Royal Princess has reported she lost power in the Med!

[Pam in CA]

Just read a reliable source that the problem is in the ship's electrical switchboards which is affecting the propulsion system. A technical team is onboard and repairs are planned during the sail to Barcelona without passengers. It's an electrical problem, not mechanical. An engine didn't "blow."

[Woobstr112G]

Wow, my heart goes out to all of you on this cruise! I quit reading the thread yesterday when it was all about flashlights. Was shocked to see where it went since then!!

 

Fingers crossed for those of you on the 9/27 cruise and the TA. This just plain stinks.

 

We were on the Grand's inaugural TA in 1998 when she went dead in the water due to a fire in the kitchen. It didn't last long but it is one scary sight to see all the kitchen staff exit with their life vests on while you are having breakfast in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Cheers, Denise

 

Denise;

 

Thanks for the positive thoughts:) I've been so looking forward to this cruise since we booked on the first day March 15, 2012. I've even almost had to cancel on two occasions. I even splurged and upgraded to an Owners suite. Now to see it possibly slipping away a mere 14 days before we board is a little unnerving.....:(:(:(

 

Bob

[dmwnc1959]

Godspeed to all of our dear Cruise Critic friends headed for Barcelona. Enjoy your time in Europe and keep us posted in your journeys. Be safe, and with good fortune, BON VOYAGE!

 

:D

[MR NW GUY]

When I started this thread, I was hoping the power outage would be a short term problem. Hopefully Princess gets this fixed quickly.

[Single Cruiser]

The following email from a passenger describes the situation:

 

We are currently aboard Royal Princess sailing from Venice (15th Sept) to Barcelona (27th Sept). The new ship has experienced some problems. 21st Sept at 8pm when preparing to leave Mykonos, we were told by the Captain that the motor that operates the winch that raises the anchor had failed. That took some four hours to fix and required the replacement of the motor. The following morning the Captain announced that our arrival in Naples would not be affected as we had made good speed (23knots) through the night to make up the time. At 1:30 pm on 22nd Sept, all lights went out and the ship started to slow. The Captain was excellent in making regular announcements keeping passengers informed. Power to the cabins was restored about 5:15pm but we did not start to move again until around 9pm. We were told that the main switchboard had overheated and cut out and that efforts to move control over to the backup board was taking some time. The Captain said that we would not be able to make full speed when power was restored. This morning (23rd Sept) , when we should be docked in Naples, we have been told that the cruise will terminate in Naples so that engineers can do further investigations of the problems and get them fixed. We will dock this evening and passengers will be disembarked starting from tomorrow morning. Passengers have been informed that all will receive a FULL refund of the cost of the cruise and 25% discount on the next cruise they book. Arrangements are being made for passengers to be flown home from Naples, or flown to Barcelona and accommodated there (at Princesses expense) until their own onward travel arrangements.

[Firststatecruiser]

I am currently on the Royal Princess. We have been treated extremely well. Our Captain has been wonderful communicating with us. We are currently in Naples awaiting our transportation to the airport for a flight to Barcelona. All arrangements were made by Princess. The technical problems will be repaired in the next few days and the ship ready for the next sailing. I will report more when I am able

[mm1251]

Good luck and safe travels!

[itsa]

I am currently on the Royal Princess. We have been treated extremely well. Our Captain has been wonderful communicating with us. We are currently in Naples awaiting our transportation to the airport for a flight to Barcelona. All arrangements were made by Princess. The technical problems will be repaired in the next few days and the ship ready for the next sailing. I will report more when I am able

 

 

Hope everything works out. Saftey is priority. By the way, who is the captain?

[janetz]

I assumed they had stuck a sticky on all the non-Princess boards - but they haven't. Just RCI.

 

 

I think it is because the sticky starts with the word ROYAL. It landed there...:p

[TorontoTL]

I am currently on the Royal Princess. We have been treated extremely well. Our Captain has been wonderful communicating with us. We are currently in Naples awaiting our transportation to the airport for a flight to Barcelona. All arrangements were made by Princess. The technical problems will be repaired in the next few days and the ship ready for the next sailing. I will report more when I am able

 

I would expect no less from Princess, good to hear.

[ne1travel]

Get the bugs out, we are sailing in January:o

 

Royal Princess Update

 

Royal Princess Update – Sept. 24

 

Royal Princess arrived in Naples at approximately 10:45 pm last evening. Princess’ shore team has continued to arrange flights within the next few days and secure hotel rooms for those who will require an overnight stay prior to their onward flights.

