Norwegian Encore – The Great Cruise Comeback Live

[tjpal86]

34 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

This is a brand new purpose built dock for NCL in Icy Strait. Everyone needs to catch the Transporter gondola over to the old cruise ship terminal (it’s about a 15 minute hike (kinda muddy today)) if you walk it. 
 

So, on a full ship, 4500 passengers need to get into a 8 (or less) passenger pod for a 4 minute ride to the main terminal. 
 

This is kinda cool

 

[Jember]

I am really enjoying reading this, thank you so much for taking the time to do it!

 

[wacruiselover]

44 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

This is a brand new purpose built dock for NCL in Icy Strait. Everyone needs to catch the Transporter gondola over to the old cruise ship terminal (it’s about a 15 minute hike (kinda muddy today)) if you walk it.

I have a pretty strong (and totally unreasonable) fear of heights so I normally avoid traveling on a gondola. Can you tell me how far off the ground the gondola travels and does it seem to sway much? We are going on the September 4 sailing and really wanted to do the walk to Hoonah which I believe starts at the old cruise ship terminal.

 

When we did the Bliss Alaska cruise back in 2019 I had to really steel my courage just to travel the overhead walkways onto the ship in Seattle. Maybe I just need someone to give me a good shake and tell me to move along. 🤪

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

This is a brand new purpose built dock for NCL in Icy Strait. Everyone needs to catch the Transporter gondola over to the old cruise ship terminal (it’s about a 15 minute hike (kinda muddy today)) if you walk it. 
 

So, on a full ship, 4500 passengers need to get into a 8 (or less) passenger pod for a 4 minute ride to the main terminal. 
 

Any idea what the PPH (passengers per hour) rating is for this gondola?  Based on experience at ski resorts, I would guess that it takes a couple of hours to transport a whole shipload of passengers.

[ROCruiser]

So far I haven't heard any COVID cases reported on the Encore but on the CDC site, it's listed with code Yellow for investigation and observation. Did you hear anything on board, BirdTravels?

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

[wacruiselover]

8 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

Any idea what the PPH (passengers per hour) rating is for this gondola?  Based on experience at ski resorts, I would guess that it takes a couple of hours to transport a whole shipload of passengers.

From Seatrade Cruise News:

Passengers will move through the treetops between the Historic Cannery and Wilderness Landing on the Transporter, a high-speed gondola system installed by premiere lift manufacturer Doppelmayr Lift Systems. The gondola is wheelchair and scooter accessible and capable of moving more than 5,600 visitors per hour in eight-person cabins.

[The Traveling Man]

3 minutes ago, wacruiselover said:

From Seatrade Cruise News:

Passengers will move through the treetops between the Historic Cannery and Wilderness Landing on the Transporter, a high-speed gondola system installed by premiere lift manufacturer Doppelmayr Lift Systems. The gondola is wheelchair and scooter accessible and capable of moving more than 5,600 visitors per hour in eight-person cabins.

That's remarkable.  I was just looking at the Doppelmayr website and the highest PPH rating they listed for 8 passenger cabins was around 3000 per hour.  Keep in mind, though, that gondolas typically are found at ski resorts, where most of the passengers are younger and more physically fit that the typical cruise passenger.  That has got to impact the loading and unloading speed, and hence the throughput.  Until we get to Icy Strait on our cruise in a couple of weeks and see it for ourselves, I'm going to stick by my estimate of it taking more than an hour to move the anticipated 2700 or so passengers.  Of course, maybe not everyone gets off the ship, maybe some use other forms of transportation, and maybe Doppelmayr has a super fast new model that they don't tout on their website.  We'll hope for the best but allow some extra time just in case.

[Mr_Snee]

21 minutes ago, ROCruiser said:

So far I haven't heard any COVID cases reported on the Encore but on the CDC site, it's listed with code Yellow for investigation and observation. Did you hear anything on board, BirdTravels?

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

 

That CDC page said the data was updated on August 9th, with Data Submitted as of August 6th,  so its possible the 4 day test cruise from Aug. 2 - 6 may have had something

[psac]

15 minutes ago, wacruiselover said:

From Seatrade Cruise News:

Passengers will move through the treetops between the Historic Cannery and Wilderness Landing on the Transporter, a high-speed gondola system installed by premiere lift manufacturer Doppelmayr Lift Systems. The gondola is wheelchair and scooter accessible and capable of moving more than 5,600 visitors per hour in eight-person cabins.

I'm pretty sure that’s the same company that built the Skyliner in Disney World in Orlando. Except for some initial hiccups*, it’s been running really well, pretty high capacity.  

* a few days after it first opened there was a collision between cars at one of the stations due to operator error. I don’t believe anyone got seriously hurt, but the system was down for a few hours with many people stranded in the cars for that whole time. 

[Mr_Snee]

2 minutes ago, Mr_Snee said:

 

That CDC page said the data was updated on August 9th, with Data Submitted as of August 6th,  so its possible the 4 day test cruise from Aug. 2 - 6 may have had something

Looks like they did update the page again,  in the last hour or so.

[Shellbelle28]

3 minutes ago, The Traveling Man said:

"younger and more physically fit that the typical cruise passenger.  That has got to impact the loading and unloading speed, and hence the throughput"

I don't know about that, I've seen NCL staff load passengers onto a tender bouncing on heavy swells with great speed! 😊

[wacruiselover]

1 minute ago, psac said:

I'm pretty sure that’s the same company that built the Skyliner in Disney World in Orlando. Except for some initial hiccups*, it’s been running really well, pretty high capacity.  

