Able Seaman H

The issue was actually caused by a passenger exploding with rage after their Bridge partner opened with 3 no trump when they only had 22 points in their hand :)

Encore and Ovation have had the card room strengthened to contain "Bridge Rage" incidents......

An interesting opportunity to see nature at first hand and thankfully everyone is here to tell the story.

Mother Nature is an amazing creature.

Henry :)

When Quest was struck by lightning as she sailed across the River Plate from Buenos Aires to Montevideo on November 29, 2014 the Gyro Compass circuit boards were "zapped " ( so I was reliably informed)

We diverted to Porto Madryn in Argentina so replacements could be flown in from Italy.

When they were installed the Captain announced that he had the company's permission to "burn fuel" to make up some of the time lost.

We cruised at 22.5 knots all the way to the Falklands.

There was a certain amount of vibration, but not unbearable.

We then had to dash back across the Drake Passage after our 6 days on the Peninsula and Islands to dodge two weather systems.

Once clear of the ice we cruised at 16.5 knots with a Force 9/10 at about 20 degrees off the Port bow, making it across in 36 hours.

 

Quest handled the 50 foot seas beautifully.

Sea conditions will be a factor of several influences including wind speed, tide, depth and land mass proximity. Taking waves on the bow at a slight angle would be much better than directly from the side. As mentioned previously you need a certain speed for the stabilisers to work efficiently.

Everyone knows the score when booking Antarctica cruises, you do risk a bit of movement.

The thought of bread stick production being compromised however is horrific :)

Henry :)

Henry, On our SB voyage last September, crew told us how many passengers could fit on a tender in an emergency situation. It was a VERY large number, but I don't remember what it was. Do you know?

Lifeboats aren't what you would call luxurious I'm afraid and in general terms deploying them is an absolute last resort. You want to stay on the mother ship for as long as possible. It keeps everyone together and facilities are much more comfortable.

The 4 largest lifeboats have a maximum capacity of 120 when used as tenders, 150 when used as liferafts. There are 2 additional lifeboats with a capacity of 120 and 16 smaller liferafts that can take up to 35 people.

One of the things which you will see Seabourn doing a lot is crew training for emergency situations. They are extremely well drilled and every crew member has an emergency role which they take very seriously. You will have heard emergency fire drills for instance and the ship is designed to contain any emergency in dedicated zones so the chances of having to use lifeboats in anger is rare. You are far more likely to encounter them heading ashore for a couple of lobsters on the beach day. :)

Henry :)

I'm commercially endorced Yachtmaster for motor boats. My licence won't allow me to take charge of anything the size of a cruise ship but in a last man standing situation I'm not a bad bloke to have on the team. I'll get us home safely :)

In a Lifeboat I'm your man to the point where I cringe seeing the close quarters handling when tendering ashore :)

Many of the principles are the same on larger ships to my smaller boats and you have to think in a similar way particularly when it comes to passenger safety and comfort iwhen we have guests on board.

Henry :)

The staff in Sushi are both friendly and helpful guiding you through a potentially unfamiliar menu. In the end we just let them bring a variety of dishes and found some absolute gems.

A perfect toe dip in the water for those less familiar with the genre and a real asset to the Seabourn experience.

Henry :)

Correction: He said that the most efficient causing speed was 17 knots. I assume that slow speeds used for entering and exiting ports use less fuel.

Actually possibly not. You have to remember how the ships are powered. There are 4 generators which are essentially on or off. They can each produce up to a certain power.

Between the hotel and the propulsion motors you need to decide how many generators are going to be required with a bit of margin just in case suite 1016 decides to straighten their hair even though they will going swimming in an hour :)

If you use less than is available from the generators by running the electric drive motors slower the available electricity effectively gets wasted.

I suspect the optimum speed derives from 3 generators being run which allows heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and all the other hotel and ships systems to run whilst powering the drive motors.

The ship's hull design will have a sweet spot above which relatively more power is needed for increased speed. The bulb on the front is a well proven design which alters the way waves form and act on the hull. It will be particularly effective towards the upper end of the operating range speed wise.

Seabourn place passenger comfort very high on their list of priorities. Encore and Ovation for instance have built in redundancy which ensures passenger comfort in the event of an emergency.

You may remember rather harrowing scenes a few years ago when fire struck a cruise ship and rendered many of the hotel facilities such as air conditioning, toilets, water, refrigeration and cooking facilities useless. Passengers were put through hell waiting for the ship to get towed into port.

Encore and Ovation go way beyond Safe Return to Port requirements. As an example the design spec was for all toilets in safe zones (those not affected by fire or flooding) to remain functional rather than just the minimum required 1 toilet per 50 guests.

