Fantasy Port Engine Troubles - No CC

Reports of the Port engine having broken down and the ship returning to PC skipping CC.

Very sad for those onboard, but DCL are offering 20% off a future cruise and $200 OBC.

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2016/02/developing-story-disney-fantasy-experiencing-mechanical-issues-skipping-castaway-cay-on-february-5th/

Hope they get her ship shape for her new cruise.

ex techie

WOW, that's a pretty generous offer considering how cheap they've been lately.

We were on a Magic cruise where she lost 2 engines and we limped back to port. However, we did a short day at Castaway where they tried to make repairs. Early departure was to allow time to get back to Canaveral when the attempt was unsuccessful.

Yep,

And some ignorant person over there on Scott's blog has already managed to attribute blame to DCL for lack of maintenance because in their experience engines do not just suddenly fail.... :rolleyes:

Beth

February 4, 2016 at 2:11 pm

It seems kind of unforgivable. Some people save a very, very long time to take a cruise like that. I could understand if it was due to the weather, but in my experience engines do not just go out unless they are not receiving proper maintenance.

I'm sure they typed their post with a lot more experience than just owning a car, and mega watt gensets running 365 days a year with scheduled maintenance....;)

The best post I saw was this one and I 100% agree.

Chris

February 4, 2016 at 6:15 pm

I pretty sure DCL already knows what the problem is and spare parts will be waiting on the ship. Keep in mind too, this is not an engine thats down, but a drive motor. 2 separate things. The engines are the diesel generator sets that make the power for the ship. The Dream class has 5 of those bad boys. There called gensets. The drive motors, and there are 2 of those, actually turn the props. They are electric motors, that take power from the gensets, thru a distribution panel. Its like a really big circuit breaker. At any given time, 1 main engine is dedicated for each propulsion motor, and the remaining 3 are set for the ships hotel services. Each genset, generates a given amount of power, and that power goes thru the distribution panel, and routed by computer switches. If the ship needs more power, the computer says , hey start another engine. At any given time, any 1 of the gensets can be shut down or off line, and youd never know it. Its when the drive motors start having issues, that you see reduced speeds and canceled stops. If the only thing being affected right now is the ships speed, Ill go with a port drive motor issue, or something wrong with the cables that power that motor from the power.

ex techie

This is the WORST comment...

Kelsey

February 4, 2016 at 8:02 pm

We missed Castaway Cat AND almost died in hurricane sandy on the Fantasy and we only got 25% off! 20% really adds up— its not a bad concession.

Almost died! LMAO!

ex techie

We knew there were issues on our cruise well before they were announced. Frederick was the chief engineer--the guy who took a bow on the first night. Our cabin was aft; I don't remember whether 5 or 7...but as we were leaving the cabin I saw Frederick literally RUNNING down the stairs. Several hours later it was announced that they would try to make repairs at Castaway, but we would have a 2 pm all aboard. Then the announcement at dinner was that we'd "lost" a second engine; all was well, blah, blah but our speed would be reduced into Port Canaveral where the repairs could be completed.

Ship happens on a cruise!

Either you accept that when you book, or you don't.

And if you don't then you are only setting yourself up to be disappointed.

Hearts broken, feeling crushed...... Sorry. Thats cruising. Be prepared to roll with the punches and make the best of it you can.

ex techie

Firstly, I suppose they didn't read their cruise contract - Disney does not have to do anything for you if they don't want to ..

I was on my 3rd Disney cruise before I finally made it to CC. The 1st time was due to severe dock damage from a hurricane which had come through a few weeks earlier; we docked in Charleston, SC instead and it was AMAZING! I loved Charleston and wish it could be a regular DCL destination. They offered some shore excursions which were quire nice.

On the second voyage we high winds prevented docking. Extra day at Sea. Finally made it on the 3rd voyage in January of 2014. CC was nice, and I like going there, but all in all, it wasn't a make or break for me. Could do without it and still have a GREAT voyage!

