In late May, 30 m.p.h. south winds forced Viking to cancel shore excursions to Bayfield. The first three stops in Houghton, Mich., on the Keweenaw Peninsula, were also canceled because of inclement weather and winds, much to the chagrin of Marylyn and Randy Sandrik, passengers who live in Frisco, Texas....
So far they are enamored with both the ship and the voyage. “I like that there’s no smoking, no gambling, no casinos, no charge for drinks and no talent shows on board,” said Ms. Sandrik....
I love that string of "no"s with the one about drinking being "no charge."
In Bayfield, Ted Dougherty, the chairman of the Bayfield Harbor Commission, and other local officials, including Lynne Dominy, the superintendent of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, spent a total of three years negotiating with Viking. Ms. Dominy’s concerns about the ship were the safety of park visitors in smaller vessels like sailboats and kayaks, wake damage to park shoreline and infrastructure, and the displacement of local businesses who offer ferry excursions and other boat journeys within the park....
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76 comments:
Lake Superior Is (...) Perfect for Cruising
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Camped on Isle Royale in the 80s. Lake Superior is cold!
"I love that string of "no"s with the one about drinking being "no charge." "
That's the kind of thing that gives Sconnies misty eyes.
Sometime in the early to mid 90's I went on a day cruise with some extended family on Lake Superior. It was mid summer but it was still quite chilly on the ship. The ship was mainly a two-level restaurant but with plenty of unobstructed views from the restaurant and of course on the deck. Despite it being chilly it was enjoyable.
Speaking of Lake Superior, about a month ago I was surprised to hear on NPR that Gordon Lightfoot was still touring. I looked it up and he will be in Waukegan which is a Northern suburb of Chicago on September 23rd.
Insert something about the gales of November and the Edmund Fitzgerald here.
Lake Superior is unique in all of the world. The largest freshwater lake in the world. It's so large and deep it creates it's own weather systems and affects the weather of the surrounding areas. Nor'easters are known to spring up as low pressure moves over the lake. It's beautiful up there. Not sure I'd do a cruise, though.
For those who have never been to any of the Great Lakes, it's hard to explain. They're not like any inland lake you might be used to. They're huge. Like inland oceans. And Superior is, well...Superior to all of them.
Ask the residents of Charleston, SC about cruise ships
I have been wanting to do a cruise like this. I have always wanted to sail on that lake since I read that scene in The Great Gatsby where Gatsby meets the bootlegger by helping him out of a jam with his sailboat in one of those bays. Now it sounds even more perfect for me.
Okay, maybe after that comment, I will stop needing rejham.
Lots of good, strong, ships have gone down very quickly in those Great Lakes storms, especially (or so I am given to understand) on Lake Superior. Don’t skip the lifeboat drill, though you might not even have time to get to your station before the ship goes down.
"I love that string of "no"s with the one about drinking being "no charge."
If it was "no drinking" there would be no passengers and no cruise.
I’m opting for Key West and the Bahamas. Drinks already charged.
does the NYT's get a commission, from the CO2 corporation, for these ads?
i'd rather go from Chicago to Detroit, That'd be a nice cruise. Lake Huron is as nice as Superior; plus i don't like the concept of roundie rounder cruises.. You should GO somewhere
Blogger Temujin said...
The largest freshwater lake in the world
While Lake Superior is the largest by surface area, I think Lake Baikal in Russia has the largest volume of water for a freshwater lake.
"It was mid summer but it was still quite chilly on the ship. The ship was mainly a two-level restaurant but with plenty of unobstructed views from the restaurant and of course on the deck. Despite it being chilly it was enjoyable."
What's more enjoyable that access to chilliness in mid-summer?
Just finished doing a walking tour here in Oslo for a couple from a Viking Cruise. They mentioned with approval the above no's plus no children. Didn't say anything about the no charge for drinks, but did ask where they could get a beer after the tour.
