| QUEEN MARY 2 |
| CUNARD |
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An Interview with Captain
Christopher Rynd
by Richard H. Wagner
Captain Christopher Rynd’s career has paralleled the development of
the modern cruise industry. During some 37 years at sea he has
commanded many of the key vessels of this period, accumulating a vast
knowledge of the sea, the ships and the industry.
The Princess Years
Born in New Zealand and raised in such far-flung locales as Sri Lanka,
Singapore, Samoa, and Fiji in the South Pacific, Captain Rynd began his
career at sea in 1970 and after completing his cadetship joined the
ORONSAY of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company
(“P&O”). P&O is a venerable British line that was built upon
transporting passengers from Britain to India and Australia. Rynd’s early
days were spent on P&O ships doing the Australia run and the
occasional cruise.
In 1974, P&O purchased Princess Cruises, a small company that had
begun in 1965 operating cruises on the West Coast, primarily from Los
Angles to Mexico and Alaska. Princess had a one-ship fleet at the time
consisting of the ISLAND PRINCESS, which it leased from Flagship
Cruises. But, the 19,000-ton ISLAND PRINCESS was a new ship,
built in Germany only a few years before. P&O purchased ISLAND
PRINCESS as well as her sister ship PACIFIC PRINCESS (formerly
SEA VENTURE) for Princess. It also contributed another new ship,
P&O’s SPIRIT OF LONDON, which had originally been built for
Norwegian Caribbean Line. As a result, Princess had a state-of-the-art
fleet.
Captain Rynd, who would later command PACIFIC PRINCESS
recalls that these ships “were the first generation of specialized cruise
ships. Prior to that, [cruise ships] were liners that had been converted.
This first generation, without all the hold space, without all the cargo
gear, was far more efficient. They were beautiful little ships in that time.
They were considered medium sized ships, holding about 660
passengers, if memory serves. The crew complement, again about half
that, 330 or more.”
“They were very special days in that early time of cruising. You felt like
pioneers. When we were first going to Alaska, the roads were unpaved,
there were one or two other ships in port on a busy day, you visited the
glaciers, you stopped amongst the whales, you did so with fewer
restrictions but the ships were smaller and there were far fewer of them.
Alaska was glorious. We went down to Cabo San Lucus, Mexico. At
the time, there were a few burros there, a single hotel, half a dozen
dwellings and that was it. The old Cabo San Lucas was a delight.
Having gone back there in recent times, you just see this sprawling
metropolis that has grown up as a result, I suppose, of the its popularity.”
In 1975, Princess was approached by a television producer about using
its ships as the setting for a weekly series. Fortunately, Princess decided
that it could live with the inconveniences associated with filming a series
on an operational ship and agreed. The series was, of course, The Love
Boat and it ran for a decade, making Princess Cruises a household name
and jump-starting the cruise industry. “It introduced to people the idea
that cruising was possible for ordinary people, not just for the rich and
famous.”
In those early days, however, some of the traditions that had been part
of life on the old liners still remained. “All the officers used to dine at
passenger tables. It was expected, almost an obligation, that you did so
except for fairly extreme circumstances. That was all the officers, second
officers, third engineers, and so on, all had a passenger table, dined with
the passengers and invited the passengers to the cabin for drinks before
dinner and things of that nature.”
Over the years, this type of interaction between officers and passengers
faded away on cruise ships. “Ships started getting a lot bigger with a lot
more people. The idea of greeting people at cocktail parties on the big
ships is just logistically impossible. So, the hotel side and the
entertainment side became more and more specialized and larger. The
idea that deck and technical officers were so involved with hosting
became de-emphasized at the same time. There was also more and
more emphasis on their professional duties in an increasingly complex
technical environment in which the officers worked. I think what really
phased it out was anytime dining. Much of what enables officers to host
tables depends upon the passenger being assigned to the first or second
seating dinner, having an assigned table and going to that place at the
assigned time whereas many modern travelers want a holiday as they
might ashore, which means that they want a less structured lifestyle.”
