Miracle without power

no ships come in without a tug with a harbor master, the Dream meets the tug at the entrance to the Mississippi

Are you confusing pilot boat with tug?

Just disembarked. Miracle had two tugs..front and rear..help bring her in this morning. Not sure why but something is definitely wrong.

no ships come in without a tug with a harbor master, the Dream meets the tug at the entrance to the Mississippi

Actually, it depends on the port, and also whether the tugs are "made fast" (tied to the ship) or just on standby. Some ports do require the tugs to be standing by, some don't, and depending on the port, the berth, the congestion, and the maneuver to get in (whether it turns around or not) will decide whether they have tugs.

And you are mistaken with the term "harbormaster". There will be the port pilot, and if tugs are required even to standby, some tug companies require a "docking master" to co-ordinate the tug work. The "harbormaster" never leaves his/her office.

For a full river escort in the Mississippi, that generally indicates that the ship does not have full redundancy in steering, and since the Dream has rudders, that would mean that one of her four steering gear units is down. This is a requirement for all ships in any US port, as the ship has to inform the USCG Captain of the Port of any propulsion or steering failures, prior to entry into the port.

Could the fact that the ship had previously reported the propulsion issues the day before when we went dead in the water be the reason the tugs were used? Maybe as a precaution when entering port?

We've sailed many times on the Miracle into Long Beach and first time we

have been towed.

Could the fact that the ship had previously reported the propulsion issues the day before when we went dead in the water be the reason the tugs were used? Maybe as a precaution when entering port?

It may be. Normally, a power or propulsion loss outside of a port is not reportable, but if it happened within the ENOA (electronic notice of arrival, the official notification of the ship's identity, pax count, etc. to the USCG) window (24 hours prior to entry into port), then it was probably reported and the tug escort mandated.

That's a new one for our travel journals... first time my family had been on a ship with no electricity or propulsion! Only lasted about 40 minutes. We sat out on our balcony and marveled at how odd it felt to just be drifting in the ocean. The swells hitting the ship felt quite a bit like small earthquakes to our California bunch!

Within a few hours of the glitch, as Capt Vito called it, we were sailing at 22.2 knots.

The crew was not worried in the least. Lido chefs kept on chopping (Mom was up there) and the MDR staff continued to serve our food. They did have to walk up the escalators.

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Phew - we're on Miracle for 30/9 sailing. Fingers crossed!

We were on this cruise.

About 6 or 7 in the morning it sounded like our cabin was about to fall off the ship (deck 4 aft). I went out on the balcony and saw the starboard propeller wasn't "propelling". The port prop was blowing water halfway back to Sitka. Been on at least 10 cruises on Spirit class ships always on the aft, deck 4 and have never seen that before. A few minutes later the operation returned to normal. When the power went out later that morning it had that same shudder. Within minutes the big back up generator fired up and partial power was restored. (We had a clamshell center of the aft when the power went out, didn't walk out there until about 9 and there were 5 or 6 clamshells vacant, older crowd). We were definitely bobbing around for a while. Cruise director announced there was nothing to worry about - we were "in the middle of the Pacific Ocean". I get the jest of his comment, but I bet some of the older folks didn't find that assuring😜.

I was out on the balcony when we pulled into port and saw the tug pull around to the back of the boat like he was going to push it ( and on deck 4 the tug was basically in my face) but he pulled up so he could pass a rope to the Miracle crew. In those 10 or so cruises Spirit class cruises, always deck 4 aft or corner, I've never seen a tug boat tie up to the aft of the ship in Long Beach.

I watched closely and the tug NEVER had full tension on the rope, (and also never let it dip into the water (remarkable skill). So I assume this was an insurance measure in case there was another power failure while docking, that would not be good. The Miracle powered itself in and tied up as it always have.

The water in the toilet was a light yellow all 14 days. And the linen, some was the loveable brilliant white, and some was dull looking. Didn't bother us tho, all part of the journey.

