When will the Caribbean Princess Propulsion issues be fixed

[floridalover5623]

We got a break on the 9-1 sailing, had to skip the Cays and went straight to St Thomas, arrived at around 7:30am and left at 10pm. Shops closed at 6pm, but the few bars in Havensight had some good business going. Senor Frog's was still closed, but rumors are it may reopen during the winter season.

Other than the bars there's not much doing in St Thomas once the shops begin to shut down.

[fishin' musician]

FWIW, the Caribbean Princess was taken out of service (unscheduled) in the spring of 2012 in order to correct/repair propulsion issues. It was based in San Juan at that time and we were scheduled on the first subsequent sailing and were not 100% certain it would be fixed for us. We ended up having a great cruise!

[BuckeyeMark]

uh ... I just booked the Carib Princess for May 18 2019 eastern Carib. will it be out of drydock and done by then? I guess so if Princess is selling that cruise? thoughts?

[nukesubsailor]

uh ... I just booked the Carib Princess for May 18 2019 eastern Carib. will it be out of drydock and done by then? I guess so if Princess is selling that cruise? thoughts?

 

I have participated in a lot of overhauls and the planning that goes on prior to the start of the overhaul is very thorough. Every step of the entire event is planned in great detail. The amount of time, labor, parts, and material needed are carefully planned. Also well planned is how each task to be completed during the event will best mesh with the timing of other tasks.

 

I would bet that a major amount of the work needed to fix the propulsion motor will be done before the drydock is pumped out and any hull cutting is done.

[chengkp75]

I have participated in a lot of overhauls and the planning that goes on prior to the start of the overhaul is very thorough. Every step of the entire event is planned in great detail. The amount of time, labor, parts, and material needed are carefully planned. Also well planned is how each task to be completed during the event will best mesh with the timing of other tasks.

 

I would bet that a major amount of the work needed to fix the propulsion motor will be done before the drydock is pumped out and any hull cutting is done.

 

While I agree with your first paragraph completely, having intimate knowledge of the type of machinery involved in this repair, and the need to keep the ship generating revenue right up until it leaves for the shipyard, I can say that actually very little can be accomplished prior to the ship arriving in shipyard. And, given that the overall time frame has been reported to be 2 weeks, the ship will enter dry dock immediately upon arrival and will undock only hours before leaving. I would expect that since this repair item will be one of the critical path items, that it will be worked 3 shifts, and I estimate it can be completed in the likely 11-12 days the ship is in the dock.

 

Now, given that the CB has reached the "magic" age of 15 years at the time of this dry docking, she starts the 3 special survey interval, which entails a lot more inspection and testing of hull and structure than previous dry dockings, so even without the propulsion motor repair, this would be a very busy dry docking on the technical end. These additional tests can lead to additional repairs that were not anticipated in the original shipyard specification. Whether or not this impacts the completion time of the shipyard period really depends on how much Princess wants to pay to keep potentially 3 shifts working full time.

 

Can I look into my crystal ball and guarantee the ship will be completed on time? Nope. Can I say that the propulsion motor repair would be the determining factor in whether the deadline is met or not? Probably not, this is as I say a very busy shipyard period.

[railman]

FWIW' date=' the Caribbean Princess was taken out of service (unscheduled) in the spring of 2012 in order to correct/repair propulsion issues. It was based in San Juan at that time and we were scheduled on the first subsequent sailing and were not 100% certain it would be fixed for us. We ended up having a great cruise![/quote']

 

I was unlucky enough to be on the cruise when the problem developed. We left San Juan on a Sunday night and got to our first port mid afternoon the next day instead of in the morning. We stayed overnight while they tried to fix the problem and limped back to San Juan. All other ports were cancelled, but hotel services continued and they allowed us to stay on board tied to the dock in San Juan till the scheduled end of the cruise. For our trouble they refunded our entire cruise fare, plus issued a future cruise credit which we took advantage of.

[BuckeyeMark]

I was unlucky enough to be on the cruise when the problem developed. We left San Juan on a Sunday night and got to our first port mid afternoon the next day instead of in the morning. We stayed overnight while they tried to fix the problem and limped back to San Juan. All other ports were cancelled, but hotel services continued and they allowed us to stay on board tied to the dock in San Juan till the scheduled end of the cruise. For our trouble they refunded our entire cruise fare, plus issued a future cruise credit which we took advantage of.

