Propulsion Damage on the Anthem !!

I wonder when the failure to the propulsion unit occurred? What I mean is, when during the storm they tried to keep the bow pointed into the wind, were they doing so with all propulsion, or down one? It would be interesting to know if the ship were capable to hold that position down a pod.

At first the reported slow speed was linked to following the weather rather than sailing back into it, which sounded plausible, but the tug boat on scene for docking told me the gig was up.

I'm looking forward to learning more, seeing more videos, more photos. I'm not really into the shouting matches people are having, but I find the whole thing fascinating.

I agree completely lmaxwell. Very curious how time will play this out- how the industry will react and grow, and most importantly how cc community can support each other in times like these.

The change in arrival time from 6 AM to 9 PM and slow return speed did make one wonder. :)

I agree completely lmaxwell. Very curious how time will play this out- how the industry will react and grow, and most importantly how cc community can support each other in times like these.

An article which is spot on about the industry !!

http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2016/02/11/note-to-cruise-lines-and-politicians-we-save-our-forecasts/

I wonder when the failure to the propulsion unit occurred? What I mean is, when during the storm they tried to keep the bow pointed into the wind, were they doing so with all propulsion, or down one? It would be interesting to know if the ship were capable to hold that position down a pod.

 

According to our resident engineer on another thread, they wouldn't have been able to hold their position in that wind with one down.

The change in arrival time from 6 AM to 9 PM and slow return speed did make one wonder. :)

A posting from someone aboard said the wake looked like one side was running faster than the other. I suspect they know what's wrong by now, the pods can be accessed from inside.

An article which is spot on about the industry !!

 

http://blogs.agu.org/wildwildscience/2016/02/11/note-to-cruise-lines-and-politicians-we-save-our-forecasts/

I just posted in another thread referencing this article which I read earlier.

I do want to note that this says Hurricane Force, which is 74 MPH. It never says Cat 3 or 4. It also never says Cat 1 for that matter. Just says hurricane force.

So, I mean, isn't it possible that Royal Caribbean BOTH had the forecasts AND did not expect what was actually encountered? I'm not trying to white knight too hard here, but isn't it possible that these forecasts were NOT just quickly glanced at and pushed aside?

I don't know what to think, I'm not absolving or roasting anyone, but I just have a hard time accepting that a seasoned mariner would not look at weather with proper diligence, especially considering he is sailing in winter from the north east, and double especially that the two prior itineraries had weather related impacts to their itinerary.

This type of damage was anticipated here while the ship was still at sea.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=49026303#post49026303

According to our resident engineer on another thread, they wouldn't have been able to hold their position in that wind with one down.

Wonder if 8 knots is all the ship can do on one pod? Or were they just conserving it out of abundance of caution b/c didn't have a pressing need to get back Wednesday AM. Someone said they needed it to be low tide to get under the bridge, but that occurred at 3:30PM and high tide was 9:22PM. So <?????>

I think he meant port side lacking, tho' OP's link says port side was doing the work

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49061076&postcount=1594

Sorry to hear this. Probably why she was coming back so slow!

I don't know - maybe that was one reason they decided to cancel the rest of the cruise and return to Bayonne. I know it was mentioned there was a storm brewing near Jacksonville, but I think others questioned seeing anything in the forecast.

Hope it can be fixed soon.

I think he meant port side lacking, tho' OP's link says port side was doing the work

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=49061076&postcount=1594

Yes. Facing forward, that would be a left, or port side propulsion problem.

I wonder when the failure to the propulsion unit occurred? ....

That was my first thought. Maybe the failure contributed to their inability to outrun the storm.

As one of the passengers scheduled on the Feb. 13 cruise, I will be quite unhappy, to say the least, if Royal Caribbean, knowing the Coast Guard has not yet cleared them to leave, is still keeping that banner up on their website saying we are sailing as planned. And for anyone planning to say "don't trust the media," I'm more concerned with the interview with the Coast Guard member during the segment than whatever the reporter said.

As of Thursday, it would still have been possible to book cabins on the Breakaway leaving Sunday out of New York -- but we're certainly not willing to lose everything we paid for the Anthem.

