Heidi13

Janet - Affirmative, we started receiving them the day after we cancelled the WC.

You are one of the few who clearly understand the hierarchy aboard ship. Even these days, it's still a benevolent dictatorship. Article 5.2 of the ISM Code, provides the Master overriding authority to make decisions for safety or pollution prevention, and s/he can request Company assistance. Therefore, the Master can make any decision, even those contrary to Corporate policy, if deemed necessary for safety or pollution prevention. Upon request, the company must assist.

Negative, this is factual. Spaces closer to the CoG move less, so m'ship and lower deck cabins move less in a seaway. When the ship is moving, the Lounge Bar is a better option than Explorers. Also in the MDR, if the ship is moving, request a table closer to the entrance.

Regardless, when discussing passenger comfort aboard a ship in a seaway, many factors impact their comfort, with size of the ship having minimal impact. Bigger ships being more stable and more comfortable than smaller ships, is a common passenger myth. When I went to sea, working on ships built in the 50's & 60's, those ships didn't have the technology of modern ships, but they were designed and built to handle seas way better than most modern ships. In addition to the ships being better built to handle heavy seas, we also operated in a different environment, where pax comfort was not given the same priority as it is today. I can provide numerous examples: - In 1977, DW embarked SS Oriana in Vancouver bound for Sydney. On clearing Juan de Fuca we encountered a significant Pacific storm. We maintained over 20 kts, pounding through the storm, arriving on time in Hawaii. Modern ships, regardless of size could not maintain that speed and in the current environment, greater emphasis is also placed on pax comfort. With vastly improved forecasting and excellent weather routing advice, current Masters would reduce speed to prevent damaging the ship and steer weather courses to avoid the worst of the storm. The downside of current practices is while the pax had a more comfortable cruise, the ship would miss the next port. - As a new Master in the 80's, I sailed regardless of the weather. Somehow, we got the ship away from the dock and safely docked at the destination. During the passage, I used a number of options to get the ship safely to the destination. The ship easily handled the seas, the passengers, not so much. Over almost 30 yrs in command, I have commanded many ships from 150' to 550' and size had no bearing on pax comfort. The alternative route selected, and how we adjusted course and speed in a seaway, majorly impacted pax comfort. In those days, after taking 3 - 4 hrs to complete a 90 min voyage, passengers used to thank us for getting them to the destination safely. These days, once the ship starts moving the cell phones are out and video is sent to the media. Therefore, before retirement, when writing fleet wide operational procedures, I developed the first operational matrix for Master's guidance. Basically, when the winds reach 40 kts the ship probably doesn't sail. In my last company, ships no longer sail in known heavy weather, departing the dock in 70 kt winds. - A few years before retirement, one evening my "Gut" screamed bad weather, but none of the forecasts, or even the live lighthouse station reports agreed. I sailed the last trip of the evening in about 30 kt winds and within 1/2 hr sailed into 70 kt winds. We adjusted course and speed to ease the passage. For the return sailing, I monitored the passage of the frontal system, determining that the winds should ease in a couple of hours. I delayed sailing by 2 hours, then stayed in sheltered waters until the front passed. The passage across open waters was eased and we docked in about 40 kts. Passengers from years ago would have experienced a rough crossing, as in those days, I would have sailed regardless and docked in 70 kt winds. The older ships were smaller, so pax assume the easier passage on the newer and larger ship is because of the ship's size, which couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, we can still get caught in storms, but enhanced forecasting, weather routing and the current focus on pax comfort ensures that few ships experience some of the wild rides we routinely experienced 30+ yrs ago. The Master knows the limitations of the ship, and regardless of the size, will make decisions based on that ship. So, in addition to the design and scantlings, lots of factors impact passenger comfort more than ship size.

Negative, once I declined the multiple vouchers they realised I wasn't budging from my walk away position, as the risks of accepting any vouchers was excessive.

With a 7 to 14 day cruise there would be no benefit, but the Expedition cruises and longer cruises are also candidates to request splitting FCV's. As with any negotiation, it pays to research and prepare your arguments, as clearly Viking's position is that they want to keep your money. You need to determine your walk away position, so it is irrelevant how tough they want to negotiate, if you don't get what you want, you fall back to your walk away position. However, regardless of the value of cruise being cancelled, I expect Viking's position will always be to keep the pax money, and shift the risk to the pax.

