chengkp75

In an emergency, scooters would not be allowed. Passengers with mobility issues will be assisted by crew, either pushing a wheelchair or carrying the passenger.

However, the ADA states that a business cannot charge more for an accessible room than for a non-accessible room.

This was addressed by SCOTUS in Spector v NCL a couple of decades ago, and SCOTUS ruled that since foreign flag cruise ships were not specifically mentioned in the ADA, that the ADA has only limited jurisdiction over the ships. SCOTUS also stated that unless Congress decided to add wording to the act regarding foreign flag cruise ships, specifically, nothing could change. In the two decades since Spector, Congress has failed to act on this suggestion. However, I looked up the ADA requirement for hotel accommodation, and for a hotel with 1300 rooms, like the Rotterdam, they are required to have a total of 36 accessible rooms, 23 without roll in showers, and 13 with roll in showers. Rotterdam has 38 total accessible cabins, so more than the ADA requires, and of that total, only 13 don't have roll in showers, so they have almost double the number of fully accessible cabins as the ADA requires. Also, as required by the ADA, these cabins are spread throughout the various categories, but also as the ADA stipulates, there do not have to be accessible cabins in every category. Having worked as a shipboard ADA compliance officer for NCL, I feel for those who need this accommodation, but lets face it, very few industries exceed compliance with the law. If you want this to change, you have to get Congress to act. Good luck. Also know that changes made to the ADA are not necessarily retroactive, so even if the law changes, older ships won't necessarily change.

When I get on or off the ship at a port call, there are port security people there, but never customs or immigration. If you mean that when the ship first arrives in a port that some countries have the immigration people interview you before the ship is "cleared", but once the ship is "cleared" by immigration, you are in the country, so there is no need for customs or immigration. The people checking ID's at the port are port security. Port security has to provide security around the clock, per the ISPS code (International Ship and Port Security). No, tenders don't have to be available 24/7, the cruise ship sets tender schedules and advises passengers of those times, so if it is an overnight tender port, you know in advance when you can get ashore or back to the ship.

"Border Patrol" or customs and immigration don't need to be there for overnight stays. Once they clear the ship, folks can come and go as they wish. Security is the responsibility of the port, not the ship, so yes, they will be there 24/7.

Typically, the only vessels charged dock fees "by the foot" are yachts. Ships are usually charged by Gross Tonnage. And, at 642 feet long, at your dock rates, this would be $577,000/month. Maybe it was $30/ft/month, that comes out to be $19,000/month.

Is this a figure for the cruise ship docks, or H&W's wet berth, where the ship has been for the last few months? I just looked at the Belfast harbor fees, and for Odyssey to enter port cost about $1100, and then the fee for H&W's berth is about $6500/month. Yes, a non-trading ship at one of the city docks would be close to $27k a month, but I don't think she has been anywhere other than H&W.

I didn't see anything in that article about changing ports, maybe I missed it? But, the main problem right now is that since H&W are in receivership, no civilians can be let onto the premises, so they would have to move "berth" maybe to the Belfast cruise docks, to load passengers.

No, still at H&W dock.

Did I say the ground wire carries current? Nope. Said "both" wires, meaning the "hot" and "neutral".

Actually, there is still one condition of class outstanding, the radio station certificate and the GMDSS battery.

While what you say is true, I would not recommend removing all surge protectors from your house, unless you install a "whole house" surge protector, as these are commercial rather than consumer items, and the ratings are higher.

Well, yes, but what I was saying is that you were responding to a post that talked about the circuit breaker on the power strip being a hazard, and saying that this was the "real issue" with power strips. Even a non-surge protected US consumer power strip, in my opinion, is a (albeit small) hazard on a ship because of the above mentioned circuit breaker problem. The ship's crew will use a European plugged, 220v power strip, because the breaker opens both legs upon tripping.

