Cap Beatrice departing from Sydney

Cap Beatrice and Cap Cleveland

Philadelphia, PA (Day 1); Savannah, GA (3); Cartagena, Columbia (8); transit the Panama Canal (9); Balboa, Panama (10); Auckland, NZ (28); Sydney (31) and Melbourne, Australia (34); Timaru (39), Port Chalmers (40), Napier (42), Tauranga (43) and Auckland, all in New Zealand (44); transit the Panama Canal (61); Manzanillo, Panama (62); Cartagena, 2nd call (63) and Philadelphia (70).

Owner's double bed cabin, bed size 2.0 x 1.4 m, facing forward, and four single cabins, facing forward or aft, all located on upper C, D and E decks. Each cabin consists of a bedroom with a sitting area and private facilities with shower.       Fares range from €95 to €100 per person per day, plus €435 per person per voyage for port and vessel fees.       The dining room, lounge and excersise room, equipped with a rowing machine, bicycle stands and table tennis, are located on lower decks.

Vessel Data Passengers: 6 Deadweight: 39,500 tons Containers: 2,824 Length: 222 m Speed: 24 knots Built: 1999-2001 Owners: Schulte, German Officers & Crew: International

The Maditerranean leg: Savannah, GA (Day 1); New York (3); Halifax, NS (6); Tarragona, near Barcelona, Spain (16); Haifa, Israel (21); Piraeus, Greece (24); Leghorn (27) and Genoa, Italy (29); Tarragona (31); Halifax (40); New York (42); Savannah (45) ...       The Far East leg: Savannah (Day 45); Kingston, Jamaica (50); transit the Panama Canal (52); Los Angeles (59) and Oakland, CA (61); Shenzhen (78), Hong Kong (80), Ningbo (82) and Shanghai (83), all in China; Pusan, Korea (86); Balboa, Panama (106); transit the Panama Canal (107); Kingston, 2nd call (109) and Savannah (112).

The ZIM Ontario Passengers: 6 Containers: 4,860 teu Deadweight: 63,300 tons Length: 275 m Speed: 24 knots (45 km) Built: 2009 Officers & Crew: German & Int’l Owners: NSB, German Charterers: ZIM, Israel

On delivery from the Korean yard

Passenger accommodations include three double bed suites (bed size 2.05 x 1.80 m), located on the F deck (one suite is facing forward and the other two forward and side), consisting of a bedroom with private facilities and shower and separate sitting room, each equipped with a refrigerator, TV/Video and DVD set and a mini HiFi tower.

Daily fares are as follows:       €95 pp double, €110 single occupancy for the 34-sqm corner suites.       €90 pp double, €105 single occupancy for the 27-sqm forward-facing suite.       Plus €275 per person per voyage for port and vessel fees.

General Information and Reservations

Passenger cabins and shared facilities, such as the dining room, lounges and fitness room are located on various decks. There is no elevator on board and passengers must be fully mobile and able to negotiate the stairs. Front and aft views may be obstructed by the containers stowed on deck.

The ZIM San Francisco's sistership, MSC Geneva pictured in the Mediterranean

Self service laundry facilities are available. The electrical current is 220/50 AC. A two-prong round adapter and converter are needed for North American appliances. A steward will clean the cabin once a week, or more often if necessary.       A small onboard shop provides a limited selection of beverages, cigarettes and toiletries at duty free prices. Onboard expenses may be paid for with cash in €/US$. Tipping is at the passenger’s discretion; $/€3-5 per person per day is recommended.       Telephone, fax and email connections are available through the Captain’s office. The average port time is one day.       Reservations can be made by completing a Registration Form and providing a 25% deposit. The balance of the fare, plus port fees, is payable 70 days prior to departure. The fare may be paid for by check or wire (by exception only, credit cards may be accepted) in either the basic tariff currency, as quoted by the steamship line, or one of the following currencies USD/CAD at the prevailing exchange rate, subject to a final adjustment at the time the ticket is issued, a few weeks before departure.       Passports must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the anticipated return date, and a visa for Australia, China and the USA must be obtained, depending on the citizenship and voyage. A Medical Statement of Good Health and International Health and Accident Insurance are required on all voyages, as is a vaccination or exemption cerificate against yellow fever. The age limit is 79.       Cancellation fees are as follows: over 60 days, loss of deposit; 30-59 days, 50% of the fare. No refund will be made within the 30 days from departure. To protect your investment, Cancellation and Interruption Insurance is highly recommended. Travelex Insurance packages, covering you from the moment you buy the policy, are available to all Maris customers, worldwide, on our website page "Before You Sail". And if you buy the Travelex policy within three weeks of your initial trip deposit, pre-existing conditions are waived.       Please contact us through the Inquiries page.

