Koningsdam 7071 review May 6-13 2023

[xlxo]

fyi.... Looking https://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/vessels/KONINGSDAM/CURRENT-POSITION/9692557/244830547 and https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9692557 it appears the Koningsdam is back to doing the South Inside Passage going Northbound.

 

I was on the Koningsdam the week before and yes we did the South Inside Passage both NorthBound and SouthBound.

[xlxo]

11 hours ago, Fairgarth said:

I was thinking - always dangerous - that Vancouver Island is almost 300  miles long.  So if you depart Vancouver port at 5:00pm, you travel the inside passage largely at night so you won't see anything.  Same thing coming southbound.  If you arrive Vancouver at 7:00am, you have travelled the inside passage all night.  Am I missing something?

 

Depends on which month you are cruising.  May to July, there is daylight until around 10pm.

• going Northbound, the ship travels very slowly through the South Inside passage allowing you to still see the Northern half in the morning.
• going Southbound, the ship travels much of the South Inside passage in evening with daylight for the scenery and the ship slows down around Parksville at bedtime as it meanders slowly for the 6am Lions Gate crossing the next morning.

[nw gardener]

Reference the Inside Passage route, I do see that Cruise Mapper has the same map for every cruise ship leaving from Vancouver (going  out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and west of  Vancouver Island), so I have little faith in their maps. Will be looking at live ship tracking this Friday and Saturday to see the route Koningsdam takes. I'm on the June 3 cruise and am hoping for the traditional inside! 

[decrepit old man]

37 minutes ago, xlxo said:

fyi.... Looking https://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/vessels/KONINGSDAM/CURRENT-POSITION/9692557/244830547 and https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9692557 it appears the Koningsdam is back to doing the South Inside Passage going Northbound.

 

I was on the Koningsdam the week before and yes we did the South Inside Passage both NorthBound and SouthBound.

I clicked on the links. Does it not show that it is going west of Vancouver Island both northbound and southbound (i.e. Not the South Inside Passage)?

[cabland]

1 hour ago, decrepit old man said:

I clicked on the links. Does it not show that it is going west of Vancouver Island both northbound and southbound (i.e. Not the South Inside Passage)?

It shows multiple ships...if you filter for the Koningsdam, it appears to show it traveled BETWEEN Vancouver Island and the mainland.

[cabland]

2 hours ago, xlxo said:

fyi.... Looking https://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/vessels/KONINGSDAM/CURRENT-POSITION/9692557/244830547 and https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9692557 it appears the Koningsdam is back to doing the South Inside Passage going Northbound.

 

I was on the Koningsdam the week before and yes we did the South Inside Passage both NorthBound and SouthBound.

EXCELLENT and thanks for the links.  Like @nw gardener I will be watching this like a hawk this weekend and next before our June cruise!

[mahi mahi]

On 5/24/2023 at 10:18 PM, Fairgarth said:

I was thinking - always dangerous - that Vancouver Island is almost 300  miles long.  So if you depart Vancouver port at 5:00pm, you travel the inside passage largely at night so you won't see anything.  Same thing coming southbound.  If you arrive Vancouver at 7:00am, you have travelled the inside passage all night.  Am I missing something?

We did inside passage in June last year and I can tell you there is a LOT of daylight this time of year!  I clearly remember getting up around 3 am with the sun coming up and standing on the balcony in awe.  There is nothing like sailing very slowly almost silently along, so close to spectacular scenery.  Breathtaking.

Contrast that experience with Princess in September on what was supposed to be inside passage - it was not.  Turns out the ship was too large. 

[HappyInVan]

2 hours ago, mahi mahi said:

Contrast that experience with Princess in September on what was supposed to be inside passage - it was not.  Turns out the ship was too large. 

 

Right. There's a practical limit to the size of cruise ships in Alaska. In May in Skagway, the Koningsdam docked at the Ore Dock, right next to the White Pass station. The Royal Princess (140k GT) docked next to the landslide, and had to use tenders to the nearby boat harbor. The area of the pier used by the Royal was deemed unsafe for pax.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by HappyInVan

[nw gardener]

Checked 2 different marine vessel live tracking websites a few minutes ago,  Koningsdam is taking the normal Inside Passage route SB to Vancouver today.  Will check tomorrow evening to see what NB route it takes. 

[Fairgarth]

6 hours ago, mahi mahi said:

We did inside passage in June last year and I can tell you there is a LOT of daylight this time of year!  I clearly remember getting up around 3 am with the sun coming up and standing on the balcony in awe.  There is nothing like sailing very slowly almost silently along, so close to spectacular scenery.  Breathtaking.

 

That's good to know.  Thank you.

[Colorado Klutch]

4 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

Right. There's a practical limit to the size of cruise ships in Alaska. In May in Skagway, the Koningsdam docked at the Ore Dock, right next to the White Pass station. The Royal Princess (140k GT) docked next to the landslide, and had to use tenders to the nearby boat harbor. The area of the pier used by the Royal was deemed unsafe for pax.

 

 

 

 

 

I watched Royal Princess tendering from that pier. They could use only two tender boats. The lines to get back onto the ship were quite long. 

[cabland]

2 hours ago, nw gardener said:

Checked 2 different marine vessel live tracking websites a few minutes ago,  Koningsdam is taking the normal Inside Passage route SB to Vancouver today.  Will check tomorrow evening to see what NB route it takes. 