I have been on multiple voyages where we miss ports on other lines due to weather and engine issues. It happens, and it's why you have a cruise contract.

This is the WORST comment...

 

Almost died! LMAO!

 

ex techie

[This reply is in response to post #4. It's related the the Fantasy that encountered Hurricane Sandy.]

Were you there ET?

For those of us there that night, who were fore and aft, that thought did register unfortunately.

In a Force 12 what lifeboats would be launched?

After a couple 20 degree lists what thoughts would the average pax have?

Especially after a look outside if possible, only starboard possible, and can see 30 feet visibility, horizontal wind at 100 mph. Oh my ....

I find you comments insensitive and inappropriate, at least. :eek:

I saw writing from a child the next day that said exactly that.

"I am thankful I did not die last night"

That child was berthed forward up high.

Many children thought they were going to die.

The lobby was filled with pax with life preservers on. And they slept in the atrium that night. How often do you see that?

You can manipulate the event all you want, the fact is the Fantasy went thru a Force 12.

Have you? Have others who continue to question the events of 10 /27/12?

I wish this event occurred during daylight. The video would have crushed DCL. And enlightened the media. DCL avoided a big one due to darkness.

It also would have supported my rant. (the video in the daylight of the heavy seas) :p

Smooth seas to all

ETA; DCL sailed into/followed Sandy,

Both the Dream and the Fantasy encountered a really rough, unanticipated storm on the heels of a hurricane while returning to Port Canaveral. It resulted in significant damage to the interior of the ship (particularly to items and glass shelves in the gift shops) as well as injuries to some CMs on duty due to falls or running into walls.

Passengers were advised to remain in their cabins, but as seen in the above post many did not choose to follow instructions. As far as any reports indicate, there was no injury to guests following instructions. The official line (lie?) is that at no time was the ship in danger. We are all aware of "Disney-speak" at such times where a fire becomes a "thermal anomaly," etc.

I doubt that anyone other than ship's officers know the truth of this situation. Guests definitely were frightened, whether justified or not I am not in a position to know. Children tend to reflect their parent's attitudes. Why they would believe themselves safer in the lobby than in their cabins, I don't know other than perhaps feeling better at being with other guests. I'm one who tends to believe that following the official instructions is the best course. Yes, I've been thru a hurricane, but at WDW not on a ship. Again, officially the ship did not go thru the hurricane, but no doubt it was far too close for comfort!

Yep,

 

And some ignorant person over there on Scott's blog has already managed to attribute blame to DCL for lack of maintenance because in their experience engines do not just suddenly fail.... :rolleyes:

 

 

 

I'm sure they typed their post with a lot more experience than just owning a car, and mega watt gensets running 365 days a year with scheduled maintenance....;)

 

The best post I saw was this one and I 100% agree.

 

 

ex techie

Well, the second quote is not quite correct. There are not engine/generators that are "connected to a propulsion motor", nor is one generator on one propulsion motor. Each propulsion motor is 23Mw, while the largest generator is only 16.8Mw, so you need both of these generators and one of the smaller (14.4 Mw) generators to power the propellers at full speed.

[This reply is in response to post #4. It's related the the Fantasy that encountered Hurricane Sandy.]

 

Were you there ET?

 

For those of us there that night, who were fore and aft, that thought did register unfortunately.

 

In a Force 12 what lifeboats would be launched?

After a couple 20 degree lists what thoughts would the average pax have?

Especially after a look outside if possible, only starboard possible, and can see 30 feet visibility, horizontal wind at 100 mph. Oh my ....

 

I find you comments insensitive and inappropriate, at least. :eek:

 

I saw writing from a child the next day that said exactly that.

"I am thankful I did not die last night"

That child was berthed forward up high.

 

Many children thought they were going to die.

 

The lobby was filled with pax with life preservers on. And they slept in the atrium that night. How often do you see that?

 

You can manipulate the event all you want, the fact is the Fantasy went thru a Force 12.

