Cruising the Caribbean – How the Ship Sails (Part 1)

I have never sailed on a cruise ship now will I ever. The few times I have been a tourist always reminded me that I was only a tourist and nothing more. Everywhere you go as a tourist, you are spotted and singled out. Someone always has his hand in your pocket. There is a difference between being a tourist and being a visitor. I choose to be the latter if I have to travel. When I travel, I have a destination in mind and intend to stay long enough to absorb some of the local atmosphere, something you can't even experience as a tourist. Being a visitor takes much planning. I prefer to find my own interests and not those of a tour director. A picture postcard of the pyramids costs a quarter. That's better than many thousands of dollars to be there personally. The travel industry wouldn't exist with people like me.

This is a good point. Some places, like Lexington, KY, I have visited many times (five). Others, like Caribbean islands, I don't mind a quick visit to because I know I can make another stop or I don't have much interest in them.

Pretty funny to go on a cruise on a ship that has a rock climbing wall as a pastime. But what the hell, vacations and comedies aren't particularly required to make sense.

Course I suppose if I went on a cruise I'd want to hang out in the engine room, check out the electrical system, 480 Cutler Hammer boxes and bus bars, 220? 110 splits? 50 or 60 Hertz? What Port feeds are employed for the electric power?

What's the engines burn per hour? Can I hang out on the Bridge some? What's a modern Radio Room look like, and what do they use? What are the back-up systems still used?

You got Cruise Ships, and Tourist Submarines. I'd love to have a Cruise Aircraft Carrier myself. Back in Haiti days of discussions of Shipping Container Housing for that disaster, we discussed Nuke powered Aircraft Carriers for water supplied from the desalination plant on the ships.

Sounds like the ship could use a Helipad for ship to shore transport when unable to dock. Then again a crane and a seaplane might be good enough. Antilles is making some PT6 Grumman Goose. Helicopters are pricey to run.

What's the Bosuns Mate got to say about the ship? What's in the toolroom that's unique? What's the greatest Cruise Ship of all time, and why?

Cruise ships often have things like rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks, and swimming pools on board because you may spend a few days at sea. These provide the passengers with something to do if just relaxing isn't enough.

I don't think passengers are allowed in the engine room or the bridge, although the ships I've sailed on have had a clear glass panel above the bridge so that you can look in and watch what's going on.

Many large ships are equipped for helicopter landings in case of medical emergencies at sea.

I did get to explore the workings of an (older) ship, the USS Missouri, in Hawaii.

The largest cruise ship right now is Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.

"Course I suppose if I went on a cruise I'd want to hang out in the engine room, check out the electrical system, 480 Cutler Hammer boxes and bus bars, 220? 110 splits? 50 or 60 Hertz? What Port feeds are employed for the electric power?"

Exactly!

Montel Williams did a show on crimes and disappearances on cruise ships. Some 3,xxx incidents happen every year. People over 6 ft tall tend to easily get thrown over the sides becasue the safety railings are only 40 inches tall to prevent blocking shorter people's line of sight. For this reason, I will never go on a cruise. The ships never turn around or slow down to search for a person that fell overboard because they have a schedule to keep. Young women tend to get kidnapped and/or raped. There have been slave trade groups caught on these ships where the workers were the slave traders. Most of them happen on ships that are registered to countries that do not have the regulations that Americans are expecting. Anyone thinking of going on a cruise should watch the Montel episode to be aware of the horrific things that happen on cruise ships and go unreported.

There was an article I read about a week ago about cruise ships, it was about sailing them at your own risk. Mainly the topic was about pulling in late and you missing your flights home and having to purchase a new flight tickets out of pocket. The fine print of the cruise contract pretty much says that it is not responsible for anything happening to you.

Furthermore, picking up a manoverboard is not going to delay any schedule.

I've never heard of a cruise ship pulling in late. They typically arrive in the final port early in the morning and need passengers to disembark quickly - new passengers will be boarding the same afternoon. Whenever I book flights for any type of vacation I try to allow plenty of time so that I don't get stuck.

I'm not sure how you'd go overboard. If the weather is bad or the decks are wet, they don't allow you out on the decks. The only other way I can think you'd fall off is if you were pretty drunk, which is your own stupidity... (not to say that you should drown because you were a drunken idiot, but still!)

I understand that. The article was about somebody trying to sue a cruise line for reimbursment for having to purchase plane tickets home that cost them an additional $1600 dollars. They found out that it is nearly impossible to sue the cruise lines, they've pretty much covered all their bases in their cruise contracts with the customers.

Here is a site that documents cruise crimes:

http://www.internationalcruisevictims.org/LatestMemberStories/Member_Stories_Categories.html

I read some of the accounts and it seems that, indifference of the cruise line, the easy access of criminals, and the difficulty of quickly getting qualified investigative personnel to the scene of the crime, make cruise lines a perfect place for predators.

Don't go alone and stay with the people you came with.

Being at sea is like being in jail with the added risk of drowning.

