Explanation of "pod problems"

[Joby]

Would someone please explain why the Constellation and her sister ships have "pod problems"? I've read that some itineraries have been altered because of this problem.

 

I don't understand why Celebrity alters some itineraries to save wear and tear.

 

We are on the 10/17 Constellation cruise (Port Liberty, Charleston, Freeport, Nassau, St. Martin, St. Thomas, San Juan, Port Liberty) and so far our itinerary has not changed. I sure hope it stays as scheduled--we like it!

 

Another question--

Is the Constellation usually a smooth ship to sail on? Our cabin is all the way forward on the Penthouse deck. We were on the Century (mid ship and low deck) last October and had great weather and smooth sailing. Last March we were on the Horizon (again mid ship and low deck) and had smooth sailing too.

[mahdnc]

The pod problems are basically premature bearing failures. The amount of lost time due to dry dock to replace the failed bearings have been uneven among the 4 Millennium class ships. The Constellation has yet to be taken out of service because of pod problems since she was inaugurated while the Infinity has been afflicted the most by far with some bearings having been replaced multiple times.

 

Some of the itinerary swapping was done between Infinity and another Millennium class ship (I cannot remember which one) presumably so that the snake bitten Infinity would have quicker/easier access to dry dock facilities should another premature failure occur. There are a limited number of dry docks that can handle ships of that size and on short notice. Since the South American itineraries are something that Infinity was steered away from because of the swap, I believe that the thinking was that a pod problem in South America could be very difficult to take care of effectively.

[Joby]

Thank you mahdnc! That helps me to understand the "problem" a bit. Hopefully, the Constellation will stay out of trouble.

 

Any comment on the 2nd question of my post?

[mahdnc]

Thank you mahdnc! That helps me to understand the "problem" a bit. Hopefully, the Constellation will stay out of trouble.

 

Any comment on the 2nd question of my post?

 

We have not been on the Constellation yet although we have been on the Infinity. That time we were all the way in the back (aft cabin) and we felt that the ride was very very smooth.

[AFT_LOVER]

Transatlantic with no problems, as it seems to be Summit & Infinity that got the bad units. Major lawsuit in the works on this also. Millenium & Constellation seem to be the lucky ones.

 

We sail Summit Transcanal 11/20 & Alska 5/20 so we hope nothing goes wrong for those.

[tomcarson]

The Millennium has had her share of problems. We had a cruise cancelled because of it.

[wieslaw]

"QUOTE=Joby]Would someone please explain why the Constellation and her sister ships have "pod problems"? I've read that some itineraries have been altered because of this problem.

 

I don't understand why Celebrity alters some itineraries to save wear and tear.

 

We are on the 10/17 Constellation cruise (Port Liberty, Charleston, Freeport, Nassau, St. Martin, St. Thomas, San Juan, Port Liberty) and so far our itinerary has not changed. I sure hope it stays as scheduled--we like it!"

 

 

Hello Joby, I have been on one of the saillings that Celebrity had to change the intinerary of two ships ( swap of Millennium and Infinity - March 26, 2004). I have looked on many different websites looking for information about the 'problem' Mermaid propulsion pods and there is no question in my mind that Celebrity (RCCL) is not to be blamed for the pod failures - it seems that they do the best they can to minimize the effect of cancelled or altered cruises. Each time it happens, it costs RCCL 6 to 10 mil dollars and it happened at least 10 or more times. It seems that they are stock with Mermaid pods that are just not strong enough (mostly bearings).

Celebrity is not the only one having those problems - please look at the web site that I am including the link below, it might explain more in detail what you want to know. The article is from last year so two or more failed pods and cancellations occured since that time.

 

http://www.ebearing.com/news2004/092101.htm

 

Wes