conchyjoe

One of the big problems for the planners is that there are a lot of other cruise ships in the area too as it is a popular Fall cruising area. Last week in Halifax there was an average of 3 ships in port on any one day. Berthing prospects at alternative ports outside of the impacted area are going to be at a premium as well as shore excursion opportunities at short notice. These things are normally scheduled more than a year in advance so changing everything at short notice is probably not going to happen.

The H dot is merely representative and this far out the errors can me major. On the present track it puts St. John’s on the “dirty” side of the storm so few in NFL will be totally immune. That said, as with all hurricanes, just being 50 or 60 miles away from the centre can have a huge impact on the amount of wind damage and that is what we experienced in Dorian back in 2019 which had a very small eye and was incredibly powerful at the centre eye walls with gusts up to 230mph. Just 60 miles away they just had a very breezy day. The problem with Newfoundland is that as the storm passes over substantially cooler water it looses strength quickly. The storm surge however has already been created and will travel across the ocean towards Newfoundland and across shallower water (think breaking waves on a beach). The storm surge will probably be the major impact on coastal communities. One last note, if you are on this voyage; pack some very warm clothes, hat and gloves. Wind goes anti-clockwise around a low pressure area (hurricane) which means that it will be coming from the Great White North and it will be cold.

The NHC seems to be going with the slingshot option as the jet stream picks up Fiona. Note the distance travelled between 8.00am Friday and 8.00am Saturday. Stormsurf shows the seas to east of Newfoundland down to 4-6 feet by Monday. So who knows.

Yes, as a former professional mariner and having done several major storms before, I can appreciate (and frankly fear) your observations. The Quest won’t be circumnavigating Newfoundland this time around.

I don’t think the published weather forecasts for cities have had Fiona factored in yet. St. John’s for instance, the Weather Channel shows 20mph wind on the 25th. That is unlikely to be the case. Second problem for L’Anse aux Meadows on 26th even if the wind numbers you saw are correct is that it is a tender port. It takes a few days for the seas to die down after the storm passage itself. Third problem is how much damage to infrastructure did the storm surge cause. I pray that is not the case for the sake of the people of Newfoundland but the potential for significant destruction certainly exists with this storm.

The only way I can see them getting back on schedule is to cancel the call to St. John’s and move the call to Anse aux Meadows later. They won’t want to cancel the latter entirely since it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Fortunately, the Quest was the last ship scheduled to call there this year, so no conflict with other ships and ice conditions remain good (or bad, depending on how you view it).

Something else will have to change because going back to Saguenay from St. Havre Pierre is about 17 hours at top speed and they are not going to do the Saguenay Fjord in darkness. I’m sure some major operational juggling is going on in Seattle.

For any folks on the 22 September Quest voyage from Montreal to Montreal - this voyage could get interesting with the arrival of Hurricane Fiona. Undoubtably there will be some port/schedule adjustments. I really hope so, no way I would want to be on the east side of Newfoundland with 48 foot seas! http://stormsurfing.com/cgi/display.cgi?a=natla_height

Are you serious ? MSG on your French Toast ?.?? How could you tell it was MSG? I have never tasted it but I am allergic to it.

It’s like a cross between duck and chicken. I really enjoyed it, but the fat content is quite high which may give some people with sensitive gall bladders some problems. Rarely see it on any menus so I was interested to try. Will try anything once!

No Goose ?? Only ever eaten it on SB or SS but it was delicious!

I second “George The Famous Taxi Driver” although George himself I suspect is long retired. They are somewhat of an institution for arriving or departing passengers in Athens. You should be in the taxi no later than 3.5 hours before your flight departure time. 4 hours would be safer.

Do you have to make reservations in advance?

Thank you all, for your replies. This will be our first trip since Covid emerged. Menu looks different and very interesting, I am sure it will become one of our favorites too. I haven’t downloaded the app yet but seems like a good idea to do (?). I’m slowly getting dragged into the 21st Century !

Took about two weeks for us too.

Going to be on Quest voyage in a couple of months and see that they have added “Earth & Ocean” as an outdoor dining option. I assume this will be out by the pool. has anybody experienced this venue yet?

Have done both lines over the past 14 years but none since 2019 due to Covid. Close to Diamond on Seabourn and about the equivalent level on Silversea. In our past experience, the overall difference between the two is negligible. Yes, there are slight differences of course. The coffee is better on Seabourn and the pizza is better on Silversea, among many other very minor things. It’s just little stuff, they are both excellent. I did a post about the comparison between them maybe 9 years ago. Maybe you can find it! For our now finally resumed cruising schedule, we have based our decisions on which line purely on itinerary. CJ