Arcadia propellar problems

[Lenny13]

Has anyone had problems in cabins at back of ship that are affected with noise and vibrations from the ship's propellar ?

[terrierjohn]

Arcadia uses the Azipod system of propulsion, separate pods housing an electric motor powering the propellers. Generally these systems do not suffer from propeller vibration, except during docking and undocking when the Azipods are used as stern thrusters to push the ship onto or away from the dock.

[cruiser1955]

I've had stern cabins on A, B & D deck and not found there to be an issue with noise or vibration. I have noticed it though at the very rear of the lower deck of the restaurant when there is rough weather.

[Blackrat]

I agree with Jon, you can notice it sometimes in the Meridian restaurant under certain conditions, but even then its not bad and not something to worry about. I suspect most people don't notice it at all

 

We were on Grenada deck in an inside cabin, midships, never felt any vibrations other than normal ship noises/movements ect. Didn't notice it any where else either. Hope this helps put your mind at rest. It's a great ship and we would go on it again without hesitation.

 

Blackrat

[mvarcadia.com]

You may be able to feel some vibration at the aft at certain high speeds. When the ship is travelling at speed above 22 knots, the Azipod blades are revolving at 130 to 136 rpm - (and strangely 2 rpm more at night!)

 

These speeds can set up some resonance vibration but it's nothing like that experienced aft on Oriana.

 

For those interested, to get to 130rpm (22.2 knots), all four 16 cylinder diesel generators are needed, while for 136rpm (23.2 knots) a fifth 12 cylinder DG is usually added but other combinations can be used. Arcadia has four 16 cylinder generators and two 12 cylinder that provide electrical power for the hotel load and the propulsion.

Edited September 24, 2012 by mvarcadia.com

[cruiseluvva]

We have had aft corner cabins on Arcadia for about 100 nights, on B, D and E decks and never experienced vibration except when berthing. Then it can be quite obvious, but the benefits of having an aft cabin far outweigh the few minutes the vibrations last.

[Lenny13]

Would the resonance vibrations mentioned by 'mvarcadia' cause problems on lower deck aft cabins ?

[mvarcadia.com]

Very little, Lenny, but most evident in the Lower Meridien. Because these speeds are not fuel efficient, you will only be able to feel it on deck 4 when the ship is making up time or must travel fast for some reason. And, in a way, I find this frequency of vibration quite soothing - rather like being in a car (as a passenger!) and being lulled to sleep.

Edited September 25, 2012 by mvarcadia.com

[StLucia]

We had an aft cabin on E deck and did not experience any problems with vibration. However the same cannot be said for the Meridian restaurant. We had a table for 8 on the upper deck next to the aft windows, the vibration and noise at times was very severe during our late dining. It was very noticable and spoilt a lovely table as we had to raise our voices to talk to our table companions. I would agree that it was worse when the sea was moving more, but it certainly was not rough, we had wonderful calm seas. We all thought it sounded like a worn bearing was vibrating. She is overdue for maintenance!

[mvarcadia.com]

StLucia, I defer to your engineering expertise but I can tell you that the Azipod bearings on Arcadia are not yet "overdue for maintenance". This is partly due to careful husbandry by the engineers who take care not to operate the PEMs at speeds less than 30 rpm. Some users of these ABB azipods do run them slowly, or even reverse the direction of rotation and, at slow speeds the roller bearings slide instead of roll, thus wearing them.

 

Here's a photo of one of the bearing control panels, illustrating the complexity of the lubrication system:

[Vampire Parrot]

When the ship is travelling at speed above 22 knots, the Azipod blades are revolving at 130 to 136 rpm - (and strangely 2 rpm more at night!)

 

The hotel load is lower at night so more electrical power is available for the motors.

 

I was on Arcadia just after she came out of refit and one evening she undertook a "speed run" as the sea and wind were both was calm. She made a constant 24.5 knots, but a) we could feel the vibration in the restaurant, and b) I'm *very* glad I wasn't paying the fuel bill. With 5 engines running, Arcadia drinks around 10 tons per hour at 24.5 knots, whereas at 22 knots and 4 engines it's closer to 8 tons per hour.

 

This is partly due to careful husbandry by the engineers who take care not to operate the PEMs at speeds less than 30 rpm. Some users of these ABB azipods do run them slowly, or even reverse the direction of rotation and, at slow speeds the roller bearings slide instead of roll, thus wearing them.

