What is disembarkation day like on Viking ?

[Dauntless]

3 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 On our own.  We have an apartment rented for several days. Transfers are on us.  

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 If you are on your own, you don't need to set your bags out the night before.  Just take them with you to breakfast and then you take them off when you exit.  Both crushes we have had carry on, personal and a 50 lb. bag each and that was how we did it.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

thanks!

 

 

Sorry, Clay. I mean't to say that BARCELONA is one of those ports where they have to clear the ship before they can start loading new pax (unless perhaps they are overnighting in B or it is a way point on a B2B).

[Clay Clayton]

5 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Sorry, Clay. I mean't to say that BARCELONA is one of those ports where they have to clear the ship before they can start loading new pax (unless perhaps they are overnighting in B or it is a way point on a B2B).

I understood what you meant!

[SargassoPirate]

Thanks littlemonty and dauntless.  That's just the sort of disembarkation morning we are looking for.  

 

We are looking forward to trying VO after experiencing the cutbacks and cheapening of the brand on Royal Caribbean. Our most recent cruise on Royal was an over-amplified floating Walmart and Golden Corral, with feral children running loose on the ship.

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

1 hour ago, SargassoPirate said:

Thanks littlemonty and dauntless.  That's just the sort of disembarkation morning we are looking for.  

 

We are looking forward to trying VO after experiencing the cutbacks and cheapening of the brand on Royal Caribbean. Our most recent cruise on Royal was an over-amplified floating Walmart and Golden Corral, with feral children running loose on the ship.

 

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

"Over-amplified floating Walmart and Golden Corral, with feral children running loose on the ship."  This totally cracked me up....how well put! You will LOVE Viking because it is the opposite of this.  

[Pushka]

22 hours ago, Little Monty said:

 

 

SargassoPirate ... you are not obliged to put bags out the night before.

 

We disembarked a few days ago in Sydney. We packed our bags early on disembarkation morning then went to Explorers Lounge for waffles / breakfast. We took our bags with us to the Lounge and just left them in the corner out of the way. Several others did the same.

 

When we were ready, we simply walked off the ship with our bags. We had to be out of the room by 8am and off the ship by 9.30am - both easy to achieve if you are reasonable early risers. 

 

 

 

 

 

That possibility will depend on your cruise itinerary. Currently the cruise ending in Vancouver in May will be disembarking via tender!

[Little Monty]

Oh my heavens, I hadn’t thought of that option .. good luck. 

 

 

[Ready to Sail!]

2 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

That possibility will depend on your cruise itinerary. Currently the cruise ending in Vancouver in May will be disembarking via tender!

That is really interesting.  Vancouver has a really nice terminal and I think they can accommodate 3 ships, maybe 4.  I have never heard of a ship disembarking via tender.  We have either began or ended cruises there 3 times and never saw or heard of this.  I am really curious about this.  Certainly the Alaska cruises are very popular and I guess more and more ships are sailing into and out of Vancouver every year.  It is too bad more of these mega ships are being used for Alaska.  The Alaska ports are small and I can't imagine 2-4 ships with 2K-6K passengers arriving in any of them on any given day.  Well, please let us know about the Vancouver situation.  Thanks.

[Pushka]

3 minutes ago, Ready to Sail! said:

That is really interesting.  Vancouver has a really nice terminal and I think they can accommodate 3 ships, maybe 4.  I have never heard of a ship disembarking via tender.  We have either began or ended cruises there 3 times and never saw or heard of this.  I am really curious about this.  Certainly the Alaska cruises are very popular and I guess more and more ships are sailing into and out of Vancouver every year.  It is too bad more of these mega ships are being used for Alaska.  The Alaska ports are small and I can't imagine 2-4 ships with 2K-6K passengers arriving in any of them on any given day.  Well, please let us know about the Vancouver situation.  Thanks.

Yes, there are already ships booked for the available berths. There is no reference to tender process in our documents but the info came from Viking. Hopefully they will find us a berth 

[Cienfuegos]

The Vancouver cruise authority has acknowledged that berth space is constrained at peak times.  It has also commissioned a study to consider additional cruise capacity outside the Lions Gate bridge, perhaps at Richmond or Delta.

 

 

[Pushka]

2 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

The Vancouver cruise authority has acknowledged that berth space is constrained at peak times.  It has also commissioned a study to consider additional cruise capacity outside the Lions Gate bridge, perhaps at Richmond or Delta.

 

 

 

Thats interesting. Unfortunately too late for us in four months time. Hopefully they will find us a berth, somewhere. 

[Ready to Sail!]

2 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

The Vancouver cruise authority has acknowledged that berth space is constrained at peak times.  It has also commissioned a study to consider additional cruise capacity outside the Lions Gate bridge, perhaps at Richmond or Delta.

 

 

That would be a shame as it is really a beautiful sail away port, especially passing under the Lions Gate.   2 of our 3 Alaskan cruises have been in May, and the other June so we have managed to avoid the peak season.  

[Cienfuegos]

Agreed.  Apparently the arrival of 4,000+ passenger ships has created an accommodation issue.

 

For what it's worth, it was only a matter of time before these mega-ships would find their way to Seattle / Vancouver / Alaska.

 

[Ready to Sail!]

2 minutes ago, Cienfuegos said:

Agreed.  Apparently the arrival of 4,000+ passenger ships has created an accommodation issue.

 

For what it's worth, it was only a matter of time before these mega-ships would find their way to Seattle / Vancouver / Alaska.

 

In a few more years we will hear of Alaskan ports having to set some guidelines like so many of these over saturated ports in Europe.   These mega ships are ruining tourism for everyone.  

[CharTrav]

I posted on the issue of docking or tendering in Vancouver on another thread. Reading this, I fear what I shared was oh so out of date.  Sigh. 🙀

[Heidi13]

20 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

The Vancouver cruise authority has acknowledged that berth space is constrained at peak times.  It has also commissioned a study to consider additional cruise capacity outside the Lions Gate bridge, perhaps at Richmond or Delta.

 

 

Canada Place was originally built to handle 5 ships, but now is generally considered that 3 is the max, although it couldn't handle 3 mega ships. We did have an alternative berth at Ballantyne, but that was shut down about 5 yrs ago.

 

Regarding building a new cruise berth outside 1st Narrows, yes they are talking about Richmond & Delta. Realistically, I can't see the mega ships going up the Fraser River, so it only leaves Delta Port, which is miles from anywhere.

[Cienfuegos]

I have seen Delta Port mentioned in articles about the problem with larger ships in Vancouver.

 

The Roberts Bank coal export facility might be a good model for what BC could undertake for cruise ships.  A modern terminal, two miles out to sea, with ample space for the largest ships. Good rail access, and parking for employees or guests, etc. Rail is nearby and could be used to connect the cruise ship facility with the Vancouver Waterfront train station.

[Heidi13]

Affirmative, Delta Port is really the only viable and cost effective option. The opposite side from the containers has always been designated for a grain terminal, but they could easily put in a multi-use berth.

 

Only issue is wind, there would be a few days each summer when docking would be a challenge.

 

The Delta Port rail doesn't easily connect to downtown, so the best option is similar to the ferry terminal where they provide buses through the tunnel to connect with Skytrain in Richmond.