chengkp75

If this is a myth, why is noro so prevalent on cruise ships, as this is caused almost entirely by fecal/oral contamination, which is caused primarily by poor hand hygiene.

And, all sushi on cruise ships sailing from the US has the same requirement.

Here's the thing. Anything on the buffet line has only been there for 4 hours, after which it must be discarded, even condiments.

With the ships aging, after reaching the 15 year mark, you will not see the 2 week dry docks anymore, but the 4 week dockings will become the norm. It is just a fact of the inspections and testing required for older ships.

It's not so much the "modular" construction (and I assume you are referring to the cabins being modular, rather than hull segments), as the desire to have what are technically called "ceilings" (an aesthetic lining of the hull), but what most would call "walls" and "ceilings" (though a "ceiling" on land is an "overhead" on ship, but I digress). In the old days, the walls of ships' cabins were the steel bulkheads that made up the structure of the ship. In order to have better insulation (both sound and thermal), and to provide a more pleasing surface, cabins were then built using 1/2-3/4" thick panels with steel skins and insulation in the middle. These panels are screwed to support channels (much like the drywall and studs in your home) to provide the shape and strength needed. The overhead panels, in particular, are typically about 1 foot wide and 12 feet long, and interlock on the long edge with the previous panel installed, and then screwed at the opposite side into the channels. So, each panel is only hard mounted to a channel on one side, it relies on the previous panel to hold the other side in place. As the ship moves, and the structure flexes, these screws can start to come loose, and the panels will creak. To fix this, usually, just retightening the screws will stop the squeak, but sometimes it requires some rubber bits installed to stop panels moving when the screw holes have worn large.

CBP is worried about bringing an invasive species into the US. The USPH is worried about bringing something that could cause an illness onto the ship, and then possibly into the US. And, cruise lines that benefit from participating in the VSP (meaning that they do not need to have a full sanitation inspection every single time the ship enters the US), agree to abide by the VSP for the entire voyage, so any restrictions on bringing food onboard at a US port would be the same as food brought on in a foreign port, for cruises that call at US ports.

I haven't studied the EU's ShipSan program too closely, so can't answer for European cruises, but cruises that call at the US, and are under the USPH's VSP, all food brought onboard must be from "verifiable sources", meaning there is a paper trail of documentation from ingredients to preparation, to cooking, to packaging and storage.

Here's an article about the Mail Boat run: https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-best-way-to-see-maines-casco-bay-islands-is-by-mail-boat

While that is about a mail boat up in Hancock County (which is where Bar Harbor is), what is being discussed is the Casco Bay Ferry Line "Mailboat Run", down in Portland. This has been a licensed mail carrier since the 1870's, and delivers not only mail and packages, but groceries, and propane tanks to islanders in Casco Bay as well. Islanders will shop for groceries on the mainland, then at checkout, they tell the cashier that it is an "island delivery", and the food is taken in back of the store, boxed up (usually one bag of groceries goes in each of a top or bottom of a banana box), refrigerated or frozen (shoppers usually provide coolers), and delivered to the ferry terminal in the afternoon, with the owner's name on the boxes. Each island's deliveries are palletized and wrapped, loaded on the boat, and delivered to the island dock. The owners then come down and claim their stuff and take it home. Some islands don't allow cars, so golf carts are the delivery haulers. Some islands do allow cars, and several families will frequently go in together to buy an old car that probably would not pass state inspection (too much rust, etc), and designate these as "island cars", which don't need inspections or license plates as long as they don't leave the island. Casco Bay Ferry also provides the transportation for middle and high school students from the islands to the schools on the mainland, both ways, morning and afternoon. I live in Portland, and one son worked for Casco Bay Ferries for a while, so if the OP has questions about the "run" or the islands, I can help.

Removal of large particles, like shells, can alter the composition of the beach sand, and therefore change the rates and patterns of erosion along beaches. As a previous poster said, removing one shell is one thing, thousands of people removing several shells each can cause a problem. Also, many species rely on shells from dead animals for their existence (anchoring points for plants, bird nests, hiding spots for small fish).

They, or the person who actually collects the shells, are licensed by the country as collectors of shells that are verified as dead when collected, and that they have sterilized the shells to ensure no biological remains are present.

Another factor is Carnival's need to reduce/eliminate single use plastic (the pods), as required by their environmental plan set by the court in their probation.

It is actually from the international convention CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).

Anything that is left in the garbage in a plastic bag, unless it is readily identifiable, will be hand sorted by the crew to ensure that nothing goes to the wrong garbage stream.

Not quite correct. They can only sell alcohol that has had the Texas state liquor tax paid on it, while in Texas waters (out to 3 miles, not the 12 mile international limit). The liquor that is sold at all other times, on all ships, has no state liquor tax paid, nor any import duty paid to the US. It is up to the municipality where the ship calls as to whether they collect the sales tax or not. Most Florida ports do, NYC does, Hawaii does, Texas has their own rule, as above. Alaska does not have a state sales tax, but some municipalities do. However, I don't believe any that have a tax actually collect it from the cruise ships.

