Did they fix Nieuw Amsterdam's azipod or is she sailing with one operational?

[fatcat04]

11 minutes ago, TysonB said:

I don't know.  We really didn't explore the 10th floor.

And sure as heck can't explore now either lol. Outside top decks are gusty. Balcony is still ok. 

 

Beaufort 10 is not very enjoyable.

 

Even the lido is pretty sparely populated for a surprise sea day. I was doing okay for a long time but my cast iron tummy is starting to scream "LET ME OFF THIS RIDE!" We have the kind of back and forth and major weeble wobble roll going on now. I can handle up down. This however is unpleasant. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 minute ago, fatcat04 said:

And sure as heck can't explore now either lol. Outside top decks are gusty. Balcony is still ok. 

 

Beaufort 10 is not very enjoyable.

 

Even the lido is pretty sparely populated for a surprise sea day. I was doing okay for a long time but my cast iron tummy is starting to scream "LET ME OFF THIS RIDE!" We have the kind of back and forth and major weeble wobble roll going on now. I can handle up down. This however is unpleasant. 

 

Do you mean "corkscrewing," where the ship pitches and rolls at the same time? That's my undoing.

[molemaui]

54 minutes ago, ktbraun said:

Sorry it's been cursed for you....I hope the curse is gone by February 15!  Drinks always help! 😉  Just a question for you...are there deck chairs on the 10th deck?  Wondering where we might find a quiet spot to relax.  our cabin is on 10.  

 

Me too. Sorry for the folks on the February 1 cruise. On the 2/15 cruise as well. 

[RunningTheWonder]

22 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

To clarify, if you rebook by Jan 24, does that mean a cruise departing Jan 24 or sooner, or is that a decision deadline? So you would get a replacement cruise in the same stateroom category plus FCC? Sounds generous.

 

If you cancel, you get your money back but less FCC. So HAL is trying to motivate people to find a cruise they can fit into the time frame and their schedule. 

 

It sounds like there was a lot of flying by the seat of their pants in putting together the compensation package for the cancelled cruise. The biggest problem that I see is that HAL seems to be treating every booking as if it is a cancelled 7-day cruise, which is most certainly was not. Our 14 day cruise was not advertised as being two 7-day, back-to-back cruises, but rather, a single 14-day cruise booking. I see a huge difference between those people who had their 7-day cruise cancelled, and those who had a 14-day cruise cancelled. No matter how you slice it, if you lop off the first 7-days of a 14-day cruise, you have changed it so significantly, as to have completely cancelled it. 

 

As of this morning, after many phone calls from my TA to HAL, a rather odd form of compensation has been formulated.

1.) I can take the 14-day cruise to which I have been re-assigned and receive 50% 7-day FCC + $50 OBC

2.) I can take the first 7 days, as assigned, and then move "back" to the NA for the second week with 50% 7-day FCC + $50 OBC

3.) I can book (by Jan 24) any 7-day Mexico or Caribbean cruise to depart by Spring 2020, using the funds from this 14-day cruise, and I get protection for my currently booked stateroom rates, a refund of the difference in price between the cruises, and a 100% 7-day FCC good for any cruise within one year.

4.) I can totally cancel, take a full refund and I just get a refund. No perks. No FCC. Not even a "Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish!"

 

Now does this seem like the most uneven choice of compensation options that you have ever seen?

Edited January 10, 2020 by RunningTheWonder

[3rdGenCunarder]

You have to look at all the options when you're booking a cruise with HAL. A lot of 14-day cruises are also sold as two separate 7-day cruises. You chose the 14-day option, but it really was two 7-day cruises. The fact that it goes back to FLL in the middle is a sign that it's two cruises.

 

So because the cancellation is one of your two 7-day cruises, Options 1, 2, 3 look to be about equal, with 3 being the most generous if you don't mind reducing your vacation to one week instead of two. If you're not flying to FLL and don't have airfare changes to deal with, 3 definitely gets you the most compensation. 

 

4 looks like HAL is undercompensating. But, again, it's about the fact that your cruise is really two cruises.  YOU would be cancelling the second 7-day cruise, not HAL. It's after final payment, when a cancellation by the passenger usually gets no refund. So your compensation in that situation is the money that they would ordinarily not give you for that second week. 

 

You probably don't like this explanation, but it's how HAL works. I've seen threads where someone has had one of two weeks cancelled because of a group charter. Like you, they are left with half of the trip they booked and offers to make changes.  It's why I try very hard to avoid combos like the cruise you booked.

 

Edited to add: In reading your post again, I see that the window of opportunity to use the FCC is too short. It means a second cruise within this calendar year. Not everyone can take that much time off work. HAL should make the timeframe longer.

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by 3rdGenCunarder

[NavArch64]

For those onboard I know that this is not amusing …. but … the ship is actually moving in six different ways … all at the same time. There are three rotational motions - roll, pitch and yaw. There are three translational motions - surge, sway and heave. The accelerations that your body feels are the sum of the accelerations from all six motions. You can blame mother nature for providing the energy in the ocean that gets transferred to the ship. PS The ship fin stabilizers are only able to dampen the roll.

