Today's article on port of tampa

[sue1898]

Thought this new article might be of interest since the Ryndam will be retired:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/states-long-awaited-cruise-ship-study-lays-out-options-facing-tampa-bay/2187608

Edited July 9, 2014 by sue1898

[1of4]

Thought this new article might be of interest since the Ryndam will be retired:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/states-long-awaited-cruise-ship-study-lays-out-options-facing-tampa-bay/2187608

 

Thanks for the link. Having sailed out of Tampa on the Ryndam it offered a perspective on the issue I wouldn't have had otherwise.

[SeaBands]

It's only about 1 1/2 hours from home and is easily reached from Ga. and other southern cites.HAL still has several other smaller ships that can move there from FLL as does Carnival and Azamara.

[Scrapnana]

I hope not all new builds are going to be the mega ships as the article implies.

[POA1]

Thanks for the post.

[sail7seas]

We sailed from Tampa at least 3-4 times and totally enjoyed it. I think it a wonderful embarkation/debark port.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for the link. We love cruising out of Tampa but know the problem with getting under the Skyway Bridge. I think it would be a shame not be able to dock in Tampa, but as long as the cruise industry wants to build mega ship, it is not only Tampa that is going to have this problem.

[rafinmd]

I wonder what could be done with a longer wider ship but still only about 11 decks. Would it be feasible and could it carry enough passengers to be economically viable?

 

Roy

[Hlitner]

Interesting article and thanks for posting. The Port of Baltimore faces similar issues with a harbor bridge that is too low for all the larger ships (and not just mega ships).

 

Hank

[SeaBands]

and have a scow take our luggage out.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link to the article.

We have sailed several times out of Tampa on different HAL ships.

[jtl513]

I wonder what could be done with a longer wider ship but still only about 11 decks. Would it be feasible and could it carry enough passengers to be economically viable?

That may be possible, but it's not what the industry is building. Everything is going both wider and higher, like HAL's Pinnacle Class under construction. If one or two low, wide ships were built that would not save Tampa. They would still have problems cited in the article of the channel being too narrow and the turning basin being too short. :(

 

maybe they could restock the ship elsewhere and tender us from port Tampa

That would be about a 30 mile tender ride! Even a hydrofoil tender would take an hour each way if they could go that fast in the channel. Not practical. Edited July 9, 2014 by jtl513

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info..

Edited July 9, 2014 by we're sailing away....

[jtl513]

maybe they could restock the ship elsewhere and tender us from port Tampa

Not practical.

Maybe they could build a small tender-only terminal outside the bridge, but the logistics of stocking the ship and handling all the baggage would be difficult.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for sharing.

[Davitur]

That may be possible, but it's not what the industry is building. Everything is going both wider and higher, like HAL's Pinnacle Class under construction.

 

Do we know that it will be "higher"? From what I recall reading about the new build it would be wider...but I didn't remember them saying it would be higher. More berths might = higher, but then again it just may be longer and wider (New Panamax). HAL likes to be able to bring the ships through the canal to shift the fleet between Alaska in the summer and the Caribbean in the winter -- so the new build should fit through the new locks (if too big for the old locks).

 

The reported vertical clearance on the Bridge of the America's is 201 ft. The Sunshine Skyway's vertical clearance is 193 ft. -- so the new build depending on its final specs may still be able to due Tampa.

 

Reading through the article, it appears a new port would be the best option if they wanted to keep the cruising business that supported "mega ships", but Tampa may want to change its business to more "boutique" (smaller) ships.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Thanks for the link. We love cruising out of Tampa but know the problem with getting under the Skyway Bridge. I think it would be a shame not be able to dock in Tampa, but as long as the cruise industry wants to build mega ship, it is not only Tampa that is going to have this problem.

 

I remember being up on the top deck while we cleared the Skyway on the Veendam. The captain had said it would be a "skweaker" due to high tides and he was right! I almost ducked :)!

[ShipsAreTheBest]

This is going to be a problem in other places too I suspect. Ever wonder why the Queen Mary 2's funnel is so squat when you compare it to the size of the ship? Because she wouldn't have fit under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge if it were the size originally contemplated (and that would have made the ship a little more visually appealing, IMO).

[POA1]

Are the Vista class ships too tall for Tampa?

[PathfinderEss]

This is going to be a problem in other places too I suspect. Ever wonder why the Queen Mary 2's funnel is so squat when you compare it to the size of the ship? Because she wouldn't have fit under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge if it were the size originally contemplated (and that would have made the ship a little more visually appealing, IMO).

