chengkp75

What folks don't understand, and despite Carnival's sign saying it is due to federal law, it really isn't, it is the law of every nation who has ships flying their flag (which is why the drug dogs are on the ship at sea, where the US federal government has no jurisdiction). Even countries like Holland, where marijuana has been "decriminalized", do not allow marijuana onboard ships that fly their flag. This is based on the IMO's (International Maritime Organization) SCTW (Standards of Competency, Training and Watchkeeping) convention, and the ILO's (International Labor Organization) MLC 2006 (Maritime Labor Convention), both part of the UN, which make all ships zero tolerance drug free zones. When a nation becomes signatory to these conventions, they must pass laws that copy the conventions terms into their laws. So, every "flag state" that has ships operating anywhere in the world, agree that regardless of what the drug laws are for the rest of that nation, ships are completely drug free. And, until the WHO (World Health Organization) changes its classification of THC, marijuana will be illegal on all ships.

Unlike land water systems, which are static (no flow) until you turn on a faucet or shower, the ship's system is constantly circulating water around the ship at constant pressure. The pumps are also not miles away from your shower, requiring a long time delay between your turning on the shower and the pump seeing a drop in pressure. So, turning on a faucet or shower does not affect the pressure due to increased demand, the pump is always pumping more water than is being used. You're shower too hot problem is common. Since the distilled, or desalinated water produced onboard is slightly acidic by nature, the ship adds calcium carbonate (the active ingredient in Tums) to the water to neutralize it. This can cause scale buildup in the piping, though the scale does tend to drop out more in the hot water heaters (just like the water heaters in your house) than in the cold pipes. Your shower "mixing valve" (that sets the temperature), has small strainer screens in both the hot and cold inlets, to keep the scale from fouling the temperature mechanism. Over time, the cold water strainer will clog with scale, reducing the amount of cold water to the mixing valve, and your shower runs too hot. This is about a 5 minute fix for the plumber.

Just to contradict and clarify some statements made in the article. By law, the minimum wage for any crew, working any kind of ship, is $658/month, for a 40 hour work week. Any hours worked over 40 in a week must be paid at 125%. Tips (not sure what line he worked for, or their policy, but typically the bar steward is included in the bar tip pool) are allowed to make up some of the pay, but if they don't reach the statutory minimum wage, the cruise line has to make up the balance.

I still don't understand the findings, as reported. The first picture shows the boat's deck deformed, but intact, so I don't see how this could have thrown a passenger "several feet into the air". The second photo shows the bottom of the hull, and I can't picture 9 psi, even over the area of the bladder, exerting enough force when blowing out the bladder to deform the metal in that way. I know what low pressure over a large area can do, but that isn't a very large area. I suspect that the bladder blew out when the boat struck something, and the combined pressure of the bladder and the object below flattened out the hull, and the force of the strike is what threw the passengers about.

This is the difference between a USCG approved life raft and a SOLAS approved raft. For the annual inspection, USCG requires the raft to be inflated via the CO2 cannister, not by a compressor, to simulate the actual inflation in an emergency, and to fail rafts that are marginal in seam strength.

Since the Star is over 15 years old, the ship is required to dry dock twice in 5 years. She would be due for mid-period docking in the Feb to Aug 2024 span.

This should absolutely have been a part of the SMS, but then again, the plan is so comprehensive that sometimes things are left out, only to be found after an incident. Not condoning, just saying it does happen. If that is what they were thinking, they weren't clear on the facts. 10*F reduction in temperature results in a 1 psi drop in pressure, so a 100*F drop would be 10psi loss (probably less as the base pressure is a bit lower than most pressurized things). And, the temp could not have been that colder than where the boat was originally, or the pressure in the keel bladder would have likely dropped below the allowable pressure. The USCG MSA is an advisory to foreign flag cruise ships, and they are not routinely distributed to foreign shipping companies, nor are they required to have been seen by the lines. USCG has no jurisdiction unless they find this condition on a ship in US waters. I'm not sure if the NSIA is required to issue a "final" report, if they feel that all topics and concerns were covered in an interim report. They may feel that a final report is not required. No. Prior to publishing, it would only be shown to the ship owner, the class society, the flag state, the port state, and any "interested parties" that were actively attending the investigation.

The closest is at the airport, a 20 minute drive away from the pier. There is no Enterprise there, they've closed.

You are right, they will still be doing that, but those things are the finishing touches (the lipstick and mascara), not real construction work. And, sea trials are typically only 3-5 days, so not a lot of hotel work can get done in that amount of time. Everything in the hotel, like all the laundry machines, the galley equipment, the cappuccino machines, etc, have to be shown to be working as designed before delivery.

No, what the poster you quoted is correct. The ship's crew do not touch the baggage until it is loaded onto the ship. The longshoremen take the bags from you, place them into the carts, then through security, where the longshoreman driven forklifts take the carts to the ship and place them on the side port platforms. The crew then wheel the carts into the ship. And, technically, a "stevedore" owns the company that provides the "longshoremen" to load/unload ships.

