death_star

44 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

Everyone can have an opinion.  Mine is to use a design that puts the main structure far enough in from the channel to add a large grounding buffer to the bridge structure.  May be cheaper than adding a bunch of dolphins, and pretty effective since a ship can go aground only so much.

Then it's really mainly barge traffic to put up a dolphin or something against vs a container ship. Maybe they'll take down some of the approaches too since those piers where the alternate channels are now would be the weakest link so to speak. 

3 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Yes, they are starting to cut and remove the north side span (outside the main channel) to allow shallow draft barges and vessels to get around to the Dali.

 

And, yes,  dredging will be used to clear the small debris,  but that takes time. 

Hey chief any idea how they'll be able to deal with the leaning containers? I can't imagine they'll be able to move much of anything hanging on the ship without securing these. Don't think they'll have anyone climb on them either to do rigging.

6 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Throw in the rules around the Chesapeake Bay watershed and you have 5+ years.

With as long as the bay crossing discussion has been going on I would not be surprised. If the federal government truly foots the bills I'll be curious to see what happens with the tolls. If they're going to say hey we need more money now after we just rebuilt the key bridge!

23 minutes ago, hsweiss said:

This is from a 2015 study performed for the Maryland Transportation Authority regarding the 4 build options (https://mdta.maryland.gov/sites/default/files/Files/Bay_Bridge_LCCA_Report_12-2015.pdf)

 

This project has moved at a glacial pace with so much feedback from the public. It's limited though by the size of rt 50 on the approach in either side and that's why they were floating alternative crossing points. 

I'm curious what they will do for the new design of the key bridge and getting it through all of the environmental study and public comment we usually have for our transportation projects. They're not going to throw the same 1970s design back up there. 

39 minutes ago, SRF said:

Remember, all the debris have to be cut or demo'd UNDER WATER.  

 

So commercial divers, dive ships, floating cranes.  I will be surprised if they really start within several weeks to a month.

Isn't there some navy salvage group in Norfolk? Not sure if they could use them though. 

It took over a month to get the Ever Forward unstuck from the edge of the channel. I imagine it's a much larger and longer undertaking to remove twisted hulks of metal and concrete that will all have to be loaded on something. 

As a side note I am curious if they will use a similar set up to remove the hanging/leaning containers off the forward end of the ship. It was pretty interesting watching them take containers off at sea and put on a barge. 

There is a marine terminal at Sparrows Point outside the bridge that's run by Tradepoint Atlantic. It's used mainly for RoRo at the moment but there really isn't anything that would prevent a cruise ship docking there with the normal port ramp style gangway. Process the passengers at the cruise terminal then bus them over for embarking. I remember we used to have to take a bus at Bayonne to the ship so it would be similar. Would be fine for the next few cruises before dry dock. 

Provisioning just means the trucks drive to the other terminal. 

14 hours ago, SNemeth said:

It never really works out to be free regardless.  Usually rooms that sleep 2 are a lower category and cheaper per person than rooms that sleep 4.  Move to the cabin that sleeps 4 and each of the adults usually pay more than if they sailed without kids in a room built for 2.  You also have to pay the fees for the "free" kids.  

^this. I have priced out several cruises for us and our kids where it's either the same price or less for us to have 2 cabins of 2 persons than 1 of 4 of us in our with KSF.

16 minutes ago, instaGator said:

Captain Jill’s Galleon and parts of Splashaway Bay are both perfect for toddlers.  The Oasis Lagoon pool has a zero depth entry area with squirting fountains that is fun as well.  Babies and toddlers wearing swim diapers are allowed in all of the pools and in the ocean at all the beaches.  Here is a link to a map: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/perfect-day-at-cococay-wayfinding-map.pdf

 

This link gives more tips: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/guides/traveling-with-a-toddler-to-perfect-day-at-cococay#:~:text=CocoCay%20is%20a%20special%20place%20to%20visit.&text=There%20are%20also%20complimentary%20beach,at%20Perfect%20Day%20at%20CocoCay.

