Live from the Ecstasy...propulsion problems

[tisabee]

Just a heads up for the next group coming on tomorrow. We are having propulsion problems and won't be into Galveston until 2pm tomorrow.

Cruise has been great & I'll be posting my review in a few days.

Teresa

[Wennfred]

Just a heads up for the next group coming on tomorrow. We are having propulsion problems and won't be into Galveston until 2pm tomorrow.

Cruise has been great & I'll be posting my review in a few days.

Teresa

 

Not a good thing, and I beleive this ship has the amidship shaft/prop system.

 

Thanks for the heads up !!! Just left a message on the Oct 15th Roll Call.

 

 

Fred

[Ship Addict]

well, bonus half day for y'all, but no such great luck for the new passengers tomorrow.

 

I just hope if this problem crops up again next year, that I'm one of the lucky ones that gets the bonus day!!

[kwbrad]

Thanks for the post... I was sitting here looking at the Galveston web cam wondering what time Ecstasy normally came in. Guess I would have been looking for her for a while!

We are on her in May... I am like you ShipAddict, I hope if she is to have this problem again, that we are on the ship coming in, and not at the port waiting to leave!

Looking forward to your review Teresa! Glad to hear you have had a great time!

 

Kelli

[Ship Addict]

The last time I was on a ship that was late getting back, this poor old man had a heart attack while we were still near Mexico so we had to turn around and get him to shore. It was really hard to enjoy that bonus half-day knowing why we got it. I heard he didn't make it.

[tkportersat]

Yep. Had problems on my September and March cruises. September they took us to Progreso instead of Cozumel, March we got back about 3-4 hours late. Just got off the Ecstasy on the 11th and no problems for us this time. I thought they held her back a couple of months ago to finally fix this once and for all....guess she needs some more attention.

 

Not a good thing, and I beleive this ship has the amidship shaft/prop system.

 

Thanks for the heads up !!! Just left a message on the Oct 15th Roll Call.

 

 

Fred

[firefly333]

Im booked for Ecstasy in January. If some kind person posted the ship would be late getting in, guess I would have missed it. We get up and leave about 5 or 6 a.m. and I dont go online before I leave. Maybe I should??!!

[Wennfred]

183 post on that Ecstasy 15 Oct Roll Call and the last post was on the 12th of Oct, hope they got the word via phone or something.

 

 

Fred

[Bassic]

Probably one of the doors on the bow side-firing units. For some reason, I think I recall talking to one of the crew about that last time I was on Ecstasy a couple years back. They can still sail with the door open, but at substantially reduced speed. Any faster than that reduced speed can rip the maneuvering props right out of their housing...I thought the crew member said something like 11-13 knots would be the max with the doors open. Hope they get it fixed quick, we're on the Nov. 3rd sailing. FWIW, I heard that when they had to put in to Progresso with problems before it was added to the itinerary (passengers almost mutinied!), they had to fly parts into the port along with a crew from Europe to effect the repairs, as it is not something most shipboard engineers are equipped to fix. I also recall hearing that the positioning motor on one of the azipods on the Ecstasy was finicky- don't recall if it was right or left, but seem to remember the engineer saying it was easily fixed in port, and they had parts on hand to do that one. I thought he said it was kind of like aligning a car, more of a calibration thing than a "physically replace a bunch of parts" thing. In any case, living so close to Galveston, it bothers us not if we are forced to have to endure an extra half-day on board!

 

Keep in mind that this is an older ship with a lot of miles on her, and things that move tend to get a lot of wear on them.

 

Edit: I'll post when we get on board in three weeks how things go. I'll likely talk to an engineer or two again, as I am a machine freak...gotta love something that big and complex! I should have been an engineering major. Too bad I suck at math!

[jhale]

FWIW, I heard that when they had to put in to Progresso with problems before it was added to the itinerary (passengers almost mutinied!), they had to fly parts into the port along with a crew from Europe to effect the repairs, as it is not something most shipboard engineers are equipped to fix.

 

My family was on the cruise where they held the protest because no one wanted to go into Progresso, the pax lined the atrium shouting "hell no Progresso" my mom said it was quite a show. This was a pic someone had taken of it that I believe I got from our local paper here in Houston.

 

 

[LibrarianCruiser]

A protest?

 

What is wrong with people? Sure, it would be lovely if all vacations went according to plan, but when it doesn't, why not make the best of it? Carnival needed to fix the problem, and they did what was necessary to do so (actually, flying things in internationally is pretty impressive. They could have just cancelled ports and the next week's cruise, but they didn't. They did what they could to make things as smooth as possible).

 

I'm going on my first Carnival cruise soon, and honestly, the thing I'm most worried about are my fellow cruisers. Based on the reviews and photos around here, you get the feeling that a good number of them are pretty big jerks with a huge helping of entitlement.

 

(Not all, of course. :) )

[jhale]

This particualr cruise left Galveston with the pax being informed upon embarkation that there was an issue with the ship. I know my mom had said that Carnival didn't really seem like they were being completely honest about how bad the situation was until they were at sea, but I'm not really sure why it escalated to the point of protest. (Except that maybe they really didn't like Progresso, lol) I do know that the Ecstasy has had this issue numerous times since being put into Galveston. On this trip, they never did dock in Progresso, they got close but because of the winds combined with the issues they had with the ship they never docked anywhere. Upon arrival back in Galveston, they were towed to the dock with tugs. The way my family looked at it was that they got extra time on the ship, plus there were given an onboard credit and a 25% off coupon for the next cruise they booked.

