BND

On 2/11/2024 at 6:05 PM, OCVTSGIRL said:

Any other thoughts on the parking through ParkWhiz???

You might want to ask this on the east coast departure board.

16 hours ago, Pratique said:

I think that would affect the next cruise either starting a day later than scheduled or being cancelled altogether.

 

If the port continues to require tugs through the channel, that could also restrict the volume of traffic, making arrival/departure logistics more complex.

More than likely it would just shorten it. Our Vision cruise was cut short by a day last week due to a huge event going on in Norfolk at the Nauticus and terminal area.  It wouldn't be the first time a cruise has been shortened by a day or so. Reality is, a ship can get from Norfolk to Baltimore in about 8 hours so no need to cancel the next one if that happens.

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

The 35 foot channel is now open and the stranded ships are lining up to get out. The first one is about to pass through the salvage site.

And it closes again on Mon.  A couple of people on FB misheard or misread this info and decided the channel was back open for everyone, including cruise ships which is not true.

4 hours ago, cruisegirl1 said:

Was the dry dock for mechanical or cosmetic updates?
m

It was a technical drydock which means mechanical and maintenance issues including some cosmetic stuff.  They usually do carpeting, upholstery during technical drydocks (that's what Vision's is also). Our steward on Vision last week said they were pulling up and replacing carpet in the hallways.  What they didn't do on GR and aren't on Vision is adding anything new such as venues.  It's a great time to deep clean and replace carpet and broken items.  They had already started some things when we were on Vision the last two cruises.  There were shipyard contractors onboard working on cabling in hallways, etc.  They were onboard both cruises as we saw them during turnaround day of our b2b doing the same thing we were, walking off and back on.  

30 minutes ago, 2funtime said:

I am referring pre dry dock post that were not good.  Hoping the dry dock fixed the needed repairs to furniture, carpet, etc.  

 

That's one reason they were there.

24 minutes ago, 2funtime said:

Any updates  on GOS since dry dock?  Some of the post prior to dry dock were not too good concerning the maintenance and repairs needed.  

What do you mean by the "reports were not too good"?  It just arrived in Tampa.

3 minutes ago, TheInnocentAge said:

If that's the case, I don't know why they'd cancel the port stops...

Seriously? The part(s) they need will be in Vancouver. Doesn't mean they're not doing other work on the way there.

1 hour ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

Having been on royal (Oasis), p & o (Arvia) and MSC (world Europa) within the last 12 months i can honestly say the food across all three have been hit and miss. 

 

MSC best pizza by far, worst buffet and expensive specialty restaurants.

 

P & O best steak by far, but best food overall for price, but choice is limited at times. 

 

Royal best buffet by far and included food, but expensive specialist resturants.

 

Alot is simply down to the way its been cooked. Most is mass produced in the kitchens and warmed up including the food in MDRs. 

It is subjective and i get he frustrations of the OP, but thats across the board on all companies really.

Cooked to order would mean everyone waiting a long time for their food.  While the quality might be better, it wouldn't make for happier guests.  It works in specialty restaurants due to minimal number of guests, but wouldn't work with 1000 or more at a time.  I think people forget that back when the food was really good, the dining experience took 2.5+ hours.  Now, it's down to just about an hour.  

18 minutes ago, bulldogmommy said:

Man, I looked on Cruise Mapper and Radiance is limping at 5kn. Not sure what that is all about? If anyone is currently on board could you offer any insight?

 

Update: back up to 14kns...

Um, the propulsion issues this thread is about.  They may be doing some testing/work.  

11 minutes ago, monkeedee2 said:

I just read an article that says the April 26th cruise is still planned as scheduled soooo 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Someone who is on the 26 April cruise posted on FB that they have been emailed and told the cruise should go as planned.  Their next update will be sent on Thursday, which is after the poster will have arrived in Vancouver. The repair needs to be done at a dock. It can't be done while underway.  We were on either EN or GR years ago when it had some ongoing propulsion issues.  We stayed overnight in PC where they brought the parts in and did the repair right there.

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

Fortunately the timeline hasn't changed. They still plan to have everything cleared by the end of May.

Which I've told a few people on FB. There are posters on a couple of pages that are worried about their July and later cruises.   I really wish people would learn to google so they might at least have a bit of a clue.

