Enchantment Propulsion Issues....

[Clarea]

28 minutes ago, garnetpalmetto said:

 

At the risk of further hijacking, any reason you didn't include the Radiances and Quantums here, Bob? To my knowledge both of those classes are also propelled by azipods as well?

 

No reason other than I'm most familiar with the ships built in Turku.

[garnetpalmetto]

Just now, Host Clarea said:

 

No reason other than I'm most familiar with the ships built in Turku.

 

That was going to be my guess, although if you want to be proper you could say the non-Meyer Werft/Papenburg-built ship since Harmony, Symphony, and Oasis 5 and Oasis 6 will be built at Saint-Nazaire (and one can't say STX anymore since they went bankrupt and Saint-Nazaire reverted to the Chantiers de l'Atlantique name)

[Clarea]

9 minutes ago, garnetpalmetto said:

 

That was going to be my guess, although if you want to be proper you could say the non-Meyer Werft/Papenburg-built ship since Harmony, Symphony, and Oasis 5 and Oasis 6 will be built at Saint-Nazaire (and one can't say STX anymore since they went bankrupt and Saint-Nazaire reverted to the Chantiers de l'Atlantique name)

 

Interesting, I didn't know STX was no more.  Who owns the shipyard (old Aker) at Turku now?

[garnetpalmetto]

32 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Interesting, I didn't know STX was no more.  Who owns the shipyard (old Aker) at Turku now?

 

From what I understand, Meyer Werft owns it as Meyer Turku now. As for Saint-Nazaire, I know it's partially (50%) owned by Fincantieri now.

Edited August 27, 2019 by garnetpalmetto

[Clarea]

4 hours ago, garnetpalmetto said:

 

From what I understand, Meyer Werft owns it as Meyer Turku now. As for Saint-Nazaire, I know it's partially (50%) owned by Fincantieri now.

 

Interesting, I don't think Royal has ever had a ship built by Fincantieri.

[garnetpalmetto]

17 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Interesting, I don't think Royal has ever had a ship built by Fincantieri.

 

They've not, unless you want to count ships built under that partial ownership of Chantiers de l'Atlantique. Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, Sun Viking, Song of America, Grandeur, and Enchantment were all built at Hietalahti in Helsinki under ownership of either Wartsilla or Kværner-Masa. Viking Serenade was built in Nantes by Dubigeon-Normandie. The Sovereigns, Empress, all but two Visions, Harmony, Symphony, Oasis 5, and Oasis 6 were built or are being built at Saint-Nazaire by Chantiers de l'Atlantique (or STX when they owned the yard). The Voyagers, the Freedoms, Oasis, Allure, and the Icons were built or are being built in Turku under various owners of that yard (Kværner-Masa, STX, and Meyer). The Radiances and Quantums were built at Papenburg by Meyer Werft.

[RCCL Fan]

9 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Not so strange.  Depending on the speed needed between each port for each cruise, some cruises may not be affected by the speed reduction, and some might.

 

Chief,   I know you guys are in the technical capabilities of the ship, but that's not what's strange.

 

What I can't seem to figure out is why Enchantment is able to  go from galveston to costa maya, then cozumel, and back to galveston this week with no schedule changes.

 

No letters have gone out or no changes being made to cruises next month, cruises in October & November  all going from Galveston to Costa M to Coz. 

 

but suddenly in January a propulsion issue is causing them not to be able to go from Galveston to Costa M. to Cozumel.

 

If something had failed on the ship wouldn't every cruise to those islands from now to the repair be impacted?

 

How make you make the exact same trip in October but not in January.   That's what I don't understand and find very strange

 

[BlueSkySailing]

2 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

Chief,   I know you guys are in the technical capabilities of the ship, but that's not what's strange.

 

What I can't seem to figure out is why Enchantment is able to  go from galveston to costa maya, then cozumel, and back to galveston this week with no schedule changes.

 

No letters have gone out or no changes being made to cruises next month, cruises in October & November  all going from Galveston to Costa M to Coz. 

 

but suddenly in January a propulsion issue is causing them not to be able to go from Galveston to Costa M. to Cozumel.

 

If something had failed on the ship wouldn't every cruise to those islands from now to the repair be impacted?

 

How make you make the exact same trip in October but not in January.   That's what I don't understand and find very strange

 

I’ve seen this type of thing happen before. When you can’t explain what is happening. It’s called, The Carbonaro Effect. The Carbonaro Effect Is also a Hidden, Magic TV Show that we are all on right now! 🤣 

Edited August 28, 2019 by BlueSkySailing

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, RCCL Fan said:

 

Chief,   I know you guys are in the technical capabilities of the ship, but that's not what's strange.

 

What I can't seem to figure out is why Enchantment is able to  go from galveston to costa maya, then cozumel, and back to galveston this week with no schedule changes.

 

No letters have gone out or no changes being made to cruises next month, cruises in October & November  all going from Galveston to Costa M to Coz. 

 

but suddenly in January a propulsion issue is causing them not to be able to go from Galveston to Costa M. to Cozumel.

 

If something had failed on the ship wouldn't every cruise to those islands from now to the repair be impacted?

 

How make you make the exact same trip in October but not in January.   That's what I don't understand and find very strange

 

Not having studied the exact itineraries, so I don't know the transit times, etc, my thoughts would be on the seasonal variations of the Yucatan Current, which could be giving the ship enough boost now and in the next few months, but later, the current eases, and they don't get the boost coming back from Costa Maya.  The Yucatan Current flows between 2-4 knots, and also affects a loop current in the Gulf of Mexico, and a loop eddy current there as well.  With RCI's resident meteorologist, they may be studying this closely.

