Progress on Viking Saturn?

[Buglady777]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:49 AM, Seasons00 said:

Viking Saturn May 23, Reykjavik to NY.   Anyone else on this cruise?

We have gone on the May 23 Roll Call a while back and introduced ourselves.  We are going to Reykjavik 3 days early, and maybe see some cruisers there before the cruise! We were nervous also, about being the second (?) cruise on a new ship.  It was good to hear reassuring words from all of you.  We were on the Norwegian Prima in October, a new ship.  They canceled their first cruises in Europe due to delays.  It will be good to be back on Viking after the Prima experience.  What a weird ship.  

[Clay Clayton]

Given its been 9 months since she was floated out, shouldn’t we be hearing something about her about now?   According to CruiseMapper, she is in Ancona. 

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Given its been 9 months since she was floated out, shouldn’t we be hearing something about her about now?   According to CruiseMapper, she is in Ancona. 

 

Clay,

 

Affirmative, the AIS still has her at Ancona and flying the Italian flag, so not yet handed over to the owners. She left the berth back in December, but only for a short period, so not sure if she has completed sea trials.

[Clay Clayton]

40 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Clay,

 

Affirmative, the AIS still has her at Ancona and flying the Italian flag, so not yet handed over to the owners. She left the berth back in December, but only for a short period, so not sure if she has completed sea trials.

Yeah that’s what I was surprised that we hadn’t heard about.  Would have thought the sea trials would have been done by now.  

[Heidi13]

15 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Yeah that’s what I was surprised that we hadn’t heard about.  Would have thought the sea trials would have been done by now.  

 

Clay,

 

Although she is currently still alongside, the AIS now shows her heading out for sea trials, so possibly departing later today.

[Clay Clayton]

41 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Clay,

 

Although she is currently still alongside, the AIS now shows her heading out for sea trials, so possibly departing later today.

Let’s hope they go well (do they ever really find issues?) would hate for another of our cruises to get canceled. 

[Jim Avery]

16 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Let’s hope they go well (do they ever really find issues?) would hate for another of our cruises to get canceled. 

Yes, they always find something.  Usually the punch list is doable before delivery date.  Read the history of the QE2 to learn about big problems on sea trials..

[chengkp75]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Yes, they always find something.  Usually the punch list is doable before delivery date.  Read the history of the QE2 to learn about big problems on sea trials..

Queen Mary had huge problems, resulting in the ship going back into dry dock to install a skeg between the two inboard azipods to improve course tracking when in following seas.

 

3 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Let’s hope they go well (do they ever really find issues?) would hate for another of our cruises to get canceled. 

While nearly every system has been "dock trialed" (operated) before sea trials, many have never been run together with other dependent systems, many systems have not been tested at full load, and some cannot be tested at all while at the dock.  So, yes, as Jim says, they will find items, and the shipyard will have technicians onboard to fix whatever they can while on trials, but some require parts and time at the dock, but there is usually a few days set in the schedule after trials for potential repairs.

 

There will also likely be items that cannot be repaired in time for delivery, but that don't majorly impact vessel operation, and the yard will set up time schedule for when these repairs will be made while the ship is in service.

Edited March 20, 2023 by chengkp75

[Clay Clayton]

3 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Yes, they always find something.  Usually the punch list is doable before delivery date.  Read the history of the QE2 to learn about big problems on sea trials..

 

19 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Queen Mary had huge problems, resulting in the ship going back into dry dock to install a skeg between the two inboard azipods to improve course tracking when in following seas.

 

While nearly every system has been "dock trialed" (operated) before sea trials, many have never been run together with other dependent systems, many systems have not been tested at full load, and some cannot be tested at all while at the dock.  So, yes, as Jim says, they will find items, and the shipyard will have technicians onboard to fix whatever they can while on trials, but some require parts and time at the dock, but there is usually a few days set in the schedule after trials for potential repairs.

 

There will also likely be items that cannot be repaired in time for delivery, but that don't majorly impact vessel operation, and the yard will set up time schedule for when these repairs will be made while the ship is in service.

Does it really take this long from float out to be ready for sea trials?  Would have thought they could have done the trials long ago.  But I’m just a dumb building Architect not a naval one😂

[Jim Avery]

And you are not dealing with Italian unions....

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Let’s hope they go well (do they ever really find issues?) would hate for another of our cruises to get canceled. 

 

Unfortunately she hasn't moved and the sea trials destination has been removed from the AIS, so they could have been testing/inspecting it when I checked earlier today.

[chengkp75]

11 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

 

Does it really take this long from float out to be ready for sea trials?  Would have thought they could have done the trials long ago.  But I’m just a dumb building Architect not a naval one😂

The dry dock is valuable real estate.  The sooner they can float the ship out, the quicker they can start on the next ship.  At float out, the hull is complete, most major mechanical systems are installed, but much of the topsides (hotel) is not complete, or even started.  Yeah, 9 months from float out to delivery is about right for a cruise ship.  The last tanker I built was about 5-6 months from float out to delivery.

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

The dry dock is valuable real estate.  The sooner they can float the ship out, the quicker they can start on the next ship.  At float out, the hull is complete, most major mechanical systems are installed, but much of the topsides (hotel) is not complete, or even started.  Yeah, 9 months from float out to delivery is about right for a cruise ship.  The last tanker I built was about 5-6 months from float out to delivery.

Thanks!

I guess I was under the impression that they could do the sea trials while work on the hotel aspects continued.  I seem to recall watching one of those “how do they built that” shows about a cruise ship where they showed the construction workers being onboard installing finishes while they were doing speed and turning tests.  

