Neil
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Post by Neil on Mar 22, 2015 22:20:54 GMT -8
The Vancouver cruise ship season isn't shaping up as the biggest in terms of departures or passenger totals, but it might be the longest, with the first departure today, and two Princess vessels visiting in both November and December. Spread out might be just as good as an increase, although how many Americans are going to be singing the praises of a Vancouver November?
For my money, the nicest looking vessel visiting this year is L'Austral, operated by boutique company Ponant. Just a few visits. en.ponant.com/Ships/L-Austral
Yes, the unpleasant sound you hear is indeed Ernie, gagging. Terrible when a man is forced to live in the wrong century.
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Post by gordon on Mar 23, 2015 6:18:45 GMT -8
Vancouver's cruise numbers should be about the same as last year maybe take a bit of a dip next year. Crystal cruises returns next year.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Mar 23, 2015 7:21:37 GMT -8
December is really late for cruise ships to be cruising up here. I wonder where the Oct to Dec ships will be cruising? I wouldent think they would still be doing Akaska at that time! Maybe some Hawaii cruises and Coastals as they had some round trip cruises like that last year! I would love to see cruises up here all year though!
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Post by Starsteward on Mar 23, 2015 11:13:45 GMT -8
October, to December 2015 sailings are limited to the Star Princess, and Ruby Princess, doing round trip sailings between Vancouver and California, some sailings stopping in Victoria as the ships head South.
The full 2015 cruise ship season can be found on the Port Metro Vancouver website.
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grk
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Post by grk on Mar 24, 2015 0:32:25 GMT -8
The December voyages are to position the ship to and from dry docking in Esquimalt. It seems that any revenue is needed so rather than deadheading up and back as has been done over the years, they will do revenue sailings. Those who buy might get a very interesting ride in December; this year the seas on the outer coast were massive at times with some vessels taking storm damage. Think I will pass!
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mrdot
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Mr. DOT
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Post by mrdot on Mar 24, 2015 10:50:40 GMT -8
taking a re-positioning trip this time of the year, across the North Pacific, can be a risk for us seniors, as we may not have good sea legs anymore, and the trip up to the midnite buffet, could be a death sentence, to eat like that, 'to get our moneys worth' mrdot.
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on Mar 24, 2015 20:43:03 GMT -8
It is interesting that they are doing reposition cruises that late in year. It probably wouldent be all that exciting as it's basically just non stop from Vancouver to LA. The only cruise that late out of Vancouver that looks ineresting is the California cruise that departs from Vancouver goes down as far as Long Beach and returns to Vancouver which is like a 10 night round trip cruise. The Grand Princess is on route to Hawaii right now round trip from Vancouver. After this cruise she will be doing another round trip Hawaii cruise. Is it just the Ruby Princess going for refit to Esquimalt?
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grk
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Post by grk on Mar 25, 2015 7:39:48 GMT -8
Dry dock availability for the very wide Grand class vessels in an issue on the west coast of North America. Ruby is going into drydock in early December finishing up in time for a Christmas cruise. Grand is doing an 8 day wet dock in Vancouver this May after the California trip and prior to Alaska. Crown is heading for the Esquimalt dry dock in early May before her first Alaskan sailing. I am off work for a month now but do think I saw paper work last week on Holland vessels also in the mix but I was not working on those movements.
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Post by Starsteward on Mar 26, 2015 10:06:03 GMT -8
taking a re-positioning trip this time of the year, across the North Pacific, can be a risk for us seniors, as we may not have good sea legs anymore, and the trip up to the midnite buffet, could be a death sentence, to eat like that, 'to get our moneys worth' mrdot. Sadly, 'mrdot' I must agree that our sea legs aren't what they used to be however all one has to do in terms of getting to the midnight buffet and then navigate safely to a table is ask that some fair steward/buffet attendant carry your try for you. Two trays might pose a bit of a challenge though. On the technical side of things, the only true ocean liners capable of sustaining real heavy weather belong to the Cunard folks. The monolithic guest barges operated by most of the cruise industry have such shallow drafts that one need not only be concerned with their sea legs to function adequately but I dare say one might need crew assistance with the journey to and from one's stateroom to the midnight food extravaganza.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Apr 9, 2015 10:39:28 GMT -8
The Vancouver cruise ship season isn't shaping up as the biggest in terms of departures or passenger totals, but it might be the longest, with the first departure today, and two Princess vessels visiting in both November and December. Spread out might be just as good as an increase, although how many Americans are going to be singing the praises of a Vancouver November?
