Blackout tonight on the Venezia

[madamerkf]

Suprised no one has mentioned it yet. 
 

we have some awful seas tonight. Left Nassau at 3:30pm. About seven pm all of a sudden all the lights go out. Captain comes on loudspeaker and says don’t take the elevators. Lights come back on a little bit later only to go out again. 
 

Finally came on for good about 7:45 or so. Supposedly still going to our last port of HMC , but I don’t see how the tenders will be able to operate if the weather continues. 
 

From not being able to leave NYC until six am the day after embark to tonight’s blast jour it has been an interesting trip!

[ZoeyVictoria]

We are on the Vista, out of Port Canaveral. We were in Amber Cove on Wednesday and should have gone to Grand Turk yesterday. Instead, that became a sea day so we could take a different and less rough route back to PC tomorrow morning. Yesterday afternoon we were “between Cuba and the Bahamas”, with 8-9’ seas and a lot of rocking from side to side.  I just woke up (6 a.m. on Friday) and can feel a huge difference already. We are in a porthole cabin.  I can hear the waves hitting the hull and the spray is splashing up higher than our window. I am not really concerned about the next 24 hours at sea, but very worried about the drive from Port Canaveral across the state to the west coast (Bradenton) tomorrow. 
 

i can’t even imagine going to HMC today. 

[groundloop]

7 hours ago, madamerkf said:

 

we have some awful seas tonight. Left Nassau at 3:30pm. About seven pm all of a sudden all the lights go out. Captain comes on loudspeaker and says don’t take the elevators. Lights come back on a little bit later only to go out again. 
 

Finally came on for good about 7:45 or so. Supposedly still going to our last port of HMC , but I don’t see how the tenders will be able to operate if the weather continues...... 

 

We were on Spirit, parked right next to you in Nassau.  Yes, it was a bit rough after departing Nassau, but honestly not horrible, I've been in far worse.

 

As far as Half Moon Cay, it's very possible you will be able to make that stop since the winds are currently from the northeast and Half Moon Cay is on the leeward side of the island. 

 

I bet it wasn't much fun going 45 minutes with just emergency lighting, and I'm guessing that messed up dinner for anyone who hadn't finished eating yet.

 

Let us know how it goes.

Edited December 15, 2023 by groundloop

[IntrepidFromDC]

50 minutes ago, groundloop said:

I bet it wasn't much fun going 45 minutes with just emergency lighting, and I'm guessing that messed up dinner for anyone who hadn't finished eating yet.

 

Eating in the dark can be both a unique and enjoyable experience as you don't have your eyes telling your brain what to expect as the fork enters the mouth, so your tastebuds-brain experience is heightened.

 

Dining in the Dark in DC: A Blind Tasting Experience (dininginthedarkexperience.com)

[madamerkf]

So….

 

they still served dinner. We had anchored at half moon cay this morning but at about 8:30 am the captain came over the loudspeaker and said it was too dangerous to tender to the beach and we were just going to head home and that they will add activities to keep us busy. Many people are very sick but that’s the chance you take when you sail in the winter. The waves are really big and the boat is rocking side to side. The blackout was scary because I think people got stuck in the elevators. 
 

Will let you guys know happens 

[mleng]

@madamerkf  Sorry to hear about your bad experience.  My family just got off Venezia on Dec 10.

 

What was the reason for not able to leave NYC until Monday morning?  Was it due to weather also?  

 

Half Moon Cay is our favorite stop in the Caribbean.  We almost always book a Carnival or Holland ship so that we can visit HMC.  I just wish they would invested in some infrastructure to build a real pier at HMC, so that they didn't have to do the tender and didn't have to be at the mercy of the weather.

[MistyRo76]

2 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

I bet it wasn't much fun going 45 minutes with just emergency lighting, and I'm guessing that messed up dinner for anyone who hadn't finished eating yet.

 

 

Years ago I was on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. We were at our last stop in Ocho Rios and the ship was having some scheduled maintenance work done while in port. They had said that there would be periods while we were docked in OR that the power would be offline. We got back on the ship and lights were working and we were preparing to depart (or so we thought!). I decided to hop in the shower and start getting ready for dinner. While I'm in the shower, the lights go off...and there was no water! I had conditioner in my hair and was in the middle of shaving my legs! My very prepared roomie, had a small flashlight, so I used that light to finish shaving and used one of the big bottles of water to rinse out my hair. We were in an interior cabin so it was pitch black in our room. Thankfully the lights came back on about 10 minutes later and stayed on this time. Come to find out, we were late leaving OR because the maintenance work took longer than expected. It was interesting for sure! 

[AstoriaPreppy]

3 hours ago, mleng said:

I just wish they would invested in some infrastructure to build a real pier at HMC, so that they didn't have to do the tender and didn't have to be at the mercy of the weather.

 

This has been planned for quite a while now... I think it may just be getting underway? 

