Heidi13

I believe the cruise lines pay a permit fee per pax.

The only Princess deals I knew of were their "Friends & Family" program, but you need to know someone that works for them to be signed up.

I first noted it with Viking last year, when their insurance changed so it was not available to any Canadian, whereas initially it was only not available in Quebec. Princess are now the 2nd cruise line I am aware of that can't sell in BC.

You would need to check with the cruise line directly, but if they did accept your request, I doubt any of them will give you a pro-rated price for the number of days onboard, as it would be almost impossible for them to sell the remaining days. You can inquire about disembarking a few days early, as the cruise line needs to check local laws, especially Cabotage Laws, availability of immigration staff, Visa requirements, etc. Yes, you can disembark anytime, but without getting prior approval, you have the potential for being assessed significant fines, fees and other charges.

I have crossed the Atlantic many times, having experienced everything from millpond to 100' seas. Sorry, but it is impossible to speculate what you will experience. At least weather forecasting and weather routing services have improved significantly, so Masters have a greater chance of avoiding the worst weather.

Steaming straight from Gibraltar Straits to Nassau, the Master has a number of options for routing, with avoiding weather being the primary, then getting advantages from wind and currents. The winds are the NE trade winds, so best courses are steaming SW'ly. which also gains a boost from the cold current flowing south from Gibraltar to Canaries. The Atlantic Drift then flows W'ly parallel to the Equator. If you have any weather systems to the North, or on the Rhumb Line course, I expect the Master will follow this more southerly route, getting advantage from the currents and winds. Basically, I would expect reasonable temperatures, so I certainly wouldn't discount shorts & t-shirts. Having experienced both extremes of temperature and wind, I will not speculate as to actual temperatures. Provided no frontal depressions are affecting the local weather patterns, for the first few days, the wind should be astern at 15 - 20kts, which is normal for the trade winds zone, so you should have minimal, if any wind over the open decks. When winds are astern, it is very pleasant on the outer decks.

This was common practice back in those days. I have many great memories of lowering and taking away a boat every week and bringing a bergy bit back aboard.

The Park Rangers have always had the authority to restrict the number of ship visits in the off-season, with a max of 2 per day. However, if NCL is the only cruise line visiting in April/May, I'll suggest they may have increased costs beyond what the Carnival brands will pay.

Smaller ship can mean many things to different people. Personally, I use about 1,000 pax as being a determining factor for smaller ship. This would limit your choices to one of the premium/luxury lines, or one of the small ship US flagged ships. Check out Viking, Oceania, Seabourn, Silverseas, to see which have ships sailing in Alaska. Don't follow US flagged options, so can't help there.

Depth of water from the waterline to the bottom of the keel. You will find draught marks painted on the bow and stern of the ship.

You mentioned getting a flight at Naples airport, which is almost 200 miles south of Civitavecchia, the port for Rome. In morning rush hour traffic around Rome, it could easily be a 4 hr drive. Sorry, no idea of train connections. With respect to arrival time, it is no more than an ETA, with "E" being estimated. Yes, the Master endeavours to be alongside by then, but factor outside of the Master's control can impact the arrival time. Therefore, the actual arrival time is a risk, as you have no guarantee she will actually dock at 06:00. The clearance time can also be impacted by the previous port, specifically if it wasn't in the EU/Schengen Zone. Personally, I would use 07:00 as a potential departure time and if on an International flight, I would want to be at the airport 3 hrs before departure. This would leave you 2 hrs to cover almost 200 miles. Might be possible, but very risky.

Without mentioning any ports of call it is impossible to estimate the route, which is a significant factor in weather. At that time of year, on a more southerly crossing, most of my crossings have been pleasant. However, I note you are from Florida, so your expectations of pleasant temperatures may vary significantly from mine. Shorts & short sleeved t-shirts on outer decks most days.

