Engineroom Snipe

I would not be surprised that the Baltimore Port parking area might be temporarily converted to a work base for the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies as they bring in their response trailers and equipment. It is fenced in for security, has a large amount of enclosed heated/air conditioned space, and has access to a the water with a large docking area.

Fuel is one of the biggest expenses for Royal. One of the reasons they try to pack in the ports in short hop-to-hop is to save fuel. Secondary ones are more money from more shore excursions and less eating and drinking from everyone getting of the boat.

I am good. Hard to complain about losing a cruise compared to the families that lost the workers. We have made some other vacation plans and will spend the money elsewhere. As long as my wife is healthy and happy, I live the good life everyday.

I might be losing my house on one bet here and I would have lost my vacation house on this one. I am with you. I think the biggest difference was the fuel savings first and time second. They have enough supplies on board to get them to Port Canaveral where they will load up.

Gives Royal quite a bit of leeway to have you start anywhere and end anywhere. 😮

If you missed ship's movement in the Navy you are in deep "@@@@". Replace the p in ship with a t.

Everyone is under enough stress. It is a good idea to let them have some elbow space. They will not be in the best of moods on this journey.

I respect your background. A 2 cycle diesel uses a forced air blower (in many cases called a 'root' blower) which compresses atmospheric air to a higher pressure. The air is hot and dense after compression. A water cooled heat exchange often called an "after cooler" is used to cool the compressed air to make it more dense. After that, the turbocharger uses wasted energy of the exhaust combustion cycles to once again compress the intake air before injection into the engine. A lowly standard engine that would normally provide 198 hp without after cooling or turbocharging becomes a 460 hp powerhouse. As you know from your experience, the trade-off is engine life span before destruction. More hp equals more heat and the metal block does not have as many engine hours available.

You might have a point. Lots of parking at Baltimore Terminal not being used. Revenue for Baltimore Terminal and savings for cruisers. Organized busing to Norfolk and back. A great idea you gave them for free but I appreciate you.

70x50=3500 Keep those buses rolling, Rawhide!

Got you. I might only get a bit of mileage out of the offer. I just want to get that email stating that I do not qualify for the hotel expenses and gently place it in my post review of the cruise experience. "Would you recommend your friends or family for a Royal Caribbean experience?" Well, kinda no because there are so many costs that I am used to but rather hard to explain when they get that final bill. I have cruised for 35 years but it is hard to convey all of the add-ons and possible pit-falls to my children without them looking at me and going.,,,, 😲

While I am not surprised, my earlier post said a big (BUT IF) Royal Bean Counters are calculating the whole situation. Booking occupancy is at the highest levels we have seen even before Pre-Covid levels Royal can afford to cut their losses and lose a few customers "overboard". (Toy Story, Mr. Potato Head as he tosses 'Woody" overboard from the moving truck.) No FCC or OBC for you! Similar to a Seinfeld Sketch (No Soup for You!)

As @chengkp75 stated, it is a lagging power boost which needs increased power pulses from the engines to get it up to speed.

The turbocharger energy comes from exhaust gas pulses from combustion.

And I really appreciated your detailed review.

Fine print, offering up to $200 for change of plans to include mileage. I am traveling from New Jersey. I will document my additional mileage both to and from Baltimore to Norfolk. I accept that I am responsible for my original mileage to Baltimore back and forth. I will present receipts for my motel from the night before since I do not want to wake up at 4am in the morning to arrive at noon, too exhausting and too many variables. Not aligned with this post but a little disappointed that Royal does not seem to display any accommodations approaching the real cost of changing the port for me. I have to flex. I will flex. Not a good feeling going into my cruise. I think the bean counters have won the battle but Royal will lose the war of experienced cruisers second guessing more cruises with them. I can not claim any of the expenses on my travel insurance because Royal has not cancelled the cruise and my insurance does not start until midnight of the day I travel for the original cruise. Happy they did not cancel the cruise but unhappy about all the other little things. Regards.

Yes, April 4, I have received an email and another one from my TA.

We all have a choice: Sail or not to sail. At least they did not cancel the cruise. Will it cost me more money? Yes. I have stressed flexibility and compromise. Time for me to walk the talk.

COOPMINE UNIT 2205. We were how can I say it delicately, "expendable". Most of the Navy did not know we existed at the time.

Understood. With a nine man crew on an 80 footer, we did not have the layers of a larger ship. We were a mine hunter and had a small crew to minimize losses should we be compromised. Either I or my "watch engineer" were the only ones tending four engines and two generators. Not arguing your point but understand that some of us did not have many resources to get the job done like larger ships. In many cases, the Craft Master had to directly pick up the bridge phone because everyone else was occupied with their duties.

If the bells rang in my engine booth, my Craft Master knew I would do everything possible to answer them. If there was an extreme emergency, I would only call the bridge and state what our status was after exhausting every solution that I knew. I agree that the Craft Master is thinking "big picture" and trusted me to do my duty. I was never in the situation like the one described in this scenario. We had a much smaller vessel which in itself can be challenging when operating in heavy seas. For hours, our raw water intakes, which provided cooling water to the heat exchangers for the engines, would suck air as we "surfed" over the crest of waves requiring a purging of air from lines to establish flow. It was everything you could do to not burn yourself with the movement. I never dared question my Craft Master why he was running at flank speed. He had a reason and trusted me to keep the propulsion going.

I absolutely agree with what you said but maybe winds and current were more forceful than a dragging anchor. The anchor was dragging and did not "catch" to create enough force to overcome momentum, wind, and current.

Which one of you jokers put the "For Sale" sign on my lawn? 🤣

Modifying my post to reflect @chengkp75 stating that port fees are normally for a fixed time period so that in this case, the additional time at dock would not be an issue which would increase a port fee.

While some cruisers avoid a Coco Cay itinerary, a huge amount will only go on a cruise that has it as one of their port stops. Coco Cay is a money machine for Royal and I, like yourself believe, if they can sneak a third ship in somehow, they would do it. The island would be packed and all of the cabanas and excursions would be at maximum price and sold out.