Somewhere Beyond The Sea - (Cruise Travel)

[Maybenaut]

We have a train travel and airline travel thread, but no cruise travel thread that I could find.

We’re currently on an Alaska cruise with my sister and her husband. I mentioned elsewhere that I have mixed feelings about going on a cruise right now. But my sister is suffering from Alzheimer’s. She still fairly with it cognitively (although the decline is noticeable , and she really wanted us to do this with her while she could still enjoy it.

We are on the Celebrity Solstice. It is a beautiful ship, and we got a higher end package, everything is included so we’re not getting nickel and dimed for every beer or Diet Coke that I drink.

We went from Seattle, had a day in Ketchikan, had a day in Juneau, will have today in Skagway, then we had to Victoria British Columbia, then back to Seattle. We didn’t do any of the shore excursions. The weather has been pretty crappy, and we didn’t want to commit to being out in the rain for five hours, or whatever. So we just went into town and walked around a little bit and got back on the boat.

The food on the celebrity solstice is fabulous! They have a cafeteria set up, like most cruise lines, and the food there is very, very good. But we’ve pretty much been staying away from that. It’s very crowded, and I would just as soon have a sit down meal with much fewer choices. We’ve been eating at the same restaurant every day, and all the staff there is aware of my allergies, and I work with the maitre de before each meal to find a substitute so I can have close to what’s on the menu, but it won’t kill me if I eat it.

Unfortunately, however, there was something in the duck Bolognese I had last night that sent me to the emergency room. I had a severe allergic reaction to it. It was the only thing that I ate, and the maitre de told me that he checked with the chef himself, explained to him everything that I couldn’t have, and the chef said there was none of that in there. So I don’t know what happened.

On the plus side, the quality of the care that I got in the emergency room with top shelf! They got the allergic reaction under control with IV medication, and kept me for an hour or so for observation. And then he gave me medicine to take for the next couple days to deal with any lingering symptoms. They don’t bill my insurance company, and I have no idea what any of this is going to cost. But it is what it is. They’ll give me all the paperwork I need so I can file a claim myself, but we’ll see.

[Slim Cognito]

Hope you're all better soon!

(Also, I love the thread title. One of my favorite songs.)

[Maybenaut]

Good news! The doc told me that since I informed the restaurant of my allergies and I reacted to something they served me, there is no charge for the ER visit.

[AndyinPA]

Have a great time. Can't say for now, but the weather in Victoria and Seattle were nice, cooler in Victoria.

We are supposed to be on a Great Lakes cruise in a few weeks. I'm not sure if we're going to have to cancel because of our Covid.

[noblepa]

We have a train travel and airline travel thread, but no cruise travel thread that I could find.



We are on the Celebrity Solstice. It is a beautiful ship, and we got a higher end package, everything is included so we’re not getting nickel and dimed for every beer or Diet Coke that I drink.



The food on the celebrity solstice is fabulous! They have a cafeteria set up, like most cruise lines, and the food there is very, very good. But we’ve pretty much been staying away from that. It’s very crowded, and I would just as soon have a sit down meal with much fewer choices. We’ve been eating at the same restaurant every day, and all the staff there is aware of my allergies, and I work with the maitre de before each meal to find a substitute so I can have close to what’s on the menu, but it won’t kill me if I eat it.

We did an Alaska cruise on the Solstice a few years ago. It sounds like we were on the same itinerary as you are. We had a balcony (if you go to AK, definitely get a balcony) and woke up one morning cruising a fjord with house-sized chunks of ice floating by. We ordered breakfast from room service (its free) and watched the scenery go by.

Alaska is SPECTACULAR. Everyone should visit there at least once. We were there in September (last AK trip of the season) and the salmon were running. We took a bus tour out of Ketchikan and passed a tree near a salmon-filler river. The tree had at least a half-dozen bald eagles sitting, waiting to swoop down and grab a fish.

Unfortunately, we were not impressed by the food. It was good, but we've had better on Holland America.