MY AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL

Ms. Wildish wrote this story from one of the ships which has just been replaced by the Cap Capricorn sailing from the US east coast to Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m keeping a daily ‘Australian’ journal on my laptop so I won’t forget too much of the sights and sounds that happen on route. The ship is rolling badly this afternoon. I find that I do not get seasick, however I have decided to eat snacks in my cabin instead of dinner in the dining room because I feel buffeted a little. The ocean is a deep, deep blue; the sky is clear with puffy white clouds and there are whitecaps and a roll to the ocean.       Around midnight the captain made a slight adjustment in our course and the chop, which had been affecting us, has ceased. Now there is merely a gentle roll.       There is only one other passenger, Jill, a lady forest ranger from Orleans, California, recently retired and traveling to New Zealand for her yearly visit with her married sister. She will get off at Auckland and I will continue on to Sydney where this ship will go into dry dock for 10-14 days, they tell me. Once it is out of dry dock, I will board again and resume the trip home.       There are about 23 sailors on board, 8 of them officers and the rest crew. The officers’ mess (where passengers also eat) is well-appointed, with linen-covered tablecloths and place mats, good food and good service. The officers are Polish, Romanian and Latvian and the crew is all-Filipino. The accents are difficult to interpret, even though English is the language of the ship and currency is in US$.       It is over 5,700 nautical miles from L.A. to Auckland and there are no other ships on this route. The captain and crew take very good care of the ship and you can tell they are proud of her.       I bought two bottles of California wine and a case of bottled water from the ‘Slop Chest’ which seems to be the weekly duty-free store of the ship.       You fill out a little slip of paper with what you want from the published list and the steward delivers it to your door. The charges are then added to a bill in your name, which is settled at the end of the month. The wine was $4 each and 15 1-quart bottles of Niagara water was $8. A real bargain even though the water on board is good to drink right from the tap.

Jill and I did spend several hours sitting in deck chairs, wondering how the rest of the world was managing to get along and debating which was the biggest whitecap and other weighty matters. Too bad, there are no whales in this region. However there are porpoises, according to the captain, and Jill has seen them.

I am enjoying the games and movies on the laptop I brought. That decision is one of the best ones I made. I received good advice from many people about this voyage, some of which I actually took and all of which I appreciated.       The officers and crew all wear Bermuda shorts, T-shirts and either flip flops or sandals for the most part. Very casual. I watch the waves from my deckchair and see the flying fish and the few birds that visit. The captain says there are a few owned but uninhabited islands around this area and that is probably where the birds nest. There was a petrel interested in the flying fish and something that looked much like a very slim Canada goose. Surprising this far from what I know of as land.       The ocean is about five miles deep according to the nautical charts they use on the bridge. We travel at approximately 20 knots, with a head wind standing on the cargo deck , the first deck entered when boarding the ship, it feels like much more. The sea is an incredible cobalt blue. They say it reflects the sky, but I have never seen a sky that color.       The captain is Polish and is a happy, gregarious man who loves to talk and will be going home to see his wife and two children at the end of this trip. One of the mechanics (Bos’n) says the crew members sign contracts for nine months at sea and then go home for three or four months before signing up again on another ship going somewhere else. I guess when you are at sea it is academic where exactly you are going as long as you are doing the same type of work and plotting the same type of course. Usually officers’ contracts are for three months. I have what I like to think of as my own private patio where I drag the lawn chair from my cabin and commune with nature. It is just outside my own porthole and cabin. In reality, others may enter simply by climbing the outside stairs, which take you up or down to the other decks, and they do regularly and always say hello and smile.       There is a conference room a few steps from my cabin door which contains a large conference table with chairs, several reading or conversation areas with coffee tables and sofas, a large selection of DVDs, novels, magazines, newspapers bought at the last port, travel books for the places they visit, a TV, DVD player and even religious tracts. The officers usually are the ones taking advantage of that; I believe the crew has their own. The door at the end of each hallway is not locked and you may go outside at any time. We are in a very controlled environment and there is no way anyone could get on board ship until we are in port, at which time all doors are locked. In port you must wear identification (provided to all passengers and including their fingerprint, picture and status) at all times until you sail again. My cabin has a DVD player, TV, stereo system and VHS player, none of which I can play yet, but the manuals are here. We are probably getting close to the equator but the captain says they do not notify the crew of this as the crew would take the day off as a holiday and get no work done. This is second-hand information so I’m not sure why that happens, it was just reported to me by Jill that it is so. Saturday we are to have a barbecue on deck for everyone.

