Barnacles on the Eclipse

[Peteymil]

1 hour ago, s0479 said:

Word is they were scheduled to fix right before Hawaii cruise but there was poor weather and it couldn’t be done.  I guess it’s a pretty involved process of how and where it can be done.

They had months to do it, so they can't blame it on a few days of bad weather. Now they have significantly altered one cruise, and even worse, cancelled another with very minimal compensation. This was totally avoidable. 

[chengkp75]

33 minutes ago, Peteymil said:

They had months to do it, so they can't blame it on a few days of bad weather.

And, if they did it months before getting underway, the problem would have reappeared before they got underway.

[canderson]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

And, if they did it months before getting underway, the problem would have reappeared before they got underway.

Yes, timing is relevant.  But knowing the ship had been at anchor for an extended period, it's a problem that could have been anticipated and should (and probably was) seen when the ship was going through a 'fitness' inspection prior to the restart.

[Ipeeinthepools]

I wonder if the paint on the Eclipse was different or was applied improperly.  It just seems odd that there were hundreds of ships sitting around and the Eclipse is the only one that has this problem.

[chengkp75]

7 minutes ago, canderson said:

Yes, timing is relevant.  But knowing the ship had been at anchor for an extended period, it's a problem that could have been anticipated and should (and probably was) seen when the ship was going through a 'fitness' inspection prior to the restart.

Apparently, it was anticipated, and a remedy scheduled.  The problem is that if they missed their scheduled window for cleaning, there may not have been any more availability for a while.  These services work on many more ships than cruise ships.  The amount of equipment and companies doing this is limited, just like drydocks.

[debkaysmith]

We were booked on the cancelled sailing and I have now been on hold for over two hours trying to rebook with their phone reps. I've been dropped twice already. Is my problem too difficult for them?? 

I am livid with this lack of respect and customer service. And I am a truly loyal customer.  But what choice do I have at this point? They have my money. 

[canderson]

1 minute ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I wonder if the paint on the Eclipse was different or was applied improperly.  It just seems odd that there were hundreds of ships sitting around and the Eclipse is the only one that has this problem.

Most ships weren't just "sitting around" during the hiatus.  Many were frequently in motion.  In fact, it was interesting to watch tracks that appeared to test navigation skills for emergency maneuvering. 

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I wonder if the paint on the Eclipse was different or was applied improperly.  It just seems odd that there were hundreds of ships sitting around and the Eclipse is the only one that has this problem.

They likely all have fouling issues, it is just a question of degree.  As I've said, many times a ship will simply use more horsepower to make the speed needed, "driving over" the fouling.  It also depends on where the ships were sitting.  Why is the Crown Princess the only ship currently experiencing fouling in the sea water cooling system?

[chengkp75]

Just now, canderson said:

Most ships weren't just "sitting around" during the hiatus.  Many were frequently in motion.  In fact, it was interesting to watch tracks that appeared to test navigation skills for emergency maneuvering. 

Those short duration trips do almost nothing towards "activating" the anti-fouling paint.  I worked on a ship that sat at anchor for 300+ days a year for 3 years, going out every 14 days for 12 hours of steaming around, and it did not improve our fouling to any extent.

[canderson]

1 minute ago, chengkp75 said:

Those short duration trips do almost nothing towards "activating" the anti-fouling paint.  I worked on a ship that sat at anchor for 300+ days a year for 3 years, going out every 14 days for 12 hours of steaming around, and it did not improve our fouling to any extent.

They weren't so short, at least for some ships.  I watched Constellation, and was amazed at how much time that ship spent in motion.  Granted, it was often at a mere 5 kts, but that ship was bopping all over the Aegean during the shutdown.  I don't recall her spending more than a week at anchor at any given location.  Wondered how they justified the fuel burn.

[Peteymil]

11 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Those short duration trips do almost nothing towards "activating" the anti-fouling paint.  I worked on a ship that sat at anchor for 300+ days a year for 3 years, going out every 14 days for 12 hours of steaming around, and it did not improve our fouling to any extent.

I respect your knowledge of ships and I understand why this problem occurred. However, this could've been taken care of before the season started. The window that they allowed themselves time to take care of this was obviously too short. All the science in the world does not change that.

[Irish Blue]

We are on its second voyage at the moment.  The Barnacles can’t be removed easily and dry dock space is at a huge premium and heavily oversubscribed.   My guess is that the entire Alaska summer season will be impacted by this, so expect shortened times ashore.  The captain (Leo) is funny and very personable.  The crew is trying desperately to make us feel very welcome and valued.  Unfortunately when we got on board our cabin steward ended up being put into isolation so with around 1,800 guests instead of a full guest roster they cut back on staff too, so they are scrambling.  We all tested negative on or before the trip now we both plus at least one other couple that we heard about are positive (day 7 and 8 ). They apparently have a ‘red deck’ where people are being moved to and the CDC status of the ship was Orange a couple of days ago and that is one down from mandatory testing etc mid cruise.  Captain even made an announcement about it today warning people to mask up etc.  

[tpeacockiii]

5 hours ago, Irish Blue said:

We are on its second voyage at the moment.  The Barnacles can’t be removed easily and dry dock space is at a huge premium and heavily oversubscribed.   My guess is that the entire Alaska summer season will be impacted by this, so expect shortened times ashore.  The captain (Leo) is funny and very personable.  The crew is trying desperately to make us feel very welcome and valued.  Unfortunately when we got on board our cabin steward ended up being put into isolation so with around 1,800 guests instead of a full guest roster they cut back on staff too, so they are scrambling.  We all tested negative on or before the trip now we both plus at least one other couple that we heard about are positive (day 7 and 8 ). They apparently have a ‘red deck’ where people are being moved to and the CDC status of the ship was Orange a couple of days ago and that is one down from mandatory testing etc mid cruise.  Captain even made an announcement about it today warning people to mask up etc.  

is this posted with the knowledge that 5/22 cruise is cancelled for dry docking and cleaning the hull?

 

your belief is that the dry dock will be insufficient and the barnacles will still

impact the Alaska season?

[JRG]

On 5/3/2022 at 7:24 AM, chengkp75 said:

Not sure if you are referring to my answer, but I never said it would overcome the barnacles, just that it could, depending on the amount of fouling.  And, you don't "speed up the engine", you generate more power to make the propeller turn the same speed.  Guess you've never owned a boat in the ocean.

 

I think you really muffed this one up chengkp75.    Simply speeding up,  or increasing the RPMS to add more horsepower to the screws to offset the barnacles is the worst possible answer you could have come up with.

 

This is essentially a  cargo industry solution to a cruising problem.   Cheng,   the cruise industry has to account for passengers and future bookings.   Simply trying to outrun the barnacles just does not work as a viable solution and is very SHORTSIGHTED for an engineer of your qualifications to not see the cruising angle here.   

 

Sometimes it is possible to be too close to the Trees for the Forest and this is an  example.

 

Celebrity is now doing the right thing stopping to get the barnacles taken care of.   Redlining the engine was never a good solution.