[AndyinPA]

We have been to Alaska six times, twice by sea. The last time we went, we just took an Inside Passage cruise for one reason only: to ride the White Pass and Yukon Railway. AWESOME!

Our more usual trip was fly to Anchorage, choose a direction, and rent a car and B&Bs

[Kriselda Gray]

Alaska is SPECTACULAR. Everyone should visit there at least once.

Yeah, I'd love to go back there someday as a tourist and see more than just Nome. I mean, the area around Nome is GORGEOUS, but I'd like to see a lot more of the beauty because I spent the whole summer in such a small part of the state. My parents went on an Alaskan cruise once and really enjoyed it.

My big dream, though, is Scandinavia. That's where I want to go the most and be able to visit the historic sites (especially anything Viking related, of course )

[AndyinPA]

Alaska is SPECTACULAR. Everyone should visit there at least once.

Yeah, I'd love to go back there someday as a tourist and see more than just Nome. I mean, the area around Nome is GORGEOUS, but I'd like to see a lot more of the beauty because I spent the whole summer in such a small part of the state. My parents went on an Alaskan cruise once and really enjoyed it.

My big dream, though, is Scandinavia. That's where I want to go the most and be able to visit the historic sites (especially anything Viking related, of course )

Any place in Scandinavia is GORGEOUS!

[Kriselda Gray]

Any place in Scandinavia is GORGEOUS!

It looks that way fr9m the pics I've seen, but pics never really do it justice

[AndyinPA]

We got back from the Great Lakes cruise, Montreal to Chicago, 12 nights on the ship on Monday. It was pretty awesome, and the destinations were all interesting. We spent two days in Montreal before the cruise and two days in Chicago after the cruise. I had stayed at both hotels before, Intercontinental in Montreal and Swissotel in Chicago. I really enjoy both cities.

Some of the highlights: Welland Canal; boat under Niagara Falls (have been there many times, but had never done the Maid of the Mist); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; Detroit Art Institute (amazing); Manatoulin Island; Soo Locks; the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, for that matter, all of Mackinac Island. There were other things, but these were what I think I will remember most. We kept going back and forth between the US and Canada, which was sometimes a customs hassle.

This was my first experience on one of the new expedition ships. There were 130 passengers, 77 crew. It is a lovely little ship. The food was some of the best we've ever had on any ship. The service was exceptional. There didn't seem to be a shortage of crew, except for the shop, which was rarely open and not very well stocked.

We got together with our old travel buddy from New Mexico, minus Jim, for the first time since Jim died three years ago. It was, for all three of us, a little bitter-sweet, as the anniversary of his death was during the trip. But it was fabulous to travel with Judy again. And we made new friends, a couple from New Jersey (although they spent most of their lives in Brooklyn and other NYC areas) and a couple from Cleveland. We hit it off the first night in Montreal. We're all married about the same number of years; we're all liberals. We did everything together--same buses; cocktails every evening at 6; dinner at 7; sometimes light entertainment after. Pretty much breakfast and lunch together, too, although we were looser about those. We had our own table, as there weren't too many that sat as many people. Five of us were close to each other on the same deck.

I was really dreading the flights, but all went well. We had a close connection in Philly to Montreal, but we just made it. I felt safe
since we just had Covid a few weeks before, so we were pretty invulnerable. Where we had to wear masks, we did. We had to test before we went on the ship, and everyone was negative. During the cruise, five people came down with Covid. They were isolated for at least five days. You could tell which rooms had it as the balcony table was put outside the door so that food could be delivered without contact.

The lectures each day were often fascinating, and I learned a lot that I didn't know about the lakes. We were on all of them, although we just dipped into Lake Superior. I have a good understanding now how the lakes are connected, either by river or canal, or some combination. I had very little appreciation of the criticality of the Soo Locks, even though I had been there before many years ago.