Sucky pictures, had to transfer from phone to iPad then resize......

Thanks for the report and the pictures.

Thanks for the update and the pics. We will be on the Miracle in less than 3 weeks!!

We were on this cruise.

 

About 6 or 7 in the morning it sounded like our cabin was about to fall off the ship (deck 4 aft). I went out on the balcony and saw the starboard propeller wasn't "propelling". The port prop was blowing water halfway back to Sitka. Been on at least 10 cruises on Spirit class ships always on the aft, deck 4 and have never seen that before. A few minutes later the operation returned to normal. When the power went out later that morning it had that same shudder. Within minutes the big back up generator fired up and partial power was restored. (We had a clamshell center of the aft when the power went out, didn't walk out there until about 9 and there were 5 or 6 clamshells vacant, older crowd). We were definitely bobbing around for a while. Cruise director announced there was nothing to worry about - we were "in the middle of the Pacific Ocean". I get the jest of his comment, but I bet some of the older folks didn't find that assuring😜.

 

I was out on the balcony when we pulled into port and saw the tug pull around to the back of the boat like he was going to push it ( and on deck 4 the tug was basically in my face) but he pulled up so he could pass a rope to the Miracle crew. In those 10 or so cruises Spirit class cruises, always deck 4 aft or corner, I've never seen a tug boat tie up to the aft of the ship in Long Beach.

 

I watched closely and the tug NEVER had full tension on the rope, (and also never let it dip into the water (remarkable skill). So I assume this was an insurance measure in case there was another power failure while docking, that would not be good. The Miracle powered itself in and tied up as it always have.

 

The water in the toilet was a light yellow all 14 days. And the linen, some was the loveable brilliant white, and some was dull looking. Didn't bother us tho, all part of the journey.

 

Sucky pictures, had to transfer from phone to iPad then resize......

So was it just in fact a "glitch"? Was it worked on while docked? I know she's out at sea now. Would love to hear from somebody on right now. Boarding Oct 7 and it has me a little concerned.

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Thank you for your reporting and the pictures!

I'd hate to be disabled and not able to do stairs

Thanks for the update - fingers crossed.

Anybody just off the Miracle? Any problems? I'm 2 weeks out and a little anxious. Also, were the seas rough - any rocking issues?

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Temporary loss of power on 2 ships recently, now the Miracle, before the Dream. No formal explanation given.

Hackers, maybe?

Wow glad they got power back!

Anybody just off the Miracle? Any problems? I'm 2 weeks out and a little anxious. Also, were the seas rough - any rocking issues?

 

 

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We were recently on the sunshine. One night, bad seas vomit bags distributed about the ship. 🤢

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Anybody just off the Miracle? Any problems? I'm 2 weeks out and a little anxious. Also, were the seas rough - any rocking issues?

 

 

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Northbound can be rocky because you're going against the Alaska (California) current. The West Coast is rougher than the Caribbean.

If you're on a Hawaiian cruise the first two and last two seadays can be a bit rocky.

Has any body heard if the ship is ok now? Will be on it to Hawaii in October would not be good to break down half way there!!

We just got of the Miracle yesterday 9/23. We were a bit late boarding the ship and had a late departure. While still at dock the power went out and an announcement was made that they were testing the system. No other problems for the cruise. Had a great time!!

We just got of the Miracle yesterday 9/23. We were a bit late boarding the ship and had a late departure. While still at dock the power went out and an announcement was made that they were testing the system. No other problems for the cruise. Had a great time!!

That's great news! Thanks for letting us know!

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We were also on the ship when it lost power.

We were in the DR and loud vibration and lights went out.

Was an interesting occurrence and first time for us but they did get lights back rather quickly.

Saw Capt walking around the ship later asked him what happened and he also said just a glitch.

Would be interesting to find out what did happen but probably will not.

When does she go into dry dock?