Mill Bay
Voyager
Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,886
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Post by Mill Bay on Dec 10, 2008 21:57:22 GMT -8
Conspicuous by its absence is the phrase a whole new level of travel experience in this BCFS news release. I suspect that this vessel will work out well on a number of shorter haul routes in the BCFS system. On this route, however, the loss of an amenity such as the 'full service' cafeteria that users are accustomed to will be noticed. You still have to take into account the fact that the Queen of Chilliwack does not have a necessarily 'full' service cafeteria either, and would the difference in services be noticed enough that BCFerries would be inclined to provide an alternate vessel, something which doesn't really even exist anymore at present with the Tsawwassen gone.
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Post by Scott on Dec 10, 2008 22:11:03 GMT -8
What level of snack bar will the Island Sky have? Will it be Queen of Capilano style or a little more extensive like the snack bar on the C-class vessels? Can you get hot dogs on the Queen of Capilano? If they wanted to expand their menu a bit they could follow the example of the Coho and sell soggy microwaved plastic wrapped cheese burgers...
Still.. I think you can have a pretty decent selection of food without a cafeteria - pizza, sandwiches, hot dogs, fries?. I forget what the Queen of Chilliwack's fare was... it's been a few years.
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Post by WettCoast on Dec 10, 2008 22:19:20 GMT -8
The Queen of Chilliwack had pretty good food the last time I was on her. But then again, she was on route 40!
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Post by Ferryman on Dec 10, 2008 22:33:00 GMT -8
The Queen of Chilliwacks menu on Route 7 is like your average Major vessel, but without the burgers and fries. I was aboard the Queen of Chilliwack this past Sunday, and was forced to deal with the limited cafeteria aboard her. In the coolers you can have things like the Bread Garden sandwiches, typical dessert treats (cheese cake, chocolate cake, nanaimo bars, etc...). For hot foods, I think there was hot dogs, chilli dogs (ironic that they sell chilli?), and sticky buns. So the food service on the Chilliwack is only a half step up from the Capilano/Cumberland with the Chilli dogs I guess.
On the Tsawwassen however, there was a fair variety of your basic burgers and friends, plus the items that were mentioned on the Queen of Chilliwack.
Conclusion: Food service will not be any different during the winter with the Island Sky. But in the summer, there might be a few disappointed people, but I'm sure they'll survive without their burger and fries.
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Post by DENelson83 on Dec 10, 2008 23:52:15 GMT -8
I hope that the Island Sky will occasionally sub for the Queen of Burnaby on route 17, so I can take a round trip on her.
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Post by coastalindecision on Dec 12, 2008 19:23:55 GMT -8
Some pics from inside the Island Sky: Cafeteria - (Hotdog and Sandwich) Passenger Lounge Seating Food Section Seating View from the Bridge - (Downtown and the PacifiCat Voyager...still collecting dust)
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Post by Scott (Former Account) on Dec 12, 2008 19:31:15 GMT -8
Thank you for sharing those photos..!
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Post by Canucks on Dec 12, 2008 21:10:47 GMT -8
Awesome photos! The ship looks really nice inside. I like how the cafeteria seems to be glassed off, this should keep some of the noise down. Thanks for tempting us with those photos Coastal Indecision, I can't wait to ride on her now.
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Nick
Voyager
Chief Engineer - Queen of Richmond
Posts: 2,078
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Post by Nick on Dec 12, 2008 23:31:24 GMT -8
She actually looks really nice inside. Thanks for those pictures!
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Post by Ferryman on Dec 12, 2008 23:44:20 GMT -8
The Island Sky actually turned out nicer on the inside than I had first imagined. Originally I was picturing the plastic seats like on the Capilano/Cumberland with the cafeteria seating on one end. But in those photos, at a really quick glance, it could almost be mistaken for the interior of a C-Class.
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Post by Curtis on Dec 13, 2008 1:50:14 GMT -8
Thanks for posting those photos, "Coastal Indecision". I agree with Chris, she's a bit more luxurious than I would have thought. Looking at the plans for the I-Sky on Kevin Stapleton's site, www.pbase.com/kstapleton/image/101870615and looking at the photo of the snack bar above, I've now figured out the layout of deck 4. I'll have photos of the I-Sky at Saltery Bay by the end of the weekend hopefully.
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Post by Hardy on Dec 13, 2008 5:02:07 GMT -8
You still have to take into account the fact that the Queen of Chilliwack does not have a necessarily 'full' service cafeteria either, and would the difference in services be noticed enough that BCFerries would be inclined to provide an alternate vessel, something which doesn't really even exist anymore at present with the Tsawwassen gone. I agree that the "down-scaling" in food service will be amongst the "shortcomings" that will be readily picked up upon by the travelling public. Another will be the lack of a covered car deck. I am undecided in my own mind on how the latter will play out, however, I know that I certainly would prefer to be within the confines of the QoCh or former QoT rather than out on the open decks given this wintery time of year... The most reasonable options would be to revisit this design aspect for follow-on vessels of this class. While I doubt that they will enclose the car deck, an upgraded food service arrangement is a distinct possibility. That said, there is nothing hog-tying BCFS from considering a little more protection across that car deck either, but that would start to morph into major design alterations for follow-on vessels...
