kefthecruiser

@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.

@3Sisters I think euroguy means mechanical but typed meca iCal. SO I'll weigh in here with my speculation since CCL is keeping it close to the vest. Panorama reportedly has 5 diesel generator sets that produce 62.4 MW (unsure how much of this is used at any given time) and two azipods (google this) for propulsion, each consuming 16.5 MW. Though there could be an issue with one of the 5 gen-sets, I'm thinking there is an azipod issue (perhaps high vibration) that limits its performance and thus overall speed. Azipods have had a history of issues, across cruise lines. They are rather complex machines that hang off the hull. If it is a azipod issue, there certainly are no safety concerns. If the gen-sets are failing, that's a whole different story..., worst case is a Carnival Triumph repeat (not trying to be debbie downer, just covering the range of possibilities).

@Cruising Caribbean Thanks for the compliment. It's the engineer in me, needing to know facts & details! Sometimes, it's a curse. How did the judge come up with the TPC? Unknown to me. Others in the press question the low bond as well. Obviously, he's not considered a flight risk. 

@Cruising Caribbean Yes, other Costa Concordia senior cruise members were held accountable. I just don't remember the details.

@PaulB I've been on two cruises having rough seas and high winds, to the point the ship was rocking. Nothing though that rose to the level of that reported for the Sunshine.

@euroguy Just for the record, I am platinum on CCL and equivalent on another cruise line. If I rule out cruising during hurricane season and ships with Italian heritage captains, I'll never get to the next level.

@LukeJ The wheel of justice sometimes turns slower than we would like.

He was charged with video voyeurism and attempted possession of child exploitation material. He is currently out on bond & last I checked no trial date has been set. The FBI continues to solicit information from victims. The U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico has jurisdiction. The docket revealed that Froias is a married father of two. The judge allowed him to be released “subject to the qualification of his wife as a TPC,” which appears to mean “third party custodian,” and a $25,000 bond to be signed by him and the TPC. "He is to reside at the address of record. Defendant is not to have unsupervised contact with any minors under the age of 18, including his two children. His two children will reside at the alternate address proposed by counsel (grandparents’ residence),” said an order setting the conditions of the defendant’s release from custody. The Defendant is to be subject to an EMD [electronic monitoring device] in home detention modality." Froias has been barred from accessing the internet, whether at home or at work, and he must surrender his passport. “Travel is restricted between Puerto Rico and Middle District of Florida,” the judge ordered.

So that's what we know today. As an aside, I feel so sorry for all the victims, which include his wife and two children.

@3Sisters "You are a very curious person." for clarity - in a good way!!!

@euroguy Yes, it was the Costa Concordia and cost Carnival millions. Weather was not a factor. It was the arrogance of the captain who was trying to impress his date by ordering the ship closer to the island for a better view. The captain's hubris caused 32 people to die. As I recall, the coward was one of the first to evacuate and left most of the passengers behind. I believe he was finally sentenced to jail for 16 years.

What I don't understand is why the other officers did not overrule his orders when they knew of the underwater rock formations, clearly marked on the charts. This is not the military.

@3Sisters I think I’ve opened Pandora’s Box!

What you write is generally true. For instance – "…the boat’s depth has to shift depending on the ship’s tonnage" is true for a ship that is built and does not use ballast tanks to offset changes. For a ship under design, the draft can be selected and length and width changed to get the volume needed. Yes, a deeper draft is more stable. The designers likely iterate around these 3 parameters to get the hull design and stability they need. (Not sure about the ‘sleeker’ point.)

Total weight distribution is key, not just for stability but also hull strength. Yes, with enough weight moved to one end, the ship would tilt. Very doubtful the passengers alone could do this. Not sure how cabins would move around on a built ship….. Back in my days of unloading coal from the holds of ocean going barges, the barge was 20,000 gross tons (empty) and carried 40,000 tons of coal, in 4 holds. There were limits on unloading to control tilt and hull stress. For example, if one simply unloaded all coal from the bow hold, the hull would crack! Truly a career limiting move for the crew, . So, the unloading protocol was followed exactly.

