Engine problem on Caribbean Princess

[Croptop]

The thrusters can be done without, ...

 

Full response snipped but appreciated.

 

Thanks for the explanation. It certainly makes sense when you lay it all out like that.

[chengkp75]

We sailed the Caribbean Princess , October 2012, I believe she was just out of dry dock, thrusters failed then and we couldn't make it to Halifax. Shortly after that cruise sailings were cancelled and she headed for Freeport for repairs. We recently sailed her last March 2016 out of Houston. We skipped two ports Key West and Princess Cay, the first they say was weather but we received a notice when we boarded that she lost a generator, one of six so the ship was safe. I was with my daughter thus so afraid we would lose power completely that I emailed the coast guard and asked if they were aware of the issue. They were not but assured me they would look into the issue. We did have toilet/sewer issues our cabins toilet was fixed expediently. My neighbors just returned from the CP, and they too experienced toilet and heating/AC issues. Is Princess just making quick fix repairs on this ship and ignoring major mechanical and infrastructure problems that they won't take time and money to fix. I don't think the short dry dock scheduled for next year will solve these major issues and the problem is they use this ship for all the best itineraries. We're booked to sail her again next May to BI, but may have ti rethink..... something is definitely wrong:mad::eek: Princess management has to be aware of these major problems ......who you gonna call?

 

Went to the USCG Incident Investigation Reporting Center, and the USCG Port State Control Reporting Center. In neither time frame you mention was a marine incident investigated, nor was there a port state control inspection within two months before or after the cruises you list. This means that the USCG did not feel that either incident adversely impacted the safety of the ship or passengers. You say the ship was safe since it still had 5 of 6 engines, but then you were worried enough to call the USCG? Most cruise ships sail around for weeks with one engine torn completely apart for overhaul, and no passenger even knows it, or has it affect their cruise.

 

Princess, like every other ship owner in the world, is required to have an ISM System (International Safety Management), per IMO regulations. This document is vast, and covers virtually every aspect of the ships operation, including the maintenance plan. This plan is reviewed annually by the classification society that acts as insurance underwriter. Without class approval, the ship cannot get insurance, cannot renew it's certificate of registry (title) in the flag state, and can be denied entry or exit from any port if the port state officials (in this case the USCG) feel that maintenance is being deferred or dismissed.

 

All ships experience toilet issues, 99% of which are caused by passengers flushing improper items down the toilet. Likewise, A/C issues happen, but unless it is ship wide and systemic, I wouldn't call it a major issue.

 

Most every system on a cruise ship has some redundancy built in (multiple pumps, multiple engines, etc.) Sometimes things break, which is why there is redundancy, but they break at the wrong time when the backup system is being maintained. This can happen, but it really doesn't happen all that often.

[jefa]

Chengkp, thank you. Love your posts, most interesting and informative.

[Lanz]

Went to the USCG Incident Investigation Reporting Center, and the USCG Port State Control Reporting Center. In neither time frame you mention was a marine incident investigated, nor was there a port state control inspection within two months before or after the cruises you list. This means that the USCG did not feel that either incident adversely impacted the safety of the ship or passengers. You say the ship was safe since it still had 5 of 6 engines, but then you were worried enough to call the USCG? Most cruise ships sail around for weeks with one engine torn completely apart for overhaul, and no passenger even knows it, or has it affect their cruise.

 

Princess, like every other ship owner in the world, is required to have an ISM System (International Safety Management), per IMO regulations. This document is vast, and covers virtually every aspect of the ships operation, including the maintenance plan. This plan is reviewed annually by the classification society that acts as insurance underwriter. Without class approval, the ship cannot get insurance, cannot renew it's certificate of registry (title) in the flag state, and can be denied entry or exit from any port if the port state officials (in this case the USCG) feel that maintenance is being deferred or dismissed.

 

All ships experience toilet issues, 99% of which are caused by passengers flushing improper items down the toilet. Likewise, A/C issues happen, but unless it is ship wide and systemic, I wouldn't call it a major issue.

 

Most every system on a cruise ship has some redundancy built in (multiple pumps, multiple engines, etc.) Sometimes things break, which is why there is redundancy, but they break at the wrong time when the backup system is being maintained. This can happen, but it really doesn't happen all that often.

