ew101
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Posts posted by ew101
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On 10/26/2019 at 8:02 PM, BlueRiband said:
Here is what is known so far: Fincantieri 6274
The 6274 link had one helpful clue. The new ship looks to be 75 feet or so longer than the HAL version. So this could include a ballroom. I was hoping for LNG propulsion - Disney has gone that way also.
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I am hoping for more environmental features. While this is unimportant today to current passengers (we have proven that out here) during the projected lifetime of the ship this will change. We are seeing this trend on Viking and other lines. I am reminded of the last balcony-less ships that were built after the trend toward balconies was introduced. On the other hand passenger growth was so significant any ship sailed full no matter what.
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It is possible some dancing would be curtailed a bit by large seas in late season crossings. The QM2 is a sturdy ship but Force 7/8 winds and 30 foot seas are possible. You could also have it totally calm the whole week. We had very bad weather on a recent crossing and lost an evening of dancing. The ship is fast so you will move in and out of storms.
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Well online check-in was a bit annoying as you had to wait until exactly 30 days before departure to check in. But the e-mail reminder went out like 40 days ahead. I can confirm new plastic handwritten tags were applied to all bags at luggage drop off. Pro Tip: Online check-in gets you preferential check-in treatment after luggage drop off. There are dedicated agents and a much shorter line.
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I asked some very reliable sources here. The Zenith was in "good condition" but this was a "business decision" - the need for more balconies was mentioned. This increases I believe passenger capacity and total revenue for the line.
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4 hours ago, melody hounddog said:
Thanks for the wonderful photos. Do you know if there are cabs readily available?
Yes. They probably wanted longer fares to town, etc.
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We need Chengkp75 to respond to the Bat-Signal here. I think this is a legitimate technical/business question. We know a few facts. One is that the NFL is very fussy about their paid broadcast rights. There is no free lunch. The second is technical- is there a live feed available to a ship at sea? And on any sea? I saw a number online in the US it cost $2000 for a small bar and $120,000 for a hotel to get NFL games via satellite annually. If I was NCL and it was possible to get a live feed, I would put it (if possible) in a sports bar aboard and not spend $1m for the whole fleet for every room TV since my ships already sail full. And the idea that they want you to use the ship's Internet is not right- personal live video streaming uses a lot of scarce and expensive bandwidth- 200-700MB per hour per person or more.
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On 9/5/2019 at 3:09 AM, Host Hattie said:
We'll be travelling down to the New Forest this afternoon for an overnight stay before joining Queen Elizabeth in Southampton tomorrow for a 14 day cruise to Iceland.
I will try and post my random observations as usual.
Some friends drove around Iceland by car. This sounds more sensible. We are already missing lunch in the Golden Lion and the Latin dancing. Have a great trip.
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On 9/3/2019 at 8:47 AM, Empehi said:
2. Outside cabins. Are there any cabins that is a little bigger because of placement on the ship? Also, I assume lower would be better.
Are there any outside cabins with a couch/love seat?
Is the library quiet? I'm super old and I read. There a rule on many ships that elevator music is played everywhere, always.
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This is probably a Chengkp75 question, but is there a place megaships can dock on the Gulf Coast of Florida, south of Jacksonville? It seems like Port Miami closed pretty early in anticipation of the storm. I think some of the misery of cruise schedules this week could have been avoided if the ships could at least dock and use a fleet of buses to get passengers back to Miami, FLL etc. I think the actual cruise terminal in Tampa is pretty small for the largest vessels and so is Key West.
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33 minutes ago, deliver42 said:
The Hotel Director, in reality, is the general Manager on cruise ships. He's in charge of every department, so the name doesn't change anything.
The Captain/Staff Captain is still though in direct charge of the Engine, Medical, Hotel and Deck departments aboard? So this is just a renaming of the Hotel Director job?
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13 hours ago, Billthekid said:
Our major exception noted is the lack of opportunity to dance. This has been discussed in this forum, but new to us. First night no combo in the Ocean Bar before late dinner seating.
On the smaller, older ships there may still be a dance floor and combo in Ocean. On the newer, larger ships this seems to be a no.
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On 7/14/2019 at 11:58 AM, Host Hattie said:
and a snooze (Mr HH).
