OnTheJourney

And, TH responded similarly during his presentation onboard the Mars, where he admitted to "human error" as the chief cause of the event.

Of course, and yet far less of a risk than driving your car. Safer to fly than drive, and safer to cruise than fly, statistically speaking.

I don't believe this is a fully justifiable decision, but totally yours to make. It was undeniably a truly unfortunate set of circumstances (ala the "swiss cheese" model that Andy refers to). Probably safer sailing with Viking than flying with Boeing at the present time.

Yes. The final report has just been issued. It has been posted on the most recent page of the Viking Sky Survivors thread.

I have no idea what it even stands for, but didn't want to appear stupid enough to ask!

Agreed! Even moreso relative to any evac scenarios (such as ours) that preclude the use of the lifeboats. Evac by helicopter is inherently dangerous but especially in the conditions we were in. Judging from the (many) pictures I looked at, I estimated that the ascent from deck 8 to the chopper was about 100 ft. Throw in some twisting and turning yet (yikes!). I was certain that my camera case would probably drop off into the ocean. Joan said a few prayers on the way up, while I was also saying a few for her while watching from below. Scariest moment of my life up until this past Christmas Eve with Joan's hospital / 911 event. The first part of the quoted statement is, shall we say, pretty much a 'no brainer' that pertains to operating any vessel! Andy, I'll be anxiously awaiting your weigh-in on the report, as well as a few other expert mariners here.

Thanks so much for posting this! Long-awaited for sure. I see it is pretty lengthy and so saved it as a pdf (since I'll file it away for keeping along with the interim report). Should hopefully generate some interesting discussion. 5th anniversary coming up on Saturday!!!

LOL...you got it. Least they could do on Labadee was offer something special for suite guests. But, they know that people on cruises (where Labadee is on the itinerary) will still book suites regardless of whether RCL offers a different buffet and private beach area for them or not. I have no idea what happens on Cococay. Only ever been there once. It was exceedingly windy so we were only there a few hours.

Of course. It always comes down to $$

Sorry to hear that. Been a good many years since we were there. CC is certainly a beautiful (and large) facility, but we liked the smaller, less 'Disneyesque' feel that Labadee used to have. Oh well, like my Mom is always fond of saying, "nothing stays the same".

You don't need to be Pinnacle. It used to be for suite guests. They did away with it quite a few years ago already, at least I believe I'm right about that. It was simply a special area on Labadee reserved for suites. Everybody got a buffet lunch, but BBC got much better food. Used to enjoy going snorkeling there also.

I'll take the old "Barefoot Beach Club" (used to be for suite guests) on Labadee over Coco Cay anytime. Used to be a great buffet. We weren't impressed with what they put out on CC. Next time after spending some time on the beach we'll go back to the ship for lunch.

Are you on the cruise that recently left out of Ft. Lauderdale? Friend of mine is on that. Doing the ABC islands?

Yeah that does sound great. Like I said, not looking forward to the crowds in the finger lakes area. See what happens with the weather. If it's looking to be overcast or even partially cloudy, I might opt to keep my reservation on Keuka Lake for the 99.5% totality instead of wanting to be directly in the path. If my house were in the path, I could probably rent out camping space in my lower yard, for a premium price of course 😁

That's the part that quite frankly worries me a bit. This event will unfortunately bring out the undesirable elements of our society. After all the money spent on planning, preparing merchandise, etc. wouldn't it be a bust if the weather does not cooperate?!?

Sure...3:23 of totality there.

I wish! I wouldn't dream of going ANYwhere if we lived in the path. Not looking forward to crowds and traffic. Despite the undeniable nature of this once-in-a-lifetime celestial event, it's really not our sort of thing from the standpoint of the number of people it'll attract. Almost has a Woodstock sort of feel to it.

For sure, and super expensive also! We've passed it many times during our drives up that way. Most hotels are charging double / triple their usual rate. Can't blame 'em. Right now I have two places booked being that the first I considered turns out to not be in the path. That one's on Keuka Lake. 99.5% - still really good, but we figure if we're going to do this might as well go for totality. So I'm sitting on both reservations for now, but will likely cancel Keuka. That Geneva link is great. Thanks! Those public areas are gonna be jammed. Best to just hang out at the hotel and see how things are there. Just hope this event (nationwide) doesn't bring out the crazies, especially of the gun-happy sort. A bit concerned about that. "Eclipse crawl"?? Amazing!! Some of the activities taking place are really cool.

So what happens on these. Nightly concerts in the theatre by individual bands / artists - or even more frequently during the day at various places around the ship? Quite an extensive line-up for just 7 days. Sounds cool.

Absolutely! You get nearly 4 minutes of totality there. Have to be prepared for LOTS of people wherever we all are (in the path anyway). Traveling on the eclipse day could be tough in many areas.

Whereabouts does he live in NY?

Where are you going on the Summit? I've not followed this thread for quite awhile. One of our favorite cruises used to be the Summit out of Bayonne up to Canada / NE. Perhaps those are itineraries never to be seen again since, as I've recently discussed in a different thread, they shifted them to roundtrip Boston.

Anyone have plans for viewing the eclipse next month? We made reservations at a hotel in Geneva, NY since it's in the path of totality. Here's a really cool site to check it out: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when

Interesting. Didn't know that. Makes sense. So then I suppose RCL doesn't come in or out of Montreal either.

Great choice. We did that and loved it. I highly recommend a sled dog and/or reindeer excursion, as well as one that experienced the Sami culture. All of those are highlights from our 2019 trip. Just a friendly "hello" to a fellow "survivor" !! Hope you're doing well 😉 Can't believe it's going to be 5 years since that unique event.