I know there are people who hate cruising, or even the idea of it, and I understand that. But it felt great to step onto the deck of a ship after three years. There's only one way I know to be surrounded by the water totally, usually gliding through it, and that's on a ship at sea. We have rock and rolled on ships, too, and that's still great. But then, we are both lucky to have no problems with sea sickness. Sunsets on the water with the reflection in the moving water are amazing, and the full moon can turn the water into magic. We have seen rainbows over icebergs.

We have at least one more cruise to book with Judy as we have Viking credits for a cancelled cruise. I think we have decided on Svalbard. I think that's totally above the Arctic Circle. That probably won't be until 2024. The seven of us would also like to do another cruise together, but that will be really hard to set up since we all travel.

I will try to post a few photos next week. We will have the grandkids over the weekend, so it's not going to happen any time soon.

[RTH10260]

I name this ship … Human Lasagne?! The world’s biggest cruise ship goes viral for all the wrong reasons
The Icon of the Seas will hold almost 10,000 people, spread between 20 decks. Will it be able to shake off its cruel nickname before it goes into service in 2024?

Tue 8 Nov 2022 14.06 GMT

Name: Icon of the Seas.

Age: Scheduled to enter service in 2024.

Appearance: What you imagine a human lasagne might look like.

I don’t understand. Is Icon of the Seas a type of food? No, it’s a boat.

I’m still no clearer. It’s a boat. A very big boat, admittedly. The world’s biggest cruise ship, in fact.

How big are we talking? We’re talking a gross tonnage of 250,800. We’re talking seven swimming pools. We’re talking 7,600 passengers sharing a vessel with 2,350 crew members over 20 incredible decks.

I think I’m starting to understand the human lasagne bit now. That’s right. Despite the ship’s colourful design, a recent proof of concept image of the boat’s stern showed thousands of people squished into layers. Hence “human lasagne”, as coined by the son of Guardian writer Heidi Stephens, who put it on Twitter.



picture and more... https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ng-reasons

[AndyinPA]

I can see the lasagna, but it also looks like a birthday cake. Way too big for me.

We just booked an Alaska cruise for the grandkids next August. I went through AAA, although I usually do my own thing, but AAA gave us lots of goodies, which was nice. He happened to mention that the owners' suite on that ship is going to cost $70,000 per person.

[RTH10260]

Australia

Majestic Princess: cruise ship passengers disembark in Sydney after mass Covid outbreak
Covid-positive passengers told to stay away from public transport after biggest single outbreak since Ruby Princess

Ben Doherty and Martin Farrer
Sat 12 Nov 2022 00.35 GMT

The Majestic Princess cruise ship – carrying about 800 Covid-19 positive passengers – has docked in Sydney and passengers have disembarked in the city.

The ship docked at Circular Quay early Saturday morning, having sailed from New Zealand. It will depart Sydney for Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.

The docking of the ship has raised the spectre of the arrival in Sydney of the Ruby Princess in March 2020 – early in Australia’s pandemic – which was ultimately linked to 28 deaths and more than 600 infections, sparking a NSW government special commission of inquiry and a class action case against the operator.

About 4,600 passengers and crew were aboard the Majestic Princess when it docked in Sydney early on Saturday.

Operator Princess Cruises said virus patients had been isolating and every passenger had been given a rapid antigen test in the 24 hours before arrival.

Guests who tested positive and chose to stay on the ship were required to isolate for at least five days.

While people with Covid are currently not required to isolate in Australian jurisdictions, it is recommended they stay home while unwell.



https://www.theguardian.com/australia-n ... s-on-board

[RTH10260]

Coast Guard rescues man who went overboard on Carnival cruise ship

VICTORIA J. ARANCIO
Fri, November 25, 2022 at 6:05 AM

A guest aboard a Carnival cruise ship has been rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard after being reported missing around noon on Thursday.

The missing guest, according to a representative with Carnival Cruise Line, was at a bar with his sister and left to use the bathroom at around 11 p.m. Wednesday night. He never returned, and his sister reported him missing the following day.