Mr. HH is my hero with the naps. Somebody needs to set the example. I think whole passage/shared experience thing starts for me when we are outside of helicopter evacuation range in mid ocean. Thanks for the great report. I felt for a moment we were back aboard. BTW if the Wi-Fi in your cabin is hopeless you can prop open the door a little and some signal may wander in. Steel is remarkably good at blocking radio waves.
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There has been recent environmental publicity, legal action and even protests focused at Carnival Corporation in particular and the impact of cruising in general. The problems range from stack emissions, sulfur, plastics, to sewage, etc.
They may be some people interested in purchasing a "lower impact" cruising product offer. It would for the moment be filled with compromises, and there are not a lot of breakthrough technological tools on the shelf, that are not already in use. This has been validated by our local experts and fact checkers.
The modern cruise experience uses a lot of electrical power. Power is used for propulsion (85%+), and hotel loads. And space aboard is limited.
The idea would be to design and or rebuild a modest ship that would use a mash-up of technologies. This has been done recently, at least at the design level. Not much new ground has been broken, but it should be considered a 1.0 effort.
http://ecoship-pb.com/technology/
The big problem, as has been pointed out by ChengKP75, is the propulsion load. The ship needs megawatts and the solar and wind arrays produce kilowatts. The propulsion issue is significant. After decades with a five ton, 13 hp sailboat, I think massive motors are not required, unless you are in a big hurry. Think cruising not crossing. World War II vintage Liberty Ships were 410 feet long, 14,000 tons and had a single 2500 hp. engine. The top speed was 11 knots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_ship#Propulsion
There was an interesting number in Wikipedia - 2500hp = 1900kw. The latest Tesla commercial Powerpack provides around 200 kWh per chest freezer sized battery module (if I am reading it right).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Powerwall#Powerwall
If you had small engines, could you leave the dock with and or make along the way, enough energy for a modest cruise, from say Miami to The Bahamas? The cruise line would store up and or buy solar or wind at the ports for charging. You could add in help from Flettner rotors, sails etc. We cannot of course support 3000 passengers, ice skating rink, etc. But it can be a cruise.
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On 6/17/2019 at 8:46 AM, chengkp75 said:
Sadly, most of these things are just not feasible for a cruise ship.
I am not sure if this project is still moving ahead, but they are taking a wholistic view of total shipboard environmental/carbon impact. There is data that younger people are more interested in all things environmental = future passengers.
http://ecoship-pb.com/technology/
And there is reference to a term I have not seen before from the world of shipping- EEDI
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As a reformed extension cord and power strip smuggler this situation is like water bottle filling stations. A collective groan comes from the engineering and finance staff at Cruise Line HQ- what is the business case (poor), what is the new revenue (none), what is the hassle factor for adding outlets to cabins (high.) But guest preferences are changing. Free business advice- cruise on us we have more outlets per cabin 🙂. If they get 1000 forms every cruise requesting an approved cord- a good solid measurable message. ChengKP is right (again) though- why risk starting a (smoky electrical) fire? Home made 115V wiring- OMG.
I bring the tiny $1 Euro round pin (and or UK 3 pin if Cunard) to 115V plug travel adapters and thereby pick up an extra cell phone/laptop outlet (read the fine print on the back of the device) or two to use on every ship. And remember it all has to be unplugged leaving the cabin.
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In Santo Tomas there are a couple of cute restaurants a few blocks away, around the navy base. You go past the craft market, out the gate, straight then right then right then left. At one you dine out over the bay. I bought two nice handmade belts in the craft market. In fact, yes, the ship is docked at a busy container port.
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I am looking at the Horizon - out of Malaga. It says the ship arrives at 8AM- what is the earliest flight I could book? There is an amazing flight at 10:50AM. Most of the US lines would arrive at 5 you would be walking off by 7. The airport looks close by.
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On 6/23/2019 at 10:52 AM, tutumomickey said:
On our Caribbean cruise on the NA last February we took matters into our own hands. Every night before dinner we would dance to the piano player in the Atrium. Some nights it was just us but, many nights others joined us. I hope HAL will get the message if we continue the trend. What cruise are you looking at? We will be on the NA February 1st-15th 2020. You could join us on our makeshift dance floor. P.S. This was not an original idea. We had noticed a couple doing it on our previous cruise on the Oosterdam.
