Seacruise

So lets throw another wrinkle into the mix. If Carnival is not giving up then why did they permanently release 27 workers from the White Pass Railroad last week when the cruise season is not far off.

4 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

Of course it is. Itineraries will need to be adjusted.  

Well I would love you to explain exactly how this can be done?

5 hours ago, chocolate melting cake said:

To get around the Jones Act which stefndoug referred to, Carnival might dock in Vancouver or Victoria but not allow anyone to leave the ship. I know it sounds farfetched-----but here is a schedule (only available to TAs) for 2022 Miracle Alaskan cruises on page 3. It shows the Miracle going to Canada but if you check out the bottom of the page in red it shows "violation of the Jones act" and then "guests can not depart the ship in Canada". Again, it's for 2022. Just click this link.

 

https://help.goccl.com/ci/fattach/get/6819210/1611759274/redirect/1/filename/Carnival Miracle Itineraries.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0-Y73wJ_dHE18iUrzKVrNM-Z1E7Q8rYEkEtZa-qXqN370P2cHhyvpMlcE

It is too bad that Carnival refers to the Jones Act here. The Jones Act is for the transportation of merchandise between US Ports.

It is Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 that controls this.

The PVSA was changed a few years back and "Technical" stops are no longer allowed where no one gets off the vessel. This used to take place mainly in Ensenada but is no longer allowed.

Yes they do. Takes about 2 hours depending on traffic.

26 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Pulmantur filed for bankruptcy.  Looks like Grandeur is staying with Royal a while longer. 

They filed for Reorganization under Spanish Law.
Here is the latest on it. It is in Spanish though but Chrome Translator works great.

Not sure what Royal is doing here with the Grandeur OTS but she was scheduled for her farewell cruise on March 26th 2021. Many of us had it booked and then cancelled many moons ago.
After this cruise she was to move to Pullmantur.
Read here
 

Due to what is going on right now not sure what Royals plans are.

I can not find that this has been posted. So pardon me if it has.

For the longest time the Eclipse has been hanging around San Diego. Checking on her today I see she in fact left there some time back and then onto Honolulu and onto Manila  with an arrival of Dec 28.

On her way to get crew?

Almost all of the cruise ships on the west coast have visited San Diego on and off during covid19 to get supplies and in some cases fuel. HAL ships appear to be doing their bunking in Panama but supplies elsewhere.
I don't take the posting of the above times as anything special. The same thing has happened almost every 2 weeks in Florida for the ships stuck there.

Grandeur OTS was to have her last cruise on March 26 2021. She was then to move to Pullmantur.
There were a bunch of us booked on that cruise but cancelled some time back due to covid19.

Currently Royal has no cruises available to book for the Grandeur OTS.

So the question is is the Grandeur still going to Pullmatur?

15 hours ago, cccole said:

Seacruise - Thank you for your post (#51).  What an amazing report.  When you are asked who you would invite to a small dinner I imagine that Captain Flath would be a person on the top of the list.  Thanks again, Cherie 

Being a pilot here in Canada I would rather Captain Flath be the pilot of the Search and Rescue Chopper if I ever went down. 😉
 

I was stationed at CFB Comox the morning the call came into Comox to scramble all available aircraft.

I can tell you that when the crews returned and talked in the mess to my fellow pilots it soon became apparent how they had just pulled one of the greatest rescues of all time. No loss of life!

Captain Gary Flath did some thing that day that is still talked about today. Captain Flath was getting low on fuel and talked to the Flight Engineer on board to calculate the fuel to the second and time to return to land. The reason was they were getting down to the last couple of crew in the lifeboat and Gary knew if he left that when he returned the crew would not be in the lifeboat due to sea state.
Gary made that very last hoist and returned to Yakutat, Alaska.

Here is how the Chief of Defence Staff Unit Commendation for outstanding devotion to duty read:

On 4 October, 1980, 442 Squadron participated in an operation that gained it the international attention it still enjoys today. When the liner Prinsendam caught fire in the Gulf of Alaska, the 442 Squadron's Labradors and Buffalo were quick to react. The second Labrador on scene was commanded by Captain Gary Flath. Under Gary's guidance, the crew of "Rescue 303" hoisted 16 passengers from a lifeboat and transported them to the oil tanker MV Williamsburg. The Labrador crew repeated the operation three times before being forced to return to Yakutat, Alaska, for fuel. When they landed, their fuel gauges read empty; at the end of the runway their engine flamed out. The squadron was awarded the Chief of Defence Staff Unit Commendation for outstanding devotion to duty.