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Post by Hardy on Dec 13, 2008 5:06:55 GMT -8
Is that ceiling finished, or did they happen to have a lot of panels off for access work? ? ? Thanks for the shots too, BTW.
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FNS
Voyager
The Empire Builder train of yesteryear in HO scale
Posts: 4,948
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Post by FNS on Dec 13, 2008 9:57:20 GMT -8
Is that ceiling finished, or did they happen to have a lot of panels off for access work? ? ? Thanks for the shots too, BTW. Great photos! I think they still had more work to do (when these pictures were taken) before the remaining overhead panels could be installed.
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Post by Ian on Dec 13, 2008 11:39:44 GMT -8
Why does the car deck need to be covered. What are you protecting the cars from? Water?
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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 Dec 13, 2008 12:10:09 GMT -8
Awesome photos. She sort of reminds me of the Alberni for some reason!
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Post by Curtis on Dec 13, 2008 12:42:47 GMT -8
Replying to the covered car deck posts above, I see no problem with covering the car deck unless you drove off the boat with a foot of snow on your car or your car has a bunch of dents or cracked glass from hail the size of golf balls. But remember, a dozen other ferry routes have to put up with an open car deck and some don't even get some type of cover. So what, you don't like getting wet?
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Post by Low Light Mike on Dec 13, 2008 14:11:00 GMT -8
She sort of reminds me of the Alberni for some reason! I thought the same thing, especially re the 'Alberni's original configuration. I think it's the fat middle section, along with the protrouding & tapered narrow end.
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Post by Scott on Dec 13, 2008 14:43:25 GMT -8
Very nice shots. The snack bar is kind of what I had in mind as a step up from the Queen of Capilano.
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Post by Hardy on Dec 13, 2008 16:01:09 GMT -8
Replying to the covered car deck posts above, I see no problem with covering the car deck unless you drove off the boat with a foot of snow on your car or your car has a bunch of dents or cracked glass from hail the size of golf balls. But remember, a dozen other ferry routes have to put up with an open car deck and some don't even get some type of cover. So what, you don't like getting wet? I meant it as a comparison, going from an enclosed car deck ferry in both main seasons to the open decked IS. Rte-7 being a more northerly route (than the SGIs, NGIs etc) with an open deck vessel. Not necessarily a bad thing, just a different thing. Being what it is, we will see how she handles the weather and the tidal conditions. Protecting cars from salt-water spray/wash comes into play if you are going to have a LOT of water coming onto the deck from sea conditions ...
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Post by ferrytraveller on Dec 13, 2008 16:23:34 GMT -8
well, heres a bit of a excerpt from BCFS about the ISLAND SKY.
It is with great pride and excitement that we announce that we have accepted the MV Island Sky as the newest vessel to join the BC Ferries fleet. A crew from Saltery Bay delivered the ship, which will serve on Route 7 on the Sunshine Coast, to her home terminal at Saltery Bay this past weekend. An extensive training program is now underway to familiarize crews with the new vessel.
We send our thanks to all of the employees involved with the Island Sky for their terrific work to bring this ship into the BC Ferries family. The Island Sky now joins the Kuper, Northern Adventure, Coastal Renaissance, Coastal Inspiration and Coastal Celebration as part of the company's extensive fleet revitalization plan. Congratulations to all.
By the sounds of that, it seems that is IS will do a great job for what she was build and I personally believe that she will surprise all of us on the forum! I know I want to be there to ride her when she comes in to service.
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Post by Ian on Dec 13, 2008 20:45:21 GMT -8
Yeah, but covering the car deck doesn't protect the cars from spray. And you don't need to protect cars from the weather as they sit outside anyways and travel at speeds of 100+ km/h.
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Neil
Voyager
Posts: 7,196
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Post by Neil on Dec 13, 2008 22:36:19 GMT -8
The Powell River Queen was the route 7 vessel for probably 25 years, so an open car deck is nothing new there.
Paul: I believe the Island Sky's service speed is 14 knots, not 12.
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Post by ferrytraveller on Dec 14, 2008 11:33:33 GMT -8
Island sky's service speed is to be 14 knots and yes the Powell River Queen did run route 7 very well with very little complaints for many, many years, so i am sure the IS will do just fine!
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Post by Curtis on Dec 14, 2008 13:03:51 GMT -8
Just pointing out the little details. The I-Sky's service speed is 14.5 knots. It goes 0.5 knots faster than the PR Queen and the Queen of Capilano. (and the Chilliwack if she runs on all her RAD Units) But She is 2.5 Knots slower than the Queen of Tsawwassen.
Hopefully she can keep the schedule at 14.5 knots.
Anyways. I'm heading out in a few minutes to see the I-Sky. So hopefully I'll post photos here tonight.
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