Weirdness on The Pride

Yesterday morning at 9:45 without any warning there were two sets of what sounded like cannon shots coming from near the funnell. The security guy at the serenity pool and the staff long with the guests were all startled and he got on his radio. A guy in a red jumpsuit came and they went up and inspected. I heard them say that nothing cameout of the funnell and that maybe it was from the incinerator. No explanation over the PA system.

Then at about 5 pm a full ship alert went off for a "first stage alert", deck B and that all crew was to respond and the staging area was set up near the medical center. We saw many crew members heading down. About 15 minutes later an "all ckear" was sounded.

Today we are at sea about 500 miles south of our destination and the ship seems to be moving much slower than you would expect. Hope all is OK.

On the good side, since 600 people opted to cancel from this cruise at the last minute due to the change in itinerary, there are nolines for anything and no problem getting lounge chairs.

The food is great and crew as always is wonderful. Just wich more communication from the Command staff on what is happening.:cool:

sounds like the engine blew up

Cannon fire at 9:45? Ghost ship confirmed. The ship is haunted. No one sail on her! ;) :P

Found a security crew member who said it was one of the generators. They were trying to start it and I guess it was a couple of big backfires as it cranked. In 30 cruises, never had that happen before. Another crew member said the "first alert" was a small fire in the engine room, but another said it was a "high temperature" alarm that activated and they had to go in an investigate that with the fire team but no fire. Either way the captain or someone should have gotten on the PA system and explained what was happening.

Found a security crew member who said it was one of the generators. They were trying to start it and I guess it was a couple of big backfires as it cranked. In 30 cruises, never had that happen before. Another crew member said the "first alert" was a small fire in the engine room, but another said it was a "high temperature" alarm that activated and they had to go in an investigate that with the fire team but no fire. Either way the captain or someone should have gotten on the PA system and explained what was happening.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...and if it's like last week, he won't...and you'll be finding trusted crew members who know and like you to actually fill you in when you press them for the truth...

Ships shouldn't work that way...and I stand by that this Captain should be fired for the way he runs the ship with the passengers. Passengers have the right to know about mechanical issues when those issues are happening!

Look on your television and see what knots you are sailing at. If your sailing way under 19 knots the old girl could be limping along.

I will probably be flamed for this. The way rumors spread, once the captain made an announcement that there was a fire alarm in the engine room, half of the passengers would be putting on their life jackets and heading to the lifeboats in a panic.

There was no fire, the noise was a backfire, no need to panic and no need to inform the passengers. I will say that he (the Captain) should have at least said that the crew investigated the noise and that everything was under control.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...and if it's like last week, he won't...and you'll be finding trusted crew members who know and like you to actually fill you in when you press them for the truth...

 

Ships shouldn't work that way...and I stand by that this Captain should be fired for the way he runs the ship with the passengers. Passengers have the right to know about mechanical issues when those issues are happening!

You'll notice that they heard two different stories from two different crew members. I'll bet a dollar that if they ask three more crew members they'll get three additional different responses. Most of the crew (DR personnel, room stewards, etc.) won't even know the real story.

Looks like they are currently at 12.6 knots...

This captain had the Pride between 24.4 and 25 knots for close to a full day in rough seas coming back from Nassau last week. Then it was 4 knots up the Chesapeake bay as we had to kill about 18 hours so we wouldn't arrive back to Baltimore too early. We also had a very rough sound and extreme shaking event at the end of last week coming back, I think it happened on Friday. It was so bad it startled the crew and passengers in the dining room.

We are taking our first cruise out of Baltimore on the Pride on October 1st . . . can't wait. It sounds like she is a beautiful ship. Hope you all have a great time on your cruise this week, New England/Canada sounds like a great adventure!!!

We are taking our first cruise out of Baltimore on the Pride on October 1st . . . can't wait. It sounds like she is a beautiful ship. Hope you all have a great time on your cruise this week, New England/Canada sounds like a great adventure!!!

I am on the same cruise on the 1st. I wonder where we will go....

Yes, one should just ignore loud bangs with no explanation and things like fire crews running around.

I'm sorry, folks, I am on a ship. I need to know--big picture, at least--what is going on. It calms most folks down to know nothing really bad is happening--the nitwits who would panic being informed are going to be nitwits no matter what. Why just let "rumor control" handle it? That is where 10 different stories start...