^ this. 

I will tell you that the slides in Splashaway Bay have a 36" minimum but they have a large splash pad area. The structures you can go up in and climb on are geared for a bit older child but there are a lot of spray things. My toddler would not go into the area with the heavier spray last week. 

So our assignment finally showed up in the app today 15 days out. Others on the sailing report similar. 

I've had the deck and muster station in our app for a while and the cabin through the barcode trick for a couple of weeks. Sailing Allure in a couple of weeks. When do they do the final assignment? My TA can't see any cabin assigned in the system to change it to another one a bit more forward from the current one.

Definitely no freestyle machines. You hand your cup or your card to the bar staff and they will fill you up. For diet caffeine free they do have sprite zero. There are also some vitality flavored water drinks you can ask for in the Windjammer that are free. They never put them in the juice machines always had to ask. You can try carrying on a 12 pack of your own favorite soda. 

I've got a GTY next month so have been doing this with my android phone. I've noticed it is really particular when I scan it in the code reader app. It some times coming up with different numbers when clearly the barcode isn't changing on the screen. Probably something to do with maybe not catching all of the bars I'm not sure. 

We're doing the 4n version of this next month and leaving from BWI probably.

I am curious if you're doing a one way rental and dropping it off at port canaveral. We've done this a couple of times and it's hard to know if anything has changed with the rental companies and the shuttles or lack thereof.

Have a great trip!

You can also take the bus there and get off at the fish fry and hike up the hill. There is a sidewalk for a good part of the walk up and you also pass an animal shelter (I think it was) . You can then head back down to the fry and catch a bus back. If you're not up for the hike, a cab for sure.

The Bahamian government has suspended the ferry service so unless there is another provider to shuttle you over I suspect they will be.

Did they give you the full size width pack and play or the one that's like the home size sliced in half? It seems to be luck of the draw in our experience and DS does not fit in the smaller one really. 

Good to know about the trial period to get moved up to AO. We talked to them last month and they said they could certainly do it within like a week of the kids birthday but almost a month is even better. 

The loyalty ambassador has their desk in there so at least you know it will be manned during those hours. 

It is the same as the other ships. It was welcome aboard, French,  Italian,  UK, and Caribbean. I can't remember the exact order from a couple weeks ago. 

18 minutes ago, topekacruiser2 said:

Which baby monitor did you use? We are looking to get one for our trip.

We have the infant optics both regular and pro. We use the regular one for travel. 

36 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

There are height restrictions.  Those can be found in the app for the sailing under activities I believe.

 

Some in splashaway bay (kids area) are 42"  other slides are 48" or 52" depending on the slide

On the liberty there is the baby splash area with no restrictions for the 2 year old. There is a smaller slide that I want to say might be 40? Then a bigger one that I think was at least 48. Dd is 5 and wasn't tall enough. Didn't even try for the perfect storm ones. 

Just off the Liberty a few days ago and as said above both Cafe Promenade and the front bar at the Windjammer serve Starbucks coffee but aren't Starbucks locations. We used our vouchers there just fine. 

This is what it looks like

1 hour ago, RD64 said:

Although it is not Bermuda, you may be pleasantly surprised by our Canadian hospitality. 

This will be my third province but the rest of the family's first. Had a great time in Ontario and Quebec. 

14 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Surprised they are docking at midnight and closing the casino 2 or 3 hours early, why not sail around and keep everything still open...........just how many people do they  think will leave the ship at midnight on Sunday?

It is a very odd docking schedule. They also updated the verbiage on the website. 

"you decide not to join us on this sailing, there is nothing for you to do. You’ll automatically receive a full refund, including any non-refundable deposits, to the original payment on file within 14 business days after the end of our sailing"

wonder if they'd do anything to get us on another sailing instead.