 

Technicians have boarded the ship and repairs are underway. Repair work will continue after sailing from Naples on Wednesday, and en route to Barcelona.

 

The impact of the repairs on the next Royal Princess cruise, voyage 1328 scheduled to depart from Barcelona on September 27, is still being evaluated this morning. We fully appreciate that booked passengers are eager to know the status of this sailing, and we plan to provide these details early this afternoon Pacific Time.

 

Again, we appreciate our passengers’ patience and sincerely apologize for this unfortunate situation.

[CruisinMaterial]

This latest update makes me wonder just to what extent the electrical problems are on the ship. A faulty board being so close to where the ship was made in Italy shouldn't be too much of a problem. If anything they can switch it out for the one that it going into her sister and get the replacement in line for that ship.

 

I do hope for my friend's sake they do get this problem fixed. I guess we'll have to stay tuned to see what the announcement is from Princess. :cool:

 

Good luck to the next sailors.

[Pia1913]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firststatecruiser View Post

I am currently on the Royal Princess. We have been treated extremely well. Our Captain has been wonderful communicating with us. We are currently in Naples awaiting our transportation to the airport for a flight to Barcelona. All arrangements were made by Princess. The technical problems will be repaired in the next few days and the ship ready for the next sailing. I will report more when I am able

 

Hope everything works out. Saftey is priority. By the way, who is the captain?

 

I am one of those booked on the next cruise and I do hope our plans are still intact. We depart tomorrow for Barcelona and until someone tells me not to, we'll be there. Hopefully to board a ship.

:)

 

Answering the above question: Capt. is Tony Dtaper

[loliola]

I bought this at lowe's:

 

http://www.energizer.com/flashlights-lighting/flashlights/flashlight/Pages/compact-rechargeable-led-light.aspx

 

It's a handy rechargeable flashlight, and it's also an emergency

light. You can leave it plugged in charging, and if the power

fails, the light comes on.

 

And, it has a little red led that's on when it's charging, so it's easy to find

when needed as a flashlight.

 

 

Sent from your-keyboard using your-browser-name

 

Thanks...just bought two!

[homeinboca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firststatecruiser View Post

I am currently on the Royal Princess. We have been treated extremely well. Our Captain has been wonderful communicating with us. We are currently in Naples awaiting our transportation to the airport for a flight to Barcelona. All arrangements were made by Princess. The technical problems will be repaired in the next few days and the ship ready for the next sailing. I will report more when I am able

 

Hope everything works out. Saftey is priority. By the way, who is the captain?

 

I am one of those booked on the next cruise and I do hope our plans are still intact. We depart tomorrow for Barcelona and until someone tells me not to, we'll be there. Hopefully to board a ship.

:)

 

Answering the above question: Capt. is Tony Dtaper

 

Pia,

 

Wishing you safe travels, and hope everything goes smoothly for your upcoming cruise. Looking forward to your live from reports.

 

Ron

[pjo]

Kind of selfish don't you think seeing as you have a November booking on her? Cancel someone else's cruise, just don't mess with mine :rolleyes:

 

Yes and no. The "no" is just being realistic. If the ship has several problems the best and long term solution is to go back to the shipyard and address them before it makes the TA voyage. Can you imagine losing power in the middle of the Atlantic?

 

The "yes" is you are correct in that I want that ship to be working perfectly when we board her in November. And if you think I am the only one thinking that then you are kidding yourself. Every person who has an upcoming Caribbean cruise planned is thinking the same thing.

[san diego sue]

We are scheduled on the cruise for Friday. Our first flight out(to Miami) is this evening and connect tomorrow to for our flight to Barcelona.

All packed and ready to go. Needless to say, don't know what to do and according to Princess posting on website , won't know till this afternoon.

If this drags till tomorrow I will be sitting in the Miami airport waiting for a flight I might not board.

This is so sad because instead of being excited we are left wondering.

We are not on the Transatlantic (was but had to cancel that leg), so this opportunity to experience the Royal is the cruise Friday.

My husband and I are thinking positive and are hopeful that all will resolve in a wonderful cruise.

We have gotten no emails from our Travel agent on any of this. If not for the generousity of a friend(who also is a travel agent), would know very little. She has kept in touch with both Princess and me constantly as things progress. Guess who I will book with in the future. So these discount travel agents not always worth it but ones that really know how to serve (and still give you perks) are worth their weight in Gold.This particular friend Agent is also on the coming cruise and so is 10 of her closest friends.

[redtogo]

Never! It's the root case. If there were bigger balconies, more people would be out on their balconies, not inside the ship, where they're consuming more electricity via blenders for cocktails, casino machines in use, etc. And, of course, as they all leave their small balconies for the public areas, they're having to use the elevators more, thanks to the lack of a midship staircase, thus increasing the power load there, too.

