oldvato

This is the first time we will do dinner at our own time. We have always had a set time. Early dinning, too many families with kids. Late dinning, too late. But one thing for sure. I have never been to late dinning where there aren't any empty tables.

Sometimes we don't even go to the MDR, but when we do, we leave as soon as we are finished. We don't wait for the entertainment. If our own time doesn't work out this time, then we won't do it again.

Food and drinks are part of the fee. Their web site should explain what amenities are part of the fee and which are extra. There is an extra charge for additional activities.

I watched the video twice earlier today and will join the choir in asking "what's the problem?" Liberty is still pending bow thruster motor replacement (as Chief notes above) so it needs tugs to move it in and out of dock. :confused:

The tug did its job...I am not sure what else is trying to be expressed here?

We are suppose to leave sunday out of Galveston for our 6 carnival cruise. Just got the letter that the schedule may change. We have had it happen before on the way back but never to start. Do yall think they will delay it a day.. Having to drive to Galveston thru floods is already a challenge. Now I'm starting to worry.. what do you think would be more likely to happen since we haven't left yet.. thanks for any ideas...

That's a hard one to answer. Its possible that your ports could be missed or changed. A ship will not come into port if the waters are rough or if visibility is poor. A ship will not stay in port if a storm is approaching. A ship moored to the dock can be damaged pretty bad against the dock if waters are rough. They prefer to ride out the storm at sea but will try to get out of it's way.

If you are driving in Texas check the TEXDOT road maps. They will show clear roads and flooded roads. http://drivetexas.org/#/10/29.1660/-95.5600?future=false

Cruise cams show the Breeze in port. Don't know about Liberty or if it's scheduled to be in Galveston today. http://www.galveston.com/cruisecam/

 

- Does anyone else get back from a cruise and feel like they are still on the ship? I am walking around my house like I'm learning to walk for the first time. It seems like the ground is wobbling. Anyone else?

I was in the Navy and hadn't been on a ship for 40 years. Yes, when we took our first cruise, I felt like I was still at sea when we got back on land. That was the only time I felt like that. I don't feel like that anymore when we cruise.

Exactly. I would never be outside alone at 2 am on a girls trip. Not on a ship, not on land. Why did the other girls leave her and go to bed? What was she doing? Either way, passing judgement is no good. She made a horrible decision and paid the ultimate price.

I would think that she was bunking with some of her friends. LIke you, I'm wondering what she was doing. What were her friends thinking that they waited til noon to report her missing? Maybe they thought she'd eventually show up. Like you, I think that passing judgement is not good.

Actually wouldn't want to sail with a bunch of disgruntled passengers ticked off because their itinerary was changed. It damages the atmosphere normally found on board.

IMHO, How sad that a person would be furious about missing a port when someone lost their lives. Just makes me think how uncaring the human race can be.

It's not that they are uncaring. MOst of them worked all year, and now they have free time to go on a cruise, and spend all that money to go have some fun, and then have something happen that will ruin it for them. I'm retired, but I still work during the school year driving a school bus, mainly to stay productive and active. I've been doing it for 8 years now.

Right about now, I'm ready for the school year to end, so that I can rest from those screaming kids. It's been a long year, and I'm ready for vacation. We are going on the Liberty in July 2nd, and I hope nothing happens that would ruin my vacation, because I'd be pretty disappointed too.

The question becomes was this lady alone? Who in their right mind would sit on the rail, and fall backwards into the water, especially if they are alone? Doesn't make any sense.

If you read the cruise contract that you agreed to, when doing the online check in, ports are not guaranteed so there is no way to cancel and get money back based on the potential of missing ports.

 

That being said, the ship was in Cozumel today.

They made it to Cozumel today, yes they did use tugs, but they were in Cozumel.

Nothing wrong with using tugs to dock.

