Epic Refurbishment

Does anybody know the average lifespan of a cruise ship engine?

 

I don't recall seeing any other ship replacing one, let alone two.

 

I bet Norwegian are proper p*****d that two engines lasted less than five years. Maybe that were riding the clutch. [emoji3]

Thats why you never buy a French car! Or boat in this case!

the engines may have been under some sort of insurance - you would hope so!

Does anybody know the average lifespan of a cruise ship engine?

 

I don't recall seeing any other ship replacing one, let alone two.

 

I bet Norwegian are proper p*****d that two engines lasted less than five years. Maybe that were riding the clutch. [emoji3]

It was par for the course with the Norwegian Epic. The ship ushered in a new era and concept for NCL but it didn't come without every possible thing going wrong prior to her launch. The financing was a mess, contract disputes, STX France shipyard workers trying to burn her down a few times, and then her bad engines. NCL was smart to get the ship out of France when they did even though some found the ship ill prepared for sailing. The first engine went early on in her sailing. The second one I don't know when it went but, again, not surprising.

Sailing her for 5 years allowed NCL to get a handle on just what needed to be done to bring her up to the standards of the rest of the fleet and now we're seeing it. It's intense what we're seeing. She was revolutionary for her time and she still is but now we're seeing more standard items inserted like a library and card room. Try as people might I think her separated bathrooms are permanently staying!

I was ecstatic when NCL announced they had gone back to Meyer Werft for the Breakaway series! Meyer Werft would never have this much happen in just 5 short years!

Does anybody know the average lifespan of a cruise ship engine?

 

I don't recall seeing any other ship replacing one, let alone two.

 

I bet Norwegian are proper p*****d that two engines lasted less than five years. Maybe that were riding the clutch. [emoji3]

I agree it's very unusual to replace engines at this stage, or frankly even much later in a ship's career. Generally speaking, the engines are expected to last the lifetime of the ship with proper usage and maintenance.

Keep in mind the shipyard in France did not manufacture the engines that are used on EPIC. EPIC has 6 MaK diesel generators which were manufactured in Germany. The parent company of MaK is Caterpillar which you have probably heard of. Two of these engines had to be replaced, but apparently the other four are fine. I have no idea why the two were deemed faulty by NCL. I also don't know if they are still under warranty by MaK.

I don't see that many passenger ships use Mak diesels. The majority seem to go with Wartsila. An exception are the Sphinx Class ships of AIDA Cruises. I'm sure there are others that I don't know about. To my knowledge, the engines on those ships (built at Meyer Werft in Germany) are operating to spec. Perhaps in the case of EPIC two of the engines were not installed properly by the shipyard? It's hard to say. As already pointed out by other posters, the EPIC was plagued with problems during her construction, outfitting, and delivery. It was all a huge mess that I'm sure NCL would rather not revisit.

Hopefully this fairly comprehensive refit for such a young ship will put EPIC on track to have a long and successful career.

I guess they are sandblasting the hull/art to repaint it as before.

This thread is awesome, thanks all for finding all the incredible photos, comments and points of view!

She's an unique ship, one to be loved for what she did for modern cruising and the Away class in particular despite her well known shortcomings. :D

Notes from the crew:

Manhattan is currently being used as the crew mess since theirs is being re-done. It will be hard for them to go back afterwards :)

No smoking on the ship in drydock, AC only at night to sleep after cutting it totally and having a ship full of cranky people who couldn't sleep. Jackhammering 24/7 is a bit of a struggle too.

Upside for the casino staff is they only have to work 6 hours a day insted of 12

Guess the other thing is that not many cruise ships Epic's size have traditional props rather than azipods. Not sure if the electrical load is greater when driving props that might add stress to the engines(generators).

the engines may have been under some sort of insurance - you would hope so!

The equivalent of Apple Care for ships' engines :)

Yes, the diesel generators (DGs) are still under manufacturer warranty. Believe it or not, Epic is the only ship in the entire NCL fleet that does not have MAN DGs.

Mak also supplied DGs for various Vista Class derivates after 2007. They're also supplying DGs for Carnival Corps Hyperion and Pinnacle Classes.

I was wondering how many of the crew stayed with Epic in dry dock. I thought most would have gone home for a well deserved break.

Can't wait to sail on her next February.

The Allure of the Seas had one engine replaced during the dry dock earlier this year (5 year dry dock). She had azipod problems for a while and already had to cancel a cruise to go into "dry dock" in Freeport for repairs (no real dry dock as the dock is not long enough).

So things happen...

But generally an engine is supposed to last much longer than just 5 years.

steamboats

Notes from the crew:

 

Manhattan is currently being used as the crew mess since theirs is being re-done. It will be hard for them to go back afterwards :)

 

No smoking on the ship in drydock, AC only at night to sleep after cutting it totally and having a ship full of cranky people who couldn't sleep. Jackhammering 24/7 is a bit of a struggle too.

 

Upside for the casino staff is they only have to work 6 hours a day instead of 12

How many crew members are still on board. I thought that most of them would have taken this time to go home for a break.

Can't wait to be on the Epic February next year.

I was wondering how many of the crew stayed with Epic in dry dock. I thought most would have gone home for a well deserved break.

Can't wait to sail on her next February.

Cheldon our Steward from the pre dry dock cruise said all the cabin staff would stay with it for a week in dry dock cleaning and emptying rooms.. Then they flew to Germany to join the new ship.

How many crew members are still on board. I thought that most of them would have taken this time to go home for a break.

Can't wait to be on the Epic February next year.

