Panorama Nov-Dec 2023 sailings cancelled!

[nwcruiselover]

Thanks to everyone who’s providing updates on the Panorama’s progress.  It’s quite interesting to follow along.

[LaRue1975]

1 hour ago, Andi Land said:

Weird question…were these taken from Columbia City Or? 

I checked and the posts said St Helens and Kalama. I am not sure about the one that shows Panorama approaching a bridge, that was from a video on John Heald’s Facebook page. The video was really cool! 

[TiredTrucker]

3 hours ago, sfaaa said:

CCL would not refund my lost airfare even though the amount was only $85 pp and the cancellation was entirely caused by CCL. Not happy. 

 

That airfare section was weird.  Didn't it say they would only reimburse if the airfare was transferable with the airline for credit and covered only the difference, or something like that? Maybe I just don't understand but I to was unimpressed with what I saw.  After all, this isn't an act of nature or similar, this is entirely on CCL.

[allinwonderland]

14 hours ago, TiredTrucker said:

 

That airfare section was weird.  Didn't it say they would only reimburse if the airfare was transferable with the airline for credit and covered only the difference, or something like that? Maybe I just don't understand but I to was unimpressed with what I saw.  After all, this isn't an act of nature or similar, this is entirely on CCL.

 

They said they would only reimburse if the tickets were wholly nonrefundable - as in, the airline wouldn't allow you to convert it to credit to be used at a later date, which almost all of them do in the post-COVID world.

[TiredTrucker]

23 minutes ago, allinwonderland said:

 

They said they would only reimburse if the tickets were wholly nonrefundable - as in, the airline wouldn't allow you to convert it to credit to be used at a later date, which almost all of them do in the post-COVID world.

Hah,  shows what I know.   🙂

[notscb]

34 minutes ago, allinwonderland said:

which almost all of them do in the post-COVID world.

That's not entirely the case. Most airlines in the United States (the majors- Delta, United, American at least) have gone back to offering the lowest level of economy tickets which are non-refundable and non-transferable.

[LuvCruiSun]

Several people that were on the 11/18 sailing received their refunds in the last couple of days. Still waiting on my gift cards refund, but did receive the refund for the portion that was put on a credit card. Was able to apply my FCC to a cruise that I had put a deposit on too.

[LaRue1975]

Wow, she is already out of the water! It’s looking better every day for the Holiday cruises. 

[AZ-EmptyNesters]

15 hours ago, LaRue1975 said:

Wow, she is already out of the water! It’s looking better every day for the Holiday cruises. 

My Carnival Hub app says my cruise starts in 19 days, 2 hrs 48 mins.   Seems so close after seeing 500+ days on it when first scheduled.

19 days doesn't seem like enough time. Anyone with an approx timetable on the repair, return to Victoria and then to LB?  I'll feel relaxed and confident once I see she's headed to LB.

Once again, I appreciate all of you with your experience, insight and encouragement.

Edited December 4, 2023 by AZ-EmptyNesters

[chengkp75]

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but the Columbia River bar pilots have Panorama scheduled for sailing out on Dec 31st, but that is an estimate, and likely a place holder.  Unless there is something (parts) that Carnival is waiting on (and they wouldn't have gone up on the dock just to sit and wait on parts (very expensive)), I can't see the repairs taking more than a week, then a day to Victoria, 2-3 days to reinstall the funnel, and 3 days down to Long Beach.  So, my estimate would be leaving Victoria for Long Beach around the 15th.  They will likely slow steam to Long Beach to save fuel, so maybe taking 4-5 days down.

 

Of course, when a ship goes up on the blocks, lots of things can be found, and things can go sideways in a hurry, so there may be delays.

[allinwonderland]

Refund update, for anyone who's still looking for theirs: I finally got my refund put back to my CC on 11/30. (I was on the 12/2 cancelled sailing.)

[Ginona]

We live about 30 min from the dry dock. I think we'll go take a look tomorrow.

Anyone else going on the Dec 30th sailing? 4 adults 2 kids 11 &13

Edited December 4, 2023 by Ginona

[pogoism9]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:19 PM, sfaaa said:

CCL would not refund my lost airfare even though the amount was only $85 pp and the cancellation was entirely caused by CCL. Not happy. 

 

I would argue that Fincantieri is at fault. 3 Vista ships, 3 recurring bouts of propulsion issues...

[chengkp75]

9 minutes ago, pogoism9 said:

 

I would argue that Fincantieri is at fault. 3 Vista ships, 3 recurring bouts of propulsion issues...

Nope.  Fincantieri did not build the azipods, nor were they the ones who specified that azipods be used.  Carnival agreed to use azipods.  ABB builds the azipods.