 

You are a professional but to the "lay" passenger these incidents are very concerning and sometimes frightening; in this day and age where we already feel vulnerable, floating around with no power has to be scary. Why does this ship continue to experience "troubles" , if you read the reviews way more then I've mentioned here, I'm sure someone keeps and maintains real metrics. Thank you for you posts.

[chengkp75]

You are a professional but to the "lay" passenger these incidents are very concerning and sometimes frightening; in this day and age where we already feel vulnerable, floating around with no power has to be scary. Why does this ship continue to experience "troubles" , if you read the reviews way more then I've mentioned here, I'm sure someone keeps and maintains real metrics. Thank you for you posts.

 

Yet to get to floating around with no power, several things have to go very wrong, even in the cases of the Carnival Triumph and Splendor. Had even one action been taken differently, during the fire, the situation would not have resulted in a total loss of power. Just like anything, anywhere in the world, the root cause may be serious, but if one action can break the chain, then it doesn't escalate. Ships are no different. I'm sorry if you feel vulnerable, I don't know if this is caused by the prevalence of terrorists or not, but if it is, then they have already won. Shipboard incidents are not occurring with any more frequency these days than in the past, and in fact are less likely, probability wise, than before for any given ship.

 

And "troubles" is a term used widely here on CC, yet I've yet to get a feel for what constitutes "troubles". Virtually every ship in the world, whether cruise ship or cargo ship will have one incident a year where the officers say "whew that was close", just because ships are machines, and machines break. You do what you can to mitigate the problems, using industry best practices, the ISM code, and the manufacturer's maintenance schedule, but just like your car, even if you follow the manufacturer's schedule, things can break unexpectedly.

[Astro Flyer]

A loss of power at sea is usually temporary & those onboard are relatively safe; a loss of power in the sky is nearly always catastrophic yet people continue to fly.

 

I don't worry about things that are out of my control and I have confidence in the design, construction, maintenance & captains...both on the water & in the sky.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[ShipsAreTheBest]

Shipboard incidents are not occurring with any more frequency these days than in the past, and in fact are less likely, probability wise, than before for any given ship.

 

Agreed. What has changed is the Internet (and sites like this) where information gets shared quickly including information that wouldn't make the news. 20 - 30 years ago, this wasn't the case, yet "stuff happened" on cruise ships and only those on board would know about it. After the cruise, only word of mouth would spread the story!

[Steelers0854]

A loss of power at sea is usually temporary & those onboard are relatively safe; a loss of power in the sky is nearly always catastrophic yet people continue to fly.

 

I don't worry about things that are out of my control and I have confidence in the design, construction, maintenance & captains...both on the water & in the sky.

 

 

 

This is what I always remember. Even a ship without power still floats. Of course there are extreme conditions where without power there are concerns, but for the most part it's just about being uncomfortable and not necessarily unsafe.

[ChelleBee]

Has anyone else heard about this?? Caribbean Princess lost power and was adrift 40 Km off the coast of Dublin Ireland.

 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cruise-ship-adrift-with-up-to-4-500-aboard-hit-by-engine-failure-1.2745555

[Colo Cruiser]

Has anyone else heard about this?? Caribbean Princess lost power and was adrift 40 Km off the coast of Dublin Ireland.

 

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/cruise-ship-adrift-with-up-to-4-500-aboard-hit-by-engine-failure-1.2745555

 

At the top of the age......

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2386450

 

1/2 way down the main page....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2386057

Edited August 5, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[IECalCruiser]

CC had info about this on the main Princess page and there is another thread discussing the issue. The official Princess statement is that the problem was due to "a glitch in the electrical system in the engine room."

Edited August 5, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[easyboy]

A loss of power at sea is usually temporary & those onboard are relatively safe; a loss of power in the sky is nearly always catastrophic yet people continue to fly.

 

I don't worry about things that are out of my control and I have confidence in the design, construction, maintenance & captains...both on the water & in the sky.

Fully agree. Anything can happen anywhere.

[jetwet1]

 

A huge thank you for sharing your knowledge, it makes for interesting reading.

 

 

 

A loss of power at sea is usually temporary & those onboard are relatively safe; a loss of power in the sky is nearly always catastrophic yet people continue to fly.

 

I don't worry about things that are out of my control and I have confidence in the design, construction, maintenance & captains...both on the water & in the sky.

 

Unless you're over a very large body of water losing power isn't the end of the world, though of course life gets interesting quickly, if you are over a large body of water, be on Air Transat (something tells me you will get that).

