. Rust-streaked and seemingly completely run down she lay at the same quay where the ROTTERDAM is now in the process of being refurbished. Back then she was named ODESSA SKY.
Now my brother and I embarked on that very ship which, registered in Majuro, Marshall Islands, now is in much better condition. The first thing that we noticed was that the English can?t express the ?CH? in VAN GOGH correctly (;-)), as they always said VAN GOVV, like in ?I?m not bovvered?.
While the ship looked good from the outside, there was always a paint crew at work in every port as rust streaks appeared from the window edges. Painting rust over seems a more rational treatment than in the 60s due to a different quality of paint.
The decks around the funnel were loud because of the AC exhausts, also the deck atop of the pool. The lowest open deck at the stern was covered with artificial lawn (The daily program stated ?Golf practice? on that space). Almost all decking was well cared-for teak! Even on the extraordinary broad boat deck above the promenade deck, where additional deck chairs could be used, leaving enough space to stroll in front of them. On which other ship do they built in generous deck space on the expense of the number of cabins?
There are ladders installed to access the lifeboats from boat deck without lowering the boats. The whole arrangement looked to me as a place for an alarm assembly and boarding of lifeboats at minimum risk, especially in winter. Maybe this has to do with the envisioned military use, as detailed in the ships history in the daily program.
Passengers were almost all of British origin, only 8 out of 460 passengers had other passports: 3 Dutch, 2 Germans, Maltese and Spanish. Most were elderly, average age around 60 to 65.
There were many passengers aboard, who had actually booked ATHENA and were given this cruise as alternative. Those who could shift their vacation could face another problem: They had to be content with an inside cabin, as VAN GOGH had fewer outside cabins than ATHENA.
I have been told by the photographer on PRINCESS DANAE, which we met in Honningsvag, that Travelscope could not fill two ships and therefore cancelled the ATHENA charter, and that Arcalia and Travelscope are suing each other in court now.
The daily program thankfully gave us a crew break-down: 65 Ukrainians, 57 Indonesians, 24 Filipinos, 19 Bulgarians, 16 Indians, 15 British, 12 Hondurians, and others, totalling 225.
The captain Grygoriy Loginov was not much of an entertainer. His English was apparently not up to this task.
Though I thought the ship would have quite austere and cold interiors, I was pleasantly surprised. Though more on the practical side it still felt cosy enough for the Arctic! There was fake-wood, but this was of a better quality than that used around 1970. You needed a close inspection to recognise the fake. Snippets of nautical charts made up for an inexpensive wall decoration all over the ship.
The facilities encompassed a well-stocked library, big cinema which was used very much (!), 2 inside bars, small casino/sitting area, one restaurant with windows (two seatings), fitness-room down in the hull(not easy to find), main show lounge (entertainment was medium quality, better than what is often said about the ship). What was lacking is a forward observation lounge.
The standard of food was quite basic with too much mashed potatoes. Some dishes were very good, though. They always opened the buffet breakfast and lunch at the lido, even at Spitzbergen, at 5 degrees Celsius! And we always opted for it. At buffet lunch at the Lido they also offered Hamburgers as a welcome change of diet. The occasional pizzas weren?t very good tough. After all it is not an Italian ship! There was a free tea and coffee-automat accessible the whole day. Drink prices were low, with 1 Pound for a soft-drink.
Dress-code was way to formal, I thought I was on QE2. Germans are not used to sit every second evening in jacket and tie in the restaurant. So I had only one jacket with me, which was brown, and that after 6PM!
The many port lectures were exactly that: Not a sales promotion for the tours. The lecturer was well prepared. Many quizzes kept you entertained on days at sea. They had a dancers troupe on board, who performed quite well, though not outstanding. But they gave a costumes talk, which I found very interesting. You learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes-management of these shipboard shows.
Our cabin was a 4-berth one which we were given as the cheapest 2-bed. For four persons the space was barely adequate, especially the closets. There was a 25 kg-baggage allowance stated in the cruise documents! And this is somehow understandable due to the closet space. Our cabin was fitted with cabin TV which also featured a view over the bow. The cabin insulation was very good, we did not hear our neighbours, only their alarm clock.
The ship moves quite a lot in calm seas, but behaves well in rough seas (we had winds of 9-10 Bofors and I did not get ill. The sound of the bow clashing onto the seas were very loud though. I believe that this sound would not be heard on an older ship with a more sleek bow.
There were six days at sea and times in port were not overly generous, but arrival was always on schedule. In the Magdalenen-Fjord the ship did not approach the glacier as close as the ASTOR of Transocean Tours did. At least I have been told so by a friend, who was on a similar cruise in the same time. In Honningsvag, to my dismay, they have a mosquito problem, even that far north at the salty sea. So I was back on the ship early. And as the other passengers did the same, the captain announced an early departure so that the ship could round the North Cape, having accessed Honningsvag via the southern passage.
Ships we saw during the cruise: GRAND PRINCESS (Olden), ADRIANA and PRINCESS DANAE at Honningsvag (good opportunity to photograph the latter while departing). In Spitzbergen the NORDSTJERNEN sailed into Magdalenen-Fjord while we departed. Some expedition cruise ships where there. In Tromso, RHAPSODY of MSC arrived and later that evening, sailing in the Norwegian Islands, EXPLORER of National Geographic came our way. In Bergen, ARTEMIS and SEVEN SEAS VOYAGER were in port, dwarfing DALMACIJA, which is on make-shift charter to HANSA Kreuzfahrten.