Heidi13

Providing the itinerary will assist in proving an informed reply to your question. Any additional information on cancelled ports since the itinerary was first published will also help.

Since I won't cruise again with Viking until they provide Canadians with an alternative to the customer unfriendly US Office, completing a survey is a mute point. I don't have an issue with the arrangement, as it is common in the marine industry

Since the ships are not flagged in the USA and hardly any, if any, of the crew are American, why quote American tax forms? This is a worldwide forum with many nationalities. Whether the hotel crew is contracted depends on whether you use American definitions or maritime definitions. Therefore, in my opinion neither the officers or ratings are "Contracted out".

Since the only Officers on board a cruise ship are the Deck Officers, Engineering Officers, Doctor and Nursing Officers, I am surprised that you have have sufficient contact with them to make that determination. BTW - The vessel's Master, who is often accessible to the pax is not a "Ship's Officer". The current Safety Management Systems preclude regular contact with pax, so when I don't see or interact with Deck/Engineering Officers, and the ship is operated safely and arrives on time, they are doing a great job. Back in my time on cruise ships, in the 70's & 80's, expectations were different, and officers were expected to meet and mingle with pax. Those days are long gone.

Haven't a clue what a W-2 is or a 1099. Nothing that I have ever encountered in the marine industry. If these are American terms, they aren't applicable on Norwegian Flag vessels. If "Employed directly by Viking" means Viking Ocean Cruises recruits, pays and manages employees, then very few members of the ship's compliment are employees, as most of the hotel ratings are recruited by manning agencies.

I'll suggest whether the Master, Deck Officers, Engineering Officers and Medical are contractors depends on your definition of "Contractor" Unfortunately, in the past 40 - 50 yrs, marine employment standards have changed significantly and not for the better. When I started as a Cadet, I was clearly an employee of P&O Steam Navigation, receiving a monthly salary regardless if aboard a vessel, at college, or on leave. All our college fees were paid and we had extensive benefits. I was also indentured to the company, who were obligated to provide me with the required seatime and college time, to complete the Certificate of Competency. In 2002, when our son joined Princess Cruises, as a cadet, he was hired by the company and only sailed on Princess ships. They paid him in cash when aboard the ship, paid his travel to/from the ship, but nothing else. When not aboard a vessel, he received no payments for wages, college fees or any benefits. Although he was hired by Princess and received payment aboard the vessel, I actually consider that arrangement more of a contractor arrangement than an employee arrangement, as once he departed a vessel they had no obligation to provide more seatime. They were also under no obligation to facilitate his college time. I believe the Bridge Tour was conducted by a cadet, who would have less connection to Viking than the Master and Officers. Cadets gain better experience where they sail on different types of vessels, so this may have been his/her first trip with Viking after sailing cargo ships. The Masters and Senior Officers, although hired and paid by the ship management company, tend to only work for Viking. Therefore, I can accept a Cadet stating he doesn't work for Viking, but the Masters, Chief Engineers and other Senior Officers, I'll suggest are as you noted, contracted by a 3rd party to Viking. I recall the 2 Masters on the Viking Sun knew their schedule well in advance, working basically 10 weeks on/off. Regardless of who actually hired them, it is tough to say they don't work for Viking.

Nuku Hiva - Tender Bora Bora - Tender Moorea - Tender Lautoka - Tender Avarua (Cook Is) - Tender Easter Is - Tender Pitcairn Is - Cruise by only, with islanders boarding the vessel. Don't recall tendering at any other S/Pacific Islands

Affirmative, we did experience this with a couple of countries. In those situations, Viking's Visa procurement vendor agreed to submit the application when the window opened and transmit the information to the ship. If completing the process personally, we would have had to advise the cruise line that pre-cruise acquiring of Visas wasn't possible and to get confirmation we could submit the application from aboard the vessel.

Thanks, that was when I had about a 10 yr gap between working, then as a pax.

Not sure what you consider the good old days, as when I started cruising Alaska in the 1970's with Princess, we never went North of Icy Straight, as all cruises were R/T Vancouver. Every subsequent cruise, as a pax with Princess the ships used Whittier as the turnaround port. I am aware that additional Carnival brands are now switching to Whittier, sharing the docks with Princess, so not all Carnival brands have always used Seward. Spent the day in Whittier many times. As previously mentioned, the Phillips 26 Glacier tour is an exceptional day and is an easy walk from the ship. Walking around the town is also enjoyable, but it certainly isn't the tourist trap of SE Alaska.