The first date my wife-to-be and I ever went on was a Gordon Lightfoot concert. But he couldn't have sung the Edmund Fitzgerald song because that was still six years in the future.
"Lake Superior is unique in all of the world. The largest freshwater lake in the world. "
Let's talk about the Caspian Sea which has the surface area of 4 1/2 Lake Superiors and is freshwater in the north and only slightly saline in the south.
What's more enjoyable that access to chilliness in mid-summer?
Oh! I know! Call on me, teacher. [Waves hand obnoxiously in the air.]
Access to warmth in mid-winter.
"I’m opting for Key West and the Bahamas. Drinks already charged."
One of the slickest moves by the cruise industry is to offer discounts on drink packages, excursions and specialty dining prior to sailing, and preferably well before sailing. The idea is to get people to have already spent the money on those more popular discounts so that they are less reticent about spending more money on board once the ship sails. Estimates are people spend up to 70% more on board on other "attractions" than they would have if they had to pay for everything once they got on board, so the idea is to get them to get the more popular expenses paid for long before the sail date.
"That's the kind of thing that gives Sconnies misty eyes."
Yeah, originally I ended that line "So Wisconsin," but I eased up and cut it out.
"Speaking of Lake Superior, about a month ago I was surprised to hear on NPR that Gordon Lightfoot was still touring. I looked it up and he will be in Waukegan which is a Northern suburb of Chicago on September 23rd."
Maybe he can jump start his career in Chicago with a new song about the Eastland disaster. The Edmund Fitzgerald is small fry compared to an accident that killed more people than the Titanic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Eastland
Sounds fun until you get a couple bad weather days. Was up on Madeline Island this summer and the day we left was 62 and heavy rain.
Lake Superior is quite stunning on a perfect weather day, but fogged in with cold and rain in August doesn't sound like a fun cruise to me.
And - believe it or not - world renowned surf at Stony Point in the Duluth area. Not that it's a surf travel mecca but the surf mags (when they still existed last decade) would regularly run stories about the surprisingly good surf and the local heroes. Of course the whole scene was totally chill and the antithesis of Beach Blanket Bimbo bullshit.
"Let's talk about the Caspian Sea which has the surface area of 4 1/2 Lake Superiors and is freshwater in the north and only slightly saline in the south."
The freshest part of the Caspian is at the northern end. And it's salinity does vary throughout, but overall it's considered a brackish body of water, not freshwater in any way. You wouldn't drink it or use it for irrigation as it is.
I used to live in Cleveland. Some parts of Lake Erie could be very beautiful. But in the winter it was something out of a Stephen King novel. Especially the wind.
Ann Althouse said...
Let's talk about the Caspian Sea
okay! does the Caspian Sea have AN OUTLET? no? then it's NOT freshwater!
"only slightly saline" does NOT describe a freshwater lake?
The Real question is: HOW do those mormans get away calling their "great salt lake", a lake?
Is the Salton sea a lake? I don't think so
I've been to Baku and seen the Caspian Sea. It is a beautiful place, but so weird with all the empty condominiums. Excuse me, I mean communes. Most people only know about the string of oil platforms. In the past decade, they built a gas pipeline from Baku to Italy to provide LNG to Europe. Alas, most of Europe preferred to get their Natural Gas from Russia. They were warned. They'll be chilly all winter now.
Crossing Lake Michigan on a scorching August day. The ferry Badger. Got about half an our off Wisconsin and everybody went inside. Gift shop lady said they sold lots of sweatshirts IN AUGUST. And Superior is colder.
The Pictured Rocks tour out of Munising is nice. About three hours. Take the afternoon run so the sun is on the cliffs.
If you like small town northern Michigan...some nice stops.
Our lake association President and his son circumnavigated Lake Superior in kayaks. Crazy.
Took my son and his Scout troop to the Pictured Rocks lakeshore area in late August. The boys, and a lot of others were swimming I was surprised how warm it could be by the beach, but since the lake is largely east west oriented, it gets a lot of sun for most of the day, and the shallow area was quite warm, more so than my area of Lake Michigan in Oz county. I’ve been to bayfield too, it was much colder, but the water is deeper there more immediately.
