Grand injured

[pablo222]

Thank you! This thread is how we are getting our positioning information.

 

Almost all phones have a gps...

 

If you have an android phone, and a little bit of internet time, grab:

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2

 

This will show course, heading, speed and location.

 

Best if you open the app the first time while you still have an internet

connection, as it will grab some supplemental data.

 

And:

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.opencpn.opencpn_free

(and the world base map)

 

This will show your approximate location.

 

I'm sure there are the same for IOS...

[damiross]

The ship is currently underway at 11.4 kn heading 260.

 

kph isn't typically used as a nautical measure of speed, but it translates to around 21 kph.

It should never be used!

Knots means nautical miles per hour. Therefor KPH would mean nautical miles per hour per hour. :)

[p_mori7]

Hmmm. Will have to try that next time I am aboard and at sea. I thought cell phones relied on cell towers for GPS...where the ship service is satellite direct.

[Ex techie]

Sometimes the tender port is segregated using a sliding hydraulic watertight door, that is commonly used to separate the watertight compartments along the length of the ship, and which many folks have probably seen when touring the laundry and provisions areas of the ship. When these things close, the hydraulics force the entire 2" thick steel door into a wedge shaped jamb, and there is no force on god's earth pushing on that door that will open it.

 

Hi Chief,

 

These are the WTD's you mentioned. And bizarrely, an informational video from Princess for the crew was the first hit on YouTube.

 

 

[YOUTUBE]a1CJ8LBgDyM[/YOUTUBE]

 

ex techie

[Pierlesscruisers]

...

Edited December 5, 2016 by Pierlesscruisers
duplicate

[Ex techie]

Hmmm. Will have to try that next time I am aboard and at sea. I thought cell phones relied on cell towers for GPS...where the ship service is satellite direct.

 

GPS is an acronym for Global Positioning System. Most cell phones also use cell towers in addition for location, but not 100%.

Not all GPS satellites are available to civilians, so at sea, you may not be able to receive their signals, whereas the ship will be able to use the military (non consumer) satellites for coverage.

 

ex techie

[p_mori7]

GPS is an acronym for Global Positioning System. Most cell phones also use cell towers in addition for location, but not 100%.

Not all GPS satellites are available to civilians, so at sea, you may not be able to receive their signals, whereas the ship will be able to use the military (non consumer) satellites for coverage.

 

ex techie

 

That I know, I didn't think smart phones had the same hardware/software in them as the GPS in my car or on my handheld unit that I use when I go hunting.

[Ex techie]

That I know, I didn't think smart phones had the same hardware/software in them as the GPS in my car or on my handheld unit that I use when I go hunting.

 

Some do, just not as accurate as a dedicated GPS, but still fairly accurate.

It all depends on the make, model and quality of the handset.

 

iPhone's and higher end Samsung's are quite good and fairly accurate.

 

ex techie

[p_mori7]

Coming up on 5pm shipboard time.

 

Still on course for Honolulu. Speed still about 10-11 Knots.

Still being trailed by a fishing vessel on same heading, although he has fallen back a little bit...estimate about 60-70 miles behind now.

 

Looks like about 200 to 230 miles to Honolulu.

 

This will be my last update for today. Currently 10pm here...so nite nite !

 

Edited December 5, 2016 by p_mori7

[WupperAV]

New from Cruise Critic Official

(8:16 a.m. EST) -- Damage to Grand Princess' hull, caused by a faulty tender platform, has forced the ship to end its cruise early in order to undergo repairs. No injuries were reported onboard or ashore.

Cruise Critic first learned of the incident from Cruise Critic member PonyPair, who said on the forums: "Just heard from the Captain that the Grand has sustained some damage to one of its tender platforms, and that we have turned around to make an assessment in daylight."

Princess issued a statement about the incident: "While at sea after departing from Honolulu, Hawaii, a tender platform on the starboard side of Grand Princess opened, for reasons yet unknown. The platform sustained damage, such that it could not be closed.

"Although the platform is not part of the watertight integrity of the vessel, as a result of it opening, the hull sustained minor localized damage which has been secured. The Captain has confirmed that the ship is safe and secure, and he is communicating updates to guests on a regular basis."

Following one of the updates, PonyPair said: "We have been reassured that, though we are taking on some water, the bulkhead doors have been closed and that the ship is safe."

Grand Princess is on its way back to Honolulu for repairs. It is expected to arrive December 5. As a result, the ship will miss its December 6 call at Ensenada.

Passengers onboard will receive a 50-percent refund of their cruise fare and a future cruise credit equal to the same amount of this cruise fare refund. Princess Cruises also will fly passengers back to San Francisco, where the cruise would have ended, and provide overnight accommodations and transfers as needed. The line added it will protect the commission of its Travel Agent partners.

Grand Princess was at the tail-end of a 15-night Hawaiian Islands cruise, that departed from San Francisco November 23. The ship will go into its scheduled drydock after repairs.

--By Gina Kramer, Associate Editor

[satxdiver]

Unfortunately events do happen to ships, planes and automobiles. The Princess Grand was launched in 1998 so it is an older ship. She is scheduled for dry dock in Portland on 8 December so this was to be her last voyage before dry dock. This will give them something more to fix while she is there. Accidents happen but luckily this time no one was hurt and Princess has again stepped up without outside pressure to do what is right for their pax. I understand the disappointment and commensurate with the pax. Hopefully the rest of their voyage to Honolulu will be without incident and their flights home.

[kath00]

Aside from the anxiety of something going wrong with your ship, this may be a good thing for passengers. I don't know anyone who cares much about Ensenada as a port. You get to spend time on the ship (now heading backwards to HNL but who cares?). And you get to fly home for free. And get compensated towards another heavily discounted cruise. Sounds like the silver lining. Thank goodness this was AFTER the ports...