* a few days after it first opened there was a collision between cars at one of the stations due to operator error. I don’t believe anyone got seriously hurt, but the system was down for a few hours with many people stranded in the cars for that whole time. 

What a confidence builder for a person with a fear of heights. I might be stranded at an uncomfortable height for a few hours. Can I verify that someone will be available to give me a good shake and tell me to move along? 🤪

[psac]

1 minute ago, wacruiselover said:

What a confidence builder for a person with a fear of heights. I might be stranded at an uncomfortable height for a few hours. Can I verify that someone will be available to give me a good shake and tell me to move along? 🤪

😁I will say I hate heights, Ferris wheels terrify me, most of the small cable car type gondolas terrify me as well, but I did ride the skyliner and felt decent about it. The cars “feel substantial”, like they’re very well built and sturdy. I would be totally fine riding them again. During a windy thunderstorm though……….  😳😜
 

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/skyliner/

 

[pyurxdc]

1 hour ago, wacruiselover said:

I have a pretty strong (and totally unreasonable) fear of heights so I normally avoid traveling on a gondola. Can you tell me how far off the ground the gondola travels and does it seem to sway much? We are going on the September 4 sailing and really wanted to do the walk to Hoonah which I believe starts at the old cruise ship terminal.

 

When we did the Bliss Alaska cruise back in 2019 I had to really steel my courage just to travel the overhead walkways onto the ship in Seattle. Maybe I just need someone to give me a good shake and tell me to move along. 🤪

CBD/THC edibles might help reduce the anxiety😏

[wacruiselover]

20 minutes ago, pyurxdc said:

CBD/THC edibles might help reduce the anxiety😏

Probably don't want to go there again - I lived in Beserkley back in the 70's. But we do have the adult beverage package and we aren't scheduled to arrive until 1 PM. Plenty of time to sort things out. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Aevin1387]

54 minutes ago, Mr_Snee said:

 

That CDC page said the data was updated on August 9th, with Data Submitted as of August 6th,  so its possible the 4 day test cruise from Aug. 2 - 6 may have had something

This article from Aug. 5 shows it was yellow when the article was written: https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2021/08/articles/disease/carnival-cruise-line-admits-positive-covid-19-cases-aboard-carnival-vista-but-refuses-to-state-number-of-guests-infected/. The closest archive of the table I can find is from July 30, when it was still green, so sometime between Aug. 1 and Aug. 5 is when it went yellow.

[zerooveride]

34 minutes ago, pyurxdc said:

CBD/THC edibles might help reduce the anxiety😏

And legal in both Seattle and Alaska!

[big al]

On 8/7/2021 at 7:57 PM, BirdTravels said:

Yes. They have some senior / corporate department managers onboard that we have sailed with many times in the past. 
 

wrt to the testing debacle, The cruise line is buying everyone wine for dinner tonight (announced by the cruise director).  

Thanks for this great review so far!! Looks like there was no "Welcome Aboard" show? I like those...we are on the Encore on it's first Caribbean sailing, Nov. 14th....

[Oceansaway17]

wow Icy Point has made so many changes since 2012 first time I was there. We docked in town

 

One of the best changes is their very large and wonderful gift shop. OMG very good.

Now I might book a cruise on NCL to do the gondola.  Then again I am doing WDW soon too.  still

kinda neat the NCL did this

[Sailing12Away]

42 minutes ago, wacruiselover said:

Probably don't want to go there again - I lived in Beserkley back in the 70's. But we do have the adult beverage package and we aren't scheduled to arrive until 1 PM. Plenty of time to sort things out. Thank you for the suggestion.

What sailing are you on? I'll gladly knock back a few drinks with you before hopping off to build your courage.

[Sailing12Away]

Just saw this in the posted dailies, and as a lab scientist, I'm intrigued. I wonder if there's a way for me to tour the medical facility to see how they're processing thousands of PCR tests in just 1-2 days on board a ship - and more importantly, if they're hiring...

[wacruiselover]

Just now, Sailing12Away said:

What sailing are you on? I'll gladly knock back a few drinks with you before hopping off to build your courage.

Sept 4. My Bride and I will be the ones that look like the picture - except I might be a little pale and tentative. 🙂

[big al]

On 8/9/2021 at 12:12 PM, BirdTravels said:

Thank you for this! Can't wait to try some of these beers!!! 

[Karaboudjan]

15 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Just saw this in the posted dailies, and as a lab scientist, I'm intrigued. I wonder if there's a way for me to tour the medical facility to see how they're processing thousands of PCR tests in just 1-2 days on board a ship - and more importantly, if they're hiring...

 

  

There's at least one way to get to tour the medical facility...  😉

 

For this itinerary I expect the vast majority of passengers are from the US so not needing any tests.

[Brickwood]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

This is a brand new purpose built dock for NCL in Icy Strait. Everyone needs to catch the Transporter gondola over to the old cruise ship terminal (it’s about a 15 minute hike (kinda muddy today)) if you walk it. 
 

So, on a full ship, 4500 passengers need to get into a 8 (or less) passenger pod for a 4 minute ride to the main terminal. 

I read that the gondola would cost $15 for unlimited use per day.  Is that the case?  If so, is that the only option?  (Thanks for this thread - really enjoying it in advance of our cruise in a few weeks)