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Allure and propulsion problems.


bilyclub
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What restrictions was he talking about in that post. I couldn't figure how to get to the rest of the thread.

 

Sorry about that. Everyone received a message after boarding that the Allure was speed-restricted and would have to alter its itinerary. After talking with a member of the crew, ATCMickey learned that the rotor on one azipod (Allure has three) was damaged, lessening the top speed of the ship. Just to speculate, there is a ton of stuff in the ocean that can be struck by and damage one of the rotors. The rotors are pretty balanced and damage to a single rotor can cause an imbalance that damages the rest of the engine, so they probably shut it down until it can be repaired. That is all speculation, not fact. Not sure whether it would take dry dock to repair. If not, my guess is that the Eastern Carib. itinerary will continue to be affected, at least as far as Nassau is concerned.

 

The full thread is at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=40425254#post40425254.

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Unlike some ships that can be dry docked anywhere the Oasis and Allure only have a certain amount of area. Oasis is heading to her dry docking next year in Rotterdam. Allure will be following her to Rotterdam the following year. So Allure will have to travel until 2015 with this issue unless they find a way to fix her at sea.

 

If it is a damaged blade, the ship carries extra blades on board and these can be switched out will the ship is at a port. However, if there is more damage to the Azipod motor than just a broken blade then there need to be more work done and the ship needs to be taken out of the water.

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I'm crossing my fingers that my cruise that leaves NEXT SUNDAY will be unaffected.

 

Last year our Allure cruise was cut short by 2 days due to a hurricane, and we made it to only one of our three scheduled ports. I sure hope we make it to all three this time! I'm hoping some people have more information over the next few days.

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If not, my guess is that the Eastern Carib. itinerary will continue to be affected, at least as far as Nassau is concerned.

 

Yeah, going to Nassau covers great distance from the previous port that's why, but can someone post whether the Western Carib got affected as well?

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We are leaving on the Allure this morning and on our Roll Call I asked one of our CC members on a BB and he said that the port time scheduled was not changed. So maybe whatever it was repaired. :D

 

Good luck and Bon voyage!

 

If and when you can, please post an update, I'll be eternally grateful. :D

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We are leaving on the Allure this morning and on our Roll Call I asked one of our CC members on a BB and he said that the port time scheduled was not changed. So maybe whatever it was repaired. :D

 

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed as we leave next Sunday on the Western!

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We are leaving on the Allure this morning and on our Roll Call I asked one of our CC members on a BB and he said that the port time scheduled was not changed. So maybe whatever it was repaired. :D

 

Hopefully, it was repaired during the changeover, but I think it could be simply that the Western sailings have more time built into the schedule. We will know soon!

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I sure hope so, since we all lacked info at the extent of the damage.

 

I noticed that most of us has an upcoming allure cruise on our signature..

 

So lots of worried folks out here, including me, since there is no ship substitute for Allure's size in case it got disabled... and certainly not in my sailing date as we are completely filled to capacity!!

Edited by roquejo
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Since the pods are used as thrusters in port, swinging towards/away from the dock as needed, they are more prone to blade damage than traditional propellers. A bent blade can be replaced underwater, but would require about 3 days. A full set of 4 blades could be done in about a week. Both of these will require staging of the divers with their specialized equipment and cranes, so add another 3-5 days. If there is a problem with the propeller hub, that controls the pitch of the blades, this would require drydocking. And if it is a damaged "rotor", this implies the pod motor. Some of these repairs can be done in water, some require drydocking, and nearly all require some time lag in getting parts to the ship, as these major items (very high cost) are not stocked onboard, and then the repair will still take a couple of days.

 

So, with a damaged pod, it will generally be out of service for a week at minimum, and up to a couple of months.

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If it is a damaged blade, the ship carries extra blades on board and these can be switched out will the ship is at a port. However, if there is more damage to the Azipod motor than just a broken blade then there need to be more work done and the ship needs to be taken out of the water.

I don't think so

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I don't think so

 

Why would you doubt that? The propellers are a multi-part assembly. It would not be beyond imagination that spares were carried onboard and that an efficient and skilled repair crew could replace a blade while in port.

 

I don't know if they do or don't, but it certainly is reasonable to think they do.

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