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Post by Scott on Sept 14, 2012 18:21:32 GMT -8
BC Ferries website has been down for almost 24 hours as far as I can tell, and before that it was having problems. Anyone have a printed schedule?? Ah. OK. The time I tried this morning, I should have just tried refreshing my browser. I guess they were just offline for a while last night then. Prior to that, though, I was having problems with the reservation system. It's all good now!
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Post by lmtengs on Sept 14, 2012 19:35:09 GMT -8
BCF is promoting irresponsible behaviour Hey, in the interests of spotting irony, I think I should defend BC Ferries by saying that they likely accept full responsibility for their actions to that likely-fake sea-star, and that they aren't encouraging others to hold a sea-star like that. Or maybe they understand the issue, but they "just don't care." Yeah, what's with people using websites to promote irresponsible behaviour? Seems to be a lot of that happening these days.... Sarcasm, Mike. Sarcasm.
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Post by ferryfanyvr on Sept 14, 2012 20:41:47 GMT -8
BC Ferries website has been down for almost 24 hours as far as I can tell, and before that it was having problems. Anyone have a printed schedule?? For me, I haven't been able to use the reservations page for the past 2 days. As soon as I pick a departure terminal from the drop-down menu, the page refreshes and my selection is gone.
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Post by Scott (Former Account) on Sept 14, 2012 20:49:11 GMT -8
For me, I haven't been able to use the reservations page for the past 2 days. As soon as I pick a departure terminal from the drop-down menu, the page refreshes and my selection is gone. Same here. I have used multiple browsers on my computer, as well as the browser on my tablet, but it still continues to do what you mentioned.
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on Sept 14, 2012 22:00:04 GMT -8
There is something on their site about the problems they have been having! I have been having problems too.
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Post by lmtengs on Sept 15, 2012 9:06:31 GMT -8
For me, I haven't been able to use the reservations page for the past 2 days. As soon as I pick a departure terminal from the drop-down menu, the page refreshes and my selection is gone. Same here. I have used multiple browsers on my computer, as well as the browser on my tablet, but it still continues to do what you mentioned. Ditto here. I'm using only Google Chrome though, so I just shrugged it off as being one of those things that BCF's website does since it 'doesn't support' Google Chrome. Not supporting Chrome is pretty stupid in my eyes, considering that it's one of the big four browsers, along with IE, Safari, and FF.
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Post by Nickfro on Nov 5, 2012 16:38:08 GMT -8
I just spent 30 minutes on the BCFS website looking for maximum height clearances for each ferry and found nothing. I'm mainly looking for clearances on the Route 30 vessels (including any possible replacement ships). Maximum overall vehicle length would be nice too. Any assistance please? Thanks in advance!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2012 21:11:37 GMT -8
Nick: Go to the travel centre and select the route you want (ie from Tsa to Duke). You'll get a list of ships doing the sailings on that day, and the height clearances are next to the ship's name.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2012 13:41:43 GMT -8
What is up with the download Accessibility, Evacuation & Safety Brochure on the profile on the major and northern vessels? Do they need by law?
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Post by ferryfanyvr on May 2, 2013 19:17:49 GMT -8
It appears BC Ferries has changed their Travel Centre/reservations page and as of right now, I'm not impressed. You used to be able to enter a date, departure terminal, and arrival terminal for any route and immediately be able to see the sailings and the vessels. Now it appears you have to also enter passenger information and vehicle information as well before the sailings will be shown. Then if you want to check another date, you have to back out and start again! And as far as I can tell only the reservable routes are being shown. I used to like using this feature to quickly check when ships are scheduled for refit and therefore would check the same route for several consecutive days. This will be much more cumbersome now. I guess we ferry geeks are the only ones who use the reservations page for such purposes, but it will be hard to get used to. Maybe I'm missing something.....I will check it out again later.
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Koastal Karl
Voyager
Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
Posts: 7,747
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 3, 2013 22:03:45 GMT -8
I was wondering the same thing too. I agree I am not impressed I liked having the travel centre as you could see what ships are on what routes. It sucks now as you dont know which ships are on the routes other than the mainland routes. oh well they are always changing something it seems.
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Post by Blue Bus Fan on May 4, 2013 12:06:53 GMT -8
I was wondering the same thing too. I agree I am not impressed I liked having the travel centre as you could see what ships are on what routes. It sucks now as you dont know which ships are on the routes other than the mainland routes. oh well they are always changing something it seems. Hopefully they put the vessels on the schedule page for the route; like how WSF have it.