That guarantee is not a workable solution in this case--if you read it you'll see that you must notify Guest Services within 24 hours of embarkation that you wish to claim the guarantee. Since the first full day of this cruise is a sea day, and the missed Cozumel ports have been after 24 hours have passed (and with no advance notice) then there is no way to claim it in time.

 

In order for it to work for you, they'd have to tell the passengers almost immediately after sailaway that the ship will not make port in Cozumel.

 

Our CD on the Triumph explained the whole process in great detail. If someone had see her go over...the ship would have stopped there.

That goes without saying. But in this case no one saw her jump, and no one knew when she went missing. It wouldn't surprise me that at the moment she was reported missing, security began going through the video.

It's not the coast guards job beyond 1-2 miles from the coast. There have been people recovered from the ocean that have been out for many hours beyond 12 before. It's kinda silly to not make an attempt.

 

Carnival must not want to pay out everyone's FCCs of 20-30% from people whining about missing a port.

People don't want to miss a port. But according to those links, the Coast Guard is looking for her.

The typical bridge team for a cruise ship is the Captain, the Staff Captain (also fully licensed to command), the Senior and Junior Officers of the Watch, the helmsman and a lookout.

 

Yes, since the '80's, all merchant ships have gone to bridge control of the engines, but then again, most ships are motor ships these days, steam ships are a bit of a dinosaur. Maneuvering in the Engine Control Room is like watching paint dry, there is nothing to do unless something goes south, which is why the Chief Engineer, the Staff Chief Engineer, the Chief Electrical Engineer, and the watch engineer are there.

 

During arrival/departure, the helmsman will be handling the wheel, and the Junior officer will be controlling the engine speeds. Thrusters lose nearly all effectiveness when the ship is above about 3 knots, so these are not yet a factor. Once close to the dock, typically the Captain will shift the controls to the bridge wing station closest to the dock, and he can control the steering, engines, and thrusters. Sometimes these are separate controls, and sometimes they are combined in a joystick control. The joystick is more common on "azipod" propelled ships, since the propulsion and steering are done by the same equipment.

Thanks for that info. I always wondered how things were done on the bridge of a cruise ship. Very informative.

Why would that suprise you? We not only have a Navy but Army, Air Force. and Marines. And we have every branch based here in Cozumel.

I've always known that Mexico has an army, and an air force. I didn't know they had Marines. I found out that Mexico had a Navy when I first visited Progresso on my first cruise several years ago. But I'm wondering if it's more like a coast guard than a sea going Navy. I don't think I've ever seen a Mexican Navy ship in open waters and, I've been to the Caribbean lots of times. Just curious.

Whether or not there was a pilot onboard (and if not, then the Captain has obtained "pilotage" for that port from the local government), the pilot NEVER is "in control" of a ship. The pilot is an adviser to the Captain on local conditions, plain and simple. A Captain never relinquishes his command of the ship, except in the Panama Canal, or when entering/leaving a drydock. The pilot, as granted by the Captain, may give orders to the bridge team, but he will never touch a control of any kind on the ship, and the Captain can either countermand the pilot or even relieve him completely, solely at the Captain's discretion. Typically, for cruise ships, the Captain will be on the bridge wing with the pilot at the maneuvering stand there when docking/undocking, and the Captain will be controlling at least the bow and stern thrusters, if not the propellers and rudders (Captain's choice). The pilot may give a command, but if the Captain feels it is incorrect, he is the one operating the thrusters, so he can adjust the response to what HE feels is proper.

I guess things are different on a cruise ship than it was when I was in the Navy. Of course the Captain is always responsible and never relinquishes command of a ship. The captain or the conning officer, never touched the controls.

I assumed that to be true also on cruise ships. I had no idea the captain actually touched any controls. I knew the captain is also on the bridge when going into port. I assume the port authority requires pilots because they are supposed to know the waters. So would it be true to say that all engines are now controlled at the bridge on modern ships?

Anyhow, thanks for the insight on how cruise ships work.