It is this design and technology that gets ignored on here with discussions about Seabourn allegedly cost cutting by not fitting a laundry and so on.

I would much rather travel at 15-17 knots in a ship of Encore / Ovation's safety design than a minimum compliance SRtP ship at 19 knots.

Henry :)

Hmmm... as far as we can recall, none of the ships we sail on have adult only areas. Which luxury lines are you including when you say that?

I think the comment was aimed at mainstream lines rather than Seabourn etc.

Royal Caribbean has their Solarium area for example which is still over crowded but theoretically not with under 18 year olds.

The question of children on Seabourn is a well worn path on this forum. Generally speaking there are very few kids on board. The highest density will generally be found on Med cruises, particularly shorter Med cruises then possibly the Christmas & New Year cruise depending on itinerary but even that one won't have huge numbers.

Humour filter ON:

Of course given the age demographic on Seabourn anyone in their 20's, 30's, or 40's will be seen as children by the bulk of the guests :)

Henry :)

Henry, I HAVE noticed the ships moving around more very late at night during sleeping time. Thank you for the explanation.

My pleasure :)

Henry

For what ever reason Seabourn cruises at lower speed then most other cruise lines

 

When on the Odyssey during bad weather several guest commented about slow speed

 

Meaning that the slower the speed the more time you have to suffer from rough seas

 

When back home compared cruise time between ports on other cruise lines with similar ships Azamara and Oceania

 

Athens to Mykonos Seabourn 15 hours others 10 hours

 

Red Sea between Aqaba to Salalah - Seabourn about 5 days others 4 days

 

We have two Australia and New Zealand cruises booked with Seabourn and Azamara

 

Cruise time on Seabourn 1/3 longer between Australia and New Zealand

You raise a number of points.

In bad weather there is a balancing act between travelling fast enough for stabilisers to work but slow enough for comfort. Generally the faster you travel in extreme weather the worse and potentially more dangerous the journey.

The larger the ship the better it copes so by default the smaller ships of Seabourn need a more delicate touch. I've seen 85 knots across the bow of a huge Royal Caribbean ship and you wouldn't know we were even at sea !

On a smaller Seabourn ship you may need to slow down for dinner service and the show. Larger ships might be less affected and dare I say it their operators might see their clients as cargo rather than individuals.

Have you noticed the ship moving around more as the ship speeds up again whilst we sleep?

As mentioned previously planning itineraries is a multi - faceted process so if Seabourn take longer on a particular route there will be a reason.

Henry :)

We outgrew Royal Caribbean and have friends who swear by Celebrity but when we got them aboard Seabourn for lunch they were blown away by the difference. On Seabourn everyone gets the red carpet rolled out rather than a select few.

The passengers are also quite different, it's all about conversations rather than getting drunk together. There are celebrations and dancing, more so on our last cruise with Cruise Director Ross Roberts who was great fun, but at no point does the tannoy announce the next "must attend" event.

This was our Seabourn Sojourn Caribbean holiday over Christmas and the new year.

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Also on Seabourn you don't need to chase suites, the standard cabin is around 300 sq ft compared to 180 sq ft on a standard Celebrity balcony cabin and features separate bath / shower, his & hers / his & his / hers & hers sinks, walk in wardrobe and dining area.

All your drinks etc are inclusive other than a selection of very high end beverages (think Louis XIII cognac) and a selection of premium wines to go with the dozen or so included wines.

Henry :)

Only one of the four engines would have been running to supply electricity and the engine room would only have a skeleton staff on duty while moored. It would take a while to start another engine.

 

Some of the lines broke AFTER one of the bollards pulled out of the dock. The Encore was released quick smart after the Port Authority realised it was their problem, not Seabourn's.

Just to clarify your use of the word "engines" for our noble readership.

Encore has 4 diesel generators which between them produce around 23,000 kw. This is used to power the 2 electric propulsion motors (rated at up to 6,000 kw each) and also the hotel requirements.

The hotel needs power for climate control, cooking, refrigeration, lighting, hair dryers and recharging your phone / laptop / camera / tablet. It also needs a little bit of power for emplification when the singers are performing :)

Hot water is available onboard as a byproduct of the generators running. They need cooling and that cooling water passes through a heat exchanger which warms up your shower / bath tub water.

When tied up alongside the ship's propulsion motors won't be running so you reduce requirements and fewer generators are needed. In reality even when cruising it is rare that all 4 generators will be required. My understanding is that 2 or 3 generators are usually run when under way.

