Carnival ship maintenance

[ksmcdonald]

5 hours ago, cjknox said:

What an entertaining thread.

 

Taking a step back for a moment, I've never seen Carnival ships as rusty as they've been recently which indicates to me that there is an underlying issue. However, unlike some I do not believe it's due to poor maintenance.

 

For example, the "new" Carnival Sunrise which just left dry dock less than 1 year ago already has extensive rust, specifically concentrated along the waterline and lower hull sections. Even a few months after in mid-2019 I noticed she had several rust spots.

 

Several Carnival ships exhibit this exact rust pattern (including smaller spots on balconies) which is also suspect. Even the hulls seem to be "yellowing" where there are not clear indications of rust, further indicating a paint coating corruption issue.

 

Paint vendors often tout "new formulas", which can be easily created; it seems Carnival tried one and it's causing this. 

 

Unfortunately, as others have correctly stated, due to regulations and the multi-step removal process rectifying this is not simple which is only compounding the issue. 

 

 

I totally agree!  My husband and I were on a May 2019 Sunrise cruise and I distinctly remember us commenting as we were waiting to board that there was rust on her.   This was probably less than a month out of dry dock!  At the time, we thought no way could that be normal rusting.  The inside of the ship was beautiful, in fact we are going back again this May.  

 

5 hours ago, cjknox said:

 

 

 

 

[ummgood]

10 hours ago, cjknox said:

Paint vendors often tout "new formulas", which can be easily created; it seems Carnival tried one and it's causing this. 

 

You are absolutely right about paint changing over time.  Most people don't realize that there are multiple factors why they change paint formulations but a major one is due to environmental requirements.  No way could you sell a paint from 10 years ago because of the amount of fumes etc... they emit.

My car is made in California and the paint is very weak on it due to the environmental requirements put on the paint they spray.  I have never had a car chip like this one does.

[jimbo5544]

32 minutes ago, ummgood said:

 

You are absolutely right about paint changing over time.  Most people don't realize that there are multiple factors why they change paint formulations but a major one is due to environmental requirements.  No way could you sell a paint from 10 years ago because of the amount of fumes etc... they emit.

My car is made in California and the paint is very weak on it due to the environmental requirements put on the paint they spray.  I have never had a car chip like this one does.

LOL....that is one funky state you live in.

[ummgood]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

LOL....that is one funky state you live in.

I don't live in California I live in Texas.  I was just stating that my car was made in California so it has weak paint 😉

[cjknox]

8 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Good point on the Sunrise, and welcome baccck, have not seen you posting here in a LONG time.

 

Thanks Jimbo, I usually lurk; always enjoy your posts BTW.

 

[jperry2011]

We were cruising on the Pride last spring a couple weeks after it was dry docked for upgrades/maintenance. Already seen visible rust around windows.

I dont think they can do much about the rust without grinding every single spot and repainting which doesnt sound like a reasonable ask.

 

Constantly being in salt water makes things rust fast.

[evandbob]

I am just off the Conquest this morning and everywhere I looked on board, there was rust, usually yellow or brown discolrations and oxidations.

 

I don't see this much rust on ships of other cruise lines that I have sailed like NCL, Celebrity, Royal or MSC.

 

Perhaps blaming the vendor for cheap paint or lack of primer may be correct.  Perhaps it is the low ball contract parameters that Carnival chooses that result in vendors skimping on quality?

 

Maybe Carnival should phone another line to find out how they minimize the rust issue because what Carnival is doing ain't working.

[jimbo5544]

40 minutes ago, evandbob said:

I am just off the Conquest this morning and everywhere I looked on board, there was rust, usually yellow or brown discolrations and oxidations.

 

I don't see this much rust on ships of other cruise lines that I have sailed like NCL, Celebrity, Royal or MSC.

 

Perhaps blaming the vendor for cheap paint or lack of primer may be correct.  Perhaps it is the low ball contract parameters that Carnival chooses that result in vendors skimping on quality?

 

Maybe Carnival should phone another line to find out how they minimize the rust issue because what Carnival is doing ain't working.

Lots or perhaps and maybes there.  Maybe we have no idea.....perhaps?   Did you ask John about it?

Edited February 15, 2020 by jimbo5544

[DebJ14]

On 2/12/2020 at 6:31 AM, jimbo5544 said:

Because they were asked.  It made no sense that a company who has maintained their ships suddenly stop.  

I don't think it is just a Carnival problem.  We saw a RCCL ship in port in Cozumel and it looked worse than the Carnival ships.

  I asked a Carnival officer about it on our last cruise and he said the problem is that so many ports where they used paint the exterior of the ship are not allowing them to sand and paint due to environmental factors.  He said some ships never go to a port where it is allowed, so they have to wait until the next dry dock or until the ship is redeployed to an itinerary with a port that allows it, whichever comes first.

I know I was bummed out when they were working on our balcony for 3 sea days and we had no access.  The workmen apologized for the inconvenience.  They can do the balconies and railings while at sea, but cannot hang out over the ship to do the hull while it is moving.

[ummgood]

We were just in Galveston the past few days 'social distancing' by ourselves on the beach.  It got the kids out of the house since we can drive to Galveston and back on a tank of gas.

 

Anyway when we were there on Friday we drove by the cruise port to see what ships where there and the Carnival Dream and RCCL Enchantment of the Seas were docked.  The Dream looked really worse for wear.  I wish I would have taken photos.  The RCCL ship looked old because of its styling but the Dream looked very rusted and off color.

I am sure Carnival is having issues with keeping a float (pun intended) but I would have thought now would be a good time to actually fix the paint situation.  I know from seeing other ships we have cruised on (we have only been on 3 cruises) and other ships in port the Dream on Friday looked worse than I have seen in a long time.

[richfret]

All I can say is that I was stationed on a Navy Cruiser (USS BOSTON) about 1964.  The ship was not new and had been around for several years and sailed for several more after I left.  THERE WAS NO RUST.  PERIOD.  The wood decks were (HOLY STONED)  every morning and they were in perfect shape.  They were always painting the ship.  If the paint is the problem.  Then fix it and paint the ship.

[SDPadreFan]

The paint used by the Navy in 1964 is a lot different from the paint used today. Navy ships can go out today for a 7-14 local op looking pristine and come back in with plenty of rust showing. Because of environmental rules today, keeping a ship rust free is a major problem and it's probably not going away anytime soon.

[crusinpsychRN]

Once I stayed on board during a port visit, got a nice lounger on Serenity and a maintenance man decided it was imperative to strip and paint something right in front of me. He refused to come back later. Such noise!  Oh well.

[xDisconnections]

7 minutes ago, crusinpsychRN said:

Once I stayed on board during a port visit, got a nice lounger on Serenity and a maintenance man decided it was imperative to strip and paint something right in front of me. He refused to come back later. Such noise!  Oh well.

He was probably doing what he was told by his supervisor.