Pride of America technical Problem in Hilo

[Panhandle Couple]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

I can't remember, but I don't think there are any tugs of any real pulling power based in Hilo, so if POA has an azipod out of service, she needs a tug escort for the entire (acknowledgedly short) maneuver out of harbor, so they may be getting a tug down to help out.  Only real reason I can think of to delay the ship a full day in harbor.

Does POA have azipods?

We seemed to be shadowed by tugs in each port, and at one (can't remember) the tug actually did "tug" us (as opposed to push) away from the dock.

I thought azipods were new for NCL starting on BA class.

[chengkp75]

8 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Does POA have azipods?

We seemed to be shadowed by tugs in each port, and at one (can't remember) the tug actually did "tug" us (as opposed to push) away from the dock.

I thought azipods were new for NCL starting on BA class.

NCL has had azipods since the Dawn class, back in 2001.  Spirit, POA, and the Jewel class all had azipods, then NCL returned to shafted propellers for Epic, and then back to azipods for Breakaway.

 

Hawaii requires tugs to be on hand for docking/undocking in most ports, but they are almost never called on, and don't have to escort to the sea buoy.  Can't remember if Hilo had tugs or not.  Most tug work on cruise ships is "on a line" pulling, not pushing up against the ship, where the black tires mar the white hulls.

[jkbec101]

4 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

According to the DNV database, yes, the POA is due for dry docking in June.

 

I checked the DNV database and I could not find any mention of her going into drydock in June.  I'll admit, that I am not quite sure what I'm looking at.  I'm set to sail on her the first week of June, so this information is kind of relevant to me.  

Can you post a link or cut and paste where you see this information?

[chengkp75]

14 minutes ago, jkbec101 said:

 

I checked the DNV database and I could not find any mention of her going into drydock in June.  I'll admit, that I am not quite sure what I'm looking at.  I'm set to sail on her the first week of June, so this information is kind of relevant to me.  

Can you post a link or cut and paste where you see this information?

Well, I'm assuming you are in the DNV Vessel Register, and entered the ship name.  This will display a page with all the POA data on it.  A "dry dock" is not a required survey/inspection, under "Surveys" you will see the "Bottom Complete Survey", this is the dry dock survey of all things under the waterline.  This is showing as "next due" 6/29/2024.  There is leeway there in the date range for the due date, so a few weeks either side is possible, allowing for dry dock availability.  This date is somewhat out of sequence, as her last docking was June 2021, so this June is 36 months later, when it should have been no more than 30 months, so this must have been a covid exemption (shipyards not working), as her main class renewal date (the 5 year cycle of major inspections/surveys) is March 2025, and ships are normally required to dry dock for the renewal survey.  Also, her class certificate is due in June 2025, which is again out of line with the renewal date of March 2025, so things are a  bit muddy, but Covid tended to do that.

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Also, her class certificate is due in June 2025, which is again out of line with the renewal date of March 2025, so things are a  bit muddy, but Covid tended to do that.

Just being nosy, but since you are such a great font of information:  will the cruise lines try to get these dates back in sync [to simplify planning], or just keep spattering inspections around whenever due?

[chengkp75]

22 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Just being nosy, but since you are such a great font of information:  will the cruise lines try to get these dates back in sync [to simplify planning], or just keep spattering inspections around whenever due?

Yes, doing surveys out of synch with others gets expensive, so they should be stretching and compressing intervals to bring things into line.

[Nikita4]

In Hilo are at minimum two tug boats. We used for every manouver one or two tug boats and they take an hour to dock or sail away.

 

We re-rentet our car from yesterday and we were in Kona by car, as we returned on the ship at 1 pm, there are news that we dock until 7 pm and tomorrow we would have a late arrival in Kauai at 2 pm instead of 8 am. The US Coast Guard don‘t let us sail at the moment.

This was boring to not be informed earlier, so we had more time to drive on the island. The enterprise-office hier was really surprised that most of the clients from yesterday were back this morning :-).

 

The chief ingineer is John Cullan.

 

 

[Nikita4]

Now it is 8:30 pm and we still in Hilo with no other information! The POA is in the port and now sign of sail away.

 

 

 

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

The chief ingineer is John Cullan.

I knew John as well from my time with NCL.

