Bric-a-Brac

Origin:
1830–40;  < French, Middle French: literally, at random, without rhyme or reason; gradational compound from elements of obscure origin.
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In the course of the cruise I gather some random bits if information that I though might be of passing interest.
The Norwegian Jewel:  
This ship entered service in August, 2005. She was constructed at Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg Germany and outfitted in Amsterdam. She christened on November 3, 2005 at an official ceremony at the Port of Miami. Her godmother is Melania Trump, spouse of Donald Trump. I wonder how much that piece of self promotion cost him!). She went a rull refurbishment in 2010
In an episode of “The Apprentice” Donald Trump required the contestants to create a 30-second commercial of the ship,
Vital Statistics:

Tonnage:
93,502 GT
Length: 965 ft (294.13 m)

          Beam: 106 ft (32.31 m)

Draft: 27 ft (8.23 m)

Decks: 15

Installed power:
4 × MAN-B&W 12V48/60B diesels
combined 72000 kW

Speed: 25 knots

Capacity: 2,376 passengers

Crew: 1,100.

The lock basins of the Panama Canal have the following dimensions:

Width           110 feet    (33.5 m)

Useable Length       1000 Feet  (304.8 m)
That leaves a side to side clearance of 2 , yes two, feet,
It bow and stern the clearance is 12.5 ft. That is stopping a 93 thousand ton ship in a dime!
Our voyage from LA to Miami  consumed just over one million  US Dollars worth of fuel!. In Cartagena , Colombia we topped up the tanks with 1200 TONS of fuel. Gallons don’t even come into the picture but if they did it this ship would move about 6 feet (2 m) on one US gallon.

The end post will have some “useful” things we learned on our fist cruise and a couple of do’s and don’t’s.