Allure and propulsion problems.

Ok. I'm on the Allure and no mention of a changed intinery. I will pist if I hear anything. At least as long as my phone signal holds out.

 

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Thanks, and don't do it into the wind.

Funny, RCI just tweeted:

 

Full speed ahead

 

it had a picture of the Allure attached.

I think RCCL just answered our questions.. RCCL staff must have been reading our posts regarding this concern at CC.

So it might be fixed already.. since no one is reporting recent delays or change in the IT.

Funny, RCI just tweeted:

 

Full speed ahead

 

it had a picture of the Allure attached.

Same post of Facebook.

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Ok. I'm on the Allure and no mention of a changed intinery. I will pist if I hear anything. At least as long as my phone signal holds out.

 

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I meant post. LOL

 

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Thanks- please do pist or post and let us know:D

Have a fabulous trip!!!

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.

Many ships do carry a spare set of blades, usually mounted on the fore deck. However, as I've said, this requires divers to do the work underwater. I've been involved in these kinds of repairs.

Funny, RCI just tweeted:

 

Full speed ahead

 

it had a picture of the Allure attached.

Yes, and the tweet was hours before departure.

Same post on facebook, but, they have not answered any direct questions about the propulsion problems. Many have asked, but no response.

The lack of communication leaves us to wonder what the answer really is.

We just returned today from the Allure W. Carib. run. No delays related to the center azipod "issue' that the Captain discussed during a Q&A session yesterday at the Aqua Theatre. The Capt. explained that the 3 azipods are not required to operate at full power to maintain schedule but if required, could be "spooled" up to do so.

During our sea day run from Falmouth to Cozumel I observed the center azipod to be powered down. We had a small current at our stern and had no problems reaching Cozumel on schedule. The other two azipods were operating at less than full power and we had a speed over ground in excess of 17 knots.

I'm confident that RCI is monitoring the health of this azipod and will take immediate action if the condition deteriorates significantly such that safety or schedule could be compromised.

We just returned today from the Allure W. Carib. run. No delays related to the center azipod "issue' that the Captain discussed during a Q&A session yesterday at the Aqua Theatre. The Capt. explained that the 3 azipods are not required to operate at full power to maintain schedule but if required, could be "spooled" up to do so.

 

During our sea day run from Falmouth to Cozumel I observed the center azipod to be powered down. We had a small current at our stern and had no problems reaching Cozumel on schedule. The other two azipods were operating at less than full power and we had a speed over ground in excess of 17 knots.

 

I'm confident that RCI is monitoring the health of this azipod and will take immediate action if the condition deteriorates significantly such that safety or schedule could be compromised.

Thank you for the update.

Hope you had a great cruise!

Obviously there IS a problem that they hope they can monitor and keep cruising. Lots of folks hoping it doesn't affect thier cruise. We don't cruise till may but, with our luck........

From a pretty reliable source on the allure last week and confirmed by someone else, the issue is related to the bearings in the azipod, not the prop. So the ship would have to be dry docked in order to fix it. The azipod works and can deliver full power, but the issue is if or when the bearings will fail resulting in a complete loss of the center pod.

But we shall see...

Which cruise week did this problem begin on?

I know when I got on the ship for Oct 13 sailing we had a notice in our room saying that we would be leaving Nassau earlier than originally scheduled. We weren't told why.

Also we had a sea lion excursion for Atlantis. The tickets were waiting for us in the room so we got up super early since we had to meet by 7:15AM on port. Once on port they informed us that our excursion was cancelled due to the earlier ship departure time. They did of course reimburse our money and also gave us complimentary access to Atlantis AquaAdventure. Kinda was a bummer because if we had known we wouldn't have gone to bed so early on the first night of sailing!

Well, it's official. The Eastern itinerary has been changed for this week.

Nassau is from 7am until 12:30.

St. Thomas is 11:30 until 6:30.

No official word on why.

From a pretty reliable source on the allure last week and confirmed by someone else, the issue is related to the bearings in the azipod, not the prop. So the ship would have to be dry docked in order to fix it. The azipod works and can deliver full power, but the issue is if or when the bearings will fail resulting in a complete loss of the center pod.

 

But we shall see...

Well, it's official. The Eastern itinerary has been changed for this week.

 

Nassau is from 7am until 12:30.

St. Thomas is 11:30 until 6:30.

 

No official word on why.

With her dry dock not scheduled till 2015 that will be a long time to keep running the shortened stay in Nassau (there are many though that probably view that as a positive)

I

Well, it's official. The Eastern itinerary has been changed for this week.