You are a very curious person.

And it's a hard rain's a-going to fall... Just some "factoids" before we batten down the hatches;

Atlantic Ocean official hurricane season is June 1 to November 30. Coincidently(?) it is also Florida's rainy season.

Late August to late October is the peak period for Florida hurricanes. Statistically September 10 is the peak day..

Florida leads all states with hurricanes making landfall. Since 1851 Florida has had 125 hurricanes (less than 1 per year), 40 were major (Cat 3 or stronger). Texas @ 66 and Louisiana @ 64 are next. Total for all states is 308 landfall hurricanes

For 2023 NOAA is forecasting a range of 12 to 17 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 1 to 4 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher). 

Much of the storm damage is from storm surge and is not covered by homeowner insurance. A separate flood insurance policy is needed.

But yes, I do book cruises in September & October - the kiddos are in school, the ships are not full and the fares are lower. The ships maneuver away from active storms (unless you're maybe the captain of the Carnival Sunshine and gotta get back to Charleston). 

@3Sisters Wow, your first sentence covers a college semester fluid mechanics course. To keep it simple, it's all levitation magic! No? then here's an article that may demystify it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoyancy   If Archimedes principle makes sense, then 'how does a ship float?" all falls into place. So, the more water being held up on deck in a pool, the larger the hull volume is below the ship water line (or the lower the ship sinks into the water).

 Not sure what the question is for piping systems.They're mostly either pressurized or under vacuum (the sucking sound when the toilet is flushed), so everything moves around. PSA - don't sit on the toilet when you flush it! (There's a reason the flush lever is behind the lid, requiring one to get up to flush.) Yikes! enough already!

@Jim Lamb Excellent! For the record, no Piggly Wiggly in my area, we do have Winn Dixie. 

I've always considered RCI a nice step up from CCL, though you'll miss out on the Dr Seuss green eggs and ham breakfast.. 

As a retired power generation engineer, I was involved with development, engineering and construction of power plants using all types of fuels. This is not to brag, but to add credibility. Each cruise ship essentially has a power plant down in the ship’s bowels. As much as I would like to see it, the behind the scenes tour won’t go there (understandably) for safety reasons.

Yes, I agree that MSC is moving in the right direction; as are others as well. CCL was already mentioned, NCL plans on ‘green methanol’. The take-away I want to emphasize is simply:

Net Zero Emissions is not zero emissions.

All the ‘biofuels’ and ‘green fuels’ (except one) are all carbon based and emit carbon dioxide when combusted. See my prior post as why this is called net zero. Green hydrogen is the only fuel that has the potential of not containing carbon in its production cycle, though most hydrogen today is made from methane! When you think of hydrogen, remember the Hindenburg…

(Oh, and don't even think about nuclear.)

Can I go cruise now? (LOL)

I am all for lowering / eliminating greenhouse gas emissions, across all industries.

There’s a lot of PR hype to this article. It is MSC first LNG ship, and that does produce lower greenhouse gas emissions that an oil-fired ship. Carnival is the current LNG ship leader, as the article rightly notes. So, not much new there.

So, what is new here to claim ‘net zero greenhouse emissions’ by using bio-LNG? (Recognize the bio-LNG is only used for the inaugural cruise.) Bio-LNG and LNG are virtually the same, containing over 95% methane each, the rest being impurities, mainly nitrogen (source: Gasum website, the bio-LNG fuel supplier to MSC). Physically, when the methane combusts, it produces carbon dioxide and water, both are going out the stack. So, not truly zero emissions.

Net zero is little more than a convention adapted by industry / government that any use of biomass is net zero because the biomass converted atmospheric carbon dioxide into more biomass. Thus the circle of carbon…

Why isn’t MSC using bio-LNG consistently? Availability and cost

Until we use fuels that are carbon free, there will always be carbon dioxide emissions produced. That’s high school chemistry.

WHEW, my brain hurts, I need a cruise.

@Cruising Caribbean I think it's a great idea! As a solo cruiser, when I splurge it's for a balcony otherwise I'm in an oceanview cabin. 

