Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Aos doa

Lavaland

By Lavaland,
in Royal Caribbean International

 Share

Recommended Posts

cruizinawayinva

cruizinawayinva

Posted
Posted
We had difficulty with loud noises coming from the back of the boat. Sometimes it sounded like a chain dragging, other times it was more of a grinding sound. You could hear it through the balcony windows. It made sitting outside on the balcony almost impossible some nights. On the comment card, I said that I hoped they got it fixed when they went into dry dock. I honestly wondered a few times if we would make it back with that loud noise. Wonder if that was the propeller or something to do with the propeller that finally broke.

 

Which cabin were you in? We have an aft balcony and we're really looking forward to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruisenfever

cruisenfever

Posted
Posted
They can't just stick a ship in drydock...it needs a little planning..

 

I was on Explorer a few years back after the prop got damaged...it was NOT changed in dry dock...it was changed over the course of a few cruises while in the water....they cut the thing off in St Thomas...and we used the center pod and the one that wasn't damaged...

 

We moved slower, and skipped San Juan, wound up with a full day in St Thomas....and maybe that's when we added Grand Turk...I forget...

 

In any event, the ship does not necessarily HAVE to go into drydock..

 

I would like to have additional confirmation, preferably via Royal Caribbean..( I tweeted their PR dept and their main account), Cruising Power (an alert) or at the very least, a story from here at CC...

 

Haven't seen anything via a google search either....so.....I hope y'all get more info soon.

You are aware the AOS is going into a scheduled dry dock to be enhanced the first of April?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Familygoboston Great Review Rare

Familygoboston

Posted
Posted
You are aware the AOS is going into a scheduled dry dock to be enhanced the first of April?

 

Exactly, Patti, that's why I was thinking they will just pull the plug on the next cruise, they are a week away, and if they can't move the thing quickly, they may take the time to get it dry dock. The current cruisers have been "inconvenienced" and now have to be compensated, erasing profit for this week, and there is no way to "fix it" without inconveniencing the next week's cruisers and having to compensate them too. I guess they could take next weeks cruisers on a drastically altered itinerary, but again, at what cost? If this was something that could be fixed on the fly, they would have repaired the same problem on Allure without having to cancel a cruise and they couldn't do that. So it's already an expensive proposition.

 

I'm curious when we will hear something "official".

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Roce48

Roce48

Posted
Posted (edited)
IOS is Independence...

My mistake! :D I got confused reading the responses.:o

I meant to say Adventure, sorry about the slip, but the report is about AOS.

Edited by Roce48
Link to comment
Share on other sites
reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

Posted
Posted
My mistake! :D I got confused reading the responses.:o

I meant to say Adventure, sorry about the slip, but the report is about AOS.

The website you are referring to is blocked by cruise critic. If it is the one I think it is, that is the scheduled route information, not actual. This site has actual and shows it docked in St Kitts.

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/

Link to comment
Share on other sites
reallyitsmema

reallyitsmema

Posted
Posted
I didn't know it was a blocked site. My mistake. Sorry

No worries, I just could tell it was blocked since the name was replaced by asteriks in your post.:)

 

The marine traffic site isn't blocked since it isn't associated with a travel agency. They have a pay version too but the free information is enough for me.

 

Hopefully, RCI will post some information about what is going on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
A2Mich

A2Mich

Posted
Posted
They can always refuel in Aruba or Curacao.

 

Very true, but if having to cruise at a reduced speed, they may not have enough time to continue to sail that far south and still return to home port on time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
A2Mich

A2Mich

Posted
Posted
We just got off Adventure on Sunday (3-16). We did notice that the back of the ship was really shaky. We also saw dive teams at the back of the ship at both Antigua and St. Croix. Just thought it was routine maintenance.

 

That MAY indicate a cracked, broken, missing blade or a bad bearing. Of course continuing to use the affected pod with a broken wheel will destroy the bearings in the pod. I've seen how hard they are to change and doubt RCI wants to do that. A bearing change REQUIRES a drydock. Granted the ship is scheduled to go in anyway, but doubt they want the added expense of a bearing change. I'd have to do some research, but wonder if she uses the problematic series of ABB Azipods or not???

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Familygoboston Great Review Rare

Familygoboston

Posted
Posted
Are you a PADI certified diver who wants a free cruise and are willing to work a little bit every day:D Then you may be able to volunteer to work fixing the ship and get a free sailing :D:

 

If only it were that easy Travelplus, I think they may want you to be a specialized marine mechanic too;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bilyclub

bilyclub

Posted
Posted
That MAY indicate a cracked, broken, missing blade or a bad bearing. Of course continuing to use the affected pod with a broken wheel will destroy the bearings in the pod. I've seen how hard they are to change and doubt RCI wants to do that. A bearing change REQUIRES a drydock. Granted the ship is scheduled to go in anyway, but doubt they want the added expense of a bearing change. I'd have to do some research, but wonder if she uses the problematic series of ABB Azipods or not???

 

I thought the bad azipods were made by Rolls Royce and used by Celebrity.

