Dream Propulsion Issues

[Micahs Grandad]

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.

 

I hear you but the new issue probably has nothing to do with the earlier one.

 

The ship is still moving along nicely at 18 knots but guess it needs to go faster to meet its original schedule.

[Sitzmark]

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.

 

I didn't think the Dream had Pods. I'm pretty sure it has two shafts and then has bow and stern thrusters. If that is the case, what is there underwater that cannot be fixed without a drydock? I would think that motors, transmissions etc would all be inside the hull and therefore accessible for maintenance.

[loubetti]

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.

 

Five years is a longer time than you think. Today's ships are very complex "creatures", and the cruise lines put a lot of miles on them- think of your car in that regard, just like airlines put many hours on their complex jet aircraft. However, it is much easier to deal with a car or an aircraft when it comes to issues.

 

I do not consider 5 years to be too short of a time for a problem to arise that cannot be fixed by just swapping out a part, as that would have been done already. Now, if this happened every year, that's another story. :cool:

[loubetti]

I didn't think the Dream had Pods. I'm pretty sure it has two shafts and then has bow and stern thrusters. If that is the case, what is there underwater that cannot be fixed without a drydock? I would think that motors, transmissions etc would all be inside the hull and therefore accessible for maintenance.

 

No pods on Dream, otherwise she is Diesel electric propulsion.

[chengkp75]

I didn't think the Dream had Pods. I'm pretty sure it has two shafts and then has bow and stern thrusters. If that is the case, what is there underwater that cannot be fixed without a drydock? I would think that motors, transmissions etc would all be inside the hull and therefore accessible for maintenance.

 

My bad on the pods, I was confusing some research I had been doing on another class of ships. The stern tube has an oil seal out at the propeller, and these can normally be changed by divers, if necessary, but this is a temporary fix and can fail again. If they have damaged on or more of the propeller blades, this could be causing an imbalance requiring them to keep the shaft rpm outside of certain zones to keep the vibrations down. The shaft has an oil filled tube that it revolves in (the stern tube mentioned above), and if one of the bearings in this tube has started to wear, it would require pulling the entire propeller and shaft in order to renew. They can continue to run on a worn stern tube bearing, if they keep the power down and closely monitor the oil for wear metal content. If a propulsion motor has failed, this would require cutting the hull, below the water line, to make enough access to get the thing out and the replacement back in. A lot of these propulsion motors have two sets of windings in them, so that each set of windings provides half of the motor's power, and each winding is fed from a different engine room, so that if one winding in the motor went out, they could maintain half power on the remaining winding, but the windings are essentially as big as the motor itself, so not much chance of getting one in without cutting a hole in the hull.

[ryano]

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.

 

What an idiotic post just like most of the rest of the garbage you spew around here :rolleyes: You need to brush up on your research of propulsion problems and Royal Caribbean. Oasis and Allure both have had problems already and Allure sailed with said problems FOR MONTHS :rolleyes: Freedom of the Seas has had problems and many other RC ships have that have taken a while to fix but hey, dont let FACTS cloud your judgement and get in the way of your pathetic Carnival hatred.

Edited May 18, 2016 by ryano

[ryano]

that is fairly young for a cruise vessel as many of the ships on the oceans have been sailing for much longer.

 

Ship happens. Stuff breaks. :) Allure had problems at 3 years old.

[ryano]

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.

 

Dont go confusing him with facts. :)

[cajunpowercruiser]

So the question that newbie cruisers like myself have are "what is the probability that this will in no way affect my July 10th cruise itinerary as scheduled?" as far as how well I will enjoy this cruise, I anticipate it to be as wonderful as my one and only cruise on the Magic.:)

[loubetti]

I think even "Cheng" might like this. Read about the conversion of QE2 from steam turbine to Diesel electric in 1986-87:

 

http://www.roblightbody.com/qe2-1987-rebirth.html

 

They removed the funnel, and removed most of the old machinery out of the open funnel casing. In the first photo you'll see her new funnel awaiting on the dock at upper left. I have also copied it here.

 

It cost $162 million 30 years ago, but allowed her to sail for another 20+ years, being very efficient and very fast, as in 32+ knots!

 

[chengkp75]

So the question that newbie cruisers like myself have are "what is the probability that this will in no way affect my July 10th cruise itinerary as scheduled?" as far as how well I will enjoy this cruise, I anticipate it to be as wonderful as my one and only cruise on the Magic.:)

 

I would say that other than the few hours lost already with the revised itinerary, there should be no further change.

[chengkp75]

I think even "Cheng" might like this. Read about the conversion of QE2 from steam turbine to Diesel electric in 1986-87:

 

http://www.roblightbody.com/qe2-1987-rebirth.html

 

They removed the funnel, and removed most of the old machinery out of the open funnel casing. In the first photo you'll see her new funnel awaiting on the dock at upper left. I have also copied it here.

 

It cost $162 million 30 years ago, but allowed her to sail for another 20+ years, being very efficient and very fast, as in 32+ knots!

 

 

Good photo, Lou. Yeah, to get a steam plant out, that's about the only way, or through the side, and that requires a lot of hydraulic "skidding" to get it where the crane can get it. Oasis or Allure had an engine replaced last year, and they installed hydraulic jacks in the engine room, cut the bottom out of the ship and lowered the entire hull section and engine down onto some tracks they installed in the dock, and rolled the engine aft. Reverse to install the new engine, and weld things back watertight.

