Escape damaged, cruise cancelled, passengers being flown home

[BklynBorn47]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

The 9th and 16th are the only dates I see bookable at this point for the Escape out of Pt Canaveral.

I've been following this thread since we are booked on the Escape for the TA out of NY on the 25th.  Yikes, this is getting worrisome.  

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

6 minutes ago, BklynBorn47 said:

I've been following this thread since we are booked on the Escape for the TA out of NY on the 25th.  Yikes, this is getting worrisome.  

 

NCL, in my opinion, should put out some kind of press release giving us a little more insight as to the difficulties that they are having with the repair process. To leave most people in the dark, just waiting to be on the chopping block themselves, is not helping them or booked guests! For the record, I'm not booked on the Escape, and for that I'm thankful.

 

Tom

[Battleship88]

On 3/27/2022 at 5:19 PM, chengkp75 said:

Yes, Serenade is still in dock.  It looks like her next cruise is on the West Coast on 4/26, so not sure when she is scheduled off the dock.  Unless there is someone local to PC who can see if there is equipment staged near Escape to indicate whether repairs are underway.

Do you have any insight on why another week has been cancelled? At this point I'm wondering if they even plan to sail out of PC at all.

[Turtles06]

14 minutes ago, Battleship88 said:

Do you have any insight on why another week has been cancelled? 

Not difficult to understand why. Per NCL: “repairs on board are taking longer than expected.”  See the April 2 cancellation thread. 

[shof515]

they might be supply chain issues with getting parts in a timely matter causing the repairs to take longer then expected

 

 

[seeyakids]

It's official....4/2/22 has just been cancelled. Refund/FCC terms similar to previous cancellations.

[LadyShiva]

Anyone been able to find Haven rooms on the cruises you can switch to?  Or is it downgrades for all the Escape travelers?  This scramble to rebook is... not great.

[RunBikeCruiseDC]

Sad to hear this, Escape is our favorite ship.  We booked on the Joy just after this happened, that was a good decision on our part.

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, Battleship88 said:

Do you have any insight on why another week has been cancelled? At this point I'm wondering if they even plan to sail out of PC at all.

 

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Not difficult to understand why. Per NCL: “repairs on board are taking longer than expected.”  See the April 2 cancellation thread. 

Yeah, without knowing what repairs are being done; structural, mechanical, whatever, its hard to say why.  It could be as simple as "its difficult to get people, equipment, and supplies into the areas where repairs need to be done, and difficult to keep people working there.  Welding in confined spaces can tax the best welders after a couple of hours, and each welder needs to be certified by the class society in order to work on the project.

[cruzingthebriny]

On 3/15/2022 at 4:09 PM, Javajitterz said:

 

Video on the Norwegian Escape page of the captain on the ship's intercom announcing the ship will be debarking passengers over the next couple days and getting them home. We were supposed to be on that cruise, glad we didn't go, I cannot fly. No idea what the heck they would have done with me, but my eardrums cannot take altitude

There are some numbing ear drops that are available for prescription only.  They work awesome.  My eardrums couldn't take the stabbing pain while flying it was horrible, it would just come right on and cause me to scream.  My sister was flying with me and told me to "stop screaming" and I told her I couldn't help it.  I'm not one to attack attention to myself but it was so, so painful.  I told my doctor about it and he told me about these ear drops.  SO.....the next time I had to fly again I got them.  I was still so scared they were not going to work or they would make me feel weird with a numb eardrum.  I put the drops in reluctantly and they WORKED!!   I can't remember the name of them and the doctor who I was seeing at that time had passed away.  I ask my new doctor for a prescription and he gave me Claritin instead???  I have no know allergies and Claritin takes a few weeks to really give you any results.  I took it and it worked also but it may me think "was my ears congested" that first time?  I never want to feel that pain again.

 

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 

Yeah, without knowing what repairs are being done; structural, mechanical, whatever, its hard to say why.  It could be as simple as "its difficult to get people, equipment, and supplies into the areas where repairs need to be done, and difficult to keep people working there.  Welding in confined spaces can tax the best welders after a couple of hours, and each welder needs to be certified by the class society in order to work on the project.

They are just trying to lure you out of retirement to supervise the repairs. 🤣

[wayne_trisha]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 

Yeah, without knowing what repairs are being done; structural, mechanical, whatever, its hard to say why.  It could be as simple as "its difficult to get people, equipment, and supplies into the areas where repairs need to be done, and difficult to keep people working there.  Welding in confined spaces can tax the best welders after a couple of hours, and each welder needs to be certified by the class society in order to work on the project.

Escape is tied up at PC and has a tent set up port side forward with an access into the ship. Been like this since she returned however many days ago. I drive by to/from work on CCSFS and it looks like internal repairs. Bunch of various equipment out near the tent.

[mking8288]

Here are some exterior photos taken today as we were docked next to her.

 

 

[Robin122]

On 3/16/2022 at 9:47 AM, Flipchild32 said:

Morale is currently high according to DisneyDude. Still having parties, etc.

 

Update: Morale on the ship is high. Everyone that is out at the bars and restaurants are having a good time. Making the most of our time left here. Haven’t heard many negative comments. 

Thanks for sharing this! 
It looks like NCL is really on the ball with this!  I’d be bummed to have this happen, but a full refund plus 100% FCC - great customer service!

[cygnets]

We are booked on the Escape for April 16th. Went to do online check-in and noticed they moved our two 5th floor ocean view cabins to 10th floor forward. Not wanting to be on nose of ship I called to see about getting to 5th floor where we originally selected our cabins. There were no notes in file why the move happened but my rep reached out to get answers. All the cabins on 5th were listed as being taken for operational purposes so we could not be moved back. Do you think they had to move staff there while repairs were being made on lower decks? 
I paid and upgraded both rooms to 9th floor mid ship balconies so we don’t have any sea sickness with a new cruiser coming along on this journey. 
 

