kefthecruiser

More than once I've watched 'pier runners' in Cozumel return to the ship up to perhaps 30 minutes late. Some run, some don't, some can't. (The pier is rather long and with the sun / heat / humidity difficult to run for any distance.) It is fun to heckle them. Carnival always warns the ship will leave without you if you're late; I've never seen that.

@Cruising Caribbean It helped that I was on the Infinity last year. Ask me about a different Celebrity class and I'm clueless.

@3Sisters This definitely falls in the category of better be safe than sorry. I'm glad to see the Coast Guard requiring repairs. The passengers certainly had a different cruise than planned. I'd say Princess Cruise really stepped up to the challenge with their reimbursements and FCC, whether you left the ship or continued with the cruise.

OOPS, where's a moderator when you need them?

Not a pretty picture. Somebody sure messed up, typically a Port supplied pilot is in charge of docking. The Coast Guard has final say over what is needed for the ship to sail away.

@Cruising Caribbean Exactly. The jewelry stores know how to fire up a crowd with the free trinkets and flash sales. Has the tanzanite mine run out yet? My first cruise in 1999 pitched tanzanite as 'soon to skyrocket in value' because the mine was almost mined out. If so, I need to find that $10 trinket from back then, it must be worth thousands now. A PSA I will offer here is this - If you do purchase duty free on trips, be aware of what the limits are for bringing the goods home. Spend in excess and you will pay the duty amount at the Port of Entry.

The Infinity and Constellation do not (yet) have a Retreat Sundeck. The two sister ships - Summit and Millennium have the upgrade. Go figure, way above my price point! (Plus my dermatologist says - stay out of the sun!)

@PaulB The cruise lines I use all add gratuities to your onboard account, unless you prepay. There may be some that do not. Seems like a fee or tax to me. Though the cruise lines state you can go to guest services and adjust the gratuity amount. I find the idea of prepaying gratuities ridiculous. So I'm paying months in advance for service I'll receive at a future time from someone who likely is not currently on the ship and the service deserves a tip. WOW I've heard that cruises that originate from European and Australian ports do not automatically charge gratuities. Does anyone know? Just a curiosity question.

Cha-ching, and so it continues, death by a thousand nicks... @PaulB "We tend to tip if we receive good service" - wow, what a novel concept! Here stateside that's been the idea as well. Some time ago, the cruise lines started automatically adding it to onboard accounts 'for convenience'. HAH, it's now become a fee that they raise periodically and tell us it goes to virtually all crew members. Sounds like the cruise line found a new source of funds for salaries. I prefer to tip directly as well to crew members that make a difference. '

@Cruising Caribbean I agree, goods onboard ship don't seem any cheaper than back in the states. I particularly chuckle to myself when USA made merchandise (like my buddy Jack Daniels) is advertised as 'duty free' on board. It's also duty free in the states! So, should I buy a bottle of Jack on board and haul it all the way home to save the state sales tax? Nope, base price plus sales tax is cheaper at home. On board shopping will never be confused with Walmart.

@PaulB I'd say a silver lining to those on board is that they likely never had time to realize the hull was fracturing. In the movies, we get this vision of a singular crack slowly moving across a panel and then some leakage. Reality is that a catastrophic implosion is virtually instantaneous, with the entire carbon fiber hull failing together. Think like a bomb explosion. I'll note that at the ocean depth of the Titanic, the water pressure is 6,000 psi (said another way - 6,000 lbs, or 3 tons, pushing down on every square inch of surface). For comparison, the air we breathe is around 14.7 psi. Your home water pressure is around 50 psi. Not to be graphic, once the hull breeches, the bodies were instantly crushed by the same pressure. It's an unforgiving environment for us humans. @Kendall James-Vargas I'm confident forensic engineers will be able to determine what went wrong. I won't be surprised if they find that the carbon fiber was a poor material choice, that the fabrication was flawed, it took multiple drives for the hull to weaken (low cycle fatigue for you engineers), and that for this dive, the dive rate was too high. JMHO All right, enough. On a positive note - mainstream cruise ships are safe. Let's cruise

@Woody14 yes,that's true

The new fees imposed by the Bahamian government will go into effect January 2024. For Nassau, Freeport, and Bimini stops, the fee is $30; private island stops are $32. So, if you are on a RCL cruise ship stopping at Nassau and Coco Cay, the new port fees total $62. Think of it as a docking fee. For clarity, this affects all cruise lines docking in the Bahamas, not just RCL and you are charged whether you get off or stay on the ship in port..

@Kendall James-Vargas I so agree with you. As an engineer, I try not to rush to judgment. However, this whole thing just screams EXPERIMENTAL and to charge tourists to ride along is just wrong. (It screams other things as well, but not for publishing.) That's enough. Rant over.

