Explorer propulsion problem....

[Sponge4God]

They just received $200 onboard credit

 

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[leaveitallbehind]

Just by way of comparison, we were on Independence in March of '13 when we learned during the all access tour that the center pod was not functioning and had not been for several months. There was no mention or general awareness of it on board, and it had no impact whatsoever on performance or maintaining our scheduled itinerary. The situation remained until it was repaired during the April '13 scheduled refurbishment drydock.

 

That, however, was the situation at the time on Independence and I certainly can't say there would be any similar correlation any situation occurring now with Explorer. But as mentioned there are three Azipods on Explorer and I'm certain the ship can function fully and safely on two of them if one is inoperable.

Edited August 26, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[Mass2Cruise]

I was on EX when the first prop issue occurred. It clipped a reef on the 9 day before our 9 day. They tried to fix in Bermuda and NJ before our cruise. No dice. They ended up going slow on two pods for our 9 day with shorter stops and the same for the following 5 day. Then they replaced the whole prop in St. Thomas on the next 9 day.

[crisndeefromde]

I was on EX when the first prop issue occurred. It clipped a reef on the 9 day before our 9 day. They tried to fix in Bermuda and NJ before our cruise. No dice. They ended up going slow on two pods for our 9 day with shorter stops and the same for the following 5 day. Then they replaced the whole prop in St. Thomas on the next 9 day.

 

To RedDevil:

 

Hi Dick!!! we were on that cruise it hit the reef in Samana! So no labadee for us and a whole day in the turks on the water while the ship had divers down checking how bad the damage was. Limped back to Bayonne.

 

Hope you all are well and tell Mari hello. We have been cruising on the Serenade and the Adventure!

Edited August 26, 2014 by crisndeefromde
wrong post

[dancinman66]

Oh well let's hope she's fixed soon then without too much disruption

 

 

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[trvlmil]

Just received a message from my daughter. Weather is cloudy, Captain said they are 280 miles away from storm, but will probably feel some swells this afternoon and tonight. Azipod was fixed and at some point they will have to stop to do readings. (whatever that means)

[scooter90]

Watching this very closely as we sail on 9/6. I have an app that shows cruise ship locations and it looks like the Explorer is off the Virginia coast....probably making a slow sail north to Bayonne.

[ChefPeg]

Just received a message from my daughter. Weather is cloudy, Captain said they are 280 miles away from storm, but will probably feel some swells this afternoon and tonight. Azipod was fixed and at some point they will have to stop to do readings. (whatever that means)

 

Thank you so much for the updates from your daughter. I too, am sailing on Thursday so I am watching closely for any news.

 

Wish them safe sailing to Bayonne.

[joyrideny405]

Watching this very closely as we sail on 9/6. I have an app that shows cruise ship locations and it looks like the Explorer is off the Virginia coast....probably making a slow sail north to Bayonne.

Hi Scooter90 - what is the app you use to track ship locations. Thank you.

[scooter90]

Hi Scooter90 - what is the app you use to track ship locations. Thank you.

 

Its called Ship Mate. If you put in the cruise you are going on...it gives you a bunch of info, deck plans, deck cams, etc. It also has a neat ship location button which I tend to use quite often before a cruise to see where "our" ship may currently be....

[Tony O]

Marine Traffic is another app and program

[boscobeans]

My daughter is on board right now. Last update I heard from her was earlier this afternoon. Captain announced they may be leaving Bermuda at 7 a.m Tuesday morning. She also told me that she spoke to a passenger currently on the Dawn and they may be leaving at 6 a.m.

 

Propulsion problem caused the late arrival this morning. Hopefully they were able to fix the problem.

 

Looks like NCL Dawn will be departing Bermuda as well due to Cristobal.

 

Norwegian Dawn: The ship will be departing King's Wharf at 6 a.m. EDT instead of 5:30 p.m. EDT on August 26.

 

bosco

Edited August 26, 2014 by boscobeans

[cruzinlady1947]

Looks like NCL Dawn will be departing Bermuda as well due to Cristobal.

 

Norwegian Dawn: The ship will be departing King's Wharf at 6 a.m. EDT instead of 5:30 p.m. EDT on August 26.

 

bosco

I watched it leave this morning, about 30+ minutes before the Explorer. Hope they make it back without any trouble.

 

 

Gwen :)

[Ravensfan19]

Thanks also for the update, Leaving Thursday and really looking forward to it. Keep us posted !!!!!!

[SeagoingMom]

Wow, this thread has engendered a mental picture of a cruise ship in a hurricane with no (or inadequate) propulsion! Scary image. :eek:

 

The two ships may have sailed out "together" just to help each other out, if necessary...

 

Anyone have a recent update from Explorer?

[trvlmil]

Most recent text message from my daughter....she said there are a lot of unhappy passengers moaning and complaining about having their time in Bermuda cut short. Captain informed them that the two other ships that were scheduled for Bermuda diverted to other ports. (Guessing he was referring to the Summit and Breakaway)

 

My daughter is fine, a seasoned cruiser who is just happy to be on the ship and enjoying every minute. She is looking forward to 70's night and the Quest tonight.