 

Have you? Have others who continue to question the events of 10 /27/12?

 

I wish this event occurred during daylight. The video would have crushed DCL. And enlightened the media. DCL avoided a big one due to darkness.

 

It also would have supported my rant. (the video in the daylight of the heavy seas) :p

 

Smooth seas to all

 

ETA; DCL sailed into/followed Sandy,

Well, I can't speak for techie, but I've been through more force 12 storms than I care to remember. While you and most of the passengers felt that they were going to die, I can pretty well assure you that you weren't in any real danger.

Nearly every ship afloat can withstand 20 degree rolls, I've been on a cruise ship that listed (stayed over, not just rolled back and forth) to 35+ degrees, and the ship was fine.

As for "DCL sailed into/followed Sandy", which was it? Did they sail into it, or follow it? There is a world of difference. And it would not have "crushed" DCL if you could have videoed it.

Yes, it was an extremely upsetting experience, and very stressful, but there was never any real possibility of losing life. (Unless someone did something stupid like going out on deck)

Almost 6pm and she's still at the dock. Any word if the delay is connected to repairs for this problem ?

Almost 6pm and she's still at the dock. Any word if the delay is connected to repairs for this problem ?

Just as a guess, I'd say it probably is.

Well, the second quote is not quite correct. There are not engine/generators that are "connected to a propulsion motor", nor is one generator on one propulsion motor. Each propulsion motor is 23Mw, while the largest generator is only 16.8Mw, so you need both of these generators and one of the smaller (14.4 Mw) generators to power the propellers at full speed.

You are absolutely correct as usual Chief!

I never spotted the genset and motor sizes on wiki before.

Thanks for the clarification! :)

ex techie

Almost 6pm and she's still at the dock. Any word if the delay is connected to repairs for this problem ?

I would say it is a combination of repairs and late docking.

Late docking does screw up the rhythm of the usual stocking and restocking, bunkering, along with it needs almost all of the port time to turn the ship around.

I've not read anything online about an announcement to Guests of late departure yet however, just reports of still sitting at the dock.

ex techie

Well, I can't speak for techie, but I've been through more force 12 storms than I care to remember. While you and most of the passengers felt that they were going to die, I can pretty well assure you that you weren't in any real danger.

 

Nearly every ship afloat can withstand 20 degree rolls, I've been on a cruise ship that listed (stayed over, not just rolled back and forth) to 35+ degrees, and the ship was fine.

 

As for "DCL sailed into/followed Sandy", which was it? Did they sail into it, or follow it? There is a world of difference. And it would not have "crushed" DCL if you could have videoed it.

 

Yes, it was an extremely upsetting experience, and very stressful, but there was never any real possibility of losing life. (Unless someone did something stupid like going out on deck)

Exactly Chief.

A big difference between thinking you could die, and "nearly dying". As scary and uncomfortable as it was, no ones life was in danger despite what they may have thought.

ex techie

Underway at 7:10pm.

Underway at 7:10pm.

Yep!

Hope she has a smooth SWDAS voyage! May the force be with her! lol!

ex techie

Hi all. I was onboard and as big time beach people we were very disappointed to lose our day at CC. It's one of the best beach days we've had the opportunity to experience. That said, some people make the best of a situation they may not be thrilled about and that we did. After being too afraid to ride twist and spout all week my little princess gave it a try and we all had a blast. At 3.5 yrs we were so proud to see her do such a big kid activity.

In true DCL fashion they turned things up a notch after the CC announcement was made on Thursday. Free drinks on both final nights, extra character time including (princess gathering, Elsa and Anna as well as all the others), a matinee showing of Believe and many others. They also held the 5k on deck 4 and had cast members cheering runners the whole way around the track.

It wasn't the conclusion to our trip we'd anticipated or hoped for but a good time was still had.