You have a couple of options with respect to acquiring the necessary Visas for a World Cruise. I have completed the process for UK & Canadian passports, so a a Sri Lankan passport holder, you may require additional Visas, but the process should be similar. Easiest method is hiring a Visa procurement agency. You complete the application form, providing your personal details, provide your passport, a copy of the itinerary and they do the rest. However, some Visa applications may require you to complete a more detailed form, such as China, which included about a dozen pages. The downside of this option is high cost, especially if it includes multiple Visas. You can also complete the process yourself, just takes lots of time and research. I normally start with the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Officer website and the Canadian equivalent. They have very well updated and detailed information on Visa requirements based on your type of visit. Your Sri Lankan Govt may provide a similar service. In addition, some Travel Agents may be able to assist. The eVisas are generally an online application and payment that are quickly approved. Some need to be printed and affixed to your passport, while others are provided to the border authorities for your arrival. Unfortunately, some countries still require personal visits to their Embassy, to apply for, and then return a few days later to collect your passport and Visa. If you require a number of these Visas, it can be very time consuming.

If you were boarding in Hawaii and disembarking from the same ship in Whittier, the US PVSA would be applicable. Unless you stopped at a distant foreign port, you would be in violation of the Act. Unfortunately, no ports on your itinerary meet this requirement. However, you are sailing on 2 separate ships and cruise lines. Cruise # 1 is Hawaii to Vancouver, so is an International voyage, therefore the US Cabotage Act does not apply. Your 2nd cruise is on a different ship, boarding in Vancouver and disembarking in Whittier. This is also an International voyage, so the Canadian Cabotage Act does not apply. Enjoy both of your cruises.

It may vary by company, especially now with many cruise lines and large ferry operations having a 24/7 operations centre. Back in my day (pre-Ops Centre) once I Tx a "Mayday" the Coast Radio Station/Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) contacted the vessel directly requesting details of the situation and any assistance required. As Master, I would also call the DPA, who would activate the shore response and liaise with the Coast Guard. All ship/shore radio communications were with RCC, not the Coast Guard. Once resolved, if it was a reportable incident, as per the Shipping Casualty Reporting Regulations, I had 24 hrs to make a verbal report to a Coast Radio Station and then complete a written report on the prescribed form.

The Costa Concordia incident sadly proves the negative issues with your expectations. Had the incident been effectively managed the vessel would have been safely beached or all pax and crew safely evacuated by survival craft. Due to the incompetence of the person masquerading as the vessel's Master, who departed the vessel early, a number of people sadly lost their lives. If you were aboard that vessel, you may have been one of the lucky pax that got into a survival craft or entered the water. However, you could just as easily have been one of the ones that perished. If the vessel had a competent Master, there should not have been any requirement for any crew or pax to enter the water. They should all have been safely evacuated by survival craft. Personally, when I am aboard a vessel, I prefer a competent Master that will effectively manage any emergency situation. In the unlikely event of an "Abandon Ship" order being required, the pax have a significantly higher chance of being safely evacuated when the Master oversees the operation from the Bridge and is one of the last, if not the last person off the ship. Don't forget, a ship is a hierarchical command structure and when you remove the "Leader" the subordinates may flounder. This is more common in a well drilled emergency situation, where crew perform as they trained in drills. Therefore, every pax should prefer the Master to be aboard until every pax is evacuated.

The culture shift into Bridge Resource Management was a process that really interested me, so I bought into it fairly early. Overall, as a Master it made my job easier, as the officers were more alert and motivated. Having been brought up in the P&O system on their cruise ships, in my experience, nobody questioned the Captain. On SS Oriana, I recall one day walking along a pax alleyway and noted the Captain coming the opposite direction. He didn't miss a step, barreled down the middle of the alleyway and never even acknowledged the lowly Cadet, who had to dive into an alcove. On the Bridge, Junior Officers and Cadets were to be seen but not heard. The marine industry Bridge Resource Management (BRM) was taken from the airline industry CRM, which was developed after the Pan-Am/KLM runway disaster in Tenerife. My first knowledge of the marine BRM was from Princess/P&O/Cunard in early 2000's. I still knew a number of the Masters and then our son joined Princess in 2002, as a Deck Cadet. I was provided a copy of their latest Bridge Team Command and Control (BTCC) draft. When I assumed the management of one of the company's largest vessels, I discussed the BTCC with my 3 Masters, and they were all happy to give it a try. I slowly introduced the BTCC program and it worked well. It included closed-loop communications, eliminated the potential for single person errors, encouraged the Master to oversee navigation and dockings and created an environment, where even the ratings could respectfully question the officers or Master. The company then bought into the process and hired a British company, who also worked for P&O/Princess. We received Human Factors and Risk Management training, which confirmed and expanded the knowledge I had received from extensive research. I was then tasked by the VP Ops to develop new Level 2 ISM Deck Operations procedures incorporating the latest BRM standards. I completed this project just before I retired, but note it is still in use, 12 years later. From my first command in 1985 to when I retired in 2012, the culture change was enormous. In 1985 I personally docked the ship 16 times per day. In 2012, when I relieved as Master for a shift, I never did a docking or departure. All ship handling was completed by the Deck Officers, some who needed no mentoring and others that needed considerable mentoring.