Absolutely! Arcadia runs her azipods at 30rpm minimum. To move at slow speed, the azipods are pointed almost towards each other so that the resultant port/starboard thrust vectors cancel each other out, leaving a small resultant vector forwards. This means Arcadia can travel very slowly forward, even if both pods are still running at 30rpm.

 

Edited to add: mvarcadia.com - where's the pic. of the bearing control panel? ;-)

 

 

VP

Edited September 25, 2012 by Vampire Parrot

[mvarcadia.com]

Mik, in my browser the pic shows immediately under my "Here's ..." sentence. This is the first time I've added a pic to to a posting on this forum so I may have done something wrong. Advice welcome.

[StLucia]

StLucia, I defer to your engineering expertise but I can tell you that the Azipod bearings on Arcadia are not yet "overdue for maintenance".

 

I have no engineering experience but the poster, Lenny 13 ask if anyone had experience of vibration at the back. We definitely did. Arcadia is overdue for maintenance, as I'm sure you know her planned dry dock was postponed. She was certainly in better condition in August than she was the previous December but there must be something wrong when the glasses rattle during diner because of the vibration. But that's just my humble opinion.

[Lenny13]

Can I ask mvarcadia whether you are an engineer on Arcadia ?

[rog747]

thanks for the info on Arcadia

 

just to add QE and QV same hulls/pods have almost zero vibration,

in-fact QE was zero last month.

she was avery very quiet ship.

 

went on Oriana in Dec 1994 to Barbados and back

omg did she rattle vibrate creak squeak....ugh it was a night time of misery for us trying to sleep and in the aft dining room

it was like sitting on an HST train going over the points all the time.

terrible.

also even up in the buffet everything rattled and shook, plates, cutlery etc.

 

was told she had propeller damage problems after hitting river bank on launch?

is she better now?

[tom_uk]

I'm on Arcadia at the moment in a cabin pretty near the stern - E169 - and I haven't noticed any untoward vibration.

 

I've been blogging from the cruise, here.

[Lenny13]

Thanks Tom_uk

 

I think the vibrations are to be felt in cabins directly over the propellar area, such as E190. And in that part of the Meridian dining room over the propellar - see previous blogs on this.

 

Lenny13

[gris47]

Wonder if anybody might be able to shed any light on the following: I know our noise problems aren't quite the same as those identified in this thread but in reading the thread there seems to be alot of ship knowledge out there. My wife and I have just returned from a 10 night Atlantic cruise, Spain, portugal, Morocco on P&O Arcadia. This was our 6th cruise, having cruised both with P&O and NCL previously and so are familiar with the general noises and vibrations etc that may be encountered in cabins due to the dynamic nature of the ship. However, on this cruise the usual underlying noise was completely overshadowed by a persistent and extremely loud low frequency thudding (it almost sounded like something was swinging around behind the cabin space?). We were on e deck at the forward end immediately above the theatre. We had the accomodation supervisor in but although agreeing the noise was loud the best they could offer was earplugs! We were also told nobody else was experiencing this but having asked around on ship there were indeed plenty of others who were experiencing it. Would anybody with an engineering background based on ships be able to suggest any possible causes or reasons. Many thanks gris47

[davecttr]

Wonder if anybody might be able to shed any light on the following: I know our noise problems aren't quite the same as those identified in this thread but in reading the thread there seems to be alot of ship knowledge out there. My wife and I have just returned from a 10 night Atlantic cruise, Spain, portugal, Morocco on P&O Arcadia. This was our 6th cruise, having cruised both with P&O and NCL previously and so are familiar with the general noises and vibrations etc that may be encountered in cabins due to the dynamic nature of the ship. However, on this cruise the usual underlying noise was completely overshadowed by a persistent and extremely loud low frequency thudding (it almost sounded like something was swinging around behind the cabin space?). We were on e deck at the forward end immediately above the theatre. We had the accomodation supervisor in but although agreeing the noise was loud the best they could offer was earplugs! We were also told nobody else was experiencing this but having asked around on ship there were indeed plenty of others who were experiencing it. Would anybody with an engineering background based on ships be able to suggest any possible causes or reasons. Many thanks gris47

My best guess is a lift or something similar banging against the lift shaft in the crew area?

