Majestic Princess Vancouver

[memoak]

Does anyone know why the Majestic is in Canada Place today the 25th when they were not due in till the 26th ?

[skynight]

Storm?

 

[d9704011]

2 minutes ago, skynight said:

Storm?

 

Yup... I'd say the decision was made to make a run for Vancouver rather than sit idle in an Alaskan port and throw off the entire schedule for the current and next cruise.

https://weather.gc.ca/marine/region_e.html?mapID=01

[startedwithamouse]

1 hour ago, memoak said:

Does anyone know why the Majestic is in Canada Place today the 25th when they were not due in till the 26th ?

The weather. 

[Mary Ellen1]

On board right now, docked at Canada Place. We skipped Hubbard Glacier on Saturday and instead sailed directly to Vancouver, arriving this morning (the 25th), one day early. The captain announced these changes on Friday, and said he was trying to avoid, or at least minimize, the effects of the weather. We had some pretty rough seas, especially last night (Sunday).

[martincath]

Definitely the current weather - unlike almost every other cruise ship sent to these parts, the Royal class has no option to sail the protected Inside Passage east of Vancouver Island. It's pilotage-required and the provincial pilots association ban them due to a combo of small rudders and huge 'sail' area sidewinds making them unsafe in narrow waters with either strong currents or high winds, let alone both. They even miss Ketchikan and Victoria sometimes when other classes of ship can safely dock - but hey, operating costs per pax are much lower so Princess keeping sending them despite how badly designed they are for these waters!

 

As well as issues with wind in the unprotected waters Outside the island, there's also the fact that even under normal tidal conditions the Royal class can only pass under Lion's Gate within about a one hour time block each low tide - thanks to storm surge, that margin would have been even tighter so making a run for the harbour before we got hit with the worst of it tonight was a very wise decision!

[NavyVeteran]

33 minutes ago, martincath said:

Definitely the current weather - unlike almost every other cruise ship sent to these parts, the Royal class has no option to sail the protected Inside Passage east of Vancouver Island. It's pilotage-required and the provincial pilots association ban them due to a combo of small rudders and huge 'sail' area sidewinds making them unsafe in narrow waters with either strong currents or high winds, let alone both. They even miss Ketchikan and Victoria sometimes when other classes of ship can safely dock - but hey, operating costs per pax are much lower so Princess keeping sending them despite how badly designed they are for these waters!

 

As well as issues with wind in the unprotected waters Outside the island, there's also the fact that even under normal tidal conditions the Royal class can only pass under Lion's Gate within about a one hour time block each low tide - thanks to storm surge, that margin would have been even tighter so making a run for the harbour before we got hit with the worst of it tonight was a very wise decision!

That's one reason why my next two Alaska cruises - one in 2024 with ten family members and the Ultimate Alaska in 2025 are both on the Grand Princess. It's a much better ship for Alaska.

[Serious Cruisers]

1 hour ago, NavyVeteran said:

That's one reason why my next two Alaska cruises - one in 2024 with ten family members and the Ultimate Alaska in 2025 are both on the Grand Princess. It's a much better ship for Alaska.

As a local I can tell you we are experiencing our first major storm of our rainy season. Lots of wind local ferry all canceled. Should be over by Wednesday 

[CruiserMickey]

Hopefully this storm will pass quickly. We are boarding tomorrow and are hoping for calmer seas and winds. Fall has definitely arrived in Vancouver!