For my money, the nicest looking vessel visiting this year is L'Austral, operated by boutique company Ponant. Just a few visits. en.ponant.com/Ships/L-Austral
Yes, the unpleasant sound you hear is indeed Ernie, gagging. Terrible when a man is forced to live in the wrong century.
On one of the travel channels there is a series on the smaller Cruise ships that ply various more unique locations. This ship may have been one of them. Maybe Tahiti and the various islands of French Polynesia? They had a carver on board and local interpreters to give talks and demonstrations between ports.
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Post by Northern Exploration on Apr 9, 2015 10:51:52 GMT -8
...and for 2015, Nanaimo gets 3 cruise ships. Three, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then Nanaimo's 2015 cruise ship season is complete. ------------- Celebrity Infinity June 5, 2015 Friday 0700 – 1700 hours from Ketchikan Silver Shadow July 15, 2015 Wednesday 1200 – 2300 hours from Sitka Celebrity Solstice September 21, 2015 Monday 0700 – 1700 hours from Seattle -------------- Silver Shadow is part of Silversea Luxury Cruises, with smaller ships and more service. (and more price) Silver ShadowMuch more price. This and Crystal and a few others operate 350 people ships and a few have 500 people ships now. Friends of my parents are regulars on the line. One of them calls themselves yachts. You tell them what you want stocked in your bar in your room, what snacks and amenities you want in your room, have a butler assigned to you. Within 24 hours the servers, bar staff and service/cleaning (hotel) crew has to recognize you and call you by your name. Everything is included rather than paying for everything. No cheesy shore excursions, you have special tours. Even the sweaters and shirts they have from the ships look very classy. Now that they have sailed on them they won't take any other cruise line. The smaller ships can go right into many ports and dock directly in the city or go up a river to an usual port. I remember them saying the big cruise ships park further out in a big shipping/industrial area where they were able to dock right downtown (I am thinking it was somewhere in Thailand or Vietnam.) They have done China, The Eastern Mediterranean, South East Asia and a few others. One thing it provides is that you can see more exotic places without worry about safety, food born illness and other traveler maladies. But I wonder how much local flavour you lose in the process.
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Post by northwesterner on Apr 9, 2015 14:44:07 GMT -8
When I drove tour buses in Alaska, the company I worked for had the Silversea contract. It was a big contrast for us, as typically we did Princess exclusively (later, after a merger, we also did HAL and NCL). Passengers tended to be reasonably wealthy (though certainly some were just upper-middle class). Though, celebrities tended self-select onto these cruises... one of my colleagues had Alex Trebek on a whale watching trip. Some of the drivers had a really hard time connecting with these guests. While the shore excursions (in our port at least, in Alaska) were basically the same as for the other ships, because the trips were included in the passengers cost of sailing, you had some really interesting things happen. First of all, there were always lots of no shows. They didn't pay anything extra for it, so no big deal to change their mind. Also, because they had nothing invested in the trip, they didn't even know what they were doing or what was included. I frequently (actually, I requested it because I really liked these groups and loved the timing of this trip) drove an evening Whale Watch + Mendenhall Glacier trip of the Silver Shadow. One trip my first year we had mom, dad, and their three teenage boys turn-up at the bus. We would go to the glacier first, then out Whale Watching. Because this trip didn't get back until after 9PM, a dinner buffet was served onboard the Whale Watch boat. When I boarded the family, they promptly went to the back of the bus. The father, however, stayed outside with me. I asked him what he was waiting for. He answered "we called Domino's for some pizza for the boys because we are going to miss dinner." What? "Sir, dinner is included on this tour..." "It is? We didn't know that." Another time, it must have been at the end