Heidi13

Based on memory, I believe you are correct that it was Mars that was originally speculated would be named Tellus. I recall reading a document that mentioned Venus then Tellus.

Saturn is the current #9, but when considering the Sun, she is the 10th ship built for Viking. 1 - Star 2 - Sea 3 - Sky 4 - Sun 5 - Orion 6 - Jupiter 7 - Venus 8 - Mars 9 - Neptune 10 - Saturn

A classic example how previous weather experiences are little indication, of weather on an upcoming cruise, as one of the ships in Alaska experienced 80 kt winds a couple of days ago. The picture I saw certainly wasn't smooth seas this year.😁

Also has links to the RVL naming, as their 5th ship was RV Queen, but that was long after Mr Hagen left the company.

The naming convention of the Viking Ocean ships started with the same names as the ships of Royal Viking Line, of which Mr Hagen was CEO. The first 4 ships were almost in the same sequence - VO: Star, Sea, Sky, Sun - RVL: Star, Sky, Sea, Sun Viking's 5th ship was Orion and all subsequent ones have been planets, so the next one might be Mercury, Uranus, Earth or even Pluto😁

Other officers are responsible for the management of specific areas of the ship, whereas the Master is responsible for the entire vessel. The Master and all officers must follow the company policies, as published in the safety management system, a requirement of the International Safety Management Code. However, the ISM Code in Section 5, which is titled Masters Responsibility and Authority, section 5.2 states - The Company should ensure that the safety management system operating on board the ship contains a clear statement emphasizing the master’s authority. The Company should establish in the safety management system that the master has the overriding authority and the responsibility to make decisions with respect to safety and pollution prevention and to request the Company’s assistance as may be necessary This permits the Master to make any decisions that may contravene the Company SMS with respect to the safety of the vessel, crew & pax, and the prevention of pollution. This responsibility is only available to the Master. However, in an emergency, if my Chief Engineer suggested an action contrary to the SMS that was required for safety or pollution prevention, I would accept the recommendation, if reasonable and no other options were available. The Master must have a reasonable working knowledge of all departments aboard. Back in the days when I sailed as deck cadet on pax vessels, we didn't only learn navigation and deck duties, we spent time working with all departments. I spent many weeks in the engine room, and also spent days in the radio room, electricians, with various trades, galley, Purser's desk, bars, shore-ex, crew purser, etc. As the ultimate job of a deck cadet is eventual promotion to Master, it gave us the required insight into how other areas of the ship worked.

9 months - around the World and a couple of 4-month around the World.

With the exception of The World residential vessel, I'm not aware of any cruise ship with microwaves in cabins. The 2 primary reasons are safety and amount of power used.

Welcome to cruise critic. The most convenient, but most expensive option, is an executive car hire, of which my preference in London, is Addison Lee. Can be booked by phone or online. It is a short walk from where you get the bags to where vehicles can get access. Other options are the DLR and Thames Ferry, but not so easy with bags.

The Norwegian Govt isn't shutting down all cruises from 2026. The Gairanger and Flam Fjords will be limited to zero emission cruise ships, but I'm not aware of similar restrictions in other fjords. No zero emission cruise ships are operational at this time, but at least 1 cruise line has hydrogen fuel cell ships on order for delivery prior to 2026.

The limited cruise ship dock space in Vancouver has been an issue for many years, starting well before ship's couldn't fit under 1st Narrows, due to Air Draught. In the 70's and 80's, Vancouver had almost the entire Alaska cruise business. As the number of ships increased, the industry requested additional berths, especially on weekends. Vancouver refused to develop more berths and even closed Ballantyne in about 2014. The industry responded by moving ships to Seattle in the 90's. The discussions regarding a new cruise berth have been going for many years, with no action to date. With respect to the Fraser River and Deltaport options, both have significant risks for low draft/high sided ships due to wind and tides. Even the ferries no longer operate in 40 kt winds and they are easier to handle in extreme winds than mega cruise ships, especially the Princess Cruises Royal Class.

Remember the old CPR terminal well, with my first visit being on SS Oriana in 1977. Even after the current Canada Place was built, you could still walk aboard the ships. When on days off on the weekend, I would head downtown and walk aboard the P&O ships for lunch and a few beers with the officers in the wardroom.

The Inside Passage runs from Olympia to Skagway, but few cruise ships spend much time cruising the "Inside Passage" these days. Your cruise may state the Inside Passage, but you may spend a small percentage of the cruise in the Inside Passage. Departing Vancouver, you sail through Georgia Strait for about 5 hrs, which can have some swell and occasionally strong NW'ly winds. In June, you have a reasonable chance of fairly smooth sailing. From about 22:00/23:00 for 8 hrs you will be in smooth water, then you will most likely use Hecate Strait, which can be unpredictable at any time of year. Very few cruise ships continue through the Inside Passage. In Alaska, how much of the Inside Passage used depends on the ports. Once you depart Icy Strait you will be sailing through the Pacific Ocean towards Seward. In June you have better probability of smooth seas, but no guarantees.