Just an FYI for those who are interested. In the old days, engine speed was not controlled at the bridge. We had a helmsman and a Lee helmsman. When the conning officer gave a command to adjust speed, the lee helmsman would telegraph the revolutions to the boiler rooms and the engine rooms. The boiler rooms would supply the steam and the engine rooms would adjust the prop revolutions. One boiler room and one engine room per screw.

One of my personal pet peeves against Captains is that they tend to treat thruster controls as "on/off" switches, rather than analog throttles.

If you don't like the cruise you have to notify within 24 hours of boarding.

 

The refund is 110% of the cruise fare.

 

It is not a refund of any govt taxes and fees; which can make up 30% or more of your total cruise costs. Not to mention you won't get your vacation time back, which isn't really Carnival's problem, but something each person has to consider if it is worth losing hundreds of dollars in taxes and fees to get off the ship as soon as possible. I can imagine a lot of other expenses associated with getting back home that Carnival is not responsible for.

 

So being disappointed and upset may not be enough to cause people to lose hundreds of dollars and completely miss out on their vacation.

The vacation guarantee is something they put out there. We are scheduled for the July 2nd cruise on Liberty. Port fees, taxes and port expenses are $131.40 for both of us. I don't have the guarantee in front of me so I can't argue what they pay, or not pay for. But as you say. It's up to each individual to determine if it's worth staying on board if they are having a miserable time. Of course you can't have your cake and eat it too. You can't be on the cruise for most of it and then decide you don't like it.

The power required to get away from a dock varies by the dock, and the surge varies by the depth of the docking area. Also, the cruise ship is larger than the Navy vessel, so requires more energy to move it, and the lines are typically stronger the larger the vessel gets. If the RCI ship was waiting to leave right after the Carnival ship, they may have had their thrusters going to keep the ship against the dock, which would also affect the amount of motion the wake from Carnival would cause.

Plus the cruise ship was probably further away from the one getting underway.

I think the thruster failed either arriving or departing Progresso. Even without one thruster, they may have been able to depart without tugs. As I've said, it all depends on port regulations and weather conditions. This Mexican Navy ship you've seen, is it docked and watching, or waiting to dock until the cruise ship leaves? This could be indicative that the normal docking causes excessive surging and the Navy tends to undock or wait to dock until a cruise ship leaves or docks, and would indicate that the Navy didn't get away before the Liberty started maneuvering, not that anything unusual caused the popped lines on the Navy vessel.

All the times that I've been to Progresso, the Navy ship is not docked. It is cruising around as we are pushing away from the pier and as we get underway. I don't remember a hundred percent, but it might have escorted us out of the port area. Could be like you say that they are waiting to dock.

There have been a few times in Galveston, when we pulled away and got underway, there was always a Royal Carribbean cruise ship moored behind us also waiting to get underway. Their mooring lines didn't break. This was during the Sunday 7 day cruises, before Carnival had three ships.

Yea I like the Triumph no complaints AT ALL...will try the Liberty next

month :)

My main complaint about the Triumph, was the smell of smoke throughout the Promonade (5th deck). Some of the activities were held just outside the casino, and I couldn't handle it. Being an ex smoker, I think I'm more sensitive. But if you are a smoker, you won't mind the smell.

The aft show room (the comedy club), didn't smell of smoke inside it, but there was one waiter that smelled like he hadn't taken a shower in days. I won't say where he appeared to be from because it's not politically correct.

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We texted Mr. Sancho's and they quickly replied and switched our day (we're on the July 2nd cruise). So there should be no problem switching your dates.

That verbiage hardly holds up in a court of law. People just throw it around like it means something. And you never even come close to a court of law just to get a bit more out of them, especially when it's a mechanical problem.

 

Check out you options. Check out everyone's favorite as well, cruiselawnews.

 

Tugs were not used in Progresso, and are only required when necessary based on the port conditions and regulations.

 

The article linked from the Houston paper showed a tug in standby, which is normal, until actually needed.