 

Too bad for the Grand. I love that class of ships and sail them often along with the Diamond/Sapphire twins. They to me are the best passenger/space/crew ratio'd ships Princess owns...

[Go-Bucks!]

But am still curious if everyone does have to disembark shortly after they reach Honolulu or if passengers will have the choice to stay onboard or even stay in Hawaii for the remainder of their vacation. Has anyone onboard been notified if this is an option??

 

 

A year ago, after the fire on the ship, the passengers who chose to fly home from Honolulu were flown out right away - they did not get to stay in Honolulu longer and then fly home. There were about 500 who chose to go that route. Most of us finished the cruise.

[yuccaman]

Hmmm. Will have to try that next time I am aboard and at sea. I thought cell phones relied on cell towers for GPS...where the ship service is satellite direct.

 

Cell phone GPS is still satellite GPS. It triangulates on between 3 (4 for altitude) and 12 or more satellites (depends on the chip), although up to 24 satellites are available.

 

The confusion can be that cell phones will use your local internet provider coordinates, or cell tower triangulation to assist. GPS signals are not always received perfectly indoors, depending on windows, construction materials/density, location within building etc.

 

The main reason you need WiFi or cell tower coverage for cell phone GPS is to load the dynamic maps, although some apps have provisions for preloading these, for when you don't have internet.

 

It's interesting that even old school flip-style cell phones have had GPS chips for zillions of years, now, even though they lack GPS apps. This was done to enable rescue service providers to locate emergencies.

Edited December 5, 2016 by yuccaman

[pablo222]

The main reason you need WiFi or cell tower coverage for cell phone GPS is to load the dynamic maps, although some apps have provisions for preloading these, for when you don't have internet.

 

The second app I mentioned supports offline maps/charts.

Which is why I mentioned it, and the world basemap.

 

There are quite a few apps that do this.

 

I have found some charts and a Navigation app on my phone

entertaining on a cruise, and entirely adaquate for the monkey bridge.

 

As the poster said he was checking CruiseCritic for members posting

AIS snapshots, almost anything that is real time would be better.

(and not burn internet minutes)

 

P.S. You can put your phone in airplane mode, and see for yourself

if the GPS works...

Edited December 5, 2016 by pablo222

[gwsster]

Princess released a comment on Cruise Hive. I cut and pasted it below.

 

 

The hull of the Grand Princess cruise ship has sustained damage and as a result forced to head back to port.

 

Princess Cruises has stated that Grand Princess did sustain some damage to its hull while at sea from Honolulu, Hawaii. For some reason the ships tender platform opened unexpectedly and caused some damage. The platform which is used to tender passengers to and from land when anchored in port is not part of the ships watertight integrity.

 

The localized damage has been contained and the Grand Princess captain has been keeping guests updated on the situation. Due to the damage the ship has been forced to cancel the current itinerary and head straight back to port to begin repairs. The vessel is sailing to Honolulu, Hawaii and will arrive this afternoon, December 5. The Grand Princess will also be undergoing a scheduled dry dock and won’t be back in service for some time.

[BEAV]

We have friends from Florida currently on board the Grand. We received an email from them late last night as follows:

 

Princess is flying them HNL-SFO on Tuesday (they didn't elaborate whether on a charter or regular scheduled airline), then putting them up at the Mark Hopkins hotel in SF (which I believe is one of the properties Princess uses in their pre/post cruise hotel packages) for two nights (Tues/Wed). They were already planning to spend Thursday night on the Peninsula south of SF and fly back to Florida from San Jose on Friday, which they will still do as scheduled.

[p_mori7]

The platform which is used to tender passengers to and from land when anchored in port is not part of the ships watertight integrity.

 

I don't buy this line of their statements.

[p_mori7]

As of 04:30am ship time.

 

Still on same heading to Honolulu.

Speed still about 10-11 knots.

Approximate distance to Honolulu 90 miles.

 

Depending on weather, you should start to see mountains of Hawaii by about mid-morning I think.

 

:)

 

Edited December 5, 2016 by p_mori7

[CruisinMinnie]

Thanks to everyone for keeping us updated on the Grand Princess.

Edited December 5, 2016 by CruisinMinnie

[Daisyloo]

Thanks to everyone for keeping us updated on the Grand Princess.

 

oops

Edited December 5, 2016 by Daisyloo
oops

[Yehootu]

Yeehootu, if you would, email me at l a r r y @ s t o n e j o n g l e u x . com

Email address doesn't work.

[LarryL]

I don't buy this line of their statements.

 

I'm just curious. What are you suggesting? Please share your insight and knowledge about your thoughts.

[lstone19]

Email address doesn't work.

 

 

It's correct but you need to remove all the spaces. Most of us post email addresses in some obfuscated way to make it more difficult for automated spam address harvesters.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[p_mori7]

I'm just curious. What are you suggesting? Please share your insight and knowledge about your thoughts.

 

There are 2 types of tender platforms.

 

There are some that fold into the hull, but do not have any opening into the ship. Rather, when the deploy the platform, built into the platform is a folding/retracting staircase that leads to a water-tight door higher up on the hull.

 

The other type does have an opening into the ship, and the platform itself when retracted/folded up is also the water-tight door. Passengers can walk right out to the platform without descending an outside staircase to get to the platform. Grand Princess has this type.

 

EXAMPLES:

http://www.ttsgroup.com/PageFiles/1667/Tender%20embarkation%20platforms.pdf?epslanguage=en

Edited December 5, 2016 by p_mori7