Live From the Veendam - Limping to Tampa

[sarplum]

we have friends going on the Dec 9th sailing. The Veendam usually sails

from Tampa top the Western Carib, (not San Juan). Thie sailing is still

listed for those ports. Now to get to my question. The do not use this

board. Should I frighten them? They are so enthusiastic that I would

hate to spoil their fun.

[boards]

I wouldn't bother them about it, by the time that date comes around the ship will be fine. I am sure eventually they will hear about it, but why upset them.

[Briny]

we have friends going on the Dec 9th sailing. The Veendam usually sails

from Tampa top the Western Carib, (not San Juan). Thie sailing is still

listed for those ports. Now to get to my question. The do not use this

board. Should I frighten them? They are so enthusiastic that I would

hate to spoil their fun.

I guess the answer depends on your friends -- and you know them better than anyone here. If they are they type (like my mother is) to worry and lose sleep if things might not turn out perfectly, then you probably should just keep this to yourself. We have decided to keep mum to my Mum about this. Why should we get her unnecessarily worried about something over which she has no control, possibly spoiling her excitement in anticipation of her first cruise. After all, HAL has two weeks to get things right, and you can rest assured that they will do everything they can to keep on cruising…and making money.

 

We’ll be on the same cruise. Maybe we’ll meet your friends.:)

[HeatherInFlorida]

we have friends going on the Dec 9th sailing. The Veendam usually sails

from Tampa top the Western Carib, (not San Juan). Thie sailing is still

listed for those ports. Now to get to my question. The do not use this

board. Should I frighten them? They are so enthusiastic that I would

hate to spoil their fun.

 

I wouldn't mention it. What will be will be. Truthfully I think I'd prefer I didn't know. The only thing that would upset me now is if they canceled my cruise. Beyond that, how bad can it be?

 

I don't care if we limp:o .

[tomc]

localady --

And yes, the glass IS 1/2 full!

My philosophy is: Half full or half empty ... it's time for a refill!

[venicecruiser]

Thanks, Heather! I enjoyed the 14 days on Veendam as much as I enjoyed being onboard on the transat in April. Only "problem" I had this time was with the shore-ex managers. I believe they need to find other employment and none that requires dealing with customers.....

 

Claudia

[HeatherInFlorida]

................ I believe they need to find other employment and none that requires dealing with customers.....

 

Claudia

 

Ouch!!! Well, hopefully we won't need them ... we booked all our excursions in advance and plan no changes.

 

I'm envying you that Prinsendam cruise in your signature!!! We have the same taste in ships, it seems!:)

[smokesmom]

I guess the answer depends on your friends -- and you know them better than anyone here. If they are they type (like my mother is) to worry and lose sleep if things might not turn out perfectly, then you probably should just keep this to yourself. We have decided to keep mum to my Mum about this. Why should we get her unnecessarily worried about something over which she has no control, possibly spoiling her excitement in anticipation of her first cruise. After all, HAL has two weeks to get things right, and you can rest assured that they will do everything they can to keep on cruising…and making money.

 

We’ll be on the same cruise. Maybe we’ll meet your friends.:)

 

Glad to hear from others who will be on the 12/9 Veendam cruise. Come on over to the roll call. We are a friendly bunch. :)

[HokiePoq]

We sure are. I did tell my DH but am hoping no news is good news from HAL and that all will go on as scheduled for those of us on Dec. 9 cruise out of Tampa.

So sorry you guys missed two ports.

[JimVrhovac]

Does the shaft problem meen that I have to go out tonight and purchase a spare shaft and take it to the dock with us. The SUV is already full inside and on top

 

Ruth & Jim

[mamaofami]

A limping ship is a lot better than no ship at all. Hope you all have a wonderful cruise.

[maxout]

Does the shaft problem meen that I have to go out tonight and purchase a spare shaft and take it to the dock with us. The SUV is already full inside and on top

 

Ruth & Jim

 

 

In my experience, it's better NOT to get the "shaft". ;) :D

[ldog]

In my experience, it's better NOT to get the "shaft". ;) :D

 

what I would have said if I was fast enough on the uptake:rolleyes:

[Copper10-8]

From Capt. Schoonderbeek's blog today re; the shaft problem:

As I had been fearing the good plans did not work. We could not make up the 1.5 hours lost on departure Santo Tomas and starboard propeller shaft was still playing up. Thus in the course of the morning I had to cancel the call at Cozumel. Based on the ships speed, we would have arrived at 4 pm in the afternoon or even after, while having to leave again by 6pm. in order not to endanger the arrival time in Tampa. Although I have a lot of Tampa people on board, there is still a considerable number that has to fly and I can not jeopardize those flights, if I can help it.

 

Thus the company sent another letter with a compensation offer, we did an open bar on the Navigation deck and Lido deck in the late morning and the ship sailed on to Tampa. It is for us all on board very fustrating to have to deal with an issue we can not control. The engineers are trying very hard to resolve the issue, we were making progress and then there is a setback again during the night. My chief engineer is not a happy camper at the moment and is making long hours downstairs. We have the technicians on board to work on supplying more power to the shaft and I have high hopes that there will be a minimum impact on the next cruise. Luckily when we are island hopping, the distances are very short and the average speed to maintain quite low. Thus I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

It is only an issue that affects us on higher speeds. The ship is safe and I can maneuver in and out every port and under every circumstance without a problem. I just can’t crank the ship up to warp speed at the moment.

[Jsipes]

Just be Thankful you weren't on a lifeboat in the Antartic... :D

[jimgev]

[COLOR=yellowgreen]"Does the shaft problem meen that I have to go out tonight and purchase a spare shaft and take it to the dock with us. The SUV is already full inside and on top"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=yellowgreen][COLOR=black]The latest update from Captain Albert indicates that your offer might be appreciated Jim.[/COLOR][/COLOR]

[COLOR=yellowgreen][COLOR=#000000]I hope they get it figured out by April![/COLOR][/COLOR]
[COLOR=yellowgreen][COLOR=#000000]Jim[/COLOR]


[/COLOR]

[iancal]

I do not think that refund of port charges for not stopping at the port is something to complement HAL for . It should be expected. These are per person taxes levied by and paid to, the respective jurisdictions when the ship docks. Over the past eighteen months, we have had port charges automatically refunded by to our shipboard account by both Princess and NCL. And is has happened on a number of other cruises.