 

not a bad deal at all, all things considered!

[BuckeyeMark]

While I agree with your first paragraph completely, having intimate knowledge of the type of machinery involved in this repair, and the need to keep the ship generating revenue right up until it leaves for the shipyard, I can say that actually very little can be accomplished prior to the ship arriving in shipyard. And, given that the overall time frame has been reported to be 2 weeks, the ship will enter dry dock immediately upon arrival and will undock only hours before leaving. I would expect that since this repair item will be one of the critical path items, that it will be worked 3 shifts, and I estimate it can be completed in the likely 11-12 days the ship is in the dock.

 

Now, given that the CB has reached the "magic" age of 15 years at the time of this dry docking, she starts the 3 special survey interval, which entails a lot more inspection and testing of hull and structure than previous dry dockings, so even without the propulsion motor repair, this would be a very busy dry docking on the technical end. These additional tests can lead to additional repairs that were not anticipated in the original shipyard specification. Whether or not this impacts the completion time of the shipyard period really depends on how much Princess wants to pay to keep potentially 3 shifts working full time.

 

Can I look into my crystal ball and guarantee the ship will be completed on time? Nope. Can I say that the propulsion motor repair would be the determining factor in whether the deadline is met or not? Probably not, this is as I say a very busy shipyard period.

 

this may be a dumb question, but what happens if she's not ready? does Princess send over another boat? cancel my cruise? and are they doing propulsion stuff only or will she get some other refurbs? seems like I read they had just put $8 mill in updating her.

[chengkp75]

this may be a dumb question, but what happens if she's not ready? does Princess send over another boat? cancel my cruise? and are they doing propulsion stuff only or will she get some other refurbs? seems like I read they had just put $8 mill in updating her.

 

If the ship is not ready on time, there is no "other boat". They will either shorten your cruise or cancel it. The major work for dry docking is technical maintenance, and they will do a whole lot more than repairing the propulsion motor. Hotel refurb is secondary to the technical aspects of the dry dock. Whether or not they do any hotel refurbishment, I have no idea, but I would assume that there will be some work done.

[BuckeyeMark]

If the ship is not ready on time, there is no "other boat". They will either shorten your cruise or cancel it. The major work for dry docking is technical maintenance, and they will do a whole lot more than repairing the propulsion motor. Hotel refurb is secondary to the technical aspects of the dry dock. Whether or not they do any hotel refurbishment, I have no idea, but I would assume that there will be some work done.

 

I fly to Fort Lauderdale and they say "Sorry we've got no boat for you?" You've got to be kidding me...

[chengkp75]

I fly to Fort Lauderdale and they say "Sorry we've got no boat for you?" You've got to be kidding me...

 

No, but they may notify you a couple of days before embarkation. They will know a few days in advance whether they will finish on time or not, and at that point, they will make notifications.

[Mackenzie1]

We got a break on the 9-1 sailing, had to skip the Cays and went straight to St Thomas, arrived at around 7:30am and left at 10pm. Shops closed at 6pm, but the few bars in Havensight had some good business going. Senor Frog's was still closed, but rumors are it may reopen during the winter season.

 

You got a good deal. We're on the Eastern Caribbean leaving October 18, on CB and skipping Barbados for Cay. Would rather go to Barbados.

[riclop]

Hopefully soon.

[floridalover5623]

You got a good deal. We're on the Eastern Caribbean leaving October 18, on CB and skipping Barbados for Cay. Would rather go to Barbados.

Who knows where you might dock in St Thomas?

You could end up at Crown Bay.

