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Carnival Liberty Propulsion Issues

Razorbakfan

By Razorbakfan,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Razorbakfan

Razorbakfan

Posted
Posted

Hey gang. Live from the Liberty, Eastern Caribbean cruise and we were notified yesterday that due to propulsion issues we had to skip today's port St Thomas. Tomorrows Puerto Rico trip has been modified to a 5 hour stop tonight from 5-11:30pm.

 

We have no idea about the rest of ports but I suspect we may miss Turks as well. We are operating on one engine.

 

If you sail on the Liberty in coming weeks you may want to contact Carnival to see if your trip will be effected.

 

This is our 16th cruise and the first with mechanical issues. We did have to cancel one cruise when we found out the ship had issues and had dropped several ports. Thankfully I found out here and was able to get a full refund days before we were set to depart

 

I will keep updating as we go, or as long as I have left with my Internet package!

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bookcreator

bookcreator

Posted
Posted
Hey gang. Live from the Liberty, Eastern Caribbean cruise and we were notified yesterday that due to propulsion issues we had to skip today's port St Thomas. Tomorrows Puerto Rico trip has been modified to a 5 hour stop tonight from 5-11:30pm.

 

We have no idea about the rest of ports but I suspect we may miss Turks as well. We are operating on one engine.

 

If you sail on the Liberty in coming weeks you may want to contact Carnival to see if your trip will be effected.

 

This is our 16th cruise and the first with mechanical issues. We did have to cancel one cruise when we found out the ship had issues and had dropped several ports. Thankfully I found out here and was able to get a full refund days before we were set to depart

 

I will keep updating as we go, or as long as I have left with my Internet package!

 

 

Funny, we were on the Liberty 3/3/12 sailing and we had cabin 2470 which is on deck two in the back on the corner, it is an oceanview room. At 10:45 pm the night before the last sea day and docking the next day, a huge bang literally made us sit up in bed. That was followed by a loud banging and vibration for about 40 minutes. (It actually was so bad, the TV hit the wall and banged for 45 min) Anything on the desk vibrated off. We slowed in the water but didn't actually stop. I recorded the banging with my camera, and even then the next more the "employees" denied anything was wrong but everyone in the cabins around us felt it too. Guest services also denied any problems....until noon when the Captain came on and told us of "propulsion problems" - we were 6 hours late getting back to port (many missed their flights) Right after that, we stopped to airlift an "injured crew member" - no info on that of course due to privacy.

 

We were sure it would impact the next cruises but it didn't. They must have bandaid fixed it because, it went right back out as scheduled.

 

It will be like the Destiny that they never fix, just patch up and propulsion problems become chronic and rear it ugly head from time to time. The depend on quick fixes in ports to keep the ships going on schedule, so I am sure there will be more problems from time to time.

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momonthego17

momonthego17

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We just got off the Liberty this last Saturday. As far as I know, there was no mention of propulsion issues but I have to say that when we were moving from one port to another, the ship rocked more than I was used to.

 

Sorry to hear about you missing ports. I hope you have a great cruise regardless!

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Razorbakfan

Razorbakfan

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Did they tell your guys that the ship was operating on 1 engine? I'm not an engineer but I highly doubt it that only 1 engine can do the job for a ship the size of Liberty.

 

No they didn't and to clarify when looking out the back of the ship you can tell only one screw seems to be turning. We are currently going 13 knots. They have issued no credit nor stated anything about that other than a refund of missed excursions.

 

It is a bit of a bummer as we were really looking forward to the ports.

 

Information is being kept close to the vest but I know they know the plan for the rest of the trip, I just wish they would be transparent and fill us in.

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bookcreator

bookcreator

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No they didn't and to clarify when looking out the back of the ship you can tell only one screw seems to be turning. We are currently going 13 knots. They have issued no credit nor stated anything about that other than a refund of missed excursions.

 

It is a bit of a bummer as we were really looking forward to the ports.

 

Information is being kept close to the vest but I know they know the plan for the rest of the trip, I just wish they would be transparent and fill us in.

 

 

LOL - I do believe they hold off as long as possible on telling the passengers of problems before they know what the impact will actually be as far as getting back to port and the next cruise.

 

If they did fill the passengers in, someone would put it on CC immediately and they end up with a PR nightmare involving this cruise and possibly the next one. If it is something that can be fixed in an hour in port, they certainly do not want 2000 calls to Carnival because someone started a panic on CC.

 

With the internet, information is now withheld from the passengers so that it does not show up prematurely on CC and start the rumor mill from causing a lot of people grief.

 

I am NOT implying you should not post this, it is helpful, but I think that is the reason so much info is withheld on the ship. This is probably already 3 comments down on JH's facebook page.

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SexyK

SexyK

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Keep us informed. I leave next week. Hopefully all goes well and its just a minor problem. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. On the bright side you have an excuse to book another cruise so you can get to St Thomas.:)

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Topo Gigio

Topo Gigio

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No they didn't and to clarify when looking out the back of the ship you can tell only one screw seems to be turning. We are currently going 13 knots. They have issued no credit nor stated anything about that other than a refund of missed excursions.

 

It is a bit of a bummer as we were really looking forward to the ports.