Why just let "rumor control" handle it? That is where 10 different stories start...

And if the Captain did come on and say what was happening, within minutes, 10 different stories would start that the Captain was lying and a crew member told them something different or a fellow passenger told them that he heard from a lady in a wheel chair that heard it from a guy at the pizza place...

And if the Captain did come on and say what was happening, within minutes, 10 different stories would start that the Captain was lying and a crew member told them something different or a fellow passenger told them that he heard from a lady in a wheel chair that heard it from a guy at the pizza place...

Yes, but then at least he'd be keeping with our cruise passenger bill of rights...

"The right to timely information updates as to any adjustments in the itinerary of the ship in the event of a mechanical failure or emergency, as well as timely updates of the status of efforts to address mechanical failures."

I mean, it's just words, but they are supposed to tell us when ship things are breaking and what they are doing to fix them, even if they don't wanna...

Yes, but then at least he'd be keeping with our cruise passenger bill of rights...

 

"The right to timely information updates as to any adjustments in the itinerary of the ship in the event of a mechanical failure or emergency, as well as timely updates of the status of efforts to address mechanical failures."

 

 

 

I mean, it's just words, but they are supposed to tell us when ship things are breaking and what they are doing to fix them, even if they don't wanna...

Was there an adjustment to the itinerary because of a mechanical failure? Sounds like there wasn't even a mechanical failure to start with.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I am on the same cruise on the 1st. I wonder where we will go....

I think we have a good chance of keeping our itinerary . . . . Cruise ships are going to Freeport still so that is a go, Grand Turk has reopened and though I haven't really heard much about it, through Holland America it sounds like Half Moon Cay is still okay. Will just have to watch and see where other ships go in the next couple of weeks. That will tell the true story!

I think we have a good chance of keeping our itinerary . . . . Cruise ships are going to Freeport still so that is a go, Grand Turk has reopened and though I haven't really heard much about it, through Holland America it sounds like Half Moon Cay is still okay. Will just have to watch and see where other ships go in the next couple of weeks. That will tell the true story!

That would be awesome!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Look on your television and see what knots you are sailing at. If your sailing way under 19 knots the old girl could be limping along.

Can't use this rule they have a lot of sailing days with the modified itinerary, much shorter distance.

Sent from my XT1585 using Forums mobile app

what the heck is this passenger bill of rights stuff? I hope they get this all sorted out before I board in October.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes...and if it's like last week, he won't...and you'll be finding trusted crew members who know and like you to actually fill you in when you press them for the truth...

 

Ships shouldn't work that way...and I stand by that this Captain should be fired for the way he runs the ship with the passengers. Passengers have the right to know about mechanical issues when those issues are happening!

Captain owes you jack squat.

They don't tell people what is going on because it is not an emergency and they don't want people to panic. Imagine taking a bus that breaks down. Does the bus driver tell you what exact mechanical problems they are having? No, because it doesn't make a difference.

A few years ago on a southern caribbean cruise on Liberty, I noticed we were going a little bit slow and then at St. thomas, we stayed later than scheduled (until around 1am) due to "routine maintenance." Of course, knowing about the problems on Liberty, it was anything but routine...but who cares? We were not in danger, we did not miss any ports, so there's nothing to tell.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

We are taking our first cruise out of Baltimore on the Pride on October 1st . . . can't wait. It sounds like she is a beautiful ship. Hope you all have a great time on your cruise this week, New England/Canada sounds like a great adventure!!!

Very nice ship. She's our favorite !

They don't tell people what is going on because it is not an emergency and they don't want people to panic. Imagine taking a bus that breaks down. Does the bus driver tell you what exact mechanical problems they are having? No, because it doesn't make a difference.

