Will the partial cruise ship ban in Barcelona affect VV??

[CrazyTrain2]

Barcelona has put in a partial ban on Cruise ships utilizing its Northern Docks starting in October.  I'm not sure which of the docks VV's ladies use, but I have concerns since I'm on a cruise in October from Barcelona.

 

If anyone has the deets, please share.

 

If it does affect my cruise, it will be the SECOND cruise I have had affected by port bans.  How did I upset the Cruise Gods??

 

[basenji56]

2 minutes ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

Barcelona has put in a partial ban on Cruise ships utilizing its Northern Docks starting in October.  I'm not sure which of the docks VV's ladies use, but I have concerns since I'm on a cruise in October from Barcelona.

 

If anyone has the deets, please share.

 

If it does affect my cruise, it will be the SECOND cruise I have had affected by port bans.  How did I upset the Cruise Gods??

 

Source please?

 

[basenji56]

10 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

Source please?

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/partial-barcelona-cruise-ship-ban-to-begin-in-october/109202

[basenji56]

I worry more about ships being forced to move to the new cruise terminal an hour away from Barcelona.  

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/partial-barcelona-cruise-ship-ban-to-begin-in-october/109202

 

[Freelancer3]

This is where VV docked in April TA crossing.

[cantgetin]

Supposedly the last cruise ship that will be affected will dock on October 2, 2023, despite the closing date of 10/23/2023.  Ships with dockings confirmed after that are supposedly not affected,  I'll believe it when I hear from VV, but for now, everything I've read says not to worry.  I agree that it is so nice to have VV departing from the WTC docks.  I've departed from the others.  The WTC docks save time and money.

 

[CrazyTrain2]

I wonder if Cruise companies will begin to get the message about accessing shore power instead of running their engines to maintain electrical power while docked.  The fundamental issue is the exhaust fumes funneling into the city.  I don't know VV's capabilities for shore power so I am not disparaging VV, just a message that more ports are becoming aware of the environmental impact from ships.

 

It's a little hard to hide the issue with a trail of billowing diesel exhaust fumes.

[chengkp75]

23 hours ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

I wonder if Cruise companies will begin to get the message about accessing shore power instead of running their engines to maintain electrical power while docked.  The fundamental issue is the exhaust fumes funneling into the city.  I don't know VV's capabilities for shore power so I am not disparaging VV, just a message that more ports are becoming aware of the environmental impact from ships.

 

It's a little hard to hide the issue with a trail of billowing diesel exhaust fumes.

Well, first the ports have to support shore power.  This isn't just like plugging your boat into the marina.  Cruise ships use Megawatts of power in port, and the power needs to be delivered at 10,000 volts, so the port needs to build sub-stations to receive this power from the grid, and then shore power stations for the ships to connect to.  While it costs about $1 million per ship to outfit a cruise ship for shore power, it costs the port many millions to build the infrastructure, with a long pay back period.

 

So, either the port can simply ban cruise ships, at little cost to the port, or they have to commit to a long term, high capitalization project to keep them.

[_tacocat_]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:39 PM, CrazyTrain2 said:

I don't know VV's capabilities for shore power so I am not disparaging VV, just a message that more ports are becoming aware of the environmental impact from ships.

The VV ships were designed to ultimately run on shore power, but the limiting factor is where shore power is actually available at ports.

 

I went to a panel onboard with a few Virgin execs last year, and they talked about everything they’ve done sustainability-wise.  It’s pretty neat how much they’ve innovated things!!

[CrazyTrain2]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:46 PM, chengkp75 said:

Well, first the ports have to support shore power.  This isn't just like plugging your boat into the marina.  Cruise ships use Megawatts of power in port, and the power needs to be delivered at 10,000 volts, so the port needs to build sub-stations to receive this power from the grid, and then shore power stations for the ships to connect to.  While it costs about $1 million per ship to outfit a cruise ship for shore power, it costs the port many millions to build the infrastructure, with a long pay back period.

 

So, either the port can simply ban cruise ships, at little cost to the port, or they have to commit to a long term, high capitalization project to keep them.

So it's more involved than running a few extension cables from my Tesla?

[CruisingWalter]

Per the Cruise Hive article mentioned, the North Pier primarily supports the smaller ships such as Regent, Oceania, Seabourn and the like.  That's the one to close in October.  The southern pier is the one for the larger ships and that will remain open past October. If need be, VV will have to port into the Southern Pier, provided there is room, or they will have to ask special permission to dock at the North pier.