Thanks Dee

We cancelled a World Cruise with a 30-day extension, so it would have been well over $100K. Viking tried everything to convince us to accept vouchers, so depends on the agent on the other end of the phone.

The ship's P/A system has multiple zones that can be selected, for example - all zones, crew quarters, pax cabins, outer decks, public rooms, restaurants, etc. Prior to making a P/A announcement, you select the appropriate zone(s) and double check, before pressing the Tx button. Any P/A announcement sent to the pax cabins is generally an emergency and/or critically important information, often requiring the Captain's approval. As a Deck Officer, making an inadvertent P/A announcement through pax cabins or restaurants could be career limiting. When in the cabin and you hear an announcement, open the cabin door and many times you can hear it clearly.

The size of the ship has very little to do with potential comfort in a seaway. The seakeeping ability of a ship is determined by the design and scantlings. Many of the liners I worked aboard in the 70's & 80's are tiny in comparison to some of the modern ships afloat today. They were comparable in size to the current Viking ocean ships and were way more comfortable in a seaway than any current ship, with the exception of QM2. The old liners could also maintain a much higher speed through heavy seas. Those liners handled the seas way better than any of today large ships and were also better than the current Viking ocean ships. I haven't yet sailed on the Expedition ships, nor have I seen the ship out of the water, or the plans, so can't comment on their sea-keeping ability. However, since they were designed for these waters, I expect they have superior scantlings than the ocean ships, especially since they are ice strengthened.

In our experience of docking in NYC, not even being a turn-around port, they are the slowest to clear the ship. Last time was our 2015 WC and it took them well over 5 hrs to clear all pax. Your other consideration is that the ETA is an estimate and while they definitely endeavour to make TAR day ETA's, as it is a busy day, the weather can significantly impact your arrival. Then factor in NY traffic and queues at the airport. Personally, if I'm booking my own flights, I wouldn't book anything on arrival day, we would stay over and fly the next day. Even a 14:00 flight could be tight.

Dee, sorry to hear of your husband's health issues. If you get the insurance answered and opt for vouchers, please note that you can also request multiple vouchers rather than a single voucher each. When we cancelled the WC, as we have no guarantee DW can ever cruise again, I opted for the cash. Viking tried everything to have us accept vouchers. Since we walked away from a significant voucher from the 20WC, they would have replaced the voucher, if we accepted new vouchers, and indicated they would provide multiple vouchers of $10K each.

While none of our ships had fwd balconies, I have spent way too many hours on bridge wings of many ships. Depending on the design of the fwd bulkhead and the relative wind over the ship, a fwd balcony can be very comfortable, and it has the best views. If the ship is making 20 kts and the wind is ahead of the beam, you are liable to get some wind across the decks. When standing looking fwd, it will be noticeable, but when seated on the balcony, any wind is often deflected upwards, so it should be reasonably calm. We could stand on the open Bridge Wings and be reasonably sheltered, as the wind across the decks was deflected upwards. When the wind is abaft the beam, it reduces the relative wind over the decks, so that a following wind speed same as the same as the ship's speed, will have zero wind over the deck. In Alaska, temperatures and weather vary greatly, but on a couple of Alaska cruises, we have experienced 90F. When viewing glaciers, the ship is stopped and the Master spins the ship, so everyone gets a good view. As noted above, one downside of a fwd cabin is diligent use of the blackout curtains. Any light shining fwd at night degrades the Bridge team's night vision, so is a guarantee of receiving a crew member visit to remind you of the requirements. Additional downsides of fwd cabins is increased movement as you are further from CoG, noise from anchoring/rope handling machinery when docking and noise/vibration from the thrusters. If in fog, you may also hear the whistle sounding for 4 - 6 seconds every 2 minutes. On the positive side, the ship's Bridge is located where they have the best views, so that is definitely a positive for a fwd cabin.

