Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Island Princess Propulsion problem

Starry Eyes

By Starry Eyes,
in Princess Cruises

 Share

Recommended Posts

Starry Eyes

Starry Eyes

Posted
Posted

FYI...Island Princess (June 27-July 9,2015 Grand Mediterranean cruise)currently has a propulsion problem impacting itinerary. Scheduled to dock at 8 am in Istanbul this morning, passengers instead got a 7 am announcement from Captain that our arrival would be delayed until approximately 1 pm. Problem stated to be bearing problem in a shaft, so propelling slower with single operational shaft. We docked in Istanbul at about 1:20pm. After ally oars this evening, Captain admitted we would not make Kusadasi at all, instead we sail straight for Athens on July 6.

 

No estimated time for repair has been given to us. I hope the problem is quickly fixed, else it may greatly impact upcoming cruise itineraries. She is currently too slow to cover the distances in allotted times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted (edited)
FYI...Island Princess (June 27-July 9,2015 Grand Mediterranean cruise)currently has a propulsion problem impacting itinerary. Scheduled to dock at 8 am in Istanbul this morning, passengers instead got a 7 am announcement from Captain that our arrival would be delayed until approximately 1 pm. Problem stated to be bearing problem in a shaft, so propelling slower with single operational shaft. We docked in Istanbul at about 1:20pm. After ally oars this evening, Captain admitted we would not make Kusadasi at all, instead we sail straight for Athens on July 6.

 

No estimated time for repair has been given to us. I hope the problem is quickly fixed, else it may greatly impact upcoming cruise itineraries. She is currently too slow to cover the distances in allotted times.

 

 

WOW! that's too bad. If its a shaft bearing then it will need dry docked. :(

Hope they address it before our Med cruise.

Thanks for posting this.

Edited by Colo Cruiser
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

Posted
Posted
We are on the 14th August sailing. My DH is an ex Royal Navy Marine Engineer. He is optimistic that this could be repaired without a dry dock.

 

 

Same thing happened a few years ago on the Sea Princess.

It went into dry dock and they pulled the entire shaft out.

100 or so feet long.

There was a documentary on it. Pretty cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hpeabody

hpeabody

Posted
Posted

Seems like my upcoming cruise is going to be a huge disappointment now with this problem. I was actually looking forward to visiting the ports and do not care all that much about each detail of the ship, except the vibration problem. So, I wonder how many ports will we miss. I am sure Princess will be happy to have us captive on the ship as we slowly crawl along so we can spend more money on board. I don't think they will be in any hurry to fix it. It will likely be weeks or months. I don't want to end up like one of Aussie ships and just get dumped off the ship at one of the ports. I sure wish I could cancel. Very upset right now. Blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
peety3

peety3

Posted
Posted
Seems like my upcoming cruise is going to be a huge disappointment now with this problem. I was actually looking forward to visiting the ports and do not care all that much about each detail of the ship, except the vibration problem. So, I wonder how many ports will we miss. I am sure Princess will be happy to have us captive on the ship as we slowly crawl along so we can spend more money on board. I don't think they will be in any hurry to fix it. It will likely be weeks or months. I don't want to end up like one of Aussie ships and just get dumped off the ship at one of the ports. I sure wish I could cancel. Very upset right now. Blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Who dropped what into your tea?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SERT8

SERT8

Posted
Posted

Originally Posted by Starry Eyes View Post

FYI...Island Princess (June 27-July 9,2015 Grand Mediterranean

cruise)currently has a propulsion problem impacting itinerary. Scheduled to

dock at 8 am in Istanbul this morning, passengers instead got a 7 am

announcement from Captain that our arrival would be delayed until

approximately 1 pm. Problem stated to be bearing problem in a shaft, so

propelling slower with single operational shaft. We docked in Istanbul at

about 1:20pm. After ally oars this evening, Captain admitted we would not

make Kusadasi at all, instead we sail straight for Athens on July 6.

 

 

No estimated time for repair has been given to us. I hope the problem is

quickly fixed, else it may greatly impact upcoming cruise itineraries. She

is currently too slow to cover the distances in allotted times.

