JRG

Only if the ROI (Return on Investment) made sense over the period of time for which the estimated life of the asset will generate revenue. That should make sense to everybody. We could turn it into an old school word problem for some users and or make it into a Profit Maximization equation and solve for 'P' You start by estimating the cost of the retro-fit, and then calculate the present value of the discounted cash flows expected from the project, er, um, the retrofit, for example. So one needs clean assumptions to do it this way and to answer your question properly.

If you read the trade magazines for both cruising and maritime industries you will see that alternative fuels and or marine engine retro-fit is the big ugy and has to be a big part of any discussion realted to the OP's question on applying technology.

Yes, IMO, but it would requirie us to take a Shakespeare type journey (i.e A Christmas Carol) to be the ghost of Cruising future and let go of what we know of the past and the present, to think about the future. That is where the future comes in and it requires Analysis, and some actual cruise passenger experience so that the needs analysis is correct, The march toward carbon neutrality is ongoing and will eventually be the dog wagging the tail or the poker chip that is played at the right time in the big game. It is a delicate subject here and has to be discussed with the neutrality of analysts who see it at 40k feet. Subsidies are part of many economic equations in theory and in practice (real life) , and they exist to promote a level playing field or keep vital industries afloat. (and other reasons which I'm sure I've not mentioned here)

Make sure you ask for posters to cite references, so we don't proceed from false assumptions. You're asking alot here and there are some sensitive issues, but I've spoken my piece on most of those that you raise and I probably have a few similar concerns. There are some good analysts on the West Coast Departures forum too and they can converse in very neutral language to address some of the hot topics.

If your mileage varies here on how many cruise ships operate globally, no problem, just insert your own value and you get yourown estimate. That's all. It would be chasing a rabbit hole to try and argue over a number that everybody would accept. A reasonable ballpark estimate is fine for these purposes. Ifs a question of immateriality, because anything in or near the 10-15% range is troublesome,

You raised a valid point but you lost me at &. I too though am hoping this is minor and we will soon hear something more. Maybe they just have to re-step thru the certification process and find something that was overlooked or omitted and it can be rectified appropriately and a communication plan to fix the problem be shared with stakeholders. For cruiselines, the problem is magnified if one particular cruiseline is hit harder than another and that seems likely given the uniformity of cabin panels within a given ship or class. So while some lines may be worried is this is a bigger problem; some lines like HAL and NCL may be dancing in the boardrooms, because it would be a significant OPPORTUNITY for those lines to pickup share. For cruisers, the problem is that we could get another kick in the gut if you are holding cruise and airline and hotel tickets and all the planning and research time. So the distribution of which lines are affected could be figured out by finding out from the vendors who have the 'uncertified' panels in place. (i,.e, who were their customers at the time of the cert) Hopefully it is not major because then it becomes a rush on the bank as soon as people start finding out and nobody wants to see that. (again) Its a holding pattern but really hoping its minor.

Not really. I think they are estimating that there are 320 ships operating globally. and therefore: 45 divided by 320 = 14 percent, when rounded down, so the estimate may be close to 15% if their estimate of 320 ships is accurate.

It sounds like a vendor certification issue and we don't yet know the scope. It can be anything from a formality to a recall for repair. I think Heidi13 has it right and there is no breaking news right now so it is very hush hush. It depends on the nature of the test failures. No drama here.

Yes but it is much more than a fort. You can position yourself in the exact same position that was used when the cannons were used to defend the port and the entrance to the new world and the islands of the Carribbean and beyond. These places like this in the world, like the Rock of Gibraltar, have to be appreciated for their military significance and the history that occured here. I always wondered about the precision factor, how these crude canons could hit a ship in the distance, understanding how they did this can better be understood by standing in the places where the soldiers stood. The fort is a good learning place and I believe it is a National Park too, maybe, but I can't remember for sure. And the hike is fun and not long up and around the same kind of hills where the Flying Nun used to do her thing on the TV show.

Maybe better to "Have it and Not Need it rather than Need it and Not Have It" As the saying goes.

Then we should remember them always. Our timeshare sits next to the Ventura Harbor Patrol Station at Ventura Marina and we have view of the Channel Islands from our veranda, which faces the Ventura Harbor entrance. We missed this memorial when we were walking and lunching on State Street a few weeks ago, but I saw another memorial where Santa Barbara was honoring a Cal Fire Escondido Resident who lost his life fighting a fire in Ventura County. His name is Cory Iverson and I met him once, ever so briefly and he was a wonderful man. San Diego cried when that happened and I'm glad he was honored. That was very classy of Santa Barbara to do that.

