chengkp75

Those actually do have a ground, though they don't have surge protection. The Type E/F Shuko plug has ground via the two spring clips on the outside of the round part of the plug, that mate with the similar spring clips in the outlet.

Since they contain THC, yes, they are banned by international convention and flag state law.

Some US federal laws apply to foreign flag cruise ships when in US waters. Some state laws apply when the ship is within state waters. Florida laws that apply to cruise lines headquartered in Florida do not apply to ships that are not in Florida waters. The overlapping of jurisdiction between "flag state" and "port state" (the country where the ship is physically located) is one of the most complex in maritime law. At all times, the flag state laws apply onboard.

So, tip them money so they can go ashore and buy the food they prefer, the sweets they prefer, and the toiletry brands they prefer, not those you prefer.

Q1: The ship has more "berths" (beds) than they can legally sell. The number of passengers is limited by the number of "seats" in the lifeboats. They provide more beds than can be sold, so that people who wish to book more than 2 in a cabin, have many choices of different cabin categories. The cruise you are looking at, likely is near to capacity, so they are not allowing 3 passenger in a cabin booking. They make more money booking two cabins with two passengers in each, than one cabin with 4 passengers, so as they approach capacity, they try to encourage filling all the cabins at double occupancy. Q2: Going to Barbados, I doubt that the flight would be on Saturday morning, but you can check with regular airline booking sites to see if there is a flight that goes from your airport to Barbados in the morning, and that would give you an idea if this is possible at all.

And they were risking their employment, as crew are subject to random testing. Most lines have to test "100% of crew" every 6 months. A random number generator picks enough crew numbers to equal the required number of tests each week, and the crew are notified to report to medical for testing at the last moment. While it conducts the right number of tests every 6 months, it does not guarantee that every crew member is tested. I remember being tested 3 times in one four month tour. A positive test results in immediate dismissal.

Not really that technical, but even this article shows that the Act is questionable in its constitutionality and applicability to international law. It does specifically state that it only applies to ships of a flag that has "consented or waived objection to enforcement", and not sure what nations this applies to, or whether it can be applied on a case by case basis. A truly questionable piece of legislation.

Actually, when the ship is in US waters, only certain US laws apply. The basic tenet of maritime law regarding the overlapping of jurisdiction between flag state and port state, is that flag state takes precedence unless the "safety or good order" of the port state are affected. So, basically, port state (US) laws govern things exterior to the ship (pollution, customs, immigration, commerce and taxation, and crimes against the port state's citizens), all things internal (i.e. drug usage) to the ship are governed by the flag state laws, regardless of where the ship is. The big thing to remember is that all ships, regardless of flag state, are governed by the various IMO conventions, like the STCW and MLC, which have set up a zero tolerance for drug use onboard ships, which is why all cruise ships prohibit marijuana. When you see local or federal drug enforcement officers boarding a foreign flag cruise ship in a US port, it is at the invitation of the Captain, not because the agency has jurisdiction.

Actually, for things like illegal drugs, the cruise ships operate under the laws of the flag state, not the US federal government. The terminals operate under federal jurisdiction. No, it is not. Since there is no FDA inspection of CBD products, there is no guarantee that there is no THC, just the manufacturer's claim. The USCG has had instances where a mariner has used CBD products and tested positive for THC on the DOT drug tests. And, again, the ship operates under flag state law, and while CBD products are legal in Holland, they must be from government recognized suppliers, who certify the THC content is less than 0.05%. And, even though marijuana is legal in Holland, under maritime law, it is not allowed onboard ships.

Which is why the dryer exhausts have filters cleaned daily, and horizontal runs of ducting are opened, and crawled through to clean them monthly. They also have steam smothering in the ducts.

Typically, they will shut down the vertical fire zone where the fire is. The VFZ is from the keel to the highest point on the ship in that area, between two sets of fire doors. They will typically close the fire doors for that zone, the elevators in that zone will go to mid-level and shut down (to block a potential "chimney"), and the ventilation for the zone will be shut down. Everything else, outside that VFZ will remain in operation.

Incinerator fires are some of the most common on cruise ships. All the paper and cardboard is thrown into shredders, which shred everything, and then it goes into a storage silo that can hold about 6-7 cubic meters of trash. Once the ship sails in the evening, the incinerator is started, and the trash is fed from the silo into the incinerator. The problem comes when the crew are not meticulous in sorting the trash, and a metal object (I've seen a fire started by an AA battery) goes through the shredder, and creates a spark. This spark ignites some trash in the silo, but it is quickly covered by more trash, and so just remains a smolder, until the incinerator starts to take trash from the silo, and the smolder gets to the surface and ignites (typically in the evening). The silo has steam smothering to take down the fire.