 

Interestingly, we were on the Caribbean Princess a few years back, coming of of SXM, getting ready for dinner the wife showered, then plugged in her hairdryer, the ship went dead, as chengkp75 has explained, the ship was shedding load and as he describes it, it was a very quick thing, we were stuck for all of 20 minutes, our neighbors (friends of ours) joined us on the balcony for a glass of wine where we happily made fun of the wife for killing the ship with her hairdryer.

 

And for you aviation people, i'm not kidding, this thing was the size of a GE90.

[Astro Flyer]

Unless you're over a very large body of water losing power isn't the end of the world, though of course life gets interesting quickly, if you are over a large body of water, be on Air Transat (something tells me you will get that).

You mean the Air Transat who advertises their insanely cheap prices but not their insanely drunk pilots to fly passengers against the pond?

 

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/07/22/air-transat-to-offer-compensation-for-cancelled-flight-after-pilots-allegedly-drunk

[Alaskanb]

Thanks for all the information. When one of these events occur the public / passengers are never truly informed about the cause. Often the event causes system overhauls that improve safety for all onboard.

I hope that someone will gather empirical data regarding the sea worthiness of this ship so that passengers can make informed decisions. If that data is not available then one should be secure in sailing on her.

[chengkp75]

Thanks for all the information. When one of these events occur the public / passengers are never truly informed about the cause. Often the event causes system overhauls that improve safety for all onboard.

I hope that someone will gather empirical data regarding the sea worthiness of this ship so that passengers can make informed decisions. If that data is not available then one should be secure in sailing on her.

 

Let's not confuse terms like "sea worthiness" with temporarily without propulsion. One does not necessarily equate to the other, and I can say, with 100% confidence in my professional judgement, that the Caribbean Princess is sea worthy, even after a 9 hour period without propulsion. There is no indication that the propulsion could not have been started in a reduced state, had the weather or the ship's position required it. Unless you have been onboard during an incident, and are a mariner, you cannot make informed judgements on a ship's sea worthiness. You can certainly make a decision, based on personal preference, on whether you feel the ship is reliable enough for you.

Edited August 5, 2016 by chengkp75

[Cruise Junky]

You mean the Air Transat who advertises their insanely cheap prices but not their insanely drunk pilots to fly passengers against the pond?

 

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/07/22/air-transat-to-offer-compensation-for-cancelled-flight-after-pilots-allegedly-drunk

 

Nope. Google Air Transat makes emergency landing in the Azores. Some amazing flying that day or should I say gliding ;)

Edited August 5, 2016 by Cruise Junky

[Astro Flyer]

Nope. Google Air Transat makes emergency landing in the Azores. Some amazing flying that day or should I say gliding ;)

 

Thanks...I remembered that incident in 2001 but didn't recall that it was Air Transat. Like Captain Sullenberger on the Hudson River, the Air Transat pilot was an experienced glider pilot.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Alaskanb]

Let's not confuse terms like "sea worthiness" with temporarily without propulsion. One does not necessarily equate to the other, and I can say, with 100% confidence in my professional judgement, that the Caribbean Princess is sea worthy, even after a 9 hour period without propulsion. There is no indication that the propulsion could not have been started in a reduced state, had the weather or the ship's position required it. Unless you have been onboard during an incident, and are a mariner, you cannot make informed judgements on a ship's sea worthiness. You can certainly make a decision, based on personal preference, on whether you feel the ship is reliable enough for you.

I think you have stated the point beautifully.

[OCruisers]

Sort of just hoping someone will know the status of Caribbean Princess NOW? :confused:

[satxdiver]

http://www.princess.com/webcam/caribbean_bridge.jpg?1470445171430

 

CB is alongside in Greenock, UK right now.

Edited August 6, 2016 by satxdiver

[OCruisers]

http://www.princess.com/webcam/caribbean_bridge.jpg?1470445171430

 

CB is alongside in Greenock, UK right now.

 

Thank you!

Wonder how long it will take to get things fixed?

Edited August 6, 2016 by OCruisers

[IECalCruiser]

CB has been cruising between 23kn and 26kn for the last hour or so on her way from Greenock to Kirkwall.

[hansi]

The engine room mechanics should get a raise. :D

Tony

 

Pay 'em from your part of the pool rent money Tony:D:D

[easyboy]

CB has been cruising between 23kn and 26kn for the last hour or so on her way from Greenock to Kirkwall.

Hope everything is now resolved.