You can also find the Cruise Director (some lines have a Music Director) early on and ask if they can do something for you. They have the ability to modify the weekly program a little and add a pre recorded session or round up a musician or two.
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On 6/24/2019 at 2:34 PM, Kala89 said:
When there are no dancers on the dance floor, it could mean that there are no dancers on board. More likely, the music being played is not suitable for dancing. On our most recent HAL cruise, we went to the Ocean Bar every evening hoping to do a bit of dancing. We were lucky to get 1 or 2 dances per night as the rest of the music was more jazz. The cruise was around South America so they could have played rumba, cha cha, samba, tango or any of the other Latin dances but they did not. We were very disappointed and will likely change cruise lines after being loyal to HAL for many years.
You should go up and nicely ask the band leader. If there does not seem to be interest in dancing they will default to jazz. But they can and will dig in the song sheets and find dance music.
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We had lovely ballroom and Latin dancing on the Rotterdam in March 2019 to a four piece combo in the Ocean Bar which had a roughly 14x16 foot dance floor. The dance floor, band stand and combo are reportedly missing from the Ocean Bar on some or most of the newer, larger HAL ships. The older, smaller HAL ships seem a good bet but check the daily programs online. We might need a dancing thread with recent reports ship by ship.
Cunard does have a dedicated ballroom, dance hosts and orchestra on every ship. But it can be super crowded out there.
If I was HAL I would promote the fact that you can dance on the smaller ships- there is a silly industry "rule" on fleetwide /brand consistency. Note on the lower photograph the dance floor is empty.
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On 6/17/2019 at 12:40 PM, RocketMan275 said:
Still, I'm all too skeptical of the IPCC.
Here's a nice article:
I downloaded and read the NIPCC 2019 report.
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Full-Book.pdf
The short summary of the NIPCC report is fossil fuels have brought so many benefits - economic, social and even health- and there is an ongoing debate over weather and climate models.
I checked the references. I was very curious what Dr. Singer et al would say about ocean acidification. The oceans are 30% less alkaline since 1751 (pH 8.25 to 8.14 per Wikipedia) due to increasing carbonic acid (from rising CO2). This is putting a strain on marine life.
Climate skeptics such as Steven Milloy have been saying "species will adapt" for some time.
The 2019 NIPCC report says this:
"Ocean acidification - Many laboratory and field studies demonstrate growth and developmental improvements in aquatic life in response to higher temperatures and reduced water pH levels. Other research illustrates the capability of both marine and freshwater species to tolerate and adapt to the rising temperature and pH decline of the planet’s water bodies. "
Based on this reference
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214014419
Which actually says this:
"Despite catastrophic losses over the last few decades and the recent listing of 20 additional coral species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, these diverse responses provide hope that the world’s remaining corals may still contain the adaptive ingredients needed to survive."
So if you stay in the "bubble" and pull fragments of data and quotes out of context the NIPCC report can be reassuring to some people. But if you actually read the science, there is a different conclusion.
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58 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:
There used to be dancing in the Ocean Bar. But many of the ships don't have a dedicated group there any more.
We have a been doing a minor poll on another thread. There tends to be band and dance floor in the Ocean Bar on the smaller, older ships in the HAL fleet. So S-Class and R-Class. The dance floor in Ocean bar seems to be literally missing on some newer HAL ships.
This may, to be fair, reflect a broader demographic trend- on a March 2019 Rotterdam cruise, we and another couple had a lovely time ballroom and Latin dancing in Oceans. But if the band is playing to only furniture, this sends a powerful and sad message back to headquarters. I got this message recently- on a recent (1/2019), Vision cruse, they have a large dance floor and only a few couples showed up for a recorded ballroom event. On a Majesty cruise, three couples danced to Latin in Boleros. The next event, karaoke, packed the place. On a Breakaway cruise, we and some children danced on the lovely and large dance floor in the MDR.
For the moment, if you check a recent daily program, and your proposed ship seems to have a band in Ocean, book it 🙂 We feel the same way about libraries.
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1 hour ago, TheOldBear said:
With today's technology, Sam Cunard would commission a Brayton Cycle, 'pebble bed' nuke powered ship.
This technology is more mature than steam power was when he commissioned the original Britannia
Based on the careful analysis from ChengKP, you are right. For a large, fast, energy intensive ship that is all that is on the shelf today. I remember reading the long reports on the huge electric power demands for the Ford-class aircraft carriers.
