Coastal Renaissance.

[bcscot]

Welcome back Dennis. I wonder where the Queen of Oak Bay has gone?

 

I also thought that this was the most likely place to find the Pacific Buffet. Did you see the Coastal Renaissance on your crossing today, or did you see the Coastal Inspiration at Departure Bay?

 

Graham.

[LeftcoastBC]

I usually travel T to Vic. and take the time to check when there is a Spirit class for sure to have the buffet and dinner enroute. Get there early and get a window seat. I would miss them for sure.

[Putterdude]

I can't find a deck plan but I wonder if it is on Deck 5, the one that was closed off. I have a friend that was on it a few weeks ago and had a similar experience to Ut's re deck 5. All of this would lead me to wonder if perhaps they only intend to open deck 5 and operate the Pacific Buffet in peak season or on the ship that is deployed on the Swartz Bay run?

[Urban trekker]

"Did you see the Coastal Renaissance on your crossing today, or did you see the Coastal Inspiration at Departure Bay?

 

In as few words as possible: YES AND YES

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

 

In as few words as possible: YES AND YES

 

 

You are a man of few words!

[c-to-sea]

More trivia

 

Found an article from the Victoria Times-Colonist which says the Renaissaince

and the Inspiration, which at the time were planned to both go on Horseshoe

Bay-Departure Bay would have two coffee bars and a cafeteria while the

Celebration, going on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route would have a buffet.

The last I heard, the Inspiration will be going on the Tsawwassen - Duke

Point route, which is the longest sailing time of the 3 routes. Makes me

wonder why there would only be a buffet on the shortest route. The article

was written just over a year ago and there may have been changes in plans

since then.

[Putterdude]

Here is a link to a press release which confirms your recollection that the Inspirartion will be used on the Duke Point-Tsawwassen route.

 

http://www.bcferries.com/files/AboutBCF/08-022revisedmacoastalinspirationarrival_-_ms.pdf

[Urban trekker]

I too wonder why they would be putting a brand new ship like the Inspiration on the Duke Point run - it doesn't have the traffic flow or the passengers that the other two main runs have - about the only one that seems to make sense is the fact that it is a faster ship and would be able to get that run done in under two hours.

 

I too wonder where the Oak Bay is as BC Ferries isn't showing it on any of the runs and I haven't seen a news release showing that it is in drydock etc. Are they keeping an extra ship berthed at Langdale at the moment.

 

The other interesting question that arose this weekend over on the Island is if the last of the new ferries will be on the T - S Bay run what will happen to one of the Spirit Class ships or do they intend to increase the number of sailings on a permanent basis. Doesn't make sense to have your newest assets not running all the time.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

I too wonder why they would be putting a brand new ship like the Inspiration on the Duke Point run - it doesn't have the traffic flow or the passengers that the other two main runs have - about the only one that seems to make sense is the fact that it is a faster ship and would be able to get that run done in under two hours.

 

I too wonder where the Oak Bay is as BC Ferries isn't showing it on any of the runs and I haven't seen a news release showing that it is in drydock etc. Are they keeping an extra ship berthed at Langdale at the moment.

 

The other interesting question that arose this weekend over on the Island is if the last of the new ferries will be on the T - S Bay run what will happen to one of the Spirit Class ships or do they intend to increase the number of sailings on a permanent basis. Doesn't make sense to have your newest assets not running all the time.

 

Answer to your first question is, I don't know, it came as a bit of a surprise to me as well.

 

Answer to your second question is, I really don't know, I didn't know she was missing and I haven't been down at Langdale since Jan 18th and I doubt that I will be before the 20th or 21st of this month. My guess would be if she is not operating she in at Dease for a refit.

 

Answer to your third question is, that I think that as they move into the spring and summer schedules they operate 3 and 4 ships on the Victoria route with hourly departures from either side. But I was always of the mistaken impression that 2 of the Super "C" were destined for the Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay route so all of this is news to me.

 

I will try to ask a friend who sits on the board of BC Ferries what the logic is, if I see him in the near future.

[Urban trekker]

"But I was always of the mistaken impression that 2 of the Super "C" were destined for the Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay route so all of this is news to me."

 

No you are not mistaken - I remember reading that as well.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

"But I was always of the mistaken impression that 2 of the Super "C" were destined for the Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay route so all of this is news to me."

 

No you are not mistaken - I remember reading that as well.

 

 

You mean there is a chance I may not be wrong, I must rush and tell DW!

Incidently the Queen of Oak Bay is shown as being on the Horseshoe Bay - Departure Bay route; so if she is not around my guess is that she is in Dease on refit.

[Urban trekker]

This link shows which ships are on which runs today and the Queen of Oak Bay is no where to be found:

 

http://orca.bcferries.com:8080/cc/conditions/actualDepartures.asp##LNG03

 

If I am out for a drive I just might go by the Deas dock and she if she is there.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[bcscot]

I made my second crossing on the Coastal Renaissance on Monday & my feelings about this new ferry have evolved. I had an enjoyable & informative trip.

