Escape damaged, cruise cancelled, passengers being flown home

[Maryscooking]

9 hours ago, Ray4Fun said:

Maybe, Just maybe, NCL has figured out they can fill one ship by cancelling another? Encore was chock full last week. Just like the good old days. Fuel costs are , what, 60% of the cruise? Hmmm,,, Since we are all guessing, why not? 

I guess it would be a good way to stress test their full ship "back to sail" operations lol.

 

In some ways the Encore passed spectacularly and in other ways, there is still some work to be done!

[Honolulu Blue]

It looks like the Escape is finally going to sail.  Good news for cruisers, bad news for gamblers.

[disneywackerdh]

On 4/12/2022 at 9:08 AM, kaprin02 said:

Do you really think they would take on the liability of sailing with passengers if the ship wasn’t 100% safe? Since Norwegian hasn’t actually detailed the damage, we really have no idea what happened. It’s completely possible that the majority of the repair was on the interior of the ship - why would that need a dry dock? 
 

I’m on the 4/16, which seems like it might be a go (has not been cancelled as of now, and is still bookable). I have no hesitation about getting on the ship!

The fact that NCL has NOT disclosed the extent of the damage and why the repairs took so much longer than anticipated (see every official press release or communication over the last month...they all say this) would worry me.  I was scheduled on the April 2 sailing and I'm a little relieved it was cancelled now.

[hallux]

13 minutes ago, disneywackerdh said:

would worry me.

Wouldn't worry me.  I'd be curious what the damage was (I saw some pics of the bow of that cargo ship that beached in the Suez, the damage was quite impressive!), but if the class surveyor and Coast Guard allow the ship to sail with passengers I'd be comfortable boarding the ship.

[Knights on the Beach]

On 4/12/2022 at 11:42 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Thanks

 

Not sure why, but it seems that departure times from homeports for some ships/lines have been later than they were pre-Covid. Perhaps it's just selective memory on my part, and I realize that they can't all leave at the same time, but I want to say most Florida departures were in the 4:00-4:30 range 2+ years ago. 🙂 

 

Tom

 

Carnival Liberty and Carnival Elation both have been scheduled for 3:30 departure times recently.  I don't recall any going out that early pre-Covid.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

3 minutes ago, cruisemom2 said:

 

Carnival Liberty and Carnival Elation both have been scheduled for 3:30 departure times recently.  I don't recall any going out that early pre-Covid.

Nor me. Seems like 4 pm used to be the earliest.

[vettprincess]

Escape is currently parked at a different dock in port Canaveral. Maybe getting ready for departure tomorrow.

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

17 minutes ago, vettprincess said:

Escape is currently parked at a different dock in port Canaveral. Maybe getting ready for departure tomorrow.

 

 

Webcam

 

Tom

[Mike A]

They moved to NCL’s normal embarkation dock in Port Canaveral. Looking like a go for tomorrow. 

[Pitzel]

We are onboard. We are, indeed, sailing today. Yay!

[Fletch2]

Glad I didn't gamble.  Was tempted for the FCC

[Pitzel]

On 4/15/2022 at 11:38 AM, hallux said:

Wouldn't worry me.  I'd be curious what the damage was (I saw some pics of the bow of that cargo ship that beached in the Suez, the damage was quite impressive!), but if the class surveyor and Coast Guard allow the ship to sail with passengers I'd be comfortable boarding the ship.

Update for those following this thread:

The 4/16 sailing was successful and none of the passengers were asked to bail water during this voyage 🙂

 

I spoke with the captain while I was onboard and asked what had happened and why the repairs took as long as they did. He said that the external damage had been repaired (or largely repaired) and inspected by divers while the ship was originally in the Dominican Republic. Once they returned to PC, they consulted with the US Coast Guard and naval architects to determine what else needed to be done in order for her to be able to safely sail with passengers. During the 4 weeks of cancelled cruises, they reinforced the internal structure of the hull and had divers further inspect the external repairs (I was not clear as to whether or not any additional external repairs were done during that time). The captain said that he had personally "been in the tanks" and had inspected them himself, if that provides any indication as to where the damage occurred.

 

The ship has been approved for sailings with passengers until her next scheduled dry dock, which is in about 3 years. At that time, she will undergo refurbishment and any further repairs that may be appropriate at that time.

[Red-Sol]

So happy to hear that my favorite NCL ship is ready to go!

[GonzoWCS]

19 hours ago, Pitzel said:

Update for those following this thread:

The 4/16 sailing was successful and none of the passengers were asked to bail water during this voyage 🙂

 

I spoke with the captain while I was onboard and asked what had happened and why the repairs took as long as they did. He said that the external damage had been repaired (or largely repaired) and inspected by divers while the ship was originally in the Dominican Republic. Once they returned to PC, they consulted with the US Coast Guard and naval architects to determine what else needed to be done in order for her to be able to safely sail with passengers. During the 4 weeks of cancelled cruises, they reinforced the internal structure of the hull and had divers further inspect the external repairs (I was not clear as to whether or not any additional external repairs were done during that time). The captain said that he had personally "been in the tanks" and had inspected them himself, if that provides any indication as to where the damage occurred.

 

The ship has been approved for sailings with passengers until her next scheduled dry dock, which is in about 3 years. At that time, she will undergo refurbishment and any further repairs that may be appropriate at that time.

Thanks for the update.

 

Cheers

[Oceansaway17]

6 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

So happy to hear that my favorite NCL ship is ready to go!

and happy to see she is on the move.  I loved the Thermal Spa

 

Sister Bliss will be arriving in Juneau in an hour or so. Watch on PTZ.