Too much ice in the Inside Passage ?

[zwolinski]

Just back from the 9/12-9/23 Solstice sailing of Alaska & BC. Had a wonderful time, except for 2 little details.

One, food quality in the MDR has definitely gone down.

Two, did not cruise the Inside Passage.No announcement made on ship.

 

Various reasons were given by guest relations. Today i was told by a Celebrity rep. that there was too much ice floating in the inside passage, therefore making it risky for the ship. WHAT ????? Ice in the inside passage ? Tracy arm, Glacier Bay , yes.

 

OK, comments, anyone ????:confused:

[bphman]

Did it twice. Never had any issues. Last trip was in 2009.

[JanineM]

If the Captain says there is ice I don't know if I would question him. I mean, ice is really a big deal.

Edited September 29, 2014 by JanineM

[zwolinski]

The Captain said NOTHING. Passengers were never notified or given a reason why we were not doing the passage. Guest relations on board gave us the following reasons ;

1. do not know

2. never part of the itinerary, a mistake made by Celebrity in listing it

3. ship was too large

4. seas were too rough

5. we did sail it, 4 -5 am

 

The " too much ice" reason was given to me over the phone by Celebrity, today.

 

Also, we sailed thru the inside passage 20 years ago, it was beautiful, no ice.

[momzcruzing]

I was on the Southbound Island Princess during your cruise & we did indeed do the inside passage. Our day in Glacier Bay was amazing. The entire face of the Johns Hopkins Glacier calved right in front of us. Crew that had been on the ship for 10 years said they had never seen so much calving!

 

Hope you enjoyed you cruise despite the omission. Celebrity ships are so beautiful! Love Them!

[Sloop-JohnB]

Could be true.

 

Know that my Country (Canada) and by extension "the north" gets some pretty freaky weather

 

Usually when the jet stream dips, south side sees cold temps and north side warm temp

 

Middle of September, Calgary had a 3 Day Snow Storm (over a foot of snow)

 

And a friend just home from an Alaska Cruise said September was unseasonably clear, sunny & warm (20s F... 60s & 70s). Type of weather usually seen in July & August

 

By all accounts a very hot Summer for the north this year

 

And more heat = even more ice melt (glacial & polar)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

Edited September 29, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[jd1966]

We were on the same cruise. Considering how bad the ride was in the open sea, I have to believe that the Captain had good reasons to avoid the inside passage. We were told by multiple crew members that quite a few of them were seasick! After 25 cruises I have to admit to feeling quite queasy (but not sick) all day!

[miched]

Before a ship leaves a port the captain and staff meet to go over the cruise plan. It is based on weather, seas, restrictions, and etc. If it is really off the normal course I think they also have to get permission from the home office. They also have meetings during the charted course to determine if any deviations have to be made.

 

There must have been some reason for them to avoid the inside passage and I think that had to be determined before leaving the last port as I don't think that you can cut over once in it.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Cruise Raider]

We were on the same cruise. Considering how bad the ride was in the open sea, I have to believe that the Captain had good reasons to avoid the inside passage. We were told by multiple crew members that quite a few of them were seasick! After 25 cruises I have to admit to feeling quite queasy (but not sick) all day!

 

We were also on the cruise and, you were right, the seas were pretty rough that day. Glad it calmed down in time for the Neil Diamond Tribute in the Grand Foyer.

 

The weather up in Alaska was amazing and we really had gotten quite close to the Sawyer Glacier. We've not really experienced ice before in the inside passage, much more so in the Tracy Arm Fjord, where we got up really close. So, don't think it could have been too much ice in the water.

 

We were actually told while on the ship that we went through the inside passage at night. I kept waiting for it and it was just getting rougher and rougher....so thought we must have missed it.

 

Please let us know if you hear what really happened. It was an amazing cruise, wasn't it??

[Fouremco]

We were a couple of days ahead of you on HAL's Oosterdam and the Inside Passage was not only totally clear of ice but the temperatures far too high to allow for ice. Someone has their facts wrong.

[rockfsh]

I was told that the Solstice could not clear the power line spanning Seymour Narrows so the Inside Passage was not possible. I was also told that the Solstice had to dump some processed waste water which could only be done in the open ocean.

[RDC1]

What ports did you hit? If you went to Ketchikan then you had to travel a portion of the inside passage. Very few ships do the portion inside of Vancouver island. Most travel parts of the Alaska portion. So which part were you expecting to travel?

 

While I have taken 7 Alaska cruises on various lines, only one did the portion inside of Vancouver Island and that was a cruise starting and ending in Vancouver. Others have done various portions, some more, some less.

[zwolinski]

My issue, beside missing the inside passage, was not being given a reason, a true one. We were told so many different things.

Our weather was exceptional, mostly warm , sunny.

And yes, I CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH !!!! Celebrity owes us that !

[WpgCruise]

My issue, beside missing the inside passage, was not being given a reason, a true one. We were told so many different things.

Our weather was exceptional, mostly warm , sunny.

And yes, I CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH !!!! Celebrity owes us that !

 

I think what Celebrity owes you is what is written in the Contract.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Their contract says they can alter the itinerary as they please. How do you see them owing you anything more?

 

And then I have to wonder why it would matter what the reason was. Nothing really you could do about it unless you're looking to debate with the ships Master his decision vs your interpretation of the Contract.

[ECCruise]

I think what Celebrity owes you is what is written in the Contract.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Their contract says they can alter the itinerary as they please. How do you see them owing you anything more?

