chengkp75

The fine is actually levied against the cruise line by the CBP, but the ticket contract allows the cruise line to pass the fine to you. The problem is, that the cruise line, since they are responsible, are not allowed to do a "pre-planned" violation. For early disembarkations that do not violate the PVSA, pre-covid RCI charged $165 per person, for the cost of the additional paperwork this disembarkation requires be submitted to CBP, since the cruise is no longer technically a "closed loop" cruise anymore, since the passenger manifest has changed.

They left at a US port other than the embarkation port. That is why they were fined. The OP wants to disembark in Mexico, so the PVSA (not the Jones Act, despite what the cruise line states) is not applicable.

No, they are not. They are subject to penalties if you disembark at a US port other than the embarkation port. Disembarkation from a closed loop cruise at a foreign port does not violate the PVSA.

Just know that the shaver outlet is current limited. A nightlight that is rated more than 4 watts will blow the fuse.

Seawise Giant, scrapped in 2010. While her GT is just about the same as Oasis, her "deadweight" tonnage (the weight of cargo she can carry) is 560,000 tons, and an Oasis class ship weighs around 90-100,000 tons.

What you are referring to is the new trend to "reverse bows". This makes the waterline length longer for a given overall length, and therefore the theoretical "hull speed" is greater (the most efficient speed to push the hull through the water). Without flare, the bows will not rise with a wave, but will tend to cut through the wave, so there will be less pitching, but the bow area will be significantly "wetter" (the entire front end of the ship will take far more green water than a flared bow).

Search for European or 220/240v power strip. Here's one I found in a couple of seconds on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mscien-European-Individual-Universal-Extension/dp/B0B5DNQYN6/ref=sr_1_5?gclid=CjwKCAjwzNOaBhAcEiwAD7Tb6FvbvBFnYLdmXvOPkr_Ph4EzOnDcyjSiEFtKsI_SEE0i-NfVoFWgEBoC_asQAvD_BwE&hvadid=177299324389&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9002526&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=3788591134455117981&hvtargid=kwd-3007476141&hydadcr=18911_9698412&keywords=power+strip+european&qid=1666532198&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIzLjUxIiwicXNhIjoiMi42NCIsInFzcCI6IjEuNDYifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-5

Yes, the circuit breaker is acceptable. You should know that this circuit breaker (I'm assuming this is a "normal" US consumer power strip) only opens the "hot" leg as defined in the US, and the "neutral leg is not interrupted. However, on a ship, both legs carry power at voltages above ground, so a truly safe power strip has a circuit breaker that opens both legs. Opening only one leg of a shipboard circuit would still leave you vulnerable to shock or fire, as current could continue to flow. A European power strip (available in the US) has a double pole breaker, and is what ships use for crew use.

"Split hull"? Do you mean the split superstructure? And, remember, these cruise ships are not even close to the largest ships ever built. The largest tanker ever built could carry 6 Oasis class ships.

Except that you disregard the shape of the hull at bow and stern. The bow has "flare", where it widens dramatically above the waterline. This is done for a purpose, so that as the bow enters a wave, there is more volume in the bow to provide more buoyancy, to raise the bow above the wave. The stern, on the other hand, has a relatively flat surface at the waterline (especially for azipod ships), that when forced down by the bow rising, presents more surface area to the water, and therefore requires more force to move the stern an equivalent amount as the bow. The ship will pitch around the center of buoyancy, which is aft of midships, so the moment arm that an aft cabin experiences is shorter than a forward one, and hence moves less distance vertically.

No need for this. If the packet has a state tax stamp on it, that verifies that the packet was purchased in the US. You will notice that duty free cigarettes have no tax stamp on them.

"Fancy like Applebee's on a date night"

This could be part of it, but I have also experienced quite a bit of "non-communication" between Operations and Technical, so Operations may have been aware of it, but pooh-poohed it and kicked the can down the road. Believe me, cruise lines make money in spite of their best efforts.

Regardless of whether the hydrogen powers a diesel engine, or a fuel cell, you have to load, store, and handle hydrogen fuel. Hydrogen can be stored as a compressed gas (about 700 bar or about 10,000psi), as a cryogenic liquid (like LNG), at -253*C (-423*F, while LNG only requires -160*C, or -256*F), or bound to a liquid carrier like ammonia, or an "organic liquid hydrogen carrier", both of which storage methods require energy to release the hydrogen. Class society DNV has a study panel working on handling and storage of hydrogen, but they say the challenges are still quite large, especially for upsizing from small experimental plants. There are two small ferries, one in Norway, and one in the UK (IIRC) that are using hydrogen fueled fuel cells. The methods of testing are on a "risk balanced basis", meaning they will test at small scale (small, but non-zero risk to public) until it is a proven technology, and then start gradual upsizing.

