Thanks for the kind thought. It's the suspense that gets me. Today, Wednesday 21 May she is doing 8 knots from St Lucia to Barbados.
When the ship resumes its usual A-B-C circuit, it would be interesting to know the full date range on this alternate route, for future tracking purposes. (Eg: Is this perhaps a new seasonal route for spring that will be repeated round about the same time time next year?)
It's certainly not a new route. I would say she usually goes to the Lesser Antilles at about this time but within the group she visits a number of islands. without a fixed schedule. From memory last year she visited Antigua and St Kitts. I imagine there is a weekly fixed point, probably Bridgegtown, Barbados, to allow victims to fly in to join the ship and leave again (if they're lucky). So for the record this is Thursday 22 May and she is still today at Bridgetown, Barbados.
Saturday 24 May and she is still at Bridgetown, Barbados. Incidentally, if you like boats, you might like to have a look at the mega-yacht Topaz currently tied up alongside the old hulk. Chalk and old hard cheese. ------------------------------------ From the Daily Mail on-line, June 2012: Not the biggest billionaire's plaything but one of the most expensive Owner's identity remains shrouded in secrecy At 147m it is STILL 15m shorter than Roman Abramovich's yacht Eclipse By Tom Goodenough Published: 13:13 GMT, 27 June 2012 | Updated: 16:27 GMT, 27 June 2012 Taking to the water for the first time, the stunning £400million megayacht is one of the largest and most expensive ever to be built. Four years of work have gone into creating the huge boat which is the brainchild of a British designer based, ironically, in landlocked Rutland. But despite the conspicuous size of the yacht, named Topaz, the identity of its owner remains shrouded in secrecy. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2165460/Topaz-400million-super-yacht-dreamed-landlocked-British-designer-leaves-German-dock-rule-waves.html#ixzz32d3HAS5w Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Yesterday's post seems to have disappeared. WTF? Probably my fault. Anyway yesterday (Sunday) she went from Barbados to St Lucia (Castries) and is still there.
The route seems a bit less regular than a year or two ago. Is she running more "on demand" and less on schedule?
From what I remember, so the information is not guaranteed, her visits to the Lesser Antilles do not follow a regular schedule, nothing like the ABC routine. More expensive, perhaps? The old schedules sent by OP are probably on this forum somewhere??
Tuesday 27 May: Zapped off again from St Lucia (Castries) on way to Barbados (Bridgetown), eta 10:00 Wednesday 28 May: still at Bridgetown, next to the superduperyacht Topaz. I wonder why the Tiny Admiral is so attached to the old hulk when he could have Freewinds II whenever he wanted.
How many points along their route have international air access? I was thinking that while the Fleawinds isn't at one of those points, it's a locked room with no one entering or leaving. (Not completely, there will be local boats and planes to transfer to/from an access point in a pinch.) Extended periods away from a transfer point would either indicate a captive audience for the duration or no audience at all.
Thursday: update posted but it has disappeared. Friday 30 May: still at Bridgetown this morning. Going by the map supplied by the vessel-tracking site there is an airport at Castries in St Lucia. Bound to be one in Barbados. I would imagine every Caribbean island with a tourist industry, which is to say most of them, will have an airport. On a similar theme, does anyone know if the courses offered at this time of year are more expensive than the ABC program? Another point is that May/June is getting into high summer when most regular cruise ships don't visit the Caribbean. Edited to add that the Maiden Voyage Event is normally in June and based in St Lucia but has not been so regular recently. Does anyone have a date for the ship-based event this year?
Saturday 31 May: still at Bridgetown Barbados. ETA: Monday 2 June: on her way to Dominica, eta 10.30 this morning.
Thank you Rob, a wonderful leak. So the dupes can fly in to St Kitts, Barbados or Aruba. An expensive trip especially from Europe. For Americans I suppose the whole cost can be set against taxes.
Tuesday 3 June: she touched in at Dominica very briefly and is now on her way north-west to St Kitts, eta 10:30 on 3 June. St Kitts is shown as one of the three pick-up points.
If they deviate from that schedule, they'll mess up some people's travel plans. But then, this is the same bunch that kept changing and finally scheduled the Must Attend Flag opening with less than two weeks notice.
Wednesday to Friday 4-6 June: tied up at Basseterre, St Kitts (which has the Robert L Bradshaw International Airport).
Bonking or bunkering? Anyway this is now Monday 9 June and she is still at St Kitts. 6 days. And this is now Tuesday 10 June and she has been at St Kitts for 7 days.
We're not yet on the calendar very nicely provided by BlackRob, perhaps she's being prepared for summer season?