In 1988, P&O acquired Sitmar (the name was short for Societa
ItalianaTransporti Maittima, S.p.A), which had also been competing in
the West Coast cruise market. P&O folded the Sitmar operation into
Princess Cruises. As part of this acquisition, Princess gained the
FAIRSKY (46,314 gross tons), which Princess renamed SKY
PRINCESS (later PACIFIC SKY). Captain Rynd’s career at Princess
also included commanding this vessel. “I believe she was the last steam
turbine ship ever built. She was launched in 1984 and she was started
nearly two years before that. French built. That was a wonderful
experience in the sense that I felt part of history just being there. Steam
turbine ship, very rare these days, very smooth propulsion, of course, but
a whole different way of approaching maneuvers and handling her as
compared to a diesel electric which is the modern idea of propulsion
configuration.”
With turbines, there is “far less power astern, maybe one third. They
also take time to get those revolutions on - - going ahead, slow them
down, stop them, go astern and so forth. So, they responded less
quickly to maneuvers than the modern ships.”
In addition, SKY PRINCESS “was built as older traditional ships were
with a single rudder and two fixed screws. That is not a maneuverable
combination. We were cruising the South Pacific islands with no pilots
and no tugs. She presented some challenges which required good
foresight and a keen eye on what the weather was doing to enable her
safely.”
“Also, you always had to be mindful of the enormous up-take of cooling
water and the consequences when you got into shallow water. The
steam condensers required vast quantities of water. What happened if
you were coming into a remote Pacific island anchorage in a strong
wind? You had to keep that ship on track, on course and this required
speed to maintain steerage way until the ship would get to where you
wanted to anchor and then needed to go astern with full power. All the
shells and matter from the bottom would get sucked up into the
condensers. The engineers didn’t like you for that because they would
have to pull all the sea life out of their condensers. So, you had to handle
her gently from that sense.”
Sitmar also had a series of ships on order when it was acquired by
P&O. Two of these were the CROWN PRINCESS (now OCEAN
VILLAGE TWO) and REGAL PRINCESS (soon to be renamed
PACIFIC DAWN for P&O Australia). These two ships, completed in
the early 1990s, were approximately 70,000 gross tons, 811 feet long
and 103 feet wide. In addition to being larger than most cruise ships of
the era, they featured a radical new silhouette that looked more like an
airplane fuselage or a dolphin than a traditional ship. REGAL
PRINCESS was another of Captain Rynd’s commands. “REGAL
PRINCESS was one of those next generation passenger ships or cruise
ships. But, again, single rudder, twin screw, a little more maneuverable
but not an awful lot more. A very nice ship, although not every ones’
idea of design. Renzo Piano designed the outside. She is not everyone’s
taste but inside she is beautiful, she is lovely.”
Captain Rynd brought the new PACIFIC PRINCESS into service for
Princess in 2002. This ship is 30,277 tons and was one of eight nearly
identical ships built for Renaissance Cruises, which had gone out of
business. “She was one of the R-boats and they were real sweeties.
The interior is beautiful in the classic sense, sort of an English country
house sort of décor inside and decoration like the original PACIFIC
PRINCESS. Again, a small complement, 660 passengers, half that in
crew.”
The top-of-the-line ships in the Princess fleet are the Grand-class
ships. In 1998, the lead ship in this class GRAND PRINCESS dazzled
the industry with her enormous size (108,000 tons) and her radical for
the time design. That design has proved so popular and successful that
Princess has continued to build Grand-class ships ever since. In 2004,
Captain Rynd took command of the new SAPPHIRE PRINCESS. “The
GRAND PRINCESS was the first of the series and I should think that in
each successive ship they have thought about how they did it and put it
together and improved on that where they could. So, these two
[SAPPHIRE and sister DIAMOND PRINCESS] had the benefit of
their pedigree but also the benefit of their construction in a Japanese yard
[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries] which would appear to be very good
indeed. They were built extremely well. If you consider the way
Japanese build cars, the same with ships, they were wonderfully well put
together, well-tested and delivered clean, tested, functional. Very well-
handled and a very beautiful ship.”
(continued)
the modern cruise industry. During some 37 years at sea he has
commanded many of the key vessels of this period, accumulating a vast
knowledge of the sea, the ships and the industry.
The Princess Years
Born in New Zealand and raised in such far-flung locales as Sri Lanka,
Singapore, Samoa, and Fiji in the South Pacific, Captain Rynd began his
career at sea in 1970 and after completing his cadetship joined the
ORONSAY of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company
(“P&O”). P&O is a venerable British line that was built upon
transporting passengers from Britain to India and Australia. Rynd’s early
days were spent on P&O ships doing the Australia run and the
occasional cruise.
