Johnny_B

8 hours ago, spookwife said:

the actual interior of COMFORT and MERCY is  quite open.  the lifts are wide enough to accommodate a gurney and entire support staff, the stairs  are wide and shallow, even compared to a cruise ship.   the only 'cramped' areas are actually the crew berthing, and even compared to  a Cruiser or destroyer, are quite spacious and comfy.  

 

I'll ask Mr spook to provide pictures of  COMFORT as he was deployed on her back in 2015.  

Let's see what I have....

This is one of the examination rooms attached to an ambulatory post-op ward

Wardroom (Officer's Mess)

Partial view of a 6-man Officer stateroom (there are two more racks just off the left edge of the photo

COMFORT and her sister MERCY will fit through the Panama Canal (barely)

Yes, she'll fit (see above pic)

I've always liked this shot I took of her...

I think Spookwife may be referring to STAR class where drinks and specialty dining, and internet are all included.

You would be wrong.

Her and I sail in GS (though our next cruise is in an OS) on the smaller classes of ships - the Vision, Voyager, and Freedom classes.

We had a trip to norway where we could barely stand and people were holding onto the walls as they walked the corridors (and I was pitched from side to side in bed)...

As a Destroyer sailor, that sounds like a fun day at sea. :D

YMMV

Assuming the person had the ability to swim and was not injured or disoriented from the fall or prior to going over

From the height involved, neither of these are safe assumptions.

Even diving off a 3-meter (10 ft) springboard can cause an experienced diver to be disoriented if (s)he doesn't enter the water cleanly; not hitting the water cleanly from a 10-meter (35 ft) tower can cause disorientation in a competition-level diver.

As an experienced Underway Officer of the Deck on Navy destroyers, I can vouch for the comments that it is VERY hard, even in ideal circumstances, to locate and maneuver to recover a person that has fallen overboard - even if that "person" is the bright orange dummy we use for these drills.

Could RCCL not take a hour and paint or address the issue?

As a 20-year Navy veteran I can assure you, it takes considerably more than one hour. Get the floating scaffolding on station to give the painters a platform to work (with all the mooring lines in the way); clean off the salt water that has sprayed in the area (allow to dry); properly remove any scaled rust; prime areas that have been brought down to bare metal in the previous step (and allow primer to properly adhere and dry); paint area (and allow to properly adhere and dry). Remove floating scaffolding (with all the mooring lines in the way). Easily a full day if not 2-day job if you want to do it correctly (instead of having to just do it again 3 days later).

And if you want to actually address the issue to prevent it from happening again, why don't you go ahead and provide a solution to the problem of galvanic oxidation in a corrosive environment - as no metallurgist has actually overcome that issue to date.

It's difficult to quantify my level of sympathy.

ZERO is not that hard to quantify :D

Not really. SOLAS allows the use of ECDIS electronic charts as the prime means of navigation, but requires a backup method if electronic charts are used as primary. This backup can be either paper charts or a second ECDIS unit. However, most shipping companies, in their International Safety Management (ISM) systems require paper charts as backup. So, while it is industry standard, it is not legally required.

Back-ups are good for voyage planning as well. As USS GUARDIAN found out a couple years ago, there might be some discrepancies and inaccuracies with the digital database - which would become apparent if compared to the paper charts.

Which nights are formal nights?

The Second and 7th nights were Formal nights - Both are sea days.

Oh and how were the seas when you left Baltimore heading north? Last time we were on the Grandeur we went south to Bermuda and as soon as we hit the open ocean the rocking was horrible. Just wondering how much Dramamine we should pack or if it was fairly calm?

Seas were nice and calm the whole time. There was not a lot of rocking and rolling at all. Of course, your experience may vary based on the weather.