Was the Splendor overworked?

[CarnivalPride]

With the fire that occured on the Splendor, I was wondering, do you think the Splendor was overworked on the long distance Mexican Riviera itinerary that it sailed on?

Personally, I think it was, which proves why a Spirit Class ship would be preferrable on such a long route.

Does anyone have their own opinion?

[Cruise Cat]

With the fire that occured on the Splendor, I was wondering, do you think the Splendor was overworked on the long distance Mexican Riviera itinerary that it sailed on?

 

Personally, I think it was, which proves why a Spirit Class ship would be preferrable on such a long route.

 

Does anyone have their own opinion?

 

I don't get the association. What do you base your opinion on?:confused:

[CarnivalPride]

I don't get the association. What do you base your opinion on?:confused:

 

The Splendor is less fuel efficent and has a lower maximum speed than the Spirit Class. Clearly the Spirit Class ships were designed for these longer cruises, while the Splendor was designed for high-demand shorter cruises.

[waldocruiser1]

The Splendor is less fuel efficient and has a lower maximum speed than the Spirit Class. Clearly the Spirit Class ships were designed for these longer cruises, while the Splendor was designed for high-demand shorter cruises.

 

Just out of curiosity, what is the estimated fuel mileage of a cruise ship?

[WorldCruzer]

OP, I can see your point, but I disagree. It's not in CCL's best interest to "overwork" a ship...even if that was the problem. The result of the fire from late last year? Months of canceled sailings, lost revenue (not only fares but on ship...excurisons, shops, casino), a free cruise to those on the "fire sailing", and lord knows how much money in repairs.

[plyman69]

I actually asked the captain this question a few years ago.

it was a long and very complicated answer as it depends on whether 1,2,3,4,5 generators are running. Are they at sea or in port. Are they at 2 kph or at a cruising speed of 22 knots. Are there headwinds etc

Basically the answer was about 30 feet but can be as much as 35 feet per gallon of water at cruising speed.

Most of the gas is actually used to power the generators to run the ship...

 

Hope this helps

 

Tom

[zqvol]

With the fire that occured on the Splendor, I was wondering, do you think the Splendor was overworked on the long distance Mexican Riviera itinerary that it sailed on?

 

Personally, I think it was, which proves why a Spirit Class ship would be preferrable on such a long route.

 

Does anyone have their own opinion?

 

 

If the ship was overworked on that short run some marine engineer did a lousy job.

[jmorgania]

I sure don't mean for this to sound rude but frankly this sounds absurd. The ship is perfectly capable of running at it's normal cruising speed almost indefinently. The fact that it is not as fast or fuel efficient doesn't mean anything. A truck is slower and less fuel efficient than a compact car but it doesn't mean the compact is capable of running more miles than the truck.

[CWcruisers]

It's the only ship in it's class.

 

Perhaps a bug?

 

Like any new computer program.

[CruiseDawg2001]

The Splendor is less fuel efficent and has a lower maximum speed than the Spirit Class. Clearly the Spirit Class ships were designed for these longer cruises, while the Splendor was designed for high-demand shorter cruises.

 

Just because Splendor is larger and has a lower top speed doesn’t necessarily make it less fuel efficient.

Carnival knows how much mileage is required for the route well ahead of time & can determine if the amount of fuel required is worth the expense.

[jetskier]

It's the only ship in it's class.

 

Perhaps a bug?

 

Like any new computer program.

 

Actually it is not as there are three Costa ships that are sister ships. Carnival needed the ship more than Costa did. It is really a Concordia-class ship.

 

This ship is quite unique in the Carnival fleet, offering facilities other ships do not have. This is because the ship was originally designed for Carnival's sister company Costa Cruises. Costa Cruises currently operates three sister ships to the Carnival Splendor, the Costa Concordia, the Costa Serena, and the Costa Pacifica. The inaugural voyage for the Carnival Splendor was on 2 July 2008 from Genoa, Italy to Dover, England.

 

Dave

[CWcruisers]

Actually it is not as there are three Costa ships that are sister ships. Carnival needed the ship more than Costa did. It is really a Concordia-class ship.

 

This ship is quite unique in the Carnival fleet, offering facilities other ships do not have. This is because the ship was originally designed for Carnival's sister company Costa Cruises. Costa Cruises currently operates three sister ships to the Carnival Splendor, the Costa Concordia, the Costa Serena, and the Costa Pacifica. The inaugural voyage for the Carnival Splendor was on 2 July 2008 from Genoa, Italy to Dover, England.

 

Dave

 

You are right there. I meant it is the only ship of it's class in the Carnival fleet. And it was supposed to be a Costa ship, but CCL put a fluke on it and went with it to see how it would go. It was great until November.

 

So goes back to my original post.

 

A bug or a computer glich?

[WorldCruzer]

You are right there. I meant it is the only ship of it's class in the Carnival fleet. And it was supposed to be a Costa ship, but CCL put a fluke on it and went with it to see how it would go. It was great until November.

 

So goes back to my original post.

 

A bug or a computer glich?