 

As I sat in my car, up the hill at Horseshoe Bay, I peered through the rain at the new vessel as she slowly made her way into the ferry dock. As far as her external appearance goes, my initial feelings were strengthened. She is not a bonny lass! Words like 'space age', 'Star Wars' & 'boxy' came to mind. She may well be a fine example of Germanic engineering prowess, but as far as style goes, she is definitely more Teutonic than Renaissance. In fact, Michelangelo would be spinning in his grave! The 70's angles, the utilitarian boxiness & the curves of the funnel, are all at odds with one another. She just does not have any style, grace or flow to her design. She does indeed look like she was designed by a committee. With her curved hump of a funnel on top, her big square front with glaring tooth like windows & her committee design, I now know what Super-C Class stands for. Behold the new BC Ferries' Super-Camel !!! If the QE2 is a greyhound of the seas, then this is a camel of the seas.

 

OK, so that said, once onboard, I found that I was warming to her. It just takes me a while to get used to new things. It has taken me 40 years to stop seeing the QE2 as an ugly 1960s monstrosity & start seeing her as a graceful liner. I think that Dennis is right in that the interior is more European in style & therefore more compartmentalised & less open plan. This came as a bit of a surprise. However, I found her less claustrophobic & congested inside this time. The stairways are narrower & there are some tighter spaces here & there but for a ferry, she is quite nice inside. I just expected something a little fancier, but I would say she is on a par with the old Queens that have been upgraded. I just had to remember that she is a ferry & not a cruise ship! A very nice ferry she will make too.

 

The car decks looked full. Although there may not have been many buses or walk on passengers, she did not seem crowded. She may be big enough to absorb the numbers. Only the queue for the Coastal Cafe created a sense of crowding. I think that they should have had more space for this.

 

However, no space for a Pacific Buffet! Deck 5 was open except for the Coast Cafe Express, which lies in a central location. Both ends of deck 5 are taken up by the bridges. I asked at the information desk & the mystery was solved! The first two ferries have no Pacific Buffet. The third one, destined for the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay route, will have a Pacific Buffet instead of a Sitka Cafe on deck 6. Therefore, still only Pacific Buffets on the Victoria run. Are the northern Vancouver Islanders too health conscious, too impecunious or do they have too much Scottish blood!

 

The stairwells to deck 7 were closed due to problems with the deck 7 doors, but an outside alternative route was made available. The two deck stairways from deck 5 to deck 7 were still closed but I was told they will be open in the future. This will ease the passenger flow problem of only having doors on one side of deck 7. On this upper 'sun deck', there is what looks like an elevated observation platform, like those on the Spirit Class vessels. I was told that this is the helicopter platform & will not be open to the public. I would have thought that helicopter medivacs would be uncommon enough that they just needed to shoo the passengers off when a landing was required (just like the sheep on some of the airstrips of the Western Isles of Scotland)!

 

I may be wrong, but I thought that being higher, I could perceive a little more movement than the older ferries, & maybe even a little more noise.

 

Now I have to say that I love the deck 5 'promenade deck' areas. They give shelter from the rain & give the traditional feel of being at sea on an old liner. OK so they don't have the teak decks of Holland America & yes, they would benefit from a few 'steamer chairs' & a steward to bring the bouillon, but I like the area. I stood for ages & watched as we left the rain & black clouds behind in Vancouver. The sun was shining, the sky was blue & the sea was azure. There were wispy white clouds billowing around the mountains, all was beautiful & I was on a ship upon the sea. For the moment, it could not have been better on any cruise ship, anywhere in the world. I felt grateful to be living in such a beautiful place & have the chance to enjoy that beauty.

 

I will miss the passing of the old Queens, but in spite of their exterior appearance, I think that these new ferries will make worthy successors. On arriving in Nanaimo, there before us was the latest addition to the fleet, the Coastal Inspiration. It will be an impressive fleet.

 

The Queen is dead, long live the Camel...!!!

 

Graham.

[Putterdude]

What a great review, it should go on the front page! We are just happy to have our Queen of Surrey (it could have been worse, it could have been Langley). I am certainly happy that the mystery of the Pacific Buffet has been put aside....good detective work.

 

What I find interesting is the fact that this ship has been accepted by the media without them finding fault. You might have thought they would have found something wrong with them given the controversy over them being built off shore. I have been told of a few operational issues that they have had but I have also been told that they are exceptionaly well built and everyone is quite happy with them.

[bcscot]

Thank you PD.:)

 

Graham.

[Urban trekker]

PD - perhaps the reason that some of the so-called critics about building them in Germany are quiet is because they drive VW's, Audi's and BMW's and know of the quality of German built products.

 

A probable reason for the buffets on the T- S run is that is the run that most of the politicians and business types take and have an expense account to write it off against - after spending $55.00 for a one way crossing I don't have any money left to pay for a buffet.