The change at Noon E'bd was a group of Cunard/P&O Masters, since they are all assigned from the same UK office.

Affirmative, the max size of ship is governed by the air draft at 1st Narrows and having taken many ships into the harbour, I well aware of that limitation. Getting even bigger ship in at low tide will further compound the issue at Canada Place In addition to Robert's Bank, they have also considered the Fraser River. With experience handling low draught/high freeboard ships in both the river and around Robert's Bank they are not the best waters for cruise ships.

Check post #96 on page 4

I concur, but I have read multiple examples of Carnival ships staying on ship's time. When I worked it was unheard of for the ship not to arrive with ship's time being on local time. If the Navigator screwed up and got it wrong, the Master would have reamed out the Navigator.

A contributing factor, but the root cause is the design. When initially designed, they planned for 5 ships, but most of the newer ships in those days were about 700 - 750 pax. Unfortunately, by the time they completed construction, ship sizes had started to increase again. I frequently visited the P&O/Princess ships in the 80's and didn't note any issues when they still had the 750 pax Island/Pacific/Sun. However, once the larger ships arrived it started to get busy. It was never designed to handle 3 ships of 3,500 pax each, so the delays and crowding has worsened as ship size increased. Sadly, Metro Port Vancouver made the decision to have Canada Place as the only cruise terminal, handing most of the Alaska business to Seattle.

Affirmative, Viking have a 1 new build in 2024, as yet un-named and I am not aware of delivery schedule. Note - that was as per the order, but the information on potential hydrogen propulsion may impact the delivery schedules.

Nobody can provide a definitive answer except the ship's Master, as it is at their discretion. While I am aware some Carnival Masters don't adjust the cloxs to local time, I would expect with only 2 changes on the 1st and last day that you would change to Alaska time for the ports of call.

Technically you are correct, the cost of providing wi-fi within the ship isn't hugely expensive, as the infrastructure is installed at build. The expensive part is connecting a moving ship to the shore, which is normally by satellite. Satellite time is never cheap, especially considering the bandwidth required for the pax, ship's business and crew. If you have ever attempted to set up a stationary home or RV satellite dish, you would know the challenges of keeping the dishes on a pitch/rolling ship continuously aimed at the satellite. I'll suspect this technology doesn't come cheap either. You didn't mention which cruise you are considering. If departing Seattle, you are out of US waters within a couple of hours and spend all the next day in the Pacific Ocean. You may pick up Canadian cell towers transiting Juan de Fuca, but once clear, you will have no signal until the next port. If departing Vancouver, you are in Canadian Waters for over 24 hrs and in the Inside passage above Campbell River cell coverage is spotty. Based on the low range of cell signals, I doubt you will find much coverage in Alaska, except in port.

Calling John O'Groats a market town is a bit of a stretch, as the village where I resided outside St Andrews is bigger. John O'Groats is considered the northern most part of Scotland and it has a small harbour. The main attraction is the signpost showing distances to various places. This is similar to the signpost in Land's End, which is the furthest part of UK. Also has a brewery, fish & chips and souvenir stores. We probably stopped for a couple of hours getting the obligatory photos by the signpost, one of which is one of the header photos on our blog. Would have stayed longer, but DW doesn't drive in UK, so we couldn't stop in for a pint.

Per SOLAS Regulation V/19, all ships > 300 GT on international voyages, cargo ships > 500 GT on non-International voyages and all pax vessels regardless of size and voyage shall be fitted with an AIS, which must be operational when the vessel is underway or at anchor. You should also note that while Marine Traffic shows live AIS positions, the free version only shows AIS signals received by Ground Earth Stations. If you want to receive positions from satellite AIS info, you must purchase the premium version.

Per SOLAS Regulation V/19, all ships > 300 GT on international voyages, cargo ships > 500 GT on non-International voyages and all pax vessels regardless of size and voyage shall be fitted with an AIS, which must be operational when the vessel is underway or at anchor. You should also note that while Marine Traffic shows live AIS positions, the free version only shows AIS signals received by Ground Earth Stations. If you want to receive positions from satellite AIS info, you must purchase the premium version.

You will find a number of banks in the downtown area. Royal Bank is about 400 - 500 yds at the corner of Granville & Hastings. They normally carry a stock of US bills and being downtown should easily have > US $1,000 on hand.