twangster

Monday morning I looked at the forecast for Central Florida. Rain everyday. Where I am we didn't get any rain on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. It's been hot and sunny with clouds at time. In a Florida summer the weather people can almost copy and paste the same forecast day after day. Rain. That doesn't mean an all day rain everywhere. It can rain in the front yard but not in the backyard. Rain storms can be very small cells that soak one area and leave another area dry. The Caribbean and Bahamas can be similar. No one knows if a small island will actually get wet, but the forecast is rain many days in a row. Will it rain tomorrow (Thursday)? Maybe. Maybe not where I am, maybe where someone else is in the next town over. Don't sweat it. Enjoy the cruise.

Miami dock report aligns with Icon's recently updated AIS. She'll be in Miami on Oct. 5 with a 5pm departure heading to St Kitts as next port of call.

They should be but... I once received less than 100% FCC when the TA I used was doing something shady with wholesale rates or groups. In that case I had been charged most of the cruise fare by Royal directly on my credit card and then my TA charged the balance from the agency. It came out to the total I was quoted so I didn't think anything of it. Then the crane fell on Oasis and Royal handed out 100% FCC of base cruise fare. Except what Royal saw as my base cruise fare was based on the amount they charged my credit card. The extra difference my TA charged from their agency was unknown by Royal and not their problem. My TA provided no FCC on their additional profit. I ended up with 60% FCC based on the base cruise fare before port fees and taxes because that is all that Royal ever saw the fare to be, the extra fare charges from the TA got no FCC. It seemed to good to be true. Several hundred less than Royal direct. Had it sailed I would have saved hundreds. Since it didn't I missed out on FCC, BUT I didn't pay as much in the first place, so it sort of kinda flushed out, almost. The point is, it depends if your TA employs shenanigans or not. Flight compensation is the same with or without a TA.

Perhaps they've come to realize that other mega ships are overpowered so they adjusted Icon down to something more appropriate. A 300HP car and a 400HP car both can only go the speed limit on the interstate. Having extra power is cool and comes in handy sometimes but may not be absolutely necessary to get the job done proficiently. There is a point of diminishing returns. Probably some savings to be had by operating with less total potential power while still having ample power to get the job done.

Confirmed with Genie Star pricing for the Railway is $50 pp.

Some older ships still use DECT phones and old sound eqt. New ships not so much.

Conflicting information on Icon's engines. One source claims 67,500 kW: https://www.ship-technology.com/projects/icon-of-the-seas-cruise-ship-usa/ Other sources claims 89,310 kW: https://www.bairdmaritime.com/passenger/cruise/vessel-review-icon-of-the-seas-royal-caribbeans-newest-lng-powered-ship-can-house-5600-guests 3 x 16,030 kW 3 x 13,740 kW Total: 89,310 kW Wikipedia: 3 × Wärtsilä 14V46DF, 16,030 kW (21,790 hp) each 3 × Wärtsilä 12V46DF, 13,740 kW (18,680 hp) each Total: 89,310 kW With more efficient lighting and other energy measures to reduce energy consumption it's possible they don't need as much production available. Oasis was built before numerous energy conserving measures were readily available like they are today. Compare Wonder to Utopia for a better LNG to HFO comparison. Wonder: 4 × 14,400 kW (19,300 hp) Wärtsilä 12V46F 2 × 19,200 kW (25,700 hp) Wärtsilä 16V46F 2 × 2,070 kW (2,780 hp) MTU 16V4000 Total: 100,140 kW (134,290 hp) Utopia: 6 x 16kW Wartsila 46TS-DF Total: 96,000 kW Utopia has slightly lower energy production available. Which is why they consume more LNG to create the equivalent energy output. This causes them to have much larger LNG fuel tanks on board since they will consume more by volume to produce the same energy.

Some YT types love controversy and stirring the pot. It gets views and action which drives revenue. If it's posted to YT then 80% chance it's fake, extended or partial truth, hyperbole or made to drive views. 🤯 shocked face thumbnail

They are a transmitter typically operating in public frequencies but those same frequencies are used around the ship for items beyond WiFi. Sometimes it's sound and lighting equipment, other control systems, phone systems, etc. Many of those systems are designed to interoperate with 802.11 WiFi but not an unknown baby monitor using the same frequencies using something other than 802.11. Totally understandable why they would be unwelcome before getting into the social aspects of leaving babies alone.