The sea is quite calm most of the time and just a mention of a walk on the deck gets you permission and encouragement from the officer on duty. Permission is required because you cannot be seen behind the cargo containers and if you fall or are hurt the officer in charge would not know. However, you will not receive permission from dusk to dawn nor when the ship is working in port.       Jill and I were given certificates that we had crossed the equator during the night and I was given the sea name of Mermaid while she was called Sea Nymph. We should be crossing the International Date Line soon. Jill will be getting off in New Zealand and I in Sydney. The captain says that the Tasman Sea will be rough, but we won’t be there too long, a couple of days on the way from New Zealand to Australia.

The bow is too warm for me, as there is not very much wind and there are lots of huge appurtenances attached to the deck, which serve purposes of which I am not aware. The anchor chain is intimidating in its size. My private patio is better for me; besides, there are no stairs to climb to get to it.

I enjoy visiting the bridge and the view is spectacular all around except directly behind, where the superstructure gets in the way. Once out on the bridge wing, which is the outside extension of the bridge over each side allowing viewing behind the ship, the view is unimpeded.       The air is soft and tepid. During the day, being in the sun can be hot, but in the shade it is quite tolerable. The ship is air-conditioned and it operates day and night. The ship is extremely clean and kept in good repair. Living on a container ship is like constantly having your ear pressed to a giant’s chest and listening to his huge heartbeat 24 hours a day. I cannot remember what the Holland America pleasure cruise ship sounded like, but I imagine this must be louder. The sea has been very calm for days and there has been only a gentle roll, which is not unpleasant once you become accustomed to it. Sunrise is a sight to behold with neon colors lasting a long time and stretching half way around the horizon. Lovely!

We have been through five time changes so far with another two to come, plus the International Date Line. They say we will be in Auckland on June 29. I plan to disembark with the other passenger and at least walk around a little. Then 2 1/2 days to Sydney and dry dock in Brisbane. We are approaching the Tasman Sea and the effect of its currents so today the sea is starting to get rough. Nevertheless, no one is seasick and we just had lunch ...       Here I sit in Auckland, New Zealand, after taking a trip into town while they load and unload the ship. It was two weeks of peace and serenity and five hours of chaos on a Friday night downtown. Auckland is rather like San Francisco (much smaller in scale) built on hills, wide sidewalks, lots of traffic and a bustling population. The local ‘Red Lions’ and ‘All Blacks’, two rugby teams, are in town for two weeks of national meets along with 50,000 fans. Rugby seems to be the national insanity, but I must admit all accounts give it good reports. Unlike soccer in the UK, Europe and South America where they trample on everyone and tear or burn things down, here they respect themselves, the other team’s players and fans, and spectators, from the youngest to the oldest. Everything remains relatively orderly and at the end of the game everyone just goes home. I haven’t seen a game yet, but I may once I get to Australia. They tell me it is like our football, but without any padding or helmets and no time outs! There was a big storm all day yesterday, which kept me in my bunk reading for most of the day. Too difficult to be up walking around. The big dips and bumps were exciting, like a thrill ride at the carnival. It did calm down considerably later in the day and I had my dinner of pizza, salad, cold cuts and the most delicious chocolate meringue cake I have ever tasted. The cook on this vessel is very good and it is a wonder to me how he does such nice things while being tossed here and there.       The stars in this hemisphere are completely different and I expected to see a sky full and not be able to identify any. But even so, I was able to recognize the difference in the pattern I’m used to seeing. We have gradually gone through seven time zones. It is best to keep changing your watch and not try to calculate the difference in ‘here’ and ‘home’ time, especially with the International Date Line thrown in. It will drive you crazy and not accomplish anything. Best to adjust your living hour by hour as the changes are made.       Luckily, I had downloaded quite a few CDs and can enjoy music at all hours. There is no live radio here or TV, only what you bring with you. I do watch my movies almost every night or read and jump into bed and let the ocean rock me to sleep. Its part of what I came for, and I enjoy every single minute.       It was another jolt to the stomach once Jill and I parted since she stayed in New Zealand while I continued on to Australia. We had really lucked out when our paths crossed on this trip. Neither one of us had ever taken such a bold, alone-type journey. To have done it on this exact ship at the exact same time was a coincidence almost too much to believe. We were extremely compatible and of like mind and helped each other throughout the trip.       A curious sight, about 100 yards out my porthole I saw strange flat whitecaps. So I grabbed my binoculars and dashed out on deck. It appeared there were fish being herded into a ball by bigger fish, driving them up to the surface where they were probably feeding on them. The smaller fish were jumping out of the water and causing a big disturbance on the surface of the waves. I’ve seen this phenomenon before, on National Geographic, and assume this is what was happening here. The disturbance was more or less stationary and as we continued on we left the white water behind.       Arrival at Sydney harbor was smooth. Several of the crew picked up my luggage and set it on the deck and waited with me for the shuttle to take me to the gate and my entrance to Australia. Here, while the ship was in dry dock, I spent almost three weeks touring Sydney’s harbors, the aboriginal villages as well as the Great Barrier Reef and Rain Forest.       The port agents with whom I had kept in touch were kept me informed of the ship’s whereabouts and told me when to board. They advised me to check in with the office at the terminal, take the shuttle from there to the ship and wait until crew comes to help with luggage and guide me up the gangway. I had learned that those were the best ideas to prevent any injury.       Once I boarded the ship, the assistant engineer greeted me with open arms and a beaming smile saying, “I missed you.” He asked about my vacation on land. They evidently do not get time off but work seven days a week for the length of the contract they sign.       When I finally arrived at the ship’s office, who should be there but the same chief officer who was supposed to go home as soon as we arrived in Sydney. He didn’t make it. Instead, he says he will go home from Los Angeles. I hope he makes it that time. I’m secretly glad that he did not go home in Sydney. As I told him, it is too difficult to break in new first officers and I wasn’t relishing the job. And, there was my luggage sitting in his office.       Soon, Roderick stuck his head in the door to welcome me with a big smile and take my luggage on his shoulder. Although Roderick isn’t any taller than I am, and he is probably 22 or younger, and he is a cabin boy, not a dock worker, he was able to heft my suitcase onto his shoulder and pick up my heavy computer case and away he went. I had to visit with the first officer for a while and greet some of the crew, including the Bos’n, whom I had met the first few hours on board, and who came in to shake hands and smile. All in all, a lovely reunion. It was almost like coming home …

