Caribbean Princess Engine Problems

[beckcab]

The Caribbean Princess may be running slower but at least she's moving! Spirit of Glacier Bay Runs Aground in Glacier Bay. That would be the pits!

[Medic 5]

I am on the July 28th sailing and was notified last week of the change. This is my first Princess cruise but have been on 25+. I think it will be fine but a bit concerned about no stabilziers.We can not wait!

[Casshew]

What do you mean 'no stabilizers'?

[Colo Cruiser]

er, I think Colo Cruiser was being sarcastic. The speeds are not that much different and Princess has acknowledged a mechanical problem beginning with the 6/22 cruise. Why is it you are so insistent that this is a deliberate slowdown to save fuel??

 

 

;) ;)

[Sandytoes]

er, I think Colo Cruiser was being sarcastic.

The speeds are not that much different and Princess has acknowledged a mechanical problem beginning with the 6/22 cruise.

 

Why is it you are so insistent that this is a deliberate slowdown to save fuel??

You don't say!!! :eek:

 

:rolleyes:

Thats a no brainer!!! It's so obvious...

That's exactly how I read it...Well there you are. :D

 

As for your question

Well that's an interesting one! I could write a whole essay on it but maybe another time.;)

 

;)

:D

[Medic 5]

My wife and kids are sailing on the 28th and I heard the sabiliziers are not working at all........I mentioned it to my wife and her eye;s opened wide! I hope we have a smooth trip.Has anyone else heard that the stabilizer's were not working?:eek:

[domdombus]

My wife and kids are sailing on the 28th and I heard the sabiliziers are not working at all........I mentioned it to my wife and her eye;s opened wide! I hope we have a smooth trip.Has anyone else heard that the stabilizer's were not working?:eek:

 

No that is not true, that was posted by a few crazies when the CB was returning through HIGH SEAS into NYC.

[Griff4AU]

My wife and kids are sailing on the 28th and I heard the sabiliziers are not working at all........I mentioned it to my wife and her eye;s opened wide! I hope we have a smooth trip.Has anyone else heard that the stabilizer's were not working?:eek:

Not true at all. We had a rough day coming in to NY on the 22 June sailing. The ship would have really been rocking if the stabilizers had been completely out. Having been on the CB before, I will say that at one point during the cruise I thought they brought them (stabilizers) offline as we were trying to hustle to Bermuda.

 

Internet Whiners.... don't pay attention to them. Al Gore never would have invented the Internet had he known all the misinformation that was going to be spread on it!!!

[Medic 5]

Thanks so much for the info......we can not wait to go!

[Casshew]

My wife and kids are sailing on the 28th and I heard the sabiliziers are not working at all........I mentioned it to my wife and her eye;s opened wide! I hope we have a smooth trip.Has anyone else heard that the stabilizer's were not working?:eek:

 

I've been reading trip reports and live from the cb reports, no indication of problems like you describe. There was a bad sea day last week, but it was mother nature - not stabilizers :p

[Sandytoes]

we can not wait to go!

 

I can't wait for our cruise...:D It can't come soon enough.

 

As for the why's - how come's

I don't think we'll ever know.

If there were an issue - problem with the ship I don't

think Princess would indulge that kind of information,

in order not to worry the passengers.

Safety is their primary concern.

[Nymue]

Cass, Sandy ~

 

Order an Ultimate Cooler, (or 2, maybe 3)....Take it up to the Hot Tub on the Pirate's View and No Worries :D

 

Anne ..... Who cares about stinkin' stablizers :p

[fxcarden]

I just booked Dec 14 out of San Juan on this ship, and started reading reviews here just to see what this ship was like......of course, I had to run into all these "engine problems" threads.......there may be some issues, but some posts don't make too much sense....

 

 

Someone posted.....