Virtually every space on a ship has a "fire plan" assigned to it. All similar spaces will use the same plan (like all passenger cabins). "Plan 39" referred to the plan in the ship's emergency plan for the space that had a fire. This allows the On Scene Commander, and all team leaders to know what their responsibilities are, and their initial responses. One hour from initial alarm to "all secure" is pretty good. The fire was likely out long before this hour, but shipboard response requires setting "reflash watches" both in the space involved, and the surrounding spaces, to ensure that no hot spot reignites a fire. These last 20-30 minutes, before the On Scene will declare the fire "out" (as opposed to "extinguished").

Typically, unless they sound the "passenger muster" alarm, not every crew member will respond to an emergency. Initially, it will be a "code bravo" emergency, and only those assigned "code bravo" duties will respond. For a fire, probably only 75-80 are assigned to respond. This includes deck and engine officers, fire teams, security teams, and medical teams. The remaining crew will continue with their normal duties until the "passenger muster" signal is given (which is actually the "fire and general emergency" alarm)

Of course there's a link. After OPA 90 (Oil Pollution Act of 1990) prompted by the Valdez, the USCG pushed the IMO to establish alcohol limits on all mariners. While the senior officers and watchkeepers on cruise ships are prohibited all alcohol, it is not prohibited for all mariners, just that the limit is 0.04, or about half of what most states in the US consider OUI.

As I said on the OP's thread on this subject on the NCL forum, many ports have Seamen's Centers that offer shuttle service, lounges, internet, sundries, and services like shuttles to shopping, all at no cost to the mariners. These services are provided for by non-profits like the Seaman's Church Institute, and have been around for decades.

Technically, the only "officers" onboard are the deck and engine ones. The hotel supervisors were given "officer" ranks when NCL stopped the entertainment subsidy for the deck and engine officers. In the past, the deck and engine officers were given a subsidy to buy drinks for passengers, as a way to get them to interact. Then, after 1990, when officers were restricted by law on their alcohol limits, officers started not interacting with passengers. Passengers complained that they "never saw officers anymore", so NCL gave the hotel supervisors uniforms and rank, so that passengers would always "see" officers. Other lines followed suit. These days, the ship's top five: Captain, Staff Captain, Chief Engineer, Staff Chief Engineer, and Hotel Director, along with deck and engine watchstanders (those who actually operate the ship), have a zero tolerance for alcohol, at any time they are signed on the vessel (so they can't even drink ashore).

Quite a few crew don't get time off in port. Deck and Engine departments are all watchstanders or day workers who don't have a time off in the middle of the day. Also, the fire teams are restricted to ship about every 3rd day.

Yes, SCI supports mariners of all faiths, and provide holiday gift boxes, with "necessaries ".

There is a Seaman's Church Institute center in many ports, and they provide lounges and shuttles. There are other non-profit organizations, that provide centers for seafarers around the world. Seaman's Church provides shuttles not only to the centers, but to shopping as requested.

As long as they're not the nasty little "strips", but whole clams, I'm in.

If you like poutine, there is a restaurant in Portland, the Blue Rooster, that does a variation on poutine using tater tots. The "Three Little Pigs" (with bacon, sausage and pork belly) is the ultimate.

While Eventide has a good roll, and the brown butter is unique, you can get a very good butter lobster roll (no mayo) at the other places mentioned, for about $10 less. IIRC, Boone's gives you the entire meat of a 1-1/4lb lobster in their rolls.

Mail from ships is notoriously slow. First, the ship gives the mail to the port agent (when convenient). Then the port agent, to whom delivering passenger mail is a low priority, finally gets around to giving it to the postman or putting it in the mail. Not sure where your cruise was, but not all postal services are as good as US postal (and I'm being generous to USPS), so international mail can be quite slow to get sorted and sent. I'd say 2-3 months would be about right.

All foreign cruise lines are required to post surety bonds for "performance" (cancellations of cruises or insolvency) in the amount of $32 million, and for "casualty" (injury or death of passenger) in the amount of $5000 per passenger berth on the ship. As with the recent Crystal bankruptcy, the passengers who have paid for future cruises will be getting refunds (not necessarily full) from this surety bond.