Sea Princess Engine Troubles

[schinz2]

I am on the Sea Princess now. the captain announced today that we would be at least 2 hours late arriving in juneau tomorrow due to unforseen head winds, currents and a generator running only at half power. There have been very calm seas, not much wind, and i am wondering how these engine troubles will effect the rest of our cruise and anyone getting on board after us? Anyone heard anything from Princess?

[Jeter02]

Oh no :( ... I have seen or heard anything about this, but I do hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly and pray the problem will be fixed ASAP.

[SkinnyDennis]

They had problems with one of the engines a couple of cruises ago, late getting into Victoria. They gave the same initial excuses as I recall.

 

We're going on the 28th.

[Pam in CA]

Without knowing exactly what the problem is, we can only speculate. It's possible that if one of the engines isn't at full power, they wouldn't be able to go full speed against head winds and currents. Since they rarely go full speed to start with, which of these issues is the culprit? I've been on cruises where the ship went at full speed against headwinds and currents yet the net forward speed was perhaps half speed. We were several hours late arriving in Southampton. The Jet Stream is currently flowing south out of the Gulf of Alaska and bringing very cool weather here to SoCal, so it's not a figment of the Captain's imagination. We all know that if you fly against the Jet Stream, your flight will be delayed; with the Jet Stream and you'll arrive ahead of time. Ships are similarly affected by headwind and currents.

[sreiss]

Really sorry to hear of your delay in getting into Juneau. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the problem is fixed quickly and doesn't have a negative impact on the rest of your trip.

[janina]

Hopefully you'll still be able to enjoy Juneau, and they will get the problem fixed there. Good luck

[ofthesea]

well i've been hearing some things about the sea princess and her engine...

well in 2009, we experienced an engine problem and missed tracy arm.

and lately the sea princess has been going through some of those problems...

it's not exactly a new ship, so don't expect it to run like new... but i assure you, everything is okay...

 

Captain Stenzel might not be that "upfront" about it as my captain was on the sea princess in 2009. But Captain Stenzel is trying to make sure everyone is at eaze. He's been having bad problems cruise after cruise, becuase of norovirus and then now the engine...

 

to both those problems... DON'T WORRY. princess will take care of you. while you're in the port of juneau a person will fly up there fix the problem verify its okay and you're off again.

see, we had to wait in haines which has NO airport for this person when it happened to me in 2009.

 

so don't worry. princess ships are quality...

[Rllyfun]

On the Sea Princess for the July 19th cruise, we had one of the four generators go out on the way to Victoria...still had the other three, but it did slow us down a bit. (looked like almost 1/2 speed or less!)

 

(We seemed to get back up to speed sometime that night. Maybe when the ships other electrical power requirements were lower, or maybe they jury-rigged something, as we got back up to 17 knts or better!)

 

They met us promptly at Victoria, with huge barge & crane from Vancouver ...unloaded some engine equipment & an engineer was supposedly flown in from the east coast to help put things together.

As I recall we got into Victoria about three hrs late & stayed about two hrs longer than planned.

 

All in all, I think we made it back to SF an hour late! Not too bad....

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

This class of Princess ship has a long history of engine problems,

 

we have problems on both the Sun and the Sea in the past,

 

that said spares were flown to the ships within days and all was put right.

 

 

yours Shogun

[kuldalai]

Same issue with power within months. Princess had better get this issue fixed for once and for all before SEA is sent off from San Francisco mid September across the broad expanse of the Pacific to Australia.

[nycruiser80]

I was on the July 19th sailing of Sea Princess this summer and as another poster who was on my sailing pointed out we lost one of the 4 engines. But it started on our way to Juneau, captain came on and said that due to strong currents we would be delayed into Juneau by 2 hours. He never mentioned anything about an engine and we were averging 18 knots. Toward the end of the cruise he then came on and said we would be 3 hours late getting into Victoria due to engine problem still averaging 18 knots. We arrived 3 hours late into Victoria and left 1 hour late. They fixed the problem in Victoria and we averaged 19 knots back to SF where we docked an 1hr and 1/2 late.

 

They did give us a $50pp OBC and a 10% reduction on the shore excursion in Victoria because it was cut short.

 

While the Sea Princess is over 12 years old that really is not that old for a ship given their expectency is usually 35-40 years. Maybe she is in need of an extensive drydock.

 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[newmexicoNita]

it seems like every cruise line has had some sort of engine trouble in the past few years. Just like our cars, stuff happens.

 

Nita

[RaMar]

Hope and pray that it's fixed soon.

[sassyredhat]

What happens if we arrive late back in SF and we miss our flight ?

Pat

[bermuda triangle]

What happens if we arrive late back in SF and we miss our flight ?

 

Pat

 

Do you have travel insurance? That can be a huge issue if not. Call your TA and have them arrange a later flight.

 

Or can call your airline directly and switch to a later flight for a fee (i know delta is 100/person)?

Laura

[DougH]

Hopefully they will get all of the issues resolved and you will enjoy your cruise. Years ago I was sailing on the NCL Norway and we had major issues with the prop shaft. The ship had just come out of an overhaul and it was improperly reinstalled. I was told by a crew member that we were taking on significant amounts of water, I found it interesting that we sailed for 10 days until we made it to Bergen (which just happened to be the Captains hometown) and only then underwent 3 days of emergency repairs. Guess the Captain wanted to visit his family and friends :)

[carqueen1]

Hope they fix the problem! Can't wait to board the ship in 7 more days!!:D

[billco]

Hope they fix the problem! Can't wait to board the ship in 7 more days!!:D

Same here. My daughter booked the Bon Voyage experience Monday so she could spend the day with us before we depart. She and we get priority boarding at 11:00 AM so we can take a tour and have lunch. Also, I rebooked Amtrak to arrive at 11:00 AM. All that goes up in smoke if the ship is very late in arriving.

[caribill]

What happens if we arrive late back in SF and we miss our flight ?

 

Pat

 

If you booked air with Princess, they will assist in getting your reservation changed at no cost to you.

 

If you booked air yourself, then you hope the airline has sympathy.

[NUGal]

Same here. My daughter booked the Bon Voyage experience Monday so she could spend the day with us before we depart. She and we get priority boarding at 11:00 AM so we can take a tour and have lunch. Also, I rebooked Amtrak to arrive at 11:00 AM. All that goes up in smoke if the ship is very late in arriving.

 

If the Amtrak still runs the way it used to when I traveled on it - always late, I would consider booking an earlier train unless you have a very short distance to travel on it.

[ofthesea]

princess is going back to drydock in september 2012. if this keeps happening, princess might have to make an unscheduled drydock which is going to cost sooo much money...

princess believes in safety, and i'm sure they'll get this fixed.

her sister ship i have heard the dawn princess has been having some problems too.

 

the only thing i'd worry about is if you are flying in and out...

i'd recommedd that for your next cruise fly in the day before you embark on the ship and leave the day after you disembark the ship.

always plan for the unexpected!

 

at least there is no norovirus on the ship. when i went on i washed my hands soo much and sanitized so much.... and till this day 2 months later i wash my hands like crazy.... if i don't i feel dirty or think i'm going to get noro.

 

well, whoever sailing on the next voyage, bon voyage! have fun!

don't let this hurt your alaska experience.

[mythictravel]

It's not just the generator--crew seems baffled by the logistics of adjusting schedules.

[rlmosher]

I think there is no better place to break down. More time on a cruise thats a bonus to me.:D

[ofthesea]

I think there is no better place to break down. More time on a cruise thats a bonus to me.:D

 

AMEN. :) love it. haha