Bodger

Maritime-connector.com says the Panamax maximum width is 110 feet.  The HAL website says that Roterdam 7 is 114.8 feet in width.  That suggests to me that, without a lot of lubricant, she would not fit in the old locks.

3 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

Technically ALL Holland America ships meet the original Panamax standards from a width/length stanpoint and could fit in the historic locks, but due to lifeboat placement and the distance they extend beyond the hull of the ship Konigsdam/Nieuw Statendam are not permitted to transit the canal with passengers, or under normal circumstances, even crew only.  It odes not matter whether it's the historic locks, or the new locks, the canal authority will not permit due to safety concerns should the sides of the vessel hit the walls of the lock and the damage that could happen to the lifeboats.  Many other ships for other lines are in the same situation - Celebrity Solstice Class, NCL Breakaway Class, Princess Royal Class, etc.

 

Konigsdam was given a 1 time exemption to transit the Panama Canal in  2020 due to significantly reduced crew and no passengers.  I believe she transited via the historic locks.

Too bad.  The photo above is captioned Agua Clara ( Canal Expansion) and it does not look like the older locks.

On 1/29/2021 at 11:05 AM, aliaschief said:

Not mentioned in the Blog was Stan stated lifeboats will be reconfigured  so she can transit Panama Canal.

Is the Nieuw Statendam a Post Panamax size ship and could only go through the new locks? 

That would be a cruise I would like to take.

We were on the final sailing of the old Westerdam (the ship that was cut in half and lengthened) and they auctioned off the plaques etc that a ship receives the first time it visits a new port.  I managed to get three of them for a nominal price.  Now that I think of it I should get them out of the basement and hang them on the wall somewhere.  🙂

We just disembarked Viking Sea, the hand washing at the entrance to World Cafe was all but mandatory, which we very much appreciated.

We were told that the serving tongs etc. were changed out every fifteen minutes.  This was our first Viking cruise and the first in the long time where we didn't get a ships cold.

John

Are the USB ports docked or tendered?  😁

Christine said she was going to the Prinsendam.

Having just left the Quest after 29 days, I am pretty sure that you will have Captain Jose for this cruise.

Every day, when he gave the daily update from the bridge, he told us how many days were left until the end of the year when the Quest would be in Sydney.

I think to say he is exited about it would be an understatement.

John

With the name change, does this mean that if Azamara acquires a fourth ship (Carnival has another Renaissance ship for sale) that they will have to call it the Azamara Insider? :D

Of course, I would prefer to be an Insider than an Outsider.

The Insider is a folded, legal size, four page, colour piece. It contained all the pertinent information.

John

We did a B2B on the Quest from Feb 8 to March 9th. I won't comment on the trio as I paid little attention to them and saw them only in passing.

The house band was good, although I was surprised that there was no guitar. (Piano, bass, drums, sax and trumpet). They did a good job of backing up the guest entertainers from 54 Below at Sea. (I wish that Azamara actually explained that 54 Below is a smallish club located in the basement below Studio 54. That would have been nice to know, and to better understand the concept.) The Studio 54 at Sea performers were all excellent.

I was disappointed that the only comedian booked during the 29 nights had to cancel for family reasons. While I didn't see it, I was told that the band piano player Sasha filled the void, putting on a great show.

Some evenings there was just a 9 or 9:30 show, which I usually skipped as I need my beauty sleep. (It doesn't appear to be helping!) Note to Azamara, some people want an earlier show.

The other thing I found strange was that they only opened the Cabaret doors 15 minutes before show time, which meant having to stand in the hallway instead of being comfortable in a seat. Although it did give us opportunities to chat with some nice folks.

I saw Shorts on Ships three times (9 plays), but missed the Oy Vey Maria one, so can't comment on that. The very first night they performed three plays.

The first was about two early American politicians having to sleep in the same bed. Pardon me for not remembering who they were, but I am not from the US so it is not as deeply ingrained in me. One might have been Franklin and possibly Hamilton, but I could well be incorrect on this.) It was actually pretty good.

The second play was done with sock puppets. It bombed. Big time. Do not expect it to ever see the light of day again. The third play, whose content I now forget was okay.

The quality of the plays improved over the four weeks. They had to cancel on the last night of the first leg as we headed north to San Diego due to rough seas, but I expect that turnout would have been low due to the rough ride. Memorable was a play, the timing of which was set at the aftermath of Dorothy heading down the yellow brick road and was about the witch stuck under the flying house, and the ramifications for the Munchkins. Very funny.

We normally don't bother with the production shows on board, as they are often not worth the time invested, so I congratulate Azamara on trying something different.

John

Currently on the Quest for a B2B. Both times it was held at 5:45 on embarkation day.

I mentioned that the timing was less than ideal for early diners to CD Russ, he replied “We always have it at that time.”

John

FWIW, the ‘promotional’ deal today on laundry is $40 a bag.

SWMBO always found machines available at 7AM. They are no charge.

John

We boarded Quest on Jan. 15 -- before this noro incident -- and we were informed that Azamara believes in preventing outbreaks pro-actively and so implements restrictions automatically at the beginning of every cruise until the doctor gives the all clear (24-48 hours).