 

If you give me a minute, I'm sure I can also trace this power issue to the lack of a promenade deck and no oceanview cabins . . . .

 

You are funny! You should be the comedian on the ship.

Keep up the humor - as is said - every cloud has a silver lining.

[baldercash]

San Diego Sue I feel for you.

The stress and worry when about to embark on a vacation you have been looking forward to for so long and planned on sharing with so many friends is very hard.

I believe Princess will have Royal up and running in time for the cruise, stay positive Royal will be a cruise that you and your friends will reminisce about for a long time.

My DW won't fly the same day for a cruise as she worries to much about about the what ifs.

 

Princess will look after you they know they have 4000 guests in a similar situation and will be doing everything in their power to get Royal right.

It would have been a tough decision not taken lightly to cancel the current cruise they are making hard choices but the right ones.

[san diego sue]

Baldercash,

Thank you so much for the lovely reply to my post.

:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

We are scheduled on the cruise for Friday. Our first flight out(to Miami) is this evening and connect tomorrow to for our flight to Barcelona.

All packed and ready to go. Needless to say, don't know what to do and according to Princess posting on website , won't know till this afternoon.

If this drags till tomorrow I will be sitting in the Miami airport waiting for a flight I might not board.

This is so sad because instead of being excited we are left wondering.

We are not on the Transatlantic (was but had to cancel that leg), so this opportunity to experience the Royal is the cruise Friday.

My husband and I are thinking positive and are hopeful that all will resolve in a wonderful cruise.

We have gotten no emails from our Travel agent on any of this. If not for the generousity of a friend(who also is a travel agent), would know very little. She has kept in touch with both Princess and me constantly as things progress. Guess who I will book with in the future. So these discount travel agents not always worth it but ones that really know how to serve (and still give you perks) are worth their weight in Gold.This particular friend Agent is also on the coming cruise and so is 10 of her closest friends.

 

 

I am saying prayers for you both that all be will fine and you will have a wonderful cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Get the bugs out, we are sailing in January:o

 

Royal Princess Update

 

Royal Princess Update – Sept. 24

 

Royal Princess arrived in Naples at approximately 10:45 pm last evening. Princess’ shore team has continued to arrange flights within the next few days and secure hotel rooms for those who will require an overnight stay prior to their onward flights.

 

Technicians have boarded the ship and repairs are underway. Repair work will continue after sailing from Naples on Wednesday, and en route to Barcelona.

 

The impact of the repairs on the next Royal Princess cruise, voyage 1328 scheduled to depart from Barcelona on September 27, is still being evaluated this morning. We fully appreciate that booked passengers are eager to know the status of this sailing, and we plan to provide these details early this afternoon Pacific Time.

 

Again, we appreciate our passengers’ patience and sincerely apologize for this unfortunate situation.

 

 

Thank you for this information.

[ibfern]

We are packed (in 24" suitcases) and ready to go; tonight we sleep at the airport and tomorrow very early we are off to Miami where we meet up with many of our friends. We will all board the airplane and off to Barcelona where we will have a great time regardless of when we get on the Royal. Since we have insurance, we are not worried about delays because we know we will be taken care of.

 

I am going to buy that Energizer compact rechargeable light today, thanks for the recommendation.

 

My TA send me a Bon Voyage card and that is my favorite thing! No foreboding warnings, just have a great time!

 

Bon Voyage to all of my friends and see you all soon on the Royal,

Amelia

[Northender]

Royal Princess cruise is still up in the air about the departure on September 27.

Feel for those you who are traveling aboard (air/hotel) to meet the ship and haven't a clue if they will be sailing or not.

 

 

 

 

Thanks, FN. We are all anxiously awaiting this afternoon's press release. Not on the 27th sailing but Oct. 9th. We are looking forward to the folks on the 27th cruise waving to us as they enter the Canal.:D:D

[SeagoingMom]

Send the ship to dry dock for a week and get the necessary repairs. Cancel one scheduled cruise and just fix the problems and move on. No big deal, unless you were on the cruise that was cancelled.

 

Paul

Sorry, Paul -- you received a lot of flak for this comment. Perhaps your detractors would rather you had posted:

 

"Go ahead with the next scheduled sailing on an unsafe ship and let those schmucks onboard live with continued power outages, possible life-threatening inability to navigate in rough seas, and the potential for deadly fires onboard. Just keep sailing so no one is disappointed or loses money!"

 

Now that is unselfishness, right?