On 4/7/2024 at 8:04 AM, shipgeeks said:

I'm just happy that Baltimore never has 3- and 4-night cruises!  Apart from that, I'm very pleased with the variety of itineraries, most of which are 9 and 12-ish nights.

Where exactly would they go for 3-4 nights?   Not a single foreign port would  work.

1 hour ago, cargopilot said:

But it is MUCH better than airline food.

Not necessarily.  We flew first class on United to TX and back last fall.  The food we had was very good. Breakfast on the way down and lunch on the way back.  

On 3/13/2023 at 1:50 PM, Blizzard54 said:

Sounds a bit like Atlantis does not want the competition.

Exactly.  Not sure why they'd be concerned with downtown business as Atlantis basically already killed most of it.

It's improved a lot since restart when supply issues were a major problem.  We just got off Vision and while, it has changed over the years, it's better than even 6 months ago.

7 minutes ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

They are the departing times from port.

That's what I said.

Depart, just like it says.  All aboard will be 30 min before departure time.

I have yet to find any alcohol free wine that is worth drinking.  The Fre ones suck.

22 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

On Adventure, the captain said 2028-2029 entry into service.

Captain on Vision said the same thing.  It apparently comes up at a lot of the Captain's Corners.

3 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What ever the count is reported, you have to know that there are many more cases onboard that are not reported. Some people just don't let the cruise line know because they don't want to be quarantined to their cabins.

Just ask anyone who has had Noro.  The reports are they don't feel like being away from their bed and bathroom for at least 24 hours.  So, they are quarantined by necessity. Most everyone has had Noro at least once in their life, more likely as a kid as it's extremely common in schools, but when I was growing up, it was just called a 24 hour stomach bug.

On the first leg of our Vision b2b (Apr 4),we met a couple in the Solarium.  The wife calmly stated her husband had had Noro and she would be driving them home when they got off the ship as he was still weak.  He was in the Solarium too.  We don't know if it was reported or what, but it's the only case we heard about either week. One person on our FB roll call reported a couple of family members with Covid. Overall, there seemed to be very little illness.  This is the first trip in a couple of years that I haven't come back with a bad cold(one time it was a sinus infection).  And, that's out of like 14 cruises (7 b2b's).

9 hours ago, Rewind said:

Our trip isn't quite over yet.  We just went to the Virginia International Tattoo that had 800 performers from 8 countries.  It was a very good show but highly recommend bringing ear plugs so your ears don't ring for hours afterwards.

 

Tomorrow we are going to watch the NATO Parade and check out the international village.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're at my mothers in NN/Yorktown and saw this on the news last night.  We also saw VIsion on the news and later on the webcam as it was getting ready to leave.  

4 minutes ago, toad455 said:

 

Which is odd for Carnival to be announcing one cruise at a time. Carnival should just say cruises until the end of May will be moved to Norfolk.

Maybe Carnival is hoping for an earlier date. Vision will be in drydock so no reason to go cruise by cruise.  So, not odd at all.

19 hours ago, Rewind said:

Sitting in the Solarium as 6pm and for the first time in our 20 cruises, the ship is blowing the fog horn.

 

We were in the Crown Lounge when we went through the fog.  We have had several cruises with the horn being blown for fog.  And, they've all been out of Baltimore.  It's Maritime law when visibility is below a mile or so.  Nowadays, with radar and AIS, it's not as necessary except in the case of small vessels (private mostly) but it's still required.

We found out why the debarkation basically stopped for 1/2 hour or so.  CPB called for the stop.  Once they started up again, it went really fast.  We had a family member pick us up and we kept texting him to delay him.  Finally around 1015, we got off and he was there about 5 min later to meet us where Lyft/Uber were picking up.  Of course, the angle of the gangway didn't help this morning.  We were b2b and last weeks debarkation and embarkation went a lot smoother/faster. As b2bers, we were off through customs and back onboard by 1020 or so.

2 hours ago, TPKeller said:

Port of Baltimore announced yesterday they are still planning to have a channel open by the end of May, which should accommodate Vision returning for her next scheduled sailing.

 

Here's hoping!

 

Theron

 

 

We just got off Vision today after a b2b.  The Captain said they also expect to return to Norfolk after drydock, so by the end of May.