Azamara Onward is new to Azamara, but she is about 22 or 23 yrs old. She was one of the R-Class ships of bankrupt Renaissance Cruises, then was operated by Princess as Pacific Princess for a number of years. Another factor to consider is Azamara was recently purchased by an investment firm that I don't recall has any previous experience owning and operating ships.

Same with Hecate Strait, which is what most of the Alaska cruise ships use these days, once they clear Vancouver Island. On the west side it is really shallow, so the seas were significant. We used to cross 3 times per week in the winter, so have had some interesting experiences.

You bet Chief, especially when the ship is only single screw and doesn't have high lift rudders and multiple thrusters. Having spent 30 years navigating through narrow channels, in addition to the ship needing better manoeuvering characteristics than your average deep sea ship, it also takes an experienced coastal Master, even if they have a Pilot onboard. Over the years, I had a number of very experienced deep sea Masters try out and very few survived. I recall one ULCC Master couldn't handle the 90 degree turns in big tides, doing 20 kts about 480' off the rocks and every time he saw a ship/boat wanted to slow down. He just couldn't comprehend we could be dead in the water in 3 cables from 20 kts, since his last ship took 10 miles to stop. Prior to arrival, I made the initial speed reduction at 1 mile. When using narrow channels you will escape the mountainous seas, but you don't always escape the winds. Storm force winds in confined channels are no fun, so yet another reason most deep sea Masters will opt for open water, where they can easily ride out the storm.

Most deep sea Masters prefer open water, so will avoid narrow channels, which are most likely compulsory pilotage waters.

Thanks for jogging the memory, completely forgot they moved the original Royal to P&O and then replaced her with an R-Class.

Unfortunately, I can't think of any easy solution to assist with your search. Your search is made more challenging due to the fact the crew list will have changed many times throughout a 2-month voyage, with some crew changing in many of the ports. Having spent 40+ yrs at sea, with almost 30 in command, I had access to a daily crew list, but it is not a document we retained. Regardless of the challenges, here are a few suggestions: - Search for some Sitmar crew websites. Crew managed websites and discussion forums were very popular for the older ships, but sadly are declining, as many of the older crew pass away. Establishing contact with some Sitmar crew from that era, may help your search, accepting that any senior crew will no longer be with us. - Contact the company directly. Sitmar was purchased by P&O Steam Navigation Company in 1988, with P&O Cruises then purchased by Carnival in 2003. Therefore, old Sitmar records are now owned by Carnival. Good luck with your search.

The 4th of the R-Class ships is Regatta. Sorry, but to my recollection, P&O/Princess have only ever operated 2 of the R-Class ships - Tahitian Princess (later named Ocean Princess) and is now Oceania's Sirena. The Pacific Princess was sold to Azamara, now sailing as Azamara Onward.

Wow, that's amazing that they can still do that these days. If the Captain tried that in Alaska, s/he would end up in the crow bar hotel.😁 Back in the 70/80's, every week in Glacier Bay, I would launch one of the boats and go fishing for a floating bergy bit. Bring it back aboard and the galley crew used it for carving a sculpture, which was displayed at dinner for all to see and touch. Sad that many things we could do years ago are now taboo.

You have to read the cruise line's Terms & Conditions, as many of them consider a name change as a cancellation and rebook. You will also have to check what fee is charged to change names.

If all the other ports and times were consistent, I would opt for the Southbound. Departing Vancouver at 17:00 you miss the scenic Johnstone Strait, which is between the mainland & Vancouver Island, as this area is at night. Southbound, you transit this area on the last afternoon, then have an early morning sail into Vancouver.

You have no guarantees for weather, especially in Alaska. Have completed 2 full seasons in Alaska and in September, 1 week we could have blue skies and the next week 70 kt storms.

There are only 2 instances when portable VHF/UHF radios work reliably when aboard a ship: - When you can access the ship's repeater system, or - When you are in line of sight. Since you won't have a toned radio to access the repeater system, it only leaves the line of sight option. This is from many years of futile attempts to communicate with my officers prior to the development of ship wide repeater systems. Our radios were more powerful than consumer walkie talkies, but still only penetrated about 2 bulkheads or decks.