San Diego Port Review…

One of the most important things in cruising is the destinations and I don’t think that I talk enough about destinations here on this blog. One of the reasons I haven’t done so is because, as you know, I have yet to go on my first cruise (AHHHHH!!!! ROAR!!!) and I have been reluctant to write about places I have never been to. It’s easy to write about Alaska or Hawaii or the Caribbean and tell you different facts, that they are beautiful places or what you can do there, however it’s not so easy to write about what a place is actually like;… what it feels like. With that in mind, I have decided to write about a destination that I know very well…in fact, I have chosen to write about one of my favorite places in the world!

Ahem…

One of the saddest things about the down turn in West Coast cruising is there are some really great ports here. Los Angeles is awesome and one of the greatest ports in the world (really I am not biased just cause I live there), Catalina is charming (or so I hear…I have never actually been there…but everyone I know who has seems to like it), and the Mexican Riviera has a lot going for it. But there is one port here that I don’t think gets the attention that it deserves…California’s second largest city and one of its most charming…San Diego.

San Diego has been hit pretty hard by the lack of cruise ships here in California lately. For several years there has been a ship based out of San Diego sailing to places like Hawaii, or, of course, Mexico. However, with the mass exodus going on here, calls in the city have dropped, and the two ships based there for part of the year – Holland America’s Oosterdam and Carnival’s Carnival Spirit (Actually Spirit will start her season there later this year) – will be leaving San Diego for the suddenly relevant Australian cruise market! It’s a real shame though because San Diego is really a great city (in fact, if I couldn’t live in on by Los Angeles, I would choose San Diego) and a great cruise port whether you are based there or just calling.

Located in the southern part of Southern California, close to Mexico, San Diego is one of the West Coast’s most historic cities (it is the oldest European settlement in California and the West Coast), playing host to the first of California’s 21 Spanish Missions, Sea World, a historic old town, numerous tourist attractions, hundreds of great eateries, and one of the oldest and most important ports on the west coast. The city’s Downtown core sits right next to the San Diego Cruise Terminal(s) on the beautiful San Diego Bay. The design, culture and layout of San Diego make it to me an ideal cruise port…in fact, I wish Los Angeles (and other ports) would take a note from San Diego on some points.

One of the best things about SD (that’s San Diego for short) as a cruise port is the fact that many of SD best amenities are within walking distance of the cruise terminals. San Diego International Airport (the second busiest single runway airport in the world) is less then a mile away; the historic aircraft carrier USS Midway, the quaint and trendy Seaport Village, The San Diego Convention Center (home of Comic Con), the train station, Downtown San Diego, the San Diego Maritime Museum (which has the Star of India – the world’s oldest active merchant vessel – on display, among others), Petco Park, many great hotels & resorts, the ferry to Coronado Island, and much more is all right next to or within a few blocks of the cruise terminal. Other great amenities such as Balboa Park with its many museums and gardens, the world famous San Diego Zoo, historic Point Loma, Mission Bay with its many different attractions, fancy La Jolla, and Sea World are just a short (like maybe 5 minutes) car, train or bike ride away…I can personally vouch for the above mentioned attractions…they are all fun!

(San Diego Skyline at night)

The city is huge! With a population of over 1,307,000 people the city is one of the largest in the USA (number 8 I think), and second in California, but at the same time it doesn’t feel like a huge huge city in the way that cities like New York or Los Angeles does…I mean it feels big but not in that densely packed, rush rush, hustle bustle kind of way. SD has a cool and laid back attitude to it. Its cool and sophisticated but at the same time doesn’t try to be (if you can figure out what that means). It has the typical Southern California beach city vibe with a bit of Los Angeles, Miami and Navy town (the US Navy has a big presence in SD) thrown in. It’s a little hard to describe but its is definitely distinctive and unique (in a good way). A world class city!

San Diego is also a pretty good city for shipspotting! Like I alluded to above, when docking in SD, cruise ship dock right in the heart of Downtown SD, almost like the old piers on the West Side of Manhattan, NYC. And just like in NYC, you can stand practically underneath the bow of the ships! Also good for shipspotting is the fact that ships have to travel several miles into the bay to get to the cruise terminals…this gives you many different great vantage points to watch to ships sail from.