I'll have more in my trip report which I hope to have out this time next week at the latest.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Hi all. I was onboard and as big time beach people we were very disappointed to lose our day at CC. It's one of the best beach days we've had the opportunity to experience. That said, some people make the best of a situation they may not be thrilled about and that we did. After being too afraid to ride twist and spout all week my little princess gave it a try and we all had a blast. At 3.5 yrs we were so proud to see her do such a big kid activity.

 

In true DCL fashion they turned things up a notch after the CC announcement was made on Thursday. Free drinks on both final nights, extra character time including (princess gathering, Elsa and Anna as well as all the others), a matinee showing of Believe and many others. They also held the 5k on deck 4 and had cast members cheering runners the whole way around the track.

 

It wasn't the conclusion to our trip we'd anticipated or hoped for but a good time was still had.

 

I'll have more in my trip report which I hope to have out this time next week at the latest.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

I'm glad YOU managed to make the best out of a sad situation and from the sounds of your post, still had a great time despite the disappointment.

ex techie

Exactly Chief.

A big difference between thinking you could die, and "nearly dying". As scary and uncomfortable as it was, no ones life was in danger despite what they may have thought.

 

ex techie

Another example of how people confuse thoughts and feelings with facts.

As a US Navy vet, I have had seen my fair share of storms. I’ve been through ‘Nor’easters (40+ degree rolls anyone?), hurricanes, tropical storms, blizzards (!), and have even been hit by a rogue 30+ foot wave. While I am by no means an expert, I can tell you that being in any storm of magnitude can be a frightening experience, especially when it’s your first one! The worst storm for me was sailing through the outer edge of a hurricane on an aircraft carrier and seeing green water come over the flight deck (which is 60 feet above the waterline!).

While I was not on the Fantasy through Hurricane Sandy, I do remember reading about the incident and thinking how terrifying it must have been. As I read through this post, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was really that bad. But as Elaine5715 said, “Another example of how people confuse thoughts and feelings with facts.” So let’s look at some facts –

At midnight on the night of 27 Oct 2012, Hurricane Sandy was 420 miles NE of Miami with max winds of 75 MPH. While I do not have the exact location of the Fantasy, she was off the coast of Miami where winds were gusting around 40 MPH. Sea conditions that night were probably Force 8, and the Fantasy was in the left rear quadrant of the storm, which is the weakest quadrant of a hurricane. With Hurricane Sandy moving rapidly to the NNE, Fantasy was not in extreme danger that evening. So why did the passengers feel like they were in grave danger that evening?

Take a look at the sheer size of the Fantasy’s superstructure, and now imagine that superstructure acting as a huge sail. As the Fantasy steamed north on the evening of 27 Oct 2012, she was probably being hit by a consistent 40 MPH wind from the west, which in turn tried to push the Fantasy to starboard. After a certain point, righting momentum takes over and the Fantasy rolls back to port, only to have the wind push her back to starboard. And thus the rolls were most likely amplified by the sheer size of the ship, and when combined with large seas (amplified by the Gulf Stream), the end result was a wild ride. Also keep in mind that cruise ships typically don’t bolt everything down, so everything went flying! And while cruise ships have stabilizers, in these conditions they can act to amplify the rolls instead of decreasing the rolls!

Oh – lifeboats. There was a comment made wondering if they would be able to launch lifeboats during the storm. The answer is yes, cruise ship lifeboats are enclosed and self-contained, and can be launched in almost any weather conditions. Lifeboats are designed to handle the worse conditions, since most of the time ships are abandoned in the worse conditions!

Alrighty – I am almost certain that I am about to flamed on this one. My goal here is NOT to discredit those folks who were on-board Fantasy that evening, but to hopefully help ease the minds of those folks who are having concerns about being on-board a cruise during a storm. To those who weathered Sandy on the Fantasy, I salute you!

As a US Navy vet, I have had seen my fair share of storms. I’ve been through ‘Nor’easters (40+ degree rolls anyone?), hurricanes, tropical storms, blizzards (!), and have even been hit by a rogue 30+ foot wave. While I am by no means an expert, I can tell you that being in any storm of magnitude can be a frightening experience, especially when it’s your first one! The worst storm for me was sailing through the outer edge of a hurricane on an aircraft carrier and seeing green water come over the flight deck (which is 60 feet above the waterline!).