[Brian1973]

Heard from friend currently on the cruise…or should I say stuck in Hilo… staff is stating there is a generator problem and are offering 20 percent off future cruises. Unfortunately their once in a lifetime Hawaiian vacation is ruined and “20 percent” off a future cruise will not make up for this. I know they couldn’t have foreseen this (maybe) but 20 percent is almost an insult at this point only seeing two of your designated ports of call. 

[Nikita4]

Yes it was big generator problem and the solved it now.
So we will set sail at 8 am with a sea day to Kauai and some scenic cruising to Molokini, Molokai and so. Tomorrow we will have a full day at Kauai.

 

NCL was not doing a good job with the communication yesterday, so no infos about the real problem yesterday and no word why they dont sail in the evening.

We are really disappointed about that and for our long flights to Hawaii, that also ruin our holidays.

We will resive 100 Dollar onboardcredit for pax 1 and 2 and 20% for a future cruise.

For sure, that was our first and last NCL cruise and we will not use the 20%.

[zqvol]

23 minutes ago, Brian1973 said:

Heard from friend currently on the cruise…or should I say stuck in Hilo… staff is stating there is a generator problem and are offering 20 percent off future cruises. Unfortunately their once in a lifetime Hawaiian vacation is ruined and “20 percent” off a future cruise will not make up for this. I know they couldn’t have foreseen this (maybe) but 20 percent is almost an insult at this point only seeing two of your designated ports of call. 

20% is more than generous. 

[Panhandle Couple]

3 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

Yes it was big generator problem and the solved it now.
So we will set sail at 8 am with a sea day to Kauai and some scenic cruising to Molokini, Molokai and so. Tomorrow we will have a full day at Kauai.

 

NCL was not doing a good job with the communication yesterday, so no infos about the real problem yesterday and no word why they dont sail in the evening.

We are really disappointed about that and for our long flights to Hawaii, that also ruin our holidays.

We will resive 100 Dollar onboardcredit for pax 1 and 2 and 20% for a future cruise.

For sure, that was our first and last NCL cruise and we will not use the 20%.

I am sad that your cruise didn't go as planned.

I'm not certain how the long flights to Hawaii have anything to do with NCL.  Do you think you will miss your flight home?

 

Until a problem is verified, and a new part delivered and installed, there is not much updates they can provide. Hourly updates are pointless unless something actually happens.

 

I think sailing by Molokai in the daytime would be nice, as very few ever visit it.  Sailing at night removed any scenic views on any of the islands, which was sort of odd.   Also, they stay mainly inside controlled water area, so may be using the next available slot for the route they are planning, similar to ATC for flying.  

[chengkp75]

37 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Also, they stay mainly inside controlled water area, so may be using the next available slot for the route they are planning, similar to ATC for flying. 

Ah, no.  There is no such thing for ships.  And, they do not stay "inside controlled water areas", as there are no traffic separation schemes in Hawaii.  There are a few whale protection zones, but that is mainly "go slow" areas, you are free to move around in them as you want.

[Nikita4]

40 minutes ago, zqvol said:

20% is more than generous. 

20% future cruise credit for a changed and one missed port and 200 Dollar obc? We do not book an other cruise with NCL, so  200 Dollar refund for a 9000 Dollar cruise?

 

They ruined our day yesterday with no clear information about the problem and departure time. So our car trip to Kona was too short, and when we returned to the ship there was clear that we do not sail until the evening…

 

 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Brian1973 said:

20 percent is almost an insult at this point only seeing two of your designated ports of call.

Looks to me like they will see 3 of the 4 ports of call, Kahului, Hilo, and Nawiliwili.  Fair enough, not another overnight on Kauai, but they did have the overnight on Maui, but they get to see all of the islands that the cruise was scheduled to go to.  The only missed port was Kona.

[chengkp75]

Not sure why one generator being down would stop the ship, or even get the USCG involved.  The ship (and nearly all cruise ships for that matter) routinely operate with one generator engine down for overhaul, and these overhauls (about every 2.5 years for each engine) take about 4 weeks to complete.  POA has 6 generators, all identical, and any 4 of them could provide full speed to the ship.  The only thing I can think of is there was an electrical problem with one of the two main switchboards, only allowing 3 generators to be put on line, and halving power to the azipods.

