Voyage now has Propulsion Pod Problem

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Understand the Voyager now has a problem with one of it's Pods. First port on the current Athens to Venice voyage 3 Oct -17 Oct will be missed. Engineers from Germany are flying in to assess/hopefully fix the problem...hoping for minimal impact to current Voyager pax. Also, hope one of the current Voyager guests/CC members will post here with updates. Source is current Voyager passenger on board who posts on another cruise board.

[Travelcat2]

I've read a post from the ship. . . apparently the problem was discovered prior to leaving Athens. It is reportedly a minor problem. The passengers are doing fine -- only complaint is that the shops and casino are closed since they are in port. Expectations are that they will be able to go directly to Mykonos when it is fixed. I have dear friends on board -- they cancelled another cruise to be on this one. Fingers crossed that this really is a minor blip!

[OrpingtonT]

I've read a post from the ship. . . apparently the problem was discovered prior to leaving Athens. It is reportedly a minor problem. The passengers are doing fine -- only complaint is that the shops and casino are closed since they are in port. Expectations are that they will be able to go directly to Mykonos when it is fixed. I have dear friends on board -- they cancelled another cruise to be on this one. Fingers crossed that this really is a minor blip!

Good to hear. Thanks.

[xrvlcruiser]

could you point me to the site you read about the pod issue?

[nancygp]

Peggy,

It's the other board you and I frequent!

Nancy

[xrvlcruiser]

Thanks Nancy, I found it . . .

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh boy, that's all we need; last time this happened a cruise was cancelled later down the road, as I remember. Since we're booked in December, I'll be worried about this until it gets resolved.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Let's hope it IS minor and the cruise will continue as planned. Keeping fingers crossed....

[PaulaJK]

Having 'been there,done this' I truly hope that this is a problem that can be quickly fixed. Unfortunately, the fact that the engineers have been called in from Germany sounds all too familiar and ominous. I feel for all of the pax whether they have quit jobs, canceled a cruise or just plain olde planned on this one. I also feel for Regent who has continuing problems with pods.

[xplrcrzn]

I' m not sure I understand how engineers can fly from Germany overnight, examine the ship and fix even a minor problem in time for the ship to sail the next day. But German engineers are pretty efficient so here's hoping it all get done.

[Observer]

Regent seems to have a lot of problems with its propulsion system. There was a huge problem on the WC a year or two back.

Just out of curiosity, is the system used on Mariner/Voyager different from the system used on other luxury lines (Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea)?

[Travelcat2]

Regent seems to have a lot of problems with its propulsion system. There was a huge problem on the WC a year or two back.

Just out of curiosity, is the system used on Mariner/Voyager different from the system used on other luxury lines (Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea)?

The Crystal ships have mermaid pod propulsion (one of the ships was disabled at the same time the Voyager was last year). Although many ships have the "mermaid pod propulsion", it sounds as if it has been upgraded in recent years. The Seabourn Odyssey had fishing nets caught on the starboard pod last year, so, assume the Sojourn and the upcoming Quest have them. Not sure about the older Seabourn ships or Silversea. When I was looking this information up, I read about many pod problems with Celebrity ships.

[hondorner]

There have been problems with the azipod systems on many, if not most, of the ships equipped with them. The latest is the Norwegian Jewel, which has recently (since the beginning of September) had to reduce speed and skip ports because of a vibration in a pod thrust bearing. The problem has been described as the "dreaded thrust bearing problem". In 2003, Royal Caribbean sued Rolls Royce and some other companies over problems with the Mermaid brand pod system installed on several Celebrity ships (I didn't check to see how or if it was settled).

Other than the thrust bearings, the pods (complete with their electric motors) hang exposed under the rear of the ship, alongside the keel. and are only minimally protected by the keel. They are subject to damage by banging into something or by being caught in a net, which I believe is what happened to Voyager in the past. They are wonderfully maneuverable when they are working properly, able to rotate 360 degrees under the hull and provide the function of rear thrusters for docking, but if anything is damaged that maneuverability may be one of the first things lost.

The maneuverability, and the fact that there are no traditional rotating propeller shafts penetrating the hull as in tradition propulsion systems, is why marine architects chose them in the first place. I don't know if current installations have been re-engineered to eliminate or reduce the problems, but almost all pods of a certain age are probably going to give some trouble at times.

Fortunately, there is little real danger involved; usually just reducing speed will enable to ship to proceed, and like a two-engine plane, it would be very, very unlikely for there to be two complete failures at one instance, so the ship should be always able to make it to port. The problem arise with the disappointment and inconvenience of passengers when a voyage is slowed.

