britannia condition

[terrierjohn]

............or of course it could be that at night no one will see the darker smoke so its a good time to clean the so called scrubbers, that they claim removes the heavy particles:rolleyes:!

[Sanjam cruisers]

Terrierjohn

That may well be the case but remember in EU and US waters among others they are using low sulphur fuel I am no expert in fuel do these low sulphur fuels still throw out soot smuts the same as heavy fuel oils.

[Selbourne]

We cruised on Britannia for 2 weeks in 2015, 1 week this year and have a 2 week cruise booked for next year. Whilst I would have some criticisms, principally the lack of a proper promenade deck, lack of mid-ship stairs and ridiculously small lifts, we think she is a great ship. We have cruised on all P&O ships bar Arcadia and Aurora (although we have 3 cruises booked for the latter) so aren't new to P&O.

 

We haven't noticed anything of concern, other than the usual wear and tear with a high traffic facility, especially one that spends its life on salty water! We had a drainage smell in the toilet within our suite and they tried endlessly to fix it. Although unsuccessful, we were issued with an automatic air fresher which masked it and issued with a sizeable amount of on board credit as compensation. We were really impressed with this as we hadn't complained about it, just asked if they could try to sort it.

 

On our first cruise on Britannia (front suite) we were disturbed at night by a chain rattling in wind above our balcony under the bridge. We reported it and at the next port they clad it in plastic and the problem stopped. So my point is that whilst issues occur, it is my belief that P&O are very good at rectifying them (if reported) and are keen to keep passengers happy.

[David Owl]

Terrierjohn

That may well be the case but remember in EU and US waters among others they are using low sulphur fuel I am no expert in fuel do these low sulphur fuels still throw out soot smuts the same as heavy fuel oils.

 

I am on Briannia now and have to say that while I didn't notice the soot problem last year it seems to be pretty bad in some areas this time. I am surprised that it doesn't seem to get much attention from the staff. I would have thought that they should have someone on regular patrols cleaning the seats at least.

 

Other than that I think the ship is fine.

[davecttr]

That is heartening to know TEL, they obviously knew you were on board and after pointing out their balcony rail deficiency they wanted to make sure everything was OK this time.

After complaining about a drain smell in the cabin and poor shower water pressure on our last cruise, I am now hoping everything will be sorted on our next cruise and I can enjoy a power shower every day.;)

The smell of drains might be due to the corner drain in the bathroom having a dry trap. Try pouring some water down it ;)

[terrierjohn]

The smell of drains might be due to the corner drain in the bathroom having a dry trap. Try pouring some water down it ;)

We had an accessible cabin with a wet room type bathroom, and the smell was also noticeable in the corridor where the inspection door is located, but they still failed to cure it and could not find the cause.

However this can happen on all ships, we had a similar problem on Celebrity Solstice back in 2010, but they did seem to try much harder to solve the problem than did P&O.

Edited September 30, 2016 by terrierjohn

[davecttr]

They don't always fix problems. On one cruise on Oceana I noticed a frayed carpet in Starlights that IMO was a trip hazard, especially as there were a lot of passengers aboard who were unsteady on their feet. So I reported it. did they do anything about it? No!. So I reported it again saying they could at least tape down the carpet edge with hazard tape. Did they do this? no :mad:

 

Perhaps they thought paying compensation to an injured passenger was cheaper than spending 5 minutes sticking on some tape :rolleyes:

 

It is my understanding that they have a huge list of 'chores' that need doing. Maybe employing one less crew member on painting saves money and it not safety critical.

[CCFC]

With regard to the soot problem on Britannia this would appear to be a problem on both her sister ships Royal and Regal Princess, after the first of class came into service and the problem was identified they increased the height of the exhaust outlets, the second of the class came into service with her outlets and of course Britannia was built with two funnels instead of one large grouping, it would appear that none of these changes have fixed this particular problem perhaps it will be fixed on the fourth ship to come into service.

 

The new ship is gas powered so the soot problem should be eliminated.

[davecttr]

The new ship is gas powered so the soot problem should be eliminated.

Gas eh! I hope they don't get a leak. We will either suffocate or be vaporized in the huge fireball :eek:

 

That reminds me, must get my combi boiler serviced

[terrierjohn]

Gas eh! I hope they don't get a leak. We will either suffocate or be vaporized in the huge fireball :eek:

 

That reminds me, must get my combi boiler serviced

One other major problem for LNG powered ships will be bunkering, very few ports are as yet set up with LNG refuelling systems, but I assume that all turnround ports will need to have facilities, and probably some others as well.

[Cappers]

Reading this thread got me thinking,,has anybody ever actually seen the engines on a cruise ship? In my minds eye I imagine lots of huge Pistons and oil well type things going up and down :o I'd love to see the engine room!

[Sanjam cruisers]

CCFC

I was referring to the fourth ship of the Royal class which is in build for Princess Cruises and is to be named "Majestic Princess" not the new ship which has just been announced for P&O which is to be powered by LNG which itself is a new form of power which has its drawbacks particularly in storage and refuelling.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Cappers

 

Most modern cruise ships are powered by Diesel engines which are actually electrical Generators producing electricity which either drives electric motors coupled to propeller shafts or to azipod units which hang below the hull and can normally be rotated through 360degrees the propellers of these units normally face forward and act as pullers rather than pushers as in normal propellers.

