SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: 1st cruise ship of the year

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news

8:17 PM: Thanks to Carolyn Newman for the photo of the Norwegian Sun, maneuvering before sailing away tonight for a two-and-a-half week cruise to Florida (after a stop in Victoria), first cruise ship to visit Seattle this year. We previewed the upcoming season on Wednesday. Next scheduled ship: Ruby Princess, April 28th (one week from Saturday).

9:19 PM: As a commenter and texter point out, and as MarineTraffic.com confirms, the ship is back in the middle of Elliott Bay. Don’t know why, but we’re trying to find out.

9:31 PM: And now it’s headed back out of the bay, up to 11 knots per MT.

Erik April 19, 2018 (8:56 pm)

Looks like a cruise ship is being escorted back into port tonight. Not under its own power. Curios?

WSB April 19, 2018 (9:13 pm)

Interesting; when I wrote this the Norwegian Sun was finally heading out of Elliott Bay but now it appears to be stopped right out in the middle. We’ll see what we can find out!
- Erin April 19, 2018 (9:30 pm)
  
  Looks like it’s headed out again after backing up and turning in circles several times.
- B April 20, 2018 (1:56 pm)
  
  A passenger became ill shortly after the ship left Seattle, and was medevaced off by Coast Guard Station Seattle. Then the ship resumed its trip to Victoria.
  - WSB April 20, 2018 (2:03 pm)
    
    Thanks, I did notice there was an SFD medical call to the CG station on the waterfront but today so far I haven’t had a chance to check with SFD.

April April 19, 2018 (9:26 pm)

Looks like the boat is on the move again.

WSB April 19, 2018 (9:31 pm)

Yup, MarineTraffic says it’s up to 10 knots. It’s only headed to Victoria and it’s certainly got some pad time to make a morning arrival.

joeythekid April 20, 2018 (10:29 am)

Get your cameras out May 30th. Norwegian Bliss makes is maiden call. Largest cruise ship to visit Seattle (I believe). Twice the tonnage of the Sun (pictured above). 4,000 lower berth passengers compared to 2,000 on the Sun. Almost 100 feet longer than the Columbia Center is tall!

WSB April 20, 2018 (10:58 am)

As mentioned in our preview on Wednesday
https://westseattleblog.com/2018/04/what-youll-see-at-sea-this-years-seattle-cruise-season-starts-with-arrival-tomorrow/

The official description is that it’s the biggest ship to be homeported on the West Coast – at least this season. It’ll be sailing out of Seattle all year.

And then, according to this story I just happened onto:
http://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/la-tr-cruises-alaska-big-ships-in-2018-story.html
it will be eclipsed next year by the even-bigger Ovation of the Seas (Royal Caribbean), 5,000 passengers compared to Bliss’s 4,000.
- joeythekid April 20, 2018 (1:05 pm)
  
  Thanks.
  
  I guess now that they have widened (or built new locks, really) at the Panama Canal we can expect these huge post “panamax” ships more and more. Unreal how big they are.
  
  Apologies for missing the Wednesday piece.
  - WSB April 20, 2018 (1:16 pm)
    
    My family took a dream cruise when I was a little kid, on a Matson ship (they’ve long since left the cruise business and the ship in question was converted to a freighter and broken up 23 years ago), and I think it maybe carried about four HUNDRED passengers, if that. These floating-city-sized vessels are truly mindboggling.
    - joeythekid April 20, 2018 (2:50 pm)
      
      We’ve sailed on Princess (~2,400 passengers) and Windstar Cruises (~120-200).
      
      With younger kids, the big ships are actually quite enjoyable – especially if you get a cabin with a balcony – because you can relax on your deck or find just about anything to do and keep busy if you desire.
      
      With just my wife and I – Windstar was fantastic! No “bells and whistles” but you become fast friends with everyone on board and really get engrossed in the destination, not the ship itself.
      
      It will be interesting to see how big these actually get. At some point they turn into a seagoing “A380” and ports can’t or won’t be able to handle them!

Constriction Cruiser April 28, 2018 (9:18 pm)

At least all the construction should be finished! The cruise this ship was on before this one was horrible. Check out – same ship before her recent drydock in Victoria.http://www.constructioncruise.com

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