Engineroom Snipe

After looking at April 2024 compared to May 2024, I think the two first cruises before the dry dock can be accommodated. I have to admit, the three ships during May will really be a squeeze for a fourth ship, the Vision. Get the shoe horn out. I think the parking will be a problem with four ships let alone the dock scheduling.

In my opinion as I stated before, Royal is trying to safely get the current cruise completed with as little interruption to the passenger experience as possible. They will directly bus to Baltimore from Bayonne. I agree that trying to get to the airport or train stations will add hours to this effort from people getting off of the bus, waiting for plains or trains. and getting on another bus in Baltimore. The next two cruises will be out of Bayonne and Royal has some time to take a breath and contemplate what ever comes. My two cents minus one cent only leaves me with one common cent (but maybe no common sense). 😁

On top of this time delay, even after the debris is removed, an agency like the Civil Corp of Engineers will be needed to survey and certify that the channel is clear for shipping traffic. No insurance agency will provide protection against such unknowns. I know about bottom side-scan sonar channel scanning. That is what a mine hunter does. We would look for "debris" that was explosive embedded in the shipping channels. Most modern mines are not the "spiked" monstrosities your see in World War II movies. They are more like refrigerators that only have one side exposed to the water buried in the sediment. In this case, a few submerged steel beam parts could reek havoc with the propeller or rudder. Not enough to sink the vessel or hurt its structural integrity but maybe enough to lose navigational ability. Similar to what happened in this case.

As Tom Petty would sing, "The waiting is the hardest part..." Whatever our outcome, we will cruise again. There are families who have lost loved ones. They will need answers and some wounds will take a long time to heal and accept. I love cruising but everyone on this site would have preferred to lose a cruise if it could bring back the workers who are injured or killed.

If Bayonne has docking available with parking then there should be no problem for Royal. The main difficulty will be passengers who are not driving to change their flights to Newark. Royal is very conscious about their revenue stream and corporate might not want to abandon sixteen nights of cruising cabin revenue, onboard spending, and shore excursions. The Vision has been sailing at total capacity for months which is about a bit over 2,400 passengers. That is quite a bit of revenue lost. @Ourusualbeach made some good logical arguments earlier about why the next two cruises should be canceled before dry dock. I think the Vision will go for Bayonne for two cruises, go to dry dock, while Royal regroups.

Baltimore handles over 500,000 cruise passengers a year. I do not think they want to permanently lose that revenue and the cruise lines do not want to lose a home port forever.

Around 40 buses could do it. Start the wagon train...... Rollin' rollin' rollin' Rollin' rollin' rollin' Rollin' rollin' rollin' Rollin' rollin' rollin' Theme from Rawhide

Like the airlines, I forgot about rail holiday travel. I wonder how many buses they could find in such a short time. That is a more limiting factor in my mind. Keep thinking because Royal has got to pull a rabbit out of its hat. I agree that Bayonne is becoming the logical choice for debarkation of the existing passengers. How do we efficiently get 2,400 passengers from the Port of Bayonne to the Port of Baltimore? Million dollar question. Since Bayonne does have parking capacity and has had Vision sized vessels dock during weekdays, they could salvage the last two cruises from there.

Probably one of the most practical solutions presented. Shuttle buses from Bayonne to railway and Baltimore railway shuttle buses to the port where the cars are or to airports. I think you have a winner.

@chengkp75 stated that there was not enough clearance. I do not know what the Vision Class clearance is but I will defer to his expertise.

Completely forgot that Carnival is involved too.

Very logical conclusion which might not be avoidable. For the sake of those on the two trips that might be canceled, I hope Royal makes the decision as soon as possible to keep cruisers from stressing about the unknown that they cannot control.

Port options and alternatives are getting pretty slim pickings if Norfolk is out of play. Philadelphia is out of play. Baltimore is obviously out of play with no idea when it will be available again. Bayonne looks like the lone possibility if the scheduling allows it.

The logistics involved are going to be a nightmare. There are about 2,400 passengers on the Vision currently. They are going to need many buses. Standard buses carry 47 to 55 passengers with room for luggage. It might be their only option. They have to get back to their cars or airport. Trying to use an alternate airport during Easter week is not going to be easy as it is a busy week for flying.

@chengkp75 made the point that clearances under the bridges would be a problem even for the smaller Vision class in Philadelphia. I was thinking in your direction too until he mentioned this.

Yes, the clearance for Walt Whitman is about 137 feet.

Sonar detected vehicles in river. Not good.

So far, two people recovered. One is critical, one walked away without injuries from the water. Currently known is that there are at least seven more individuals know to be unaccounted for.

I know it sounds out there but the Battleship New Jersey mooring is available since the museum was just floated to a dry dock for inspection and maintenance. No way to get provisions onboard or luggage though

I was thinking the same thing. That is a heavily used bridge.

Going to be a trend like European river boat cruises where they have to design a method of shortening the stacks and upper navigation towers to get past the pesky bridges. Where there is desire to make a profit, there is a way. We just might see Royal keep those older ships afloat if only not to lose market out of Tampa and similar height requirements (Baltimore and Charleston). MANY cruisers can drive to those ports and Tampa is a lucrative retirement cruise port. $$$$$$

@WhaleTailFlCruiser Thank you. That could be an issue. Hard to raise a bridge that is permanently built with no moving parts. 🤣

Really torn on this subject. In some ports, Royal says to take your SetSail Pass with a government issued ID. In Nassau, we took our SetSail Passes with our US driver licenses and photocopies of our main passport page which has our pictures and information. We used our SetSail Passes with the passport photocopy with no problems. Just trying to reduce our possibilities of losing our passports. We figured, worst case, the authorities, upon entering the port security, would contact the ship to verify our information if they thought it was questionable. The ship could retrieve our passports from our safe and prove our identities in a worse case scenario. I also can agree that it would be very beneficial to have the physical passport in hand if sh*t hit the fan for some reason.

I agree that five years is an eternity in the cruise business right now. Almost all of Royal's ships only require 34 feet of draft which Tampa can handle. Even Oasis Class and Icon Class are designed for existing port depths. They make the ships longer and wider but the drafts stay the same. Are there any smaller bridge requirement out of Tampa? Parking, dock lineage, and boarding capacity will more of an issue. My question is, could Tampa possibly handle an Oasis class? I have never cruised out of Tampa. If the port can handle a larger ship, rest assured, they will still be cruising from Tampa for decades.

Understand your vibe. We do not need water slides, dry slides, Merry Go Rounds, climbing walls and everything that would be fabulous for a young family with children. Royal is moving towards a younger target crowd and we understand the demographics. Boring with no drama is good for us! I feel you in your quiet lounger watching the sea go by. We all have our own style. 😁