[stuarth42]

My son works forSulza

They are working on the main propulsion she has two DC Motors 19000 kilowatts each side they have to strip out the stator and the job is massive dirty and dangerous they have to do this with the rotar in-situ and I can tell you now they are well behind time and up against it

As you probably know the power for these Motors comes from the generator Hooked Up to the main engines which are 11000 approximately kilowatts each I doubt very much this ship be anywhere near on time

 she is supposed to be in dry dock but she's floating at the moment I just want my son to come back home safe this is one hell of a job I will keep you all posted

[stuarth42]

My son works forSulza

They are working on the main propulsion she has two DC Motors 19000 kilowatts each side they have to strip out the stator and the job is massive dirty and dangerous they have to do this with the rotar in-situ and I can tell you now they are well behind time and up against it

As you probably know the power for these Motors comes from the generator Hooked Up to the main engines which are 11000 approximately kilowatts each I doubt very much this ship be anywhere near on time

 she is supposed to be in dry dock but she's floating at the moment I just want my son to come back home safe this is one hell of a job I will keep you all posted

[stuarth42]

My son says it is terribly hot down in the engine room the upside is he gets very big meals they work 12 hours a day day in day out they are supposed to be there for a month but he cannot see it being finished by that timek

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, stuarth42 said:

My son says it is terribly hot down in the engine room the upside is he gets very big meals they work 12 hours a day day in day out they are supposed to be there for a month but he cannot see it being finished by that timek

 

He should be in the engine room when all the diesels are running, then it is hot.  Is the yard not working 24 hours a day (three shifts) on this motor?  I would think that as the critical path item, that would be the case.  Now, the Sulzer tech reps are working 12 hour shifts, but they should be around the clock as well.  Can you confirm that this is a DC motor?  I haven't heard of cruise ships using DC propulsion motors for decades.  Typically, it is an AC synchronous motor, where the frequency of the power controls the speed of the motor, and this is controlled by a variable speed drive that takes the generated power at 60Hz and converts it to DC, and back to AC at whatever frequency the motor needs.

[Grego]

On 9/30/2018 at 6:38 PM, sammysosa029 said:

What are the propulsion issues and how does that affect cruises using that ship??

A lot has been posted as to the effect of the propulsion issue.  What we witnessed during a transatlantic was a slight change in the itinerary to adjust for the slower cruising speed.  The Azores was eliminated, (although we are going there on the Emerald next month) and replaced with Bermuda which we enjoyed.  The next portion of our voyage was in the Caribbean where the higher cruising speed was not as important.  The parts and equipment needed to fix the issue are not usually shelf items and it made good sense to keep the ship in operation and do the repair when they can better fit into the master schedule.

[bemis12]

On 10/4/2018 at 2:47 PM, BuckeyeMark said:

 

I fly to Fort Lauderdale and they say "Sorry we've got no boat for you?" You've got to be kidding me...

 

Oops.  Old post. 

Edited April 19, 2019 by bemis12

[voljeep]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 4:13 PM, chengkp75 said:

 

No, but they may notify you a couple of days before embarkation. They will know a few days in advance whether they will finish on time or not, and at that point, they will make notifications.

I would certainly hope it would be more than 'a few days' ... now we will be driving down to FLL/PE at least 1 day before, if not 2, but for the people flying in, well ... 25 days and counting

[railman]

On 10/4/2018 at 9:49 AM, fishin' musician said:

FWIW, the Caribbean Princess was taken out of service (unscheduled) in the spring of 2012 in order to correct/repair propulsion issues. It was based in San Juan at that time and we were scheduled on the first subsequent sailing and were not 100% certain it would be fixed for us. We ended up having a great cruise!

 

We were on the cruise when the engine broke down.  Spent most of the cruise tied to the dock in San Juan since we could not change our flight home.,

[Colo Cruiser]

[Milldonkey]

The motor in the picture is AC. If it were DC there would be an armature and brushes. The motor shown has a rotor and stator which are components of an AC motor. If it is a synchronous motor it will have a separate DC winding that locks the rotor to one speed. These motors use very large AC drives that chop DC to variable frequency AC to control the rpms depending on the desired speed.

[Host CJSKIDS]

On 4/19/2019 at 4:17 AM, stuarth42 said:

My son works forSulza

They are working on the main propulsion she has two DC Motors 19000 kilowatts each side they have to strip out the stator and the job is massive dirty and dangerous they have to do this with the rotar in-situ and I can tell you now they are well behind time and up against it

As you probably know the power for these Motors comes from the generator Hooked Up to the main engines which are 11000 approximately kilowatts each I doubt very much this ship be anywhere near on time

 she is supposed to be in dry dock but she's floating at the moment I just want my son to come back home safe this is one hell of a job I will keep you all posted

Somehow I don't think your son's employer would be too thrilled with the picture, the document or the information being put on the web!