More efficient?

While Allure entered PortMiami at 6:10am we spent over an hour doing the turn in the turning basis and docked around 7:20am. CBP then held us until 8:15am. The explanation given was a family that missed the ship on Monday flew to Nassau to board it. CBP apparently required that they be presented first and fully cleared before general debarking could begin. This was because they didn't sail round trip but one way. I did see a group get off around 7:35am. Probably had to wait for their luggage. Then clearance. Only then could we depart. Smooth departure otherwise, just late. Easy drive up the turnpike. Rained once but not heavy. Typical FL drive.

Barely moving as we creep towards the Miami pilot station. 28 knot wind. House got some drizzle around 2am and a rain cell moved through a few minutes ago. Haven't lost grid power yet. Crew Dragon launch for tomorrow is estimating 55% favorable conditions. 6:08 am - We are in the channel for Port Miami. Suspect we'll start departing before 7:30am unless CBP isn't ready for us. Windy out there.

I get it, the media likes to be the media. We have storms outside of tropical season with gusts to 60. That's many thunderstorms in a Florida summer. Note I didn't say the storm is over for the East coast. I said the worst is likely over. Let's compare notes tomorrow.

I feel like employees were trying to fill ships but someone higher up is convinced if they increase rates and sail with empty cabins then eventually the market will accept higher rates. Meanwhile some of us are giving money to competitors. It’s a great time to try an affordable cruise. On what ever line.

RCG and Carnival Corp. own the majority of the Freeport shipyard jointly.

At this point it largely looks Ike the East coast FL ports have seen the worst they will. 7 Thoughts and prayers to the state capital and folks in that area. With decades of mature tree growth having never seen a hurricane there could be a lot of wind damage on top of coastal surge damage.

Have done aft facing on Odyssey three times. Never had unusable conditions. Q class uses a lot of water to clean the exhaust (aka scrubbers) . They produce a lot of steam or white exhaust. At sea this often ends up behind the ship, depending on winds, so it's not unusual to have this white steam exhaust in your aft photos. I still book them whenever I can.

Yeah but USCG doesn't have a lot of time slots for optional foreign flag inspections. US flag inspections are required, not optional, and with limited resources they probably don't want to let it slip.

Allure update just now: That's one hour behind schedule.

Adventute and Utopia are off the pier at CocoCay and starting the trek home.

I think the gangways are electric although in a crisis they could debark through deck 2. Unlikely though. Not sure if tbe port has any back up power. CBP probably doesn't process well without computers. I suspect any power issues would be quickly resolved at the port. With important federal operations nearby and underground infrastructure I imagine with this storm so far off that port power won't be an issue.

Beautiful sea day as we pass CocoCay. Pointing into the sun so not great lighting. Home is south of Port Canaveral. No loss of grid power yet. Better solar day than I expected. It was sunny for a few hours this afternoon. Just had a small rain band slide past but no tornadoes threats where I am, yet.

My guess is confusion over airline bag fees and no awareness she had pre-paid those. When I've used it I have free checked bags due to my status with the airline. I wrote that on the form along with my frequent flier number and I was not charged.

I think they are always subject to correction. A few years ago a sailboat broke it's moorings during a storm and partially sank in the channel leading into Port Miami. It ended taking several hours to recover the vessel and open the port. No one could have predicted that. Several cruise ships hung around the pilot station waiting there. If a pleasure craft breaks free in Port Canaveral and sinks in the port it could have a similar impact. All it takes is one absent boat owner who didn't secure their vessel for a storm when they last left it a few weeks ago and thousands on cruise ships are impacted.

Wednesday afternoon the tip of a Helene rain band reached us in Nassau. It was just a small storm cell but it packed some heavy rain for about 10 minutes. AL Nassau Rain.mp4 As quickly as it arrived it left and patchy blue skies returned for our departure from Nassau. Here early on Thursday morning the east coast of FL is being spared the worst of it, so far. It always amazes me how these rain bands can inundate one area while not far away there is hardly any rain. They took us out into the Atlantic with a goal of "finding some sun for us" on our planned sea day for this itinerary. Normally they would go back into the straits of Florida but the straits will likely have some strong currents today making for a dynamic ride combined with heavy rain possible so we headed East to avoid that possibility. Smooth ride out here so far. No mention (yet) of a delay getting back to Miami on Friday.