Where ARE we on this Voyage? Captains Corner?

[LMaxwell]

Kind of a D-Level pet peeve; but several ships across multiple lines I have been on in recent years...there's no way to determine where you are, where you are going, how far into voyage, nautical/mariner type information. 

 

I recall cruise lines having a channel on TV with "the map" that would show your speed, heading, where along the itinerary you are at. I remember BIG light up map displays in years past with color changing light segments. Cruise lines used to deliver itinerary maps to your room with voyage information. Just neat stuff for ship geeks. 

 

Is there somewhere on Virgin VOYAGES I would have been able to find this? It was not in the app anywhere I could find, or TV. There's no interactive map/tv/display anywhere on the ship with this information. Also guilty is Holland America MARINERS and their NAVIGATOR app that contains none of these items; they had one display in the crows nest but it was non-functional.  

Just my opinion; but it's something that has fallen by the wayside and Virgin, in trying to differentiate themselves from the mainstream, first had to look at exactly what the mainstream is doing and then make changes. So that's why some of these things don't exist: No one at VV has even thought of them because the competition wasn't doing them. I may have missed an event, but I did not see it, for a Captains Corner type event to find out more about the ship operations, etc. Do they have one of those? 

[_tacocat_]

3 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

I may have missed an event, but I did not see it, for a Captains Corner type event to find out more about the ship operations, etc. Do they have one of those

there's a $200/pp behind the scenes tour on sea days that's pretty cool, and i felt it was worth the money.  it's like 2.5+ hours long, and you see about 10 different places on the ship, including backstage at one of the show venues, the food storage areas, a galley, laundry, waste management, engine control room and the bridge.  leaders from each department give a brief talk at their respective stop, and you can ask whatever questions you have.  it culminates at a bar (location changes depending on your ship) with champagne, and you get a small gift (also changes depending on the ship). 

 

I did it on valiant and have seen it listed every time i've been on scarlet since then, but i don't recall seeing it on resilient last week (although my sea day focus was relaxing by the pool so i wasn't really looking too hard!) 

[neverendingcruising]

cruisemapper.com might be of interest to you. 

[YXU AC*SE]

Personally on my Valiant TA last month I was using Google Maps to determine our relative position and speed?    Given how app-focussed / phone-centric VV is,   I expect that's their working assumption for those ppl who might be curious?  I have 300+ nights w/ HAL, and they definitely have their seafaring bias (and 150 years of legacy to back that) so that voyage-y detailed info (including the 13h00  noon position report from the bridge every day) better resonates w/ their typical pax. I kinda like it. For a pax on a four-night Scarlet Lady Bimini / Key West  long weekend, I expect that positioning detail isn't a priority ?     Scott. 

[cantgetin]

On Valiant it was appearing on the app each day and someone was posting it to FB.  The app seemed to be updated just once each morning..

[LMaxwell]

3 hours ago, YXU AC*SE said:

Personally on my Valiant TA last month I was using Google Maps to determine our relative position and speed?    Given how app-focussed / phone-centric VV is,   I expect that's their working assumption for those ppl who might be curious?  I have 300+ nights w/ HAL, and they definitely have their seafaring bias (and 150 years of legacy to back that) so that voyage-y detailed info (including the 13h00  noon position report from the bridge every day) better resonates w/ their typical pax. I kinda like it. For a pax on a four-night Scarlet Lady Bimini / Key West  long weekend, I expect that positioning detail isn't a priority ?     Scott. 

I'm not trying to get them to move mountains; just for referring to everything as voyage, adventure, having sea creatures all over, many references to the ocean, etc., they could throw a single page into the app that shows where you are at on the ocean. 

I'm a PAX that lives 45 minutes from port with a ton of vacation time and means to enjoy, and go on many different cruise lines. The party crowd may not care, but for a cruise line seemingly obsessed with a curated experience, this would only enhance it, IMO. 

 

I had not even thought to try Google Maps; that's a good idea and I will def try that out! 

