Caribbean Princess Engine Problems

[allener]

Does anyone know about the engine problems they are having on the CB and what effects it is having on the cruise?

[beckcab]

It's not engine problems. It's one of 6 generators I believe it is. It causes the ship to travel a little slower than full capacity but I don't believe it will have any impact on the Canada/NE cruises.

[allener]

Beckcab,

Please let me know how you make out. We're sailing on the repositioning cruise to San Juan from Brooklyn on 10/26. I heard there are problems with air conditioning and elevators and missed ports due to lack of power.

[allener]

sorry double post

[beckcab]

Will do. I have been following the threads about the problems too. It does sound like some port times have changed but I'm not sure if that's due to the engine/generator issues or something else. People who have been on recent cruises say that the speed has not been noticeably different. We're thinking that the outside temperature on our cruise will be such that the air conditioning will be a non-issue.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Beckcab,

Please let me know how you make out. We're sailing on the repositioning cruise to San Juan from Brooklyn on 10/26. I heard there are problems with air conditioning and elevators and missed ports due to lack of power.

They have changed one of the ports (St. Maarten) and have gone to Tortola instead due to distance. Also time in ports have been shortened. People have said the AC is spotty at times, but not overtly bad. HAven't heard anything bad with the elevators.

 

The 10/26 cruise ports are all pretty close together - hopefully we won't have changes.

 

Have you joined our 10/26 roll call?

[tcrny]

We were on the CB's 7/28 sailing. As mentioned in earlier post, St. Maarten was canceled and replaced with Tortola due to engine down. Ship is running on 5 instead of 6 engines I was told. If I didn't know about this through this board, you would never have noticed. In addition to port change, time in San Juan, Tortola and Grand Turks was shortened. San Juan was our first stop, and we hit some strong undercurrents and instead of arriving at 4 it was closer to 6pm. That seemed to be the only problem. Funny thing we could see a Carnival ship in the distance on our way to San Juan, but it long passed us by the 2nd sea day. So definitely ship is slower than normal. As far as A/C our cabin was fine but did hear of problem with a balcony room. It was very hot out and with the sun shining in their room caused their A/c not to be as cold. They did call and someone had to reprogram the thermostat. The elevators were definitely warm, but they were full of people too. The rest of the ship I didn't see any problems with a/c. The ship is beautiful and you will have a great time on this cruise. Enjoy!

[-Lew-]

We were also on the July 28 CB cruise.

 

There are six generators that supply electricity for the ship, including the two electric motors that turn the propellers. One of the six generators is not working.

 

As a result of the above the ship's speed has been reduced. You would never know if it were not for the revised itineraries.

 

I did not notice any problems with the elevators. The temperature in our two mini-suites ranged between 70° and 77°. I don't know whether the higher temp was due to the uncovered balcony or reduced power to the AC. It was not uncomfortable, but noticeable.

 

We enjoyed a wonderful cruise. If you were not made aware of the generator problem ahead of time, you would never know.

 

Enjoy your cruise...

 

Lew

[bdjam]

I did not notice any problems with the elevators. The temperature in our two mini-suites ranged between 70° and 77°.

Sounds good to me - I set my air conditioning at 80 at home...

[West Coast]

Sounds good to me - I set my air conditioning at 80 at home...

 

Ummm, that would be called a furnace :rolleyes:

[rdsqrl]

Ummm, that would be called a furnace :rolleyes:

 

Laughing here. . . .

[bdjam]

Ummm, that would be called a furnace :rolleyes:

Just doing my part for the environment since the FIRST energy crisis.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Ummm, that would be called a furnace :rolleyes:

I don't even set my heat to 80 in the winter. :eek:

[JandD Mom]

I originally read this post quickly and thought it said a PIZZA oven was down on CB. Now THAT would be a dealbreaker for me!!!:D

[coiran]

Does anyone know what the "real" problem is - is it an engine or a generator or a motor?

Most of the princess ships have two main engines which are usually 12 to 16 cylinder engines with pistons the size of garbage cans. They will also have 2 to 4 additional smaller diesel engines. All of the diesel engine power is used to drive generators to provide electricar power. The props and thrusters are driven by electric motors, the balance of the electricity is used for the ship's facilities.