Henry :)

The question may only be relevant for cruises involving long distances between ports and those who prefer maximizing their time visiting ports rather than enjoying ship amenities. As previously mentioned, additional speed is helpful in being able to get back on schedule due to port departure or weather delays. A more remote advantage is being able to use more powerful engine capacity to hold a docked ship in place when heavy winds hitting the superstructure create a significant risk that mooring ropes are inadequate alone. You probably recall the Encore accident when it broke free from its mooring lines due to heavy wind (gusts) conditions. A captain once told me once that his cruise line sets a docking wind velocity limit for each of their ships and that he feels more comfortable navigating in close quarters and through heavy traffic when his ship has a significant amount of reserve power available for him to quickly access beyond the optimum power designed to maximize fuel consumption. I doubt this should be a concern for an Encore or Ovation passenger. My question is more a matter of curiosity. The explanation someone offered that the addition of a deck to the smaller ship hull without expanding the power plant probably makes good economic sense.

Cruise schedules are quite complex in their design. It isn't as simple as saying if we can whiz around quicker we can have fewer sea days and spend more time in port. Port days are generally expensive and certain times of year cruises must represent excellent value for money or you will have insufficient bums on seats. Some people specifically seek out sea days.

Main engines aren't used to hold the ship against the dock. The propulsion systems on Seabourn are fixipods which means they are permanently aligned with the centreline of the hull. Azipods can be rotated to generate sideways thrust but even then you would only need a tiny amount of the potential thrust available.

Specific side thrusters are used for close quarters manoeuvring and to hold a ship in position until lines have been deployed. All ships will have safe limits for berthing and you regularly see cruise ships in places like Cozumel having to cancel due to high winds.

When it comes to manoeuvring in harbour or inshore shipping channels modern cruise ships are extremely capable compared to their cargo counterparts who are often limited when it comes to side thrusters and who rely entirely on the services of tugs.

Seabourn ships would see tugs as an insurance rather than a necessity if ever deployed. When doing our maiden trip through the Suez Canal we had to to have a tug escort just in case.

Just for the record I think I'm right in saying that the Encore mooring incident was the result of a defective mooring bollard, not underpowered engines.

Henry :)

Entering into open discussion with anonymous people who want to wash your and their laundry in public isn't everyone's idea of great PR.

The Seabourn machine isn't what you'd call "street", I think they like to do things at their own pace and are possibly a touch on the conservative side.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. We are a tiny proportion of the guest list - look how quiet the roll calls are.

Henry :)

St Tropez was where the damage was done I’m afraid.

Just enough left for a croissant and a coffee.

Just a word of warning,don’t stop at red traffic lights in Sittingbourne although I understand your desire to get S a trinket from Elizabeth Duke in Argos

 

 

 

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Either that or the shopping channel :)

Have fun everyone. Monaco is a great place to wander round. Picked up Sojourn from there a couple of years ago.

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:)

You are always welcome.

Bring some of the crew over and we'll all have a relaxing day. It will be cheaper than letting the girls loose in the shops :)

Tell W there is never a better time to buy that special trinket than Monaco. The joy of the sparkle continues long after the memory of the credit card bill fades away...... :)

Thankfully you can't do much damage at Argos in Sittingbourne :) :)

Henry :)

Could the OP be hankering after a go at the Blue Ribbond

I did love the Normandie didn't you H

 

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I still remember when you graciously hosted your 40th on board.....

Won't lie, I was surprised to see her in Brittany Ferries livery but happy we only had to pop across the harbour to pick her up in Portsmouth :)

With port intensive Med cruises you are often afforded a pretty empty pool deck should you choose to stay aboard.

Even on the busiest days we have always found a quiet spot with or without shade. I'm happy to go for a wander if I fancy a drink. Worst case you could pick up a phone and order one in more remote locations but we aren't that demanding :)

Enjoy your day. Did an 80km bike ride to Whitstable yesterday so in recovery mode by the pool today trying to shake off the effects of the oysters ;)

Henry :)

What a bizzare opening post :)

I have heard some strange reasons for not choosing one particular ship or cruise line over another but maximum speed isn't one of them. I bet if you were to analyise your cruising history you would find your average cruising speed to be something around 12 knots or so.

When purchasing a boat speed is a consideration but usually it revolves around planing, displacement or semi displacement speeds on much smaller craft.

9 knots max, 18 knots or mid 20 knots upwards. There is a large degree of bragging rights amongst owners. Cruise ships have long since moved on from the transatlantic record era. If you want to get the job done quickly then hop on a plane, cruising is all about the journey.

Even at my modest sizes the fact my boat can hit 31 knots is immaterial, we generally cruise at lower 20 knots, sometimes only 7 knots plus tide assist of a knot or two.

