Heidi13

Departure Vancouver is usually about 17:00. Sailing out the harbour is very scenic on the port side with Stanley Park. Stbd side isn't so pleasant, being a sulphur dock. Clearing 1st Narrows, you have West Vancouver homes to stbd and anchored ships on both sides. On the Port side, you have the end of Stanley park then the Vancouver shoreline out to UBC. Entering Georgia Strait, you have a succession of smaller islands on both side, and Vancouver Island to port and mainland to stbd. If close to the Solstice, sunset is about 21:30, with the ship being about Hornby to Courtney, depending on Seymour tides. If it is a clear evening you have every chance of seeing a great sunset. Unfortunately, the narrow channel is navigated at night, with the ship being around Robson Bight/Blackfish around the first light. By 07:00/08:00 the ship is well clear of the most scenic areas, although you still have mountains on both sides for a couple of hours, so it is reasonable scenery, if it's your first time. Once passed Pine Island, you will head for Hecate Strait, which is a very wide channel (30+ miles wide), so you will only see the tops of the mountains. It remains like this until well after sunset.

Just out of interest, what specific concerns do you have with the size of Volendam on a WC.

On cruise ships, the vast majority of the Officers & Crew are day workers that get most hours of rest at night. When heading Eastbound and cloxs move ahead, changing them at Noon makes it significantly easier to manage the crews hours of rest, as mandated by ILO, in the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, as amended. For watchkeepers, 1 hr cloxs is split across the 3 watches, so when steaming East, each watch works 20 min less, so they get a small benefit from the reduction in hours of rest.

Crossing an ocean, the Master will adjust the ship's cloxs, so as to maintain Meridian Altitude (sun at the highest point) reasonably close to Noon. Although they no longer do sights, I certainly hope this tradition is maintained. Cloxs can be moved either 1/2hr or 1 hr, at the Master's discretion, with the ship arriving in each port consistent with local time. I am aware that some cruise lines have started the practice of not changing cloxs, but in 40 yrs at sea, I have never visited a single port and had ship time differ from shore time. In fact, that type of error would be hazardous to the Navigator's career prospects.

Dee - Take the Thames Clipper from Greenwich to Tower Pier. On exiting the pier you have a shop on the right, which I recall as being the Tower of London shop and some restaurants on the ground floor of the condo on the left. As soon as you pass the Tower of London shop, head over to the right, which is the meeting point for the tour. At least it was last time we did the tour in 2017. Distance from exiting the clipper on the pier is about 100 - 150 yds. If it is a wet night, and you arrive early they have a few cafes around where you can stay dry. If you want something stronger, they have a Wetherspoon (chain pub) up on the main street just north of the Tower. BTW - it is a brilliant tour.

Correct Lyle. The British Grand Prix at Silverstone races in a clockwise direction, as I believe most races are in Europe.

That is the accepted standard on all ships I worked on.

I have booked a cruise on a Dutch flagged ship that will not cruise anywhere close to the United States. At present, our roll call is about 50/50 from UK/Canada/Australia and USA. On a foreign-flagged cruise ship, with multiple nationalities, I having difficulty why you would expect me, as a non-American, to follow your standard while enjoying my daily walks. Surely, since the World has different standards, it should be based on the majority of the pax, which is what I have always done in 40 + years of cruising.

When booking Shore-ex, there is no guarantee the Master will delay departure for late arriving tours. While the Master will endeavour to delay for late shore-ex, operational requirements such as wind, tides, longshoremen, berth space, time to make next port, etc. take priority.

All vessel operating in Antarctica are not special vessel built specifically for those waters. When designing a ship, the owner specifies a hull classification from the Classification Society that sets the design criteria and limits the operational waters. The IMO sets Polar Classifications from PC-1 to PC-7, with PC-1 ships capable of operating year round in Polar waters. PC-7 ships can only operate in Summer/Autumn in thin 1st year ice and PC-6 ships can operate Summer/Autumn in medium 1st year ice. Most of the current expedition ships have a PC-6 classification, with at least 1 of the smaller ships being PC-5, if I recall correctly. The larger ships, such as all 3 mentioned by the OP, I suspect are Category C ships with nothing more than Baltic ice class, or equivalent. Basically they can operate in waters with bergy bits, but cannot enter ice. Ships with > 500 pax cannot send anyone ashore in Antarctica.

Based on the Princess map, I agree they show it returning down the West Coast and entering Juan de Fuca. However, since they are not stopping in Victoria, it makes no sense to steam all those extra miles at a higher speed, to save about 4 hrs of pilotage fees. Would be very interested to see a posting from anyone who has completed this cruise, as the Grands and Super Grands have no issues in the Inside Passage.

Since you departed from a Canadian port and the OP is departing from a US port, your experience is not applicable. In boarding and disembarking in Vancouver, you were subject to Canadian Cabotage regulations, specifically the Coasting Trade Act. Since no Canadian tonnage is available, this type of voyage is permitted. When boarding and disembarking in Seward, the OP is subject to the US Cabotage Laws, specifically the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

The "All Aboard Time" is at the discretion of the Master, but in most ports, when alongside, it is normally 30 minutes before departure. Haven't sailed with MSC, but I expect the "All Aboard Time" is published in the daily paper. However, the definitive time is that posted on the gangway sailing board, which should be readily visible close to the gangway. Other cruise lines also include this information in the lifts. On rare occasions, you may see 2 all aboard times, one for the crew and one for pax. That is the latest time you can return to the ship, but what time you actually return is based on your personal risk tolerance, as if you are late, the ship normally doesn't delay departure.

