Alaska Cruise Changes on Eurodam, Is this normal?

[RedneckBob]

Hello y'all. Me and the Misses are cruising on the Eurodam out of Seattle to Alaska on June 11, 2022. Last night received this notice from HAL that the boat will be departing earlier (3 pm) due to operational reasons and all on board by 2 PM. If you have to change your flight to Seattle to catch the boat in time HAL will consider paying you the increase cost. Way to go HAL!

Also we are only in Ketchikan for 5 hours and don't arrive at Victoria until 8 PM! That sucks.

[farawaygal]

Same changes happened on the April 30 Eurodam Alaska cruise.

[idiebabe]

All the Eurodam Sailings have been getting notifications of cutting the times short in the Ports.  We're on May 28th and received it a few days ago.  

[RedneckBob]

Thanks for the replies. I was unaware how many other cruises were changing

[HappyInVan]

2 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Also we are only in Ketchikan for 5 hours and don't arrive at Victoria until 8 PM! That sucks.

 

That's unfortunately. The Misty Fjord cruise out of Ketchikan requires 4.5 hours.

[kentuckycruiser]

1 hour ago, idiebabe said:

All the Eurodam Sailings have been getting notifications of cutting the times short in the Ports.  We're on May 28th and received it a few days ago.  

maybe they whip those people on and off.  Sorry I meant this to be the response to the Misty Fjords comment. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by kentuckycruiser

[Torquer]

4 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Last night received this notice from HAL that the boat will be departing earlier (3 pm) due to operational reasons and all on board by 2 PM.

I never heard of a 3PM departure on embarkation day before.  That is really early, with 4-5 PM more typical and sometimes later.  For those who fly in on embarkation day, something we would never do, that could be a real problem.

 

I'm wondering if HAL is choosing to leave ports earlier in the day so they can cruise at a slower speed overnight to save fuel.

[DaveOKC]

16 minutes ago, Torquer said:

I never heard of a 3PM departure on embarkation day before.  That is really early, with 4-5 PM more typical and sometimes later.  For those who fly in on embarkation day, something we would never do, that could be a real problem.

 

I'm wondering if HAL is choosing to leave ports earlier in the day so they can cruise at a slower speed overnight to save fuel.

Likely reason

 

[echoshipmate]

Same changes in departure time for the Discovery Princess from 4 to 3, operational reasons cited out of Seattle.

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, Torquer said:

I never heard of a 3PM departure on embarkation day before.  That is really early, with 4-5 PM more typical and sometimes later.  For those who fly in on embarkation day, something we would never do, that could be a real problem.

 

I'm wondering if HAL is choosing to leave ports earlier in the day so they can cruise at a slower speed overnight to save fuel.

Could it have to do with tides? 

[rkacruiser]

6 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Could it have to do with tides? 

 

The fact that Discovery Princess is also their sailing and port times makes me think that it is due to either tides and/or the desire to sail at a lower speed for fuel reasons.  When I initially read the OP's post, I thought of mechanical reasons.  But, it would an  unusual coincidence for that to be the reason for two different ships.  

[idiebabe]

23 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The fact that Discovery Princess is also their sailing and port times makes me think that it is due to either tides and/or the desire to sail at a lower speed for fuel reasons.  When I initially read the OP's post, I thought of mechanical reasons.  But, it would an  unusual coincidence for that to be the reason for two different ships.  

When I first received the email on Wednesday I thought that the Eurodam was one of the Ships (NS another one) having Azipod issues during the Winter that skipped a Port, etc.  It also seems that all the Sailings of Eurodam have shortened some of the Port times which appears they need more time to get to the next Port.  Agree though too much of a coincidence with Discovery Princess.

 

 

  

[HappyInVan]

5 hours ago, kentuckycruiser said:

maybe they whip those people on and off.  Sorry I meant this to be the response to the Misty Fjords comment. 

 

Right! Maybe. The tour boat (Melinda Leigh)  docked next to the Koningsdam; right by the gangway.

 

However, the boat is already running at 25 knots on the open stretches of its 100 mile route. So, it is possible that the captain will have to cut the amount of time at the most interesting spots.

[Retired 07]

On 5/13/2022 at 7:14 AM, idiebabe said:

All the Eurodam Sailings have been getting notifications of cutting the times short in the Ports.  We're on May 28th and received it a few days ago.  

Hi! We are also on the 28th, and I noticed on the itinerary on the app that Hubbard Glacier is no longer there, and an evening stop at Icy Strait point is.. not happy about this at all.

[JudithLynne]

We are on the July 2nd sailing and today received docs via email.  There were no changes to the booking.

 

 

[twodjs]

Could HAL and Princess be having the same problem of barnacle fouling of their hulls which has caused a Celebrity ship to reduce its speed and miss ports becauce the barnacles are causing a significant drag on the ship's forward movement? The problem has gotten so bad that the second Celebrity Eclipse cruise to Alaska has now been cancelled and it will go into drydock to remove the pesky barnacles.

[groundloop]

20 hours ago, RuthC said:

Could it have to do with tides? 

 

 

Doubtful, they've certainly known what the tides will be well before they scheduled the itinerary.  

 

 

16 minutes ago, twodjs said:

Could HAL and Princess be having the same problem of barnacle fouling of their hulls which has caused a Celebrity ship to reduce its speed and miss ports becauce the barnacles are causing a significant drag on the ship's forward movement? 

 

 

That certainly sounds feasible.  In fact I believe that's what I'm going to blame it on - I saw it on the internet so it must be true.

 

 

I'm also on that June 11th sailing and not super thrilled with the changes.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by groundloop

[twodjs]

I agree - tides wouldn't be the issue. If HAL is willing to compensate those arriving last minute, there is a more serious problem than they are admitting. Will they continue to limp through the entire Alaska season, or fess up and fix it now. Finding available drydock time is a major issue. 

[Crew News]

My April 27th Zuiderdam departure from Vancouver was delayed until 5:00 PM which caused the ship to miss the window for the optimum course/channel/speed.  The reduced speed meant we were two hours late into Juneau. 

 

All other ports and speeds were normal and on time.

[luvtravel]

On 5/13/2022 at 10:18 AM, Torquer said:

I never heard of a 3PM departure on embarkation day before.  That is really early, with 4-5 PM more typical and sometimes later.  For those who fly in on embarkation day, something we would never do, that could be a real problem.

 

I'm wondering if HAL is choosing to leave ports earlier in the day so they can cruise at a slower speed overnight to save fuel.

That’s what we’re thinking too - fuel savings. Unfortunately it seriously cuts into time in ports but for us less time in Victoria is a problem. We have friends we were going to dine with. By the time we would be able to get off - takes time parking the ship, customs, etc. - we would have little time with them. Unfortunate.

[twodjs]

Seriously? I'm not buying the fuel savings spin. It makes no sense that they would be willing to pay to compensate those who have to change flights, and to inconvenience ALL who have make plans during the port stops, just so they can save fuel. Certainly not a good PR move. There has to be more to the story.

[rkacruiser]

Marine growth on the hull or the propellers/Azipods causing this?  I am not buying that explanation at all.  It's a mechanical issue or a fuel saving measure.  I vote for fuel saving.  

[rkacruiser]

This issue is just one more example of a cruise ship management not being honest as to what is happening during a cruise when a guest inquires.  "Keep the guests happy."  That must be a line in some business textbook.  That kind of response becomes, at least for this cruiser, offensive when I know darn well that there is an anomaly during my cruise.  

 

Remember 1912.  Guest to Steward: "Why have we stopped?"  The Steward's reply:  "We will be again underway soon."