Within the P&O fleet Arcadia is the only one fitted with Azipod Units and as such can be manoeuvred far better than those with the normal propeller / bow stern thruster set up.

I would suspect if you went into a modern engine room there would actually not be a lot to see other than a number of different sized diesel generators and auxiliary machinery all which would be in a clean and pristine condition if somewhat noisey.

My schoolboy ambition was to go to sea as a marine engineer like my elder brother but which was never realised.

[Mysticalmother]

I did the " behind the scenes" tour on Arcadia last year, and although i didnt get to see the engine room itself, we did go into the engine control room, and I saw one computer screen of the CCTV of the engine room....and you are absolutely correct Sanjam cruises!

[Sanjam cruisers]

Hi Mysticalmother

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, I think most people would be disappointed to see the engine room of any modern ship, but what I would recommend if any one has the chance to take a cruise on the Paddle Steamer "Waverly" you can still view and smell the engine room in operation and it is well worth a visit as a small boy up to my teens I had the privilege of sailing on this wonderful ship,the other one for those near Southampton is the SS Shieldhall which as a child I used to see sailing up and down the River Clyde every day.

[the english lady]

Many many many years ago we did a Nile cruise and stay. Part of our stay was the Winter palace in Luxor, opposite where the boats would tie up.

One day we saw the boat that was in the film "Death on the Nile" with David Niven. In those days it was run by a French company offering very expensive cruises.

We wandered along and asked if we could look around. I wanted to see the cabins ,which were to die for.

They decided to give us the complete tour, which included the bowels where the engines were. Sqeezing past huge oily bits of machinery, OH loved, me not so.

[philipsw285]

Hi philipsw285 I have no comment to anything in this thread as I haven't been on any of these ships but...I was wondering where you got the profile pictures of the ships on your page they are amazing do you know if Cunard one are available? Thanx Allison

 

i don't know if the site is going to let me post but here goes.

http://www.cruise-ships.com/tickers/

sorry hadn't read the post's since last weekend.

[philipsw285]

I am on Briannia now and have to say that while I didn't notice the soot problem last year it seems to be pretty bad in some areas this time. I am surprised that it doesn't seem to get much attention from the staff. I would have thought that they should have someone on regular patrols cleaning the seats at least.

 

Other than that I think the ship is fine.

 

whats the vibration like at the back of the ship it is very noticeable at 17 to 18 knots plus in oriental restaurant and sunset bar at back on deck 16.

[Presto2]

Why don't we just moor the ships up not allow passengers onboard and then we can all admire them because we will not see them subject to wear and tear or the depredations of being at sea.

Get real people a ship is a living thing of course they will never look pristine after leaving their building/ refit dock we as passengers go aboard we spill drinks/food and walk on the carpets we bump into things, those in wheelchairs also bump against walls tables etc, the sea and sea air causes unsightly rust stains all over the ship.

I have read numerous comments about ongoing maintenance such as balcony handrail varnishing/ painting taking place while passengers are aboard and they are complaining at this work taking place we can't have it all our own way a ship requires ongoing maintenance 24 hrs a day 365 days a year, as to carpets etc how often do you replace your household carpets I have been married and occupied our marital home for 30 years we only replaced our original very good quality carpets in 2012.

During all of our cruises I have observed crew members carrying out Hull Painting in every port, balcony/handrail/deck fixture maintanence on most occasions causing me no great problem/inconvenience .

No shipping Company/Hotel will replace fixtures and fittings until they have to, most cruise ships are refitted on a five year basis.

If we demand every cruise ship to be pristine 95% of us can forget about cruising as prices would shoot through the roof, before you start complaining about cruise ships perhaps you should have a look at your own home.

 

The voice of reason!

 

We sailed on the Celebrity Silhouette on her 4th cruise. She already had a few marks! We returned to the same cabin the following year and they were already having to remove and re varnish the handrails and the carpet had loads of marks. As long as cruise lines keep the ships clean (and our cabin) we can live with the understandable wear and tear. :)

[CCFC]

CCFC

I was referring to the fourth ship of the Royal class which is in build for Princess Cruises and is to be named "Majestic Princess" not the new ship which has just been announced for P&O which is to be powered by LNG which itself is a new form of power which has its drawbacks particularly in storage and refuelling.

 

Diamond Princess and Coral Princess have been gas powered for over 12 years.

[terrierjohn]

Diamond Princess and Coral Princess have been gas powered for over 12 years.

I think you will find that Diamond and Sapphire are both powered maily by wartsilla common rail diesel engines,, they also have 2 gas turbine engines powered by marine gas oil, used mainly in places like Alaska to limit emissions and when flank speed is needed, but this fuel is not LNG, which will power the new ship, just a higher fraction fuel oil giving lower emissions.

[Sanjam cruisers]

Terrierjohn

Could not have put it better myself.