 

NYC to Grand Turk - 19.3 knots avg

Grand Turk to San Juan - 18.3 knots avg

San Juan to St. Thomas - 13. 8 knots avg

St. Thomas to West End Bermuda - 19.9 knots avg

West End Bermuda to NYC - 19.9 knots avg

 

 

 

Based on some very simple math, these numbers appear to get the ship from point A to point B on schedule.

 

For example.......distance between St Thomas and San Juan is about 90 miles......at 13.8 knots (about 15 mph), this should be covered in about 6 hours. The itinerary allows for 13 hours to do this........I don't understand the concern for speed......it's a CRUISE.....I would only want my ship to go 25 knots when it needed to go that fast to keep up with the schedule.

 

I don't cruise every year, but the 5 or 6 times I've been on a cruise, I don't think I've ever seen a ship go full throttle. I also found some data for this ship that lists its "service speed" at 21.7 knots.......19.9 on the NYC to Grand Turk leg is less than 2 knots off from that speed.........

 

Personally......as long as it floats..............

[Melissa5920]

Check out LoveBoatDreams post on her live from CB thread. She talked with an assistant purser and it should clear up all theories and issues with the engine. Go over and read her info to get full details but apparently a few sailing's ago one of the engines exploded. Finally a story that fits in with all the known details and hopefully will lay all the theories to rest!:D

[Love Boat Dream]

We sat at lunch with the first purser (the assistant purser) who is the only American officer on board. Here is what he told me about the engine: Two cruises ago, one of the 6 engines (electric diesel) EXPLODED. It was pretty nasty but luckily no one got seriously injured. The ship is doing fine on 5 engines, but we can’t hit our top speed and we would need that to get to all of the ports. Tortola was put in instead of St Martin because they couldn’t go to the original ports and still make it back to NY on time. They have to wait to the refitting in January to fix the engine. Not because of a warranty but because they have to make a big hole in the side of the ship to get the old engine out and put the new one in. So, the rest of the Caribbean sailings will be affected. The Canada/ New England sailings will be fine because they don’t need top speeds for those ports. He didn’t know the status of the repositioning cruise and if there would be changes in that sailing. He said it had nothing to do with the fuel either.

 

Right now we are sailing through a rain storm. The ship is going smoothly and the stabilizers are fine. Hope that answers some questions.

[Nymue]

Thank You for posting that!!!!!

I hope you're cruise has been as good as our's was, we sailed on the one prior to you :D

 

We sat at lunch with the first purser (the assistant purser) who is the only American officer on board. Here is what he told me about the engine: Two cruises ago, one of the 6 engines (electric diesel) EXPLODED. It was pretty nasty but luckily no one got seriously injured. The ship is doing fine on 5 engines, but we can’t hit our top speed and we would need that to get to all of the ports. Tortola was put in instead of St Martin because they couldn’t go to the original ports and still make it back to NY on time. They have to wait to the refitting in January to fix the engine. Not because of a warranty but because they have to make a big hole in the side of the ship to get the old engine out and put the new one in. So, the rest of the Caribbean sailings will be affected. The Canada/ New England sailings will be fine because they don’t need top speeds for those ports. He didn’t know the status of the repositioning cruise and if there would be changes in that sailing. He said it had nothing to do with the fuel either.

 

Right now we are sailing through a rain storm. The ship is going smoothly and the stabilizers are fine. Hope that answers some questions.

[bhopal21]

We sat at lunch with the first purser (the assistant purser) who is the only American officer on board. Here is what he told me about the engine: Two cruises ago, one of the 6 engines (electric diesel) EXPLODED. It was pretty nasty but luckily no one got seriously injured. The ship is doing fine on 5 engines, but we can’t hit our top speed and we would need that to get to all of the ports. Tortola was put in instead of St Martin because they couldn’t go to the original ports and still make it back to NY on time. They have to wait to the refitting in January to fix the engine. Not because of a warranty but because they have to make a big hole in the side of the ship to get the old engine out and put the new one in. So, the rest of the Caribbean sailings will be affected. The Canada/ New England sailings will be fine because they don’t need top speeds for those ports. He didn’t know the status of the repositioning cruise and if there would be changes in that sailing. He said it had nothing to do with the fuel either.