[not-enough-cruising]

5 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Not having studied the exact itineraries, so I don't know the transit times, etc, my thoughts would be on the seasonal variations of the Yucatan Current, which could be giving the ship enough boost now and in the next few months, but later, the current eases, and they don't get the boost coming back from Costa Maya.  The Yucatan Current flows between 2-4 knots, and also affects a loop current in the Gulf of Mexico, and a loop eddy current there as well.  With RCI's resident meteorologist, they may be studying this closely.

WOW just WOW!! 

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of variables that go into, what we feel is a simple point A to Point B proposition. 

[RCCL Fan]

9 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Not having studied the exact itineraries, so I don't know the transit times, etc, my thoughts would be on the seasonal variations of the Yucatan Current, which could be giving the ship enough boost now and in the next few months, but later, the current eases, and they don't get the boost coming back from Costa Maya.  The Yucatan Current flows between 2-4 knots, and also affects a loop current in the Gulf of Mexico, and a loop eddy current there as well.  With RCI's resident meteorologist, they may be studying this closely.

  Impressive!

[HicksRA]

Another odd thing is that they still have the Costa Maya itineraries up for booking on their site. If Enchantment is not going there, why are they still selling spots?  

[JupiterTwo]

35 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

Another odd thing is that they still have the Costa Maya itineraries up for booking on their site. If Enchantment is not going there, why are they still selling spots?  

 

I know... I posted that yesterday and checked again today. You'd think their database would automatically key off of the port name and populate the website dynamically.

 

Steve

[Junkhouse]

Nothing mentioned on board. However, on Saturday evening the captain said we would be cruising at 20 knots. Around 9:30 we could feel a very bad vibration in the MDR and on the pool deck.  Sunday evening wasn’t as bad but we were cruising around 19.5 knots and we went to sleep we felt no vibration but we were going around 19 knots.

[rkd1]

On August 28, 2019 at 4:55 PM, JupiterTwo said:

 

I know... I posted that yesterday and checked again today. You'd think their database would automatically key off of the port name and populate the website dynamically.

 

Steve

You realize this is Royal we're dealing with.

[Becoming]

I just got off Enchantment yesterday.  We had times we were going 20 and 22 knots.  All day on Sunday, the boat was rocking.  The starboard side of deck 5 was closed to the outside staring maybe mid-afternoon.  I'm not sure if we got the beginning of Tropical Storm Fernand or what.  It did rain in the afternoon.  

 

Patti 

[Milwaukee Eight]

On 8/27/2019 at 6:09 PM, garnetpalmetto said:

 

That was going to be my guess, although if you want to be proper you could say the non-Meyer Werft/Papenburg-built ship since Harmony, Symphony, and Oasis 5 and Oasis 6 will be built at Saint-Nazaire (and one can't say STX anymore since they went bankrupt and Saint-Nazaire reverted to the Chantiers de l'Atlantique name)

Now that is a mouth full tongue twister. 

[proggieus]

I was on the sailing that ended on 8/38, we didn't notice any speed issues however there was a strong vibration for pretty much the entire cruise that I have never felt before

[garnetpalmetto]

1 hour ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Now that is a mouth full tongue twister. 

 

Chantiers de l'Atlantique? Ç'est très facile si vous parlez Français. 😉

[fla gang]

On 8/27/2019 at 5:26 PM, chengkp75 said:

Anytime, Bob.  Just start a thread and send up the bat signal.

I love reading your posts Chief!

[chengkp75]

10 hours ago, proggieus said:

I was on the sailing that ended on 8/38, we didn't notice any speed issues however there was a strong vibration for pretty much the entire cruise that I have never felt before

This is starting to sound like a bent propeller problem.  A lot of vibration at speed, able to make decent speed at present, even though they know about the problem, and future speed reductions on same itinerary.  I think they may be running the bent prop as much as they can at present, and the future affected cruises will be with the blades on one pod removed completely.  Bob, wasn't it Liberty that did this for several months a couple years ago?

[fla gang]

So would the bent prop(if that's the issue) Have a tendency to destroy bearings and other components related to it? So with that issue will they need to dry dock asap or can they just keep the rpm's down in hopes of no additional damage? Thank you for your wealth of knowledge Chief(and you too Bob)!

[chengkp75]

13 minutes ago, fla gang said:

So would the bent prop(if that's the issue) Have a tendency to destroy bearings and other components related to it? So with that issue will they need to dry dock asap or can they just keep the rpm's down in hopes of no additional damage? Thank you for your wealth of knowledge Chief(and you too Bob)!

Yes it can.  That vibration you feel up high in the ship is caused by the propeller shaft visibly moving around.  Line shaft bearings (those bearings that support the shaft between the motor and the stern tube (where the shaft exits the hull)) typically only have a bearing on the bottom half, since the shear weight of the shaft keeps it in contact, so vibration will cause a pounding of this bearing surface.  Fortunately, renewing a lineshaft bearing is a very simple procedure, and can be done at any port.  They don't need to drydock to repair the propeller.  They will just have divers go down and unbolt the blades and crane them out.  The engineers will then lock the propeller shaft brake to keep it from "free-wheeling" in the ship's slipstream, until new blades, or the repaired ones, are returned, and then the divers will bolt them back on.

[Clarea]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

 ... Bob, wasn't it Liberty that did this for several months a couple years ago?

 

I do remember a bent propeller problem, but can't recall the ship.

[fla gang]

So each blade is mounted individually? That is amazing! I would love to go to a seminar just to hear how all of the propulsion system works. Watched a video once showing a crankshaft being swapped out on a Holland ship. They lifted the engine block up and then removed the crank.