We have now been on the Quest for more than 72 hours, still no self serve.

No suggestions of any issues, if they are just being hyper cautious, I am fine with that.

John

The 54 Below with Daniel disappointed me. By the material choice I felt they thought the crowd was in their nineties. After the third number I had enough of Rogers and Hammerstein and left. Tonight’s show is to be 60’s music, I hope the choice of material will be better.

We had the plays last night; the first Franklin/Adams one was good. The second hand puppet one should be dropped. The third one about stealing office lunches was okay.

Assistant CD Ernest Marchain’s show was enjoyable.

I see this as a work in process that needs some fine tuning.

John

John,

 

I can't see what it has got to do with my Credit Card company.

 

All a bit of a mess - but life must go on.

 

Tony

If the transaction is different than what I had agreed to, I will advise my CC company that there is a dispute. If the vendor does not resolve the problem then the CC company will investigate.

Usually the vendor wants to stay on the right side of the CC company and will resolve the problem, as they don't want their payment reversed.

The process might differ in other countries.

John

On the matter of refunds.

 

If you book an excursion as a Brit you buy at GBP and your card is charged instantly.

 

If you, or Amazara, cancel an excursion when you are on board your on board account is refunded in dollars. That cost about ten percent a couple of weeks ago on the Journey.

 

We had two cancellations. One precipitated by Amazara and one we decided to make ourselves.

 

Tony

In November, for our February cruise, I was assured by Steve at the head office in Miami that my booking made in Canadian dollars would be credited back in Canadian dollars once I boarded. Then I could re-book using our OBC and pay the difference in US$.

If they do anything different I will be looking for them to make it right.

You might consider lodging a case with your credit card company.

John

A few years ago, we sailed for three weeks on a ship that is no longer in the fleet. We had ongoing problems for two weeks with an oil/VOC smell, before we were allowed to move down the hall to a comparable cabin.

On our return home, our TA called to ask how the cruise went. I explained we had a good time, but had this one problem. He asked that I outline it in an e-mail. The e-mail worked it's way through to the HAL rep and up to the office of the President.

I was contacted with an apology and an offer of a very generous discount on a future cruise, which we were very happy to accept and use.

Sometimes they come through.

John

Much to my surprise and delight, RCL has extended the benefit to our upcoming B2B. I fully expected to get a denial.

I guess I will have to hold on to the shares for a while longer!

Carnival Corp (HAL, etc) is much more liberal in what they will allow, and encourage the stacking of OBCs. That and the longer cruise durations that HAL offers has lead us to book more with them.

John

The Nikon Coolpix P900 for US$580 is pretty powerful. My friend has the Canon Powershot SX720HS with which he produces some nice work. It has been replaced by the SX730HS @US$380.

Fujifilm, Panasonic and Olympus are also good brands.

John

As Azamara is part of the RCCL company and they have that feature already implemented I am sure it will happen soon for Azamara too.

In speaking to a gentleman in the shore excursion department in Miami a few days ago, he explained that Azamara is running on a different IT platform than RCL and Celebrity, so implementing this is not just a matter of copying over some software, or turning on some code. They are feeling the pain on this issue.

I would also make an educated guess that the necessary site changes to integrate the new ship would be given a higher priority than resolving OBC's for shore excursions.

It is difficult to comprehend, how Azamara, having been born out of Celebrity, could end up in a different IT environment from the larger siblings. Strange.

John

John,

Sorry about your repeat of the Azamazing evening. That does not seem fair, but perhaps there is some other more personal experience you may want to do. Check with the concierge when you board Feb 2 and possibly something can be arranged?

The Cartagena Azamazing evening was widely criticized on this board due to the heavy traffic congestion/time wasted. It is no wonder they dropped this particular event.

Thank you for that insight. As I expect there are a fair number of B2B cruisers on many Azamara sailings, it is disappointing that they are unable to come up with a different event.

Do you have an experience with the Concierge that makes you think they can do anything?

John

It also appears that the Amazing evening on this sailing is the same as the February 8th sailing. It is particularly frustrating that we lost our Amazing evening just to have a duplicate of the prior cruise.

Azamara and Celebrity both seem to find little ways to frustrate and annoy, and make me question why I should book with them in the future.

John

I expect there are many of us that have been patiently waiting for Azamara to resolve this.

It would be nice to get a response.

John

Maybe it is my age showing. When I was in high school you would be sent home to change for wearing jeans to school.

Reflecting back to two computer industry events in the last week, it seems that (what I expect are expensive) jeans are now acceptable attire for business leaders.

I know my mother would be horrified at the thought of 'dress' jeans, I doubt that even my wife would approve.

Maybe the times are changing faster than I am.

John

Depending on where we are going, but if it is warm/hot weather my jeans stay at home. They are too hot to wear when it is warm/hot. If we are going to the Arctic, they keep me warmer.

I have no issue taking a dressier pair of slacks to wear to dinner. It just seems to be more respectful to those around me.

John