Off Season Cruising

[koliver]

Some winters we get away. Until Covid turned our world upside down we used to park Retreat in her shelter and Snowbird south. We bought a 44 ft Motorhome and a deluxe lot in California, spending 3 to 5 months away each year. In early 2020 we did a 37 day cruise on the Viking Sun, leaving from LA and finishing at Sydney. Our first 7 days were at sea. That was a good test of our ability to handle being out in the open ocean for a lengthy period, as all previous cruising had been with a maximum of ports visited, so no extended sea time. That 7 days at sea revealed to us that A: we had no seasickness issues and B: The ship was set up to fully occupy our time.
Our selection of this particular cruise line was helped by doing an 11 day Mediterranean Cruise aboard the same ship, in 2018. We learned then to restrict from consideration, any ships with Casinos, Children, Smoking areas, Professional Photographers, and a myriad of youth centric amenities.
When Covid hit, we sold both the Motorhome and its lot. Then we booked a "World Cruise". Covid still got in the way, forcing a postponement from a January 2022 start to a December 2022 start.
At noon Dec 22 we boarded the Viking Neptune in Ft Lauderdale. Our itinerary has us ending this cruise on May 9th, at London England.

That is enough for this post. I will pick it up again another day.

 

[READY]

Looking forward to hearing more about your experience.

 

[IRENE]

WOW

subscribed!

 

[koliver]

"If you have time to spare, go by air". This was never more true. Our flight from Victoria was 8 hours late getting to Toronto. From there we needed a new connecting flight to Ft Lauderdale Luckily we had arranged our flights through the Cruise Co, so with their help got to Ft. L 24 hrs ahead of embarkation. The airline, (they had told all passengers before we left Victoria that they would get us to our destinations, but we called the Cruise line and had them do it) confirmed our landing of the connection that they arranged, at FLL after the ship had left the dock.
Our first stop, 2 days in was Cozumel. Then Cartagena, Columbia on day 5, Colon, Panama on day 6. Transiting the canal the following day.
Colon is poor and run down. Tour guide claimed that every election cycle there are promises to clean it up, but in the last several cycles nothing has been done. The buildings near the port look like the bombed out buildings in Ukraine.
Panama City is, by comparison, clean and prosperous. With the new set of Neo Panamax locks, the development in PC is staggering. At each of Colon and Panama City, there are more container cranes than in the whole of the Port of Vancouver.
I counted ships, on AIS and there were over 100 waiting at each end.

Photos:
The upward locking at the Carribean end;
The biggest container ship I have seen, anywhere. 1200'. The new canal is longer and wider, so bigger ships than this are still possible.
The Cut and the newest bridge, built to allow eventual widening of the canal.

 

[slowgoesit]

And here I thought you were talking off season cruising in the PNW!
Looking forward to hearing more! What Covid requirements did the cruise have? I assume the ship is embarking/disembarking passengers throughout the voyage. Does everyone have to be vaccinated? How about testing? Following . . . .

 

[koliver]

And here I thought you were talking off season cruising in the PNW!
Looking forward to hearing more! What Covid requirements did the cruise have? I assume the ship is embarking/disembarking passengers throughout the voyage. Does everyone have to be vaccinated? How about testing? Following . . . .

27° calm and sunny here off the coast of Panama. That is far from the typical Dec 30 weather in my home waters.
As for the Ship's requirements: Proof of vaccines required. We will off load and replace pax in LA, so will have a full pax load of ~900. All crew wear masks at all times. 10% +- of pax. We wear ours in all tight conditions, but there is enough room so that we don't feel compelled to mask generally in the ship.

I hadn't transferred the screenshot I took of my AIS app off Panama City, so here it is. Green is freight, red is tankers, blue is Pax ships, White is huge private boats, grey is fish, pink is cruisers, but I think they wait somewhere else.

 

[BruceK]

...As for the Ship's requirements: Proof of vaccines required. We will off load and replace pax in LA, so will have a full pax load of ~900. All crew wear masks at all times. 10% +- of pax. We wear ours in all tight conditions, but there is enough room so that we don't feel compelled to mask generally in the ship...

I wish you a safe enjoyable cruise.
Our October/November cruise to NZ had similar requirements, save for crew not masking until the **** hit the fan day 5/6. We avoided Covid for almost 3 years but not on the ship. Masked a lot onboard but I suspect it was in the aircon. Anything respiratory is probably not a cold, act accordingly. Don`t rely on sick pax telling the ship, many won`t.

 

[koliver]

I wish you a safe enjoyable cruise.
Our October/November cruise to NZ had similar requirements, save for crew not masking until the **** hit the fan day 5/6. We avoided Covid for almost 3 years but not on the ship. Masked a lot onboard but I suspect it was in the aircon. Anything respiratory is probably not a cold, act accordingly. Don`t rely on sick pax telling the ship, many won`t.

Bruce
We had this one booked long ago. Including postponements, 877 days from first booking to embarkation. No way we would not go. Our last was LA to Sydney, also Viking, ending Feb 10 2020. We saw ship protocol in place then, though no Covid on board.