Althouse writes, "I love that string of 'no's with the one about drinking being 'no charge.'"
Liquor is cheap entertainment. Keep 'em drunk and they won't notice the tedium.
“…from the Great Lake of Minnesota
To the hills of Tennessee…”
Before we talk about the Caspian Sea, let's weep some AOC tears over the Aral.
"Ted Dougherty, the chairman of the Bayfield Harbor Commission
I am sure he is a very self important man.
I think it would make more sense for a big ship to dock in Ashland. Maybe they could repurpose the ore dock and rn shuttles up to Bayfield, it's an easy and scenic drive.
Blogger RMc said...
Lake Superior Is (...) Perfect for Cruising
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DITTO! As soon as I read Ann's first paragraph, I thought of the Edmund Fitzgerald. That terrible event happened in 1975. Tourism on Lake Superior sounds like a horrific and foolish idea.
It's comforting to see that we have a contingency destination for the leisure class as global warming results in the boiling ocean rising to cover the scalding sands of Caribbean islands.
Odd that the only mention of global warming was a vague and unsupportable line about "increasingly unstable climate." Is nobody buying Climate Change anymore?
While Lake Superior is the largest by surface area, I think Lake Baikal in Russia has the largest volume of water for a freshwater lake.
That's just Russian troll disinformation.
"For those who have never been to any of the Great Lakes, it's hard to explain."
It is easy to explain- the only lakes I have ever been on where I could reach a point and not be able to see a shore on the horizon.
No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark
I just did a week on the Keweenaw Peninsula with a buddy, mainly studying the geology and copper mining history.
It's terrible up here. Do not come. Stay away!
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call, 'Gitche Gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call, 'Gitche Gumee'
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early
From the Wikipedia article "Lake":
"In common usage, many lakes bear names ending with the word pond, and a lesser number of names ending with lake are, in quasi-technical fact, ponds. One textbook illustrates this point with the following: "In Newfoundland, for example, almost every lake is called a pond, whereas in Wisconsin, almost every pond is called a lake.""
Maybe he can jump start his career in Chicago with a new song about the Eastland disaster. The Edmund Fitzgerald is small fry compared to an accident that killed more people than the Titanic.
The Wiki link given states that 844 died in the Eastland disaster. Wikipedia also states that Titanic deaths were ~1500, which is significantly more than 844.
And, technically, I don't accept that the Eastland disaster is a 'Great Lakes' disaster - it happened on the Chicago River.
New York Times writeups are kind of funny. I live in a town that got written up once, and the most beautiful restaurant in town, objectively, was owned by a notorious local Republican, and was the only restaurant of any scale in the area not to get a mention.
@Dave Begley [6:32], I thought Isle Royale was overrun with wolves?
I just looked on the cruise association website and the cruises are extremely expensive. Close to $1000/night for a 7-night cruise.
So many exotic ports of call to choose from! They ought to incorporate it into a Navy recruiting ad.
I mean, along with all the transgender and reduced physical and intellectual requirements stuff.
Join the Navy! We've got tampons in EVERY head! Plus you get to play "bumpercars" with our ships and you won't have to worry about paying for it!
@whiskeybum,
I brought up the Eastland disaster because Gordon Lightfoot was mentioned to be touring in Chicago. Nonetheless, the "GreatLakesNow" website and other sites refer to Eastland as a Great Lakes disaster. The location of the rollover was very close to the lake.
Concerning deaths, I should have said "passengers," not "people." More passengers died on the Eastland. Hundreds of the deaths on the Titanic were crew members. Titanic passenger deaths: 832. Eastland passenger deaths: 844.
Lake Superior thinks it's soooo special.
-- Lake Inferior
Big Mike said...
@Dave Begley [6:32], I thought Isle Royale was overrun with wolves?
