Zaandam coming into Victoria July 1

We live where we can see the cruise ships coming into Victoria. Zaandam is supposed to dock at 1pm but it looks like she is holding a little ways off shore. It is windy today and the tide is very low so we aren't sure if either (or both) of these might be impacting her ability to dock. Is there anyone onboard who can provide an update on whether the ship will make it in and what might be causing the delay?

Hope you make it in as while it is windy, there are lots of Canada Day celebrations going on that you might enjoy.

Interesting.....I wonder what is happening.......

Hope they get in because Victoria is a great city to experience Canada Day. And it is beautiful!

It's now 10 mins past the docking time and the ship is in the same place. Looks like it probably has dropped anchor and is floating in circles around the anchor.

The ship is sailing back from Alaska and its next port is Seattle. Given the law that requires ships to visit a port in another country I wonder how things will work if they can't make it in. Does anyone know what happens in situations like this?

We recently had lunch with a captain on a Regent ship that comes here as it too is doing Alaska this year (the Mariner Seven Seas was here yesterday) and she said Victoria isn't always an easy port to get into to. I really hope the Zaandam makes it!

Rowsby,

Hi, do you have a link to the live stream? I searched but am not finding it. Thanks!

On the Westerdam, in April, we circled the outer harbor for hours before finally making it in. If I recall correctly, we were to dock at 11:00am and finally made it in at 6:00pm. The Captain said the channel to the inner harbor is narrow so, with the winds and the waves, it was too risky to try. We actually made an attempt at 4:00pm but had to abort. Normally the winds die down around 5:00 or 6:00 pm so that would be a good time to try. All our excursions were cancelled, including Butchart at Night. I was sad because I love Victoria.

Here is the link to the webcam.....she is still sitting out there.....

http://www.bigwavedave.ca/webcams.php?cam=10

Oops.....she is turning around.....wonder if they are leaving.....???

Thank you, Rowsby.

Oops.....she is turning around.....wonder if they are leaving.....???

I don't think they are leaving as it is now 1:40 and they are still in about the same place. They change direction from time to time which is why I think they are circling around the anchor.

We watched the Westerdam try to make it in this spring - seemed to us she made it on the 3rd attempt and was very late. The wind that day was much stronger (one of the worst winds we've had this year) and we heard it took two tugs to finally guide her into port.

Even with the anchor dropped I suspect it is rocking and rolling pretty good onboard the Zaandam right now!

Plus going in circles......!!

Wind at 28 kts and gusting to 33 kts.....

I don't think they are leaving as it is now 1:40 and they are still in about the same place. They change direction from time to time which is why I think they are circling around the anchor.

 

We watched the Westerdam try to make it in this spring - seemed to us she made it on the 3rd attempt and was very late. The wind that day was much stronger (one of the worst winds we've had this year) and we heard it took two tugs to finally guide her into port.

 

Even with the anchor dropped I suspect it is rocking and rolling pretty good onboard the Zaandam right now!

Yes, we did have the tugs helping guide us in. I checked the webcam link and it didn't seem the wind and waves were as bad as we had in April, so there's every reason to believe they'll make it in eventually. In the Spring the waves were breaking right over the pier.

For those wanting info on ships as they dock a useful site is: http://www.***********/cruise-port-tracker/canada/victoria-british-columbia.php. This is set to Victoria but you can use it for other ports as well. Click on an icon in the water and it will bring up info on the ship. Or, click on the port webcams to get that view. There is lots of great info on this site. Right now it shows the status of the Zaandam as "stopped".

Oops...I forgot that this site blocks out web addresses. This one is www dot crusin dot me

I am on the Zaandam! We are hanging out in the bay looking at beautiful Victoria.....we are unable to dock due to the high winds ( 40mph according to the screen) very bummed to miss spending Canada Day in Canada.

We live where we can see the cruise ships coming into Victoria. Zaandam is supposed to dock at 1pm but it looks like she is holding a little ways off shore. It is windy today and the tide is very low so we aren't sure if either (or both) of these might be impacting her ability to dock. Is there anyone onboard who can provide an update on whether the ship will make it in and what might be causing the delay?

 

Hope you make it in as while it is windy, there are lots of Canada Day celebrations going on that you might enjoy.

Lovemypuggle,

Thanks for the update! Prayers that you make it into the city eventually.

Very interesting.. I have options to do Repo cruises along the west coast...now I know to be careful abut including an itinerary with Victoria.

I liked Zaandam being a smaller ship, which was my ship back in 2015. However just returned on Noordam and it seemed the food and service were better on that ship (or else I am just no longer a newbie and was able to get a private table for all of my dinners in the MDR, plus I wasn't sick!).

Lovemypuggle,

Have they given you any updates, if you will be able to come in? Praying the wind calms down for you all.

On board as well. They told us immediately that we wouldn’t be going on shore. It’s beautiful right here but also bummed about missing Victoria on Canada Day!

No info about going in at this point... The waves look calmer so we are hoping!!!!

Lovemypuggle,

 

Have they given you any updates, if you will be able to come in? Praying the wind calms down for you all.

Many thanks to those onboard who posted. We are so sorry you can't make it ashore today. We moved to Victoria many years ago as it is such a beautiful city with so much to offer. I hope this experience doesn't make you shy about coming back again as if you haven't been here before I think you will enjoy it. We still see you anchored off Constance Bank and since you were scheduled to be here until 11pm maybe the ship will still make it in even if the excursions are all cancelled.

We've moved out of the area now headed back to Seattle, but I think after the attempt at 1 there was no plan to try again. The captain said on the message after the attempt that they almost grounded the ship at the dock. We were on the verandah watching from the port side and the mud that was spitting up from the ship as it attempted to dock was pretty interesting!

Sad to miss a stop in Canada, but we'd only planned to walk around a bit so no tours missed. Did get nearly $24 refunded to my shipboard account for the saved port fee! Bought a coupld drinks during happy hour and looked at the city from the Crow's Nest! ;)

Though this thread was almost one month ago I find it interesting that the ship missed the foreign port it was scheduled to dock that met maritime law. I guess you get a pass if you are unable to dock ?

Though this thread was almost one month ago I find it interesting that the ship missed the foreign port it was scheduled to dock that met maritime law. I guess you get a pass if you are unable to dock ?

I've missed a needed port due to weather more than once. Every time there was an exchange of paperwork between the ship and the port authorities, and that met the requirement of the PVSA.