 

I don't understand how this could still be a bug or glitch. Other than being painted and decorated for the Carnival fleet, the same class exists over at Costa. So it's not like its one of a kind anywhere in the world. :confused::confused:

[thinfool]

Does anyone have their own opinion?

 

The ship is only 2 1/2 years old. The engine is an enormous industrial diesel that burns bunker fuel. The fuel is the consistency of molasses, not like #2 diesel that your favorite Peterbilt uses.

 

I believe there are two of these engines aboard the ship, and there are many, many more onboard cruise ships of RCL, CCL and NCL. They run for years and are designed to be rebuilt/serviced inplace when necessary.

 

The problem onboard the Splendor is very unusual, apparently requiring the complete replacement of one engine.

 

From other postings it seems that the crankshaft broke.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~nikrjel3/diesel_engine_6s70me-c.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dina.kvl.dk/~nikrjel3/&h=450&w=600&sz=86&tbnid=quP90cSge9LpQM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dship%2Bengine%2Bphoto&zoom=1&q=ship+engine+photo&usg=__x1Ia2gRCM9cUqtYOhRC1FbBh_jE=&sa=X&ei=kVc0TY-KKIissAOqoryBBg&ved=0CCQQ9QEwAw **

This is, to put it mildly, catastrophic. It is also very, very rare and has nothing to do with how hard the ship has been used in service.

It is more likely that there was a flaw in the casting so minute that it was missed during production.

 

Warranty information is confidential, but Carnival is, without doubt, pursuing any/all avenues to replace the engine and be compensated for all losses incurred, likely from the engine manufacturer. (Wartsila--Finland)

 

IMO, Carnival is also evaluating the configuration of the electrical equipment that hindered the use of the other engine(s) for propulsion and environmental support as well as the already described issues with the CO2 fire suppression system.

 

**Photos are an example a of ships engine, not specifically the Splendor.

[MrPete]

Aren't we a bit premature? Has the cause been released?

 

And who builds a ship that can't sail?

[LHP]

I, too, have wondered why a brand new ship would have such issues.

 

It would be interesting to see if it is a design flaw (have the other Costa ships of this class had issues?) OR was it just a fluke that the Splendor got a weak engine?

 

Sometimes you just get an engine that was not built as well as it should have been....

[sassyredhat]

Just letting you know, as of yesterday, Splendor is still in drydock here at NAASCO. Saw her yesterday.

She is supposed to be towed to SF sometime. Thought it was yesterday, but she was here.

Pat

[LHP]

Just letting you know, as of yesterday, Splendor is still in drydock here at NAASCO. Saw her yesterday.

She is supposed to be towed to SF sometime. Thought it was yesterday, but she was here.

Pat

 

I am thinking January 20th??? (first sailing is around Feb 20th????)

[sbnuggie]

The splendor is due to arrive on Jan 22 in San Francisco and leaves on the 19th. Interestingly under its own power but followed by tugs:

 

http://www.10news.com/news/26511234/detail.html

[big_duck]

Mechanically the Splendor has more in common with the Conquest class then most realize.

 

Dispite this fluke accident, she is still the best in the Carnival fleet IMO.

[Jeffy294]

These engines are considered Gensets. The engine speed is constant, it stays the same speed as most generators you would have for recreational purposes. Electric motors turn the propellers, and they turn at the same speed. The speed of the ship is controlled by the pitch of the propeller blades, the more the pitch the more water the propeller moves, which speeds the ship up. Two of the engines, which I think are 16 cylinders are dedicated to the ship propulsion, and I think the other 4 engines are 14 cylinders, I know they keep one engine off as a spare. The problem was most likely a defect in the engine itself. I have pondered since the accident how in the world the oil would catch fire in such an incident. But I think the answers could be in what they called a smokeless fire. I one of these monster engines crankshafts breaks, its gonna make an oily mess. The leads me to think that oil was thrown from the crankcase on to electrical panels and the generators themselves and shorted the panels and generators out, which in turn shorted out the main switchboard, which is actually what disabled the ship. There may not be much of a flame when you have oil shorting out on electrical panels and generators, it would just burn and smoke bad. The real design flaw would be how there was no protection for the electrical circuits. Also, its possible that water from the cooling systems got on these same electrical panel similar to the oil. It had nothing to do with speed.

[dclark]

The Splendor is less fuel efficent and has a lower maximum speed than the Spirit Class. Clearly the Spirit Class ships were designed for these longer cruises, while the Splendor was designed for high-demand shorter cruises.

 

Not totally true. We were told that for their size, the Spirit ships are not fuel efficient and that was one of the reasons why they stopped making this class.

The MR route does use a lot of fuel and it isn't just distance; ships always have to fight a strong current on the way back (you can often feel it in the form of a rough ride).

[richstowe]

Warranty information is confidential, but Carnival is, without doubt, pursuing any/all avenues to replace the engine and be compensated for all losses incurred, likely from the engine manufacturer. (Wartsila--Finland)

.

 

Wow - that is going to be some huge insurance claim!

 

I am thinking January 20th??? (first sailing is around Feb 20th????)

 

I would be nervous if I was on the current first cruise back mostly because it may be delayed gain.

I assume they not only have to repair but also figure out the actual cause of the fire before Splendor is put back into sevice.