[YXU AC*SE]

 

7 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

... but for a cruise line seemingly obsessed with a curated experience ...

 

I expect it also hasn't occurred to the seafaring traditionalists of Bain Capital. /s   And as @cantgetin mentioned we were being pushed a mid-morning message during our eight crossing days in the app with a location update, but that was simply a latitude / longitude which you then had to drop into your preferred map app.  Nothing visual at all.   It definitely was a contrast to HAL with their LCD map tables.   I've cruised with them long enough to remember when the paper charts with routes laid out in pencil crayon would be posted to the atrium walls outside guest relations.       Scott. 

[CruisingWalter]

Cruise Mapper is the way to go for this as VV has eschewed all traditional maritime things that go with cruising like the Bridge Cam, Navigation Maps and a presentation from the Captain. I too enjoy those captain presentation and to this day still remember Captain Dimitri's hilarious 1 hour "How the Ship Works" while on Celebrity Sihouette. He's one of the two brothers that will be launching the new Ascent, still my favorite captain to date.

 

Cruise Mapper literally shows you every ship out there and you can simply search for your ship. It shows where the ships are and the routes in real time.  At home use the website, onboard use the app.  On our cruise a few weeks ago on MSC Seaside I noticed we made a HUGE turn in the morning. The sun went from the back of the ship to the front in minutes. I knew something was up with our itinerary and cruise mapper showed that we veered off course towards Key West. A passenger had cardiac emergency and we altered course to drop him off in Key West. 

 

Here's two images from just now. Valiant Lady is docked in Cannes and in the second image, that's the Marella Discovery. That's where she is and the route that she is on from her homeport in Port Canaveral. Once you know the color codes for the cruise lines, it's fun to just start clicking on the ships to see who they are and where they're going. 🙂

Edited June 13, 2023 by CruisingWalter

[aimee0715]

I agree that the lack of map and bridge cam channels on the TV was a let down.  I also found it odd that there was hardly ever a mention of the captain.  We were on Resilient Lady for 2 weeks and I think I heard 3 announcements from the captain the whole trip.  Two were on the sailaway days and one when we had to head to Crete due to a medical emergency.  I never saw any of the officers around the ship or at events either.   I like to see where the ship is on the map and see the progression and get the daily update from the Captain.   I looked at Cruisemapper to see who else would be in port but didn't realize that I could track the ship's progress there.  

 

There was a ship's tour offered for $200 on both weeks of our cruise.  

[_tacocat_]

1 minute ago, aimee0715 said:

We were on Resilient Lady for 2 weeks and I think I heard 3 announcements from the captain the whole trip. 

This is 2 more than usual haha - usually it's just the "welcome aboard, thanks for being good sports, here are some bubbles and let's sail" announcement at the beginning.

 

After being subjected to neighboring MSC and RC ships' endless morning (pre 7am!!!!) and pre-departure announcements on some of my previous voyages, I'll take the silent captain any day.

[Cruiser2star]

8 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

Cruise Mapper is the way to go for this as VV has eschewed all traditional maritime things that go with cruising like the Bridge Cam, Navigation Maps and a presentation from the Captain. I too enjoy those captain presentation and to this day still remember Captain Dimitri's hilarious 1 hour "How the Ship Works" while on Celebrity Sihouette. He's one of the two brothers that will be launching the new Ascent, still my favorite captain to date.

 

Cruise Mapper literally shows you every ship out there and you can simply search for your ship. It shows where the ships are and the routes in real time.  At home use the website, onboard use the app.  On our cruise a few weeks ago on MSC Seaside I noticed we made a HUGE turn in the morning. The sun went from the back of the ship to the front in minutes. I knew something was up with our itinerary and cruise mapper showed that we veered off course towards Key West. A passenger had cardiac emergency and we altered course to drop him off in Key West. 

