chengkp75

First, the port charges are for all ports on your cruise, including the embarkation/debarkation (same) port, so there are 4 ports on your cruise. It is not true that there is only one port charge for two ports in a country. The port charges are for wharfage (essentially dock space rental), pilots, and other things, but they are not "country" specific, they are port specific. This would be like saying that NYC and Miami split the port fees for a cruise from one to the other.

Just the same as they have in the past, essentially not at all. Probably 25-30% of new hires either don't complete their first contract, or never come back after the first contract. No way to "vett" somebody as to whether they are compatible with shipboard life.

It's not a fine, but I know that RCI charges a fee for downline disembarkation, since it does require more paperwork for passenger manifests, and the fact that the cruise for everyone else actually returning to the US is no longer on a closed loop cruise, since the manifest changed since leaving the US embarkation port. Not sure if Carnival charges this fee.

While it could be flown as a drone, there still needs to be a paramedic onboard for patient care.

But, most of the helipads are not strong enough, or large enough for most SAR helicopters to land, though I suspect they could try to stay "light on the skids" to reduce weight on the pad.

Just like the little loop on the back of men's shirts, who knows?

I swear, this is the last comment, as this is just too ridiculous (flying boats, really?). What part of the statement I've made a couple of times just on this thread, don't you get? There are no "built-in" surge protectors anywhere on the ship. None of the expensive and "sensitive" electronics, that are far more valuable than all of the passengers' electronics combined, are protected by a surge protector.

Yes, ships do use zinc and aluminum sacrificial anodes to prevent corrosion. they are mainly in areas of high water flow speed, like around the propellers and in thruster tunnels, and in the sea water intake "chests" where pumps are sucking sea water into the ship, and on areas where the bonding to the hull may not be optimal, like on rudders. They are also used inside ballast water tanks. These are designed to last 10 years, but are inspected at every dry docking, and renewed as necessary. Ships will also use an "impressed current" cathodic protection. This uses several anodes on the hull to which a low voltage DC current (around 120 milliamps) is applied, to actually encourage a "battery effect", but using the zinc anode as the material to be corroded away, not the steel hull. The system has a set of reference electrodes around the hull, that controls the current to the anodes to maintain a 1.2v differential between the anode and hull. This system covers the majority of the hull, and is used where the traditional anodes would provide too much hydrodynamic drag.

Probably done to minimize the passengers out there with their cameras and flashes distracting the pilot.

And, none of these float around in salt water. What exactly is it you don't get? And, guess what, the prohibition on surge protectors on ships is not even that they will trip the breaker. Tripping the breaker is caused by excessive current, while surge protectors are "tripped" by excessive voltage. And, if you knew anything about the semi-conductors used in surge protectors, you would know that the MOV is rated for a nominal voltage, i.e. 120v for a US consumer power strip, and at that voltage, it is rated to "last forever". However, each time the voltage spikes even a little bit above nominal, that stresses the semi-conductor just a little bit, just like a large voltage spike will cause the MOV to fail immediately. The repetition of these small voltage spikes eventually causes the MOV to fail, in this case not causing excessive current to flow, but to fail in "thermal runaway" where a high resistance path to ground is created (instead of the proper zero resistance path that dumps voltage to ground), and this high resistance limits the current below the circuit breaker rating, but creates enough heat to melt the power strip, and cause a fire. But, as bored as I am today, I'm done trying to lecture on electrical theory and systems, just because you don't want to spend $6 on a Walmart non-surge protected power strip. And, I'm sure that all those cruisers who have all this disposable income to cruise can't afford this cheap option either.

Each classification society sets their own rules for shipbuilding, and that includes electrical systems, but most class rules abide by the IEC code for ships and offshore installations. Do you know how many circuits there are on a cruise ship? I don't, and I've worked on them as Chief Engineer. But, I would guess that there would be a minimum of 4-5000 circuits, of various voltages from 120 to 10k, and you want to equip every one of these with a GFCI for a hundred grand? Looking to get my hands on what you're smoking.

And that helicopter does have aerial refueling capability, see the probe extending out of picture lower right.

The USCG helicopters don't have aerial refueling probes like some Army helicopters do, but USCG helicopters do practice an "aerial refueling" of a sort, where the helicopter hovers over the deck of a cutter if the helicopter is too large, or the cutter motion is too great for the helicopter to land on the cutter. Otherwise, the helicopter will land on the cutter and refuel. That doesn't look like a USCG helicopter, maybe Army, so maybe less range, hence the cutter to refuel.

Good luck with your crusade to convince the cruise lines that rewiring the ships to allow passengers to have surge protectors, outweighs the cost of repairing the welds on the hull plates that have corroded away each dry docking. I think you should write to the USCG CSNCOE (Cruise Ship National Center of Excellence) where regulators and industry insiders meet to formulate industry best practices for cruise ships. I'm sure they would value your unique perspective on this.

I don't think you will be charged tax while in the Inside Passage, either.