Dream Propulsion Issues

[kywaterdr]

Leaving June 19th for a cruise on the Dream and read on a couple of different threads last week that the Dream had arrived late and had to leave early from a couple of ports due to propulsion issues the last of April and the first week of May. Can someone that was on the Dream last week confirm or have they gotten back on schedule?

[Wheatie59]

Others have posted this won't be fixed until the next dry dock, which I think is scheduled for Jan 29-Feb 11 2017. That's unfortunate. We're scheduled on Dream two weeks before the dry dock.

[WCAB]

I hope the Dream is not having any major issues as I am due to board this coming Sunday.

[RuthlessBoss]

Others have posted this won't be fixed until the next dry dock, which I think is scheduled for Jan 29-Feb 11 2017. That's unfortunate. We're scheduled on Dream two weeks before the dry dock.

 

If it's going to be 7 more months of itinerary/time changes, I wonder if a cruise could be cancelled or rebooked due to these changes.

[Micahs Grandad]

Leaving June 19th for a cruise on the Dream and read on a couple of different threads last week that the Dream had arrived late and had to leave early from a couple of ports due to propulsion issues the last of April and the first week of May. Can someone that was on the Dream last week confirm or have they gotten back on schedule?

 

We were on the Dream May 1 and lost two hours in GC and Cozumel due to propulsion issues.

 

I do not know if it will affect the other itinerary the Dream does.

 

Didnt really matter in GC but did so in Cozumel where we decided we didnt have enough time to do an AI.

[MrsKC08]

Leaving June 19th for a cruise on the Dream and read on a couple of different threads last week that the Dream had arrived late and had to leave early from a couple of ports due to propulsion issues the last of April and the first week of May. Can someone that was on the Dream last week confirm or have they gotten back on schedule?

 

Sad to see that the Dream is STILL having this kind of issue. We had propulsion issues on our Dream cruise out of Canaveral years ago (2011). We were so late leaving the dock on embarkation day. Thankfully we had not issues throughout the 7 nights, but starting off that way was not a good start to our vacation. I think it was about 9pm before we left that night, and we were scheduled to leave at 4pm.

Edited May 17, 2016 by MrsKC08

[RuthlessBoss]

I hope the Dream is not having any major issues as I am due to board this coming Sunday.

 

Do you consider the propulsion problem to be an issue?

[Micahs Grandad]

Sad to see that the Dream is STILL having this kind of issue. We had propulsion issues on our Dream cruise out of Canaveral years ago (2011). We were so late leaving the dock on embarkation day. Thankfully we had not issues throughout the 7 nights, but starting off that way was not a good start to our vacation. I think it was about 9pm before we left that night, and we were scheduled to leave at 4pm.

 

I doubt this problem has anything to do with what happened in 2011.

[Hog Rider]

Carnival has propulsion problems all the time. Their maintenance programs suck. CEO needs a bigger bonus. Bet Heald reports it's nbrilliant.

[WCAB]

Do you consider the propulsion problem to be an issue?

 

Not if it doesn't stop me from getting on the ship. Since my husband is undergoing infusion treatment for cancer, a lounge chair and a good book is all I need this trip.

[Kellyekookoo]

Missing time in ports are a big concern for me! I cruise to visit the islands, not for the ship. The 3 sea days we have are plenty, and with excursions already booked, this is worrisome.

[Wheatie59]

Missing time in ports are a big concern for me! I cruise to visit the islands, not for the ship. The 3 sea days we have are plenty, and with excursions already booked, this is worrisome.

 

Lots of reasons why ports can be missed. It is not guaranteed you will actually get to stop at the ports in the planned itinerary. If you've booked your excursions with Carnival they will refund the cost if they miss the port. If you're booking excursions independently be sure they will be refunded if your ship misses the port. It does happen. You have to be prepared to go with the flow if things don't work out exactly as planned.

[Micahs Grandad]

Lots of reasons why ports can be missed. It is not guaranteed you will actually get to stop at the ports in the planned itinerary. If you've booked your excursions with Carnival they will refund the cost if they miss the port. If you're booking excursions independently be sure they will be refunded if your ship misses the port. It does happen. You have to be prepared to go with the flow if things don't work out exactly as planned.

 

Very true but when it is a known issue would think they would move up the drydock to fix it.

[Raxter54]

We were on the Dream May 1 and lost two hours in GC and Cozumel due to propulsion issues.

 

I do not know if it will affect the other itinerary the Dream does.

 

Didnt really matter in GC but did so in Cozumel where we decided we didnt have enough time to do an AI.