I should mention that I don't think it was actually Island Packers but maybe another outfit that quickly filed for bankruptcy after the fire, If I remember correctly.

PAX Passport record weight and height information can be assimilated in various ways during the pre-boarding timeframe, and with the right software and technology a ship cold identify inequitable weight distributions or space issues due to handicaps, for example.. It would be useful to distribute based on all relevant data in situations where a more favorable weight balance would exist in each lifeboat, with all the same considerations for logistics, of course. For example, the lineman for the Kansas City Chiefs are traveling together and the Sisters of Mercy are doing the same, big weight and space difference, but hopefully, you see the point, if all of the lineman got into one lifeboat, with their Mae West. A better example of R&D marine industry research is the encroaching automation of cargo handling in the ports. Global commerce needs advancement in port automation to accommodate future loads and that is why R&D exists in that particular segment of the marine industry. Somebody just funded 1.5 billion dollars in California marine interests and I'm willing to bet improving port automation thru technology will eat a big part of that turkey pot pie. For Cruising, other advancements in technology will make it possible to do things that right now we can't because it is just not practical right now given the technology. I've said it before, you have to be able to is see the forest from the trees, and sometimes you fly at 40k feet as an analyst to understand how process works. Its not difficult for those of us who can when you apply basic deductive reasoning along with the other natural and physical sciences AND you stay current with what is happening in the various segments that you are interested in. I say have a 'Journey' moment and "Don't Stop Believing.' rather than "Anyway you Want it, That's the Way you need it Anyway you want it"

Here is a link to the US Coast Guard's publication on the matter with some more specs. U (uscg.mil) If the link doesn't work just go to the US Coast Guard Center for Expertise website. This is a helpful website because it provides alot of information about lifeboats in general and other things we discuss on CC, I'm curious if the Foreign Flagged vessels who operate lifeboat crafts will have to retro-fit the engines of their lifeboat crafts when in California waters per state emissions control regulatory compliance. CARB is asking alot of small harbor craft and there has been alot of pushback and compliance extensions made for the local craft operators. I'm talking about the Tier 1 thur Tier 4 engines and the particulate matter they discharge. Admittedly I don't know the classification of these engines. Just curious more than anything else.

Realisticaly speaking, the OP's question should be taken seriously but I have confidence that there are professionals who are working in the marine and cruise industry Research and Development to constantly evaluate safety procedures and protocols, but just as importantly, evaluate the emerging technologies that can improve existing practices and determine their 'seaworthiness'

I agree that this section highlighted in red is a common statement here on cc, but that does not mean that it accurately describes the population of other cruisers not present and accounted for here. Repeating passengers, which alone will always account for a large share of passengers on most cruises most likely do not consider it an annoyance, they just don't over sensationalize it on the internet or on board. New Passengers who are of average intelligence understand this is not just an annoyance and most new passengers laugh and chuckle, sure, but they get it. In my 25 plus cruises, I have never believed this red-lined sentiment to be true but it is commonly projected to be the battle cry for various reasons. I am most curious about the description of having to sit PAX to PAX in a certain way as described in a previous post once PAX's are in the lifeboat and I am wondering how the HAL PAX's are going to do this and still be able to play Trivia on the lifeboat! The PAX's who perished on the fire off of the coast of Santa Barbara did not have a chance to apply their safety drill instructions because they were sleeping in their cabins and the crewman who was responsible for nightwatch did not stay alert. We've sailed on those Channel Island Island Packers vessels a few times but we've never done the overnight charter for divers. This was a tragedy caused by human error and not training, so each emergency is different. Sometimes it is out of your hands altogether.

We are researching and deciding this for our next cruise as I write this and it is a mixture of both.

And this brings us back to Do, as in Do Re Mi.....this was smart post to centralize the resources people use to compare cruises, and that is really helpful for newcomers and veteran cruisers alike, but the challenge of finding a resource that is unbiased is each cruisers path to choose. The comments from actual cruisers who have recently made voyages, and their descriptions of specific ships and site visits has been an invaluable resource for our cruises and our land vacations, only because we have learned to separate the good contributors from the imposters. Once you master the knowledge of who the reputable cruisers are then its not hard to take that leap of faith and follow their advice. We use a travel agent that feeds us frequent flier mileage for our travels but we know how to use the parameters in their search engines to qualify a given cruise for price and itinerary, but when we book we know the details ahead of time and are not reliant upon their recommendations, which we have never asked for, even though they purport to be the biggest travel agency in the world.