[kochleffel]

41 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Do you mean "corkscrewing," where the ship pitches and rolls at the same time? That's my undoing.

I don't detect any pitching, but at the moment I'm midship. 

[kochleffel]

3 hours ago, canadianbear said:

Thanks for the update.  I’m sure people are disappointed but the weather...ugh. Better to be safe rather than trying to tender and then be unable to get back to the ship.  

I have tendered in some rough seas but it was no fun and this is much worse.

 

As already mentioned, the Lido Market was oddly quiet at noon, although the pool areas at either end of the same deck were crowded and noisy. 

[fatcat04]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Do you mean "corkscrewing," where the ship pitches and rolls at the same time? That's my undoing.

Took a nap in the cool and that helped. I was packing us up after lunch and think the rolling and up and down and bring overheated was a bad combo. We are deck 4 so that is good but farther aft than usual so we are getting more motion in all directions.

 

Going down to deck 2 and seeing those swells first hand, the Captain made the best choice. 

 

On a happy note, dh is up $80 on slots. 

 

 

[fatcat04]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Do you mean "corkscrewing," where the ship pitches and rolls at the same time? That's my undoing.

Took a nap in the cool and that helped. I was packing us up after lunch and think the rolling and up and down and bring overheated was a bad combo. We are deck 4 so that is good but farther aft than usual so we are getting more motion in all directions.

 

Going down to deck 2 and seeing those swells first hand, the Captain made the best choice. 

 

On a happy note, dh is up $80 on slots. 

 

 

[rjbean4]

Just to share that mom and I returned home this past Sunday after being on the Nieuw Statendam for 14 days (Christmas & New Years back to back 7 day cruises) and that we also had weather problems. We sailed on Dec. 22nd on time based on the time we were given by our captain and there were 8 ships in that day. There was also a front that was moving across the Gulf of Mexico and then also across FL. These fronts regularly continue east towards the Bahamas. on the 22nd it was pretty windy in Ft. Lauderdale and we lucked out with not getting the heavy rain that had showed up on a weather app I use. I knew that there was a possibility that this was going to effect our weather on our 1st day out when we were supposed to be at Half Moon Cay. Despite our on time departure from Port Everglades, we were a hour & 15 minutes late arriving to HMC and as soon as we had sailed out of Port Everglades our captain did make a announcement warning everyone of the conditions we could have. Especially crossing the Straits of Florida. As we arrived at HMC and saw the conditions, especially the way the waves were crashing in closer to the western point of the island I knew that we wouldn't be staying. The big tenders came out to us and one did on at least 2 occasions try to come along side  to see if they could position the ship so that a safe operation to go ashore. But the tender was moving around way too much and there were a lot of people out on their verandahs on our side watching this. Within 35 minutes our stop was canceled. For us it turned into a extra sea day for a total of 2 to Oranjestad, Aruba and with a earlier arrival we had more time there on Christmas  day. The one thing I noticed was that no one was complaining and everyone was taking it in stride. After Aruba we went over to Willemstad, Curacao and then was 2 days at sea back to Ft. Lauderdale. So for a 7 day cruise we only had 2 ports and 4 sea days.

 

When we went back out for our 2nd week for New Years we did make it in to HMC our last day last Saturday. We were there with the Zuiderdam for the 2nd time as we were also together on New Years Eve at Amber Cove and had one very impressive war of ships whistles. Getting back to last Saturday when hearing the announcement with our weather forecast for heading back into Port Everglades last Sunday morning told me that we were going to be dealing with another front. We had the effects of it during the night when the winds  really, really blew as we were also head on into it. When it woke me up and my mom too I pulled the curtain back a little to look out on to our verandah (deck 8 mid ship) the spray blowing along the side of the ship was like a white out. Didn't last all night but for maybe a couple of hours and enough to want to look out to see what was going on. Despite leaving HMC almost a hour late we were back into Port Everglades with 7 other ships Sunday morning. Know the other ships probably dealt with the same conditions and also could have contributed to the delay in disembarkation starting. The proof of being head on through the front over night was the 55 degree weather and I remember reminding someone because of what they said that Florida has a winter too. It can and does freeze too.

[kevingastreich]

5 hours ago, RunningTheWonder said:

 

It sounds like there was a lot of flying by the seat of their pants in putting together the compensation package for the cancelled cruise. The biggest problem that I see is that HAL seems to be treating every booking as if it is a cancelled 7-day cruise, which is most certainly was not. Our 14 day cruise was not advertised as being two 7-day, back-to-back cruises, but rather, a single 14-day cruise booking. I see a huge difference between those people who had their 7-day cruise cancelled, and those who had a 14-day cruise cancelled. No matter how you slice it, if you lop off the first 7-days of a 14-day cruise, you have changed it so significantly, as to have completely cancelled it. 

 

As of this morning, after many phone calls from my TA to HAL, a rather odd form of compensation has been formulated.