What I was thinking would be a more modest, retro model- like a "Windstar" experience. Open windows, 7-8 knots, lower passenger density. I do not require 65 degree AC, unlimited ice water, 3500 fellow passengers and 24 knots to enjoy a cruise. But I might be alone.
Pullmantur for Americans (Malaga to Portugal and Morocco 10/19)
in Pullmantur Cruises
Posted · Edited by ew101
Morocco has been on my bucket list for a while. We were in Gibraltar a while back and you could see across the straits to Africa. I have students from Africa and wanted to ride a camel also. You can get there on the mainstream lines, but usually just on transatlantic runs. Lisbon was a plus also. I did a search for those two ports and found Pullmantur. They are an off shoot of Royal Caribbean, and use some of their older ships.
One of the larger internet cruise sites lets you book Pullmantur – you can also book directly with the line. The pricing is pretty good but the port charges and taxes were unusually high. I am fine with window cabins as on the old ships balconies are rare.
We flew into Madrid. The Indigo Hotel there is well located and has a nice breakfast. Don't book IHG properties via Orbitz, Expedia etc. as IHG will not give you frequent guest points which is highly annoying. Cool tourist stuff is near Plaza Mayor. The El Corte Ingles department store is worth a trip- they are well merchandised and carry everything.
Malaga the departure port is not hard to get to. You can fly direct from London or larger airports like Zurich or Munich or by fast train. We stayed at the MG Hotel in Malaga. It is close to a nice beach and there are good restaurants. It is very close to the port also. We answered our own question on early departures from the ship- it seemed to be late as it docked at 9- usually in the US ships seem to dock at 5 and unload at 7. There is no “carry your own-walk off” departure. We were in the second group and off by 9:45 or so.
The online check in was a bit tricky as there is a narrow (30 day) time window to do it. You have to wait in line at the port to check bags and they hand write new tags even if you have the printed ones you made up. Pro Tip- there a special (short) check in line for online check in customers. Cabins were available after 3:30. Aboard, we got an impassioned sell for the enhanced beverage package. Note that everybody gets a basic drink (wine, beer, coffee etc.) package for free. If you are fussy on your brands by all means upgrade. Cafe Cafe on deck 8 was always full and was the town center.
Embarcation lunch was in the buffet- I had pizza and paella and many had the free wine and beer. The open deck covered dining was pleasant. Afterward we went to the library on deck 8 which even had a sign asking for silence. Libraries are rare and valuable aboard a ship. We saw the "Waves" lounge for suite passengers and they had a private sundeck starboard up on 12.
Announcements were in Spanish and English and this trip had 600 "international" passengers. All crew seem to be at least bilingual in English- this was a rule as we learned. There is most of a teak promenade deck and several nice aft and forward facing seating areas. On more modern ships these areas are cabins. We were addressed in English much of the time.
Dinner + service was good- they have a lot of choices. The free wine was a nice touch- I remember paying $12 a glass after tip on more expensive lines like Cunard. We were at an English speaking table and the service was excellent. Everything arrived hot. I had lasagna and pasta with clams main courses the first few days and fun tapas. There were theme/dress up nights- gala, tropical, 1920s and white. These were not well publicized in advance.
The ship had several bands- and there was good Latin dancing in the central lounge on 7. Sadly the dance floor was cluttered with chairs. And the band was on super late- 10:30+ was normal. I got unlimited Internet @67 a week it was rock solid.
The "Ask the Captain" briefing was in English- translated to Spanish. I asked a question- the crew seemed super friendly- they are from all over but Brazil and South America were common. The Captain was from Ukraine and funny- he was asked a snarky question that the ship seemed smaller than most with a lot of motion- he said he slept like a baby. Pullmantur has a bit of French heritage also. The officers were out and about- you got a happy ship/family vibe.
I spent some time researching cabins- I wanted a couch or love seat for in-cabin reading or knitting. I picked one in "FC" which seemed to have one- "Deluxe Family Outside" - it had a fold down bed which developed a rattle which I reported. After a few tries this (and some squeaky and or broken drawers) were repaired with several sheet metal screws, WD40 and some caulk. If you have a problem they can fix aboard- ask- a nasty posting later is unhelpful. The cabin had 2x US outlets and one two round pin Euro outlets at the desk. These had flat screen TVs. Cabin service was once per day.
