Miracle - Repair Vibration

[gunka20]

Does Carnival plan on repairing the bearing that is creating the vibration on the Miracle? I have read some post about a recent dry dock, but have also read that the vibration still exist. We cruised last year and liked the Miracle but the bearing caused slower speeds creating late arrivals to Cabo as well the vibration.

[riffatsea]

I thought that was fixed some time last year??

We cruised last spring and I don't remember any slower speeds. it was the year before that they had to slow down a lot.

[gunka20]

I thought that was fixed some time last year??

We cruised last spring and I don't remember any slower speeds. it was the year before that they had to slow down a lot.

 

We cruised Feb, 2015 and the vibration was certainly there, I really hope it has been repaired. But did notice that arrival to Cabo was not until 11:00 AM on the cruise I was checking out for Sept. 2017.

[riffatsea]

I have no idea what vibration you mean.

We cruised in April 2016 and did not notice anything wrong at all.

[Island Hopping]

We cruised Feb 2016 and they had no problem with cruising speed. We were on time in every port and did not notice any more vibration than on any other ship.

[vwrestler171]

I was told that ships with azipods tend to vibrate more than the other ships. I did notice a vibration on Miracle, but we had no issues with top speed. 2 out of the 3 days we arrived in port early.

[RuthlessBoss]

We cruised Feb, 2015 and the vibration was certainly there, I really hope it has been repaired. But did notice that arrival to Cabo was not until 11:00 AM on the cruise I was checking out for Sept. 2017.

 

If it's scheduled to arrive at 11 in 2017, why is it late? :confused:

[SadieN]

The propulsion problem was fixed in early 2015. As stated above Azipod ships have a certain vibration that other ships do not. The vibration was evident in the MDR. One table on each side, completely aft were shaking. In this case the adage is true, Be Careful What You Wish For, lol.

 

Avoid aft facing cabins and aft window dining tables in the MDR. It's so odd that we don't feel it on the Serenity Deck.

 

OTOH, many like the vibration. It's something Carnival gives without an extra cost, unlike some motels ;).

 

We've experienced the same issues on the Splendor, Paradise and Elation.

Edited May 27, 2016 by SadieN

[gunka20]

If it's scheduled to arrive at 11 in 2017, why is it late? :confused:

 

Most cruise lines arrive first thing in the AM. It used to arrive by 8:00. It is not late, but they have adjusted the schedule. No big deal. I was just wondering if there was still a problem.

 

It looks like by other post the major vibration was corrected.

[chengkp75]

No propeller shaft or azipod bearing that was causing vibrations would last a week, regardless of speed. An imbalance of the propeller (dented or bent) would cause this, and this would cause a bearing failure.

 

The Miracle may have had a thrust bearing problem that they were limiting the power on, but this would not cause a vibration.

 

Azipod ships have a very flat section above the pods, that propeller and rudder ships don't have. This flat section causes the "azipod shimmy" which is a vibration from side to side caused by water flow from the pods.

[cdamion]

We cruised Feb, 2015 and the vibration was certainly there, I really hope it has been repaired. But did notice that arrival to Cabo was not until 11:00 AM on the cruise I was checking out for Sept. 2017.

 

I was on board in April 2015 right after the semi-2.0 drydock and did not notice a vibration.

[SadieN]

No propeller shaft or azipod bearing that was causing vibrations would last a week, regardless of speed. An imbalance of the propeller (dented or bent) would cause this, and this would cause a bearing failure.

 

 

 

The Miracle may have had a thrust bearing problem that they were limiting the power on, but this would not cause a vibration.

 

 

 

Azipod ships have a very flat section above the pods, that propeller and rudder ships don't have. This flat section causes the "azipod shimmy" which is a vibration from side to side caused by water flow from the pods.

 

 

Thank you for the technical explanation. I've learnt so much from your various postings. Love figuring out how and why things work.

 

Seems like the Azipod Shimmy only happens at certain speeds. I've only seen it in open water.

Edited May 27, 2016 by SadieN

[chengkp75]

Thank you for the technical explanation. I've learnt so much from your various postings. Love figuring out how and why things work.

 

Seems like the Azipod Shimmy only happens at certain speeds. I've only seen it in open water.

 

All ships will have one speed where the propeller blades and the hull structure's natural frequency are in resonance. The crew quickly learns after sea trials where this speed is and try to avoid it. But the azipod shimmy is also caused by the small directional changes the pods make while at sea on autopilot (maybe 1-2* of helm each way) causing the water flow to sort of sweep back and forth under the hull, causing this side to side vibration, and the faster the water is moving the more pronounced it will be.

[welldone60]

No propeller shaft or azipod bearing that was causing vibrations would last a week, regardless of speed. An imbalance of the propeller (dented or bent) would cause this, and this would cause a bearing failure.

 

The Miracle may have had a thrust bearing problem that they were limiting the power on, but this would not cause a vibration.

 

Azipod ships have a very flat section above the pods, that propeller and rudder ships don't have. This flat section causes the "azipod shimmy" which is a vibration from side to side caused by water flow from the pods.

 

We were on the Miracle in Dec 2014 when it picked up fishing nets on the props. The ship stopped for a few hours then sailed at reduced speed. We skipped Cabo and spent two days in PV while they had divers working on the ship. I think for several cruises after that they were having vibrations and were sailing slow until it went into dry dock.

Edited May 28, 2016 by welldone60

[chengkp75]

We were on the Miracle in Dec 2014 when it picked up fishing nets on the props. The ship stopped for a few hours then sailed at reduced speed. We skipped Cabo and spent two days in PV while they had divers working on the ship. I think for several cruises after that they were having vibrations and were sailing slow until it went into dry dock.

 

Fishing nets in the prop will not usually cause a vibration or damage to a bearing. The main concern with nets is that they will wrap themselves tighter and tighter on the shaft, migrate under the oil seal and cause loss of the gearbox oil to the sea. They may have reduced power on that pod, just to keep from having it drag or having to pull the blades, and keep the rpm down on the seal to keep it from failing. However, running two propellers at different speeds will increase the vibrations.

 

As an example, the Pride of America ran over a buoy coming out of Honolulu. No one noticed a thing (I wasn't onboard, so this is second hand) until they got to Maui and reversed the pod for docking, when it went "thunk" and stopped. Divers found half of a can buoy, 50' of anchor chain, and a concrete anchor weighing several tons hanging from the pod. That stuff sat on the pier for months after that little "oops" so I did see the evidence. No damage was sustained to the pod, and it ran fine for the next 4 years.

Edited May 28, 2016 by chengkp75

[amsred2]

I was on the Miracle both pre and post dry-dock. The vibration was almost nauseating in the dining room on the first voyage. However, after the dry-dock we had a dining table at the aft right next to the windows and it was hardly noticeable almost relaxing even.