1.) I can take the 14-day cruise to which I have been re-assigned and receive 50% 7-day FCC + $50 OBC

2.) I can take the first 7 days, as assigned, and then move "back" to the NA for the second week with 50% 7-day FCC + $50 OBC

3.) I can book (by Jan 24) any 7-day Mexico or Caribbean cruise to depart by Spring 2020, using the funds from this 14-day cruise, and I get protection for my currently booked stateroom rates, a refund of the difference in price between the cruises, and a 100% 7-day FCC good for any cruise within one year.

4.) I can totally cancel, take a full refund and I just get a refund. No perks. No FCC. Not even a "Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish!"

 

Now does this seem like the most uneven choice of compensation options that you have ever seen?

Take door #3. It looks like a good deal.

[RunningTheWonder]

21 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

Take door #3. It looks like a good deal.

 

Door #3 it is, with the additional concession that the 100% FCC cruise must be BOOKED within 365 days of the transfer, which makes it an even better option. Now it's on to filing the paperwork with HAL for non-refundable hotel and airline costs.

[napper777]

12 hours ago, 510picker said:

The image below was taken from my booking confirmation.

 

 

Thanks. Are the ports still Key west, DR, HMC, and Grand Turk?

[510picker]

15 minutes ago, napper777 said:

Thanks. Are the ports still Key west, DR, HMC, and Grand Turk?

No, the ports are Half Moon Cay, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. 

[fatcat04]

By about 4pm things seemed to settle down some and the ship came back to life. Enjoyable evening and slowly and much more smoothly making our way back to Port Everglades. Not looking forwards to the insanity that is tomorrow. 

[napper777]

6 hours ago, 510picker said:

No, the ports are Half Moon Cay, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. 

Thank you for clarifying for me! 

[3rdGenCunarder]

13 hours ago, RunningTheWonder said:

 

Door #3 it is, with the additional concession that the 100% FCC cruise must be BOOKED within 365 days of the transfer, which makes it an even better option. Now it's on to filing the paperwork with HAL for non-refundable hotel and airline costs.

 

Definitely the best bet if you can rearrange your time. Did you have to ask for the 365 days to BOOK, or was that the offer all along, just not stated clearly?

 

[ORB]

One of the things the Captain mentioned at the forum on Thursday was that what caused the azipod problem was that "one of the electric motors short-circuited".  I pulled out my phone to make a note of his exact phrasing.  He also told us this precise problem had never happened before on any of the ships using azipods.

[NavArch64]

Thank you ORB … that is the most definitive statement yet. I guess that there is not much more to learn. 

[RunningTheWonder]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Definitely the best bet if you can rearrange your time. Did you have to ask for the 365 days to BOOK, or was that the offer all along, just not stated clearly?

 

 

It had to be asked. Like I said before, it really seems like they are making this stuff up as they go. It started out with a very stern, "You only get what was stated in your email and nothing more!", to a much gentler tone. 

[HappyInVan]

1 hour ago, ORB said:

One of the things the Captain mentioned at the forum on Thursday was that what caused the azipod problem was that "one of the electric motors short-circuited".  I pulled out my phone to make a note of his exact phrasing.  He also told us this precise problem had never happened before on any of the ships using azipods.

 

Thanks. Makes sense. 

 

I'm not an engineer. I do look at the clinical symptoms. The sudden failure of the azipod suggested that it was an electrical failure.

 

For a mechanical problem, there is the option of running at minimal load. Avoiding the need for emergency certification of seaworthiness (one working) azipod, and the cancellation of the December 14^th cruise.

 

IMO, HAL did the right thing. Repaired the azipod ASAP. With electrical systems, it can just shut down without warning or recourse. You can't limp your way to the nearest port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by HappyInVan

[HappyInVan]

I'm not an engineer. I was hoping for a quick repair (when the vessel left for Freeport on December 16) if the problem was with one of the electrical systems residing in the compartment above the azipod. See post #3 here...

 

 

 

Unfortunately, it seems that there has been extensive damage to the big Synchronous Motor in the pod. That will require a shipyard repair. 

 

It's not clear to me if the repair can be done in a single week. After all, they had a week in Freeport and it was not fixed. Hopefully, the February 1st cancellation will be the only one.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by HappyInVan

[SumoCitrus]

The other day I was walking in the park and I stumbled on a golden lamp. It was beautiful, adorned with jewels and amazing gold leaf. Remembering the legend, I gave it a rub and to my amazement, a magical Genie emerged from the spout in a cloud of multi-colored smoke and sparks. He yawned deeply and loudly as if waking from a centuries-long slumber. We locked eyes and he said to me, "For freeing me from the lamp I shall grant you three wishes, but only three. They can be anything in your wildest dreams, so choose carefully." I thought for a only a few seconds before I said, "I can only have three wishes?" "Only three," replied the genie. "But what if I want only one thing," I asked. The genie blinked his huge eyes at me and thought about it. "Your soul must be pure if you want only one thing and are willing for pass up additional wishes! Tell me, mortal, what is this one wish. I shall grant it immediately!" Without delay, I replied, "For the love of god, lock the dead-horse-beating, 19-page-long azipod discussion on Cruise Critic."

 

 

Edited January 11, 2020 by SumoCitrus

[fatcat04]

Man, I'd report that person forcing you to read this thread to the police.