westcoastshell

We are hoping to go on a Danube River cruise in Mid August, starting in Bavaria and finishing in Budapest. Any one know if August 2021 river sailings are impacted by the recent flooding 

We are hoping to go on a Danube River cruise in Mid August, starting in Bavaria and finishing in Budapest. Any one know if August 2021 river sailings are impacted by the recent flooding 

What an awesome catch drusierdmd!  I’m impressed! Looks like a great excursion. 

Hey Claudio

Looks like you are having lots of fun.  How lucky you didn’t have to wait too long for your North Star Ride and the dinner at wonderland looks good, especially your “ World” dessert. 

On 5/9/2019 at 5:57 PM, Hoopster95 said:

 

Hey everyone...  it's been a while! But I'm back, and ready for another review.

 

I have been waiting for this sailing with anticipation more so than any other sailing since Quantum's first ever Caribbean sailing Dec 1, 2014. In fact, I had Anthem booked 3 years ago and had to move my deposit over to another ship as the timing did not work for me, and never re-booked Anthem. I've been yearning to get on another Quantum Class sailing as I really loved Quantum.

 

 

I shared my Quantum review above with my roll call as many cruisers on this sailing have never been on a Q Class ship. That first photo is epic! Hardly anyone has been on the front bow area of the ship since Quantum, not even on Anthem. And now with the All Access Tour scaled down in half, it's no longer offered. If you've never been on Q CLass and would like a trip down memory lane, have a look at Quantum above.

 

Back to Ovation and Alaska... I've been party to many "Q Class in Alaska" threads over the last 5 years here in CC. I was a HUGE fan since day one that a Q Class ship would be a great hit and best seller for Alaskan itineraries. I just couldn't believe it when they sent a totally inner focused ship with a fully exposed top deck (in Alaskan weather) the Explorer to the Pacific Northwest. Totally stupid in my opinion. But alas, 5 years in the making and Ovation is finally here... in my own home town no less!

 

 

Vancouver is beautiful and consistently voted in the top 20 cities to visit and/or live in in the world. Those cruisers who are too lazy to hang around a day pre or post cruise are doing themselves an injustice. Above you see the downtown core of Vancouver, with Canada Place Pier in the lower right (the "Sails"). To get their, Ovation has to transit under the Lion's Gate Bridge through a small pass in the upper right before reaching open ocean. The bridge is 198 feet mid span... Q Class is 198 feet tall on a good day. Uhm.... ok.... so there's an issue here.

 

 

Above is the 178 foot tall Radiance going under the bridge with only 20 feet clearance. So how will Ovation get under?? Well, the current Transpacific from Hawaii will be arriving early to Vancouver the night before debarkation at 8pm in order to get the lowest tide level possible. Not only that, I suspect we'll witness the rare event of the funnels being retracted. And even with all that, there's supposedly about a 5 foot clearance of the Lion's Gate Bridge. I've also been involved in many Panama Canal threads regarding size of ships, and which ships may or may not pass under the Bridge of Americas on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal... this sailing re-enforces the best answers given by BillH48 and ChengP on those threads, that likely only perfect conditions would allow for a Q Class ship to get under the BoA as it is a sister bridge with same span height as the Lion's Gate.

 

 

We are currently experiencing summer weather this week in Vancouver. Today it was 25 degree Celcius/about 75 degrees F. On Sunday and Monday it cools a bit to 65F/18C... still great weather for a beautiful sail-in and sail-away from the port of Vancouver. If anyone is around Stanley Park on Monday night, they should definitely get to a view point somewhere to watch the ship leave. According to slack tide charts found by AlanF on our role call (Thx Alan!) we are estimating Ovation to leave Canada Place around 6:45-7 and get to the bridge somewhere between 7:10-7:30 to hit that low tide.

 

So why this itinerary? It's one of a kind and is not being repeated. 4 port stops, 2 glacier viewings, and basically (for me anyways) a round trip Vancouver-to-Seattle sailing which is a simple bus trip back up from Seattle when the cruise is finished. The itinerary is outstanding with a ton of extended time at the ports.

 

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Monday, May 13	Vancouver, BC, Canada		5:00pm
Tuesday, May 14	At Sea
Wednesday, May 15	At Sea
Thursday, May 16	Icy Strait Point, AK	9:00am	8:00pm
Friday, May 17	Sitka, AK	7:00am	6:00pm
Saturday, May 18	Hubbard Glacier, AK (Cruising)
Sunday, May 19	Juneau, AK	7:00am	9:00pm
Monday, May 20	Skagway, AK	7:00am	8:30pm
Tuesday, May 21	Endicott Arm, AK (Cruising)
Wednesday, May 22	At Sea
Thursday, May 23	At Sea
Friday, May 24	Seattle, WA	6:00am

 

I'll have VOOM on this cruise, so we'll see the O3b satellite network works for Alaska, especially for all the negative internet reviews on radiance the last few years.

I have a few more posts to add before cruise day on Monday. This is going to be an AWESOME cruise! 😁

Such a great Review already. Fantastic photos! Can’t wait to hear more.