 

https://cruiseradio.net/major-change-coming-to-carnival-cruise-lines-half-moon-cay/

 

[madamerkf]

9 hours ago, mleng said:

@madamerkf  Sorry to hear about your bad experience.  My family just got off Venezia on Dec 10.

 

What was the reason for not able to leave NYC until Monday morning?  Was it due to weather also?  

 

Half Moon Cay is our favorite stop in the Caribbean.  We almost always book a Carnival or Holland ship so that we can visit HMC.  I just wish they would invested in some infrastructure to build a real pier at HMC, so that they didn't have to do the tender and didn't have to be at the mercy of the weather.

Yes we stayed overnight at the port in NYC due to weather. It was pretty eerie as they pulled the gangway so you could not get off and the terminal was deserted but all lit up. 
 

People were disappointed in missing HMC but it is what it is. I heard they were developing a whole new island though?

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, mleng said:

I just wish they would invested in some infrastructure to build a real pier at HMC, so that they didn't have to do the tender and didn't have to be at the mercy of the weather.

Just because there is a pier there, would not assure docking.  Disney and RCI have docks at their private islands, but they are basically unprotected docks that protrude out into the sea, and depending on wind direction and speed, the ship cannot dock.

 

8 hours ago, MistyRo76 said:

We were in an interior cabin so it was pitch black in our room.

By law, there must be one light in each cabin that is on the emergency generator circuit as well as normal power.  This light would go out for less than a minute before coming back on under emergency power.  Typically, it is the bathroom light.

[DallasGuy75219]

13 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Just because there is a pier there, would not assure docking.  Disney and RCI have docks at their private islands, but they are basically unprotected docks that protrude out into the sea, and depending on wind direction and speed, the ship cannot dock.

Yep.  In the last year I've missed 3 ports, none of them tender ports or private cruiseline ports.

 

And in some cases, it's not even docking that's the issue in windy weather.  We almost missed a port (Roatan I believe) once because the channel leading to the port is too narrow to safely navigate with the wind at certain speeds and directions.

[bg2310]

Wild! But what an experience to be on a ship at sea in almost pure darkness lol 

[Pellaz]

15 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Yep.  In the last year I've missed 3 ports, none of them tender ports or private cruiseline ports.

 

And in some cases, it's not even docking that's the issue in windy weather.  We almost missed a port (Roatan I believe) once because the channel leading to the port is too narrow to safely navigate with the wind at certain speeds and directions.

 

The same is true for Grand Turk.  While missing the point is rare, it CAN happen due to high winds because the dredged approach (the "fairway"?) is quite narrow.  The Captain told us during the Behind the Fun tour that the max sustained wind speed there to dock safely was 35 mph (I think; it might have been 35 knots), and on that cruise, we JUST barely made it.   There were one to two-foot waves between the ship and the shore...which at Grand Turk is pretty startling...and every water excursion including my snuba trip was cancelled.  

[oakridger]

On 12/15/2023 at 11:16 AM, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

This has been planned for quite a while now... I think it may just be getting underway? 

 

https://cruiseradio.net/major-change-coming-to-carnival-cruise-lines-half-moon-cay/

 

 

That article is from 2019.  As of 2023 there is no construction going on for a pier at Half Moon Cay.  Has there been any current announcements about a pier?  The pandemic may have changed the plans.

[madamerkf]

On 12/15/2023 at 8:12 PM, chengkp75 said:

Just because there is a pier there, would not assure docking.  Disney and RCI have docks at their private islands, but they are basically unprotected docks that protrude out into the sea, and depending on wind direction and speed, the ship cannot dock.

 

By law, there must be one light in each cabin that is on the emergency generator circuit as well as normal power.  This light would go out for less than a minute before coming back on under emergency power.  Typically, it is the bathroom light.

So the fun continues. Captain came over loudspeaker to say that due to the storm, the port authorities are closing the Hudson River channel from midnight to six pm tomorrow. So they are going at full speed and planning on docking at NYC at one am and debark should be as scheduled. However they are closing the casino and shutting down the cheers/bubbles program at about 11:30 pm to comply with the laws. So two of eight nights spent at NYC port. What a crazy trip!

[madamerkf]

Aren’t they opening celebration island instead of building up half moon cay?

[mleng]

1 hour ago, madamerkf said:

So the fun continues. Captain came over loudspeaker to say that due to the storm, the port authorities are closing the Hudson River channel from midnight to six pm tomorrow. So they are going at full speed and planning on docking at NYC at one am and debark should be as scheduled. However they are closing the casino and shutting down the cheers/bubbles program at about 11:30 pm to comply with the laws. So two of eight nights spent at NYC port. What a crazy trip!

So sorry to hear.  That's winter cruising for you -- weather from week to week could be so different.