Carnival crew searched the ship Thursday but were unsuccessful, later deciding to retrace the ship's route to find the missing guest.

The U.S. Coast Guard assisted the Carnival crew with search and rescue and confirmed to ABC News that they rescued the man that was overboard the Carnival Valor. His condition has not been disclosed at this time.

The ship was on its way to Cozumel, a Mexican island in the Caribbean, and was released by the Coast Guard to continue to its destination.

The Coast Guard said it will release more information Friday.



https://www.yahoo.com/gma/coast-guard-r ... 00048.html

(original ABC News)

[Maybenaut]

OMG that guy is so lucky (or perhaps not, depending on his condition). But the odds of finding someone who had fallen overboard in the middle of the ocean after a significant amount to time had passed is infinitesimally small.

[Phoenix520]

Our friends were on a sailboat going from Oxnard to one of the Channel Islands. Their route took them across shipping lanes and about halfway across this dangerous territory they heard shouting. They dropped anchor, called the Coast Guard, and started searching. They couldn’t see a damn thing out there but soon they got an answer and they started working their way toward the sound. They found them! They were fishermen whose boat was swamped and capsized by a huge vessel.

[Volkonski]

"Rogue wave" kills passenger, injures four others on Antarctic cruise ship

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cruise-shi ... g-polaris/

One person died and four were injured when a massive wave smashed into an Antarctic cruise ship during a storm as it sailed off the southernmost tip of South America, the company said Thursday.

The Viking Polaris cruise ship was sailing Wednesday toward Ushuaia in Argentina — the main starting point for expeditions to Antarctica — when there was "a rogue wave incident," a representative of the Viking cruise company said in a statement.



The ship suffered minor damage and was anchored off Ushuaia, 3,200 kilometers (nearly 2,000 miles) from the capital Buenos Aires, with several windows smashed on the side, AFP journalists reported.

Viking said it was "investigating the facts surrounding this incident."

[Maybenaut]

My husband’s old CO is on a cruise to Antarctica right now. Hope it wasn’t that one

[AndyinPA]

The new explorer ships are really tight and can probably handle something like that better than a regular cruise ship. That doesn't mean I'd want to be on one. We are looking at an Antarctic cruise. Viking and Vantage are new to there, and their expedition ships don't have a lot of experience down there. If I'm doing an Antarctic cruise, I'm almost certainly cruising with Hurtigruten, a Norwegian company that has been there for decades.

[Sam the Centipede]

If I'm doing an Antarctic cruise, I'm almost certainly cruising with Hurtigruten, a Norwegian company that has been there for decades.

Make sure you find the right company: "hurtig" means "rapid" but "rute" is both "route" and "pane (of glass)". Contact Hurtigruta in Norway and theyll fix your car's broken windshield. But Hurtigruten will, as you say, take you on a nice cruise. The word-play amuses me!

Off Topic

I'm sure most cruisers know that Hurtigruten was originally the ferry boats serving the coastal towns up and down the western coast of Norway, a major component of commercial and personal transport when roads were poor and snow-bound for months where they crossed the high mountains. As the coastal highways were improved in the 1970s and later, with tunnels under mountains and bridges over rivers and fjords, the commercial traffic shifted to the roads and the holiday-makers (who had always exploited these working boats as an inexpensive way to explore the country) became the company's main trade.

[jemcanada2]

We got back from the Great Lakes cruise, Montreal to Chicago, 12 nights on the ship on Monday. It was pretty awesome, and the destinations were all interesting. We spent two days in Montreal before the cruise and two days in Chicago after the cruise. I had stayed at both hotels before, Intercontinental in Montreal and Swissotel in Chicago. I really enjoy both cities.

Some of the highlights: Welland Canal; boat under Niagara Falls (have been there many times, but had never done the Maid of the Mist); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; Detroit Art Institute (amazing); Manatoulin Island; Soo Locks; the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, for that matter, all of Mackinac Island. There were other things, but these were what I think I will remember most. We kept going back and forth between the US and Canada, which was sometimes a customs hassle.

