Heidi13

You're options for getting to limited when travelling with baggage. In addition to the harbour to harbour float plane service, you also have Helijet from Vancouver Harbour to Ogden Point, but that is most likely not a viable option due to baggage. Therefore, your flight options are commercial airlines YVR to Victoria International, with Air Canada and Pacific Coastal Airlines both having flights. Sorry, but have no idea on costs. The other option is taking the BC Ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay. The Wilson Connector is a bus service that goes from downtown to downtown. It will depart Vancouver about 90 mins before the ferry departs, so about 09:30 to catch the 11:00 ferry. The ferry arrives in Swartz Bay about 12:35 and it takes about an hour from docking to arriving in downtown Victoria. So leaving Vancouver at 09:30, you would arrive Victoria about 13:30, provided the ferry is on time. You can also reach Tsawwassen Ferry terminal using a combination of Skytrain and buses, and then on arrival Swartz Bay you can also catch a city bus into downtown. These options are cheaper, but take more time. Not an easy option with baggage. Another option is hiring a car, which may get you to the ferry terminal faster, but you must arrive 30 - 60 minutes before departure to maintain a reservation. I'll suggest making a reservation is mandatory. The Wilson Bus does not have this 30 - 60 min arrival and if late, the ferry often waits for the bus. This is a more costly option, as in addition to car hire costs, you must also pay for the car + foot passengers on the ferry. All in all, with baggage, I'll suggest the Wilson Connector is the most convenient and cost effective option.

The additional longer term consideration is Carnival's inability to submit numerous orders for new tonnage, to replace the older tonnage sold at fire sale prices during Covid. Other cruise lines are jumping on the newbuild bandwagon with Viking having 6 confirmed and 4 options this year and NCL just announcing 8 newbuilds. Due to low order books, they are getting advantageous pricing, so by the time Carnival's debt is written down, newbuild prices will have increased significantly. At present, I believe Carnival have only recently ordered 2 newbuilds across all their brands. Once they can finally order additional new tonnage, the cost per lower berth will be significantly higher.

Having significant cash reserves is an improvement, but they still have a negative ROI, haven't paid dividends for 4 years and have a debt/equity ratio of >4.5. All poor metrics that trump improvements in their cash flow, at least in my experience. They are improving the debt position, but they have a long way to go before they can be considered a prudent investment. One more major marine incident and the cash flow could evaporate.

Until a ship is 15 yrs old, the owner has the option of drydocking every 5 yrs with additional in water surveys conducted by divers. Otherwise they require 2 dockings every 5 yrs. This is mandatory and while Class will provide some leeway in exceptional circumstances, the most we would receive would be a few months. Drydock space is at a premium, so most ship dockings are booked many years in advance. Locally, we had only 2 options, so my vessel docking were normally booked up to 10 yrs ahead. Vessels built or last drydocked in 2019 are due for a drydocking this year. Older tonnage drydocked in 2019 will be due a 2nd drydocking in 2024.

When I read the latest Carnival earnings report it still stated a loss of over $200 Million. May have been better than the forecast, but they are still operating at a loss.

Since even the oldest vessel Viking Star has not yet completed its 2nd Special Survey at 10yrs, all Viking vessels only require drydocking every 5 yrs. Additional maintenance costs start about 15 yrs with increased drydockings and from about 20 - 25 yrs they increase significantly. DG's can't be changed easily, but other technology such as hull coatings, which can save considerable fuel, are easily changed on older ships at the next drydocking. Normally involves blasting to near white and applying new coatings. The increased smoothness of new coatings can save considerable fuel. Prior to retirement, I costed applying the latest anti-fouling and the fuel savings were considerable, giving a payback of only a couple of years. Much cheaper than building a new ship. With the 2 oldest ships paid off, according to the IPO, and no significant increase in maintenance costs, I'll suggest the 2 oldest ships are cheaper to operate than the new tonnage. Personally, I don't see any operational or financial reason to offload the tonnage. The older ships may not be able to cruise in an ever increasing list of environmentally sensitive areas, but they have a new ship each year that can operate in those areas. The cost per lower berth for the new ships is continuously increasing, so I'll suggest the older ships will be the ones making the greatest contribution to the bottom line, for a number of years. Another factor to consider is the going price for used tonnage. At less than 10 yrs they would not be candidates for a breaker's yard, so would be looking at the 2nd hand market. This market has experienced a glut of used tonnage, with multiple cruise lines going broke and mainstream lines offloading their older tonnage. Therefore, the 2nd hand market prices probably haven't yet rebounded.