 

i have a forward inside cabin on B deck booked for next May and will not be happy if i can't get a good nights sleep :mad:

[heywood]

Hi,

 

we were on the same cruise and felt nothing on B deck (forward).

On the first night, our air conditioning was very loud. I mentioned it to our steward and she got earplugs for us. However, when we returned to our room, there was a card to say that the air flow had been reduced and all was well after that - a wonderful cruise.

 

heywood

[philayl]

Hi, we were also on this cruise J215, we were in cabin C101 midships on deck 6, we had a noise when she rolled (most of the time!) that just sounded like a coat hanger hitting the side of a wardrobe, I am certain that this was not the cause as we removed them all to eliminate it, it seemed to come from behind the bulkhead or deckhead at the foot of the bed, we never did get to the bottom of it. Phil

 

p.s. We were seated in the upper Meridian MDR, deck 3 on the port side, there was a lot of vibration every time she rolled to port and the propeller dug deep in the water, it seemed as though the bearings rumbled when under load.

Edited November 6, 2012 by philayl

[KirkNC]

Wonder if anybody might be able to shed any light on the following: I know our noise problems aren't quite the same as those identified in this thread but in reading the thread there seems to be alot of ship knowledge out there. My wife and I have just returned from a 10 night Atlantic cruise, Spain, portugal, Morocco on P&O Arcadia. This was our 6th cruise, having cruised both with P&O and NCL previously and so are familiar with the general noises and vibrations etc that may be encountered in cabins due to the dynamic nature of the ship. However, on this cruise the usual underlying noise was completely overshadowed by a persistent and extremely loud low frequency thudding (it almost sounded like something was swinging around behind the cabin space?). We were on e deck at the forward end immediately above the theatre. We had the accomodation supervisor in but although agreeing the noise was loud the best they could offer was earplugs! We were also told nobody else was experiencing this but having asked around on ship there were indeed plenty of others who were experiencing it. Would anybody with an engineering background based on ships be able to suggest any possible causes or reasons. Many thanks gris47

 

Welcome to CC!

[heywood]

Hi, we were also on this cruise J215, we were in cabin C101 midships on deck 6, we had a noise when she rolled (most of the time!) that just sounded like a coat hanger hitting the side of a wardrobe, I am certain that this was not the cause as we removed them all to eliminate it, it seemed to come from behind the bulkhead or deckhead at the foot of the bed, we never did get to the bottom of it. Phil

 

p.s. We were seated in the upper Meridian MDR, deck 3 on the port side, there was a lot of vibration every time she rolled to port and the propeller dug deep in the water, it seemed as though the bearings rumbled when under load.

 

Isn't it odd Phil - we truly never felt anything in our cabin - apart from the usual creaks if it was a bit lumpy! We were on MDR on lower level - port side in the middle and again nothing at all.

I had gone expecting all sorts of mishaps from rolling etc to getting a cough from the air conditioning but thankfully all was well.

I hope you enjoyed the cruise.

[philayl]

Isn't it odd Phil - we truly never felt anything in our cabin - apart from the usual creaks if it was a bit lumpy! We were on MDR on lower level - port side in the middle and again nothing at all.

I had gone expecting all sorts of mishaps from rolling etc to getting a cough from the air conditioning but thankfully all was well.

I hope you enjoyed the cruise.

Hi heywood, a few people by our table commented on the vibration, it was not the sort of vibration that had your seat bouncing over the floor, but it was noticeable. I also spoke to quite a few people who had developed a sore throat, and a couple with a cough, who put it down to the air conditioning, personally I wasn't affected by it. My only other experience of cruising was on the Queen Victoria last year, I have to admit the Arcadia did have a more noticeable roll in similar conditions than the QV, although again, that did not bother me. Although if pushed to make a comparison with the QV, I would much prefer the QV as I thought it had a far greater WOW factor, but having said that, there is nothing really that I could fault on the Arcadia, in her own way she is a fine ship and I would happily sail on her again. These of course are my own opinions, and I realise each will have different views, but I can only describe as I found it. Phil

[heywood]

I went on Arcadia expecting to be disappointed because we love QM2. However - as I said, we were pleasantly surprised. We'll have to take a look at QV now.:)