Midnight Cruiser

On most of the islands we rented a car and explored on our own. On Raiatea we made a reservation months ahead of time on our own for an all-day Tahaa tour through Blue Excursion, which included 3 snorkeling stops. It was great. On Moorea we bought day passes at the Sofitel and the Menava resorts. We enjoyed both of them very much, particularly the Sofitel. You have to buy the passes for the Sofitel in advance, since they only sell a total of four per day. On the Big island we drove to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden (which is gorgeous) on one of our visits, and to the Akaka Falls and very scenic Laupāhoehoe Beach Park on the other visit. On Kauai we took a combined tour of the beautiful McBryde and Allerton Gardens. The tour is conducted by the garden's staff, but you have to buy tickets a few days in advance on their website.

I just posted a review of our Hawaii <=> Tahiti 24 day B2B cruise on the Spirit here: Norwegian Spirit Expert Review (cruisecritic.com) . Let me know if you have any questions.

NCL states on their DSC FAQ page: "Guests sailing to Hawaii will be charged an additional 4.275% Pre Paid Service Charge GET Tax". So, if I prepay, will I be charged the GET on the whole amount? If I wait until the end of the cruise, will I escape the GET? What about cruises in the other direction (Tahiti to Hawaii)?

Risk is a matter of probabilities. So if any of the five captains knew that the probability of a passenger death that day due to the crossing was 20% (which it was), should they have taken the chance? Of course, the probabilities are not equal among the ships involved. Some ships be more seaworthy than others, and some crews more experienced with heavy weather and the Drake Passage. So each captain would have calculated the risk differently.

Thanks. I was thinking of larger ships. So with smaller ships you apparently can dock at least 5.

So 5 cruise ships were crossing the Drake Passage that day? Which 5? That seems way too high - I don't think that Ushuaia can accommodate 5 cruise ships ...

From Wikipedia: "The strong winds of the Southern Ocean give rise to correspondingly large waves; these waves can attain great height as they roll around the Southern Ocean, free of any interruption from land. At the Horn, however, these waves encounter an area of shallow water to the south of the Horn, which has the effect of making the waves shorter and steeper, greatly increasing the hazard to ships. If the strong eastward current through the Drake Passage encounters an opposing east wind, this can have the effect of further building up the waves.[22] In addition to these "normal" waves, the area west of the Horn is particularly notorious for rogue waves, which can attain heights of up to 30 metres (98 feet).[23]"

I agree. Interesting race! Tough guys!

Oh yeah you bet they do. These racing sailboats are not ordinary boats by any stretch. All of them are designed be completely safe upside down. They have EPIRB antennas installed in their hulls so they can transmit an emergency signal while upside down.

My supposition is based on following and sponsoring round-the-world sailboat races. Almost all of the capsizing was in the Southern Ocean. Well apparently, they were wrong. What is the point of making a strong hull that can stand up to heavy weather than then making large holes in it and filling in the holes with breakable material that is weaker than the hull? I think you are right: they did not know that. But now they do. It will be interesting to see what Lloyds says when the ship has to be resurveyed. Interesting story! Thanks for sharing.

Your expertise and qualifications clearly exceed mine. Most impressive! So let me ask you: 1) How common are waves meeting the definition of rogue waves in the Southern Ocean? Based on the number of capsizings, I would surmise that they are much more common there than anywhere else in the world. 2) If this was actually a rogue wave, why were the cabin windows on the next deck up not damaged? 3) Why did any of the agencies etc. that you mentioned allow a shipbuilder to put large opening and breakable windows into the *hull* of a craft supposedly specifically designed to explore the most infamous ocean of the world?