SD has many great hotels for you to choose from, which is great for any post or pre cruise stays. Across the streets from the cruise terminal is the Holiday Inn, with one of my favorite restaurants in the city – Elephant & Castle – located on the bottom floor; however if you would prefer something a little more special then a Holiday Inn then you have the wonderful Manchester Grand Hyatt –- one of the largest Hotel/resorts on the West Coast with 2 very tall towers (some of the tallest in the city) and amazing views over the city, bay and the ocean beyond- - located just a couple of blocks away, as well as the beautiful (from what I hear) new Hilton, the Omni (which overlooks Petco Park) and the Marriot (next to the convention center) all within walking distance. If you want a slightly quieter experience then I would suggest my favorite place to stay in SD; in one of the 5 hotels on Shelter Island, located in the north- west section of San Diego Bay near Point Loma and with marvelous views of Downtown, the Bay, Point Loma, North Island and the Coronado Bridge….however this is a couple of miles from the cruise terminal and might be to far to walk for most.

There are many other options, including Paradise Point Resort on Mission Bay, very close to Sea World, the world famous and very beautiful Hotel Coronado, and many many more.

As far as food and drink options go, SD is full of them! The Gas Lamp district in Downtown has many trendy bars and restaurants, Seaport Village (also in Downtown by the cruise terminals) has many also (Including one of my favorites, The Harbor House). There is the very good Fish Market (which serves more then just fish…though I have to say that the sword fish was very good!) located across the quay from the USS Midway. Next to the cruise terminals you will also find ‘Anthony’s’ a restaurant I have been going to since I was a little kid (it has very good clam chowder!). I won’t list anymore here but there are many many more great place to eat.

If you are looking for culture SD offers some great options! There is the extensive Balboa Park with its many different museums - ranging from Natural History, art, Auto History and Aviation history -, gardens, parks, theaters - including the world largest outdoor pipe organ and its dedicated pavilion – , and the world famous San Diego Zoo. Other museums around the city include the Maritime Museum – with the Star of India, the Berkley, two submarines, the Surprise (the ship used in Masters and Commanders) and other boats, the retired aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, and the historic Cabrillo National Monument (commemorating the first landing of a European expedition on what would become the West Coast),and the Old Point Loma Lighthouse.

I could go on and on some more about the many great things about the city, like its beautiful scenery at Point Loma, Torrey Pines State Beach, Sunset Cliffs and else where, or then many other entertainment options like the shops, malls, theaters and other attractions, but for the sake of time and the length of this article…I won’t.

In conclusion…whether or not you are sailing to or from San Diego, or even not sailing at all; this is a great city definitely worth a visit! There are many different things about the city that I have not mentioned here (not even I have seen the whole city, and I have been there dozens of times) so you have much to discover here! Hopefully, the California cruise market will pick up again, bringing more people to this great city!

Queen Mary 75th Anniversary!!!

Just a quick update here!

I just want to let you all know that it is the 75th anniversary of the Queen Mary's maiden voyage!!!! EEEEEEKK!!!! *geek squeal! Oh I love her!

75 years ago today (May 27th 1936) the brand new RMS Queen Mary set off from Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York via Cherbourg! This event was cause for much celebration on both sides of the Atlantic but especially in England. It has been estimated that over a million people lined the shores of Southampton to see her off!

Check out this video!



I will be staying on the Queen Mary tonight (Friday) for this very special occasion. There will be several different events to celebrate and I will be attending!

Sorry for this short post... I have another one coming for later today or tomorrow and soon a full article on the Queen Mary!

The new RMS Queen Mary arriving in New York, New York, June 1th, 1936, surrounded by hundreds of smaller vessels there to welcome the new Cunard Queen!

Cruise Lines, Good or Bad? Onboard Safety…

If you look on the Internet you will see several sites with the purpose of “exposing” the cruise industry. These websites allege that the cruise lines have committed and continue to commit many crimes, such as disregarding passenger safety, lack of transparency, underpaying their employees, covering up onboard crimes, environmental harm, or even not paying US taxes. When you read these websites they can sound very convincing and fair. They don’t sound like they are only telling you half truths or a twisted truth…they just sound like everything they say is right. While reading these website you really might start to question the cruise lines ethics and practices, maybe they are bad companies who care absolutely nothing about anybody.

Well all I can say is this…while not everything these websites say is false, they really only tell you a half truth, if even that. Many times the truth is twisted to serve the purposes of the website's author. I have read, on many occasions, flat out lies, mis-representations and totally absurd allegations pertaining to the cruise lines and the cruise industry as a whole. I think it is very important to keep in mind that many of these sites, which accuse the cruise lines of throwing out ethics, are written by maritime lawyers whose money comes from prosecuting against the cruise lines.

In this article I will try and present to you a fair and unbiased argument in defense of the cruise industry. Yes I know…it must seem impossible for someone like me (a shipgeek) to be unbiased when it comes to the industry that I love so dearly, but let me assure you that I will try (THE CRUISE INDUSTRY ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!)……um…….ahem…starting now...
Like I said above, some of what these site say has a certain amount to truth to them. Like any company, a cruise line is out to make a profit for its employees and shareholders, and at times the cruise lines have made mistakes…sometimes big ones.