 

[BruceK]

Keith, I`m just a tad battle scarred, hope your long awaited cruise goes well, an interesting route.

Viking are operating here, one ship is off South Australia awaiting port entry. Not Covid, it`s algae on the hull, tug and divers doing do an at sea hull clean. Weird.

It`s cruise season here, ships docking at the 2 passenger terminals most days.

 

[rgano]

Going into foreign ports all over the world, our Sailors were always told to never go on liberty runs ashore without a buddy. In Colon, Panama, we had to instruct them to go (if they absolutely just had to) in groups of ten or more to fight off the thugs.

 

[koliver]

Going into foreign ports all over the world, our Sailors were always told to never go on liberty runs ashore without a buddy. In Colon, Panama, we had to instruct them to go (if they absolutely just had to) in groups of ten or more to fight off the thugs.

Sounds like Colon then is the same as now. The advice we got was to avoid any exposure to the streets of Colon, get over to Panama City. The occupied tenements near the port are little better than the unoccupied skeletal buildings that should be removed.
Lots of poverty around the world, so it is hard for a cruise itinerary to avoid showing some of it to us.
On our last cruise Tonga and Fiji were the worst examples we saw. The cruise line got the message and those ore not on the itinerary this time.

 

[koliver]

Puntarenas, Costa Rica was next. As we had done both a cruise here in 2000 and a home exchange to Nosara in 2009, we walked the beach in Puntarenas instead of spending hours on a bus to see what we had seen before. Pleasant, warm and safe. Back on the ship for pool time.
Sorry about the sideways photo.
We are now enjoying sea days on the way to Cabo.

 

[darkside]

Colon has been dangerous for a while. You could see the fresh markets from the now demolished yacht club but you never walked, always took a taxi.
We went to a service station for dinghy fuel and passed another service station on the way. We enquired with our driver Ellington and he said you could go there but you will get mugged. At the station we did go to there was forecourt security with a shotgun.
Fiji may be poor but Fijians are amongst the happiest people I have met in my travels. Tongans are often shy but also wonderful people.
Both countries rely heavily on tourism so not sure if avoiding going there is all that helpful to their economic situation.

 

[koliver]

Another day at sea. On this ship, little time is left to get on the computer. We are proceeding up the west coast of Central America, now off Mexico, between Acapulco and Mazatlán, on the way to Cabo, which we will get to on Jan 5.
The Pacific, is. We are steaming along at 16.5 knots, +-. The sea is calm, the whales, dolphins, boobies, and other wildlife are plentiful. We walk the circuit on deck 2 every morning. We have cut 2 minutes off our 2 mile time over the last few days.
Our lecturers have drawn us to the theatre at least once a day, for such things as spies, astronauts, naturalists, Pirates and lesser entertainments. the musical entertainment is as good. Dining is a treat. There are the usual restaurants, the self serve, large capacity "World Cafe", the more sedate "Dining Room" and the specialty restaurants, where we have had remarkably good food. One such has the best "fine dining" I have ever experienced. Tonight's was no exception. Then to a performance by Roy Tan, a Canadian virtuoso pianist to cap the evening.

 

[MVDarlin]

What does this string of cruise ship comnents have to do with trawlers?

 

[koliver]

What does this string of cruise ship comnents have to do with trawlers?

You can put me on your ignore list where I won't bother you.

This has to do with not being where I can use my own boat at this time of year, not being warm and going where that isn't an issue, seeing places my trawler is not equipped to get to.

 

[rgano]

It's on "Voyagers and other boaters on the go" subforum. Seems to fit somehow for me. I suppose it could also fit under "General discussion" where I have seen wide-ranging threads. I'll read it wherever it lands.

 

[BruceK]

Enjoying it, a boat is involved albeit a big one.
Never thought of Fiji as poor, lots of tourism from Australia, again now Covid eased. I`ve been to Rarotonga (flying), very relaxed,a transit point to Aitutaki ,gets tourism from NZ but seemed less prosperous. Australia makes an effort to help the Pacific, so does USA.
Happy cruising koliver.

 

[sunchaser]

Keep posting Keith, it sounds like a great trip. Is the infirmary quiet?

 

[slowgoesit]

Following Keith. Keep up the posts!

 

[Maui]

I really enjoy your posts. I like hearing about your experiences and destinations that I’ve only dreamed of. I spent five months in Georgetown, Exumas last winter. I brought my 38’ Californian down from New York and back. Now I’m in Phuket, Thailand looking for a boat to cruise this side of the world. Just joined the Phuket Yacht Club yesterday. I found an amazing group of racing sailors and cruisers. Just like being home.

 

[koliver]

Cabo San Lucas is now a bustling city the size of Victoria BC, The big ships all anchor out and tender their huge numbers in. Where they land is like many other cruise ship destinations and, being Mexico, has all the trappings of the Mexican tourist industry.

The marina used to be a swamp, then a small airfield, then was built as a marina. The largest boat inside when we landed is a very large (175'(?)) Lurssen, tied near a ~100'. Neither had a name visible.

AIS revealed neither, but did reveal "La Datcha", anchored out near us. Further searching revealed that this yacht is on charter, and is owned by a Russian Billionaire who, since the war in Ukraine began, has a net worth that has dropped from over $8B to under $1B. ?Sanctions?

