Star has arrived!!

[Host CJSKIDS]

The Star is supposed to sail on the 15th. Any idea how long does it take to sail from Germany to Copenhagen? Any idea of when the work has to be finished by so that the ship is ready to sail from Copenhagen on the 15th? Does the sip have to pass any inspections before it can come back into operation?

 

Those are very good questions. I wonder myself whether or not the ship is going to be fully finished and pass inspections and make it to Copenhagen. It won't take long to sail to Copenhagen, we did it this past summer on the Golden. I'm sure they'll make it in about 2 days. However, having the ship fully finished and cleared are another thing. Some of the AC had also broken down throughout the whole ship. There was a tremendous amount of work to be done, a tremendous amount. I hope for those who have the cruise booked on the 15th that the ship is perfect for them and ready to sail.

 

For anyone who is in cabin C414, I would love to see how they fixed the cabin what is looks like now.

[MACKINAC]

The Star is supposed to sail on the 15th. Any idea how long does it take to sail from Germany to Copenhagen? Any idea of when the work has to be finished by so that the ship is ready to sail from Copenhagen on the 15th? Does the sip have to pass any inspections before it can come back into operation?

 

By road, its about 300 miles from Bremerhaven, Germany, to Copenhagen. The ship will probably travel the same distance -- by using the Kiel Canal that cuts through the bottom of the Denmark peninsula.

[Globaliser]

The ship will probably travel the same distance -- by using the Kiel Canal that cuts through the bottom of the Denmark peninsula.

I'd be surprised if the ship could do that. There are size restrictions in the canal. One of the Norwegian Dream/Wind sisters (I forget which) has a special hinged funnel that drops down, which was installed specifically so that she could fit through the Kiel Canal. I suspect that Star Princess will be too tall (if not also too wide/long) to get through.

[MACKINAC]

I'd be surprised if the ship could do that. There are size restrictions in the canal. One of the Norwegian Dream/Wind sisters (I forget which) has a special hinged funnel that drops down, which was installed specifically so that she could fit through the Kiel Canal. I suspect that Star Princess will be too tall (if not also too wide/long) to get through.

 

Thanks, Globaliser. I defer to one with more knowledge than I.

[fg_hb]

Hello again,

 

today there is an article in our local newspaper about the Lloyd shipyard. In the main the article was about that the shipyard Fincantieri (the builder of the Star Princess) has bought a part of the Lloyd shipyard. The plan is to build new ships in Italy and to repair them in Bremerhaven.

 

In the article there is also a comment of the repair of the Queen Elisabeth 2 and Star Princess:

 

The QE2 will sail next Sunday (May 7th) and the Star Princess will sail in less one week later.

 

If this is true there will be a great chance for the people who will sail on May 15th from Copenhagen that all will be OK then.

 

I will go to Bremerhaven again on Sunday to see leaving the QE2. I will also take pictures of the Star Princess again.

[Old Sea Legs]

The sea distance from Bremerhaven to Copenhagen is 480 nautical miles. If Star can average 18 knots, it will take her about 27 hours. At 20 knots the time at sea will be 24 hours.

[swooldri]

9 days and she is ready to sail! Slim chance. Any updates from Princess?

[custompcsys]

9 days and she is ready to sail! Slim chance. Any updates from Princess?

What do you base your assumption on that there is only a slim chance of her being ready on time? Obviously you must have some expertise in shipbuilding or maritime architecture to make such a statement, or have inside information on the operations at the shipyard.

 

Ever since the day after the fire there have been posts about how the ship will be out of service for months, even a year, how the ship will never be the same again, etc, etc. I honestly don't understand how people with absolutely no expertise or knowledge about what is going on can make such statements.

[Globaliser]

I honestly don't understand how people with absolutely no expertise or knowledge about what is going on can make such statements.

Don't you understand? In the modern world, everyone knows better than the experts. Every view expressed by Joe Public is more reliable than those of insiders. And everyone's opinion is worth the same, whether or not they know anything about the subject.

 

Personally, I blame radio talk shows.

[custompcsys]

Don't you understand? In the modern world, everyone knows better than the experts. Every view expressed by Joe Public is more reliable than those of insiders. And everyone's opinion is worth the same, whether or not they know anything about the subject.

 

Personally, I blame radio talk shows.

Thank you...I get it now :)

[Brucemcdou]

Hi - I received an e-mail today from Princess (I'm sure we all did) that offered balconies for the May 15th Baltic cruise 10 day r/t out of Copenhagen at $1499! It looks as if this is less than they're currently offering OV or insides for that cruise. We're currently booked for a 12-day Baltic cruise later in the summer on Jewel OTS, and this price is really tempting, but vacation time and airfare can't be rearranged at this late date.

 

I'm only reading between the lines, but I assume that they kept the damaged balcony cabins out of the booking engines until they were sure they would be ready for occupancy, and that they are now confident. I'll be interested to read the reviews of how these cabins look and feel from those who sail on the 15th. I wonder if they'll look any different, or whether they'll have odd squeeks and rattles, or perhaps be nicer than the original cabins.

 

Frank - thank you for continuing to post your great photos of the work in progress. I can't wait for the plastic sheeting to come off the side of the ship to see how it looks - hopefully as if nothing ever happened!