 

A few years ago on a southern caribbean cruise on Liberty, I noticed we were going a little bit slow and then at St. thomas, we stayed later than scheduled (until around 1am) due to "routine maintenance." Of course, knowing about the problems on Liberty, it was anything but routine...but who cares? We were not in danger, we did not miss any ports, so there's nothing to tell.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

If it's going to cause unexpected dangerous conditions on board, then passengers should know. On the 9/3 cruise, my mom had glasses go careening off her counter at 3am and cut her hand cleaning up the shattered glass...if the condition of the ship sailing in clear conditions causes lurching that bad, the passengers should know. It's a hazard to them to not know how bad (slight, bad, worsening, constant) and how often (sporadically, all the time) the ship may experience lurching issues related to mechanical issues. My son fell on the water spray park the same day and got a bloody nose during the sunny, clear afternoon during a similar "lurch". I hadn't previously mentioned this incident (b/c it didn't cause more than 30 minutes of little kid trauma and some ruined pics for that night), but 2 safety incidents just in my family plus all the puking I saw during the 28+ hour event (and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had safety incidents in their family)...I want to know what's wrong with that ship, and I did request to know (at 2:30am after 26+ hours, since the lurching again got so bad it woke me up b/c I was rolling from side to side as a side sleeper) and eventually got the lead customer service manager who called me the next evening and said "she knew nothing", and when I told her what I knew from other employees, she said "so you found your answer then." That's not how to make repeat cruisers happy or feeling like they should book again. I've got 5 under my belt with the last 3 on Carnival and everyone in my fam wants another cruise b/c so many things did go right (even if big things went really wrong)...but we are waiting to book until we see what response, if any, Carnival will make towards the people on this cruise.

I mean, my spouse says this 9/3 Pride cruise sums up "disappointing" - when it had all the elements to hit a home run (great low level staff, great food, great drinks, great entertainment, great weather) but it fell far short b/c of the top-level decisions by corporate and staff (bad decision and handling of intial reroute, bad communication everywhere on everything, bad decision to keep the ports in the Bahamas instead of refunding all port fees when it was clear they were closed and in states of emergency, the maintenance issue and dangerous conditions when you finally thought you'd get a good day, the lack of any consideration when the next Pride cruise got both warning and compensation and open ports for their change, etc)...it's like you went to a prix fixe dinner with filet mignon on the menu and someone hands you a hamburger and tells you there's no filet - you still really liked the hamburger, but you are disappointed it's not the filet...and you just can't shake that desire for the filet and it's gonna bother you...maybe enough to find another restaurant who might have that filet...

Okay, I read the last post and didn't know what the poster was discussing with "mechanical issues" that caused lurching, so I went and searched their posts, and I see that they determined that the stabilizers "broke". My question is, who were the "multiple crew" that confirmed that the stabilizers were broken? Because unless you saw some engineers wandering around the public areas, or talked to very senior management, I would not trust anything that front line hotel crew said about technical issues. I've stood in the passageway while a steward explained some operation of the ship to a guest, knowing full well I was there, and I had to step in and contradict everything the steward had said, because 90% of them know nothing about how the ship they live on works. So, please tell me who you got your information from.

For stabilizers, you do understand that stabilizers do not stop a ship from rolling, never have, and never will, and never were designed to do so. Cruise ships, due to their high centers of gravity, tend to roll very quickly and sharply, and stabilizers are designed to dampen the roll to a comfortable level. Stabilizer effectiveness is also affected by ship speed, and whether the current is with or against the ship's direction, as they rely on water flow over the stabilizer, just like an airplane wing does. And even if the ship's speed is sufficiently high, and the stabilizers are working correctly, the waves in the ocean are not consistent, so when a wave of significantly higher peak, or different period than the rest strikes the ship, lurching is very common. Ships roll. Even in "clear conditions" (your term, not sure how you define it), seas can be running from storms thousands of miles away, and the ship will roll from these seas.

With regards to the turbocharger "bark" that was experienced (the loud noise from the funnel, and after 42 years at sea on diesel powered ships, I can just about guarantee that's what it was, based on the description), this is a moderately common phenomenon of diesels when a sudden load is applied. I don't know what they were in process of doing on the Pride at the time, but I would suspect they were changing over engines, and a "cold" engine didn't appreciate a sudden quick application of load. Barking is just a pressure wave in the exhaust, and this can sometimes temporarily open up joints in the exhaust pipes, and set off smoke alarms in the engine room, which have to be investigated by fire teams.

If there was a dangerous condition from the turbo bark, the Captain would have notified the guests. There wasn't, so he didn't. Sorry, I don't feel the Captain needs to hold the hand of every nervous nellie onboard. Does the pilot of an airplane get on the PA and explain after every single time the plane lurches in the air?