[room010]

Oh boy, that's all we need; last time this happened a cruise was cancelled later down the road, as I remember. Since we're booked in December, I'll be worried about this until it gets resolved.

Prophetic words... :(


http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1286354

[PaulaJK]

Was Regent being a bit disingenuous in its presentation. A 'minor' problem would have been fixed by its own engineers. I guess that they were holding out hope that the company's engineers would be able to work a miracle. It's deja vu all over again! Where are they takng the ship after Wednesday and how long will it be out of service?

[dfb]

Just read from those onboard that the current cruise has been cancelled. No word on when RSSC expects Voyager to be back in service.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Oh gee, this is bad. I will be watching with great interest to see how subsequent cruises are affected. I feel so sorry for these folks and the ones on the next cruise. Perhaps fortunately this current cruise was scheduled to the 17th, ending in Venice, so maybe they can get this problem fixed and scramble over to Venice for the next cruise.

I know after the previous debacles with the pods we heard they were having replacement pods built so they could be replaced quickly--I wonder if they did this.

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

When the Voyager last had the pod problem during the last few segments of the WC in 2009, they scrambled to find drydock space (Dubai) then it took
3-4 weeks to fix. Believe 3 cruises were affected...Wendy do hope you're right and they have a replacement pod ready to go.

[alexandra cruiser]

plus, must sail back to Fl....if not fixed,,,what do they do?Just offer refunds?Find another ship to put passengers on for next voyage??What a mess....may scout out back up plans just in case....should I worry so soon?Anyone else in same boat,literally,? Feel SO sorry for current pax...:eek:

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Yes, we are on the voyage (transatlantic) before yours. Have alerted our TA and am looking at plan B options (nov/dec) (voyages on Silversea or Seabourn) problem is we need a formal announcment from Regent before booking (within final pay window). Have also alerted our Tvl Insurance agent...hoping for the best (esp for current Voyager pax and 17 Oct, 27 Oct Voyager Voyages) but planning for the worst.

[OrpingtonT]

Yes, we are on the voyage (transatlantic) before yours.

We are also expecting to sail on Nov 8, and are sitting tight hoping that problems will be fixed. If not, who knows. Our personal problems don't allow for easy changes.

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Tom, like you am hopeful our sailing is a go :)

[hondorner]

We were scheduled to sail to the Western Caribbean last December on Navigator, when it was canceled due to dry dock conflicts. We got a nice Future Cruise Credit for this year's sailing on Voyager. If it should be canceled, there will likely be another Future Cruise Credit. If that kept up for enough years, we'd eventually be paid to go on the December cruise! In the meantime, other guests could arrange their December schedule around which cruise we chose...:rolleyes:

[pooky303]

I have very good friends on board at the moment and they are very upset at the situation and the way Regent have handled it! They just announced it on the tannoy with no prior warning after yesterday telling passengers it was a 'minor' problem! They have disabled the internet access on board so they are unable to go online at the moment, Regent seem unsure of whether they will be giving future cruise credit or any compensation, they have had this cruise booked for a long time and are very very disappointed!

[Sunviking]

We only have a small window of opportunity for my husband to be off sufficient time for a cruise. I'm hopeful that the pod problem will be fixed before November 8. I sent an inquiry to Regent late last night asking about the problem. The following is the reply I just received

We’ve been advised that the Voyager will be fixed and shouldn’t be an issue by the time your cruise comes up. It did experience propulsion problems and we have had to cancel the cruise that was leaving on 10/03. We are working right now to fly those guests home and already have a spot in dry-dock reserved to fix the ship.

I feel badly for those passengers who have had their cruise so abruptly ended. In the meantime I shall remain optimistic about our cruise on 11/08.

[Travelcat2]

This is sad news for the many people on board. However, Regent will absolutely, 100% take care of these passengers. Sometimes there are communication issues in the midst of a crisis. They would not have turned off the internet without a darn good reason. When the Mariner was disabled with pod problems, free internet and phone service was made available to all. Right now their priority is to get the passengers safely home and the ship to Genoa and drydock.

From USA Today:

Regent Seven Seas cruise canceled after engine malfunction
Comments 1

By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

One of luxury line Regent Seven Seas' three ships, the Seven Seas Voyager, is experiencing a propulsion problem and will need to be repaired before it can sail again.

A spokesperson for the line tells USA TODAY the 700-passenger vessel developed the problem on Sunday as it was preparing to depart from Athens on a Mediterranean cruise.