 

Here's two images from just now. Valiant Lady is docked in Cannes and in the second image, that's the Marella Discovery. That's where she is and the route that she is on from her homeport in Port Canaveral. Once you know the color codes for the cruise lines, it's fun to just start clicking on the ships to see who they are and where they're going. 🙂

 

[Cruiser2star]

Cruise mapper sounds great.  Thanks cruising Walter, I am a ship geek and love the HAL info every day.

[Lustate]

Technically there is a way anyone can see what direction you are heading. If you stand in The Roundabout, and look at the ceiling you can see a giant circle of lights above the stairs. The red line always points north 🙂 

[CruisingWalter]

On 6/13/2023 at 4:53 PM, Cruiser2star said:

Cruise mapper sounds great.  Thanks cruising Walter, I am a ship geek and love the HAL info every day.

 

Me too! I do my best to attend the Captain's or First Officer presentation on each ship. Especially since the ship tours have become so ridiculously expensive. I'm planning to sail Ascent when Captain D is in charge just to see what he's presenting now. And he participated in multiple evening events, simply the funniest captain we've ever sailed with.

 

We happened to be sailing with him about a year or two after the Costa Concordia disaster and he did not mince words at all. It was the one point in his Captain's presentation where he almost became visibly angry with the captain of that ship. It honestly made me feel better about sailing with him. 

 

I really do wish VV would offer some Captain's presentation, meet and greet or something like that beyond the pay to play ship tour. 🙂 

[CruisingWalter]

On 6/13/2023 at 12:27 PM, aimee0715 said:

I never saw any of the officers around the ship or at events either.   I like to see where the ship is on the map and see the progression and get the daily update from the Captain

 

You very well may have seen the officers and the Captain throughout the ship but didn't realize it. They don't wear maritime uniforms, just slacks or short with a polo shirt. No stripes on the shoulders. I only know what the Captains look like from their social media feeds. 

 

At the end of the day you are on a ship with your life literally in the hands of those running the Bridge. While VV downplays the who 'cruise ship thing' it would be nice for them to acknowledge who is running the ship and allow us to meet them, or at least hear from them. 

[jon81uk]

23 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

At the end of the day you are on a ship with your life literally in the hands of those running the Bridge. While VV downplays the who 'cruise ship thing' it would be nice for them to acknowledge who is running the ship and allow us to meet them, or at least hear from them

The captain made two announcements on the first day, one to encourage everyone to attend their muster point and one to thank sailors for attending as the safety check in is completed and to announce the free wine time at the sailaway. So you definitely do hear from the captain. 

Then those who disembark later will hear the captain around 10am as a final request to disembark on time. 
 

maybe an in-person presentation from the captain would be nice for anyone who really wants to attend, but I think the number of announcements is fine. 

[LMaxwell]

I ask for an a page on the TV or app to see a map, another agrees with the Captains corner thing, and only on Cruise Critic can you immediately smoke out opposing opinions to tell you that you are wrong? 

 

My 4 month breaks from the website are too short. 

[genian_travels]

On 6/18/2023 at 8:27 AM, LMaxwell said:

I ask for an a page on the TV or app to see a map, another agrees with the Captains corner thing, and only on Cruise Critic can you immediately smoke out opposing opinions to tell you that you are wrong? 

 

My 4 month breaks from the website are too short. 

You mean you expressed an opinion and didn’t expect anyone to oppose it?! 😜

 

Sometimes you don’t even have to express an opinion here - merely just sharing your experience will lead people to accuse you of lying or try to gaslight you…

 

We had money stolen from our cabin on a Celebrity Cruise a while back and when I shared the experience on here I was staggered at the number of people who just wouldn’t believe it happened. One person even went so far as to suggest my husband had a secret gambling habit and he was the one who had taken money…! (Spoiler: the cabin attendant stole it)

[Hyuaul]

On 6/18/2023 at 12:27 AM, LMaxwell said:

I ask for an a page on the TV or app to see a map, another agrees with the Captains corner thing, and only on Cruise Critic can you immediately smoke out opposing opinions to tell you that you are wrong? 

 

My 4 month breaks from the website are too short. 

Lustate suggested how to  get your bearings I believe