And before you ask, I don't have any dog in this fight, as I've never worked for, nor sailed on a Carnival ship. I just try to explain shipboard operations and phenomenon in terms that lay people can understand.

What do you consider a "mechanical issue" that should be announced to the passengers? Do you know that nearly every cruise ship out there operates for weeks at a time with one engine completely torn down for overhaul? These diesels are torn completely down every 12,000 hours (about 2 years), and this overhaul takes 2-3 weeks. However, itineraries are set so that the ship does not need to have full power available to make the schedule, so thousands of passengers sail on ships with one engine out of commission without knowing a thing about it, and without creating a "dangerous condition".

As to the much vaunted "cruise passenger bill of rights", you do understand that this was voluntarily adopted by CLIA, since the bill passed in Congress has no jurisdiction over foreign flag cruise ships, and CLIA decided that it didn't really affect the bottom line, and looked like good PR, so at Congress' request they adopted it.

Okay, I read the last post and didn't know what the poster was discussing with "mechanical issues" that caused lurching, so I went and searched their posts, and I see that they determined that the stabilizers "broke". My question is, who were the "multiple crew" that confirmed that the stabilizers were broken? Because unless you saw some engineers wandering around the public areas, or talked to very senior management, I would not trust anything that front line hotel crew said about technical issues. I've stood in the passageway while a steward explained some operation of the ship to a guest, knowing full well I was there, and I had to step in and contradict everything the steward had said, because 90% of them know nothing about how the ship they live on works. So, please tell me who you got your information from.

 

For stabilizers, you do understand that stabilizers do not stop a ship from rolling, never have, and never will, and never were designed to do so. Cruise ships, due to their high centers of gravity, tend to roll very quickly and sharply, and stabilizers are designed to dampen the roll to a comfortable level. Stabilizer effectiveness is also affected by ship speed, and whether the current is with or against the ship's direction, as they rely on water flow over the stabilizer, just like an airplane wing does. And even if the ship's speed is sufficiently high, and the stabilizers are working correctly, the waves in the ocean are not consistent, so when a wave of significantly higher peak, or different period than the rest strikes the ship, lurching is very common. Ships roll. Even in "clear conditions" (your term, not sure how you define it), seas can be running from storms thousands of miles away, and the ship will roll from these seas.

 

With regards to the turbocharger "bark" that was experienced (the loud noise from the funnel, and after 42 years at sea on diesel powered ships, I can just about guarantee that's what it was, based on the description), this is a moderately common phenomenon of diesels when a sudden load is applied. I don't know what they were in process of doing on the Pride at the time, but I would suspect they were changing over engines, and a "cold" engine didn't appreciate a sudden quick application of load. Barking is just a pressure wave in the exhaust, and this can sometimes temporarily open up joints in the exhaust pipes, and set off smoke alarms in the engine room, which have to be investigated by fire teams.

 

If there was a dangerous condition from the turbo bark, the Captain would have notified the guests. There wasn't, so he didn't. Sorry, I don't feel the Captain needs to hold the hand of every nervous nellie onboard. Does the pilot of an airplane get on the PA and explain after every single time the plane lurches in the air?

 

And before you ask, I don't have any dog in this fight, as I've never worked for, nor sailed on a Carnival ship. I just try to explain shipboard operations and phenomenon in terms that lay people can understand.

 

What do you consider a "mechanical issue" that should be announced to the passengers? Do you know that nearly every cruise ship out there operates for weeks at a time with one engine completely torn down for overhaul? These diesels are torn completely down every 12,000 hours (about 2 years), and this overhaul takes 2-3 weeks. However, itineraries are set so that the ship does not need to have full power available to make the schedule, so thousands of passengers sail on ships with one engine out of commission without knowing a thing about it, and without creating a "dangerous condition".

 

 

As to the much vaunted "cruise passenger bill of rights", you do understand that this was voluntarily adopted by CLIA, since the bill passed in Congress has no jurisdiction over foreign flag cruise ships, and CLIA decided that it didn't really affect the bottom line, and looked like good PR, so at Congress' request they adopted it.

As always thank you for the lucid explanation. I had to shake my head at those calling for the Captain's job for not making a PA announcement.