 

And then I have to wonder why it would matter what the reason was. Nothing really you could do about it unless you're looking to debate with the ships Master his decision vs your interpretation of the Contract.

 

Awfully harsh IMHO.

The OP is not, in your words, "looking for something" except what they posted: The truth. I, too, would be questioning if a cruise that I booked had a fairly significant deviation from the posted itinerary and numerous, different excuses were given.

 

And would bet the decision came not from the "Master" but from another M: Miami. We've had quite a few deviations over the years and all came either directly from, or in close consultation with, the home office.

Edited September 29, 2014 by ECCruise

[Christine Frances]

I am still confused over what part of the Inside Passage he missed? It is 1000's of kilometers long! If he ported at Ketchikan or Juneau for example, he was in the Inside Passage.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_Passage

 

http://www.travelalaska.com/Destinations/Regions/Inside%20Passage.aspx

 

There are so many sections of the passage that he would have to clarify. Was it in the northern sections where the cruising is specatular or is he talking about the Solstice going on the west side of Vancouver Islands where all the ships sailing from Seattle go and the Solstice has to as well because of her size.

[rockfsh]

The part of the Inside Passage in question is the part East of Vancouver Island as shown on the map of this cruise on the Celebrity site.

[zwolinski]

We were not looking for anything, just an explanation. Many ports on past cruises have been missed. Each time we were given a reason by the Captain, usually choppy seas. We were given multiple reasons by staff.

 

Cruising the inside passage is a beautiful highlight of an Alaska trip, & a lot of people were disappointed.

[NLH Arizona]

My issue, beside missing the inside passage, was not being given a reason, a true one. We were told so many different things.

Our weather was exceptional, mostly warm , sunny.

And yes, I CAN HANDLE THE TRUTH !!!! Celebrity owes us that !

I would suggest you write an email to Michael Bayley and ask what the deal was. Hopefully, and they should, they will tell you the reason why.

[Christine Frances]

I think Johnston Strait is much too narrow for the Solstice. I think she is the largest ship to do this itinerary. She also had to modify her mast to make it collapsible so she could get under Lions Gate Bridge. There has been other posts commenting on the need to travel the West coast of Vancouver Island.

 

Celebrity should maybe modify the map on the website to show the different routes of the Solstice and the Millennium.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Edited September 30, 2014 by Christine Frances

[jelayne]

I may be mistaken, as this was our first Alaska cruise & geography isn't my strong suit, but there was a question asked of the Captain at the connections gathering about the inside passage; I understood him to say that the Solstice was to large to do the inside passage.

 

For the person who asked our itinerary departed from Seattle. first port Ketchikan, cruise Tracy Arm, Skagway, Icy Strait, Juneau, followed by Victoria and Nanaimo, ending in Vancouver.

[Cruise Junky]

This is funny. Can't actually believe someone said ice. Solstice never does the route between the mainland and Vancouver. It takes more fuel. But ice, that's a new one LOL

[c-legs]

This is funny. Can't actually believe someone said ice. Solstice never does the route between the mainland and Vancouver. It takes more fuel. But ice, that's a new one LOL

Hi,

This was actually explained by the Master, Capt.Zisi Taramas, at the CruiseCritic M&M and,I beleive, at the Captain Club cocktailparty.

I was also lucky enough to be close to him enough to ask while he was in the background at a function.

Yes; Celebrity ought to be more forthright than giving ''non-sequitur'' answers to guests, which only annoy them more than the issue leading to the question in the 1st place.

The fact is this: The mast is too high to clear the Cables at Seymour Narrows....there fore, ''S'' ships will never be able to navigate what is commonly referred to as the B C inside passage.

The modification made to allow ''S'' class to clear Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver also result in one radar taken out of commission when bending the top mast. While this causes little issue while in/out port in Vancouver, it does at Seymour Narrows.,where a bent mast also would actually allow clearance.

Reason: the captain needs ~~ 45 minutes to get mast back up, re-establish radar connectivity, test it vs the other ones, re-check the magnetic compass, etc.etc.etc.....While this can be done at Anchorage in English Bay after leaving Vancouver, the same simply is disallowed either side of Seymour Narrows;there is no room to ''drop anchor and do mast maintenance for ~~ 40 minutes''; no safe area with sufficient draft;pilots won't allow it, CoastGuard and Transport Canada won't allow it...and Capt Taramas stated he wouldn't even think about it......And sailing either side of the Narrows for hours with one radar out is unthinkable.

I'm quoting Captain's Taramas's explanation as closely as possible.

 

And , to repeat ;; it would far simpler and forward thinking for ==X== to simply state that fact instead of sewing up ridiculous answers for crew members to give when asked by guests, such as '' ship too large'' ''takes too much fuel'' too much ice in BC Inside Passage'' etc.etc...

 

As Capt Taramas stated; he would love to have sailed up the passage in May and down last week, including Greenville Channel. He has mastered for == X== for years, many contracts on board Millie, Galaxy in her earlier years, Mercury, Summit,Infinity etc.etc...on the Alaska runs.

 

IMO, his explanations were practical, informative and to the point.

 

Sometimes, the kiss principle works well....

 

Cheers

[Cruise Junky]

Don't get me wrong, I loved Solstice but it's truly a shame that they didn't take some of the more common cruising areas into consideration when building the S Class. And still chuckling at "Ice" ;)

Edited September 30, 2014 by Cruise Junky

[FLACRUISER99]

Who on this board does not know that both guest relations and the Celebrity CSR don't know what they are talking about? No one is being untruthful, they just have no idea so they make up a story!