 

Must be something that happened recently. There was no propulsion problems back in February, made all the ports on time and never had to cut port time.

[BigB0882]

I have been on the Dream twice in the past year and never had issues leaving New Orleans on time nor did we have any issues having to miss out on time spent in ports. I hope this won't happen on my cruise in two weeks but based on past experience I will not worry.

[chengkp75]

Very true but when it is a known issue would think they would move up the drydock to fix it.

 

I couldn't find anything in a search for propulsion issues on the Dream, so I can't comment on what the issue might be. It may or may not require a drydocking to remedy. It may already be fixed. Until anyone can provide some more details, I'll admit I'm in the dark. If there was a problem that required drydocking, ships with azipods experiencing problems with those pods would be required to have tug escorts at all times entering and leaving US ports, so there would be a tug with the Dream all the way down the river.

 

Drydocks are not like Jiffy Lube, where you can call up and ask for an earlier appointment. Most every dock in the world is booked up about 9 months in advance at a minimum.

[Micahs Grandad]

I couldn't find anything in a search for propulsion issues on the Dream, so I can't comment on what the issue might be. It may or may not require a drydocking to remedy. It may already be fixed. Until anyone can provide some more details, I'll admit I'm in the dark. If there was a problem that required drydocking, ships with azipods experiencing problems with those pods would be required to have tug escorts at all times entering and leaving US ports, so there would be a tug with the Dream all the way down the river.

 

Drydocks are not like Jiffy Lube, where you can call up and ask for an earlier appointment. Most every dock in the world is booked up about 9 months in advance at a minimum.

 

Since Carnival will have other ships going into drydock for various reasons couldnt it swap two ships appointments?

 

Asked the capt why we had to change times in two ports and asked him if it was a propulsion problem. He said it was and she needed to go into drydock to be fixed. I did not think to ask him exactly what the problem was.

Edited May 18, 2016 by Micah's Grandad

[chengkp75]

Since Carnival will have other ships going into drydock for various reasons couldnt it swap two ships appointments?

 

Asked the capt why we had to change times in two ports and asked him if it was a propulsion problem. He said it was and she needed to go into drydock to be fixed. I did not think to ask him exactly what the problem was.

 

Typically' date=' drydocks, being expensive, tend to be scheduled near the limit of the statutory time period. So, if they were to get Dream into another ship's slot, that ship may end up exceeding its statutory limit for drydocking if Dream's slot was too late, and essentially lose its certificate of safety and ability to sail. Further, so much is done in statutory drydocks that require months of planning and logistics that even if the Dream could find a slot to fix the problem, without bumping another ship, she would most likely just fix the pod problem and need to do [b']another[/b] drydocking at her scheduled time. Plus the fiscal problems of having to suddenly set up and sell new cruises for the ship bumped from drydock during its scheduled time, cancelling the Dream's cruises for this new drydock period, creating new cruises for the Dream during her original drydock time, and cancelling the other ship's cruises during Dream's original drydock.

 

The best they could hope for would be for someone to cancel a drydock slot and do an emergency drydocking, but again, that would entail cancelling a cruise, most likely at the last minute, and the loss of revenue.

 

As long as the flag state, the class society, and the port states (the strictest being the US) agree that the ship in its current condition is safe and seaworthy, they will continue to sail with adjusted itineraries.

[Davey Wavey]

If an itinerary change on the Dream (or any other ship) concerns you, maybe buy cruise insurance that includes coverage for itinerary changes. They pay between $750 and $1500 for the "inconvenience."

[Havingfun2010]

Typically, drydocks, being expensive, tend to be scheduled near the limit of the statutory time period. So, if they were to get Dream into another ship's slot, that ship may end up exceeding its statutory limit for drydocking if Dream's slot was too late, and essentially lose its certificate of safety and ability to sail. Further, so much is done in statutory drydocks that require months of planning and logistics that even if the Dream could find a slot to fix the problem, without bumping another ship, she would most likely just fix the pod problem and need to do another drydocking at her scheduled time. Plus the fiscal problems of having to suddenly set up and sell new cruises for the ship bumped from drydock during its scheduled time, cancelling the Dream's cruises for this new drydock period, creating new cruises for the Dream during her original drydock time, and cancelling the other ship's cruises during Dream's original drydock.

 

The best they could hope for would be for someone to cancel a drydock slot and do an emergency drydocking, but again, that would entail cancelling a cruise, most likely at the last minute, and the loss of revenue.

 

As long as the flag state, the class society, and the port states (the strictest being the US) agree that the ship in its current condition is safe and seaworthy, they will continue to sail with adjusted itineraries.

