Mrs applehead Posted August 28, 2023 #101 Share Posted August 28, 2023 It's the not knowing what's happening which is putting people on edge. There is so much speculation around the ship but no one knows what the plan is. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMcAllister Posted August 28, 2023 #102 Share Posted August 28, 2023 Symphony of the sea is currently moored next to us…. Happy to take a free transfer. Those slides look awesome lol. Highly doubt we will stop at Gib now just waiting to find out if and when we can sail again and enjoy the last few days. Feels like the whole ship is stuck in limbo but 100% rather this than set sail in a ship they weren’t sure on. 8 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalos Posted August 28, 2023 Author #103 Share Posted August 28, 2023 4 minutes ago, TigerB said: From @molecrochip yesterday: ' Do remember, there is surplus lifeboat / inflatable capacity so no need to be concerned. ' They have been given a letter and some are going to be requested to leave the ship 🚢 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted August 28, 2023 #104 Share Posted August 28, 2023 19 minutes ago, BigAl94 said: Possibly need to reduce passenger numbers in light of reduced lifeboat capacity? Some may be flown home. Looks like you are spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAl94 Posted August 28, 2023 #105 Share Posted August 28, 2023 10 minutes ago, nosapphire said: Can't see that happening. The number of liferatfts allow for one side of the ship to be pretty much unuseable and still get everybody off. Don't make the mistake of thinking that the emergency capacity is the same as the tender capacity, and don't forget the liferafts are not just the big ones used for tendering. Although if the itinerary has to be changed too much to allow for repairs, then the entire cruise may get cut short. In the (rare) instances when there has been a drama at sea or in port, invariably weather related (those mooring lines do go off with a bang when they snap) it leaves me feeling safer, rather than anxious, because it immediately becomes apparent how well trained and competent the officers and crew are to handle an emergency. Regulations require each side of cruise ships have enough lifeboats to accommodate 37.5% of the total number of persons on board (passengers and crew), 75% in total. Inflatable or rigid liferafts must accommodate the remaining 25% of passengers and crew. (SOLAS, Section II, Regulation 21, 1.1) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaMarie Posted August 28, 2023 #106 Share Posted August 28, 2023 @Angel57 Yes you would think that, but it isn't always the case. The sea and winds can be incredibly powerful, and they do affect ships differently. Even on a seemingly calmer day it can all be very deceptive. I live at a port and the sights we have seen have been a real eye opener over the years. We had a very large tanker in the harbour at anchor one weekend, suddenly a cross wind picked up mid afternoon and it dragged the tanker on anchor towards the breakwater. They had to get the 4 tugs out and hold it in position all night. Similar happened to Azura when she was here at the very start of lockdown, she dragged on anchor and it was safer for her to go back out to Sea. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalifaxYorksCruiser Posted August 28, 2023 #107 Share Posted August 28, 2023 Announcement just made by Captain. 2 lifeboats can’t be repaired and therefore looking to fly home an appropriate number of guests and crew. Still intending to get to Southampton for Friday . Gibraltar cancelled. Letters to be delivered later today with a “gesture of goodwill” ! 7 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM334 Posted August 28, 2023 #108 Share Posted August 28, 2023 Did they say if you can opt to fly home or are they just picking? How are they working this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaMarie Posted August 28, 2023 #109 Share Posted August 28, 2023 Does anyone know how they decide who will fly home? I'm assuming it is to do with cabins of the muster station which the two damaged lifeboats are assigned to? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalifaxYorksCruiser Posted August 28, 2023 #110 Share Posted August 28, 2023 2 minutes ago, JFM334 said: Did they say if you can opt to fly home or are they just picking? How are they working this? I think they are contacting passengers who had previously asked if they could fly home. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted August 28, 2023 #111 Share Posted August 28, 2023 A copy of the letter was posted elsewhere. It said that some passengers would be asked to end their holiday early and be flown home. If that’s the case, it’s probably the passengers that are allocated to the damaged lifeboats 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Anarchy Posted August 28, 2023 #112 Share Posted August 28, 2023 5 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said: Does anyone know how they decide who will fly home? I'm assuming it is to do with cabins of the muster station which the two damaged lifeboats are assigned to? 4 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: A copy of the letter was posted elsewhere. It said that some passengers would be asked to end their holiday early and be flown home. If that’s the case, it’s probably the passengers that are allocated to the damaged lifeboats Sounds logical to me to do it that way. Mind you, I would not be one of those being asked to leave. Hopefully if anyone does have to be voluntold to go home, they will be well looked after. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Presto2 Posted August 28, 2023 #113 Share Posted August 28, 2023 How many days do they have left? Sad way to end a holiday if its your one holiday cruise a year or a special one. Safety comes first and credit to all for putting that first. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare babs135 Posted August 28, 2023 #114 Share Posted August 28, 2023 2 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said: Morning all. We are now berthed back at our original berth. Awaiting an update from the bridge. Weather today a lot cooler with light winds and partly cloudy. All I would add at this point is that on Saturday the weather forecast for Majorca on Sunday was for high winds and heavy rain and so I am not sure it was a great idea to stay in Palma. 