Once you retire you no longer accrue the seatime required to maintain your Certificate of Competency (CoC). Once issued, a CoC, is only valid for 5-years and to renew it you require 1 yr seatime on ships, or 2 yrs working ashore in a related industry. The Viking Masters, who work a day for day rotation, only get 6 months seatime each year, so need to work 2 yrs at sea in ev 5 yrs. In addition, you have to complete seafarer medicals, radio certification and safety courses. Therefore, for me to return to sea after 12 yrs in retirement, I would need to pass at least a number of written exams, a Master's orals exam, seafarer medical, GMDSS (radio refresher) and safety & survival refreshers. Time required would be a few months and cost a few thousand dollars. Even those of us that retired at 55, rarely return to the sea, as it is way too onerous to renew our Certificate of Competency.

I'll suggest the biggest challenge is finding sufficient crew meeting the required Viking standards. If they take up all 4 options, 10 new ships in 6 years is a lot of crew recruitment and training. It isn't only the hotel crew that is of concern, there is a worldwide shortage of Masters, Deck Officers and Engineering Officers.

Don - Surrey is a huge city that we rarely visit, except driving through to go somewhere else. So unfortunately, I can't suggest any specific stores. May i suggest doing a Google search for Save-on-Foods stores in Surrey selling wine. The best BC wine selection locally is at one of our local Save-on-Foods stores, so I expect the Surrey stores have a similar selection. If no Save-on-Foods is close to your hotel, then a local Govt Liquor store or private beer & wine store should have a reasonable selection.

Throughout Metro Vancouver we have an abundance of Govt Liquor Stores, private beer & wine stores, private specialised wine stores and even some grocery stores now stock BC wines. To provide some perspective, our Eastern suburbs town of about 90,000, has at least a dozen outlets selling wine. Our local grocery store has the most extensive selection of BC wines, of all the local outlets. Therefore, if looking specifically for BC wines, a grocery store selling wines may be your best option. If you can provide where you will be staying pre/post cruise some of us may be able to provide some specific suggestions. We also have some excellent wineries close to the border, with Chaberton Estate Winery on 216th Street one of our favourites. Using the Aldergrove or Abbotsford border crossings would provide ready access to a number of wineries close to the border.

There are numerous reasons for the Master to delay departure and many of them aren't even within the control of the vessel. You didn't mention which berth you were at, as if you were at OPT, tidal height shouldn't be an issue. Just out of interest, what reasons were provided that you didn't believe?

When being assigned a docking location there are many additional factors to consider than just the size of the ship. In some ports you also have to consider the ship's manoeuvring capabilities with respect to proximity of navigational hazards and weather. Viking ships with fixed props and non-high lift rudders are not as easy to handle in the wind as some larger ships with azimuthing pods or high-lift rudders. Since Viking are comparatively new to ocean cruising, you also have long standing docking agreements to consider. Therefore, even if a Viking ship can fit a smaller berth, if multiple smaller ships are in port, other companies may get the better berth due to longstanding contracts. In the Meddy, you often have multiple ships in port, so this could arise.

Compared to the Celebrity and Princess ships mega ships, there are many ports in the World that the Viking ships can visit, that mega ships can't. You will also find examples where Viking ships dock alongside, but mega ships must tender. However, compared to Azamara ships, which are about 160' shorter and have about 18" less draught, the Viking ships will be unable to visit some port accessible to Azamara. London is a classic example where Viking ships sail down the Thames to Greenwich, whereas mega ships must dock at Tilbury, Southampton or Dover. In some ports, such as Sydney, the size of mega ships preclude them from sailing under the Harbour Bridge, so mega ships must dock at Circular Quay's OPT. The OPT dock is next to the historic Rocks area, Opera House and the CBD. Smaller ships generally dock at White Bay, which is a few miles from the CBD. Therefore, in Sydney, mega ships get the premium dock space.

Cruise lines and Shipping Lines, often have a document listing all ships showing the schedule of Masters and Officers. However, it is normally tightly controlled. I used to receive copies of the P&O/Princess schedule for many years, but since everyone I worked with is now retired, I no longer receive updates. I expect Viking has a similar document available, but it is unlikely to be made available to pax.