 

It will be interesting to see if Barcelona closes it's port to cruise traffic altogether in 2024 after the new port opens up an hour away. 

Edited August 26, 2023 by CruisingWalter

[cantgetin]

5 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

 

It will be interesting to see if Barcelona closes it's port to cruise traffic altogether in 2024 after the new port opens up an hour away. 

That would be a real bummer....but if their goal is to reduce tourism, it would be accomplished.  I really don't want to deal with an airport an hour away from the cruise port.

[Lustate]

9 hours ago, cantgetin said:

That would be a real bummer....but if their goal is to reduce tourism, it would be accomplished. 

It could be more to do with people wanting to breath fresh air in the port area. We all know cruising is one of the highest polluting activities you can do. One brand of cruise company pumps more pollutants into the air then all of the cars in Europe combined. We are also generally as cruises not the best of tourists, as we don’t really stay long in port cities very long, we don’t spend on the food or hotels for multiple nights and tend to spend very little entertainment shoreside. Most European cities don’t need cruise ships for tourism. We are a nice side gig for them, but at a cost. 

[cantgetin]

The exception to the above logic is the embarkation/disembarkation cities in Europe.  Many people spend at least one night in a hotel before embarkation, and many come in several days early to be a more typical tourist--thus generating income from the hotels and food involved as well as whatever sightseeing takes place.

[lazydayz]

8 hours ago, cantgetin said:

The exception to the above logic is the embarkation/disembarkation cities in Europe.  Many people spend at least one night in a hotel before embarkation, and many come in several days early to be a more typical tourist--thus generating income from the hotels and food involved as well as whatever sightseeing takes place.

 Very true.  For a recent cruise, we flew into London, took a private car to Dover, and spent the night there before boarding. After the cruise, private car back to London and spent the night before flying home.  So we certainly contributed to the English economy and had a great time doing it.  

[cantgetin]

3 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

 Very true.  For a recent cruise, we flew into London, took a private car to Dover, and spent the night there before boarding. After the cruise, private car back to London and spent the night before flying home.  So we certainly contributed to the English economy and had a great time doing it.  

Exactly--we once spent a week in London and a night in Dover before a cruise departure from there.  I guess we were bad guys because I found that a bus would get us to Dover for 1/10 the price of cruise line transfers and let us see a bit of the countryside.  But if I'm flying to a location just for a cruise/overnight stay before cruise, I really don't want to deal with travel of an hour or more to get to a cruise terminal.    That's why, if I want to go to Rome, I'll fly there....not take a cruise which docks more than an hour away and take an overpriced excursion.  Fortunately, we did a lot of travel in the "olden days" when ships could dock i Venice and other locations that we wanted to visit.  If ships are not allowed to depart from Barcelona, it would seriously impact my decision about whether or not to do a Med cruise.

I guess cities are deciding that they don't want cruisers and show it in many ways.  For instance, on our first cruise that stopped in Barcelona (not an embarkation), either the city or the cruise line offered complimentary bus transfers to the WTC hotel area.  The next trip, these were $5 per person each way.  Same thing in Japan--on our first cruise there, each location seemed to have no cost transportation from the cruise port to the town.  The next time, there was a charge for that if you were not on an excursion.  On the other hand, at a stop in St. Croix, we were welcomed by people from the visitor's committee who offered us a t-shirt and invited us to a parade that was being held that afternoon, and explained the significance of the parade.  We went--and while it was nothing fancy, it was fun!

Don't port charges generate enough to be significant to various locations?

[lisabucsfan1]

17 hours ago, cantgetin said:

I guess cities are deciding that they don't want cruisers and show it in many ways.  For instance, on our first cruise that stopped in Barcelona (not an embarkation), either the city or the cruise line offered complimentary bus transfers to the WTC hotel area.  The next trip, these were $5 per person each way.  Same thing in Japan--on our first cruise there, each location seemed to have no cost transportation from the cruise port to the town.  The next time, there was a charge for that if you were not on an excursion.

 

Honestly I would have thought this due more to supply & demand vs not wanting tourists... If I saw a bunch of people who wanted to get off of a boat and the only way to do that was via a bus, I'd charge the $5 per person.