The Grand minus sky walkers what has replaced it?

[littlesteelo]

You're reading my mind. If Grand was sitting low in the water aft, she would have had a definite tilt and moving toward Princess Theater would have been an uphill climb. Ballast would have corrected any issues with the aft being heavy.

 

You mean the ship got a heavier aft as she got older? And I thought that only happened to humans.

 

Exactly. The naval architects who designed the Grand Class knew exactly how the ship would sit in the water, and what the effect of having the extra mass aft would have on the trim of the ship before it was even built. Those are basic stability calculations which are carried out during the design process.

 

And ships most definitely do not develop 'weight problems' :rolleyes: Grand had nothing major added or removed. That picture is very old yes, probably just after launch, but it is a genuine photograph.

 

What they couldn't calculate was what the effect of 10 years of being at sea, and countless heavy storms would be on Skywalkers.

[shofer]

I was trying to find any before & after pictures of the outside of the ship after removal of the shopping cart handle... anyone ????

 

I am hoping to load this picture. Hope it works. It's from 2/3/12 at Princess Cays.

 

Sue

 

 

/Users/karlhofer/Desktop/IMG_0240.JPG

[littlesteelo]

Like all ships, the Grand accumulated additional weight--if only from the constant painting of the above-water areas of the hull. Movies Under the Stars was added; again, an original prototype that has since been redesigned. Being "bottom heavy" was not the limit of the problem; the tender launches were foundering below the waterline, and significant accelerated wear and tear was found at the front of the hull. It was at that point the decision was made that the removal of Skywalkers would be the best solution to reduce the overall weight. The fact that they will not need to remove Skywalkers from any other ship does not mean that Skywalkers was the only reason the Grand was sitting low in the water. However, removing Skywalkers did have the expected knock-on effect of significantly reducing fuel consumption--a factor that did not influence the decision, said Captain Perrin with a wink.

 

The mass of paint added over the years would have very little effect on the displacement of a ship. There is a value which is determined for all vessels called the TPC, Tonnes Per Centimeter Immersion. That is the mass required to increase the draft by 1cm. Grand is a very large ship, so that value would be fairly high, more than the mass of paint, and likely even the mass of MUTS. Plus that was added midships, and again ballast levels can be changed to compensate if there is any large difference.

 

Also that damage to the plating on the bow was from heavy seas, nothing to do with skywalkers. It would be expected to have to replace some after 10 years, since the thickness of the plate is not designed to take repeated battering by heavy seas.

[shofer]

I was trying to find any before & after pictures of the outside of the ship after removal of the shopping cart handle... anyone ????

 

I have one if someone can tell me how to load a picture onto this message.

 

Sue

[highheel girl]

It has been said that the steel used in the first skywalkers (Grand) was considerably different/heavier then its predecessor's.

Not a steel expert just repeating what I have heard quite a few times.

[billco]

I have one if someone can tell me how to load a picture onto this message.

 

Sue

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1234944

[shofer]

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1234944

 

I tried this and it failed. I have a Flickr account and loaded the picture there, but have no idea how to get it from there to here. Sorry but I will have to call in my SIL to help me on this one.

 

Thanks for the info anyway. I do have a nice picture of the Grand at anchor in Princess Cays with a view of the whole ship in profile.

 

Sue

[blazerjan]

Thanks for trying Sue....I really appreciate it.

[bubbamaggie]

This picture was taken on our December 2012 trip on Grand Princess and it shows an 'after' picture.

 

http://robandsally.smugmug.com/photos/i-zbTRW8d/0/L/i-zbTRW8d-L.jpg

[west coast cruiser]

This picture was taken on our December 2012 trip on Grand Princess and it shows an 'after' picture.

 

http://robandsally.smugmug.com/photos/i-zbTRW8d/0/L/i-zbTRW8d-L.jpg

Thanks for posting it.

[jbobst]

We sailed on the Grand back in 2006 when they still had Skywalkers installed. One "odd" thing we noticed on that cruise was that during the ports where we had to tender, the ship actually had to use the ballast tanks to lean the ship to one side. I believe the a lot of people were wondering why we were leaning so much while anchored, and I think the captain even came on the public address system and said it was so the tender boats could dock to the side of the ship easier. I remember walking around the ship and everything had was tilted sideways. Kind of strange. I don't recall that ever being done on other cruise ships we've sailed on since. I wonder if that had anything to do with the Skywalkers (probably not). It is also strange they would design a ship that didn't dock with the tenders properly when level.

[pablo222]

We sailed on the Grand back in 2006 when they still had Skywalkers installed. One "odd" thing we noticed on that cruise was that during the ports where we had to tender, the ship actually had to use the ballast tanks to lean the ship to one side. I

 

A ship sometimes heels during tender operations due to use

of the thrusters to maintain a lee.

[CCFC]

Something I did notice when we got on after Skywalkers was removed was the strange balcony that was left where the travellator took you up, its got balcony doors and a balcony but isnt used for anything. Wish I had taken a picture of it now as it looked very odd.

[shofer]

I am hoping to load this picture. Hope it works. It's from 2/3/12 at Princess Cays.

 

Sue

 

20080205_img_0470_1_.JPG

[yyjguy]

I was just on Grand, and there was alot of work including welding taking place on that small deck and inside where the walkway went up to Skywalkers. So, something is being built there. Another private and intimate dining area?

[highheel girl]

Photo by bubbamaggie.......

 

[bdjam]

Exactly. The naval architects who designed the Grand Class knew exactly how the ship would sit in the water, and what the effect of having the extra mass aft would have on the trim of the ship before it was even built. Those are basic stability calculations which are carried out during the design process.

 

And ships most definitely do not develop 'weight problems' :rolleyes: Grand had nothing major added or removed. That picture is very old yes, probably just after launch, but it is a genuine photograph.

 

What they couldn't calculate was what the effect of 10 years of being at sea, and countless heavy storms would be on Skywalkers.

 

http://robandsally.smugmug.com/photo...-zbTRW8d-L.jpg

 

Just took a look at the picture posted by Highheel Girl (nice pic by the way) and the ship looks very different in the water without Skywalkers on top - she looks very flat and perpendicular to the sea. With Skywalkers the line of the ship is different and that may be why it might look lower in the water...but a look of the paint at the water line shows clearly that she's level - with or without Skywalkers.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Coppied from a roll call

 

yours Shogun

 

You can see Grand used to sit very slightly lower at the stern before skywalkers was removed. Plus----look at the weather :) :)

 

(My first ever photo

[Blue Lupin]

I was on the Grand in Oct 2013 and was asked to take pictures of what the area was like with Skywalkers gone. Since I had never seen a ship with Skywalkers I am not sure if this will help you picture it........