The voyage has been canceled.

"The ship will remain alongside (the dock) in Athens, Greece to hotel guests while arrangements are made to fly all guests back to their city of origin," the line says in a statement. "Regent Seven Seas Cruises hopes to have all guests enroute back to their city of origin by Oct. 6."

Complimentary hotel accommodations in Athens will be arranged for any passenger not enroute home by Oct. 6, the line adds.

Regent says the Seven Seas Voyager will depart Athens on Oct. 6 for Genoa, Italy, where its propulsion system will undergo an assessment and repair in a dry dock.

The line didn't give an estimate of when the ship would return to service.

"Regent Seven Seas Cruises regrets any inconvenience and disappointment this has caused for our valued guests and travel partners," the line's statement says. "We will provide further updates and details on the disposition of the ship's future voyages once the technical team has begun their assessment and established the timeframe needed for repairs."

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Thanks Sunviking for the report. (But why the big font?--it's like you're shouting.)

For us, who are cruising in November and December, I don't think we should worry yet, or jump to conclusions. I remember one time this happened, one consequence was that they had to cancel the cruise before ours in the Caribbean, so ours filled up. Which was fine, but I would rather not have that happen, obviously.

Now if I were on the October 17th cruise out of Venice, I'd definitely be worried. In fact I'd be worried about both of the Med itineraries before the crossing--and that last one on October 27 looks so interesting!

.

[PaulaJK]

Col. Wes...a slight modification since I was on the last segment of the damaged pod/ WC' 09. We limped along, missing most ports except the very pivotal Safaga [Luxor, Valley of the Kings] and Aqaba [Petra]. They did indeed have to scramble for last minute dry dock and found it in Genoa, where Voyager had been built. That's why we disembarked in Rome rather than the original Istanbul.

My thoughts fall into 2 parts
1.How far in advance did Regent know of this pod problem? Long enough to advise people not to travel? And yes, it was the same flying in of the company engineers to fix the problem....not consistent with a "minor" problem. Why fib..it alienates people. IF Regent has truly extinguished internet availablity, shame on them. But could this be part of an electrical problem? What good would it do them since folks have blackberries & international phones these days....and they didn't do it during our experience.

2.I will be interested in the compensation. In our experience, at first it was a generous offer for those on board which shrunk somewhat when the reality and enormity sunk in I suppose. There was NO future cruise compensation so that recurring phrase has me interested! Regent gave back a percentage of the cruise fare plus sent us home in the class of service in which we arrived.

I think that Regent tried to do a fair job for the pax on board although some of the administrative staff seemed to miss how disappointed &
unhappy many of the pax were...of course, there were also a few unreasonable pax who thought that they could negotiate owning the line!

I feel sorry for the current pax and wish all of them a safe journey...also for the crew because many are unanticipatedly set home with the dry dock.

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Thanks everyone for the timely Voyager information. This is precisely why I enjoy Cruise Critic..u generally get the most up to date information of the problem.

Ann, hopefully no other Voyager cruises will be affected not only for the pax but for Regent's/Appollo's bottom line. In the event subsequent cruises are affected, pls keep in mind Regent needs to reposition the Voyager back to the Florida for the Nov/Dec caribbean season and then the WC.

[slj60]

Now if I were on the October 17th cruise out of Venice, I'd definitely be worried. In fact I'd be worried about both of the Med itineraries before the crossing--and that last one on October 27 looks so interesting!

.[/quote]
Ominous words Wendy.

Oh Joy! We are on the October 17th cruise to celebrate our wedding anniversay and also our 50th birthday's. This cruise was to make up for the holiday that was cancelled on my birthday this year because the ash cloud over europe from the icelandic volcano erupting the night before. I have just called our TA and they don't know anything about this yet, but it sounds like a major problem.
I think I should just not book any more holidays as anything I book is obviously jinxed
And I was so excited about this one too

[Observer]

They have disabled the internet access on board so they are unable to go online at the moment.

This is very disturbing, if true. The fact that there have been no recent posts from the Voyager suggests that it may well be true. I would have expected that someone would give an update from the ship if internet were functioning. Surely sitting in Pireaus port there is no problem with satellite access; it's not as if Athens is deep in fjords. I would think that internet would be especially necessary as people are making alternate plans.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Why would they cut off the internet? Makes no sense, but isn't that what they did last time too? I would love to hear the reasoning on that.

slj60, I'm sorry you have to worry---hope it turns out for you!