In 1974, P&O purchased Princess Cruises, a small company that had
begun in 1965 operating cruises on the West Coast, primarily from Los
Angles to Mexico and Alaska. Princess had a one-ship fleet at the time
consisting of the ISLAND PRINCESS, which it leased from Flagship
Cruises. But, the 19,000-ton ISLAND PRINCESS was a new ship,
built in Germany only a few years before. P&O purchased ISLAND
PRINCESS as well as her sister ship PACIFIC PRINCESS (formerly
SEA VENTURE) for Princess. It also contributed another new ship,
P&O’s SPIRIT OF LONDON, which had originally been built for
Norwegian Caribbean Line. As a result, Princess had a state-of-the-art
fleet.
Captain Rynd, who would later command PACIFIC PRINCESS
recalls that these ships “were the first generation of specialized cruise
ships. Prior to that, [cruise ships] were liners that had been converted.
This first generation, without all the hold space, without all the cargo
gear, was far more efficient. They were beautiful little ships in that time.
They were considered medium sized ships, holding about 660
passengers, if memory serves. The crew complement, again about half
that, 330 or more.”
“They were very special days in that early time of cruising. You felt like
pioneers. When we were first going to Alaska, the roads were unpaved,
there were one or two other ships in port on a busy day, you visited the
glaciers, you stopped amongst the whales, you did so with fewer
restrictions but the ships were smaller and there were far fewer of them.
Alaska was glorious. We went down to Cabo San Lucus, Mexico. At
the time, there were a few burros there, a single hotel, half a dozen
dwellings and that was it. The old Cabo San Lucas was a delight.
Having gone back there in recent times, you just see this sprawling
metropolis that has grown up as a result, I suppose, of the its popularity.”
In 1975, Princess was approached by a television producer about using
its ships as the setting for a weekly series. Fortunately, Princess decided
that it could live with the inconveniences associated with filming a series
on an operational ship and agreed. The series was, of course, The Love
Boat and it ran for a decade, making Princess Cruises a household name
and jump-starting the cruise industry. “It introduced to people the idea
that cruising was possible for ordinary people, not just for the rich and
famous.”
In those early days, however, some of the traditions that had been part
of life on the old liners still remained. “All the officers used to dine at
passenger tables. It was expected, almost an obligation, that you did so
except for fairly extreme circumstances. That was all the officers, second
officers, third engineers, and so on, all had a passenger table, dined with
the passengers and invited the passengers to the cabin for drinks before
dinner and things of that nature.”
Over the years, this type of interaction between officers and passengers
faded away on cruise ships. “Ships started getting a lot bigger with a lot
more people. The idea of greeting people at cocktail parties on the big
ships is just logistically impossible. So, the hotel side and the
entertainment side became more and more specialized and larger. The
idea that deck and technical officers were so involved with hosting
became de-emphasized at the same time. There was also more and
more emphasis on their professional duties in an increasingly complex
technical environment in which the officers worked. I think what really
phased it out was anytime dining. Much of what enables officers to host
tables depends upon the passenger being assigned to the first or second
seating dinner, having an assigned table and going to that place at the
assigned time whereas many modern travelers want a holiday as they
might ashore, which means that they want a less structured lifestyle.”
In 1988, P&O acquired Sitmar (the name was short for Societa
ItalianaTransporti Maittima, S.p.A), which had also been competing in
the West Coast cruise market. P&O folded the Sitmar operation into
Princess Cruises. As part of this acquisition, Princess gained the
FAIRSKY (46,314 gross tons), which Princess renamed SKY
PRINCESS (later PACIFIC SKY). Captain Rynd’s career at Princess
also included commanding this vessel. “I believe she was the last steam
turbine ship ever built. She was launched in 1984 and she was started
nearly two years before that. French built. That was a wonderful
experience in the sense that I felt part of history just being there. Steam
turbine ship, very rare these days, very smooth propulsion, of course, but
a whole different way of approaching maneuvers and handling her as
compared to a diesel electric which is the modern idea of propulsion
configuration.”