 

Yup, Carnival can't really afford putting a ship in a dry dock to fix a major engine problem. At rock bottom prices they will just chug along until it completely breaks, or passengers finally get frustrated.

[chengkp75]

Yup, Carnival can't really afford putting a ship in a dry dock to fix a major engine problem. At rock bottom prices they will just chug along until it completely breaks, or passengers finally get frustrated.

 

Can you explain the "major engine problem"? Details? Do you know that it is a progressive type of failure, or that merely one component has failed, and has no effect on the reliability of the remainder of the system? And as I said, but maybe you didn't see, is that its not a question of cost, but availability of dock space. Gee, Allure went months with one pod out of operation, even though they could have sent the ship to Europe to get into a drydock capable of handling it, but instead they took months to study whether the smaller dock in Freeport could partially lift the ship and design, build and install special cofferdams to isolate the pods in the partially flooded dock. Norwegian Star had a pod failure, and couldn't meet the PVSA requirements of her Hawaiian itinerary because they couldn't get to Fanning island on one pod in time, and 3-4 months later finally got an emergency drydock slot. It happens all the time, on all cruise lines, has nothing to do with your animosity to Carnival.

[Micahs Grandad]

Typically, drydocks, being expensive, tend to be scheduled near the limit of the statutory time period. So, if they were to get Dream into another ship's slot, that ship may end up exceeding its statutory limit for drydocking if Dream's slot was too late, and essentially lose its certificate of safety and ability to sail. Further, so much is done in statutory drydocks that require months of planning and logistics that even if the Dream could find a slot to fix the problem, without bumping another ship, she would most likely just fix the pod problem and need to do another drydocking at her scheduled time. Plus the fiscal problems of having to suddenly set up and sell new cruises for the ship bumped from drydock during its scheduled time, cancelling the Dream's cruises for this new drydock period, creating new cruises for the Dream during her original drydock time, and cancelling the other ship's cruises during Dream's original drydock.

 

The best they could hope for would be for someone to cancel a drydock slot and do an emergency drydocking, but again, that would entail cancelling a cruise, most likely at the last minute, and the loss of revenue.

 

As long as the flag state, the class society, and the port states (the strictest being the US) agree that the ship in its current condition is safe and seaworthy, they will continue to sail with adjusted itineraries.

 

thanks for the info. As always your knowledge of these matters is greatly appreciated by me,

[Micahs Grandad]

Can you explain the "major engine problem"? Details? Do you know that it is a progressive type of failure, or that merely one component has failed, and has no effect on the reliability of the remainder of the system? And as I said, but maybe you didn't see, is that its not a question of cost, but availability of dock space. Gee, Allure went months with one pod out of operation, even though they could have sent the ship to Europe to get into a drydock capable of handling it, but instead they took months to study whether the smaller dock in Freeport could partially lift the ship and design, build and install special cofferdams to isolate the pods in the partially flooded dock. Norwegian Star had a pod failure, and couldn't meet the PVSA requirements of her Hawaiian itinerary because they couldn't get to Fanning island on one pod in time, and 3-4 months later finally got an emergency drydock slot. It happens all the time, on all cruise lines, has nothing to do with your animosity to Carnival.

 

My take from what the captain told me is this is just one item and noone thought they were at risk of a cascading failure. And obviously they would be watching this very closely.

[MrsKC08]

I doubt this problem has anything to do with what happened in 2011.

 

My point is that in 2011 we had propulsion issues and now 5 years later, they are having propulsion issues again. This cruise ship isn't even 10 years old, and lets face it, in this day in time, that is fairly young for a cruise vessel as many of the ships on the oceans have been sailing for much longer.

[chengkp75]

My point is that in 2011 we had propulsion issues and now 5 years later, they are having propulsion issues again. This cruise ship isn't even 10 years old, and lets face it, in this day in time, that is fairly young for a cruise vessel as many of the ships on the oceans have been sailing for much longer.

 

Well, actually, at age 15 ships are considered to have passed a major lifespan milestone, and statutory inspections and testing increase significantly compared to the first 15 years of a ship's life.

 

"Propulsion issue" is a term thrown around here on CC pretty freely, and covers a wide variety of equipment and systems. Lets say your car has a problem with the engine after 5 years operation, and you get that fixed. Then 5 years later, the car develops a problem with the transmission or the drive struts. Both are "propulsion issues", but are they recurring, and are they indicative of poor engineering or maintenance? Can't say, unless I'm the mechanic that worked on the issues.