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Post by ferryfanyvr on May 5, 2013 9:00:40 GMT -8
I was wondering the same thing too. I agree I am not impressed I liked having the travel centre as you could see what ships are on what routes. It sucks now as you dont know which ships are on the routes other than the mainland routes. oh well they are always changing something it seems. Hopefully they put the vessels on the schedule page for the route; like how WSF have it. Well I sent my comments to customerservice@bcferries.com and received a reply that I could get the vessel info for all routes by looking at the schedules page. We all know this is not true. I phoned their customer service line and after almost 30 minutes on hold my call was answered by the same agent who responded to my email. He was quite nice and admitted that there have been many negative comments after the recent changes and told me the comments are being taken seriously. He told me that they were trying to make the reservations page more user friendly but in doing so, less travel information is now being provided. If anyone here feels the same way, I urge you to send in your comments. Having the ship assignment info available online is not just for ferry fans. If I was taking a big RV from Swartz Bay to Mayne Island, I would definitely want to know which sailings the Cumberland would be on as opposed to the Mayne Queen, for example.
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on Nov 30, 2013 18:13:56 GMT -8
Very entertaining crossing back to Hornby this afternoon, starting with Kahloke bucking and rolling in her berth at Gravelly Bay, and then a route across stormy Lambert Channel that had us heading more toward Ford Cove than Shingle Spit, until we got into the lee of Hornby. But, to my point...
I find this note on each of the ship profile pages quite amusing.
*Care has been taken to ensure that the contents of this page are accurate, but vessels are periodically modified and BCF does not accept any responsibility or any liability for any errors or inaccuracies in the data listed.
Now, I could understand this disclaimer if the source was independent of BC Ferries, and conveying information about the company. But it's their profile page; why wouldn't they take responsibility? Do they farm the writing out to high schools as an educational exercise?
And as to the excuse that "vessels are periodically modified"... they've had the wrong vehicle capacity attached to Tenaka for years on its profile page. Wakey wakey, Fort Street.
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Post by compdude787 on Nov 30, 2013 22:22:04 GMT -8
BCF pretty much puts those dumb disclaimers up so that people don't sue them. Yeah, it's pretty dumb. I can't understand how hard it is for them to get the vessel capacities right. It shouldn't be that hard for them to change it. Maybe it's just an excuse for the webmasters to be lazy... I don't know.
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 13, 2014 18:17:24 GMT -8
Here is the May 2014 "On Board" BCFS newsletter. HERETake a look at the flower picture under "fresh pics" and tell me what it immediately reminds you of (in a first-glance, kinda / sorta / close way)
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Mayne
Voyager
I come from a long line of sinners like me
Posts: 289
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Post by Mayne on May 13, 2014 19:58:38 GMT -8
Here is the May 2014 "On Board" BCFS newsletter. HERETake a look at the flower picture under "fresh pics" and tell me what it immediately reminds you of (in a first-glance, kinda / sorta / close way) Ya I really wonder where the inspiration for that flower came from lol But I am still having a good chuckle over the extremely photo shopped picture of the three deer as the header
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Post by compdude787 on May 14, 2014 14:16:47 GMT -8
Here is the May 2014 "On Board" BCFS newsletter. HERETake a look at the flower picture under "fresh pics" and tell me what it immediately reminds you of (in a first-glance, kinda / sorta / close way) Ya I really wonder where the inspiration for that flower came from lol But I am still having a good chuckle over the extremely photo shopped picture of the three deer as the header It looks like that flag that used to be flown on the ferries, and painted on the stacks. And yes, now that you mention it, that header photo does look photoshopped; the grassy field in front of the rocky shore doesn't look right...
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 4, 2014 19:27:54 GMT -8
I find this note on each of the ship profile pages quite amusing.
*Care has been taken to ensure that the contents of this page are accurate, but vessels are periodically modified and BCF does not accept any responsibility or any liability for any errors or inaccuracies in the data listed.
Now, I could understand this disclaimer if the source was independent of BC Ferries, and conveying information about the company. But it's their profile page; why wouldn't they take responsibility? Do they farm the writing out to high schools as an educational exercise?
And as to the excuse that "vessels are periodically modified"... they've had the wrong vehicle capacity attached to Tenaka for years on its profile page. Wakey wakey, Fort Street. We were having a discussion today on the Tenaka thread about its real auto equivalent capacity versus that of the Nimpkish. Just how much additional traffic could be moved on the new (& unimproved) Discovery Coast Connector if the Tenaka was serving the route instead of the Nimpkish. More importantly how many more overheights could be moved if the Tenaka was on the route? As in the quote above (originating from Neil last November), much of the info shown on BCFS's fleet pages on their official website is inaccurate. It would be nice to have a listing by vessel of the real-world capacity for each vessel versus the capacity listed by BCFS. As an example the the C-class vessels are listed as having a car capacity of 360 'including 12 semis'. I believe the real number today would be more like 325 as cars are no longer parked on the ramps, and not on top of the ramp that allows vehicles to move between the upper car deck & the gallery deck below. They also don't stack the decks the way they once did. Large gaps between cars mean lost capacity. Furthermore, if there were 12 semis aboard, the remaining capacity left over for cars I believe would be about 250. Does anyone know if BCFS has their own unique means of determining car capacity? Is BCFS car capacity synonymous with the term AEQ (Auto Equivalents)? We know that AMHS measures what they call 'Alaska-sized vehicles'. Is there a BC-sized vehicle? How does WSF's measure vehicle capacities in their fleet. I am fairly certain that North American listed capacities can not be compared with Europe. Their standard vehicle used for determination of capacity is significantly smaller. When the NorAd was being used in the Mediterranean her auto capacity was listed as 154 plus an additional 28 vehicles in the lower 'tween deck' vehicle storage that is not used here.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2014 20:34:45 GMT -8
Route 3 still uses the ramps up to deck 3 to park cars, AFAIK. The general consensus is that the Surrey can carry 350 AEQs.