Negative, Glacier Bay is open year round and while I have only been there during the cruise season, I believe it is navigable year-round. Definitely in April & May. In the low season (April/May/Sept/Oct) they permit less access for cruise ships. The daily maximum is still 2 ships, they just don't permit 2 ships every day. The Park Rangers can also adjust the number of ships they will accept during low season.

Affirmative, sold by RCI about 2016/7, now sails as Marella Discovery.

Since most of my photos are 30 Megs, I can't imagine taking the time to upload to cloud storage from onboard a cruise ship. Daily, I download from the camera to the laptop, then back-up to a portable external solid state hard-drive. Once I get home, I upload to home external drive and then to Lightroom Cloud, using our fast home connection. What would take hours on the ship, if possible, takes minutes at home.

Negative on the Red Sea being a necessary route. With an extensive itinerary change the ship can round the Cape of Good Hope. During the years the Canal was closed all ships used this route or doubled back through Panama.

Having completed 2 entire Alaska seasons and numerous R/T's as a pax, then worked the BC Coast for > 30 years, these are my thoughts. Time of Year Later in September has greater potential for fog, rain and the first winter storms. On both of my Alaska seasons, we experienced 70 kt storms one week each year. Clear the previous week, but strong winds the next. Therefore, if your schedule is flexible, I would favour late August or early September. Glacier Bay I expect both N'bd & S'bd visit Glacier Bay. Even with well over a couple dozen visits, I am still one of the first out on deck. Not the most impressive glaciers, but you are almost guaranteed to see at least one of them. I have never failed to access Glacier Bay. The Park Rangers provide exceptional commentary throughout the day. Hubbard Glacier Huge and definitely impressive, but you aren't guaranteed access to see the glacier, due to the potential for bergy bits. I have missed Hubbard about 2 or 3 times; however, late season the potential is less. College Fjord Almost a full day of scenic cruising with multiple glaciers. None of the glaciers are as large or impressive as Hubbard, but for me the overall experience in College Fjord is better than Hubbard. Glacier Preference - College Fjord BC Inside Passage Unfortunately. very few ships sail the entire Inside Passage, heading up and down Hecate Strait. The scenic cruising is from Vancouver to the top end of Vancouver Island. Assuming departure Vancouver about 17:00, the Master will set an ETA for Seymour Narrows, which must be transited within 1 hr of slack water. With sunset being about 20:00, you will see about 1/2 of Georgia Strait in daylight. By next morning, when the sun rises about 06:30, you are already clear of the most scenic areas. On the southbound cruise, depending on the Seymour Tides, you will see a good portion of this scenic cruising during daylight. Preference - southbound

The anchor chain goes over the windlass (anchor winch) then down a pipe to the chain locker, where the chain is self-stowing. This pipe is known as the Spurling Pipe. In drydock, both anchors are walked down to the dock and the chain ranged on the dock bottom. The chain is inspected, can be end for ended and the shackle markings repainted. Once complete, it is hauled back aboard, where it is secured to the ship's structure, in the Chain Locker, with a weak link. Once the chain passes over the windlass it drops down the Spurling Pipe by gravity. Once the anchor is home, the windlass is a fixed point, but the chain just hangs down the Spurling Pipe. To mitigate the potential for slamming, they have spurling pipe covers, which centre the chain and reduce the potential for water getting into the Chain Locker. In heavy seas, the entire length of chain from the cover or fixed point on the windlass, down to the chain locker can move within the pipe. If the ship's movement is sufficient for the chain to hit the side of the pipe, there is no repairs or fix. This is just one of the many challenges of going to sea. Fwd cabins may have better views, but they also have some potential noise and vibration issues. Especially on cruise ships, I have spent many hours standing on the Bridge, in heavy weather, hearing the cable move in the pipe.

