Maasdam Lost Engine Update

[mariner]

Having done the Maasdam twice from Norfolk and facied delays both times you can probably expect to begin boarding about two to two and half hours after the ship docks.

They do an amazing job of turning her around and the shoreside staff are well skilled with feeding and keeping waiting passengers busy. Frankly, we've never bothered with either and just go do something ourselves. An extra $50 spent on food and cocktails is really nothing in relation to the cost of the vacation and it's worth it not to hear the grousing that follows a late arrival.

At eleven years old, Maasdam is not an old ship. It took ``Norway'' more than 40 years before her engine went kaboom. And no, a ship generator can't be just swapped without a few days in drydock.

Contrary to what the brochure says, Maasdam can only do 18 knots. The extra knots come from currents and wind. To get to Norfolk on time, she needs all her engines (while on closer routes, the engineers might be able to keep one down) and the cooperation of Mother Nature.

One of these days, I'll go back and research what other ships were being built at the yard with Maasdam. I've always suspected there were some bigger orders that drew away the more experienced workers and Maasdam got shortchanged on expertise.

While identical to her S-dam sisters, she has more than a fair share of annoying problems.

That said, the delays never ruined our trips, except when we were late leaving but on time arriving home.

Pack some patience and plan to relax, it's a vacation afterall.

Consider this perspective: Plans get derailed at home all the time. The main thing is that lives are not in danger and the ship will reach Norfolk. A crew (with little or no rest), that's working hard keeping those aboard happy will work twice as hard to make your vacation enjoyable.

[sail7seas]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]You're right, Liz. Rotterdam did get knocked around quite severely the last two summers. Hopefully, Maasdam will not encounter those kinds of seas but it is always possible. HAL always puts safety before all else. I always take our safety as 'about as expected' as is possible when aboard. Hopefully, Maasdam will be repaired and sailing on all engines when you do your 35 day cruise.[/font][/b]
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[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Hopefully, all will be well aboard for us, as well.[/font][/b]
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[iv18-Diane]

The Maasdam had 20-30 foot seas last night, it made for a Bumpy Ride. A customer of mine, IMED me from the ship awhile ago.
They don't expect to dock before 4pm.

Diane G

[Druke I]

Mariner makes some very good points about sea states and running conditions.

Several years ago, 11-95, we had a very bumpy trans-Atlantic on Maasdam with some dozen forward cabins on Main deck being flooded when water entered the hull through the hawsepipe (anchor chainway).

The S class ships are rather beamy, with a blunt prow and relatively flat bottom, and in my opinion not good riders in heavy seas. Ships with finer hulls (length/beam ratio) ride better.

[jcrandle]

[quote name='blossom']
My husband and I are confused about the whole situation. He works with large generators and knows that there are companies that do rent and lease them. In a port such as Norfolk, we're sure that there are probably several companies that could easily have this type of portable diesel generator delivered and loaded onto the Maasdam in only a few hours. Experienced engineers would have no trouble "rigging" this up. [/QUOTE]With all due respect to your husband's knowledge of generators, these are LARGE, on the order of 12,000 to 16,000 HP. They are comparable in size to the trailer on an 18 wheeler. They were put in when the ship was built, and I don't know if it possible to put a replacement in the ship without cutting holes. The maintenance strategy for these is to repair/rebuild. It is certainly not as simple as putting a 100 HP/50KW diesel generator on the deck and running jumper cables down to the power distribution unit.

[caribbean girl]

Krazy Kruizers; We were on the Maasdam on March 3, and my understanding of the reason why we didn't stop at HMC was the weather. If it's true that we were having engine difficulties, I am glad I didn't know!! I am sorry to hear about all the trouble people have experienced.;)

[blackbird71]

[quote name='revneal']Indeed! I'm told they have generators running for internal power even while they're in wet and dry-dock![/QUOTE]

LOL I was on cruise #3 of the Noordam. It was doing the Western Caribbean out of Tampa.

We where in Mexico at the dock and the ship lost ALL power. For about 10 minutes we sat in a pitch black room with NO vibration at ALL. Finally you could hear them starting another generator.....