Technical Question - Sapphire

[49er]

I was watching a documentry on the QM2 the other night and they mentioned the ship was equipped with gas turbine engines (same as used in a DC-10) located in the funnel to provide extra electrical power when the ship leaves port. Just curious if the Sapphire has a similar set up. the two cylinders mounted on either side of the funnel sure look like nacelles.

 

49er

[Ethel5]

I was watching a documentry on the QM2 the other night and they mentioned the ship was equipped with gas turbine engines (same as used in a DC-10) located in the funnel to provide extra electrical power when the ship leaves port. Just curious if the Sapphire has a similar set up. the two cylinders mounted on either side of the funnel sure look like nacelles.

 

49er

 

I'm so ill equipped in techno/mechanical stuff, but I do remember a thread about this awhile back. The cylinders on the Sapphire are fake and she is equipped with Azipods. As an FYI, I talked with an engineer aboard the Dawn Princess about them using another shipyard and then going back to Fincantieri. His answer was "the demon you know is better than the demon you don't know". This was after the Diamond caught fire in the shipyard and they went through the mess of changing names etc. I probably made a complete fool of myself in trying to answer you, but I hope it helps.

[49er]

Thanks Ethel5, I did a search and found a post back in July '04 that discussed this topic. Just dummy nacelles up there but still gives the ship a unique look. We will be sailing on her a week from tomorrow so I will get a first hand look-see. Thanks again for your reply

 

49er

[Ethel5]

I'm happay to hear that my memory still works - sometimes!:D

[Suzieb]

Yes those are dummies, and just for looks! Kindof makes the ship look like it it is going faster than it is. But she still is equipted with a turbine. It is located in the funnel area, so you may hear the jet engine if they want to go faster.

 

Enjoy

[DougH]

I don't believe that any Princess ships use azipods, all are conventional propellers.

[Ethel5]

OK-the memory isn't as good this am! Didn't the ships built for Princess by Chantiers in France have Azipods? I think the Star Princess and maybe the Coral and Island. I am soooooo over my head in this one:)

[Druke I]

Ethel5

 

None of the Princess ships use Azipods - they are all shaft and prop.

 

Yes, Coral and Island were built by Chantiers, Star by Fincantieri (along with most of the Grand class), and Sapphire & Diamond built by Mitsubishi.

[patlanta]

As I recall from our SP experience the turbine provides a significant amount of power to the ship's progress. (The particulars of the gas turbine are discussed on the video that plays in your cabin.) Sapphire Princess limped from Darwin to Bangkok because the turbine stopped operating; a port in Malaysia was skipped. An Australian newspaper reported that Australian beer and alcohol brands favored by Aussies ran out. (Later, reported by other passengers whose favorite brands were unavailable (e.g. Canadian Rye) the restocking port was not to be until Pusan, Korea.)

 

Then the Sapphire Princess limped out of Laem Chabang, lost a crew member, turned around, did not find the crew member, turned around again, and, viola, the turbine was functioning! In the meanwhile the stop at Vietnam had been canceled. When the turbine was fixed the Vietnam stop was not reinstated. Passengers became even more chagrined about missing Vietname when the Navigator, in a public forum, said the cruise could have reverted to the orginial scheduled ports after the turbine became operational.

 

A couple of lessons learned were to carry onboard your favorite liquor and don't expect that you'll visit all the ports on the itinerary. Princess corporate rules. (I really don't mean to be nasty but that's how it happened.)

[Ethel5]

Ethel5

 

None of the Princess ships use Azipods - they are all shaft and prop.

 

Yes, Coral and Island were built by Chantiers, Star by Fincantieri (along with most of the Grand class), and Sapphire & Diamond built by Mitsubishi.

 

Thanks for doing the research!

 

It seems to me that Fincantieri does a great job on building ships. I love the Disney ships too and they were also Fincantieri.

[Druke I]

ethel 5

 

You are welcome - but all that info is in the public domain.

 

Reference Disney ships - if you are more than 5'-10" tall, you better get an aisle seat in the movie theater - it can't handle 6-2 (which I am).

 

You may or may not recall that both Island & Coral Princess came from Chantiers with rudder problems which contributed to a rolling motion at cruising speed (later corrected with rudder modifications).

 

I am partial to ships from Wartsila (especially the late great Royal Princess), which is now Aker, in Finland.

[Ethel5]

ethel 5

 

You may or may not recall that both Island & Coral Princess came from Chantiers with rudder problems which contributed to a rolling motion at cruising speed (later corrected with rudder modifications).

 

I do remember the problem with the rolling of the ships. I thinks that's what lead me down the garden path to azipods! As for the disney ships, The theatre seats are not comfortable even for shorter people. But I like the overall design of the ships and the cabin layouts-having a split bathroom is wonderful.