With turbines, there is “far less power astern, maybe one third. They
also take time to get those revolutions on - - going ahead, slow them
down, stop them, go astern and so forth. So, they responded less
quickly to maneuvers than the modern ships.”
In addition, SKY PRINCESS “was built as older traditional ships were
with a single rudder and two fixed screws. That is not a maneuverable
combination. We were cruising the South Pacific islands with no pilots
and no tugs. She presented some challenges which required good
foresight and a keen eye on what the weather was doing to enable her
safely.”
“Also, you always had to be mindful of the enormous up-take of cooling
water and the consequences when you got into shallow water. The
steam condensers required vast quantities of water. What happened if
you were coming into a remote Pacific island anchorage in a strong
wind? You had to keep that ship on track, on course and this required
speed to maintain steerage way until the ship would get to where you
wanted to anchor and then needed to go astern with full power. All the
shells and matter from the bottom would get sucked up into the
condensers. The engineers didn’t like you for that because they would
have to pull all the sea life out of their condensers. So, you had to handle
her gently from that sense.”
Sitmar also had a series of ships on order when it was acquired by
P&O. Two of these were the CROWN PRINCESS (now OCEAN
VILLAGE TWO) and REGAL PRINCESS (soon to be renamed
PACIFIC DAWN for P&O Australia). These two ships, completed in
the early 1990s, were approximately 70,000 gross tons, 811 feet long
and 103 feet wide. In addition to being larger than most cruise ships of
the era, they featured a radical new silhouette that looked more like an
airplane fuselage or a dolphin than a traditional ship. REGAL
PRINCESS was another of Captain Rynd’s commands. “REGAL
PRINCESS was one of those next generation passenger ships or cruise
ships. But, again, single rudder, twin screw, a little more maneuverable
but not an awful lot more. A very nice ship, although not every ones’
idea of design. Renzo Piano designed the outside. She is not everyone’s
taste but inside she is beautiful, she is lovely.”
Captain Rynd brought the new PACIFIC PRINCESS into service for
Princess in 2002. This ship is 30,277 tons and was one of eight nearly
identical ships built for Renaissance Cruises, which had gone out of
business. “She was one of the R-boats and they were real sweeties.
The interior is beautiful in the classic sense, sort of an English country
house sort of décor inside and decoration like the original PACIFIC
PRINCESS. Again, a small complement, 660 passengers, half that in
crew.”
The top-of-the-line ships in the Princess fleet are the Grand-class
ships. In 1998, the lead ship in this class GRAND PRINCESS dazzled
the industry with her enormous size (108,000 tons) and her radical for
the time design. That design has proved so popular and successful that
Princess has continued to build Grand-class ships ever since. In 2004,
Captain Rynd took command of the new SAPPHIRE PRINCESS. “The
GRAND PRINCESS was the first of the series and I should think that in
each successive ship they have thought about how they did it and put it
together and improved on that where they could. So, these two
[SAPPHIRE and sister DIAMOND PRINCESS] had the benefit of
their pedigree but also the benefit of their construction in a Japanese yard
[Mitsubishi Heavy Industries] which would appear to be very good
indeed. They were built extremely well. If you consider the way
Japanese build cars, the same with ships, they were wonderfully well put
together, well-tested and delivered clean, tested, functional. Very well-
handled and a very beautiful ship.”
(continued)
Captain Christopher Rynd
THE PRINCESS YEARS ..... This page
THE CUNARD YEARS ...... Page 2
CLICK HERE FOR PDF VERSION OF THIS
ARTICLE
THE CUNARD YEARS ...... Page 2
CLICK HERE FOR PDF VERSION OF THIS
ARTICLE
One of Captain Rynd's early
commands was the original Love
Boat, PACIFIC PRINCESS.
commands was the original Love
Boat, PACIFIC PRINCESS.
As a result of the Sitmar
acquisition, Princess obtained the
futuristic-looking CROWN
PRINCESS (above) and REGAL
PRINCESS (soon to be renamed
PACIFIC DAWN). Captain Rynd
commanded REGAL PRINCESS
(below).
acquisition, Princess obtained the
futuristic-looking CROWN
PRINCESS (above) and REGAL
PRINCESS (soon to be renamed
PACIFIC DAWN). Captain Rynd
commanded REGAL PRINCESS
(below).
| CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER VIEWS |