When pax miss the all aboard time, I concur that it is not always the pax fault and it is always the pax responsibility to be back before the ship sails. In the situation you noted, the Master elected to delay departure for customer service reasons, but almost every delay has a significant impact on the operating costs, with bunkers being the biggest. Delays may not have a significant impact to pax, but the additional costs quickly add up, which can be a significant impact the ship's operating budget, to which the Master must answer. Therefore, in addition to port fees, pilot charges, longshoremen charges, tug charges, etc I'll suggest the ship should also assess a charge for the additional bunkers consumed, due to the higher speed required. This can be a very significant cost, as the last 1.5 kts of speed can required a 25% increase in fuel. Depending on the size of ship and speeds involved, the increased fuel costs can be tens of thousands of dollars. If cruise lines assessed costs, it many cases, it would be cheaper for pax to make their own way to the next post, rather than pay the ship's delay costs.

When cruise ships are docked they normally run a shuttle bus service to downtown, so you may not need a taxi.

You'll find a number of superior and cheaper afternoon teas in Victoria, rather than the Empress. However, not aware of any that serve afternoon tea in the evening. Our last visit to the Empress was last year and only because nowhere else was open and had space. At $100 pp it is grossly overpriced for a very average Afternoon Tea.

Completed that route many times and also taken the short cuts through James Bay. On departing the harbour, you don't have to follow Dallas Road past the Coast Guard Base, you can cut through James Bay coming out at the park. On leaving the park, rather than taking Kingston Street, between the park and the Worldmark condos, you can take the waterfront path, which is way more scenic and only adds a few extra minutes. You should be able to easily complete the return trip in 2.5 to 3 hrs, with lots of time for food and sightseeing.

Many of the South Pacific islands have great clear water, but the best I have seen was many years ago in Cabo San Lucas, where we could see the anchor sitting on the bottom in over 80' of water.

1976 SS Uganda - British India Lines 1977 SS Oriana - P&O Cruises 1978 SS Canberra 1978 SS Oriana 1979 SS Uganda 1979 MV Island Princess 1980 MV Sun Princess

One of the years I did the Alaska season, Sitka was our last port. We steamed a similar route - down the coast from Sitka, but we entered the Inside Passage at Dixon Entrance by Prince Rupert. With the Crown being a super Grand Class, the most logical course is as you described, steaming down the Alaska Coast, through Hecate Strait and enter the Inside Passage at Queen Charlotte Sound.

Cruise Mapper is a 3rd party website that frequently provides erroneous information. If you don't believe the cruise line's information, may I suggest checking the Port of London website.

The 7x50 binoculars on commercial ships are no doubt significantly cheaper and lighter than the USN specs, as are most consumer models that are readily available. I now use 10x50 and have no issues with the size and weight.

Provided you don't experience any frontal depressions, the prevailing winds until a day or two before the Azores should be the NE Trade winds. These will generally be from fwd of the beam, so increase the wind over the deck. After the Azores, the prevailing winds should be SW'ly, so following winds, which should reduce the wind over the deck.

Not sure why you quoted me, advising where most fires are on ships, as this is the basic information we are taught on our first ships within a couple days of boarding. Especially in my case, as my first ship was a cadet training vessel, also known as Merchant Navy Bootcamp. The areas you mention are most definitely the highest risk for fires, but not always where mariners experience the most actual fires. Since I was either suited up in turnout gear & SCBA, in-charge of the deck fire party or in overall command & control, I vividly recall every actual fire I experienced onboard cruise ships, cargo ships, tankers & Ro/Pax. In about 40 yrs at sea, I have experienced zero E/R fires, zero galley fires, zero cargo fires, zero laundry fires, zero baked alaska/table side cooking fires, 1 linen locker fire, 1 rubbish fire, 2 cabin fires, and countless small fires throughout the accommodation caused by smokers. Even in my last 15 years as Master, where you pointed out that the number of smokers has dropped considerably, I have only sounded the Crew Alert once, and that was for a smouldering cigarette. At that time, our entire fleet was smoke free inside, with smoking only permitted on limited areas of the outer decks. Therefore, smoking restrictions are not always effective, as that fire was in a washroom.