Friday 13th and still tied up at Basseterre. The other thought I had was the Maiden Voyage event which used to be at St Kitts towards the end of June but lapsed as far as I could see two or three years ago. I mean, they can fake it quite easily, lots of old films to plunder and one tropical background looks much like another. One trick I believe I detected was to borrow the passengers from a neighbouring cruise liner for the publicity shots. All these smiling faces are all packed in around the pool with Miscavige in full Admiral's fig (but in navy, not in tropical whites for some odd reason) up on the balcony. But I believe not all of these smiling faces are IAS. That was the year, if memory serves, when official port figures somewhere showed a miniscule number of passengers on board at some point; don't remember the actual figure. This year ship-tracking systems seem to be more widespread in the Lesser Antilles so it should be easier to see what she is up to. BR's schedule has her back in Barbados on 22 June, then moving again to St Kitts which is about the usual time for the MVE. Hi, Davie. I hope you are enjoying your cruise!
Oh good. Thanks for the news. She is still in dock but should be on her way tonight. So we were right and FMVAE is on schedule this year, and back in St Kitts. Who is Ken Weber? What happened to Ludwig Alpers who used to be Port Captain? Ken was already on post last year (post 805 in this thread, the gargoyle on the left). That would explain his lack of stars and stripes. But somewhere else he is called Kral Weber.
She left St Kitts about 01:00, 3 hours later than planned and is heading for St Johns, Antigua, eta in about ten minutes. She doesn't seem to like Antigua very much as she arrived there about 10 pm last night and left again at 3 in the morning for Dominica, eta 11:00 UTC today. Later: now at Roseau in Dominica.
How exciting. She left Dominica about 7 this morning and is now steaming towards St Lucia eta 17th. 11:00 UTC. The vessel tracker says 16th but today is definitely the 17th. Any local papers report on how many there are on board?
In The Hole 2012: Jennifer Alpers CO CMO Ship, CMO Int -- "Was CO CMO Ship for several years, then came to the Int base for posting. She worked in WDC over various sectors. Her husband was Ludwig Alpers who was the PR for the Freewinds. When she came to Int, they 'had' to get divorced as he 'had' to stay at the ship. Jennifer's sister is Monica Prince (formerly married to Jesse Prince). Monica has long since left the Sea Org." [The Freewinds is Scientology's private cruise ship that sails the Caribbean. Wealthy church members go there to receive the highest level of Scientology enlightenment, Operating Thetan Level Eight.] http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/08/scientology_concentration_camp_the_hole.php I notice she avoids Martinique. Mike Rinder said she was once boarded by French authorities while at anchor in St. Bart’s, hence no more visits to French ports. That figures. We could do with a few more hostile boardings. http://www.freeheber.com/index.php?title=Ship_of_Fools
Is she trying to sail under the radar? Not so easy but it takes a special search to find her these days. MarineTraffic (my main source, a free site) offers more information via satellite if you subscribe but we have been able to track her around this area (St Lucia-St Vincent-Barbados) before without satellite. So, having called in at Roseau in Dominica and at Castries in St Lucia she departed Castries today 18th June at 00:23 and is now steaming south in the direction of St Vincent or perhaps she might turn left for Barbados.
Thank you. I just like the idea of DM trying to escape, like a bug on a pin, but the big Eye in the Sky sees him anyway. At the moment Freewinds is playing hide and seek but MarineTraffic suggests she is still in Kingston. The usual search function is not working. On Sunday 22 we will get into the schedule posted by BlackRob. PortArrival (LT)Departure (LT)In Transit CASTRIES [LC] (UTC-4) 2014-06-18 00:23:00 CASTRIES [LC] (UTC-4) 2014-06-17 06:30:00 ROSEAU [DM] (UTC-3) 2014-06-17 01:12:00 ROSEAU [DM] (UTC-3) 2014-06-16 08:41:00 ST JOHNS [AG] (UTC-4) 2014-06-15 22:48:00 ST JOHNS [AG] (UTC-4) 2014-06-15 06:12:00
Now according to a more normal map, she is (once again?) in Castries (St Lucia) and has been there since 10:00 UTC. Before then evidence suggests she paid short visits to Kingston (St Vincent) and Castries (St Lucia).
Believed to be a true sighting: on her way to Bridgetown, Barbados, eta 10:30 UTC. No doubt to keep the whales happy.
Sorry Random Guy but it doesn't look all that interesting. This is the first three weeks from tomorrow. One more tax-exempt week, then back to the ABC routine. Week Sunday 22 June to Sat 28 June: Barbados, Barbados, St Kitts, Barbados, Barbados, Dominica, Dominica. Week Sunday 29 June to Sat 05 July: Dominica, At Sea, Bonaire, Bonaire, Aruba, Aruba, Aruba. Week Sunday 06 July to Sat 12 July: Bonaire, Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, Aruba, Aruba, Aruba.
Aha, the $64 million question. But I don't in fact believe changes to her her ABC routine are very significant. Just be sure, David Miscavige, that Big Birdie is watching this little worm squirm.
Just to confirm she was in Barbados yesterday and still this morning as the printed program predicted. Tomorrow it shows a quick dash to St Kitts (why? air links?) and then back to Barbados. Then Dominica for three days and then AT SEA when she becomes a real boat for a day.