The Isle Royale wolves had a population crash after being infected with dog diseases. The population went as low as 2 from 2016-2018. It was back up to 14 following some reintroduction.
https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/nature/wolves.htm
I hiked Isle Royal about 10 years ago. A 12 hour car ride from Detroit and then a 4 hour ferry ride from Copper Harbor to get there in late May. It was a bit stormy on our trip and I remember the captain saying things like "Here comes a good one" as we went over some very large waves.
The whole trip was like that. As we entered Isle Royal to dock, one person leaned their head out the window and threw up. And that set off a chain reaction of about 10 other people vomiting. It was hilarious. Great trip too. I jumped in Lake Superior after a long hard day of hiking and HOLY SHIT! I thought my heart stopped.
Apparently wolves have made a comeback there, which is nice.
'I love that string of "no"s with the one about drinking being "no charge." '
Yeah, it is starting to sound like my idea of a good time.
The Times has been pushing this story at least since September 2017, when it reported breathlessly on Russian efforts to subvert the 2016 US election via Facebook.
"Providing new evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election, Facebook disclosed on Wednesday that it had identified more than $100,000 worth of divisive ads on hot-button issues purchased by a shadowy Russian company linked to the Kremlin.
"Most of the 3,000 ads did not refer to particular candidates but instead focused on divisive social issues such as race, gay rights, gun control and immigration, according to a post on Facebook by Alex Stamos, the company’s chief security officer. The ads, which ran between June 2015 and May 2017, were linked to some 470 fake accounts and pages the company said it had shut down.
"Facebook officials said the fake accounts were created by a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency, which is known for using “troll” accounts to post on social media and comment on news websites.
"The disclosure adds to the evidence of the broad scope of the Russian influence campaign, which American intelligence agencies concluded was designed to damage Hillary Clinton and boost Donald J. Trump during the election. Multiple investigations of the Russian meddling, and the possibility that the Trump campaign somehow colluded with Russia, have cast a shadow over the first eight months of Mr. Trump’s presidency."
The 2016 elections had cost $6.8 billion (with $2.4 billion of that going into just the presidential election). That money had gone into the hiring of top campaign staff, battle-tested consultants, and pollsters with successful track records--all with years of experience in American politics and with deep knowledge of the inner workings of the American political system. But $100,000 worth of ads on Facebook were able to undo all that. The Russian agents who put up the Facebook ads understood American politics in a way that no Hillary Clinton hire could hope to match.
In fact, this paltry Russian investment in the 2016 US election turned out to be more consequential than all the agitprop produced in the US by the Comintern over the course of the previous century. That barrage of mis- and dis-information had only the most minimal influence on the thinking of the average American about American politics--but everything supposedly changed in 2016 because Facebook. Five years later, the Times continues to beat that extremely dead horse.
I used to work with a guy who grew up in Duluth. From his high school classroom window he could look out at ships in trouble out on stormy Superior. He swore he would never go out on the lake for all the tea in China.
"I jumped in Lake Superior after a long hard day of hiking and HOLY SHIT! I thought my heart stopped."
Jumped off some rocks about 20' up into Superior this summer. As someone who has fear of heights I thought the jump would be the exciting part.
I jumped only twice as each time I wondered about cardiac arrest when I hit that 52 degree water. Felt nice after a long kayak, but was colder than I expected for August.
A Green lake would be bad for quality of life.
“I love that string of "no"s with the one about drinking being "no
That is showing some cultural sensitivity, I hope they decorate the restaurant in early supper club style with thin prime rib, whitefish, and cheddar cheese soup. I’ll have a brandy alexander, for free. Put the plastic Tiffany lamps over the salad bar.
BTW, it’s as cold in the water at Lake Michigan at Koehler state park in August. 50 degrees last time I was there. No shallow bay with solar heating.