 

While I was not on the Fantasy through Hurricane Sandy, I do remember reading about the incident and thinking how terrifying it must have been. As I read through this post, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was really that bad. But as Elaine5715 said, “Another example of how people confuse thoughts and feelings with facts.” So let’s look at some facts –

 

At midnight on the night of 27 Oct 2012, Hurricane Sandy was 420 miles NE of Miami with max winds of 75 MPH. While I do not have the exact location of the Fantasy, she was off the coast of Miami where winds were gusting around 40 MPH. Sea conditions that night were probably Force 8, and the Fantasy was in the left rear quadrant of the storm, which is the weakest quadrant of a hurricane. With Hurricane Sandy moving rapidly to the NNE, Fantasy was not in extreme danger that evening. So why did the passengers feel like they were in grave danger that evening?

 

Take a look at the sheer size of the Fantasy’s superstructure, and now imagine that superstructure acting as a huge sail. As the Fantasy steamed north on the evening of 27 Oct 2012, she was probably being hit by a consistent 40 MPH wind from the west, which in turn tried to push the Fantasy to starboard. After a certain point, righting momentum takes over and the Fantasy rolls back to port, only to have the wind push her back to starboard. And thus the rolls were most likely amplified by the sheer size of the ship, and when combined with large seas (amplified by the Gulf Stream), the end result was a wild ride. Also keep in mind that cruise ships typically don’t bolt everything down, so everything went flying! And while cruise ships have stabilizers, in these conditions they can act to amplify the rolls instead of decreasing the rolls!

 

Oh – lifeboats. There was a comment made wondering if they would be able to launch lifeboats during the storm. The answer is yes, cruise ship lifeboats are enclosed and self-contained, and can be launched in almost any weather conditions. Lifeboats are designed to handle the worse conditions, since most of the time ships are abandoned in the worse conditions!

 

Alrighty – I am almost certain that I am about to flamed on this one. My goal here is NOT to discredit those folks who were on-board Fantasy that evening, but to hopefully help ease the minds of those folks who are having concerns about being on-board a cruise during a storm. To those who weathered Sandy on the Fantasy, I salute you!

While I will agree with most of what you say, and also thank you for your service with the "Gray Funnel Line", a couple of points:

A consistant wind will cause "wind heel" where the ship lists to one side, going as far over until the righting force equals the wind force on the side of the ship. The ship will stay in this condition as long as the wind blows nearly consistantly. This is remedied by moving ballast.

Rolling is caused by the cyclical nature of waves, and the size, shape, and frequency of waves, even in the fringes of a hurricane, are mainly determined by the water depth and the amount of land within a hundred miles or so.

Just to diminish the mind easing you gave, cruise ship lifeboats are not enclosed (though you are probably using the layman's term for this), they are "partially enclosed". This is far better than the old open lifeboats, but it does mean that the "doors" are only canvas curtains which will not keep the seas out (though that's what the bilge pump is for). But even the old open lifeboats with oar power (ash breeze), were capable and many times actually launched in hurricanes and survived.

I know that the staff in the stores worked quickly to empty the shelves. I don't know if the goal was to remove the glass shelves themselves, but many of them fell and shattered before this could be accomplished.

I'm also aware of 2 CMs that I can name who were injured in falls while going about their duties.

Certainly it was terrifying, but I do not believe it was life threatening.

During one past hurricane (Jeanne), the ships came into Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) as conditions were such that Port Canaveral had to be closed. Big mess, no fun at all, but again decisions are made on the basis of safety rather than convenience.

chengkp75 -

Thank you for the clarification - I'm not an expert on naval architecture, so I appreciate the comments!

"Grey Funnel Line" would be appropriate, but I was on a nuclear ship :D !