The last post is closer to the point than others. It is a "risk/reward" consideration. The reward is having more passengers pleased by having a coffee maker in the cabin. The risk is the cost of the machines, and the cost of having the crew take the machines out of service regularly (and having bought extra machines to cover these inspections) and the man/hours involved in testing and inspecting the machines for defects (which is done by those lines that provide coffee makers and hair dryers). Add in the insurance cost to cover the fire hazard of the coffee makers (the insurance clubs already accept the cost and risk of allowing hair care appliances that are brought by passengers). Carnival's demographic research has shown that there is not enough reward to counter the risk, while other lines feel differently. The idea that adding coffee makers would impact fuel consumption in any meaningful way, or that the electrical system could not handle, or was not designed for coffee makers in every cabin is not right. When I was working for NCL, we added coffee makers to every cabin, and as the Chief Engineer, I can say that there was no noticeable change in fuel consumption, or electrical problems. The coffee makers were removed after a few months due to cost to inspect/maintain them. The fire hazard that coffee makers present is a failure of the "auto-off" temperature switch, that shuts the heating element off when the water is all boiled from the reservoir. This is the most common failure mode for a coffee maker, and the plastic reservoir is perfect fuel for a fire. This failure almost sent Mr. Coffee into bankruptcy back in the 1980's. As for sanitizing a coffee maker, the CDC VSP only recommends cleaning/sanitizing "as per manufacturer's instructions", which is typically every 6-12 months.

When I look at the Downeaster schedule, for a cruise port of call, the only train from Portland to Freeport leaves Portland at 11:25, arriving in Freeport at 11:55. The only train that you could take back, unless the ship leaves late in the evening, leaves Freeport at 1:08pm, arriving Portland at 1:43. So, you would be on the train for 30 minutes each way, to spend about an hour in Freeport. If Beans is your destination, that is nowhere near enough time to see all that is there.

Correct. Not really. Not as much as the ship's working hours. Corporate has much less traffic going to the ship compared to what comes to them from the ship. Sometimes, even third party vendors have access to systems onboard, one example was the manufacturer of the advanced waste water treatment plant, who could access the program for the plant, and monitor data and change parameters and settings.

0800-1700 ship's time will be the busiest, along with around midnight as the accounts update. The slowest times would be 0300-0600, typically.

Virtually none requires internet connection. What the Captain was complaining about is his corporate internet connection (e-mail), and the system is set up so that the ship's server prioritizes corporate communication over passenger communication. Much of the ship's operation is "real time" with corporate, meaning that the maintenance and supply programs are connected to, and communicating with, the corporate office 24/7. Accounting (including all passenger portfolios) are continually updated at corporate after each POS sale. This is why the passenger service is spotty, and varies with time of day (passengers get better service when there is little activity on the corporate net), the passengers get whatever is left over of the contracted bandwidth, after ship's usage. And, "wi-fi" is merely the network on the ship that allows your device to wirelessly connect to a server. That server provides the connection to the internet, whether wired (on land) or via satellite (at sea). All of the ship's devices are wired to the ship's network, so don't rely on "wi-fi". If you go to the ship's "internet cafe" in the old days, you plugged your computer into the ethernet connection, and used the internet without using "wi-fi". Nearly everything on the bridge uses satellite connectivity, but not to the internet, they are various (weather, notices to mariners, emergency position, GPS, security alerts) special purpose satellites and services, not through the internet, much as that would be considered heresy by most folks these days. Some things like chart updates (sent by NOAA) for updating electronic charts comes by internet, but those are low priority communications. As noted, there will be dedicated satellite phones and various radios that can be used in emergencies.

"Wifi" is likely about as good as it's going to get. "Internet" will get better, but will never compare to land based internet, just because of the physics involved (with the corresponding cost).

I think one of the best things about cruising into Portland is to get up early, and get some nice photos of Portland Head Light from the sea, a perspective that is rarely seen in photos of the light. As for intown things to see. There is the Museum of Art (with a nice Wyeth collection), the Victoria Mansion, Longfellow House, Portland Observatory for views out over Casco Bay, the Narrow Gauge Railway, shops and incredible restaurants (a nationally known top 10 "foodie" town), breweries and distilleries with their tasting rooms. Then there are schooner cruises and the Mailboat Run on the Casco Bay Ferry to see the islands of the Bay. The East End beach in town isn't much, but there are Crescent Beach State Park, and Kettle Cove (right next door), that are about a 20 minute drive from the airport. I would recommend the Grill Room, the Oyster Room at Boone's, Street & Co, Scales, Petite Jacqueline and Fore Street for dinners. Duckfat, Nosh, and Kings Head for lunch. Becky's Diner and Miss Portland Diner for breakfast/brunch. Luke's for lobster, or Portland Lobster Co for lobster "in the rough" (picnic tables).

This is correct. Since the combined cruise is Vancouver to Hawaii, on the same ship, it is considered to be a cruise that starts in a foreign country, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the PVSA. I am assuming it is the same ship, and there are no breaks in the voyage (i.e. days off between legs). Though reading the OP's post again, it sounds like the final leg goes beyond Hawaii, which then makes it a cruise both beginning and ending in foreign countries, so definitely outside the PVSA.

Actually, what I believe @BirdTravels was referring to is the "wall wart" or block that comes with your device to charge it (little white cube), that they in many cases sell as an "extra" these days. He is saying that an unknown USB port could be a malicious data port and not a power port.

The only time Oasis came close to failing was in 2017, with an 87 (still passing). Allure had a couple of low, but still passing scores in 2017 as well. Even if a ship fails a USPH inspection, it usually doesn't result in the inspection taking longer, and it doesn't affect embarkation, as the USPH wants to see a meal service as part of the inspection. Found only one RCI failing score, Adventure in 2015.