I spent 10 years of my working life at sea. In that time we lost one person washed overboard. He was trying to secure deck cargo while we were in the middle of a hurricane. The captain made the very difficult decision not to endanger the ship by turning around to look for him. I do not believe that any ships Captain could or would refuse to turn around for a man overboard due to schedule constraints, it just goes against all the rules of the sea. Ships that I sailed on have incurred major financial losses due to delays caused by our going to the assistance of sailors in distress as is required by law.

If the fear of falling overboard prevents you from going on a cruise I wonder that you dare to leave the house or drive a motor car or cross a road. The height of handrails is governed by law and has nothing to do with improving the view for vertically challenged passengers.

Not sure to which cruise lines you refer, but nothing that you say is relevant to the ones that I have been on. Cruising is not for everyone, but it is a very relaxing and relatively cheap way to holiday (if you can resist the casino and limit the bar bill). If you want it, there is constant entertainment, many restaurants, shows etc and nearly every day you wake up in a different port.

If you look at my profile picture, you will see that I take risks. Whitewater kayaking for one example. Tuesday morning the today show had video of tables and people on a cruise ship being tossed about by some swales.

As for the law, you must not truly understand why these industries pay so much for their lobbyists. The U.S. law only requires a 40 inch high rail and from what I have read, other countries only require a 34 inch high top rail and some countries don't have any requirements (I don't remember all of the countries or the article where I read it because it was about a year or so ago.). My out-seam is 42 inches, putting my center of gravity above the top rail of a cruise ship. The ship pitches in the right direction while I am standing next to the rail and I would easily be overboard.

I discovered monel when scrapping a ship. Railings were made of monel.

Had a rubber piece inbetween the deck and the bolts and the railing due to an interesting electrical interaction.

We seem to have a few "Stuffed Shirts" here. Cruising is fun. You are pampered, wined and dined, entertained and offered adventure in the form of excursions. I particularly liked the thrill of flying up the face of a glacier on the Alaska cruise and the rainforest boat trip during the Panama Canal trip. I found the food and service to be first rate and I was able to visit the bridge. the radio room and the engine room with a special prearranged tour. Cruising is great, all it takes is money.

The thing I don't like about cruise ships is: You are set afloat with a lot of other people, some of which one might not want to associate with. Your're stuck with the same faces, habits, customs and you have to dress for the Captain's dinner. Much too formal for me. If I went on a cruise, I would probably spend my time at the bar and lose all my money in the casino. I can do all that and more at home. No reason to spend extra. Personally, I don't like to go anywhere there are crowds of people. You risk picking up diseases, illnesses, bedbugs, not to mention falling overboard.

I spent 50 years of my life designing ships, including naval, commercial and cruise ships. I've been to sea in the course of my design duties. Now that I'm retired, I don't want anything more to do with ships. But to each his own. Enjoy

Four thousand passengers an you can't find any whose company you would enjoy?

You are particular.

I would feel I was part of a captive audience. If I had to retreat to my cabin, I'd just as soon stay home. I guess I've never been a good tourist. I've tried it. I visited the Grand Canyon. I liked it, but after a half hour of taking the obligatory photos and visiting the ever present gift shop, it was time to move on. Twenty hours driving and half hour tourist site. Doesn't make sense to me. I'm happy with my "castle".

I enjoy dressing up but you actually don't have to, depending on the ship - there are usually many options for dining including room service.

With so many things to do on each ship you don't have to be "stuck" with anyone. One day at sea we staked out two deck shairs on the stern and just stayed there all day reading, listening to music, and watching the ocean go by - the only conversation was with the wait staff for more drinks.

Sure enough cruising is fun, and I have done it in cars, and on motorcycles, walked around and taken odd trips on airplanes.

Noted that you yourself tommm made visits to points of interest engineers would find important, such as the engine room. Frankly I'd not want to go on a cruise on a ship of any size where I was not allowed to visit the bridge or engine room. Course the time best to do that would before embarking on the journey.

At anyrate it is doubtful that I would right enjoy some aimless luxury cruise dependent on faux friends and full of lining up and asking permission to go wherever I feel like.

The engine room is probably off limits for insurance reasons. After 50 years of being around ships, I've lost interest in engine rooms.

Please forgive me for my negative response to your cruising blog. As we age, our pursuit of happiness changes. You mention rock climbing. At 76, that would not be something I would want to do (or could do). Shuffleboard, bridge and canasta we associate with old people. Shooting skeet would interest me, but I don't think it's allowed on cruise ships any more. The closest I ever got to a cruising experience was on the crossing from England to Ireland, the boat from Vancouver, BC to Seattle, the ferry across Lake Michigan and the weeks spent at sea on aircraft carriers. They were long enough to satisfy my taste for the sea. But as I said before, to each his own.

I'm not offended - everyone is entitled to an opinion. (I don't like rock climbing either, because I also cannot participate - but I do like shuffleboard despite not being "old".)

We go because my fiance used to be in the Navy and he enjoys being on a ship again. I like seeing lots of places without having to move my heavy suitcase.