The pilot came aboard to take us in. He speaks in a loud voice. I guess all pilots have to speak that way to be heard over the engines, tugs, machinery, and weather and so there is no mistake about what they say. He sits in the captain’s chair and calls out orders from time to time: amidships, dead slow, 10 degrees to port, etc. The rest of the time he is free to engage in conversation, and does. But, he never forgets why he is here and how to go about his job. He and his wife have two beach houses, one on the tip of the island locally and one somewhere else. A beach house, no matter how grand or humble, is called a Bach (pronounced batch) or Crib.       Watching the tugs maneuver the ship around corners makes you want to cover your eyes with your hands. You just know there is going to be a big disaster, but it never happens ...       Over the breakfast, I visited with the new passenger who has been traveling for 2 years 8 months through Australia (learning English) and New Zealand. He plans to leave the ship in San Francisco and camp and motorbike south into Central and South America. He is the only German I know who speaks English with an Australian accent. I notice the ‘fog’ obscuring the horizon and by now I know what that means…rain. Sure enough, it rained for a while, but no one really notices in this temperature. If they are working outside, they go indoor for a while and then back. It never rains much and the rain comes and goes quickly because it is usually heading south and we are heading north. There are whitecaps again and it is warm. Looking up from my private deck, there are crewmen standing on scaffolding painting the stack about 40’ up with the ship rolling and the wind really blowing!       I commended Elias (the third officer) for the work he did on the lifeboat, hanging off the side, saying I had to go inside and not watch because it tied my stomach up in knots. If he should have fallen, the ship’s ‘Man Overboard’ button would have been pushed immediately, alarming the rest of the ship and marking his exact longitude and latitude on the computer enabling the captain to turn the ship around and rescue him. A colored flare would also have been set off automatically. Apparently there are three methods of turning the ship to rescue someone overboard, but Elias didn’t go into details …

On the bridge, the captain, the third officer and I spoke of the new paint job and the men who went up on the scaffolding to clean and paint. I told them how much I appreciated the crew who were always kind and smiling and such hard workers. Normally there are four passengers; this time it was different, probably because of the dry dock, which worked for me, but presumably not for too many others.