The problem is that while many want the power strip to provide outlets where they can plug several low wattage USB chargers in, that is not always the case, and people will plug in a couple of high wattage appliances. While these appliances, even when plugged into the power strip do not pose any hazard, the problem comes from the fact that the circuit that powers the outlets in your cabin also power the outlets in one or two other cabins. So, when a couple of cabins plug a couple of high wattage appliances into the outlet, and use them at the same time, the circuit breaker trips. Then, the electrician has to be taken from whatever job he was doing, and go reset the breaker, wasting the company's money (wasted labor). So, the cruise line purposely limits the number of outlets to limit the number of things that can be plugged in at one time, and that was designed into the cabin in the first place, so giving the passengers more outlets (an "approved" power strip), would just lead back to the same problem. Anyone who thinks that a ship that can generate 90 million watts of power (90 Mw) is having a problem with some outlet circuits (2400 watts maximum for a 20 amp circuit), is a candidate for the bridge I'm selling. The largest multi-port USB charger I've seen is 200 watts, which is only about 1.5 amps input, and when even one of these in each cabin are charging 8 devices, that only draws 4.5 amps, or about 20% of the capacity of the 20 amp circuit. This is why multi-ports, that don't have any power outlets in them, are allowed, while anything with multiple 120v outlets are not. And this is why you need to treat google with a few grains of salt. Both wires in every circuit, whether on ship or land, carry current. It is true that consumer grade US power strips only open the "hot" wire (because the manufacturer assumes the power strip is used on land), and on a ship, the "neutral" wire is at a higher voltage than the ground, which can lead to shock hazard, the circuit breaker for the ship's circuit opens both legs if there is a serious power fault. And, these comments apply to the circuit breaker on a power strip (that little lighted "on/off" switch). A surge protector doesn't "break" any circuit, it opens a circuit from the "hot" lead to the ground lead to take the unexpected voltage to ground. Surge protectors deal with voltage, while circuit breakers deal with current. Nope. That is a common misconception from the USCG Safety Notice that conflates the problems of a surge protector on a ship with a consumer power strip that only opens one leg. As I said above, a surge protector doesn't break any circuit, it merely creates a new path from "hot" to ground. Surge protectors typically have the ability to dump both the "hot" leg and the "neutral" leg to ground when the voltage surges. The main problem with surge protectors on ships is that the surge circuitry is rated for a given voltage (like 120v), where the semi-conductors can handle small voltage fluctuations for ever without damage, while a large fluctuation (like a lightning strike on land) will activate the surge protection, but is so damaged it will never work again. On land, the power grid is so large that fluctuations are very small, but on a ship, the power needed for propulsion and hotel is so close to the amount that can be generated, that large, sudden demands can cause larger voltage swings than on land, and these voltage swings start to degrade the surge protector, and over time they will fail, and when they fail, they go into what is called "thermal runaway", where they overheat and cause the plastic case to melt and catch fire.

If they're smart, they will take the great circle route to Newfoundland, and then down the East Coast. That route will take them at least 700 miles north of the northern edge of the storm cone, and probably no closer than 1000 miles from the storm.

Cruise ships are registered in Bahamas, Panama, Malta, and Marshall Islands. All of these flags of convenience have little to no regulation. They still have to meet the various IMO conventions, and are still inspected by class societies, but each registry offers different tax benefits, and corporate laws. The Marshall Islands is the fastest growing registry, behind Panama and Liberia. The Marshall Island corporate laws closely follow Delaware corporate law.

The Trust Company of the Marshall Islands is basically the Marshall Islands Registry for ships. This intimates to me that while the Braemar was transferred to VVR as Bahamian flag, VVR intends to reflag to Marshall Islands.

To divert a container to another port, the container needs to be offloaded from the ship headed to the US either before or after calling at the US, and then there needs to be a ship from that port to where the cruise ship is going to call. All this takes time, about as much as the strike will.

VVR is actually "domiciled", or incorporated, in Delaware.

Well, if they are hemorrhaging money the way they seem to be, by not paying for USCG and USPH inspections for port calls, and the FMC bond for embarkations, they postpone the inevitable failure of the operation. Canada has similar requirements regarding the Certificate of Compliance. As you mentioned before, the visa cost is also there for the crew, when calling in either nation.

The mandate is that the USPH, working for the CDC, are to board and inspect foreign flag cruise ships every time they enter the US from a foreign port. If a vessel/cruise line decides to adhere to the CDC's VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program), both from a construction as well as an operational standpoint, then USPH/CDC will only do one or two surprise inspections per year. So, by adhering to the regulations all the time, they reduce the number of inspections. Now, since the Braemar never called at a US port before, there needs to be an initial inspection prior to the ship calling in the US. The USCG also needs to complete a "Certificate of Compliance" inspection prior to any cruise ship entering US waters.

any links?

Boston has the Children's Museum, Tea Party Ship, Old Ironsides, Lego Discovery Center (if you're up in Charlestown for Navy Yard, it's in Somerville), Museum of Science, Aquarium, the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and Boston Common. Portland has the Children's Museum & Theater, the Escape Room, Southworth Planetarium, Narrow Gauge Railway, schooner tours of Casco Bay, lobster boat excursions, the Portland Mailboat, and lots of fine dining, as well as casual lobster shacks.

Do you have a source for this? I've never heard of this. I know they have banned older tonnage from domestic trade, but wasn't aware of any proscription on international vessels.

Actually, during WW2, the Japanese didn't have enough tankers, or control of the sea lanes to get crude oil from Sumatra to the refineries in Japan, and were burning crude oil in their boilers. Efficiency went down the hopper and repairs increased exponentially, but the ships kept moving after a fashion.