Our choice of shore excursions took us to the nearby town of San Jose del Cabo, pop ~150k, where we saw no street vendors, everything was clean, in what shops we entered, nobody was pressuring us to make a purchase, all were friendly. Much nicer than Cabo. The Mission there is pictured below.
We are now back out at sea. Clear skies and winds under 10knots NW, seas 3m, on a long, easy period, on the nose. Dolphins (common) in the bow waves occasionally. Lots of brown boobies keeping pace and fishing for flying fish.

LA tomorrow, where we offload 1/2 of the passengers and they are replaced. LA is the only port where we lose or gain passengers, so our full load will remain at around 800.

Tom, we did find the infirmary, as Janet had an eye thing. Very quiet. She got service without needing to wait, and that is now behind us.

 

[koliver]

Day 36 of 138
Today we are again at sea. We enjoy this multitude of sea days. The shipboard entertainment is superb, with top quality lecturers and musicians, some on board for long portions of this cruise, some for short portions. In addition there are many opportunities to get to a quiet space to read, knit or whatever. In LA, there was the "Naming Ceremony" for this brand new vessel. The naming was done in part by the new "Godmother," a former Astronaut, current author and artist, allong with 2 "Godmothers" of other vessels in the fleet.
After the ceremony a special dinner was shared by all 850 guests on the ship plus another 400 ashore, then we departed for Hawaii.

In Hawaii we docked in Honolulu and had a variety of tours available. Honolulu has grown a bit since our last visit in 1974! We did spend some time on Waikiki beach and another beach, before departing for French Polynesia.

Internet was unavailable for a few days while we were far from any shore, but this moring I learned that our Starlink is again up and running. There are 6 small Starlink antennae visible on the top of the ship, apparently the same small ones as are in common use on our boats. My attached photos are: The tiny Pilot boat in Bora Bora, the H signal flag showing the Pilot is aboard, iconic Bora Bora, same for Moorea, which followed Bora Bora by a day, and the Venus Point lighthouse on Tahiti, where Cook observed the transit of Venus across the sun in 1769. That was a scientific achievement for which Cook was sent with his small fleet, around the world bearing the secret orders to make those scientific observations and thus advance Science with an accurate measurement of the distance between Earth and the Sun.

In Bora Bora, snorkelling was superb. A school of Eagle Rays, 70 or more in 10m depth, gorgeous corals, millions of pretty fish, as our guide circumnavigated the island to find all the best spots.

 

[ofer]

I enjoy the thread. thanks for your contribution

 

[sunchaser]

Keith
Given you guys are cycling enthusiasts do they have decent work out equipment onboard? We find working out to be essential when boat bound. Keep up the posts, good reading ?

 

[koliver]

Keith
Given you guys are cycling enthusiasts do they have decent work out equipment onboard? We find working out to be essential when boat bound. Keep up the posts, good reading ?

Tom
I didn't pack my bike along, but yes, there is a large room full of exercise equipment that the guys who know these things say is the best. There must be a dozen or so stations with a variety of equipment. Personally, I can't stand remaining in one place that long so have never bothered with stationary equipment. The tracks aboard are, on deck 2, a full circumference at 4 laps to the mile and on decks 8 and 9 ( the sundeck up top) 5 laps to the mile). Only on the roughest days is deck 2 closed, as it gets strong winds and spray in rough conditions. I have had to lean hard into a 35 knot headwind ( add our 16knot speed) to get to the tunnel round the bow. Up top is less comfortable in windiy conditions but gets almost no spray. We do a 2 miler every morning and another mile or so most afternoons. That seems to be enough for us, adding in all the stairs we use as we have not seen the inside of any elevators.

 

[koliver]

Keep posting Keith, it sounds like a great trip. Is the infirmary quiet?

This morning we did the "behind the scenes" tour with the hotel mgr. He gets a daily from the Dr. So we have a definite zero Covid aboard as of this morning's report. That may have been true for quite a while.
The crew removed their masks a while ago. LA was and will remain the last time passengers embarked, so we should be good all the way to London.

 

[koliver]

The guy in charge of communications explained the lack of internet as a hole in Starlink service in the open reaches of the ocean, that we have now passed through. He doesn't expect any more of those as we move along our route to London.

 

[koliver]

We are now sailing SW with a following wind and sea. 13kn boat speed, 3.5 m waves following at 190° to 200°, moving fwd at about half again our boat speed, with 35 kn wind in the same direction. All this results in a pleasant motion. We slowed due to a course change, as tendering in to Waitangi in the Bay of Islands isn't going to work with swells in the anchorage being too much for safe tendering. We are now scheduled to pick up the Auckland pilot at 17:00 tomorrow and get dockside with tugboat assistance.

 

[BruceK]

Unfortunate you will miss Waitangi/Bay of Islands. We missed going ashore too last November, for different reasons.
Waitangi is where The Treaty of Waitangi was signed between Britain and the Maori Chiefs. The day of signing is NZ`s National Day. I went there on a motor-home trip many years ago.