[Old Sea Legs]

You stated that "I can't wait for the plastic sheeting to come off the side of the ship to see how it looks - hopefully as if nothing ever happened!"

 

On some of Frank's pictures the plastic covering on a couple of cabins is positioned in such a way that you can see that the bulkhead has been painted and new balcony doors have ben installed. Looks pretty good to me - - I'm sure that your hope that you'll not be able to see that anything has happened will be met. Perhaps more (or most) of the plastic sheeting will have been removed by the time Frank takes his pictures tomorrow.

 

While Princess is not my favorite line, I'm rooting for it all the way on this matter and can't wait to see this fine ship when the work is completed. I am optimistic that she will sail on time. Brucemcdou, thank you for the encouraging information regarding the prices on balcony cabins.

[custompcsys]

I spoke to Princess this morning to double-check my booking for the 6/14 sailing. According to the very helpful agent I spoke with, they are being told the Star is on schedule and will be ready for her 5/15 sailing.

 

I say "for what its worth" because this is coming from the Customer Service reps at Princess and not operations...so who knows. Just thought I'd pass it along.

[Old Sea Legs]

Thank you custompcsys - - - I'm a believer!

[fg_hb]

Hello again,

 

as promised I have been in Bremerhaven today and took some new photos of the Star Princess. Unfortunately the plasitc shield is not removed until now. I tried to make some shootings to look "behind" the shield. I uploaded two photos with higher resolution and hope you can see more of the ship.

 

I asked some workers who came through the gate for a break if they know when the Princess will leave Bremerhaven. They told it's scheduled for Friday, May 12th, but because the work which has to be done it also could be one day later. I think it looks good for all who have booked for May 15th.

 

The next photos I will take on Wednesday. I hope the Princess will leave on Friday because only Friday I have the time to take photos of her departure.

 

You will find the photos as usual at http://www.essorg.de/sp

 

Enjoy the photos even with the plastic shield

 

Frank

[T&J]

Thanks for the photos...looks like it's gonna be down to the wire getting that ship out of there for that sailing on May 15th. I am sure Princess will make all efforts by the end of this week to contact pax if they have to scrub the sailing.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Frank, excellent job. Your reports from Bremerhaven and Hamburg are appreciated!

 

Last summer we visited Bremerhaven but we missed seeing the Pride of America which had departed two days earlier. The only big ship there was from P&O. (I believe it was Artemis.) We then drove to Meyer Werft and saw the Norwegian Jewel almost completed and Pride of Hawaii just beginning construction. For anyone interested in the construction of cruise ships, I highly recommend the Meyer Werft factory tour in Papenburg, Germany.

 

BobK/Orlando

[custompcsys]

Great job as usual Frank! From what we can see from your great work it looks like they have painted on the outside. The beige container at the very top of the ship is labeled "TeakDecking Systems". Your conversation with the workers is also very encouraging...talk about "getting it from the horse's mouth"!

 

Thanks for being our on-the-scene reporter!

[duke052]

Has anyone else noticed that there are no balcony's

[custompcsys]

Has anyone else noticed that there are no balcony's

Duke..look again...yes, there are a few balconies where there is scaffolding and no balconies, but if you look carefully you'll see that there is balcony flooring (white) underneath the plastic..that's not scaffolding. You can see it on a couple of Frank's pick on the uncovered cabins.

 

At least that's what it looks like to me...I'm no maritime architect or expert so I could be totally wrong!

[Host CJSKIDS]

Duke..look again...yes, there are a few balconies where there is scaffolding and no balconies, but if you look carefully you'll see that there is balcony flooring (white) underneath the plastic..that's not scaffolding. You can see it on a couple of Frank's pick on the uncovered cabins.

 

At least that's what it looks like to me...I'm no maritime architect or expert so I could be totally wrong!

 

Looks like all of deck 10 has scaffolding and no balconies though.

 

If you look inside on one of the photos you will see silver duct work, does that mean the ceiling work isn't completed?

 

Hopefully they'll have it all done on time and I for one am shocked, I just didn't think that they could rebuild those condemed cabins so quickly. Hopefully there will a flurry of activity over the next few days as I'm sure they will be working down to the very last moment to get this finished.

[sunprincess]

Thanks so much for the updated photos Frank.

 

Spoke with my Star friends today. The plans are to leave on the 13th to arrive in Copenhagen on the 15th :)

[Two4Sea]

The balcony structural floor was in place for the April 21st pictures. It's just the railing that was kept out of the way and now we can't tell its progress because of the plastic tarp.

 

B

[ssbeagle]

These pictures really are fascinating and I want to add my thanks to Frank for doing this. The 15th is only a week away and they must be working 24/7 in order to get the ship ready for its next scheduled cruise. I am almost willing to take bets that the 15th cruise may be cancelled as well.

[Host CJSKIDS]

These pictures really are fascinating and I want to add my thanks to Frank for doing this. The 15th is only a week away and they must be working 24/7 in order to get the ship ready for its next scheduled cruise. I am almost willing to take bets that the 15th cruise may be cancelled as well.

 

It's interesting, Princess will allow you to book this cruise still but none of the cabins that show up are near the damaged area. I wonder what the chances are that all of those were already booked since there still seems to be so much availability. I wonder if you had it booked if Princess allowed you the chance to change your booking after the fire without penalty.