For citation purposes on my post, I would credit one of my primary sources as a Sr. Chief Economic Advisor to the White House who under President Bush, wrote a white-paper op-ed describing the inequities created by the PVSA. The op-ed is haunting similar to a thread I contributed to few years here where I dubbed the whole affair "The Milkshake Theory". It just seemed like the port area of Vancouver was drinking more than its share of the milkshake. ( i.e. the revenue from billion dollar tourist industry)

Thanks for your comment on the strike. Can you elaborate on the highlighted section if possible? Understanding the rational for the PVSA exceptions (deemed out or otherwise exempted) has been a critical topic here on CC and I have been watching it closely because it impacts the cruising industry by providing an artificial 'market' barrier to itineraries in a very very small segment of the overall cruising market such as traveling from LA to SF, NY to Miami, etc. The same could be argued for B2B trips and the proverbial trip to nowhere which violate PVSA laws. I am in favor of additional exemptions assuming that the legislature language also included the appropriate language to steamroll over customs and visas issues related to the crew. As one fine poster put it, governments can do whatever they want. Now that we know that exceptions can be deemed out of the PVSA or "interpretated" pretty much any the CBP wants, we know that it is possible to 'carve out cruiseships' from the PVSA as long as a 'bona fide' reason can be presented to legislature to make the appropriate 'deeming out' or perhaps provide better guidance for 'interpretation'. A pandemic which impacts the economy of Alaska or a threated port strike by foreign port workers exposes the vulnerability of the law. The US is living with a grandfathered cabotage law that is snagging a portion of the cruisers "Manifest Destiny" and more importantly snagging a portion of the cruisers wallet by making us visit a distant port. If the last vote before Congress and the House was unanimous to bypass the PVSA once more, the next time should be that much easier. For this very very limited example above, quantifying the effect on the American longshoremen seems to present more of a pro-forma model that may suggest American Longshoremen would benefit from the slightest additional exemptions, (as described above), as opposed to actually being negatively affected. (i.e. theoretically there should be more $$work in the US, trickling back into the US, not Canada or Mexico). This analyst believes that the American Longshoreman and its union would BENEFIT from seeing some minor relaxation to this PVSA snafu and that the sky would not come falling down if additional ships or itineraries were added that did not visit a distant port.

And It would be remiss of me to not add that alot of Grandparents and Great-grandparents have the time of theirs lives if they are lucky enough to treat their family to a Disney Cruise. That's has to be priceless for them. Disney almost has a monopoly on this slot in the market but I think most cruisers Do eventually go back to other lines.

This is good as it is holding the thread together. My best recommendation yesterday got torpedoed when Celebrity re-deployed Beyond for next year, and that is going to be a hot topic I think because alot of passengers are affected. I don't know if they are floundering or cashing in, but it forces passengers to re-book at prevailing rates that that works to the advantage of the cruise lines. It just goes to show you how dicey it can be right now planning out for a cruise, let alone selecting one from the choices.

I forgot to mention that Celebrity always seem to do exceedingly well on the CC food reviews, and that includes rankings vs. the other lines, that's a helpful resource. If Celebrity isn't the line your currently shelving then I understand, my bad, but I think they are not of the ones that is floundering and I hope I'm right. It's a challenge for alot us and we have about the same amount of cruises under our belt as the OP.

These days I would suggest looking at Celebrity and make them a baseline for comparing lines but they have different classes of ships so that's part of the selection. Yes I have cruised them and they are our preferred line, so I'm a bit of a homer, but they deserve to be on the short list. It seems like you have a good start on managing the expectations though, and there are definitely some lines struggling and some seem to be doing better during the recovery.

We've always wondered about DCL but have not tried them because of cost, the kids are allright. But its good to know that some of the posters rank the food and other cruise comparables on par with the other lines, sans the Disney culture, and therefore the cost might keep us away. BTW, we are big Disney fans (living 1 hrs from Anaheim) and have done Orlando multiple times, so we love Disney, in fact, we just spent back to back weeks in England and France and used the Eurostar tunnel to get over to DisneyFrance, so we added that to our bucket list. I will tell you that they have the que lines designed well, so waiting 30 minutes for a ride was no problem, but it is just not the same as Anaheim or Orlando, IMO.