The new Viking ships hope to be hydrogen fueled, but no class society has yet made rules for building ships with hydrogen fuel, and without that, the ships won't be built (as hydrogen fueled).

Regardless of whether it was a medical evacuation or a "necessary disembarkation", it would still violate the CTA, and the line would likely get fined. Not sure how the appeal process works in Canada, so they could apply for a waiver/exemption based on circumstances.

Yeah, state of Maine tourist board has found that cruise passengers spend less than half of what a land tourist spends in the state.

That went along with less effective fire suppression systems. I remember the Baked Alaska, the Bananas Foster, and the Cherries Jubilee that would set off the sprinklers in the dining rooms.

However, Viking is registered in Norway's "second register", the NIS (Norwegian International Ship). This exempts the ship from many of the requirements that are placed on Norwegian (NOR) registered ships, like wages, crew nationality, working conditions, etc. The NIS was created as a way to compete with "flags of convenience" ships, and is not considered a "flag of convenience" simply because the ships fly the Norwegian flag. There are limitations on NIS ships regarding voyages and port calls, much like the US's PVSA and Jones Act.

While some claim that the Jones Act "hinders" Puerto Rico, the GAO has published reports to the contrary. Even at the height of hurricane Maria relief effort, and everyone was clamoring for exemptions to the Jones Act, the docks in San Juan were stuffed with containers of aid, to the point where they could not offload anymore, due to lack of transportation and blocked roads around the island. In fact, after Maria, despite President Trump's granting of waivers, no foreign flag ship made deliveries to Puerto Rico from the mainland US. Puerto Rico's power system woes are directly tied to failures of management of the system, not upgrading or even repairing systems, both when the system was a quasi-government system, and now as a private corporation. If US flag shipping is too expensive, the power company is free to buy electrical systems (in many cases far better than those made in the US) from Europe, and have them shipped to PR on foreign ships. I don't see how the Jones Act has caused the power company to not maintain their own systems. Even after hurricane Harvey hit the refineries in the Gulf Coast, and President Trump, again, granted waivers to the Jones Act, since Florida was hurting for gasoline and jet fuel, guess how many foreign flag ships actually were used? One, for one voyage. Why? Because there was a fleet of US flag tankers waiting, fully loaded, that could not enter Florida ports due to hurricane Irma. Once the ports reopened, the US flag tankers that were milling about in the Gulf supplied Florida, just like they have been for years, since there is no pipelines in Florida. The US Gulf to Florida has been a major Jones Act market for decades, and the Jones Act fleet has met the vast majority of Florida's need for refined product all those years. Sorry, enough of a rant about the Jones Act/PVSA, let the thread get back to its original topic.

No one is saying that the cruise ship is a prison. However, unlike the US's PVSA, the Canadian CTA specifies fines, for each occurrence, or for each day that the occurrence happens, of "up to $50,000" against the cruise line. The ticket contract states that the passenger is aware that on some itineraries that leaving the vessel at a port other than the designated disembarkation port can violate local law, and the cruise line would think long and hard about whether they want to subject themselves to this. The ticket contract is also what gives the cruise line the right to pass the fine on to the passenger/s that caused the violation. I have seen many instances where a passenger disembarked early at a US port, due to illness, and once due to death of a spouse, and in each case the cruise line was fined for the violation, passed the fine on to the passenger, and then told the passenger that if they wanted to, the passenger could appeal to CBP for a refund. Many, many people would benefit from a close study, not just a cursory reading, of the cruise line ticket contracts.

No, the PVSA originally involved all river, harbor, and lake transport of passengers, and was enacted for safety concerns, many of which exist to this day. Why should we ship LNG from the US Gulf, when there is a pipeline bringing in natural gas from Canada, far cheaper. How did the PVSA, or more accurately, the Jones Act, prolong the power issues in Puerto Rico?

Regardless of whether the OP are Canadian citizens, getting on a foreign flag cruise ship in Quebec and getting off in Halifax is a violation of Canada's Coastal Trading Act (similar to the US PVSA), and therefore there would have been a lot of paperwork involved in clearing the ship to disembark a "domestic" traveler and then clearing the new manifest for departure. Since it was at the OP's choice to disembark, it is likely that they will get the fine passed to them (and they can be far more severe than the PVSA fine).

Try the Princess ship bridge webcam. Currently pointed at the end of the drydock.

While I won't dispute BigAl's personal experience, to say that ships "usually" dock port side to, is incorrect. I worked cruise ships that docked 3 out of 4 ports starboard side to, week after week. It depends on whether the ship has to, or prefers to turn around before or after docking, if at a finger pier, which side of the pier it docks to, weather, tides, and maintenance of the ship. To book a cabin based on which side of the ship is against the dock is a crap shoot at best.