[chengkp75]

45 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Thanks!

I guess I was under the impression that they could do the sea trials while work on the hotel aspects continued.  I seem to recall watching one of those “how do they built that” shows about a cruise ship where they showed the construction workers being onboard installing finishes while they were doing speed and turning tests.  

You are right, they will still be doing that, but those things are the finishing touches (the lipstick and mascara), not real construction work.  And, sea trials are typically only 3-5 days, so not a lot of hotel work can get done in that amount of time.  Everything in the hotel, like all the laundry machines, the galley equipment, the cappuccino machines, etc, have to be shown to be working as designed before delivery.

[Clay Clayton]

34 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

You are right, they will still be doing that, but those things are the finishing touches (the lipstick and mascara), not real construction work.  And, sea trials are typically only 3-5 days, so not a lot of hotel work can get done in that amount of time.  Everything in the hotel, like all the laundry machines, the galley equipment, the cappuccino machines, etc, have to be shown to be working as designed before delivery.

Gotya!  Just surprised that they don’t do some sort of early sea trials as early as possible to identify problems so that there aren’t any issues at turnover.  When we got close to the completion of a building, all systems were pre tested, initial punchlists created, etc. so that the final versions were as short as possible.
 

Thanks again for your insights.  

[wynnsr]

On 3/21/2023 at 11:20 AM, Clay Clayton said:

Gotya!  Just surprised that they don’t do some sort of early sea trials as early as possible to identify problems so that there aren’t any issues at turnover.  When we got close to the completion of a building, all systems were pre tested, initial punchlists created, etc. so that the final versions were as short as possible.
 

Thanks again for your insights.  

You do get around, eh?  Also trying to keep track of Viking Saturn's progress.  Hope all goes well and it's had some bugs worked out before our July 19th embarkation. 🤞

[wynnsr]

Viking has a type of external webcam on their ships.  The Saturn webcam appears to be active (watched it just now).  Here's the link: https://viking.panomax.com/saturn/  (When you hit the little circular item toward the bottom left, the image will slowly rotate.)  It's just a shipyard for now but should show changes over the days as it puts out to sea.

Edited April 14, 2023 by wynnsr

[uktog]

Given Explora Journeys which does not commence passenger sailings until 17 July has finished its sea trials Viking seems to be cutting this one quite close to the wire - or maybe they are supremely confident the trials will go without a hitch based on past experience

[Heidi13]

5 minutes ago, uktog said:

Given Explora Journeys which does not commence passenger sailings until 17 July has finished its sea trials Viking seems to be cutting this one quite close to the wire - or maybe they are supremely confident the trials will go without a hitch based on past experience

 

The AIS now shows that the ship has been reflagged from Italy (builders) to Norway (owners), so seatrials must already have been completed. 

[wynnsr]

Noticed the following on Cruise Mapper's website:

Viking Saturn is one of the world's cruisers (following Cunard's RMS Queen Mary 2) with an onboard planetarium. Named "Explorers' Dome", this theatre-like venue is circular, with capacity 26 seats and located forward on Deck 8, facing Explorers Lounge. It uses the latest video projecting technology to show constellations and other space-related 3D videos on its domed roof.

Hope it's true as it would be an interesting opportunity.

[Heidi13]

5 minutes ago, wynnsr said:

Noticed the following on Cruise Mapper's website:

Viking Saturn is one of the world's cruisers (following Cunard's RMS Queen Mary 2) with an onboard planetarium. Named "Explorers' Dome", this theatre-like venue is circular, with capacity 26 seats and located forward on Deck 8, facing Explorers Lounge. It uses the latest video projecting technology to show constellations and other space-related 3D videos on its domed roof.

Hope it's true as it would be an interesting opportunity.

 

Based on the previous newbuilds, the probability of Saturn having the planetarium is low. Viking installed them on ship 5 (Orion) and ship 6 (Jupiter), but have not been included on subsequent newbuilds, with Saturn being # 10.

 

FYI - cruisemapper often includes incorrect info.

[wynnsr]

On 4/14/2023 at 10:15 AM, Heidi13 said:

 

Based on the previous newbuilds, the probability of Saturn having the planetarium is low. Viking installed them on ship 5 (Orion) and ship 6 (Jupiter), but have not been included on subsequent newbuilds, with Saturn being # 10.

 

FYI - cruisemapper often includes incorrect info.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2023 by wynnsr
Deleted.

[mikerem48]

My wife and I have been on over 26 cruises, 5 with Viking River.  We are looking forward to cruising on a new Viking Ocean ship from NYC to Oslo.  We are also taking the extended tour after the cruise.  These extensions are sometimes almost better than the cruise.  See you soon!

[wynnsr]

1 hour ago, mikerem48 said:

My wife and I have been on over 26 cruises, 5 with Viking River.  We are looking forward to cruising on a new Viking Ocean ship from NYC to Oslo.  We are also taking the extended tour after the cruise.  These extensions are sometimes almost better than the cruise.  See you soon!

Sorry to miss you.  This is a general "progress" board for Saturn. Would've liked to talk a bit.  My brother spent a good deal of time in Appleton and the State in general is beautiful.  🙂 (I am, however, a bears fan.)  Good sailing to you both.

[photopro2]

14 hours ago, wynnsr said:

Sorry to miss you.  This is a general "progress" board for Saturn. Would've liked to talk a bit. 

You might both like to visit the virtual explorers lounge thread.

 

You are welcome to chat as much as you like in there with free virtual bar and lovely views out over the location of your choice 😁