[wripro]

I'm sure Regent will take excellent care of the passengers on the current cruise as well as the upcoming one. My question however is how much of a public relations problem will this be for the Voyager? With the pod problem on the world cruise last year and now this, how comfortable will people be booking the ship, wondering if it might happen again?

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

also high hopes for your cruise too Slj60. We won't know for certain the status of future Voyager cruises until the Regent Technical team has made their Voyager Pod problem assessment and timeline for repairs. Since ship's internet is down, enterprising pax could go in town to nearest internet cafe to get online with family, et.al.

ps..good point on PR challenge Henry.

[Suite Travels]

It is really ashame when any cruise cancels. All the planning only to be shipped home. The pod issue with Regent has been an ongoing issue.

[Travelcat2]

Since they are in Athens, once they are off the ship they will have access to the internet. The last communication I received from the ship was approx. 1:00 a.m. (their time). Still believe they are doing this for a reason - certainly not to make it more difficult for passengers.

Yes -- the pods have been an ongoing issue on the Voyager and Mariner as well as with Celebrity and Crystal cruises. I find it interesting that the new Seabourn ships have pods (an updated version).

Once passengers get to the airport communication should resume. Just hope they are doing okay.

[tallship]

During the ash cloud, Regent cut off outr internet the night before disembarkation so they could "settle" everyone's account. Not sure if the same is happening here.

[nancygp]

TC,

The Crystal Serenity had a pod issue during the 2009 WC but it isn't an ongoing issue. In fact, when the problem occured, the ship missed a couple of ports but there were no voyages cancelled.

I'm so sad for all the folks on this cruise. I have many friends onboard and they had planned this trip soooo far in advance.

I sure hope for the others with near future cruises, all will be fixed soon.

Nancy

[Sunviking]

Thanks Sunviking for the report. (But why the big font?--it's like you're shouting.)


.

I'm sorry that you thought so, but I'm not shouting; I just have a hard time reading some of the small print. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. I thought all caps was considered to be shouting.

[Dan Askin]

Hi everyone,

We posted a report with some additional information ... feel terrible for all those impacted:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4119

Thanks,

Dan

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Dan, Thanks...good story..best I've read from the Travel news sources.

SunViking/Ann...also heard from our tvl agent who heard from Regent--they expect our TA (8 Nov) to go...also heard from cruise friends in Switzerland who board the Voyager 27 Oct and Regent told them that cruise should be OK too. However, we won't know for certain until after the drydock pod damage assessment is done in Genoa.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I'm sorry that you thought so, but I'm not shouting; I just have a hard time reading some of the small print. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be. I thought all caps was considered to be shouting.

Okay, sorry, I understand.

Depending on your browser, you can probably just do "Control +" a couple of times and get all of the fonts made bigger for your eyes--I do this all the time myself.

[Dan Askin]

Dan, Thanks...good story..best I've read from the Travel news sources.

SunViking/Ann...also heard from our tvl agent who heard from Regent--they expect our TA (8 Nov) to go...also heard from cruise friends in Switzerland who board the Voyager 27 Oct and Regent told them that cruise should be OK too. However, we won't know for certain until after the drydock pod damage assessment is done in Genoa.

Thanks Colonel. We'll post an update as soon as we get further details on the dry-dock.

[wacogirl]

I am just sick to my stomach right now...we are on the Oct. 17th Voyager cruise out of Venice and have only been planning this cruise for over a year. I'm just crossing my fingers...:confused:

[jhp]

I am on the ship now. Internet was not "cut off", it was just extremely spotty all day, as it is many times from port to port. It's easy to get on at this hour.

Life onboard continues as if we were on a cruise, while Regent sorts things out to get us all home. There are excursions, all the entertainment continues, etc.

When people are disappointed, they often have to put the blame on something other than fate. I have no idea when the problem originated, and to this point have no complaints at all about Regent or their handling of the matter. Had a chat in Athens at my hotel with people who had just disembarked from last week's cruise, and they had no inkling of an engine problem or I'm sure they would have mentioned it, like "limping along" that the ship does with pod problems.

[smilingcruiser]

Wendy - I just tried hitting control + - it worked, My question is, now how do I get stuff back to its original size?

Did not mean to hijack this thread - I am happy to read that passengers on board are not blaming Regent, and I never, for a moment, thought that they had "shut off" the internet.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Wendy - I just tried hitting control + - it worked, My question is, now how do I get stuff back to its original size?

Did not mean to hijack this thread - I am happy to read that passengers on board are not blaming Regent, and I never, for a moment, thought that they had "shut off" the internet.