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 4, 2014 21:07:34 GMT -8
Route 3 still uses the ramps up to deck 3 to park cars, AFAIK. The general consensus is that the Surrey can carry 350 AEQs. I saw the emergency ramp between decks 3 & 4 being left empty on the Oak Bay when I was on it on June 14th. Is that also the case on the Surrey? Perhaps there is a restriction only on the Oak Bay? You say the Surrey can carry 350, but with all the slack loading I see, I would think actual numbers are well below that. Are cars parked on the fixed ramps between decks 2 & 3 (the gallery car decks) on other C-class vessels?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 5, 2014 20:34:03 GMT -8
Route 3 still uses the ramps up to deck 3 to park cars, AFAIK. The general consensus is that the Surrey can carry 350 AEQs. I saw the emergency ramp between decks 3 & 4 being left empty on the Oak Bay when I was on it on June 14th. Is that also the case on the Surrey? Perhaps there is a restriction only on the Oak Bay? You say the Surrey can carry 350, but with all the slack loading I see, I would think actual numbers are well below that. Are cars parked on the fixed ramps between decks 2 & 3 (the gallery car decks) on other C-class vessels? Yes, route 3 crews ( Surrey/Coquitlam) use the gallery deck ramps and the deck 3/4 ramps to park cars. The 3/4 ramp is only used when it's busy. And yes, the Surrey carries 350 if there are no overlength vehicles. Crews here are pretty good at pulling everybody up.
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Post by WettCoast on Nov 21, 2015 19:45:08 GMT -8
The BCFS official website has revamped & updated their history page and added a ' pdf' version of their history up to the year 2010. I have not noticed this before so I don't know if this is a recent change, or it has been around for a while. This still suffers from having minor (for the most part) inaccuracies in the history, some stuff is out of chronological order, important details (IMO) are left out, and their is a little too much BCFS spin on some details. Nevertheless, the revamp was overdue, and is welcome. www.bcferries.com/about/history/
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Post by Starsteward on Nov 22, 2015 15:13:57 GMT -8
The BCFS official website has revamped & updated their history page and added a ' pdf' version of their history up to the year 2010. I have not noticed this before so I don't know if this is a recent change, or it has been around for a while. This still suffers from having minor (for the most part) inaccuracies in the history, some stuff is out of chronological order, important details (IMO) are left out, and their is a little too much BCFS spin on some details. Nevertheless, the revamp was overdue, and is welcome. www.bcferries.com/about/history/ These changes are fairly recent as I was digging around for some info. on the 'Wack' before she was taken off the fleet list. The entries on the BCF history page are decent although the coverage of Route 10 is abysmal! I can understand that BCF may have not wanted to mention the 'Queen of the North', however just one small picture of a ship that served Routes 10, 11 and breezed in and out of Route 40 for over 40 years!! Not sure why they didn't include some of the good pictures they put into the 'pdf' version on the history section as well, Not sure why there was no mention on either platform of the 'Suzie Q'. Being ex-Black Ball, may have been the criteria for the 'Sechelt Queen' not mentioned. From a marketing perspective, using a photo of one of the cabins on the 'NorAd' rather than touting the 'NorEx' isn't advertising your new ship to the extent one might think or am I just too anally retentive for my own good? Overall, if I didn't know anything about BCF, I'd be somewhat impressed with the history page and the 'pdf' but BCF could have done a much better job on both sections if that's what their objective was in the first place.
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 2, 2016 16:38:55 GMT -8
I was on the BCFS official website, home page to be precise, & I noted an 'ad' promoting 'the north'. The aim I suppose is to increase passenger numbers on the northern services. At any rate they are showing a bull elk & some peaks in the Canadian Rockies as being representative of 'the north'. I wonder if the marketing folks at BCFS have any idea?
Maybe try for a photo of a herd of caribou grazing on a high plateau in the Cassiar Mountains. That might be a little more representative of 'the north'.
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