Horizon has Technical Issues

That a ship this new were to be hit with propulsion problems this early in it's cruising life is both disconcerting and disappointing.

That a ship this new were to be hit with propulsion problems this early in it's cruising life is both disconcerting and disappointing.

I wonder if the ship has the abb azipod propulsion system. ABB seems to the least reliable ones, always in the news with ships having issues with them.

Propulsion

Carnival Horizon cruise ship is powered by two MAN 14V48/60CR and three MAN 8L48/60CR Tier-II compliant four-stroke engines. The power-plant generates a maximum power output of 62,400kW. The ship also integrates ABB Azipod® XO gear-less steerable electric propulsion systems.

That a ship this new were to be hit with propulsion problems this early in it's cruising life is both disconcerting and disappointing.

You pretty much summed up my viewpoint.

Yikes...we will be on her in December. Has anyone here been on a ship with this sort of problem? Sounds a bit scary to a newbie like me...

I don't know if this is related to the current issue but:

We were in cabin 9203....forward facing cabin...in June

When the sea wasn't completely calm the cabin shook. I don't mean like rocking in bad weather...it was like being in a box that was being shaken. It felt like "something mechanical" from the ship...not movement coming from the ocean.

As soon as you walked outside the cabin it was "normal ship rocking".

Now there is a conflicting reports that it was because a crew member death that caused the delay. And there is letter from Carnival supporting both of these scenarios.

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I realize that missing a port can be disappointing to many. I haven't caught the Amber Cove vibe yet, but as I'll be on the Havana deck, another day at sea and $50 obc, won't bother me one bit.

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It may not be a problem with the ship or its systems, nor a problem caused by a failure of the various manufacturers, or operation by the crew.

It could be the quality of the diesel supplied to the ship. In some parts of the world the diesel Cetane number is more of a suggestion than a hard rule. Sounds to me like they could not generate enough electric power to run the side thrusters in the manner required for Amber Cove.

Condolences to the crew and family of the young man who passed away.

Brand new ship with issues, not good. Time to change its name to Sunset. ;)

Brand new ship with issues, not good. Time to change its name to Sunset. ;)

Sunset on the Horizon. How poetic.

I wonder if the ship has the abb azipod propulsion system. ABB seems to the least reliable ones, always in the news with ships having issues with them.

Actually, the reason you hear about ABB azipod (and that is their registered trade name) problems is because they are by far the largest producer of podded propulsion systems in the world. Their only real competitor, Rolls Royce Mermaid pods have proven so unreliable that most shipping companies will not buy them. Carnival had a class action lawsuit against Rolls Royce a decade or so back, and no longer buy their product.

It would appear to me to be a component failure in the azipod control system, and would fall under warranty from the manufacturer. Comments regarding Carnival's "lack of maintenance" are premature at best at this point, since the ship is too new to have really gotten into the planned maintenance cycle yet, and how many folks have bought a car and had to take it in for warranty problems?

As for the fuel, the diesel engines don't drive the propellers, they drive generators, which provide electricity to drive electric motors that drive the propellers. Also, even though these are "diesel" engines, they don't burn "diesel", they burn marine residual fuel oil, so cetane number has no meaning. And the ships don't usually take fuel in the outlying ports, due to availability and price, they will bunker at the home port.

As to not generating enough power for the thrusters, the thrusters account for about 10% of generating capacity. The fact that the ship is also not sailing at full speed tells me it is a problem with the azipods, not the generators, and most likely a control failure that is limiting the ability to both steer and power the pod.

I would have cheered if Amber Cove was missed during our 8 day Horizon cruise back in May/June.

Actually, the reason you hear about ABB azipod (and that is their registered trade name) problems is because they are by far the largest producer of podded propulsion systems in the world. Their only real competitor, Rolls Royce Mermaid pods have proven so unreliable that most shipping companies will not buy them. Carnival had a class action lawsuit against Rolls Royce a decade or so back, and no longer buy their product.

 

It would appear to me to be a component failure in the azipod control system, and would fall under warranty from the manufacturer. Comments regarding Carnival's "lack of maintenance" are premature at best at this point, since the ship is too new to have really gotten into the planned maintenance cycle yet, and how many folks have bought a car and had to take it in for warranty problems?

 

As for the fuel, the diesel engines don't drive the propellers, they drive generators, which provide electricity to drive electric motors that drive the propellers. Also, even though these are "diesel" engines, they don't burn "diesel", they burn marine residual fuel oil, so cetane number has no meaning. And the ships don't usually take fuel in the outlying ports, due to availability and price, they will bunker at the home port.

 

As to not generating enough power for the thrusters, the thrusters account for about 10% of generating capacity. The fact that the ship is also not sailing at full speed tells me it is a problem with the azipods, not the generators, and most likely a control failure that is limiting the ability to both steer and power the pod.

As always, Chief, thanks for the information and squelching of rumors.

Yikes...we will be on her in December. Has anyone here been on a ship with this sort of problem? Sounds a bit scary to a newbie like me...

When we sailed on the Glory in 2005, coming in to Nassau, we noticed that we were going real slow. Time came to leave and we were still sitting there. About an hour later the CD came on and said that we were having propulsion problems coming in and would miss our next port of St. Thomas. We then had another sea day. The ship would go for a little while, then stop dead in the water. It was strange just sitting there. After probably a half hour, he would move the ship again. In the middle of the ocean, just sitting there, it gets HOT on the top levels of the ships. They credited each of us $50 for the inconvenience.