 

Right now we are sailing through a rain storm. The ship is going smoothly and the stabilizers are fine. Hope that answers some questions.

 

Finally, someone with some real facts to post!

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Mike:)

[JandD Mom]

LBD,

 

You deserve a medal for all of the great information you have passed along about your cruise. I, and all of the other folks who will be on the CB in the near future owe you a debt of gratitude.

 

I have thought for a while that our trip to Canada/NE won't be impacted because the ports are so close to one another. Thanks for the confirmation! :D

[Clutterlady]

We sat at lunch with the first purser (the assistant purser) who is the only American officer on board. Here is what he told me about the engine: Two cruises ago, one of the 6 engines (electric diesel) EXPLODED. It was pretty nasty but luckily no one got seriously injured. The ship is doing fine on 5 engines, but we can’t hit our top speed and we would need that to get to all of the ports. Tortola was put in instead of St Martin because they couldn’t go to the original ports and still make it back to NY on time. They have to wait to the refitting in January to fix the engine. Not because of a warranty but because they have to make a big hole in the side of the ship to get the old engine out and put the new one in. So, the rest of the Caribbean sailings will be affected. The Canada/ New England sailings will be fine because they don’t need top speeds for those ports. He didn’t know the status of the repositioning cruise and if there would be changes in that sailing. He said it had nothing to do with the fuel either.

 

Right now we are sailing through a rain storm. The ship is going smoothly and the stabilizers are fine. Hope that answers some questions.

 

Thank you very much for the update! Hopes this puts all the conspiracy theory's to rest:D

[fxcarden]

Some specs on this ship........

 

http://www.beyondships.com/files/CB_Fact_sheet.PDF

[Sandytoes]

Cass, Sandy ~

 

Order an Ultimate Cooler, (or 2, maybe 3)....Take it up to the Hot Tub on the Pirate's View and No Worries :D

 

Anne ..... Who cares about stinkin' stablizers :p

 

 

 

Thanks Anne!!!

:D

 

We sat at lunch with the first purser (the assistant purser) who is the only American officer on board. Here is what he told me about the engine: Two cruises ago, one of the 6 engines (electric diesel) EXPLODED. It was pretty nasty but luckily no one got seriously injured. The ship is doing fine on 5 engines, but we can’t hit our top speed and we would need that to get to all of the ports. Tortola was put in instead of St Martin because they couldn’t go to the original ports and still make it back to NY on time. They have to wait to the refitting in January to fix the engine. Not because of a warranty but because they have to make a big hole in the side of the ship to get the old engine out and put the new one in. So, the rest of the Caribbean sailings will be affected. The Canada/ New England sailings will be fine because they don’t need top speeds for those ports. He didn’t know the status of the repositioning cruise and if there would be changes in that sailing. He said it had nothing to do with the fuel either.

 

Right now we are sailing through a rain storm. The ship is going smoothly and the stabilizers are fine. Hope that answers some questions.

Thanks for the info

 

Some specs on this ship........

 

http://www.beyondships.com/files/CB_Fact_sheet.PDF

 

Thanks for posting!

 

Speed: 21.5 knots cruising (22.5 knots maximum)

Wartsila ZA40S diesel engines (four V-16, two V-12)

[KShea]

I have no reason to embellish what I experienced. If your sailing was fine in June that's great. I'm telling you of my experience in May.

 

As far as how I knew what the crew was thinking. Well, first off, I have a very uncanny ability of being able to read people. Putting that aside, a waiter running to the window in the dining room and looking out aft might give me a clue that this was out of the ordinary. Also being in Club Fusion and watching glances between the cruise director's staff and then having them crack a joke about it when other passengers are commenting is also a clue to this was out of the ordinary. I'm not trying to be a snide to you but I'm not one on these boards to post and complain. I'm very easy going and my cruises have all been a wonderful experience for us despite things that others would say ruined their cruise. We just aren't like that.