What a lovely, lovely evening. We all gathered just before the sun went down behind a few horizon clouds. The air was tropical and warm and the ship stirred up its own breeze, adding to what the weather was doing, so you didn’t get too hot, just right. One of the crew had a huge BBQ going and added more charcoal to it as people came and decided on their preferences. There seemed to be way more food than our 25 people could eat. One whole table was filled with rice, salad, rolls and cakes. I ordered the chicken but during dinner they also served plates of steak, ribs and sausages. And the roast pig was up there for anyone at any time.       I fixed my plate and saw one Filipino crewman sitting off by himself at the corner of a completely empty picnic table. So I asked if I could join him and he lit up like a Christmas tree and was so gracious to me all evening that it was quite touching. For a while the chief engineer joined us as did the other passenger, and the captain. Mostly the captain circulated around on foot munching on a rib or piece of chicken and laughing with one person and another. But then he had to go to the bridge so the first officer could come down, where he also joined our table.       After everyone had eaten and had cake, the karaoke started with a few of the crew taking turns singing using the microphone. Even the chief officer got into ‘I Did It My Way.’ Some were quite good and some were teeth grinders, but all were applauded loudly for their efforts. We all talked and laughed a lot and people told funny stories and got philosophical and we enjoyed each other as well as the night. Everyone thinks I am counting the days until I get home. Not so. I told them they could make a bed for me on the muster deck and give me a little job to do such as cleaning or cooking or keeping the books and I would just continue sailing. Of course, that is not entirely true, but they appreciate the sentiment and want to halfway believe me. They have loved ones, wives and children, they want to go home to, so for them this is only a job to provide for their families. Unfortunately it takes them away all too often, but this seems to make them draw closer to each other. I’m not in that position and have only myself to care for, for the most part. But they have allowed me into their world without hesitation, which has meant a great deal to me on this trip.       Lots of flying fish this morning. Elias says they are fleeing from a shark. I thought they were just doing their flying fish thing and playing. Maybe they come up to catch the first rays of the sun. However, since the chief engineer tells me that the water temperature is averaging 30 to 32 degrees Celsius, which are 86 to 88 degrees Fahrenheit, I have to believe they fly up out of the water to cool off and flap their fins, much as we would flap our arms and the front of our T shirts to cool off …       They seem to be painting everywhere, above me, below me and probably my patio tomorrow. They painted the bridge deck and F deck yesterday. Today, they painted E deck and the one below. They seem to be painting, cleaning or fixing all the time. With the humidity in the air, it needs it all the time.       All members of the ship, regardless of their rank, behave toward me with consummate politeness and formality.       Visiting on the bridge with Elias, I ask him what ‘amidships’ means since you hear it all the time in the old movies. He tells me that when wanting a change in heading or direction, 10 degrees port for example, the captain (or pilot) will wait until the ship is travelling in the direction he wants before calling ‘amidships’. Upon hearing this order, the sailor who is steering the vessel will bring the top of the wheel back to its mid point, in the middle of the ship, effectively stopping the turn and setting the ship on its new course. You learn something new every day …

The fog gradually left and now the skies are blue and sunny. In the conference room, I checked out the front window and saw whales! I definitely saw one blow! I went to my room to get the binoculars and hurried out on deck to see another blow as well as to see the flukes come out of the water. I watched for another 30 minutes outside but didn’t see any more activity. I wonder if I was the only one who saw it/them. If so, what a coup! I had to wear a coat as this was the coldest weather we had been in for the entire trip, including the southern hemisphere, where it was supposed to be winter …       This may be the last time I have any quality visiting time with Elias and will say good-bye just in case. I have already said my good-byes to the chief officer. I hate saying good-byes and it will be harder to do so with Elias and the bosun, but it will be particularly difficult saying it to Gheorghe who has kept our dinner table jumping and happy. They are all really sweet people and I’m glad to have them in my memory banks.       Back in a deck chair, watching the ocean becomes hypnotic. You either think about what’s coming, what’s been or nothing at all and end up with book in lap, glasses in hand and brain on hold. My outdoor session was cut short because the crew is out washing down the decks again.       Off my own patio are dolphins/porpoises, at least dozens of them as they cavort in a very wide area. Three California brown pelicans skim the water looking for food and are flying slightly faster than the ship is traveling. I go to the bridge and watch as the pilot, a very tall, thin man, takes us in. It takes less than an hour. Now the customs and inspectors will board and do whatever it is they do and I will be called and questioned and released, I’m sure. I will rely on the captain to tell me when to disembark.       I will close my laptop for now and end my journal to Australia.”

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