Yep, looks like it will enter the area between Vancouver Island and the mainland in about 30-60 mins (between 2:00 and 2:30 PST).  Fingers crossed for tomorrow night...at least we should know shortly after they leave the port - here's praying they don't take a sharp turn to port!

[cabland]

While not 100% definitive it appears the Koningsdam, which departed Vancouver a while ago is headed North BETWEEN Vancouver island and the mainland.  Conversely, the Majestic Princess left right before the Koningsdam and turned to Port and is headed around Vancouver Island (to the West of the Island).  Stoked the Koningsdam looks to have returned to its original route...at least for this week!

[xlxo]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:18 PM, Fairgarth said:

I was thinking - always dangerous - that Vancouver Island is almost 300  miles long.  So if you depart Vancouver port at 5:00pm, you travel the inside passage largely at night so you won't see anything.  Same thing coming southbound.  If you arrive Vancouver at 7:00am, you have travelled the inside passage all night.  Am I missing something?

I just tracked the Koningsdam activity the last two days for you...

 

sunset at this time of the year is 9pm, twilight for about 45 minutes afterwards so you get 50% of the South Inside passage segment in daylight.  Sunrise is 5:15am with twilight beginning around 4:30am.

 

• 0526 20:20 2 knots leaving Ketchikan
• 0526 00:00 13 knots just oustide of Prince Rupert and going into Haida Gwaii protected waters
• 0526 02:00 19 knots middle of Haida Gwaii
• 0526 07:30 exiting protected waters of South Tip of Haida Gwaii
• 0526 09:30 17 knots halfway between Haida Gwaii and South Inside Passage
• 0526 13:30 16 knots enters the South Inside Passage
• 0526 15:15 14 knots passing Port Hardy
• 0526 16:50 12 knots passing Port McNeil
• 0526 20:30 12 knots passing Sayward BC
• 0526 22:00 10 knots passing Rock Bay
• 0526 23:05 12 knots entering Seymour Narrows
• 0526 23:40 12 knots passing Campbell River
• 0527 01:35 14 knots passing Courtenay
• 0527 03:25 19 knots passing Parksville
• 0527 05:20 18 knots passing Bowen Island
• 0527 06:16 8 knots passing Lions Gate
• 0527 06:45 docked at cruise terminal

 

• 0527 17:00 departing cruise terminal
• 0527 17:40 10 knots passing Lion's Gate Bridge
• 0527 20:30 15 knots passing Lasqueti Island
• 0527 22:15 15 knots leaving Texada Island and Powell River
• 0527 00:20 11 knots at Campbell River
• 0527 01:00 13 knots at Seymour Narrows
• 0527 03:00 20 knots at Sayward
• 0527 05:00 20 knots at Alert Bay and Port McNeil at sunrise
• 0527 06:11 19 knots at Port Hardy
• 0527 07:50 17 knots exit the South Inside Passage
   

[xlxo]

On 5/24/2023 at 7:34 PM, oakridger said:

Has HAL been asked why they changed the route out of Vancouver going north?  Is HAL only doing this temporarily for some specific reason?  I'd like to hear their official explanation

 

Yesterday's departure reverted back to the the South Inside passage Northbound...

 

One possbility for the one time detour sailing the Graveyard of the Pacific Northbound is to avoid congestion in the South Inside Passage.  
- while the Koningsdam is racing to Seymour Narrows this weekend 0527, there's three incoming ships racing to Vancouver... RCL Brilliance of the Seas, ms Noordam, Celebrity Eclipse. Does the Koningsdam need to stop at one point to allow these three ships to pass? Majestic Princess does the Graveyard of the Pacific Northbound and Southbound without restrictions at 19 knots.  But the extra distance puts the ship 3 hours behind Koningsdam going to Alaska.
- In addition to boats 'n ships, there may have been whales in the waters which would demand the ship to reduce speed and minimize sonar use in navigation.

[cabland]

33 minutes ago, xlxo said:

 

Yesterday's departure reverted back to the the South Inside passage Northbound...

 

One possbility for the one time detour sailing the Graveyard of the Pacific Northbound is to avoid congestion in the South Inside Passage.  
- while the Koningsdam is racing to Seymour Narrows this weekend 0527, there's three incoming ships racing to Vancouver... RCL Brilliance of the Seas, ms Noordam, Celebrity Eclipse. Does the Koningsdam need to stop at one point to allow these three ships to pass? Majestic Princess does the Graveyard of the Pacific Northbound and Southbound without restrictions at 19 knots.  But the extra distance puts the ship 3 hours behind Koningsdam going to Alaska.
- In addition to boats 'n ships, there may have been whales in the waters which would demand the ship to reduce speed and minimize sonar use in navigation.

Great info.  I had to lookup "Graveyard of the Pacific"... I can see why cruise lines don't list that as a "highlight of your Alaska cruise itinerary"!

[Fairgarth]

7 hours ago, xlxo said:

I just tracked the Koningsdam activity the last two days for you...

 

sunset at this time of the year is 9pm, twilight for about 45 minutes afterwards so you get 50% of the South Inside passage segment in daylight.  Sunrise is 5:15am with twilight beginning around 4:30am.

 

 

That is very interesting, thank you.  I'm surprised how the speed varies.