Now if you think this was amazing or stupid Captain Flath was awarded the Star of Courage for another rescue a few weeks later where he rescued the crew of a US Coast Guard helicopter that were trying to rescue some injured hikers in Washington state by Mt. Baker. The chopper contacted the rock face and crashed injuring those onboard.
Captain Flath just happened to be returning from a search in the interior of lower BC when he heard the call. Just a few minutes away flying he went to the rescue. He hovered his Labrador stern into the wall keeping the rotor blade just a few feet from the wall. The rescue was made and Captain Flath and his crew returned to Comox.
Upon landing his crew promptly told him that was the last flight they would ever fly with him. I guess they figured that two rescues like this was too many and the next may not be so lucky.
Captain Flath soon retired and went onto flying corporate jets.

A few years later (1983) I sailed on the second voyage of the brand new Nieuw Amsterdam and her fire. I was back onboard 6 months later and had a Table Steward for the 2 weeks who we met on the first cruise. Somehow we got to talking about his past ships and how he was on that ill fated Prinsendam Fire. How spooky does this get when he tells us that he was the LAST crew member in that lifeboat that was hoisted onboard the Lab.  I later provided him with the story and photo below.

In the attached photo a Voyageur helicopter from 442 Search and Rescue Squadron
Comox BC lowers a Para Rescue Tech into the lifeboat.

I have been on the Millie twice since refurbishment and no it did not get updated as per say. The carpet was replaced and part of it was made into the Library. 
Part of the reason was the Lounge was used to feed crew/workers while the dinning room was being redone. The Millie also fell behind during her refurbishment and things had to be hurried to get her out on time.
This was very evident in cabins on upper decks.

21 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

Understand that the PoA can not cruise between Hawaii & the U.S. mainland despite being U.S. flagged. I assumed this was part of the agreement struck between Sen Inouye and NCL, but you are saying that it is actually in the PVSA?

When the PVSA was changed Sen Inouye fought hard for this amendment to not be adopted. It was only allowed when all the exceptions were put in place. He wanted to protect jobs in Hawaii and hotel space. We all know not much has changed with hotel space in Hawaii.
The amendment now forms part of the PVSA

21 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

As far as difficulty getting U.S. citizens as cabin staff on the PoA, I'm kind of surprised by this. Doesn't seem to be a problem for all the land based hotels in the U.S., so I'm wondering why it was a problem for the PoA?

As we know things have changed over the years as far as who does what jobs. I live in Canada and when I grew up I picked Berries etc. That work is not done by the younger generation today it is done by the SE Asian community.
The same would be true in much of the USA as to who cleans hotel rooms, picks vegetables etc.

The interest of younger citizens of our countries have no desire to do these jobs.
When NCL started many college students signed up for the job for say one contract thinking that they could winter in Hawaii get a great tan be on the beach etc. and be paid for it. What they didn't know before hand how damn hard a job this type of work was/is.
I think as we move along in years it is getting tougher to get the younger generation to do any of these jobs.

21 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

I'm also a little surprised about what you said about dry-dock availability in the U.S., considering San Diego has NASSCO and there are other shipyards with dry-docks on the Gulf coast (Mobile, AL & Gulfport, MS for example) These Gulf coast dry-docks would require Panama Canal transits though.

Just think of how long it takes to dry-dock a carrier for instance. In can be in dry-dock for a year thus taking up valuable dry-dock space that can not be used for anything else.
A couple of years ago the Infinity from Celebrity needed emergency dry-dock to replace a azpod bearing during the Alaska season. The problem was there was no space on the west coast. A deal was made in Victoria at the Engraving dock to float our lonely submarine so the Infinity could get fixed.

21 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

Not sure what you meant by crew visa status, waiver to the PVSA and the by-pass of Victoria, B.C. Could you elaborate?

 

Thanks...

I am not up to date on exactly what Visa's crew need at this point. What I understand is if a waver was granted they would need a different visa from what they get now and it would have to be issued before they left their home country from the USA Consulate or Embassy in their country. I understand this can be very time consuming at best, little mind the tens of thousands that would have to be processed by the various cruise lines. 

The next cruise is now cancelled.
Remember it is already Dec 10 in Singapore.

15 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

So there is no covid on board?

 

Correct NO Covid 19. False Positive.

Over the years I have written several articles on the PSA and the difference.

As the PSA stands now the POA can NOT makes trips between Hawaii and the mainland.
When covid 19 first started there was talk by NCL of doing Alaska cruises out of Seattle with POA because she was US Flagged and thus could miss Victoria. That was when this part of the PSA came into play. This idea was soon shot down.

Yes NCL started with 3 ships in Hawaii but there was a lot more to the whole issue of those cruises out of Hawaii. If you remember the Norwegian Wind did 10/11 day cruises around Hawaii but needed to go down to Christmas Island for it's distant port. 
So NCL starts NCL America and starts the sailings.
It soon becomes apparent that hiring US Citizens as crew is a very difficult problem because word soon got out that those of the younger generation don't want to work for minimum wage cleaning cabins etc. Many didn't get much time in port and thus those grand ideas of working/living in Hawaii soon went out the window. Many quit after only a few weeks of actual work. It was a revolving door.
NCL was left to scramble to get cabin staff. The only way for this to work for them was to hire "cleaners" in the various ports that came onboard while the ship was in port. That is still the case today.
Part of the problem was after x hours the Cabin Stewards were entitled to overtime. We all know how long a cabin steward works. This was why the cleaners in the ports so the OT didn't have to be paid.

This was also compounded because a US Flagged vessel can not have a Casino open in US waters around Hawaii. Thus the reason why the 3 ships didn't have casinos. Since there was no revenue from the casino to NCL America they had no choice but to increase the price of Hawaii cruises.

After a couple of years NCL America pulled 2 ships from Hawaii and returned them to NCL.
it should be noted that a US Flagged vessel needs dry-dock space in a US dry-dock. This in itself was a problem on the west coast as the US ship building industry was mostly building/servicing US Navy ships. It didn't help when Evergreen in Portland Oregon sold one of it's dry-docks to the Bahamas.

Things are so bad with dry-dock space in the USA that US Reliance Defence and Engineering of India was awarded a contract to service the 7th Fleet in 2017. 

There is whole other discussion onto why there can be no waver for the PSA bypass Victoria and it has to do with the crews Visa status.

There is great news in all this the Passenger has been tested twice since the initial test and both tests are negative.
Goes to show what a false Positive test will do.

Singapore Cruise Society

There is great news in all this the Passenger has been tested twice and both tests are negative.
Goes to show what a false Positive test will do.

Singapore Cruise Society

1 hour ago, LDEE said:

The CEO of NCL claims they need 60 days to return a vessel to service.

I have maintained this 60 days since last May and I have been told I have do idea what I am talking about.
 

The first major hurdle is getting planes back into the air.
They are needed to get crew back to the ships then the passengers to the ports.
Many International flights have been cancelled since the start.
Many of my fellow pilots have been furloughed and will require to take their "type" course over again. This is roughly a 4 week process. The planes themselves have to be brought out of storage. Early on Boeing and Airbus said there is NO manual for short term storage. I suspect that they may have a better handle on it now.
Those little critters such as birds, mice, snakes and Bee's find their way into small holes that may have been missed during closeup need to be found and cleaned up.

The next hurdle is stores for the ship (Food etc). Almost all ships submit their needs roughly 85 days before sail time in normal times.
Having someone in my Family that does this gives me some idea of what it takes.
The issue is many supply companies have done major layoffs due to restaurants, football stadiums closed etc.
They just don't have the stock on hand to supply a ship right now.
Remember a supply company supplies more than one ship and or company.

All this combined with CDC and Visa's and then modifications to the ships will take time.
Not like flipping a switch and things happen.

Yesterday Captain Kate made this video          to correct seamus272 comment "How can you be a Captain? Your only a women"
This was NOT what I was expecting her to say and needless to say since yesterday it has gone viral. It is in paper around the world today.

Something is needed like this right now.

🙂

There was what I call a trial balloon floated a week or so back that Canada may not open up to cruise ships next spring/summer.
This was followed up later in the day with Cunard cancelling Alaska 2021 from Vancouver.
I suspect Cunard did this for many reasons as I doubt Asia will sail as promised. This would allow Cunard to reschedule the Queen Elizabeth in Europe and start selling those cruises now in stead of short notice or having to continue the refunds.

This was followed up by the Port Master in Victoria a few days later saying he has his doubts about ships in Victoria in 2021.

The borders will not open on September 21 as scheduled at this point due to the numbers in Washington State or many other border states. BC also today rolled back some of those things allowed to open.
Many in this part of the world don't see borders opening before 2021.

There is no way to know what will happen at this point.

1 hour ago, bigbenboys said:

I just remember the hassle flying into Toronto, Canada from China and having to do US customs before getting on my flight to Seattle. It comes down to time needed between flights for customs. How fast or slow customs is going. Many times to much time between flights. For someone living in Canada and flying to the US it is great. Do Canadians go thru Canadian customs in the US before flying to Canada?  I've seemed to always clear Canadian customs in Canada.

No we don't and the reason why as explained prior to this is because of 911 and the USA wanting to pre-clear all visitors to the USA before they set foot on US soil or boarded a flight they may hijack.

13 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

No one claimed that US customs was staffed by Canada.  

Yes they did in post 13. That is what started this diversion in this thread.

1 hour ago, George C said:

I am sure Vancouver is a nice city but thought there airport was a disaster almost missed my flight returning from a cruise . If I have a choice I will go to Seattle one less problem for USA residents since we can avoid going thru your customs. 

Hmm there is a small problem here with what you are saying.

You say almost missed my flight returning from a cruise because of your customs.
Well when you are at the airport and go to clear Customs you are clearing US Customs to go back to the USA. So if you have a beef then it is with YOUR US Customs and and not our Canada Customs.
The YVR airport authority has nothing to do with controlling what US Customs does.