 

I can just imagine what people will post when they return home! Personally I am very happy that Royal is making sure their passengers are safe. Safety is the number one priority! :)

[cruzinlady1947]

Most recent text message from my daughter....she said there are a lot of unhappy passengers moaning and complaining about having their time in Bermuda cut short. Captain informed them that the two other ships that were scheduled for Bermuda diverted to other ports. (Guessing he was referring to the Summit and Breakaway)

 

My daughter is fine, a seasoned cruiser who is just happy to be on the ship and enjoying every minute. She is looking forward to 70's night and the Quest tonight.

 

I can just imagine what people will post when they return home! Personally I am very happy that Royal is making sure their passengers are safe. Safety is the number one priority! :)

They should be happy RCCL took them out of danger's way. Things like this happen. They got $200 OBC for missing the day in Bermuda. Of course, they have to spend it on board. Unless they can cash it out at the end of the cruise. It is better than nothing. But, I guess some people complain about everything. I would be like your daughter, happy to be on a ship at sea. And I hope to be on the Explorer on Thursday. ;)

 

Thanks for the update.

 

 

Gwen :)

[scooter90]

They should be happy RCCL took them out of danger's way. Things like this happen. They got $200 OBC for missing the day in Bermuda. Of course, they have to spend it on board. Unless they can cash it out at the end of the cruise. It is better than nothing. But, I guess some people complain about everything. I would be like your daughter, happy to be on a ship at sea. And I hope to be on the Explorer on Thursday. ;)

 

Thanks for the update.

 

 

Gwen :)

 

I agree with the above. If people are complaining about missing Bermuda they should have taken a LAND vacation. We will be getting on the Explorer when you get off and if we just sail in circles, I'd be happy. A cruise is a ship moving...I can find something to do on the ship to utilize my time and enjoy my vacation versus complaining about something out of the captain's control.. And...glad your daughter is safe and rolling with the flow of things.

[Sponge4God]

They all got $200 onboard credit and just skyped with my daughter cause she and her husband miss the little ones. She said only a few are complaining, 1/4 of the people are kids she told me. They will let them cash it out if they don't spend onboard. She told me that only 3 of the 4 propellers are working. She looked out the back and sees the water churning on 3. They made no announcements about cancelling the next cruise and even the workers are saying they are getting no breaks so Thursday looks good Gwen. I told my daughter who has not complained to ignore those who are ignorant and nasty toward people who have no control of what's done. My wife and I said safety is way more important, after all we like being grandparents, just don't want to be parents AGAIN LOL. We leave September 21 for our Breakaway cruise

 

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[PeterPan]

Explorer only has 3 props. 2 azipods and 1 fixipod

[dancinman66]

Missing ports is a real risk if cruising especially in storm season

 

 

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[lrm1964]

Just was on the explorer 8/14-23 and took the all access tour on 8/22. While in the engine control room the engineer said that the shaft on the fixipod (the middle fixed engine) is bent and causes vibrations. He told us that the divers would come in when we docked on Sat to break the epoxy of the bolts that hold the blade and then proceed to take the blades off to stop the vibration. If they couldn't get them off they would take them off in Bermuda. This means that that engine will be out of service until the dry-dock early next year when the fixipod is replaced. So on all cruises going forward they would only have the two pods and that some itineraries would have to be changed going forward because the ship could not make any high speed runs. During our cruise we docked almost an hour late (2pm instead of 1pm) into St. Maarten due to this and we were only supposed to be their until 7 as it was.

[Clarea]

Just was on the explorer 8/14-23 and took the all access tour on 8/22. While in the engine control room the engineer said that the shaft on the fixipod (the middle fixed engine) is bent and causes vibrations. He told us that the divers would come in when we docked on Sat to break the epoxy of the bolts that hold the blade and then proceed to take the blades off to stop the vibration. If they couldn't get them off they would take them off in Bermuda. This means that that engine will be out of service until the dry-dock early next year when the fixipod is replaced. So on all cruises going forward they would only have the two pods and that some itineraries would have to be changed going forward because the ship could not make any high speed runs. During our cruise we docked almost an hour late (2pm instead of 1pm) into St. Maarten due to this and we were only supposed to be their until 7 as it was.

Thanks for the info. I know Indy had a problem with the center pod a couple of years ago and ran with 2 pods for months.

[littlesteelo]

Thanks for the info. I know Indy had a problem with the center pod a couple of years ago and ran with 2 pods for months.

 

It was more than a few months. It had the blades removed from the pod in June 2010, and didn't have them refitted until the dry dock in May 2013. I'm surprised this would affect Explorers itineraries, since we regularly made 21 knots even without the center pod. Most cruise ships don't go faster than that.

 

I do believe that Explorer has the same type of Azipod as Independence as well.

[SherriZ366]

Just was on the explorer 8/14-23 and took the all access tour on 8/22. While in the engine control room the engineer said that the shaft on the fixipod (the middle fixed engine) is bent and causes vibrations. He told us that the divers would come in when we docked on Sat to break the epoxy of the bolts that hold the blade and then proceed to take the blades off to stop the vibration. If they couldn't get them off they would take them off in Bermuda. This means that that engine will be out of service until the dry-dock early next year when the fixipod is replaced. So on all cruises going forward they would only have the two pods and that some itineraries would have to be changed going forward because the ship could not make any high speed runs. During our cruise we docked almost an hour late (2pm instead of 1pm) into St. Maarten due to this and we were only supposed to be their until 7 as it was.

Hope they are successful in fixing the fixipod -- we sail on EX on 12-4-2014 and have an itinerary that goes to the ABC Islands.