Are you sure it was surge protected, or merely had a circuit breaker on it? How was it identified as being surge protected? Genuinely curious.

The dry dock is valuable real estate. The sooner they can float the ship out, the quicker they can start on the next ship. At float out, the hull is complete, most major mechanical systems are installed, but much of the topsides (hotel) is not complete, or even started. Yeah, 9 months from float out to delivery is about right for a cruise ship. The last tanker I built was about 5-6 months from float out to delivery.

Queen Mary had huge problems, resulting in the ship going back into dry dock to install a skeg between the two inboard azipods to improve course tracking when in following seas. While nearly every system has been "dock trialed" (operated) before sea trials, many have never been run together with other dependent systems, many systems have not been tested at full load, and some cannot be tested at all while at the dock. So, yes, as Jim says, they will find items, and the shipyard will have technicians onboard to fix whatever they can while on trials, but some require parts and time at the dock, but there is usually a few days set in the schedule after trials for potential repairs. There will also likely be items that cannot be repaired in time for delivery, but that don't majorly impact vessel operation, and the yard will set up time schedule for when these repairs will be made while the ship is in service.

Well, let's see. Was the first point made about NCL returning to the e-muster in their "operational update" quoted a few posts up, that the change was made to "improve passenger safety"? Nope. "In an effort to enhance the onboard guest experience" is the major point they presented.

SMH. Still not answering questions.

And, who are you quoting that is saying this is the justification? I guess this is the current trend in debates, say the "information" often enough, and it will be accepted as the "truth".

I think the rationale used to justify the e-muster is that it does provide safety training. The question is not whether the drill has no function, but whether the "training" the e-muster provides is what is intended by, and adequate for, the SOLAS regulation. These kinds of real life applications of the e-muster training is what is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the muster, and while the lines claim that the information is presented better, and received better, in the e-muster format, this pertains to the information that is contained in the video presentation, and the video presentation has for years been an accepted adjunct to the traditional muster drill.

And, based on reports here on CC about an RCI ship that had a passenger muster due to a potential man overboard emergency, the e-muster drill is not providing the safety that should be required, in favor of "the customer's" comfort. After 5 days onboard the ship, the muster was apparently chaotic, even though it was announced as a "non-emergency" muster, due to many passengers not knowing even what deck their muster station was on.

When they are buying 2-3000 per ship, can you blame them?

Huh? Not quite accurate regarding how AC current flows in wiring systems, but never mind. The surge protector will disrupt current flow on both legs of the power strip, the circuit breaker only interrupts one leg (for US type consumer power strips)(this is a problem with the USCG Safety Notice about surge protectors on ships, in that it combines a failure of a surge protector and a single leg circuit breaker into explaining why surge protectors are dangerous). You will see in the photo above of the power strip supplied by the ship, that it has a two pole circuit breaker, so it will interrupt current flow in both legs. Again, not accurate. A failure of a surge protector, even with a single pole circuit breaker, will not magically "transfer" the fault to another area of the ship, causing a fire there. What I have mentioned before, and you may have misunderstood, is that a wiring problem somewhere else on the ship (like a light fixture outside filled with water, that would normally not be a fire hazard on its own), can cause the surge protector in your cabin to fail and catch fire. So, it is a problem elsewhere that can cause a fire at your cabin, not a problem in your cabin that can cause a fire somewhere else.

This does not really explain the jurisdiction overlaps and limitations well. In the cases mentioned, where the local law enforcement are called onboard at the next port, this is at the Captain's invitation, and still depends on the jurisdictional limits.

Actually, I'm not. That poster asked about inspection of all the food that supplies the islands, which is inspected and dutiable, but also food for personal consumption is dutiable. According to this website, even foodstuffs brought in while flying to Bermuda are dutiable. See the answers to the questions: https://www.bermuda-attractions.com/bermuda_000260.htm Typically, only cigarettes, liquor and wine (in limited quantities) are duty free. There is no minimum amount of foodstuffs that is not dutiable. The article does mention that many times it is not detected, or allowed to slip by customs agents, but that is the risk.

Uh, no. Most of the major cruise lines have specified that civil cases will be tried in federal court in the Southern District of Florida. And, for criminal cases, the US federal government only has limited jurisdiction over certain crimes against US citizens while in international waters. The state of Florida's jurisdiction totally ends at the 3 mile limit, and the US federal jurisdiction continues to the 12 mile limit. The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that the state can exercise jurisdiction beyond the 3 mile limit, but this has not been tested as whether it is constitutional or not, and to the best of my knowledge has not been applied.

Nope.

As far as Bermuda is concerned, it isn't about health and food safety, but about collecting duty on the items brought into the country. Contents of shipping containers will be declared prior to arrival, and random containers selected for inspection as to accuracy of declaration. But, this applies to everything brought in, not just foodstuffs.