 

Perhaps in keeping with the mandate of the Cruise Critic we should start a separate thread on the quality of the food on BC Ferries and whether or not they provide trays.

 

Just a morning thought of the day.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[bcscot]

I must say that I have never had a problem with trays on BC Ferries!:confused:

 

I do not think too much of the food however. The Coastal Cafe serves 'fast food' or 'greasy spoon' & that in the Pacific Buffet is not worth the money (IMHO). It is OK, but not all that great.

 

A couple more points that I forgot. The toilet (aka bathroom, washroom or rest room - I tend to go there to pee rather than rest or take a bath:p ) outside the Sitka cafe is very small & seemed to be in great demand. I suggest looking for another one.

 

There were smokers everywhere that they should not be. I have noticed that people tend to ignore the 'no smoking' signs on all the ferries & no one is interested in policing this. One day it was a bridge officer smoking just above the 'no smoking' sign.:mad:

 

Oh, by the way PD. As we were passing the Sunshine Coast, I waved over to you. Did you see me?;)

 

Graham.

[Putterdude]

BCS sure I saw you, I saw this guy waving from from my living room window, ran to my scope and sure enough it was you....didn't you see me waiving back?

Ut, that is shoking what the fare is, we are a little immune to it because we only pay the one way. We have also had the benefit, at least up March 31, to buy the communter tickets. If you bought a book of 10 the cost was about $330 which in our case lasted us about a year; so once you were over that shock it was kind of OK. Now they want us to turn in all of our tickets and they will give credit on the new electronic card. However the tickets protected us from fare increases but not so the e-cards. It used to be kind of a trade off, they had your money for a year and you got no fare increase.....now they have your money for a year but you get wacked for any increases.....kind of mean spirited I would say.

However all of that said, it is a good system and the pricing is very good by other ferry systems standards.....never mind how much better our ships are.

Got to get out in the yard know!

[Putterdude]

Went down to Langdale this afternoon to trade in my commuter tickets for the new E-card, which you can register with them in the event it is stolen. They gave a bit of a bonus for each ticket turned it. Between Car & Driver for the Sunshine Coast routes, the Powell River-Comox route and Pax tickets, I had $553 in credits to go on my card....but I think this demonstrates the amount of money people have invested in these tickets and a lot of them never get used so it goes right to BCF's bottom line. By the way the discounted fare round trip for the SSC rte is $37.10 vs $51.25 on a peak time basis.

 

The ferry that is tied up to the emergency dock down there is the Queen of Esquimalt, which begs the question "where is the Queen of Oak Bay"?

[Urban trekker]

I need to have my car out of my parkade most of tomorrow as they are repainting the lines and numbers so I might just take a little spin out by the Deas Dock and see if I can unravel the mystery of the Queen of Oak Bay.

 

Now that the Canucks are finished for the season do any of you have another team that you get behind - in my case it will be the HABS as they were my favorite team before the Canucks came into the league.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

With regard to the "cups", I usually suffer from a large dose of indifference until the final. Tonight's game is on in another room but I have hardly watched any of it.

[bcscot]

More trivia

 

Found an article from the Victoria Times-Colonist which says the Renaissaince

and the Inspiration, which at the time were planned to both go on Horseshoe

Bay-Departure Bay would have two coffee bars and a cafeteria while the

Celebration, going on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route would have a buffet.

The last I heard, the Inspiration will be going on the Tsawwassen - Duke

Point route, which is the longest sailing time of the 3 routes. Makes me

wonder why there would only be a buffet on the shortest route. The article

was written just over a year ago and there may have been changes in plans

since then.

 

It sounds like you had the facts right on the Pacific Buffet question all along C.:)

 

Graham.

[Urban trekker]

Re: Queen of Oak Bay - drove out past the Deas docks - there were a number of ships berthed their and the only one that I could see the name on was the Northern Adventure which is in for spring maintenance before returning to the north for the summer season - there was one other larger ship which might be the Oak Bay as the others were all smaller vessels - so if the Oak Bay is the only big girl that can't be accounted for then it must be her - guess they want to check and make sure all the cotter pins are in place before the summer season starts.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

guess they want to check and make sure all the cotter pins are in place before the summer season starts.

 

What a low blow....surely you have more confidence in our provincial navy than that.

 

According to my otherwise reliable sources the Northern Adventure is back in Deas again for vibration and stabizer issues which have palgued her from the get go. They don't call her the "Vomit Comet" without reason. Evidently she has been in there for 2 1/2 weeks and may be in there for another 4 to 6 weeks and they are contemplating drydocking her. Guess this is what happens when you buy a slightly used ferry from the Greeks who only drove her to church on Sundays.

[Urban trekker]

Speaking of reliable sources how is you son's rehab coming along and when will he get back to the ship.

 

While the Northern Adventure may yet turn out to be a lemon at least it was insurance money that paid for it and not the taxpayer and given the political pressure from the northern communities for a vessel at the time of the sinking this is probably the best scenario that was available to Mr Hahn and Co.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis