Grandeur of the Seas ... forget someone?

[PortFever]

Just noticed Grandeur of the Seas took a very circuitous route after leaving Port Everglades around 5:00pm Eastern this afternoon. Only headed south about 90 minutes later. See the track below from MarineTraffic.com and archive snapshots from PortFever .

 

Anyone know what they were doing?!?

 

 

 

[sunandseagirl617]

Calibrating the compass.....:confused:

[borg1of2]

Did a Tug or Pilot come out to it?

[johnjen]

There's many reasons she took that route. For one (and probably the main reason) her next port of call is very close by (Bahamas). Other reasons could've been training, satellite azimuth/elevation a bit off, or other calibrations going on. Even holding a man overboard drill on the bridge without the passengers even knowing about it.

 

And, from the route, it's less than a ten mile deviation. These cruise ships never hold the same true course anyway. They're either trying to kill some time or it's the opposite, they're running late. Also remember they have to make distance calculations in order to make tide scheduling as well.

 

Navy ships do this all of the time and wouldn't be surprised if other vessels do this too. For example it takes a typical naval battle group ten days to cross the Atlantic when it can be done in five or less days.

[PortFever]

There's many reasons she took that route. For one (and probably the main reason) her next port of call is very close by (Bahamas). Other reasons could've been training, satellite azimuth/elevation a bit off, or other calibrations going on. Even holding a man overboard drill on the bridge without the passengers even knowing about it.

 

And, from the route, it's less than a ten mile deviation. These cruise ships never hold the same true course anyway. They're either trying to kill some time or it's the opposite, they're running late. Also remember they have to make distance calculations in order to make tide scheduling as well.

 

Navy ships do this all of the time and wouldn't be surprised if other vessels do this too. For example it takes a typical naval battle group ten days to cross the Atlantic when it can be done in five or less days.

 

All good points. However, I think she was headed for the Caymans... not Bahamas and left right on schedule. Final track supports that too.

 

I have been watching cruise ships leave Port Everglades for around 9 months and this deviation is extremely rare. Only time I have seen a turnaround was when a ship returned to port due to a medical emergency. Some bobbing and weaving to avoid port-bound ships or to get a slot in the shipping lanes is more common but much less dramatic. Never seen one of these cruise ships burn 90 minutes of fuel getting nowhere.

 

Unfortunately, she was out of the webcam's field of view so I couldn't see if another vessel went to pick-up or drop-off passengers or crew.

[mndity]

Just noticed Grandeur of the Seas took a very circuitous route after leaving Port Everglades around 5:00pm Eastern this afternoon. Only headed south about 90 minutes later. See the track below from MarineTraffic.com and archive snapshots from PortFever .

 

Anyone know what they were doing?!?

 

Maybe the Captain fell asleep and leaned on the the wheel..........

[BND]

Just noticed Grandeur of the Seas took a very circuitous route after leaving Port Everglades around 5:00pm Eastern this afternoon. Only headed south about 90 minutes later. See the track below from MarineTraffic.com and archive snapshots from PortFever .

 

Anyone know what they were doing?!?

 

Maybe the Captain fell asleep and leaned on the the wheel..........

 

He'd have had to fall face first onto the joy stick. Cruise ships don't have "wheels".