 

Now, we come back to the never ending question, that no one here can answer:  are they recurring bouts of propulsion issues, or are they different issues each time?  Folks on CC tend to lump "propulsion issues" into a single entity, while it is like saying that because your car has brake issues one year, and suspension issues the next, and finally needs some engine work, that your car has "car issues".  This could be something like having fishing gear (drift nets, gill nets) wrapped around the propeller shaft, damaging the seal, and this would not have been Carnival's, ABB's, nor Fincantieri's fault.  The Pride of America wrapped a buoy wire around one of their azipod shafts a few years ago, and dragged it and the buoy all the way to the next island.  Fortunately, that did not damage the oil seal, so it was just cutting it loose that fixed it, done at the dock.  But, if the seal is damaged, and they were going to be leaking oil to the sea, they would have pumped out the oil, let the sea water in knowing it would damage the bearings, and then have to replace the bearings.

[LaRue1975]

Thank you chengkp75 for sharing your expertise!  Hopefully there are no surprises, things seem to look really good for my New Years cruise but it will remain a question until she is heading South with her funnel intact. 🤞🤞🤞 More pictures were posted today, evidentially one of my fellow cruisers is on the ground in Portland. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by LaRue1975

[LaRue1975]

3 hours ago, Ginona said:

We live about 30 min from the dry dock. I think we'll go take a look tomorrow.

Anyone else going on the Dec 30th sailing? 4 adults 2 kids 11 &13

Me! We have a group of 10 celebrating my hubby’s 70th, can’t wait! 🤞🤞🤞

[LaRue1975]

3 hours ago, Ginona said:

We live about 30 min from the dry dock. I think we'll go take a look tomorrow.

Anyone else going on the Dec 30th sailing? 4 adults 2 kids 11 &13

Me! We have a group of 10 celebrating my hubby’s 70th, can’t wait! 🤞🤞🤞

[notscb]

Got my refund for the 12/9 sailing today- finally. Hopefully others get theirs!

 

[chengkp75]

Again, don't want to be debbie downer, but those pictures worry me a little.  I don't see the scaffolding being set up that would be normal for a typical bearing/seal replacement problem.  The first picture shows what looks like a dock arm pressure washing the area around the azimuthing (pod rotation) seal area of the port pod, and the second picture shows what looks like oil dripping from the same azimuth seal on the starboard pod.  This could be more serious than originally thought, or it could just be early into the repair.  

 

Where are these pictures posted?  Hopefully we get some more, and I can try to remote guess what is going on.  Tomorrow should be an important day for clues.

[nwcruiselover]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Again, don't want to be debbie downer, but those pictures worry me a little.  I don't see the scaffolding being set up that would be normal for a typical bearing/seal replacement problem.  The first picture shows what looks like a dock arm pressure washing the area around the azimuthing (pod rotation) seal area of the port pod, and the second picture shows what looks like oil dripping from the same azimuth seal on the starboard pod.  This could be more serious than originally thought, or it could just be early into the repair.  

 

Where are these pictures posted?  Hopefully we get some more, and I can try to remote guess what is going on.  Tomorrow should be an important day for clues.

We are all so fortunate to have your expert analysis of what’s going on with the Panorama.  Thank you for your very valuable contribution to Cruise Critic!

[LaRue1975]

51 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Again, don't want to be debbie downer, but those pictures worry me a little.  I don't see the scaffolding being set up that would be normal for a typical bearing/seal replacement problem.  The first picture shows what looks like a dock arm pressure washing the area around the azimuthing (pod rotation) seal area of the port pod, and the second picture shows what looks like oil dripping from the same azimuth seal on the starboard pod.  This could be more serious than originally thought, or it could just be early into the repair.  

 

Where are these pictures posted?  Hopefully we get some more, and I can try to remote guess what is going on.  Tomorrow should be an important day for clues.

Thank you so much for the input. I was hoping you would comment on the pics as obviously I don’t know what they suggest other than the repair has started. The Portland dry dock pics are coming from one of my fellow passengers on the upcoming NYE cruise and are posted in our Facebook group. I think she will keep posting them as the repairs progress and I will post them here so you can evaluate the progress being made for us. To say Carnival has not been sharing much information is an understatement but John Heald did say on Saturday the Holiday cruises were happening without the qualification of still scheduled at this time. I hope he know what he’s talking about! 🤞🤞🤞 I’m sure all of us hoping we sail really appreciate your input, thanks again! 

[sparty18]

I went by and checked out Panorama about an hour ago.  Lots of lights and the whale tail cut down.  I see some previous posts with pics from others but here is a video..

 

 

Edited December 5, 2023 by sparty18

[LaRue1975]

Here are some gorgeous pics of Panorama posted on the Ship Report Facebook page. She is a beauty even in dry dock. 

[LaRue1975]

Great video of her arrival in Portland. 

[Ginona]

Anyone have news on the ship leaving Portland? Repairs being done?