I found two favorite things - hot tea/coffee at 5am in the buffet and no piped in music at the table. Spain is not the place for early risers but this helps me cope 🙂 There was a gluten free toast station at breakfast. There are good vegetarian choices. Lunch in the MDR was hybrid- you got a buffet for starters and the main course was delivered. They would do well to have a “coffee shop” that was open early someplace aboard for international or jet lagged guests. Or even a tray of rolls out- RCCL does this. I missed ordering Eggs Benedict.
We liked dinners on the ship. They have a fancy chef advising them- there were “everyday” items and creative new ones each night. The Gala Night had a fixed menu. Attire for men was sport coat average on Gala Night. There were barely enough tables for the buffet when it is raining – the nice aft and poolside outdoor seating was unavailable. The early seating dinner at 1930 was a stretch for us- but lunch- Brasa Grill- tended to go on and on- until 1930. The normal late start for breakfast of any kind was annoying- but the Waves Lounge was open half an hour earlier.
The port day in Casablanca was a circus aboard as port clearance seemed delayed. The main dining room had a buffet which seemed sensible as there was a mass crowd and the tours started late. We watched a submarine board crew, prepare for sea and load supplies. We and a few others walked to town. Pro Tip- the Medina looks close but is not -there is a big sturdy sea wall around the port you have to walk around it for like a mile. Gently or firmly refuse the (La) taxi tours but a few Euros (you won't have Dirhams at this point) for a ride to the Medina is worth it.
The place to get Dirhams seems to be ATMs- don't forget to call your bank ahead of time. I would say most of the business is in Dirhams. Keep your receipt as you will need to convert extras back when you leave. Morocco is pretty, safe but poor. One of two English men who approached us in the Medina with helpful tips was observed to drop a few coins with beggars as he walked along. The average income is <$4000 annually. In traditional Muslim countries save the short shorts and tank tops for poolside on the ship.
We had a nice local lunch at Grillades-Brochettes-Poulets at 120 Rue Allal ben Abdellas. It was vegetable Tangine and bread and rice and lentils for 47 Dirhams for both of us. They had a clean rest room of both types. Food is eaten with the hands and sinks are common. TP in restrooms is not. Petit Taxi meter fare back to the port was 15 Dirhams - ($1.50).
The key to Porto on your own is the #500 bus. This one boards right outside the harbor gate - go straight maybe a little left a block or two. (There is a port shuttle bus to the gate). It is double decker and costs 2 or 3 Euros. It goes along the river and then stops right in the pretty historic district. There is a apparently a rivalry on which of the two Portugese ports (Lisbon or Porto) is prettier- hard to say really. Both have nice modern cruise terminals. We found a lovely bakery right when the #500 terminates downtown. There was a chocolate bun shaped like a mouse we sadly did not try.
Lisbon is also nice. The metro, bus and tram system is complicated. We got off the ship and walked up the hill and found the #28E (historic) tram and handed over 3 Euros and stood for a while until seats opened up. We rode to the end – and were disoriented as we were near modern buildings and away from the river/sea. A Tuk Tuk driver said he would take 10 Euros for a ride to the castle – the line to get back on the #28 was 45 minutes. Near the castle we found our favorite restaurant from last time – it was at a convergence between #28 and #12 trams and you sat outside under a tree.
Tangier was a great stop. The Medina was right outside the city port - Tangier Ville- but 40 Km from the other possible port - Tangier Med. We could not get an answer from anyone where we would dock exactly so sprung for the 51 Euro city and food excursion. The guide was good and there was a full chicken lunch. Tangier is a pretty and historic place. Inside the fortress the narrow streets are just like a movie set. If you took the ships' tour, you could pay completely in Euros. After years of cruising to the Caribbean, I can honestly say I would have been upset to have missed Tangier. The build up was worth it.
I think we figured out the business model for Pullmantur. The older ships keep the lease expenses low. The don’t make much on the bar as so much is free and the non smoking casino was quiet. But they sell a lot of excursions and the laundry was fast and tidy and the Internet was reliable. So they got a well deserved extra few hundred Euros from us. They are getting a newer ship with more balconies- so have a bright future.