The reason for the lower speeds on Encore class ships is nothing to do with lack of relative power or available power plants. It was a design choice based around actual speeds used in operation and creating efficiency / comfort.

Rest assured the theoretical lower top speed won't impede on your cruise in the slightest.

Henry :)

Used well the slider adds massively to the professional feel. It's a bit of a hassle to drag around so sometimes when ashore I don't bother.

The real key to good video is keeping the camera still (not withstanding slider use) and letting what you're filming create the movement.

My editing formula is a simple one. Essentially 4 second clips so as not to bore the viewer with any one sequence. Being ruthless during edit is difficult and requires viewing as a third person. It doesn't matter how hard the shot was to achieve or how proud you are of it, if it doesn't work you have to bin it !

Henry :)

Henry, After reading everything you have written on this board, I have come to the conclusion that you are a very kind and generous (and talented ) man. I do my husband and I are onboard a SB vessel at the same time someday.

Ha Ha :)

Kind, generous, talented ? There must be someone else hacking into my account :)

I look for the good in any situation and have always said that if you can't enjoy your time on Seabourn you've given up on life. There is a team of people dedicated to making your stay as enjoyable as possible and they have no reason to upset you. If there's anything they can do to make you happy they will do it.

Always good to share cruises with like minded souls...

Henry :)

Luke did a great job on Sojourn over Christmas in TK.

As you say Mr L the TK restaurant on Encore works very well in terms of size, the bar and so on. We were particularly fortunate in having Katy Shotter on piano and vocals, a huge talent. The increased capacity relieves a bit of pressure on reservations. There is still a danger everyone wants to eat on the same night or leaves it too late to make a booking particularly on short cruises.

I know it's hard work and you make it look easy but try to keep your pecker up throughout what must be a hard and demanding ordeal :)

Henry :)

Never be pressured for a tip on SB in fact quite the opposite. I'm with Mr L in the treating crew as equals approach, saying thank you and verbally acknowledging when someone has gone above and beyond.

We do tend to leave the stewardess a little something at the end of the cruise but more importantly if we're going ashore and will be visiting shops I ask if there is anything she needs. It's not so much being unable to pay for them herself as lacking the time to go ashore. In Miami I was on a mission for spicy crisps (chips) on change over day when she would have been rushed off her feet :)

Henry :)

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

First things first. I totally understand the not eating anything off the ship idea in India. I ended up getting a little taxi from the port in Mumbai and just driving around. I had a late lunch in the Taj Palace Hotel which affords views over the Gateway of India and is as clean as India gets.

Cochin was another taxi from the port ending up at the Taj Malabar hotel close to the ship. A good buffet lunch then relax by the pool. They do a deal for a lunch & resort usage in the restaurant. I think it was around $30 per person but please don't quote me :)

The video technique....

I actually gave an impromptu talk on Sojourn over the Christmas & New Year trip offering some tips and have been meaning to get in touch with SB regarding a more formal programme covering stills, video and also a few shore side wanderings with guests.

I shoot everything on a Canon DSLR or a Panasonic camcorder. I do take a slider / tripod with me for added luxury but you have to be careful not to over use or rely on it. Make sure the image is still decent.

Editing is Final Cut Pro 10 on my old MacBook. I used to use the free iMovie software but found importing from the camcorder tricky. As soon as I gave Apple a couple of hundred bucks for FCP 10 all of a sudden my MacBook recognised the camcorder :)

Music wise that was the amazingly talented Katy Shotter who was holding court in the TK restaurant bar. Great fun and creative she kindly provided a few tracks for me to play with.

I do everything on board but wait until the end of the cruise to upload to YouTube on account of the slow internet. I do distribute via memory stick to any crew who want it as a momento to show their families exactly what they do.

Henry :)

Glad to hear you're all enjoying yourselves.

I suspect you're enjoying the much improved gym Mr L and attract quite a crowd as you deliver a master class in personal fitness :)

If you get the chance and if it's your thing make sure to try Sushi one evening. It's OK at lunchtime as an alternative to other venues but for us came into its own at night, particularly on longer voyages when you want to take a break from heavier foods.

I pretty much let them decide what to bring and ended up most enjoying the items I thought I would least enjoy. The eel was a delight.

The Tim Rice show works very well on Encore with the enhanced audio visual presentation.

Edsel suite indeed - you cheeky monkey :)

Henry :)

Mumbai is one of those wish list experiences, returning to the spotless luxury of the ship was most welcome.

I liked Cochin. A great day of sightseeing, buffet lunch then dip in the pool with the crew as they enjoyed some R&R.

Henry :)