 

What ever happened in May could of been repaired and the CB is having some other problems. I'm not a mechanic nor do I play one on TV. :) I just know what I felt and having sailed twice before on the same ship in the aft (E731 both sailings) I know what I felt was different.

 

I was not in the least suggesting that you were "snide". What I am saying is that a lot of new cruisers read these boards and get a bit "nervous" about what is posted.

Being on the previous cruise I think I can honestly say that except for being a bit slower there was noting different about this cruise than any cruise before. Being an experienced cruiser you can understand the apprehenshion of new cruisers. I just don't want their heads to be filled with worries when they don't have to be. Have a great day......

[KShea]

It is pretty much confirmed that the CB has a down generator. Confirmed where? Well the site people are now using as their basis for the FUEL SLOW DOWN, lists the CB as having a bad generator not a down engine.

Passengers noting there are AC problems especially the Theater, also note all the people that have said there are NO AC problems don't mention the Theater. Some note certain rooms have failing AC and the fuel conspiracy people are saying thats not true its people leaving their balcony doors open. I wasn't aware internal cabins had balcony doors to leave open, must be a new feature.

 

Also the fuel conspiracy people that are now pointing to the website showing several ships with slowdown issues, have ignored the ship that is canceling a cruise to go into dry dock to repair an engine.

 

but of course that is because that ship has decided to try a new Ultimate

fuel saving technique..... DRY DOCK!

 

I bet if gas hits $5 a gallon, more ships will try the DRY DOCK fuel saving option.

 

I think the Cruise lines should really look into that guy that flies his lawn chair via party balloons, if they lined all the outside decks with these party balloons that would make the ship lighter and save more fuel.

 

And or seal off 10% of the cabins and fill them with Helium.

 

There was NO AC problems in the Princess Theater on the June 22nd sailing. I was in that theater a number of times and my wife needed a sweater on a number of occasions. As a matter of fact there was NO where on the ship that I thought the AC was lacking. Ask people that were on the previous curise. Dont read into spection...

[Colo Cruiser]

We sat at lunch with the first purser (the assistant purser) who is the only American officer on board. Here is what he told me about the engine: Two cruises ago, one of the 6 engines (electric diesel) EXPLODED. It was pretty nasty but luckily no one got seriously injured. The ship is doing fine on 5 engines, but we can’t hit our top speed and we would need that to get to all of the ports. Tortola was put in instead of St Martin because they couldn’t go to the original ports and still make it back to NY on time. They have to wait to the refitting in January to fix the engine. Not because of a warranty but because they have to make a big hole in the side of the ship to get the old engine out and put the new one in. So, the rest of the Caribbean sailings will be affected. The Canada/ New England sailings will be fine because they don’t need top speeds for those ports. He didn’t know the status of the repositioning cruise and if there would be changes in that sailing. He said it had nothing to do with the fuel either.

 

Right now we are sailing through a rain storm. The ship is going smoothly and the stabilizers are fine. Hope that answers some questions.

 

 

 

Great news but I hope this Officer does not get hammered for giving out this info. :eek:

[pchoofinit]

We are going on the 28th Cruise from NY. I assume from all the posts, I've read, that Princess is going from the Brooklyn dock and not the Manhattan? If they have more engine trouble, would that put us stuck at sea? what would happen then? Any suggestions for sea sickness? My hubby gets it bad. Last cruise (our first) he had the patches and mescline and homeopathic remedies and tolerated the cruise well. I hope we don't neary miss a hurricane, as the cruise ships are now, he wouldn't enjoy that at all! LOL I love it rockin! LOL. anyways. good luck Dave, with your daughter, I know how special they are! ;)