 

Information is being kept close to the vest but I know they know the plan for the rest of the trip, I just wish they would be transparent and fill us in.

 

It takes a couple of engines to turn one of those screws..

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girlscruise2011

girlscruise2011

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We just got off the Liberty this last Saturday. As far as I know, there was no mention of propulsion issues but I have to say that when we were moving from one port to another, the ship rocked more than I was used to.

 

Sorry to hear about you missing ports. I hope you have a great cruise regardless!

 

I thought the ship was rocking too but I blamed it on the wind and the choppy seas. To me, it didn't seem like it was a malfunction of the ship.

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soccersharon

soccersharon

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Funny, we were on the Liberty 3/3/12 sailing and we had cabin 2470 which is on deck two in the back on the corner, it is an oceanview room. At 10:45 pm the night before the last sea day and docking the next day, a huge bang literally made us sit up in bed. That was followed by a loud banging and vibration for about 40 minutes. (It actually was so bad, the TV hit the wall and banged for 45 min) Anything on the desk vibrated off. We slowed in the water but didn't actually stop. I recorded the banging with my camera, and even then the next more the "employees" denied anything was wrong but everyone in the cabins around us felt it too. Guest services also denied any problems....until noon when the Captain came on and told us of "propulsion problems" - we were 6 hours late getting back to port (many missed their flights) Right after that, we stopped to airlift an "injured crew member" - no info on that of course due to privacy.

 

We were sure it would impact the next cruises but it didn't. They must have bandaid fixed it because, it went right back out as scheduled.

 

It will be like the Destiny that they never fix, just patch up and propulsion problems become chronic and rear it ugly head from time to time. The depend on quick fixes in ports to keep the ships going on schedule, so I am sure there will be more problems from time to time.

 

 

We were on the same cruise, Rita :) and revisting the Liberty in 18 days. Yes, the Liberty ran on 1 engine, and was doing about 9 knots (if I remember correctly). We finally pulled into Miami at about 11:30 am. Many folks were upset, as they were missing their flights. I know Carnival did offer some compensation, but since I was uneffected (we spend an extra night in Miami), we never did enquire.

 

I sincerely hope they correct the Liberty propulsion issues - so more folks are not disappointed. Would be a shame to miss ports due to a known issue.

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MissKIA

MissKIA

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Posted
Hey gang. Live from the Liberty, Eastern Caribbean cruise and we were notified yesterday that due to propulsion issues we had to skip today's port St Thomas. Tomorrows Puerto Rico trip has been modified to a 5 hour stop tonight from 5-11:30pm.

 

We have no idea about the rest of ports but I suspect we may miss Turks as well. We are operating on one engine.

 

If you sail on the Liberty in coming weeks you may want to contact Carnival to see if your trip will be effected.

 

This is our 16th cruise and the first with mechanical issues. We did have to cancel one cruise when we found out the ship had issues and had dropped several ports. Thankfully I found out here and was able to get a full refund days before we were set to depart

 

I will keep updating as we go, or as long as I have left with my Internet package!

 

Interesting. We were on the Liberty in March and we got back late to port because of propulsion problems. Hope it doesn't affect too much more of your trip!

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loubetti

loubetti

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The Liberty is a Diesel-electric ship. This means you typically have several Diesel engine powered generators that provide electricity to an electric motor, one for each propeller. They also provide electrical power to the ship as a whole. I have yet to find out how many Diesels they have, but as an example, QE2 has nine of them, each the size of a double-decker bus. I'm quite sure that Liberty has less than that number.

 

If a screw (propeller) is not turning, you likely either have an electric motor issue, a shaft issue, or a propeller issue. When I hear reports of vibration and banging, it could be possible that a propeller blade was lost, but this is so uncommon these days. While old ships such as Titanic had only three propeller blades per shaft, Queen Mary, 4, you'll typically see 5 to 6 blades per shaft now. However, loss of a blade will imbalance the shaft, and things will get messy after that!

 

Here's a photo of propeller blades as artwork on the deck of QM2:

 

6c42c8cb41af8c08b2912d39b011.jpeg

 

However, these are actually spare blades for use on the azipods, not just objets d'art.

 

Here's a photo of the props on Carnival Dream- six blades. Note the stern thrusters in the hull, forward of the propellers.

 

Carnival Dream and Propeller

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doodlefan

doodlefan

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Update.

They are flying in a technician to PR. If it can be fixed by 11pm we stay the night and tomorrow in PR. If not, we leave at 11 at travel to Turks and then presumably back to Miami.

 

Will keep you all posted.

 

 

Please update when you can. We sail on Saturday and I really hope our itinerary is not affected. We tried to take this itinerary on the Dream last year and that itinerary was changed to the East itinerary with only 2 1/2 days in port, it sucked. We'd really like to just make it to the itinerary we picked the second time around.

 

Thanks for the updates

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ashleyunf

ashleyunf

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Posted
Update.

They are flying in a technician to PR. If it can be fixed by 11pm we stay the night and tomorrow in PR. If not, we leave at 11 at travel to Turks and then presumably back to Miami.

 

Will keep you all posted.

 

I will be following this thread like a hawk...I leave on the Liberty Saturday, and will be getting married on board before embarkation...

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