of the season because the ship was in on a Friday instead of a Saturday, I was again doing a Glacier + Whale Watch tour. However, due to short days in the fall, it was an afternoon tour (no dinner buffet). This old guy pulled me side when we were boarding at the whale watch dock. He asked how long until the we got back to the ship. I told him the tour is over at 5:30PM and we were right on time. He asked if we could cut it short at the Glacier because his wife had to get ready for a dinner party on board the ship and couldn't be back any later than 5:30PM. I indicated that I couldn't short the rest of the passengers, but assured him his wife would make it. He was skeptical and as I was announcing the time back to the bus at the glacier he started arguing with me about his wife's timeline ("there's no way we'll make it") and tried to address the bus to get everyone back early so his wife could be back on time. I took control and indicated that it was imperative everyone got back to the bus on time (at the time I specified, not the passenger) because some of the guests had other events they needed to be on time for, and if everyone was back on time, we would make it. The husband and wife grumbled as they walked away, because I didn't bend to their request (and shorten the tour for the 25 other passengers on board). However, as the bus unloaded, I greeted everyone and asked them to please be punctual, because it was critical we wrap things up on time tonight. When I pulled up to load (at 5PM, for a 5:05 departure, with 25 minutes to get downtown), everyone was already there, lined up and ready to go. When we pulled onto the dock it was 5:30. I thanked everyone for being back on time so we could end on time. The husband was very pleased with our arrival ... he left with a "I guess I should have trusted your judgement, son. Thanks for getting it done tonight." IIRC, he left a generous tip with me, as well.
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grk
Chief Steward
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Post by grk on Apr 16, 2015 6:46:47 GMT -8
Starsteward mentioned that "only true ocean liners" belong to Cunard, and that certainly is true for Queen Mary 2. However it may be of interest to know that the Queens Elizabeth and Victoria are no different, and in fact are exactly the same, as other Vista class vessels belonging to the fleets of Holland America, Costa, Carnival, and P & O. Ships such as Westerdam, Carnival Spirit, and Arcadia belong to that class of ships, and while hotel arrangements are varied to suit the cruise line, the hull and machinery are the same (Holland's ships are 3 ribs shorter for some odd reason). Princess is the only Carnival Corporation fleet that does not have Vista class ships, as they refuse to have podded propulsion within their fleet. It could be argued that P & O ships Oriana and Aurora could be classed as ocean liners as they were indeed built for long trans oceanic cruising with thicker plating, deeper draft, and much larger food storage areas.
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Post by gordon on May 2, 2015 7:10:38 GMT -8
The Celebrity Solostice is jus completing her passage through Johnstone strait . It look loks like that the problem with the low hanging transmission line has been dealt with.
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grk
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Post by grk on May 2, 2015 14:43:35 GMT -8
The main mast was hinged with a hydraulic device fitted to raise and lower it.
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Post by gordon on May 3, 2015 6:05:24 GMT -8
Yes, i know that her mast was hinged prior to last season & she she still sailed the west coast of Vancouver island instead of the inside Passage last year
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grk
Chief Steward
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Post by grk on May 3, 2015 8:04:26 GMT -8
AT present both Norwegian Cruise Lines (Breakaway class) and Royal Caribbean (Explorer of the Seas) are having several of their vessels cleared for both Seymour and First Narrows for the summer of 2017. It seems itinerary planning is underway now for voyages. Princess is bringing another of their trio of large Grand class ships (Emerald) to the coast in 2017, and clearance was quick as both Ruby and Crown are all ready cleared.