 

Didn't know that, how interesting. I knew they seem squater, but didn't know the reason why. Well maybe if they could do that on the Queen Mary 2, they should be able to do that to other cruise ship.

Are the Vista class ships too tall for Tampa?

 

I've heard they are to tall, but certainly don't know it for a fact.

[Davitur]

Are the Vista class ships too tall for Tampa?

 

Wikipedia (the internet's bible :rolleyes: ) claims that Vista class ships are "Panamax" which means no more than 190' of air draft (vertical above the water). So on paper it would fit with 3' to spare +/- for tides.

 

I also would be interested to know from one of the more practical experts (real engineers and/or mariners) to know if the Vista's are actually short enough to go under the bridge.

[BillB48]

Wikipedia (the internet's bible :rolleyes: ) claims that Vista class ships are "Panamax" which means no more than 190' of air draft (vertical above the water). So on paper it would fit with 3' to spare +/- for tides.

 

I also would be interested to know from one of the more practical experts (real engineers and/or mariners) to know if the Vista's are actually short enough to go under the bridge.

 

Dave, you are aware that everything you read/see on the internet is true? You can't put anything on the i-net that's not true.;):D Some of my reply is based on experience but I'm not a mariner or engineer, but practical... and some of the reply is based on the good ol' internet:). The vertical clearance below the Sunshine Skyway is 180.5' at mean high water. I really don't know what the maximum air draft of a ship is allowed to pass under the bridge. I have sailed under the bridge on Royal's Radiance class ships and from of my notes the air draft on the Radiance was 173'. Now here is where we go back to this internet thing... according to cruise-ships.com the silhouettes of the Radiance class ships are taller than the Vista class ships. Doing a little interpolating, the Radiance class ships are much closer to the 180' mark on the diagrams than the Vistas. Take the Z'dam for example, to me it appears to be at 170' according to those diagrams and some of the Vistas are actually a little shorter than that. The bottom line (or perhaps the upper limit) I believe the Vista class can fit.

[jtl513]

Do we know that it will be "higher"? From what I recall reading about the new build it would be wider...but I didn't remember them saying it would be higher. More berths might = higher, but then again it just may be longer and wider (New Panamax).

None of us outside HAL or Fincantieri (sp?) know for certain, of course, but artists renderings seem to show one additional full deck, and 400 more passengers than a Vista require 200 more cabins. It definitely will be wider (new Panamax) but still to add 200 more cabins and the promised new restaurants in the same number of decks would take some doing IMO.

 

Besides, from what the article said about channel width and turning basins in Tampa, longer and wider could be as much of a problem as height.

.

Edited July 10, 2014 by jtl513

[Davitur]

Dave, you are aware that everything you read/see on the internet is true? You can't put anything on the i-net that's not true.;):D

 

If I had a dime for everyone who came to me with something because of the "proof" they found on the internet... :) For kicks and giggles when I have the sniffles I google my symptoms to see what bizarro rare disease is going to kill me now.

 

Some of my reply is based on experience but I'm not a mariner or engineer, but practical... and some of the reply is based on the good ol' internet:).

 

That's good enough for me!

 

Take the Z'dam for example, to me it appears to be at 170' according to those diagrams and some of the Vistas are actually a little shorter than that. The bottom line (or perhaps the upper limit) I believe the Vista class can fit.

 

That's good to hear that HAL can sail its newer ships into Tampa (if they wanted). I sailed out of Tampa on the NCL Star and looking at the specs it looks like the Z'dam is a similar sized ship.

[Davitur]

None of us outside HAL or Fincantieri (sp?) know for certain, of course, but artists renderings seem to show one additional full deck, and 400 more passengers than a Vista require 200 more cabins. It definitely will be wider (new Panamax) but still to add 200 more cabins and the promised new restaurants in the same number of decks would take some doing IMO.

 

Besides, from what the article said about channel width and turning basins in Tampa, longer and wider could be as much of a problem as height.

.

 

Looking at the renderings on this site (and who knows how accurate they may be), it looks like there are five veranda decks above promenade. If that is true (a big supposition), it may not be much taller than the other Signature class ships. Also, widening the ship by 35 feet alone could possibly get you another 80 inside cabins as well as a couple more aft veranda cabins per "cabin" deck.

 

As you conclude, it may still be limited by the turning basins as well. A well, at least the Vista's should still fit in Tampa...