 

Nassau is from 7am until 12:30.

St. Thomas is 11:30 until 6:30.

 

No official word on why.

Our Dec 8 cruise shown as

Nassau 7 AM to 3 PM

ST 9 AM to 6 PM

SXM 8 AM to 5 PM

At Nassau we usually get back on the ship at or before Noon anyway so no loss. And we get 30 minutes extra on ST and no change on SXM. So a slight overall plus.:cool:

Why bother going to Nassau if that's the schedule?

Just skip Nassau and take it a bit easier on the gear getting down to the other stops. I find it hard to believe a 5 hour stop saves more in fuel than they would generate with 5000+ guests on board in revenue with shops, casino, bars, etc...all opened up.

Frankly I never understood taking Oasis class ships to Nassau to begin with, but with mechanical issues it would seem like it would be better to just skip it altogether.

So to summarize all the reports we got, looks that those affected are the Eastern route, Western route is not affected.

Perhaps because the route is longer in the Eastern, compared to Western.

Why bother going to Nassau if that's the schedule?

 

Just skip Nassau and take it a bit easier on the gear getting down to the other stops. I find it hard to believe a 5 hour stop saves more in fuel than they would generate with 5000+ guests on board in revenue with shops, casino, bars, etc...all opened up.

 

Frankly I never understood taking Oasis class ships to Nassau to begin with, but with mechanical issues it would seem like it would be better to just skip it altogether.

I wish they would skip Nassau and stop at Labadee instead!!!

Our Dec 8 cruise shown as

 

Nassau 7 AM to 3 PM

ST 9 AM to 6 PM

SXM 8 AM to 5 PM

 

At Nassau we usually get back on the ship at or before Noon anyway so no loss. And we get 30 minutes extra on ST and no change on SXM. So a slight overall plus.:cool:

I'm on this sailing also- where are you seeing the changes to the itinerary?

The original schedule was:

Nassau 7-2

ST 10-7

SXM 8-5

Based on your information it appears that they have added an hour to Nassau and St. Thomas and SXM are a wash. I don't see how you are coming up with an additional 30 minutes on St. Thomas?

For those posting live from Allure, are you all in unlimited $179 internet package?

Is the connection good enough for that price? I might also get that package.

With her dry dock not scheduled till 2015 that will be a long time to keep running the shortened stay in Nassau (there are many though that probably view that as a positive)

 

I

Is it possible that they will send Allure in next year and push Oasis out till 2015? Just switch the ships?

Why bother going to Nassau if that's the schedule?

 

Just skip Nassau and take it a bit easier on the gear getting down to the other stops. I find it hard to believe a 5 hour stop saves more in fuel than they would generate with 5000+ guests on board in revenue with shops, casino, bars, etc...all opened up.

 

Frankly I never understood taking Oasis class ships to Nassau to begin with, but with mechanical issues it would seem like it would be better to just skip it altogether.

I think that for many first time cruisers a seven night itinerary with only two ports of call would not be very appealing. And that would also hold true for many non first time cruisers, including this one.

I think that for many first time cruisers a seven night itinerary with only two ports of call would not be very appealing. And that would also hold true for many non first time cruisers, including this one.

So find another stop somewhere more conducive to the route? Look at the time for Nassau; hardly a port of call. Enough time for a walking tour of historical areas and to browse the straw market.

Given that these ships ARE the destination, I still don't understand the desire to push them harder than necessary to make this port of call for such a short time. Throwaway stop

I guess maybe because RCL and many people consider Nassau, Bahamas as a premium port stop. That's why the ship sails great lengths just to get there and stay only for a short time.

And the Eastern Carrib this generation has more in demand than Western, making Eastern Carrib cruises generally more expensive, so more revenues for RCCL. And Bahamas as one of the stops has a lot of bearing on it.

I can't say why, as I haven't been to Bahamas yet, but that is the trend right now as written on several cruise critic articles I've read.

But honestly, I chose Western Carib over Eastern out of personal preference, as I liked the shore excursions and activities of Western more.. even if the trend right now is Eastern is more in demand.

I guess maybe because RCL and many people consider Nassau, Bahamas as a premium port stop.

That may be the first time I've heard Nassau and premium in the same breath. :D

Subscribing so I can keep up with this. We are booked for May and if the ports on the Eastern itinerary continue to be affected I may switch to Oasis.

I don't think so

Yes they do. I've seen replacement prop blades bolted down on the bow's deck on several ships.