Today we were treated to a behind the scenes look at certain areas of the ship. The kitchen and preparation area where food is brought in by the tonne, and the on board bakery produces 50000, yes fifty thousand, items each main meal time. The storage areas are huge! The waste control area, where the waste is separated into categories, chemical additives used to remove bacteria and certain waste incinerated, and certain waste is discharged when further than 12 Nm out to sea and when cruising above 12 knots. The engine control centre (ECC) was fascinating. Basically the ship is run from here, and the captain gets information from here before any decisions are made. We were made go through very tight security to access this area, with multiple metal detector tests, and if you had a mobile phone with you, you were made show it was an operational device. We then had to sign a seperate security document sign in sheet, in additional to original waiver and acknowledgements. The ECC has engineers working 24 hours a day but for only 4 hour shifts at a time. The intensity and concentration of the work would make them get fatigued too much for any more than 4 hours work. There are constant alarms being activated and everything is recorded manually and electronically. The ship has four engines that drive the two azipods. There are no rudders on this ship and the azipods can rotate 360 degrees to steer in any direction. With the bow thrusters the ship can dock without the need to have tugs assist. The ship also has a new technology of 'bubbles' that coat the hull to reduce friction and increase efficiency. The ECC looks at the energy use through the ship and the dashboards on display even in the kitchen show their energy use to specific levels and targets (KPI's) to ensure everything is run within tolerances. The ship uses about 6000 litres of fuel per hour. The bridge was a very calm quiet place. A huge area with viewing access all around the ship. The wings have their own control units, with glass floors so the captain can monitor distances when docking. This huge ship is literally controlled by two small mouse like balls for the azipods and a small joystick. The bridge is totally paperless and all mapping is electronic. We were shown the radar system, autopilot and the collision avoidance system. We were able to identify the name, size and speed of a container ship to our port side, and knew by the click of a mouse that the we would reach it in about an hour and maintain the company operating procedure of 1 nautical mile separation for that size ship. At full speed (26 knots) the Ovation of the Seas and come to a stop in 5 minutes. Our final stop was back stage for the main show productions. What these people put on for the shows is amazing, and even more amazing when you see the space they have to work in back stage, get the huge purpose made props on and off stage and facilitate costume changes. The quickest full costume change is boasted as being 4 seconds, whilst the performer was still singing just off stage. A fascinating ship, and a wonderful experience to see behind the scenes for 4 hours this morning.