Edited April 18 by chengkp75

[roxette]

The Spirit changed todays port of call, including immigration to the US to Kona. The officials will tender onboard. It is gonna be chaos today...

[Rick&Jeannie]

We are currently on the Spirit...was supposed to port call in Hilo today. Our Hilo call has been canceled and we are heading to Kona.

[Nikita4]

44 minutes ago, Panhandle Couple said:

I am sad that your cruise didn't go as planned.

I'm not certain how the long flights to Hawaii have anything to do with NCL.  Do you think you will miss your flight home?

 

Until a problem is verified, and a new part delivered and installed, there is not much updates they can provide. Hourly updates are pointless unless something actually happens.

 

I think sailing by Molokai in the daytime would be nice, as very few ever visit it.  Sailing at night removed any scenic views on any of the islands, which was sort of odd.   Also, they stay mainly inside controlled water area, so may be using the next available slot for the route they are planning, similar to ATC for flying.  

For 26 hours travel time this is a huge disappointement! We missed one port and lost one port day in Kauai.

Hawaii is a once in lifetime holiday for us europeans!

 

We are experienced cruisers, and had other cruises with itenary changes but much better acted and informed than this time, that is a fact.

 

[cruiseny4life]

29 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

For 26 hours travel time this is a huge disappointement! We missed one port and lost one port day in Kauai.

Hawaii is a once in lifetime holiday for us europeans!

 

We are experienced cruisers, and had other cruises with itenary changes but much better acted and informed than this time, that is a fact.

 

NCL doesn't know how to properly communicate with customers. You're definitely correct about that! I'm sure it's a corporate demand, rather than the individual captains on each ship. 

[Nikita4]

There are two or more generators down not only one. And the US Coast Guard stopped the ship to sail with the broken generators. It will need a week or more to solve all generator problems.

 

For the spirit pax its also a challange with the port change today.

[Panhandle Couple]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Ah, no.  There is no such thing for ships.  And, they do not stay "inside controlled water areas", as there are no traffic separation schemes in Hawaii.  There are a few whale protection zones, but that is mainly "go slow" areas, you are free to move around in them as you want.

Thanks.

I guess I learned a few things today.

[The Traveling Man]

23 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

NCL has had azipods since the Dawn class, back in 2001.  Spirit, POA, and the Jewel class all had azipods, then NCL returned to shafted propellers for Epic, and then back to azipods for Breakaway.

Isn't "Azipod" a registered trade name for a particular brand of directional propeller?  I seem to recall from a presentation on the PoA several years ago being told that PoA had a different brand of propulsion system.  Perhaps "azipod" had become a generic name for that type of propulsion system the same way as aspirin, refrigerator, etc.

Edited April 18 by The Traveling Man

[Capitan Obvious]

2 hours ago, Brian1973 said:

their once in a lifetime Hawaiian vacation is ruined

 

44 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

Hawaii is a once in lifetime holiday

 

2 hours ago, Brian1973 said:

“20 percent” off a future cruise will not make up for this.

 

1 hour ago, Nikita4 said:

20% future cruise credit for a changed and one missed port and 200 Dollar obc?

 

Same story...it is ALWAYS a "once in a lifetime" cruise and the compensation is never enough. Somebody please put another record in this jukebox.

 

1 hour ago, Nikita4 said:

so  200 Dollar refund for a 9000 Dollar cruise

 

Looks like you missed a zero. 20% on a $9000 cruise is $1800 plus the $200 in OBC...that comes to $2000, not $200.

 

2 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

Yes it was big generator problem and the solved it now.
So we will set sail at 8 am with a sea day to Kauai and some scenic cruising to Molokini, Molokai and so. Tomorrow we will have a full day at Kauai.

 

15 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

There are two or more generators down not only one. And the US Coast Guard stopped the ship to sail with the broken generators. It will need a week or more to solve all generator problems.

 

You seem to have a lot of information about the problem, how many generators were involved, the US Coast Guard involvement, how much additional time is needed for repairs, and the future ship schedule...yet you complain that they don't give you any information? What do you want, the name of the mechanic who fixed the generator?

 

Seriously, folks. If Hawai'i truly is your "once in a lifetime" vacation...at the very least...get off of the computer and go outside and see Hawai'i. Once you go home, Hawai'i will be a memory, the Internet will still be there when you get home. Why waste "once in a lifetime" on the Internet?