You are hardly comparing apples to apples. I used to dock in Haifa every fortnight and while they had no active war, they had border incidents and war was always a potential. We were well aware of the risks of taking tours to Tel Aviv & Jerusalem. We observed the local security measures and were comfortable with the risks. The locals lived with these risks on a daily basis. To the south of Tel Aviv, air raid sirens were a fairly common occurrence, even before the current troubles, which is about 90 - 100 miles from Haifa, and about 35 miles from Tel Aviv. Until the recent escalation, life continued as normal, or at least as normal as life can be in Israel. Even in Haifa today, I expect with the exception of added security, life in the city is reasonably normal. In Olympia, and where I live in Metro Vancouver, we experience a rather safe environment, where we have not experienced multiple wars. If armed conflict arose in the furthest reaches of Metro Vancouver, about 50 miles away, we would be extremely concerned and embarking on a tour would be the least of our worries. I note we also don't have anywhere close to the same levels of daily security measures they have in Israel. Using your analogy, no ships would ever visit Ashdod, yet before the current escalation, many cruise ships have visited safely, even with the previous skirmishes in the south of the country. Nobody is privy to the information available to the Master when the tours started leaving. If pax did have relevant information, if concerned for their safety, they should have declined to embark the tour bus, as we are primarily responsible for our own safety. Not aware of any pax that took this option. If information was readily available that Tel Aviv was under rocket attack and the "Iron Dome" defenses had failed to intercept all incoming rockets, I'll suggest no tours would have headed south, but local Haifa, Caesarea National Park and possibly Nazareth/Galilee tours would have gone ahead, until the Ministry of Tourism shut them down.

Been in Haifa many times on both cruise ships and cargo ships and seeing/hearing jets was not uncommon. They also used to tour the harbour in RIB's, throwing anti-personnel charges into the water alongside the ships all night long.

Negative, as per the ISM Code, the Master has the overriding authority to make decisions regarding safety. However, prior to making an effective decision, they require information, which will come from the local Port Agent. Since the ships are registered in Netherlands, the MARSEC Level is determined by the local port or the Dutch Govt. I doubt the Master paid any attention to anything from the US State Dept. If at anytime the Master had concerns for the safety of the ship or her pax/crew, s/he has the authority to recall pax/crew and sail immediately. The Master advises the operations dept of the decision and can request their assistance to implement the decision. As with many large shipping lines, I expect HAL has an Operation Office, manned on a 24/7 basis, so nobody to wake up.

It will be long after the area is no longer an active war zone, as in addition to being irresponsible, the operational costs increase significantly. Standard hull & machinery policies on commercial vessels do not normally cover war zones, so expensive war coverage is required. I expect the ITF would also negotiate war bonus payments for the crew. Therefore, in addition to increased risks, operational cost are significantly higher in a war zone. With respect to insurance, I expect a Lloyd's Syndicate would provide coverage, if requested, but the premiums will be excessive.

Anchor movement is easily fixed by stowing it correctly and securing it. Chain moving in the Spurling Pipe, not so easy. Even when properly secured, when the ship is moving in heavy seas, the chain can move in the pipe, contacting the edges.

One day is sufficient. We used to prefer Maui when heading out to Hawaii. We would get an early morning flight over to Honolulu, book a Pearl Harbour and City Tour and fly back to Maui late afternoon. So no issues with only a single day in port.

An excellent question to ask. Based on an 18:00 departure, with 2 full sea days and an 08:00 arrival, I estimate the steaming time to be 58 hrs. Allowing 1 hr after departure and before arrival for docking/undocking and harbour transit, it provides 5 hr + 24 hrs + 24 hrs + 7 hrs. However, heading East bound the ship will have 2 hrs of cloxs, hence the total passage time of 58 hrs. This gives a max distance of 1,044 n/mls. From Newfoundland/Nova scotia, Iceland is normally 3 sea days, so a stop in Greenland would be required, before Iceland. Next stop would be the Faroe Is before heading to Scandinavia/UK. The southern route down by the Equator, using Cape Verde Is the shortest crossing, but still requires more than 2 days.