Untimely, accidental death is always such a sad situation. Hopefully those involved with submersible craft will find the cause and correct the design. Also hoping the failure was caused by a previously unknown / misunderstood factor and not by someone intentionally ignoring procedures (as alluded to by the press). Reminds me of the Challenger disaster.

@Nhan Nguyen Yikes, sounds like a nightmare start to your cruise. Two thoughts for future trips. As @Woody14 suggests, plan to fly in at least the day ahead. My guideline is to do so anytime I have a connecting flight and / or will go through Customs / Immigrations at the airport. Lots can and does go wrong. Also, don't go cheap by skipping the travel insurance. That is what covers all the expenses you're trying to get from the cruise line. Otherwise, you're gambling - sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

I'm rather envious of all y'all planning on world cruising. The longest cruise I've taken are several different 2 week cruises. All were enjoyable, but after two weeks I was ready for home. Doubtful i would enjoy anything much longer. But we all are different, which makes life so much more interesting. Sometimes, for me, the perfect cruise is just a short cruise from Tampa to Cozumel (round trip) to get away from my normal routine.

@3Sisters HA - you caught me! My days of foolhardy adventures are long gone! This old guy likes watching the young'uns take the plunge. @Jim Lamb Yep, Labadee was the one I was thinking about.

I would like to see a zip line from the top of the ship to the beach. Now, THAT would be unique.

@Kendall James-Vargas Just for clarity, he has not (yet) been convicted so it's not his punishment. 'No internet access' is one of the conditions of being out on bail. I agree with others on whether this be enforced. His custodian, his wife, has responsibility for monitoring his activities. If he violates any bond condition, he likely goes to jail (in Puerto Rico) to await trial.

@Georgia Girl cruising Sorry to say, it does look bleak. Your best bet is the class action lawsuit and hope for the best. Good attorneys will find where the money went and clawback what they can. It will take time, doubtful any resolution this year. I don't think it's hopeless. The largest fraud / Ponzi scheme on record is Bernie Madoff. Approximately 75 cents per dollar lost was recovered over a period of 14 yrs. Not the same, I know, just saying...

@LukeJ Helium is an inert gas and not a fuel. One you fill the blimp, there it is, except for leaks. Airships went out of fashion due to the better service / accommodations of the competition. I checked several sources on the internet and they all point to LNG being typically less cost or competitive to the oil types used by cruise ships. What has stopped LNG use in the past is its unavailability at ports worldwide. LNG storage and handling systems on board do cost more since this is a cryogenic fluid. Any leak will vaporize and since it is lighter than air, will collect at the ceiling or go out a vent, all by itself. Any engineer worth his sea legs will have a venting system built into the ship. Yep, the cruise companies are in business to attract customers AND make a profit. Not an easy thing to do today.

@Kendall James-Vargas All good questions. I would say quite a bit of ‘normal’ maintenance is done while the ship is operating, with the engine either in service or shutdown with another engine running in its place. The heavy maintenance & overhauls would be scheduled for a ship yard (not necessarily a dry dock unless the azipod or hull needs work). I can’t say never, but engine changeouts should be extremely rare. Most everything can be repaired in place or has replaceable components. Let’s keep in mind the engines are massive and set in the ship on the lowest deck, near the hull, and then the ship is built up around the engines. The 5 engines (two sizes) on Panorama are built by MAN, a well-known engine builder in Germany. The larger engine overall length is 33 feet, width of 15.5 ft, and is 18 feet tall. The engine weighs 230 short tons. So, not too easy to move. Note this is just the engine, does not include the generator that connects to the engine shaft. Class dismissed, teacher deserves a gold star.

@Kendall James-Vargas The diesel engine driven gen-sets (giant versions of gasoline generators you buy at Home Depot) produce the electricity that runs the entire ship. I'm sure of the 5 on Panorama, one is a spare to backup loss of an operating set. If you lose multiple sets, the the ship will need to 'cut load' -turn off systems (like HVAC), slow down, etc. and worst case, "go dark" - no electricity. Lots of possible reasons for things to go wrong, most are very low probability to occur. More than one failing gen set is extremely rare.

@LukeJ Short answer - not likely. Notwithstanding the recent Carnival Sunshine event, cruise ships are hurricane adverse and typically move away from the paths (as do all ships). Last September, with Ian churning away off of Cuba, I boarded a ship in Port Everglades with expected ports of Key West, Belize & Cozumel. With Ian heading north, we diverted after Key West to Nassau & Labadee. No delays getting back to Port Everglades as Ian had cleared out. All in all, a rather good cruise. It all depends on where the hurricane tracks (they seldom stand still). Beyond the 3 day forecast path, the path is rather vague. Just what I've seen from watching hurricanes for 40 years. @Cruising Caribbean Glad to hear someone appreciates my humor. It may just be me, but it seems that the vast majority of Captains are Italian, across the 4 brands I currently use. Not a scientific survey by any means and not something I search out.