1 hour ago, yorkshirephil said: In hindsight maybe not but I could have imagined the uproar if the ship had not docked. We missed the Isle of Mull recently where the weather was forecast to be a bit wild and some people were still moaning, and that was a tender port. We were on the QM2 when she snapped her ropes. It's quite a scary thing. However, 2 or 3 days into the cruise the captain announced that the forecast for Villefranche was not looking good and he had, therefore, taken the decision to cancel and we would go instead to Alghero, Sardinia. Both these ports are tendered. Apparently he made the right call as the weather was worse than expected and a Royal Caribbean ship had tried twice unsuccessfully to dock before giving up. Did the captain on the Britannia have no advance warning at all, or was it just a sudden totally unexpected storm? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare david63 Posted August 28, 2023 #115 Share Posted August 28, 2023 10 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: it’s probably the passengers that are allocated to the damaged lifeboats Or it could be those passengers in cabins in the vicinity of the damage 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heatherb1958 Posted August 28, 2023 #116 Share Posted August 28, 2023 I hope the folks who are having to fly home are able to leave their main luggage onboard and it is delivered to their home..can you imagine the excess baggage charges.. I know we never travel light out of Southampton We are due on the next cruise.....then maybe we are not now. I will still pack until I hear otherwise. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaMarie Posted August 28, 2023 #117 Share Posted August 28, 2023 10 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said: Sounds logical to me to do it that way. Mind you, I would not be one of those being asked to leave. Hopefully if anyone does have to be voluntold to go home, they will be well looked after. You would hope that is the most logical way of asking, as it should make sense to passengers (again you would hope!). I did wonder if this was going to happen when molecrochip said a team was on it's way to assist. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobstheboy Posted August 28, 2023 #118 Share Posted August 28, 2023 7 minutes ago, babs135 said: We were on the QM2 when she snapped her ropes. It's quite a scary thing. However, 2 or 3 days into the cruise the captain announced that the forecast for Villefranche was not looking good and he had, therefore, taken the decision to cancel and we would go instead to Alghero, Sardinia. Both these ports are tendered. Apparently he made the right call as the weather was worse than expected and a Royal Caribbean ship had tried twice unsuccessfully to dock before giving up. Did the captain on the Britannia have no advance warning at all, or was it just a sudden totally unexpected storm? Many questions to be answered by the Captain me thinks. Easy to comment with hindsight but I've missed ports when the weather and winds appear okay but the Captain has announced that the weather was expected to worsen so it would be a sea day.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSPG Posted August 28, 2023 #119 Share Posted August 28, 2023 14 minutes ago, babs135 said: We were on the QM2 when she snapped her ropes. It's quite a scary thing. However, 2 or 3 days into the cruise the captain announced that the forecast for Villefranche was not looking good and he had, therefore, taken the decision to cancel and we would go instead to Alghero, Sardinia. Both these ports are tendered. Apparently he made the right call as the weather was worse than expected and a Royal Caribbean ship had tried twice unsuccessfully to dock before giving up. Did the captain on the Britannia have no advance warning at all, or was it just a sudden totally unexpected storm? I was on Iona last Autumn and our captain kept making us laugh calling the mooring lines ‘hairy bits of string’. Perhaps these ones were a bit frayed! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Anarchy Posted August 28, 2023 #120 Share Posted August 28, 2023 20 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said: Sounds logical to me to do it that way. Mind you, I would not be one of those being asked to leave. Hopefully if anyone does have to be voluntold to go home, they will be well looked after. Meant to say: I would not want to be one of those being asked to leave. Doh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HalifaxYorksCruiser Posted August 28, 2023 #121 Share Posted August 28, 2023 Letter delivered to our cabin - deck 8 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Son of Anarchy Posted August 28, 2023 #122 Share Posted August 28, 2023 10 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said: You would hope that is the most logical way of asking, as it should make sense to passengers (again you would hope!). I did wonder if this was going to happen when molecrochip said a team was on it's way to assist. I was working on the premise that not enough passengers would volunteer. I doubt we would have volunteered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermotsgirl Posted August 28, 2023 #123 Share Posted August 28, 2023 8 minutes ago, CarlaMarie said: You would hope that is the most logical way of asking, as it should make sense to passengers (again you would hope!). I did wonder if this was going to happen when molecrochip said a team was on it's way to assist. Bearing in mind that there’s 5000 passengers, it would take some time to sift out those that would volunteer to go home early. From a logistical point of view, it’s be easier and quicker to have a list of passengers and crew that would have to leave, whether they like it or not. Very unfortunate if someone doesn’t want to go, though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
showingdiva Posted August 28, 2023 #124 Share Posted August 28, 2023 4 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said: Bearing in mind that there’s 5000 passengers, it would take some time to sift out those that would volunteer to go home early. From a logistical point of view, it’s be easier and quicker to have a list of passengers and crew that would have to leave, whether they like it or not. Very unfortunate if someone doesn’t want to go, though Unfortunately, there will likely be some in that "chosen" group who cannot fly for one reason or the other. Which is, of course, the reason they (and I would have had to include myself in that number) cruise from the UK. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlaMarie Posted August 28, 2023 #125 Share Posted August 28, 2023 You have to feel for the reception team. I can imagine they will have alot of passengers visiting them after receiving their letters. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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