If there is a failure of some psrt of this system the Captain has a choice of shutting down the AC, the Casino, the Kitchen, the lighting, etc or slowing down the ship.

Ron

[-Lew-]

Does anyone know what the "real" problem is - is it an engine or a generator or a motor?

 

Most of the princess ships have two main engines which are usually 12 to 16 cylinder engines with pistons the size of garbage cans. They will also have 2 to 4 additional smaller diesel engines. All of the diesel engine power is used to drive generators to provide electricar power. The props and thrusters are driven by electric motors, the balance of the electricity is used for the ship's facilities.

 

I don't know what most of the Princess ships have, but the CB is configured as I stated above:

 

There are six generators that supply electricity for the ship, including the two electric motors that turn the propellers. One of the six generators is not working.

 

The generator that is out is an engine, not a motor.

 

Lew

[Druke I]

Generators are not engines, nor are they motors.

 

The main engines (diesels) turn generators, which produce electricity. The electricity powers motors, which turn the propellor shafts, which moves the ship.

 

Smaller engines (diesels) turn generators, which produce electricity for the hotel power and other onboard users.

[Druke I]

delete - duplicated post.

[Druke I]

delete - server stuttering.

[bzplaying]

Ummm, that would be called a furnace :rolleyes:

Agreed I would never survive with AC at 80 the key is if you are sensitive to heat and have a Balcony room and the sun is shining in keep your door shut otherwise I think the AC shuts down on the CB.

My daughters were next door and had access to our room via the opened balcony and would leave the door open at times let me tell you one night getting ready for dinner I had to pull out my fan because the air couldn't catch up to cool down the room even with the door shut and curtains pulled. The Caribbean gets hot as you all know. Nothing like taking a shower and sweating while doing your hair and makeup Yikes!!!!!!!!!!!!

[-Lew-]

Generators are not engines, nor are they motors.

You're correct, of course.

 

I was just trying to keep my explanation as basic as possible. Quite often the entire structure of an engine and generator is referred to as a generator. I was using that type of reference.

 

Lew

[Scooter-n-GB]

Propulsion: Two fixed pitch propellers each driven by a Siemens electric propulsion motor of 19 Megawatts maximum output. Propulsion and ship's service power from six Siemens generators, four of 11,520 Kilowatts and two of 8,640 Kilowatts, driven by Wartsila ZA40S diesel engines, four V-16 and two V-12, respectively

 

Taken directly from the Press Kit on the Princess site, at this URL.

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na589&submit=pk

 

If one of the Wartsila's are down it would mean one generator is down also. If the Wartsila is fine, but the Generator is down, they still would not run the Wartsila. If one of the 4 larger generators (11,520KW) is down, you can imagine what that might mean. 18.2% of the total system capacity is out of service. Reducing forward speed would certainly help to reduce usage, but certainly not by 18.2%.

 

Just curious, but has anyone noticed that dining room service is a bit slower, or more food is coming out not so hot?

[-Lew-]

Propulsion: Two fixed pitch propellers each driven by a Siemens electric propulsion motor of 19 Megawatts maximum output. Propulsion and ship's service power from six Siemens generators, four of 11,520 Kilowatts and two of 8,640 Kilowatts, driven by Wartsila ZA40S diesel engines, four V-16 and two V-12, respectively

Thanks. I really need that info... :rolleyes:

 

Just curious, but has anyone noticed that dining room service is a bit slower, or more food is coming out not so hot?

We had anytime dining on the CB and ate in the Palm dining room. We never had to wait to be seated. The service was fantastic and food that was supposed to be hot was hot.

 

There we five in our party and we always requested a table for just us. No problems at all with anything in the Palm.

 

Lew

[coiran]

I don't know what most of the Princess ships have, but the CB is configured as I stated above:

 

There are six generators that supply electricity for the ship, including the two electric motors that turn the propellers. One of the six generators is not working.

The generator that is out is an engine, not a motor.

 

Lew

 

A generator is NOT an engine. My only question is - is the problem a generator or an engine???

 

Ron

[Colo Cruiser]

Hopefully this will suffice for awhile on the board. :)