Why Did Volendam Just Turn Back Towards Vancouver and Stop, Along w/ Island Princess?

[Overtime4me2]

I was just looking at Marinetraffic.com just now, and noticed that just about 10 minutes ago, Volendam turned around?? Then as I was watching, I notice Island Princess slowed and turned around also?? Anyone heard anything, just wondering. They're usually moving right along to get through Seymour Narrows....now it looks like they've stopped completely....seems odd.

 

Curious :)

[Overtime4me2]

Now it looks like she's moving on again, but Island Princess is still sitting....now IP is starting to move. Maybe they had to wait for traffic? I've sailed out of Vancouver twice and we've never stopped like that.

 

It's interesting to click on the "show vessels track" and see how they both slowed, stopped, etc...:confused:

[Lembano]

Island Princess's track looks like she did a spiral corkscrew kinda maneuver. Strange.

http://marinetraffic.com/ais/

 

[PathfinderEss]

Wow, that's weird............Ok wonder what was going on?

[IRL_Joanie]

My AIS tracker looks different than yours...

 

 

Do not know what to tell you....

 

Joanie

[startwin]

Given where this all happened it could have been a marine emergency that both ships were responding to, or a medical emergency. But whichever, it looks like it was resolved and everyone is on their way now. I'll check the late news tonight and see if there's any mention of it.

[cruiservictor]

This brought back memories of when we left Vancouver for Seattle on the Noordam in 2007. I dug out my blog from back then - I wonder if it was the same thing tonight that we experienced that evening: "Right after we sailed under the bridge, the Captain announced that we would be pulling into a bay and doing 360 degree turns for about an hour, in order to do some kind of calibration of the ship’s magnetic compass. It was eerie as the world spun around outside the dining room windows. We saw the other 3 cruise ships had been in Vancouver that day sail by. They must have wondered what the heck was going on with the Noordam."

[Lembano]

That looks like the Volendam track. Did you track Island Princess?

[Overtime4me2]

Yes, those two that both Lembano and Joanie show are the two I was watching. Just thought it was really odd, and odd enough that I just happened to see it when it happened! I've learned so much from people on these boards, that I thought I'd ask. You never know what you might find out! I did also wonder if they had to "waste" an hour to get to Seymour Narrows at the right time to pass through?? I had noticed they both used up about an hours time, approx. IP's corkscrew was interesting. :D

 

Thanks everyone. :)

[Overtime4me2]

This brought back memories of when we left Vancouver for Seattle on the Noordam in 2007. I dug out my blog from back then - I wonder if it was the same thing tonight that we experienced that evening: "Right after we sailed under the bridge, the Captain announced that we would be pulling into a bay and doing 360 degree turns for about an hour, in order to do some kind of calibration of the ship’s magnetic compass. It was eerie as the world spun around outside the dining room windows. We saw the other 3 cruise ships had been in Vancouver that day sail by. They must have wondered what the heck was going on with the Noordam."

 

That's really interesting. I follow Capt. Albert's blog on the HAL blog site. He just recently went on his break from the Statendam. If he was currently on it, I'd ask him about this. He's very nice about answering questions.

[Overtime4me2]

Given where this all happened it could have been a marine emergency that both ships were responding to, or a medical emergency. But whichever, it looks like it was resolved and everyone is on their way now. I'll check the late news tonight and see if there's any mention of it.

 

That went through my mind also. I hope that wasn't the case. If you hear anything, let us know! Thanks! :)

[trvlcrzy]

Just speculation, of course, but the part about "killing time" before entering the narrows makes a bit of sense.

 

On our Ryndam 2009 cruise, we were able to go through a channel farther inland than the normal track. I remember passing a town named Bella Bella, and the cruise director was officiating the team trivia game.

 

He stopped the game for us to look for a few minutes, saying, "This is very unusual for us to be this far inland in a channel. The tides normally do not cooperate."

 

Perhaps they had another of those rare opportunities. (A bit more positive than the possibility of a medical or maritime emergency.)

[Love the beach]

This brought back memories of when we left Vancouver for Seattle on the Noordam in 2007. I dug out my blog from back then - I wonder if it was the same thing tonight that we experienced that evening: "Right after we sailed under the bridge, the Captain announced that we would be pulling into a bay and doing 360 degree turns for about an hour, in order to do some kind of calibration of the ship’s magnetic compass. It was eerie as the world spun around outside the dining room windows. We saw the other 3 cruise ships had been in Vancouver that day sail by. They must have wondered what the heck was going on with the Noordam."

The same thing happened on our Statendam Inside Passage cruise out of Vancouver in 2009!

[Viesczy]

Wasn't the tides, Gojira rose! Flee for your live! The end is nigh! :D

 

Like others said, prolly was a sea condition (or Gojira) that required a little bit of stalling.

 

Derek

[Himself]

Just speculation, of course, but the part about "killing time" before entering the narrows makes a bit of sense.

 

On our Ryndam 2009 cruise, we were able to go through a channel farther inland than the normal track. I remember passing a town named Bella Bella, and the cruise director was officiating the team trivia game.

 

He stopped the game for us to look for a few minutes, saying, "This is very unusual for us to be this far inland in a channel. The tides normally do not cooperate."

 

Perhaps they had another of those rare opportunities. (A bit more positive than the possibility of a medical or maritime emergency.)

 

Whatever it was, I am glad it happened this week rather than next week or the following week.

[MightyQuinn]

We were on that Volendam sailing and nothing untoward happened that final evening as we sailed the BC Inside Passage. We were in the Crows Nest at about 6:20 pm and noticed that we had reduced speed considerably, though I don't believe we actually stopped. We maintained very slow speeds for upwards of an hour. There were no public announcements but I would guess that we needed to adjust our arrival time for Seymour Narrows.

[Copper10-8]

:eek:Submarine races in Seymour Narrows - Canada vs U.S.

[superoma]

:eek:Submarine races in Seymour Narrows - Canada vs U.S.

Not possible Copper, all our submarines leak:D

[Kiwi Kruzer]

This brought back memories of when we left Vancouver for Seattle on the Noordam in 2007. I dug out my blog from back then - I wonder if it was the same thing tonight that we experienced that evening: "Right after we sailed under the bridge, the Captain announced that we would be pulling into a bay and doing 360 degree turns for about an hour, in order to do some kind of calibration of the ship’s magnetic compass. It was eerie as the world spun around outside the dining room windows. We saw the other 3 cruise ships had been in Vancouver that day sail by. They must have wondered what the heck was going on with the Noordam."

 

 

We had this happen once on a Princess ship . The Captain announced that it was something that had to be done every 12 months. They usually choose a location where they are in protected deep water, a quiet harbour or sheltered bay, to carry it out.

 

[Overtime4me2]

Thanks everyone. They were probably just stalling for time, or re-calibrating as a couple of you mentioned. You are all so helpful....thanks again, it was very interesting! :)

[startwin]

Not possible Copper, all our submarines leak:D

 

All ONE of them?????:D