I just saw this post, Andy. I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise. I think I take the Welland Canal for granted since it goes through my city. There’s lots of grumbling when the bridge is up and you have to wait for the boat to pass.

You may find this photo interesting. They drain the canal every year for the winter. This is one of the reservoirs they use to fill or empty the locks to raise or lower the water in the locks. When they built this reservoir for the current canal, they flooded some locks from one of the original canals. We took this photo last winter when the reservoir was drained and the old, usually submerged lock was visible.

[AndyinPA]

We got back from the Great Lakes cruise, Montreal to Chicago, 12 nights on the ship on Monday. It was pretty awesome, and the destinations were all interesting. We spent two days in Montreal before the cruise and two days in Chicago after the cruise. I had stayed at both hotels before, Intercontinental in Montreal and Swissotel in Chicago. I really enjoy both cities.

Some of the highlights: Welland Canal; boat under Niagara Falls (have been there many times, but had never done the Maid of the Mist); Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; Detroit Art Institute (amazing); Manatoulin Island; Soo Locks; the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, for that matter, all of Mackinac Island. There were other things, but these were what I think I will remember most. We kept going back and forth between the US and Canada, which was sometimes a customs hassle.

I just saw this post, Andy. I’m glad you enjoyed your cruise. I think I take the Welland Canal for granted since it goes through my city. There’s lots of grumbling when the bridge is up and you have to wait for the boat to pass.

You may find this photo interesting. They drain the canal every year for the winter. This is one of the reservoirs they use to fill or empty the locks to raise or lower the water in the locks. When they built this reservoir for the current canal, they flooded some locks from one of the original canals. We took this photo last winter when the reservoir was drained and the old, usually submerged lock was visible.

Thanks. In all the lectures, I don't think I remember hearing that.

[AndyinPA]

If I'm doing an Antarctic cruise, I'm almost certainly cruising with Hurtigruten, a Norwegian company that has been there for decades.

Make sure you find the right company: "hurtig" means "rapid" but "rute" is both "route" and "pane (of glass)". Contact Hurtigruta in Norway and theyll fix your car's broken windshield. But Hurtigruten will, as you say, take you on a nice cruise. The word-play amuses me!

Off Topic

I'm sure most cruisers know that Hurtigruten was originally the ferry boats serving the coastal towns up and down the western coast of Norway, a major component of commercial and personal transport when roads were poor and snow-bound for months where they crossed the high mountains. As the coastal highways were improved in the 1970s and later, with tunnels under mountains and bridges over rivers and fjords, the commercial traffic shifted to the roads and the holiday-makers (who had always exploited these working boats as an inexpensive way to explore the country) became the company's main trade.

We took that ferry, in the winter, up and down the coast. It went from Bergen to Kirkenes. It still served as a ferry as people came and went and they did some deliveries, but it was a lot of fun. The weather was cold with snow, but we loved it. When you go up to Nordkapp in the winter, a road plow goes with you. We needed it. It was lovely, bright, and sunny when we got there. We were chased off the mountain by a snowstorm, with the snowplow going down the mountain in front of us.

I think we were there in 2012.

[jemcanada2]

Here’s a site talking about the old canal that runs parallel to the current canal in some areas. The buried locks are from photo number 14 to the end on this page. It talks about the Blue Ghost tunnel too. I posted a photo of that on the ghostie thread. There’s a flooded cemetery there too.

http://oldwellandcanals.wikidot.com/wel ... king-tour3

[AndyinPA]

Here’s a site talking about the old canal that runs parallel to the current canal in some areas. The buried locks are from photo number 14 to the end on this page. It talks about the Blue Ghost tunnel too. I posted a photo of that on the ghostie thread. There’s a flooded cemetery there too.

http://oldwellandcanals.wikidot.com/wel ... king-tour3

Thanks.