Electrical outage on the Grand; guests in 250 cabins relocated

[nini]

16 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Oldest ship left in the fleet. The largest cruise ship in the world when it was new.

Inaugural Cruise: May 26, 1998

 

We have only sailed on Grand Princess once. It was in 2014. Sailed in C752 - aft corner balcony. My wife loved that cabin. Probably her favorite to date as it had the wake view.

 

Absolutely!

 

We were booked in C 752 as well for this same transpacific. We love those corner afts on the older ships. It looks like we would have been moved from our favorite cabin.

I wish for a speedy repair!

 

We really enjoyed the Grand last September for a 14 day Alaska itinerary. The crew was great and we had a lovely turnout of Officers for our Meet & Greet.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cbtours]

17 minutes ago, nini said:

 

Absolutely!

 

We were booked in C 752 as well for this same transpacific. We love those corner afts on the older ships. It looks like we would have been moved from our favorite cabin.

I wish for a speedy repair!

 

We really enjoyed the Grand last September for a 14 day Alaska itinerary. The crew was great and we had a lovely turnout of Officers for our Meet & Greet.

 

 

 

 

 

Was that Vancouver return voyage of the glaciers? If so what did you do in the changeover day (Whittier? Anchorage? I did look at the 26 glaciers tour and even booked it but then thought we might be glaciered out so cancelled it (unfortunately as I lost money in the exchange etc).

 

[Coral]

5 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Cool.  We’ve been on Grand 24 times, and still love it and keep booking it!

I was on the Grand in Dec 2020 after many years of having not being on the ship. I was pleasantly surprised how great of ship she was and she seemed in great condition. I would actually book this ship in a heart beat again (and book it over some other ships).

[wrongwaywatson]

We've been on The Grand twice and are booked in June.  We had no complaints or problems when we went.

[cruzfiend]

We are suppose to be on the Grand in 21 days. Hopefully, it will be fixed 😐

[azbirdmom]

16 hours ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

Some were also offered the option to transit to the Majestic, which is follwing us.  Supposedly at a much lower occupancy, and much newer for those that prefer that.

 

Friends on the Grand weren't offered a transfer to the Majestic and hadn't heard about it.  They were moved from their aft mini suite to a forward ocean view cabin so it's quite a shock for them.  They said that some in suites wound up in ocean views too.  I hope the situation is fixed soon for everyone's sake.

[chengkp75]

I can say that with certainty, it will be repaired as quickly as possible.  What folks don't realize is that the fire zone that is affected goes all the way down to the keel of the ship.  So, the crew areas under the aft restaurant, most typically on ships like this would be galley, food prep, and provisions stores, including walk in freezers and coolers, will also be affected as far as lighting and ventilation are concerned.  Taking out an entire fire zone on a ship is a major casualty, and they will fly in materials and specialists to make repairs a quickly as possible.

[JerseyExplora]

If it's repaired as quickly as possible, does that mean it's possible to repaired quickly? A wide spread issue sounds like a nightmare to fix on a time crunch. I believe this is a repositioning cruise for the Grand right now. Is this likely to affect the start of the Alaska season?

[nini]

10 hours ago, Cbtours said:

Was that Vancouver return voyage of the glaciers? If so what did you do in the changeover day (Whittier? Anchorage? I did look at the 26 glaciers tour and even booked it but then thought we might be glaciered out so cancelled it (unfortunately as I lost money in the exchange etc).

 

 

No, this was a round trip from Vancouver, BC. It was 14 nights and included Glacier Bay, Icy Strait, Sitka, Prince Rupert. We did not go to Whittier/ Anchorage.

Edited April 18, 2023 by nini
additional words

[chengkp75]

9 minutes ago, JerseyExplora said:

If it's repaired as quickly as possible, does that mean it's possible to repaired quickly? A wide spread issue sounds like a nightmare to fix on a time crunch. I believe this is a repositioning cruise for the Grand right now. Is this likely to affect the start of the Alaska season?

I would say that the materials and technicians would be onboard in Hawaii at the latest (don't know the itinerary, so can't say if it could be before).  After that, 1-2 days would see it fixed.  While it is affecting a large area of the ship, it is caused by a failure at a central point for that large area.  The entire fire zone (the area from the bottom to the top of the ship between two sets of fire doors), is fed electrically, for lighting, outlets, and ventilation, from one sub-station (think of it as the "breaker box" in your house), so one failure, like one breaker failing, could knock out power to the whole fire zone.  Since it is likely one failure, the repair can be fairly simple.

[Astro Flyer]

On MarineTraffic it shows Grand departed Papeete on 4/16 at 2117 LT and is scheduled to arrive in Honolulu on 4/22 at 0600 LT. 

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Astro Flyer

[GonzoWCS]

Sad to hear this.  Hang in there and make the best of it.

 

Cheers

[Thrak]

Booked for 32 days (14 days, 4 days, 14 days) in C714 starting October 28th. At least we can be assured that there will be spanking new parts in place. Have a 3 week camping trip first which starts in 6 days. Love camping in the teardrop and love cruising as well. Rustic camping or pampered cruising... both suit us just fine. 😉

[mnocket]

On 4/17/2023 at 8:51 AM, MissP22 said:

I'm surprised they had that many vacant cabins available. 

