Have Sky Princess engine problem sbeen resolved?

[Fjord4Fun]

Planning on making a last minute booking on Sky Princess cruise to Norway.  As the itinerary is of prime importance to use we don't want to miss any that we are particularly looking forward to.

[LACruiser88]

I thought it was the Crown that was having propulsion issues?

[dides]

12 minutes ago, Fjord4Fun said:

Planning on making a last minute booking on Sky Princess cruise to Norway.  As the itinerary is of prime importance to use we don't want to miss any that we are particularly looking forward to.

Someone posted on here that the generator could be only be replaced in dry dock as you need to go in via the hull! If that's the case then doubt it has been fixed. We were on the Sky when they lost it on 6th June during the visit to Bergen.

 

 

Edited July 4, 2022 by dides

[srpilo]

Looks like the generator issue may have been resolved, at the end of last week on open sea's she was doing 19 knots between Norway and Iceland...                                                                                                      As we're on her in late August for the "Midnight Sun" I've been closely following her performance and itineraries progress daily, and up til now she's made all her itinerary stops on time, and at all the required speeds necessary.

 

Fingers Crossed

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, dides said:

Someone posted on here that the generator could be only be replaced in dry dock as you need to go in via the hull! If that's the case then doubt it has been fixed. We were on the Sky when they lost it on 6th June during the visit to Bergen.

 

 

Unless they have completely blown the engine up (and I mean into  shrapnel and chunks of iron around the engine room), the engine does not need to come out.  These engines are completely torn down and overhauled every 2.5 years, while the ship is in service, and passengers don't know anything about it.  Even a crankshaft can be renewed with just a bit of cutting and welding, mostly inside the ship, as HAL did a couple years ago.

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Unless they have completely blown the engine up (and I mean into  shrapnel and chunks of iron around the engine room), the engine does not need to come out.  These engines are completely torn down and overhauled every 2.5 years, while the ship is in service, and passengers don't know anything about it.  Even a crankshaft can be renewed with just a bit of cutting and welding, mostly inside the ship, as HAL did a couple years ago.

I love it when you post and clear it all up. THANK YOU!! (from a mechanically clueless poster)

[Bgwest]

42 minutes ago, Ombud said:

I love it when you post and clear it all up. THANK YOU!! (from a mechanically clueless poster)

Isn’t he amazing!

[dides]

7 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Unless they have completely blown the engine up (and I mean into  shrapnel and chunks of iron around the engine room), the engine does not need to come out.  These engines are completely torn down and overhauled every 2.5 years, while the ship is in service, and passengers don't know anything about it.  Even a crankshaft can be renewed with just a bit of cutting and welding, mostly inside the ship, as HAL did a couple years ago.

 

Thank you - sounds more sensible. But when can Princess fix these kind of issues if they have to stick to a schedule and haven't done so for subsequent cruises since the incident in the engine room? Unless they have ordered a replacement part and there are "supply chain issues" 😉

 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by dides

[Alcairns]

She may be getting 19 knots but she did not have the speed to beat a 5:30 am deadline to get into Southampton on the 25th June. She had to wait in the Solent pending completion of the annual Cowes yacht raise. The result she did not berth till 11 am. She cannot get her usual top speeds of 24ish knots.

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, dides said:

 

Thank you - sounds more sensible. But when can Princess fix these kind of issues if they have to stick to a schedule and haven't done so for subsequent cruises since the incident in the engine room? Unless they have ordered a replacement part and there are "supply chain issues" 😉

 

 

Yes, all the lines are having problems getting parts for the engines.  RCI's Quantum is having to reschedule itineraries due to engine shutdowns.

[KikiKruiser]

On 7/5/2022 at 12:46 AM, Alcairns said:

She may be getting 19 knots but she did not have the speed to beat a 5:30 am deadline to get into Southampton on the 25th June. She had to wait in the Solent pending completion of the annual Cowes yacht raise. The result she did not berth till 11 am. She cannot get her usual top speeds of 24ish knots.

We were onboard the June 11th sailing and right off the bat we were told we MIGHT miss the first port (Haugesund) due to the engine problem.  As it turned out, we made it but were late getting in.  Many shore excursions had to be cancelled.  😞

[dides]

Someone on another social site said they spoke to the 2nd officer on the most recent cruise and were told:

Yes, Sky Princess has problems. She is unable to use one of her four diesel-generator sets, but the other three are fine. This does reduce her top speed. The issue is with the exhaust gas cleaning system for that engine. The engine itself is fine, but the rules are that the engine cannot be run unless the exhaust gas cleaning system is working. The exhaust gas cleaning system is scheduled to be fixed in the next two weeks or so.

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by dides

[chengkp75]

43 minutes ago, dides said:

Someone on another social site said they spoke to the 2nd officer on the most recent cruise and were told:

Yes, Sky Princess has problems. She is unable to use one of her four diesel-generator sets, but the other three are fine. This does reduce her top speed. The issue is with the exhaust gas cleaning system for that engine. The engine itself is fine, but the rules are that the engine cannot be run unless the exhaust gas cleaning system is working. The exhaust gas cleaning system is scheduled to be fixed in the next two weeks or so.

 

 

 

If that is the case, then in fact the engine could be run without the scrubber working, they would just have to use a more expensive fuel.

[Alcairns]

That would mean loading two separate loads of fuel. Can’t see that happening. 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Alcairns said:

That would mean loading two separate loads of fuel. Can’t see that happening. 

Quite a lot of cruise ships carry two different fuels these days, one for use in ECA's and one for outside.  They feel it is cheaper and less likely to cause problems like this to go this way over scrubbers.  For years, ships had to switch to low sulfur diesel when docked in EU ports, even if the ship had scrubbers, so carrying two fuels is common.

[LouChamp]

27 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Quite a lot of cruise ships carry two different fuels these days, one for use in ECA's and one for outside.  They feel it is cheaper and less likely to cause problems like this to go this way over scrubbers.  For years, ships had to switch to low sulfur diesel when docked in EU ports, even if the ship had scrubbers, so carrying two fuels is common.

I cannot personally thank you for all your comments, insight and respectful posts. I have learned so much from you and your willingness to share your experience is so gratefully appreciated!  Thank ounagain?