Today though, I am going to focus on just one of these complaints against the Cruise Lines…others will come in later articles.

One of the allegations that I have heard several times is that the cruise lines do not care about passenger safety. They say the Cruise Lines only care about the bottom line and not the safety of passengers and crew. One site even says that the cruise lines incorporate outside the United States in order to avoid US safety regulations. They will site things like norovirus outbreaks, overboards, and onboard crimes to support these claims. These claims are really dubious at best (the ‘incorporating outside the US to avoid US safety laws’ isn’t even dubious...it’s ridiculous!), in fact, in regards to cruise ships, they are hardly even that.

The facts are thus…the cruise industry is regulated by several strict governing authorities including MARPOL (a international treaty which governs ship pollution and waste management - the USA and all other ‘flag states’ that the cruise lines use, are signatories and therefore subject to this treaty ), IMO (a United Nations agency charged with making sure ships are safe, secure, as well as governing pollution) and SOLAS (“Safety Of Life At Sea” an international treaty that governs all safety aspects of ships). The cruise lines meet and very often exceed the regulations set down by these agencies. On top of this, cruise ships are subject to inspections from government agencies – like the US Coast Guard – which make sure the safety onboard the ships is up to par. Other agencies – such as the CDC – also inspect cruise ships to make sure that health standards are maintained. If a cruise ship fails these inspections, they will not be allowed to carry any passengers.

And despite what these sites may say, cruise ships can be subject to the laws and safety regulations of any country they call in…for example, the US.

Like I said above, one site says that the lines are avoiding US safety laws (what's funny to me is that a few months back when President Obama signed a cruise ship safety bill into law, this same website went on and on about how the cruise lines had to start making some changes due to it…but I thought the cruise lines weren’t subject to US laws??) however, this is not true. While, yes, the flag state of any ship (((usually The Bahamas, Bermuda, Panama or Malta with cruise ships))) has ultimate control over their ships; a ship is subject to the laws of any port or country in which it calls, especially if it’s carrying that country's citizens (when you go into a foreign country, aren’t you subject to their laws? …same with ships). The aforementioned law that was signed by President Obama governs all cruise ships carrying US passengers from US ports …this law regulates cruise ship safety in and outside US waters, so if you are a cruise line and you want to sail out of the US and carry US passengers (which most lines do as the US is by far the largest cruise market)…well then, you are subject to this law. I should mention though, that even with this law being passed, the cruise lines where hardly affected. Why? Well because the cruise lines have already been doing what this law says for years now. This new law just makes the cruise line’s own safety standards official.

In short, the claim that on a cruise you are sailing on a foreign ship, with no safety regulations, is hogwash. Pure and simple. Furthermore, the claim the cruise lines don’t care about your safety is also hogwash. The cruise lines realize that the safety of their passengers and crew is a good investment (((would you want to sail on a line that had a reputation for a lack of safety?))) and one that they have invested millions into. Indeed, the cruise lines track record shows this…out of the over 15,500,000 people who will cruise this year, very few will have any kind of safety issue. One little tidbit for you as an example of a lines dedication to safety… in Cunard’s 170 year history, it has never been responsible for the loss of one human life…this is the same also with the other major cruise lines. Also, it’s not like these companies are run by a bunch of heartless people who don’t care about anyone else. I also don’t see what the benefit would be to running an un-safe ship.

A lack of safety would open the cruise lines up to lawsuits, bad reputations and a loss of business. Not to mention that a cruise lines most valuable asset, the ship itself, would be open to damage and destruction if it was run in an unsafe manner.

In conclusion…the cruise industry is not made up of a bunch of saints as it has made its fair share of mistakes, even at times, safety mistakes. I won’t deny that…but I will say one thing… your safety is still, in fact, very important to the industry. You are an investment, and for that reason your safety must be protected. That’s why over 15,000,000 people will cruise safely and happily this year alone.

Anyways, sorry about this rather quickly put together article, its probably not the best, but I hope it gets my point across.

Re-Connect

Hello fellow shipgeeks!

Finally I can connect to the internet again. My computer is still acting weird and won't connect to the internet by itself so I am using a network stick thing drive something or another. Anyway, what this mean for you is that I can finally after almost two month get back to the blog!

There is a lot to report on but in the interest of keeping this blog current I will not be writing extensively about anything that has happened in the last few weeks, unless I feel that it is important to do so.

So stay tuned. I am hoping to post the next article within the next few days!

-Mark