[Micahs Grandad]

I would say that other than the few hours lost already with the revised itinerary, there should be no further change.

 

I would agree. If they thought there was a good chance of catastrophic failure of the engine causing another Triumph like disaster they would do what needed to be done now.

[chengkp75]

I would agree. If they thought there was a good chance of catastrophic failure of the engine causing another Triumph like disaster they would do what needed to be done now.

 

Well, again, talking apples and oranges. The Triumph had a fire on one of their diesel engines, that burned the electrical cables that took power from the diesel generators to the distribution switchboard. This was a power failure. A problem with a propulsion motor or propeller would only affect that motor or propeller, and would present no hazard to power generation for the rest of the ship or to the other propulsion motor.

 

Thinks of it as; the Triumph had a problem at the power pole outside your house, and all electricity was lost. The Dream has a problem on one circuit in your house, and if it fails, the circuit breaker will trip and nothing else in the house will be affected.

[arlettecruiser]

We were on the Dream last week. We weren't late for any port, nor did we leave early from any port. Our itinerary was Key West, Freeport and Nassau. In Freeport, we were scheduled to leave at 4 or 5, but didn't leave until after 7 or 8 (ship's time). They admitted it was due to some maintenance being performed. Freeport is one of the best places for them to do maintenance or emergency repairs since that is where drydocks usually happen and they have the personnel in this port that normally work on the repairs. Whatever this maintenance was, it didn't affect our cruise at all!

[Micahs Grandad]

Well, again, talking apples and oranges. The Triumph had a fire on one of their diesel engines, that burned the electrical cables that took power from the diesel generators to the distribution switchboard. This was a power failure. A problem with a propulsion motor or propeller would only affect that motor or propeller, and would present no hazard to power generation for the rest of the ship or to the other propulsion motor.

 

Thinks of it as; the Triumph had a problem at the power pole outside your house, and all electricity was lost. The Dream has a problem on one circuit in your house, and if it fails, the circuit breaker will trip and nothing else in the house will be affected.

 

Thanks again:)

[Librarian365]

We were on the Dream last week. We weren't late for any port, nor did we leave early from any port. Our itinerary was Key West, Freeport and Nassau. In Freeport, we were scheduled to leave at 4 or 5, but didn't leave until after 7 or 8 (ship's time). They admitted it was due to some maintenance being performed. Freeport is one of the best places for them to do maintenance or emergency repairs since that is where drydocks usually happen and they have the personnel in this port that normally work on the repairs. Whatever this maintenance was, it didn't affect our cruise at all!

 

Thank you for that! Hopefully the repairs were accomplished and no one else's cruise will be affected.

[cajunpowercruiser]

We were on the Dream last week. We weren't late for any port, nor did we leave early from any port. Our itinerary was Key West, Freeport and Nassau. In Freeport, we were scheduled to leave at 4 or 5, but didn't leave until after 7 or 8 (ship's time). They admitted it was due to some maintenance being performed. Freeport is one of the best places for them to do maintenance or emergency repairs since that is where drydocks usually happen and they have the personnel in this port that normally work on the repairs. Whatever this maintenance was, it didn't affect our cruise at all!

 

You have me doing my happy dance

[Micahs Grandad]

You have me doing my happy dance

 

Only if that is the itinerary you are doing, otherwise oops.

[Wheatie59]

Seems Cozumel is the port that's affected. We're doing the Cozumel/Grand Cayman/Jamaica itinerary Jan 15 2017. Be nice if the Cozumel stop is not cut short, but if it is, oh well. Certainly won't let that spoil the trip.

[Raxter54]

At least in the Dream's case, the Cozumel + promotion might be a bust...

[Micahs Grandad]

Seems Cozumel is the port that's affected. We're doing the Cozumel/Grand Cayman/Jamaica itinerary Jan 15 2017. Be nice if the Cozumel stop is not cut short, but if it is, oh well. Certainly won't let that spoil the trip.

 

Once again, we had to leave Grand Cayman early as well.

 

Didnt ruin our cruise by any means but expect this to continue until their drydock.

[WCAB]

Once again' date=' we had to leave Grand Cayman early as well.

 

Didnt ruin our cruise by any means but expect this to continue until their drydock.[/quote']

 

 

How much earlier did you have to leave?

[Micahs Grandad]

How much earlier did you have to leave?

 

I think it was 2 hours early but it might have been 1, not sure.

 

That one didnt matter as we were at 7 mile beach and mother nature decided around 12 noon to make it a rainy afternoon.

[NWACruiser]

We were on the Dream the last two weeks in April. We had to modify the port times at Cozumel and Grand Cayman. We left on time at Jamaica and were not noticeably late to Grand Cayman. We left Grand Cayman, I think we were only 20 minutes late at Cozumel.

 

We booked our own excursion at Nachi Cocum. When i saw we were going to be an hour late, I was thinking about cancelling Nachi Cocum. I am glad it was just a passing thought. We had plenty of time there. Getting back to New Orleans was never an issue. We arrived by 7:00 each time.

 

I would not worry about the ports on the cruise.