So am I.  Of course we're assuming they are relocating all those affected to alternate cabins.  I seem to remember a recent picture of a cruise ship where people had dragged mattresses into the hallway due to some issue with the cabins?  My somewhat feeble mind remembers the picture, but not the exact circumstances😬

[cr8tiv1]

About 9 years ago, the Grand had a fire just before entering Hilo Bay.  She was denied docking and limped her way to Honolulu where she spent 3 days trying to get her repaired.  

 

Passengers were given the option to fly home or get a hotel until a flight was available.

Or stay on the ship.  About 50% chose to sail her back to California.  

Compensation was given to both groups.  

 

This could have happened on any ship (regardless of age).  The Grand Princess is resilient.  I have sailed on her many times since the restart.  One of the best crew out there.  

 

I am sorry this happened to those passengers on this current cruise.  I hope that those who stay aboard will have a stellar ride back to San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

Booked for 32 days (14 days, 4 days, 14 days) in C714 starting October 28th. At least we can be assured that there will be spanking new parts in place. Have a 3 week camping trip first which starts in 6 days. Love camping in the teardrop and love cruising as well. Rustic camping or pampered cruising... both suit us just fine. 😉

I'm curious if Princess replaces stuff like I do on my car. If a part wears out that has a "twin" or better, I replace them all, especially if it's a part that's critical to operation or safety, ie rod ends, ball joints, wiper blades, headlights, suspension bushings, etc. One would hope they did as part of a preventive maintenance program, especially when one failing severely impacts them financially as well.

 

Given that this part is critical to Zone 7, I would think there are likely at least 6 other similar parts that could have the same problem soon.

[chengkp75]

Cruise ships are far more proactive with preventative maintenance than most other ships I've been on.  While most ships will test and maintain the circuit breakers for the diesel generators every dry dock, cruise ships go further down the hierarchy and test major feeder breakers (which is what I believe failed here) in places like the fire zone panels every dry dock, using the manufacturer's own technicians to test and replace/repair them as required.  Things like circuit breakers are not "wear items" like the car parts you mention, when was the last time you replaced the circuit breakers in your house as part of preventative maintenance.  Even if you have one breaker that has failed (and when was the last time that happened?), would you replace all the breakers just because one failed?  Things like the number of "cycles" (how many times the breaker has been switched on or off, or how many times it has tripped) is more critical to determining failure criteria, rather than mere age.  All ships follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance and service instructions for all equipment, as monitored by the class societies.

 

If it was not a breaker failure, the next most common failure like this is a loosened bolt connection between the breaker and the "bus bars" that carry the electricity within a switchboard or feeder panel.  These connections are checked annually using infrared cameras to detect a "hot connection" where a loosened connection causes a high resistance path for current, creating heat.  But, due to vibration and flexing of the ship, these things can start to loosen at any time, but are normally caught before a problem by the thermal imaging inspections. 

[Yehootu]

20 hours ago, Cbtours said:

Was that Vancouver return voyage of the glaciers? If so what did you do in the changeover day (Whittier? Anchorage? I did look at the 26 glaciers tour and even booked it but then thought we might be glaciered out so cancelled it (unfortunately as I lost money in the exchange etc).

 

We did the turn in Whittier, only it was on the Royal. Totally enjoyed our day walking around, hiking behind the town building on trails by the stream. Had lunch at a dockside bar. Really relaxing place with alot of history. Of course we had beautiful shorts and T-shirt weather with clear skys.

[cdngrl]

I’m following along closely as I’m sailing on her in 13 days. I was one of the ‘lucky’ ones that had a Covid cruise last year so I’m ready for a vacation! So ready that I’d be fine if we stayed docked in Vancouver while she was being repaired.

[rogueriver]

We are on the Grand now heading to Hawaii and were in a mini suite that lost power. Although it’s been a hassle moving to a smaller cabin, we feel very fortunate that we were given a balcony room. I want to give a shout out to the fantastic crew. This situation has been difficult for them, especially since they are also dealing with a norovirus outbreak. They are continuing to provide superior service and we are grateful. As for the condition of the Grand, it is really showing it’s age and could do with some upgrades.

[nini]

We were on the Grand last September for a lovely Alaska itinerary (12 nights).

We had barely pulled a bit away from the dock (not even all of the way out) and then we

were backing in.

Well, engine issues... the fix involved getting the manufacturer of some part on the phone and coaching the proper crew to get it repaired and/ or possibly seeing if we could get the part(s).

 

We finally pulled out of port about 10:00 pm by which the Captain had to make itinerary decisions which meant missing Icy Strait. However, the Captain was lovely and not only refunded port fees, but also added $150.00 OBC to EACH guest.

[cruzrbachoua]

Any update on the repairs? 

[rogueriver]

3 hours ago, cruzrbachoua said:

Any update on the repairs? 

We docked in Honolulu early this morning and I’m sure the engineers hopped on board as soon as they could to assess and begin repairs if possible. We haven’t received an update yet, but the captain has done a great job of keeping us informed. We are heading to Maui tomorrow and leaving for the final leg to San Francisco on Monday.

[Crystabel]

Friends of ours on this cruise said when they boarded the ship after a day on Maui, the ship was repaired and they could go back to their original cabin. 

[wrongwaywatson]

That's great to hear!