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Post by gordon on May 3, 2015 8:40:14 GMT -8
It will be interesting if Seattle gets a Norwegian mega-ship because Pier 66 is not capable of handling anything larger than the current ships using it and Princess & Holland America get priority at pier 91 through a deal made wen the terminal was developed
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 3, 2015 13:35:38 GMT -8
Does anyone know what is up with the Grand Princess?? She was suppose to arrive in Vancouver Friday after her 10 day Coastal Cruise which she did. She was then suppose to depart for a 3 night coastal down to Astoria Oregon and back. Her webcam has shown her in Vancouver this past weekend but her vessel tracking on Seascanner.com showed her on route to Astoria and coming back too. Ship Mate iPhone App shows her in Vancouver. I see another ship tracking site shows her in Vancouver so I assume she is in Vancouver. According to one source she was suppose to stop in Victoria on that cruise today but she is not here and was not listed on the schedule for today in Victoria. Was there actually a 3 night coastal to Astoria planned and was it cancelled for some reason??? Also what is odd is the Vancouver cruise ship schedule shows her in Vancouver all next week. Anyone know what is up?? I know the Crown Princess is here in Esquimalt right now in drydock.
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Post by EGfleet on May 3, 2015 15:06:12 GMT -8
Does anyone know what is up with the Grand Princess?? She was suppose to arrive in Vancouver Friday after her 10 day Coastal Cruise which she did. She was then suppose to depart for a 3 night coastal down to Astoria Oregon and back. Her webcam has shown her in Vancouver this past weekend but her vessel tracking on Seascanner.com showed her on route to Astoria and coming back too. Ship Mate iPhone App shows her in Vancouver. I see another ship tracking site shows her in Vancouver so I assume she is in Vancouver. According to one source she was suppose to stop in Victoria on that cruise today but she is not here and was not listed on the schedule for today in Victoria. Was there actually a 3 night coastal to Astoria planned and was it cancelled for some reason??? Also what is odd is the Vancouver cruise ship schedule shows her in Vancouver all next week. Anyone know what is up?? I know the Crown Princess is here in Esquimalt right now in drydock. I don't know about the Crown Princess being in drydock in Esquimalt as it was in Astoira, OR, on Thursday when I was there. The entire town was flooded with passengers from the ship. Here's a lousy photo taken with my cell phone out the window of a moving car while on the way to Seaside.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2015 15:27:47 GMT -8
Does anyone know what is up with the Grand Princess?? She was suppose to arrive in Vancouver Friday after her 10 day Coastal Cruise which she did. She was then suppose to depart for a 3 night coastal down to Astoria Oregon and back. Her webcam has shown her in Vancouver this past weekend but her vessel tracking on Seascanner.com showed her on route to Astoria and coming back too. Ship Mate iPhone App shows her in Vancouver. I see another ship tracking site shows her in Vancouver so I assume she is in Vancouver. According to one source she was suppose to stop in Victoria on that cruise today but she is not here and was not listed on the schedule for today in Victoria. Was there actually a 3 night coastal to Astoria planned and was it cancelled for some reason??? Also what is odd is the Vancouver cruise ship schedule shows her in Vancouver all next week. Anyone know what is up?? I know the Crown Princess is here in Esquimalt right now in drydock. She's in Vancouver.
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Post by gordon on May 3, 2015 15:30:22 GMT -8
the Crown Princess headed from Canada place to Esquimalt early yeserday afternoon ( PPA current traffic) The Grand Princess is at CanadA Place for an 8 day wet- docking
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Koastal Karl
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 3, 2015 20:12:43 GMT -8
So was this wet docking planned?? And what would they be doing?? Because Seascanner.com is showing her still doing a 5 day Alaska leaving tomorrow. I take it that is not happening. Any why would her AIS be showing her as being in service??
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Post by gordon on May 4, 2015 6:16:37 GMT -8
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Koastal Karl
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Been on every BC Ferry now!!!!!
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Post by Koastal Karl on May 4, 2015 18:12:27 GMT -8
can someone tell me why seascanner.com is showing the Grand Princess on route to Ketchikan right now as her current position?? Her webcam shows her in Vancouver yet her current position shows her on the map heading to Ketchikan yet she is clearly in Vancouver. Why would it be saying two different things?? Someone forget to turn something off, lol!
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