On the way back to Port Canaveral, we passed by Miami where a technician came out and boarded the ship while underway. We stayed a day after the cruise and watched as she left the port for the next cruise right on time.

.... Carnival had a class action lawsuit against Rolls Royce a decade or so back, and no longer buy their product.

....

I thought it was Royal Caribbean that had sued RR back in the day on behalf of Celebrity. They were undoubtedly the hardest hit by propulsion problems.

I thought it was Royal Caribbean that had sued RR back in the day on behalf of Celebrity. They were undoubtedly the hardest hit by propulsion problems.

Actually, both. RCI won $65 million for Celebrity, and Carnival won $24 million for the QM2. I believe that the first generation ABB azipod, the AO model, was the source of most of RCI's propulsion problems, that have since been supplanted in newer builds by the XO model.

Thanks for sharing your wealth of information chengkp75.

We just arrived home from this cruise. We had a rear facing balcony and noticed only one "wake" from the rear of the boat after the missed port. After the delay leaving from Grand Turk I noticed are top speed was 22.6 knots which seemed fast to me but maybe it's normal. After the announcement, our top speed seemed to be 17 knots with one wake. The next day the captain made an announcement that his crew made progress and we would arrive on time in NY, then our speed increased to 19-20 knots with a small wake on the left side.

The delay from Grand Turk was due to a crew member death the evening before:(:(, RIP.

Overall it was a very nice cruise minus the news of the crew member. This was the best crew out of the 11 cruises we have been on.

Carnival applied a $50pp credit for the missed port which seemed fair. They also added more shows to the schedule.

My only complaint is it went by too fast!

P.S. if your thinking about a Havana room, do it! The crowd in the Havana area was small the whole time.

We just arrived home from this cruise. We had a rear facing balcony and noticed only one "wake" from the rear of the boat after the missed port. After the delay leaving from Grand Turk I noticed are top speed was 22.6 knots which seemed fast to me but maybe it's normal. After the announcement, our top speed seemed to be 17 knots with one wake. The next day the captain made an announcement that his crew made progress and we would arrive on time in NY, then our speed increased to 19-20 knots with a small wake on the left side.

 

The delay from Grand Turk was due to a crew member death the evening before:(:(, RIP.

 

Overall it was a very nice cruise minus the news of the crew member. This was the best crew out of the 11 cruises we have been on.

 

Carnival applied a $50pp credit for the missed port which seemed fair. They also added more shows to the schedule.

 

My only complaint is it went by too fast!

 

P.S. if your thinking about a Havana room, do it! The crowd in the Havana area was small the whole time.

Thanks for giving us an update. It’s nice to hear from someone who was actually on board and experienced the situation first hand. I’m sailing on the Horizon in June 2019 and glad to hear you enjoyed the cruise.

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We just arrived home from this cruise. We had a rear facing balcony and noticed only one "wake" from the rear of the boat after the missed port. After the delay leaving from Grand Turk I noticed are top speed was 22.6 knots which seemed fast to me but maybe it's normal. After the announcement, our top speed seemed to be 17 knots with one wake. The next day the captain made an announcement that his crew made progress and we would arrive on time in NY, then our speed increased to 19-20 knots with a small wake on the left side.

The delay from Grand Turk was due to a crew member death the evening before:(:(, RIP.

Overall it was a very nice cruise minus the news of the crew member. This was the best crew out of the 11 cruises we have been on.

Carnival applied a $50pp credit for the missed port which seemed fair. They also added more shows to the schedule.

My only complaint is it went by too fast!

P.S. if your thinking about a Havana room, do it! The crowd in the Havana area was small the whole time.

Thanks so much for the update. We are sailing the Horizon in October. Did you notice the boat being more shaky than normal? Or any abnormal vibration? Only asking because we had a cruise from hell like this on the pride a few years back with unusual vibration in an aft cabin, and my sister booked one of the cove balcony family harbor suites that is low and aft on the horizon.... I hope everything is ok.

We just arrived home from this cruise. We had a rear facing balcony and noticed only one "wake" from the rear of the boat after the missed port. After the delay leaving from Grand Turk I noticed are top speed was 22.6 knots which seemed fast to me but maybe it's normal. After the announcement, our top speed seemed to be 17 knots with one wake. The next day the captain made an announcement that his crew made progress and we would arrive on time in NY, then our speed increased to 19-20 knots with a small wake on the left side.

The delay from Grand Turk was due to a crew member death the evening before:(:(, RIP.

Overall it was a very nice cruise minus the news of the crew member. This was the best crew out of the 11 cruises we have been on.

Carnival applied a $50pp credit for the missed port which seemed fair. They also added more shows to the schedule.

My only complaint is it went by too fast!

P.S. if your thinking about a Havana room, do it! The crowd in the Havana area was small the whole time.

We're on the 8/28 and your words are comforting and helpful, while also saddening. Thanks. :(

The ship only vibrated during maneuvering into dock. The rocking was no more or less than any other ship we have been on. Some quick math, $50pp x 5000 passengers=$250,000. WOW

You won't be disappointed, it's an amazing ship.

Our cabin was 6478, rear facing Havana balcony. It was BIG.