 

 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, cygnets said:

I paid and upgraded both rooms to 9th floor mid ship balconies so we don’t have any sea sickness with a new cruiser coming along on this journey. 

Note that Deck 9 mid-ship is over public spaces. You need to make sure you are not over a bar that will be loud into the night. Also deck 9 is over the Waterfront, so you may get outside noise. And you view downwards maybe obstructed by the roof of the Waterfront on Deck 8. IMHO, Deck 10 would have been slightly better.

Edited March 31, 2022 by BirdTravels

[YVRteacher]

The ship was blown into coral and one of the ballasts was damaged and took on water (which is ironic!) It doesn’t make sense that this would impact crew decks.

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

The ship was blown into coral and one of the ballasts was damaged and took on water (which is ironic!) It doesn’t make sense that this would impact crew decks.

First I've heard of either claim, that a ballast tank was breached, or that crew decks were involved.  Where did you hear this?  And, you're right, unless the breach extended past the tank into crew areas, it doesn't make sense, and I would have thought that if they were patching a breach in crew spaces, this would have been visible to pax disembarking, as they would have had to list the ship over to raise this above the water.  Will hold judgement on these claims until further data is presented.

[RVACruiser43]

NCL should post one of those thermometers like for fundraising campaigns.  Showing the current repair status as a percentage of completion.  They wouldn’t need to disclose details, but at least we could see the progress.

Edited March 31, 2022 by RVACruiser43

[Laszlo]

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

First I've heard of either claim, that a ballast tank was breached, or that crew decks were involved.  Where did you hear this?  And, you're right, unless the breach extended past the tank into crew areas, it doesn't make sense, and I would have thought that if they were patching a breach in crew spaces, this would have been visible to pax disembarking, as they would have had to list the ship over to raise this above the water.  Will hold judgement on these claims until further data is presented.

Wasn't their reports about something flooding when it first happened? The shipped returned doing 17kts. I would have though if something serious would have happened it would have been a slow return. I wonder if a thru hull or a scupper was damaged or broken. I can't imagine if the hull was breached they would have sped back

[chengkp75]

25 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Wasn't their reports about something flooding when it first happened? The shipped returned doing 17kts. I would have though if something serious would have happened it would have been a slow return. I wonder if a thru hull or a scupper was damaged or broken. I can't imagine if the hull was breached they would have sped back

If it was limited to a ballast tank, they could have gone at speed, they would have just needed to fill the opposite tank to the same level.  Unless the breach was close to the waterline, it would have resulted in some serious listing during the time it was stuck in the channel, at least, and yet no one mentioned it.  Also, unless it was near the waterline, any repairs would be difficult without again listing the ship to the opposite side.  It could have been an outside deck drain that was damaged, these go all the way down below the waterline, to a "scupper valve" (a check valve that can be screwed down closed when needed), and this could have been plugged from outside, and a concrete box built inside.  Those drain lines are all along the hull, and would be in the hull spaces behind crew cabins (I've had to renew some of these, ain't real fun).  There were reports of flooding in "deck 1", and I wasn't aware that the channel was dredged/blasted through coral, so I discounted this, as "deck 1" is midway up the hull from the keel to the waterline (top of deck 2 is around the waterline, deck 0 is the lowest level of engine room, with double bottom below that).  But, a broken deck drain line could be possible.

[Laszlo]

14 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

If it was limited to a ballast tank, they could have gone at speed, they would have just needed to fill the opposite tank to the same level.  Unless the breach was close to the waterline, it would have resulted in some serious listing during the time it was stuck in the channel, at least, and yet no one mentioned it.  Also, unless it was near the waterline, any repairs would be difficult without again listing the ship to the opposite side.  It could have been an outside deck drain that was damaged, these go all the way down below the waterline, to a "scupper valve" (a check valve that can be screwed down closed when needed), and this could have been plugged from outside, and a concrete box built inside.  Those drain lines are all along the hull, and would be in the hull spaces behind crew cabins (I've had to renew some of these, ain't real fun).  There were reports of flooding in "deck 1", and I wasn't aware that the channel was dredged/blasted through coral, so I discounted this, as "deck 1" is midway up the hull from the keel to the waterline (top of deck 2 is around the waterline, deck 0 is the lowest level of engine room, with double bottom below that).  But, a broken deck drain line could be possible.

Thanks for the info

[Lane Hog]

3 hours ago, RVACruiser43 said:

NCL should post one of those thermometers like for fundraising campaigns.  Showing the current repair status as a percentage of completion.  They wouldn’t need to disclose details, but at least we could see the progress.

Yeah, except that might give false hope as to the return date.  Sometimes the first 80% is the easy part.

[MamSam]

On 3/29/2022 at 7:07 PM, wayne_trisha said:

Escape is tied up at PC and has a tent set up port side forward with an access into the ship. Been like this since she returned however many days ago. I drive by to/from work on CCSFS and it looks like internal repairs. Bunch of various equipment out near the tent.

Here are some pictures. Not the best. 

[Oceansaway17]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:32 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

NCL, in my opinion, should put out some kind of press release giving us a little more insight as to the difficulties that they are having with the repair process. To leave most people in the dark, just waiting to be on the chopping block themselves, is not helping them or booked guests! For the record, I'm not booked on the Escape, and for that I'm thankful.

 

Tom

I agree with you as I think details would be nice since so many of us like the ship.

Even more, what has or will happen in that port again with any other ship.  did that get resolved?