[grimpil]

Off topic... What are the electrical receptacles available by the bed. Most carnival ships have a European plug under the head of the bed for bedside lights which we use for cpap to avoid extension cords. I know @Saint Greg had mentioned all the plugs on his transatlantic review but cant find it now.👌

[Saint Greg]

 

31 minutes ago, grimpil said:

Off topic... What are the electrical receptacles available by the bed. Most carnival ships have a European plug under the head of the bed for bedside lights which we use for cpap to avoid extension cords. I know @Saint Greg had mentioned all the plugs on his transatlantic review but cant find it now.👌

 

 

 

[stingray310]

19 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

That article is from 2019.  As of 2023 there is no construction going on for a pier at Half Moon Cay.  Has there been any current announcements about a pier?  The pandemic may have changed the plans.

I believe the Half Moon Cay pier construction and additions have been either delayed or cancelled all together due to the pandemic. I think they decided to concentrate all funding towards Celebration Cay.  Hopefully they will reschedule the Half Moon Cay construction to a later date. Maybe someone else knows more, but that is what I heard.

[madamerkf]

On 12/17/2023 at 8:24 PM, mleng said:

So sorry to hear.  That's winter cruising for you -- weather from week to week could be so different.

So I’ll end this story with the last messed up thing. We were on the second floor mid ship. Last morning we go to leave our cabin at about 7:44 am to go get breakfast before debark and the hallway is filled with a line of people the length of the ship with all their luggage looking to get off at the second floor gangway! I had to fight our way out of there and was told someone gained because it was so hot and long of a wait! Craziest thing I ever saw. So to recap:

1-first night stayed in NYC due to weather. No casino or stores. 
 

2- instead of changing ports where the seas were not so rough plowed through to get to half moon cat only to be told seas were too rough to tender ( hello.. I could have told them that)

 

3- two back to back blackouts where people got stuck in elevators 

 

4- coming into NYC at one am instead of the morning due to weather so casino, stores, and drink programs ended early. 
 

so I get that you cannot control the weather but I feel in this case they should have re-routed out of the horrific storm instead of going right through it. Just my opinion based on over 40 cruises where I have been re-routed more then once and just rolled with it. 
 

glad it’s over. Venezia chock full of other issues ( like lines an hour long for guys, pizza, and deli) all the time. I would think if they kept a portion of the buffet open another hour past all aboard it could have definitely eased congestion and wait times. And forget about getting a drink in the casino.. even when empty service was scant to non-existent. 

[madamerkf]

20 hours ago, stingray310 said:

I believe the Half Moon Cay pier construction and additions have been either delayed or cancelled all together due to the pandemic. I think they decided to concentrate all funding towards Celebration Cay.  Hopefully they will reschedule the Half Moon Cay construction to a later date. Maybe someone else knows more, but that is what I heard.

I am thinking they will pull out of HMC for this new island and either abandon it or sell it to another line?

[shof515]

46 minutes ago, madamerkf said:

I am thinking they will pull out of HMC for this new island and either abandon it or sell it to another line?

HMC is Holland America island. Most likely the island will be returned back to Holland America for their ships to use. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

On 12/17/2023 at 1:35 AM, Pellaz said:

 

The same is true for Grand Turk.  While missing the point is rare, it CAN happen due to high winds because the dredged approach (the "fairway"?) is quite narrow.  The Captain told us during the Behind the Fun tour that the max sustained wind speed there to dock safely was 35 mph (I think; it might have been 35 knots), and on that cruise, we JUST barely made it.   There were one to two-foot waves between the ship and the shore...which at Grand Turk is pretty startling...and every water excursion including my snuba trip was cancelled.  

Were you on Vista two weeks ago?  Because that is exactly what the Captain told us during the BTF tour about docking in GT the previous day - the winds were almost too high, and yes, the max speed to allow docking is 35 knots, and they were getting close.

 

On 12/16/2023 at 9:40 AM, DallasGuy75219 said:

And in some cases, it's not even docking that's the issue in windy weather.  We almost missed a port (Roatan I believe) once because the channel leading to the port is too narrow to safely navigate with the wind at certain speeds and directions.

During that BTF tour, the Captain mentioned that Cozumel can be a problematic port because even in a low/no wind situation, the local current can be tricky due to the confluence of two different currents (from the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea) meeting right there, with the cruise ship docks located in that channel between the island and the mainland, and if the current is too high it can cause a missed port.

[csm5986142]

1 hour ago, madamerkf said:

lines an hour long for guys, pizza, and deli) all the time.

 

We have been on multiple different Carnival ships in the past year and this was an issue on all of them except one.  I wish Carnival would add staff to the Pizza and Deli. 

On one ship I felt really bad for the lone crew member working the pizza station.  He was completely overwhelmed, line was so long, he couldn't keep up with making the pizzas and taking the orders, pizzas were getting left in the oven too long and burning.  That does not seem like a one-person job to me.