Of the crew I was speaking to on the cruise before dry dock there was a mix of some staying on board and others going on holidays. Hard to tell really how many stayed on board.

Notes from the crew:

 

Manhattan is currently being used as the crew mess since theirs is being re-done. It will be hard for them to go back afterwards :)

 

No smoking on the ship in drydock, AC only at night to sleep after cutting it totally and having a ship full of cranky people who couldn't sleep. Jackhammering 24/7 is a bit of a struggle too.

 

Upside for the casino staff is they only have to work 6 hours a day insted of 12

I saw some chairs being re-upholstered in the Manhattan dining room in one of the photos. I hope the crew isn't eating in a complete work zone. I know when the Jewel and the Gem came to Boston for their dry docks that the crew hardly slept! Temperatures were cooler so if they did turn off the air ducts it wouldn't have mattered too much. 10 more days for their dry dock!!

The casino staff definitely luck out. The production cast must be getting ready to join the ship so they can rehearse for their new show debut! So excited for Priscilla! :D

Keep us updated on anything you hear! Thanks for the post!

The Allure of the Seas had one engine replaced during the dry dock earlier this year (5 year dry dock). She had azipod problems for a while and already had to cancel a cruise to go into "dry dock" in Freeport for repairs (no real dry dock as the dock is not long enough).

Yeah I saw that. There's a documentary about it (probably on YouTube somewhere) which was really interesting.

I saw some chairs being re-upholstered in the Manhattan dining room in one of the photos. I hope the crew isn't eating in a complete work zone. I know when the Jewel and the Gem came to Boston for their dry docks that the crew hardly slept! Temperatures were cooler so if they did turn off the air ducts it wouldn't have mattered too much. 10 more days for their dry dock!!

 

The casino staff definitely luck out. The production cast must be getting ready to join the ship so they can rehearse for their new show debut! So excited for Priscilla! :D

 

Keep us updated on anything you hear! Thanks for the post!

I know for the casino folks that there are 34 of them onboard including pit supervisors, so close to half. They are working on reupolstering the seats on the chairs, NCL bought new backs, but not new seats. The table tops are all redone as well as the upholstery around the tables.

They're moving some slot machines around but are all very thankful that the casino is not getting new carpet as that would be a nightmare, those machines weigh a ton.

They're also in charge of the video arcade, so they're replacing broken machines in there too.

My friend works in the casino, so even though they wander around looking at things, most of my information is from their area specifically.

They walk into town, but there's not much there. They are paid into an account that has a debit card attached to it, but they're being charged 30 cents every time they buy something and there is nowhere to exchange money. Things are expensive there, and they are paid in US dollars, so taking a bit of a hit.

They are enjoying a bit of downtime, I'm sure it's an interesting time to be onboard!

The Allure of the Seas had one engine replaced during the dry dock earlier this year (5 year dry dock). She had azipod problems for a while and already had to cancel a cruise to go into "dry dock" in Freeport for repairs (no real dry dock as the dock is not long enough).

 

So things happen...

 

But generally an engine is supposed to last much longer than just 5 years.

 

steamboats

Did ALLURE actually have one of her massive Wartsila engines replaced or was it just one of the ABB azipods motors which provide propulsion? Big difference as replacing/repairing an azipod doesn't require cutting a giant hole in the hull and replacing a massive engine like was done with EPIC. Azipods are prone to certain issues and sometimes have to be repaired or replaced. The engines themselves that generate the power generally are not prone to issues, which is what is surprising about EPIC having to replace two of hers.

Azipods often have bearing wear problems and I know ALLURE experienced this a few years back. The repair does require a dry-dock but nothing as extensive as cutting a hole in the hull and removing an engine.

Hello

Seems to be impossible to book any cruise on EPIC for the next 4 months:(

When you goes to NCL.com website there are no cruise available on Epic till may or June 2016!

Any link with actual dry dock?

Or any bug in NCL website

Olivier

Hello

Seems to be impossible to book any cruise on EPIC for the next 4 months:(

When you goes to NCL.com website there are no cruise available on Epic till may or June 2016!

Any link with actual dry dock?

Or any bug in NCL website

 

Olivier

I just tried on .co.uk and .eu site and could book cruises from straight after dry dock on the Epic.

Done a dummy booking with a TA and got oct 19 for £479 6 days

you re right for .eu or .uk but not for .com

look strange :confused:

Did ALLURE actually have one of her massive Wartsila engines replaced or was it just one of the ABB azipods motors which provide propulsion? Big difference as replacing/repairing an azipod doesn't require cutting a giant hole in the hull and replacing a massive engine like was done with EPIC. Azipods are prone to certain issues and sometimes have to be repaired or replaced. The engines themselves that generate the power generally are not prone to issues, which is what is surprising about EPIC having to replace two of hers.

 

Azipods often have bearing wear problems and I know ALLURE experienced this a few years back. The repair does require a dry-dock but nothing as extensive as cutting a hole in the hull and removing an engine.

I´m sorry, it´s been the Oasis of the Seas (check here). They had to replace one of the engines. They cut a hole in the bottom of the hull. Took out the engine and lifted in the new one. That was done in Rotterdam during the 5 year drydock.

steamboats

I´m sorry, it´s been the Oasis of the Seas (check here). They had to replace one of the engines. They cut a hole in the bottom of the hull. Took out the engine and lifted in the new one. That was done in Rotterdam during the 5 year drydock.

 

steamboats

Thank you! Very cool videos. I wonder what the issue was with the engine? Still seems quite unusual to have to replace one after five years. I think it rarely happens but I guess anything can be faulty.

When has this to be complete and is it on schedule??