 

Machinery will break, these things happen, but you're on a cruise with 2,000 other things to do. Be happy right? I know I was jealous that they were there while I was sitting here at work, broken ship or not, lol.

[LibrarianCruiser]

I might just really need a vacation, but somehow being diverted to a "different" really beautiful tropical island, or being forced to spend more time on a cruise ship just isn't worth a protest. Now, if someone tried to keep me OFF the ship, *that* would warrant a protest! :D

 

But I do agree that they should get the ship fixed! Must be hard to do so, though, with folks lined up to jump on as soon as the last guy is off the Lido deck!

[SheriNtexas]

A protest?

 

What is wrong with people? Sure, it would be lovely if all vacations went according to plan, but when it doesn't, why not make the best of it? Carnival needed to fix the problem, and they did what was necessary to do so (actually, flying things in internationally is pretty impressive. They could have just cancelled ports and the next week's cruise, but they didn't. They did what they could to make things as smooth as possible).

 

I'm going on my first Carnival cruise soon, and honestly, the thing I'm most worried about are my fellow cruisers. Based on the reviews and photos around here, you get the feeling that a good number of them are pretty big jerks with a huge helping of entitlement.

 

(Not all, of course. :) )

 

 

I HATED Progresso----the FIRST time I went there! It is so different than any other port of call that I've seen or heard of. Not very pleasing to the eye. BUT, on my last cruise I did a beach break with drinks and food paid for, and it was so much fun! As for protesting, I'm with you-going to a port of call you might not like as much surely is better than your cruise being cancelled or cut short. I mean, the ship is in the middle of the gulf and like life, things happen. Usually when these "things" happen, it is not at convenient times! I personally would not have participated in the protest shown in that picture. I mean, what are the Carnival employees supposed to do? I can understand being disappointed and I certainly am in favor of protesting when it is needed, but i personally would just be thankful that I am even ON a cruise, and just go with the flow!!:)

[tkportersat]

I don't usually either, but after problems the last two times I did before this last trip. Thankfully this time I was lucky :)

 

Im booked for Ecstasy in January. If some kind person posted the ship would be late getting in, guess I would have missed it. We get up and leave about 5 or 6 a.m. and I dont go online before I leave. Maybe I should??!!

[tkportersat]

I hated it the first time too....this time we partied with Felix and George at the bar before the shuttle pick up, they were so much fun. We did make our way into town to hang at Corona Beach for awhile to have lunch and drinks. I will happily go there again now. Makes me feel bad that in June we stayed on the boat and skipped Progreso altogether :( But we did have a nice relaxing day instead......

 

I HATED Progresso----the FIRST time I went there! It is so different than any other port of call that I've seen or heard of. Not very pleasing to the eye. BUT, on my last cruise I did a beach break with drinks and food paid for, and it was so much fun! As for protesting, I'm with you-going to a port of call you might not like as much surely is better than your cruise being cancelled or cut short. I mean, the ship is in the middle of the gulf and like life, things happen. Usually when these "things" happen, it is not at convenient times! I personally would not have participated in the protest shown in that picture. I mean, what are the Carnival employees supposed to do? I can understand being disappointed and I certainly am in favor of protesting when it is needed, but i personally would just be thankful that I am even ON a cruise, and just go with the flow!!:)

[Stircrzy]

We got an extra day at sea back in March 2005 because of propulsion problems on the Ecstasy.

 

I've been back 6 more times since then with no problems...

[MrPete]

This is what the pax on the Riveria deck are for. Get out there and kick!

[happy cruzer]

Dumb question

 

What did the protesters want? Sounds like a good compromise to get to stop somewhere.

 

I can't stand the mob mentality; it usually just makes things worse. I see a crowd; I go the other way.

[MrPete]

My family was on the cruise where they held the protest because no one wanted to go into Progresso, the pax lined the atrium shouting "hell no Progresso" my mom said it was quite a show. This was a pic someone had taken of it that I believe I got from our local paper here in Houston.

 

 

 

Too bad they just didn't turn that into one mega conga line.

 

Good grief!

[Bassic]

I wonder if it turns out to be a major problem, what CCL would do to get it fixed right? Would they cancel a cruise?

[emaksb]

I have friends waiting to get on her today.

[CGBCruiser]

I don't understand why they can't get this fixed...I know it's an older ship but it's my understanding that it is a chronic problem and this happens quite frequently.

[emaksb]

Well she made it back home Does anyone know when it will be able to leave again?

[jhale]

happy cruzer - i'm not sure what they thought they would accomplish, or what they wanted to instead. my mom said that it was hilarious to listen to some of them. "i won't allow the ship to go to progresso" she was like what are you going to do get out and push the ship away from the dock, lol. of course they never docked so i guess we'll never know, haha.

 

cgbcruiser - yes this has happened quite a few times since the ecstasy has been home ported here in galveston. not sure if it's always the exact same issue each time, but they always say it's "propulsion issues"

 

either way i look at it, a day on a ship is better than one at my desk!