Royal has had minimal trouble with the V series made by ABB.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
Posted
Don't know how long it takes to change a wheel, but would likely depend on if needing to change the whole thing or one blade, availability of parts, divers, equipment, tools, etc. Whether or not the repair is done right away or waiting for drydock may also depend on which Azipod is having the problem. If it's the center pod, it may not be a huge deal other than reduced speed and increased drag. If it's one of the two azimuthing pods, that would affect maneuverability. The center pod is fixed so would not affect as much.

 

Since they are azipods, which are variable speed motors, the propellers are fixed blade type, so there is no option of changing one blade. With the exception of US Navy nuclear subs, I don't know of anyone who "jumps" a wheel of this size in water. If the propeller is actually damaged, it will require drydocking, and the azipods on Adventure are the older V series, which require drydocking to renew the thrust bearings, though propeller damage is more dangerous to the roller bearings than thrust bearings. But then again, the roller bearings require drydocking, even for the newer X series pods.

 

While I cannot say whether they will cancel the next cruise to fix this, you cannot just say "well we were coming in for service next week, how about us coming this week?". Drydock slots are booked about a year in advance, especially for Grand Bahamas, so just taking the ship to the yard would not help the situation if they couldn't get into the dock.

 

Vibration noted on previous cruises, and the reported divers leads me to suspect that one of the propellers was bent or split on one or more blades. The normal remedy for this is to have divers remove the damaged section of the affected blade(s) and then remove an equal area from the opposite blade to balance the propeller. Doing this underwater is tough to do, and if there are an odd number of blades, it becomes something of a trial and error method: remove a little, try the propeller, if it vibrates, take a little more, and so on until the optimum balance is achieved.

 

I have not researched the itineraries in question, so I don't know the required speeds to make the ports. If the ship needs to make upwards of 75% of full speed, then taking one pod out would necessitate an itinerary change. The drag would not be too great with one pod out, as they will just let it free-wheel, as was done on Allure for the last couple of months.

 

As to maneuvering, one azimuthing pod would be quite sufficient for docking, as they are far more powerful than the thrusters (even 2-3 combined) that they replaced. The real problem will come with the ship's return to the US. If an azimuthing pod is affected, this takes out the second, redundant, means of steering the ship. This will require notification to the USCG prior to entering any port, and the CG will probably require at least one tug escort the ship from the sea buoy to the dock, in case the other steering pod were to fail. There will also be paperwork required to get permission from the USCG to leave port with only one steering gear working.

 

Again, just speculation, but my money would be on an abbreviated cruise next week and then to drydock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lavaland

Lavaland

Posted
  • Author
Posted

This is what CC member Jetscot posted in another board. They are currently on the ship

 

"Can give you all some reassurance. Spoke w purser and next weeks cruise is confirmed. We r traveling along very slowly. In Antigua today. St Martin for 2 days. St Croix on Sat. Prob go into SJ on the turn around day so may not be back for 3.30. If not will see u all at M@M. We're supposed 2 have M@M today but I guess most people will go ashore.

 

Propeller can't be fixed till dry dock"

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
fridaythe13th

fridaythe13th

Posted
Posted
Since they are azipods, which are variable speed motors, the propellers are fixed blade type, so there is no option of changing one blade. With the exception of US Navy nuclear subs, I don't know of anyone who "jumps" a wheel of this size in water. If the propeller is actually damaged, it will require drydocking, and the azipods on Adventure are the older V series, which require drydocking to renew the thrust bearings, though propeller damage is more dangerous to the roller bearings than thrust bearings. But then again, the roller bearings require drydocking, even for the newer X series pods.

 

While I cannot say whether they will cancel the next cruise to fix this, you cannot just say "well we were coming in for service next week, how about us coming this week?". Drydock slots are booked about a year in advance, especially for Grand Bahamas, so just taking the ship to the yard would not help the situation if they couldn't get into the dock.

 

Vibration noted on previous cruises, and the reported divers leads me to suspect that one of the propellers was bent or split on one or more blades. The normal remedy for this is to have divers remove the damaged section of the affected blade(s) and then remove an equal area from the opposite blade to balance the propeller. Doing this underwater is tough to do, and if there are an odd number of blades, it becomes something of a trial and error method: remove a little, try the propeller, if it vibrates, take a little more, and so on until the optimum balance is achieved.

 

I have not researched the itineraries in question, so I don't know the required speeds to make the ports. If the ship needs to make upwards of 75% of full speed, then taking one pod out would necessitate an itinerary change. The drag would not be too great with one pod out, as they will just let it free-wheel, as was done on Allure for the last couple of months.

 

As to maneuvering, one azimuthing pod would be quite sufficient for docking, as they are far more powerful than the thrusters (even 2-3 combined) that they replaced. The real problem will come with the ship's return to the US. If an azimuthing pod is affected, this takes out the second, redundant, means of steering the ship. This will require notification to the USCG prior to entering any port, and the CG will probably require at least one tug escort the ship from the sea buoy to the dock, in case the other steering pod were to fail. There will also be paperwork required to get permission from the USCG to leave port with only one steering gear working.

 

Again, just speculation, but my money would be on an abbreviated cruise next week and then to drydock.

 

Very interesting. I like knowing this kind of stuff! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...