Can't help with the fonts, I think you'll have to live with it.

Yes, it's nice that things are going okay over there, considering, and that the internet issue was overstated. Hope Regent handles this well!

[DaveFr]

Wendy - I just tried hitting control + - it worked, My question is, now how do I get stuff back to its original size?
Pressing "Control -" should do the trick.

Dave

[NCCruzQueen]

jhp, Thanks for posting. Glad to hear that Regent is trying to give you all two good days on the Voyager.

[Colonel(Ret.)Wes]

Hi Olivia, thanks so much for taking time for an onboard report....sure do like your
positive attitude...enjoy Athens and your cruise friends & then save travels home.

[smilingcruiser]

Dave and Wendy - Thank you, it worked!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Pressing "Control -" should do the trick.

Dave

Sorry, yes of course I should have told you that--I thought you were talking about your original large font postings.

[Suite Travels]

Only the Crystal Serenity has the pod's and no vibration problems.

[PaulaJK]

Has anyone learned about the severity of the damage. Yes, I understand that the final word will only come during dry dock but a poster in another note said that Voyager had to be moved out of its berth with tugs. Perhaps this explains why she did not limp along to the port for Rome and disembark pax there, an easier destination for getting home. This had been the choice on the last down-pod cruise and then Voyager headed off to Genoa.

I certainly hope for everyone's sake that Voyager has an easily repaired problem.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I've been reading all the posts from pax on board with a group, on the other board, and aside from all the disappointment, etc., it sounds like Regent is doing a fair job of this. After all, it's important to remember that this is not their fault (except perhaps in the broadest sense).

If they are towing the ship, this sounds very serious. I will be hanging on every report meanwhile since we are supposed to sail in 2 months. :eek: If our cruise gets screwed up, I'll be spending an unscheduled week in Florida.

[smilingcruiser]

Suite Travels - I really don't think anyone on this board is interested in Crystal Serenity.

[Travelcat2]

Wendy, could you please tell tell me what other board you are reading?
My wife and I are hopefully sailing on Voyager from 11/23 to 12/10 but this pod problem has us really worried. Hope they can fix it. Thanks, Mel

CruiseCritic guidelines do not allow us to post information about Travel Agents. The other board is run by a TA. I can tell you that there is no information on the other board that isn't here. If we read any information on the Voyager, we'll post it here.

Based on what the news articles said yesterday, the engine just wouldn't start. Until it actually gets into drydock and can be looked at, all we will read is speculation.

I heard from my friend who is onboard. Apparently 38 people left as of last night. Many are leaving in the early (very early) hours tomorrow so the ship will remain in Athens one more day.

On a lighter note, lots of OBCs are being used for expensive wine and champagne. They seem to be partying quite heavily (which, under the circumstances is a good thing). The reason some are flying home instead of going elsewhere is simply the difficulty in communications (e-mail and telephone). It's nice that many have one more day to enjoy the ship.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Yes, we can't tell you, sorry. My TA is on board with a largish group, so many of them are posting their own anecdotes, about their flight arrangements, land arrangements, etc. But there's no more hard information over there than there is here.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Having been stranded at sea on the Mariner out of Alaska in 2005, I can say it was a logistical nightmare for Regent then....and last year Voyager had the same problem as it's having now. A group of passengers onboard are having a bit of deja vu because they were on the same cruise in 2005. At least in 2005 it was after the final port that the pod broke down. On this one, to travel all that way to go nowhere is very sad.

[dougburns]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the towing issue. The cruise terminal in Pireaus is a fairly tight area and they would need both pods to safely manuever away from the pier. I'm relatively sure that the captain just decided to be on the safe side and use tugs.

[WC11]

I have very good friends on board at the moment and they are very upset at the situation and the way Regent have handled it! They just announced it on the tannoy with no prior warning after yesterday telling passengers it was a 'minor' problem! They have disabled the internet access on board so they are unable to go online at the moment, Regent seem unsure of whether they will be giving future cruise credit or any compensation, they have had this cruise booked for a long time and are very very disappointed!

The Regent bookkeeping system is very efficient and they do shut the internet down at the end at midnight. No if ands or butts. I don't think this is an effort to try to censor this mess, but if it is all you have to do is get off the ship and find someplace with wifi.

When the ash cloud stopped all the traffic going into Europe from Cape Town Regent did everything under the sun to fix an impossible problem. You would have to think they are doing it now. But What a Mess.

Oh sorry missed JHP's post, she's right the internet can get very spotty.