I did the Chicago-to-Mackinac sailboat race several times many years ago. One year, the wind died for us on the second day. The water was like glass. So the crew took turns swimming. What was weird was that as I was treaing water behind our boat, I noticed the boat wasn't actually still in the water. It was moving away from me, albeit slowly. I guess there was a tiny bit of breeze above that the sail could catch. Even though the movement was slow, it was a bit unnerving watching your only hope for survival moving away.
I jumped into Lake Superior in October. The shock made it impossible for me to draw in a breath. It was shallow, so I was able to just stand up and soon was breathing again, but I'm never doing that again. I don't know how the people who jump into freezing water do it.
I've taken the Ludington - Manitowoc ferry a couple of times, It's kind of fun, but not worth chasing down. Minnesota north shore and the upper peninsula of Michigan in nice enough (better than Wisconsin). But it's kind of hard to get excited about big bodies of water that you can't swim in.
Betty's Pies in Two Harbors might be worth a long drive.
I have a framed reproduction of a 1919 pamphlet from the Great Lakes Transit Co. for cruises and yes Lake Superior is on the itinerary. What was old is new again.
The Eastland was bought by the navy, cut down, and was the USS Wilmette as a training ship until after WWII. USS Sable and Wolverine were Great Lakes passenger ships converted to training carriers and were the only coal fired sidewheel carriers in the world. GHW Bush did his carrier training on one in the winter and remarked he had never been so cold in his life doing that.
Lakes, ponds, lagoon, etc., what’s really the difference? There’s no real consistency in naming bodies of water, or for that matter, any geographical feature. Hudson Bay is bigger than many named seas, but it’s a bay. And it’s less closed off from the ocean than the Baltic Sea.
Rivers and creeks? Which is which? And then let’s talk about the Indian River in Florida and the Hudson River in New York. They’re both estuaries. The Hudson River is at sea level until a little north of Albany.
And who even determines if they’re worth noting? I was talking to the Wayne County NY historian once. The county is full of water bodies that are lakes or ponds. Only Crusoe Lake in the far Eastern part of the county has a name.
It takes Lake Superior 173 years to completely change it's water. There is still water in it from before the Civil War.
Once the water leaves Lake Superior, it only takes 41 more years to flow through Lake Huron (with Lake Michigan's water), then Lake Erie, and finally Lake Ontario, before getting to the ocean via the St. Lawrence River.
Mark. The extended family toured the UP, including the kind of awkward walk out to the twenty-foot jump. Grandkids and son did it several times.
I live on the east shore of Lake Michigan. The prevailing winds are westerly, one way or another, and bring in surface water which is warmer than the rest of the lake. It can be really pleasant. But a few hours of a strong easterly, or more time if it's not as strong, and the surface waters go out, leaving the basic stuff which is cold. Can drop maybe ten or fifteen degrees in a couple of hours if the easterly is strong enough.
Lake Huron has the opposite. Prevailing westerlies take the surface water off toward Canada and the water there is always COLD. Might be why resort business and other kinds of settlement are scarce there.
I grew up on the shores of the St. Marys river, which drains Lake Superior. The lake was, simply, there. I remember swimming in Superior in mid-June watching ice floes going by in the channel. Just something one accepted as normal in the UP.
"one of the most Exciting Cruise Destinations"
Whoop Dee Doo.
Still doesn't want me to get onto a floating hotel with a bunch of disease vectors for shipmates.
What if you don't like sloppy Midwestern drunks and do like some of the other things?
Something Meade and whatshername might want to explore if you don't like cruising. A drive around the Great Lakes. I've covered all of them but lake Erie. That one is next. Camp and explore.
Something Meade and whatshername might want to explore if you don't like cruising. A drive around the Great Lakes. I've covered all of them but lake Erie. That one is next. Camp and explore.
"Superior it's said, never gives up her dead, when the skies of November turn gloomy..."
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Cruise on Superior? No thanks...
I read too much about steamship disasters a century ago and hundreds dying because the water is too cold or they can't swim.
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