On a serious note, this is mainly a cash flow issue for anyone actually taking the cruise and it also gives the cruise line a better sense that these popular cabins are actually sold while providing funds earlier. So, extra funds = pay some debt = less future interest = more profit. Yippee for upper management. Can I be CEO for a day?

@Purple Lady Maybe someone is a little envious? Need a hug? Here's the best I can do:

By the powers vested in me (none), I hereby proclaim, from this day forward, the "Purple Lady dog" as Grand Poobah of the VISD (very important service dog) program.

Hope that helps. Cruise on...

@Bruce25 Ouch, what a bummer. Seems the cruise lines are in a race to the bottom - who can do the least while maxing revenue. BTW - Carnival has a couple of recently new ships (Mardi Gras & Celebration) with one more (Jubilee) on the way, though they still have 2 Fantasy class ships. Let us know how your next cruise goes, or was this just a rant for the day?.

Taxi or Uber / Lyft if you don't want or there isn't a RCL shuttle. It's about 10 miles from the airport to the Tampa cruise port.

@3Sisters Oh, the congestion of it all! Traffic to/from the Port had to be a nightmare. I would not like to be at any port when it has a 'busiest day ever' day, whether Miami, Port Canaveral, Nassau, Cozumel, etc... Tourists, tourists, everywhere; all in a hurry and many unsure where to go!

To answer your question - my fav Florida port is actually Port Everglades as it seems to have a wider variety of itineraries (my brand loyalty spreads across 4 brands).  Then Tampa (30 minutes from the house) - for a quick booze cruise, or if I need a Cozumel fix (LOL). I then prefer Port Canaveral over Miami, simply due to traffic issues in Miami, always. Though, in the past, Miami cruises have been cheaper for comparable itineraries than the other ports. 

I'm no legal expert. My understanding is this law does not differentiate by age. However, depending on the severity of the offense, other laws, such as child porn, could come into play. This is determined by the DA. Also, I'll note that the law can be applied per occurrence. So, if there are more than 150 people as the article suggests, and they come forward, that can be a big multiplier on sentencing. Thus, the reason why the FBI is soliciting victim information. I'm not qualified to speculate on how the court may rule in this situation. I'm just a retired guy who enjoys cruising!

@PaulB I was able to find this:

"FEDERAL CRIME OF VIDEO VOYEURISM - 18 U.S. CODE § 1801

While every state in the Union and the District of Columbia now has laws criminalizing the act of video voyeurism in some capacity, it is also considered a federal offense under Title 18 of the U.S. Code section 1801.

If you are charged under this law, you could face hefty fines and federal imprisonment for up to one year."

AND

"Video voyeurism is one of several laws in which the U.S. claims expanded "special maritime and territorial jurisdiction," generally meaning it's a federal crime not only within U.S. boundaries but also in many cases outside the U.S. when it's committed against a U.S. national.

This jurisdiction is explicitly defined in 18 U.S.C. 7 and includes the following:

• Any U.S. territory not under state jurisdiction. 
• Federal property;
• American vessels in international waters;
• Foreign vessels en route to and from the United States;"

So, that’s about it for USA law, beyond the cruise line banning the perp from cruising again. It is a sad state of affairs.

Woohoo! It sounds like a great change to the entertainment program.

This ship is one of the last, if not the last, of Carnival Corp new build program. Carnival has announced there are no new ships for 2026 and may restart building 1 or 2 ships a year after that. It's financially driven, we will need to enjoy the fleet they have across all their brands.  

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/12/carnival-corporation-to-trim-down-cruise-newbuilding-pace/

Hey, I enjoy elegant night. I put on my cleanest khaki shorts, a fresh button down shirt (no Polo shirt for elegant night, no sir!), and clean up my Nikes. I enjoy the ambiance on Lido deck and can have as much to eat as I want. Arrive on your schedule. Two desserts?, why take three, they're small. Several times I've have attractive young ladies come over and chat it up. Later they bring me a drink. Yes, the good life.