All personal opinion, but as a Glaswegian, I would NOT concur that Glasgow is better than London. While Glasgow docklands have improved significantly since the 60's & 70's, so has London. Even comparing the Glasgow Underground (Subway) to the London Tube is no contest. Don't get me started on Dundee, as the best part of that city is driving back across the Tay Bridge, heading back to St Andrews. Personally, from St Andrews, we would take the longer drive to Perth, rather than going to Dundee.

The context of the URL you provided is not the UK definition of requirements for the Monarch to confer city status. As outlined in the first paragraph of the FOI response, this definition is developed by the Census Dept for the production and analysis of statistics for Major Towns & Cities. By setting a population threshold of 75,000, they clearly state they are excluding a number of existing cities. This is NOT the official UK Government definition of a city. This is an arbitrary number used by the Census Dept for analysis.

The UK has no definitive definition of a city, as the status is by Royal Proclamation. Having a cathedral is a key consideration, but the population is irrelevant. I lived in Perth for many years, which at the time was a Royal Burgh, but has now received city status. City of Perth has a population of < 50,000. At least a couple of cities have a population of < 2,000. Bath is one of UK's oldest cities, but not because of its population. Whether Bath has the same variety of attractions depends on the definition of London, greater London or just the City of London.

Rob - Good one. If I drink yellow beer, it better be hazy and/or really hoppy, so I still wouldn't see the enemies coming😁 Some of my old crews wouldn't agree with me being universally beloved, so hopefully we are all chilled on the 8 - 11% IPA's & Stouts I enjoy. After sampling a couple of growlers, everyone is pretty chilled.

The short answer is that you need a new travel agent. Your country has separate Cabotage Acts for passenger and cargo shipping, with the Passenger Vessel Services Act applying to the shipment of pax and what is known as the Jones Act applying to cargo. Under the PVSA, your cruise is a closed loop cruise, as it departs and returns to the same port. The PVSA does not consider it 2 separate cruises, or a B2B, the Act only considers the embarkation and disembarkation ports. The PVSA requirements for carrying pax on a closed-loop cruise on foreign-flagged tonnage, is the ship MUST visit any foreign port. Vancouver is a foreign port, so meets the PVSA requirement. Visiting a distant foreign port is only required when the embarkation and disembarkation ports are not the same. Canada also has a Cabotage Act, but it is not applicable, as you are boarding and disembarking in a US port. You may want to ask your travel agent why cruise lines sail R/T cruises from Seattle to Alaska, without any issues?

Lyle - If you're in Sydney, a pub crawl around "The Rocks" would be a great afternoon, as this was one of my favourite spots when we docked at OPT every 2-weeks, back in my Aussie cruising days. Hit a few of the spots on our last time in Sydney. Totally agree with your view on the onboard selections. I haven't drunk any of that rubbish for over 20 years, as similar to Victoria, we have an abundance of local breweries. Right now we have 4 within 3 miles of the house and a 5th opening in the summer. Must admit, I am partial to a pleasant IPA, even Imperial, or double IPA's. The IPA on the ship is a joke - only 6.2% ABV and about 45 IBU - just a Pale Ale, not a true IPA.

In London, since the Merchant Navy Hotel closed, we book a Travelodge or Premier Inn a short walk from a Tube Station. Last 2 trips to London, we stayed at the Travelodge Waterloo and the Travelodge Tower Hill. The one at Tower Hill is a short walk to the DLR, Tube, Thames ferries and the Tower. If your ship docks in Tilbury, you can get to Tower Hill by train, or executive car. If docking in Southampton, most trains arrive at Waterloo.

Thanks - Alaskan brewing has some pleasant ales, but unfortunately I'm doing South America and Antarctica. Can always hope.

I know they don't have any craft beers, but do any of the bars have any locally sourced beers, as of that lot, Guinness is the only one I will drink.

We were 2 of the 8 pax that eventually disembarked in Gibraltar, as they couldn't get us flights from Dubai. Based on reports I read, Viking are investigating floating about a $500 Million IPO in the US. At present, they already have 2 large investors, with one being the Canadian Pension Plan Fund. In addition, I believe they received Chinese investments for building Viking Sun. They already lost us as pax, based on our multiple negative experiences with the L/A office management ranks. While I would have considered booking through UK, their procrastination on the current World Cruise itinerary has completely soured me on the Viking brand. Real pity, since the onboard experience was excellent.

Well said Jim, I totally agree. Sadly, Viking have gone from leaders in pax service, as per our experience on the 2020 WC, to rock bottom. OMG!! even Carnival & RCI have beat Viking.

Welcome to Cruise Critic, this subject matter has been discussed extensively on the live threads on the Viking Board and in a number of other boards. In addition to insurance syndicates and P&I Clubs charging war zone premiums, many crew contracts also include premiums for sailing within a war zone.