I have had really, really good experiences with RCCL in the past, including having the company help us with rescheduling a cruise without charging us the cancellation fee a few years ago when my sister found out at the last minute she would be going through chemo right when we were supposed to sail. So I'm definitely willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but I'm a bit more nervous than before seeing this post (and, no, obviously I don't want them to sail if the Coast Guard thinks they shouldn't).

Tug boats escorting the Anthem into port was not a good sign. I haven't seen that since the days of Carnival leaving out of the midtown NY Passenger Ship Terminal.

Unfortunately, the news helicopters only showed the dockside view of the ship. I was wondering if the tugs were on the other side assisting with the maneuvering.

While they can probably get a replacement azipod or bowthruster to Bayonne, the question of installation is something else. NYC does have adequate dry-dock facilities.

At some point a press release from either RCCL or USCG should be forthcoming.

Doesn't sound "superficial" to me. There is storm forecasted for next week off the carolinas. I pray they get there "stuff" together. I think if I was passenger next week I would be happy to take a partial refund and just spend the week onboard docked or very close to docked while they go over the ship and make sure everything is up to snuff

Doesn't sound "superficial" to me. There is storm forecasted for next week off the carolinas. I pray they get there "stuff" together. I think if I was passenger next week I would be happy to take a partial refund and just spend the week onboard docked or very close to docked while they go over the ship and make sure everything is up to snuff

Yeah, as a person who is booked for tomorrow's departure- I would NOT be happy to remain docked. I want a definitive answer, or to be re-booked onto another cruise departing this weekend. Or to have some other fair recompense, less than 24 hours out.

Here's my picture the Monday after the storm showing only one side working. I also have video that is much clearer.

Yeah, as a person who is booked for tomorrow's departure- I would NOT be happy to remain docked. I want a definitive answer, or to be re-booked onto another cruise departing this weekend. Or to have some other fair recompense, less than 24 hours out.

I find their lack of communication inexcusable.

I a staunch Royal follower, this really upsets me. Their lack of communication is not right! If the coast guard is saying something is wrong with the propulsion and Royal is not commenting, something shady is going on. I wish they would give everyone more information. Whether people like to believe it or not, they are held accountable to the public because they are a public company and we are the shareholders so to speak, regardless of whether you actually own the stock or not.

I find their lack of communication inexcusable.

The next cruise should have been cancelled days ago. Period. Theyve had to know for sometime that its about impossible that ship would sail again so soon so with that, I agree with you. RC has always had a lack of communication when it comes to things like this. Very imcompetent in this area IMO. All they are doing now by not communicating with the upcoming guests is setting themselves up to piss a whole lot more people off.

They cant just keep hush hush and expect this all to go away

We train in the Sim all the time for emergency situations.

If you push the engine's past a certain power setting they will break right then. But if you push them a bit past their designed limits they will work for a while, you will have to tear them down for inspection (may have to replace them). Not something you want to tell the Owner/Boss back home (good way to get fired).

If the Captain gets the ship in a situation where it's either role over or push the engine's past their limit's, you push the engine's.

Looks like something happened here!

CaptDave

I find their lack of communication inexcusable.

I have to agree. My husband has called half a dozen times this week and gotten a lot of very nice, friendly "We think it all looks okay" type answers. That's all well and good, but clearly there were structural issues, and I will feel better if the Coast Guard releases a statement saying the ship is safe for travel.

No one wants to be put into the same position you all were in last week!!

Possibly the Coast Guard will hold off their sailing because this has such large media hype.

But we were on the Enchantment about 10 years ago when we had an engine room explosion. Those things didn't make news back then. We were dead in the water with no electricity throughout most of the ship.

I guess the EN has 4 major units that powers the 2 props. Please excuse my lack of mechanical talk. When the explosion occurred, it took out 3 of the units/system leaving us with only a quarter power. Only enough to have some electric and water.

Tugs came and pulled us back to Ft. Lauderdale. We happened to be booked on a back to back so they let us stay on. Although they didn't let new passengers on for their next sailing on time, we were allowed to stay on the ship while repairs were made.

Ultimately, the ship sailed out on the day it should have sailed, but went out very late. The ship was allowed to sail with only 3 or the 4 major perpulsion systems working. We could not sail fast enough to make both ports of call, so we only had one stop. Electric and AC was skectchy thoughout the ship, with some areas working and some not.

The moral of the story is that the US Coast Guard let us sail with major issues still happening on the ship.