Thanks for posting Starry Eyes. Sorry to hear that you are bypassing ports of call. I hope that the issues are resolved quickly. Any additional information you could provide would be greatly appreciated as a great number of passengers are destined for that particular cruise in the very near future. Fingers and toes crossed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
first time cruising

first time cruising

Posted
Posted

We were on Island Princess before dry dock. Had an aft mini suite. The vibration was very bad in our cabin. As they were going to put suites next to where our cabin was we were hoping they would address the vibration issues in dry dock otherwise thought there would be many unhappy passengers. We did ask to move but the only available cabins were next to ours with the same vibration problem. As we were on board for 32 days we HAD to get used to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
JAF1

JAF1

Posted
Posted

Thank you for informing us of the problems. We are on the next cruise departing 9th July. Hope they are able to fix the problem so those on the current cruise can enjoy the rest of their cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pam in CA

Pam in CA

Posted
Posted

There is never any guarantee that an itinerary will be exactly as booked. "Stuff" happens whether mechanical, operational or weather.

 

I'm sure that Princess is busy evaluating what needs to be done and where. They want the ship back in full operation ASAP.

 

I wouldn't cancel my cruise even if there's a chance I wouldn't make a port I'm looking forward to. I've been on too many cruises that have had to miss a port or two.

 

If there is an itinerary change, you'll probably receive a nice compensation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tedferg

Tedferg

Posted
Posted

Thanks Pam - good positive thinking. I am sure it will be fixed by Oct 1st, just that it coincides with our final payment, so wondered about options.

 

Anyone have experience where a ship has to have a major repair ? There is no down time between cruises so I wonder how they handle that. Cut a few days off next cruise and compensate those cruisers ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Astro Flyer

Astro Flyer

Posted
Posted (edited)
We were on Island Princess before dry dock. Had an aft mini suite. The vibration was very bad in our cabin. As they were going to put suites next to where our cabin was we were hoping they would address the vibration issues in dry dock otherwise thought there would be many unhappy passengers. We did ask to move but the only available cabins were next to ours with the same vibration problem. As we were on board for 32 days we HAD to get used to it.

Thanks...although if the cause was a bad bearing they should have replaced it during the lengthy drydock.

 

I'm not a maritime engineer & can only speculate but wonder if the weight of the extra section could have placed an extra strain on the shaft's bearing. With the Coral's changes being delayed or possibly cancelled, I'd think the reason for the vibration would be more than a bearing failure. However most of us can only speculate about why and hope for a permanent fix to the Island's problems so passengers can enjoy their cruise.

 

Hopefully Fincantieri used engineers unlike for the long delayed Berlin airport where "the engineer responsible for designing the new airport's fire safety system was in fact just a draftsman, not a real engineer, and had been fired". :eek:

Edited by Astro Flyer
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tyskie

Tyskie

Posted
Posted
FYI...Island Princess (June 27-July 9,2015 Grand Mediterranean cruise)currently has a propulsion problem impacting itinerary.

 

No estimated time for repair has been given to us. I hope the problem is quickly fixed, else it may greatly impact upcoming cruise itineraries. She is currently too slow to cover the distances in allotted times.

 

Wendy, so sorry to hear about the propulsion problem. Here's hoping they don't cancel anymore ports. :eek: Our sailing has had a change in itinerary due to "port congestion" - looks like our choice to cruise the Mediterranean this year wasn't a great one :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jairon

jairon

Posted
Posted

Ha This is nothing unusual for the Sea Princess, we were on it 2 years ago and we broke down up around China somewhere, (where the pirates are). It had a propulsion then, they tempory fixed it,then it broke down off W Australia and had to go into dry dock. The ship is too old and needs putting out. It is only problems with that ship,I wouldn't worry about ours. We have been on Island Princess before in Canada,not a ploblem. We were compensated on that cruise, and that is why we have so much credit on our first cruise THe Regal. Just look forward to a happy cruise and I do feel sorry for those people,but we would never go back on the Sea Princess.Jannette

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SILFOX

SILFOX

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

Have earlier posted this message on our own Roll Call of 21 July departure.

F.Y.I. here.............

================================================

hpeabody, should we be pleased we monitored our Roll Call this morning to read this? Not sure!

This is serious stuff. Will without doubt impact on the July 9 Venice-Barcelona cruise, then ours on July 21? Hope not. Reading through that 'good news' link you have provided, we can only hope the posting from 'madscienceteacher' (post 5) proves correct and Princess can fix the propulsion problem WITHOUT dry docking. Here's hoping.......trying to stay + about this. Will we all be singing that Rod Stewart song "I am Sailing" on July 21? Hope so........!!!

Geoff & Caz

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

__________________

Our Travel Motto:

Gotta cover the earth before it covers us...........!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...