Barnacles on the Eclipse

[tpeacockiii]

2 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

With 6-8 hours available at turn-around in Vancouver, they could do this in 3-4 weeks at most.  From quick searching, it doesn't appear that Canada has regulations regarding underwater hull cleaning yet, they are working with voluntary controls at this time.

Thank you for your investigation on this!

 

From the reduced port times in AK, it would appear that there's no intention on doing any cleaning while in those ports. I would hope some can take place while in Vancouver (unless they plan on middle of the night while "cruising" cleaning)

 

Given that there's a considerable expense to the fuel costs, that makes me believe Celebrity would have a lot of motivation to sort this out! I may not get full port time on 5/29 sailing, but my hope is that it's improved over the 5/15 sailing at the very least!

[Kiran]

Had a 21 foot bay liner boat down in Florida decades ago and spent a few weekend hours scraping off the barnacles with credit cards

 

cant imagine the enormity of cleaning a cruise ship hull whether grass or barnacles or both

[chengkp75]

8 minutes ago, Kiran said:

Had a 21 foot bay liner boat down in Florida decades ago and spent a few weekend hours scraping off the barnacles with credit cards

 

cant imagine the enormity of cleaning a cruise ship hull whether grass or barnacles or both

it's done by an ROV brush cart that attaches to the hull magnetically, and the diver or operator "drives" it in passes up and down the hull.  It has 6-12 high pressure water driven rotary brushes that will sweep off the growth.  Some hand work is needed, like in sea chests and along bilge keels.

[vicnsue]

Has there been any other ships reporting issues with barnacles? Was the Eclipse docked for long periods of time or just station keeping somewhere?

[s0479]

11 minutes ago, vicnsue said:

Has there been any other ships reporting issues with barnacles? Was the Eclipse docked for long periods of time or just station keeping somewhere?

Off of Long Beach for two years plus

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, vicnsue said:

Has there been any other ships reporting issues with barnacles? Was the Eclipse docked for long periods of time or just station keeping somewhere?

Not docked or station keeping, just anchored off Mexico and Long Beach as noted.

 

Caribbean Princess has a different fouling problem, one where the growth and fouling is inside their sea water piping, causing less than optimum cooling for the engines, and so slower speeds.  She was also in SoCal for a couple years.

Edited May 5, 2022 by chengkp75

[vicnsue]

5 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Caribbean Princess has a different fouling problem, one where the growth and fouling is inside their sea water piping, causing less than optimum cooling for the engines, and so slower speeds.

This is problem more difficult to correct?

[chengkp75]

4 minutes ago, vicnsue said:

This is problem more difficult to correct?

Princess' problem can be done inside the ship, mostly, and while underway.  Celebrity's problem needs to be addressed while the ship is anchored or docked, and depending on how bad it is, could be more difficult, certainly more expensive.

[5waldos]

1 hour ago, vicnsue said:

Has there been any other ships reporting issues with barnacles? Was the Eclipse docked for long periods of time or just station keeping somewhere?

That was what I wondered. And wasn't it in dry dock? That means it was not in the water. How can barnacles become a problem if the ship is not in the water? If it wasn't in dry dock (I've read both scenarios) and if it is all true, why aren't they working on the problem non-stop whenever they have the opportunity? Bring the crew and whatever equipment they need and can board and go to work at every stop. If they aren't doing that- what IS their plan to fix this problem. The changes in the itinerary and port stops are really drastic and mostly make any shore excursion impossible. A $100 OBC in no way compensates for this. 

[chengkp75]

42 minutes ago, 5waldos said:

That was what I wondered. And wasn't it in dry dock? That means it was not in the water. How can barnacles become a problem if the ship is not in the water? If it wasn't in dry dock (I've read both scenarios) and if it is all true, why aren't they working on the problem non-stop whenever they have the opportunity? Bring the crew and whatever equipment they need and can board and go to work at every stop. If they aren't doing that- what IS their plan to fix this problem. The changes in the itinerary and port stops are really drastic and mostly make any shore excursion impossible. A $100 OBC in no way compensates for this. 

It was in drydock about a year ago.  But it sat idle at anchor for a year after that, and that is what caused the problem.  They would not be able to bring the cleaning service along with the ship, unless they wanted to park a container on the pool or sports deck.  Particularly with the requirements today to collect/filter/treat everything that is scraped off the hull, you would need two 40' shipping containers, at least, to get all the gear together.  I firmly believe they are mobilizing this service, but there are other ships in the world besides cruise ships that need hull cleaning, and so last minute cries for help may not work.

[5waldos]

41 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

It was in drydock about a year ago.  But it sat idle at anchor for a year after that, and that is what caused the problem.  They would not be able to bring the cleaning service along with the ship, unless they wanted to park a container on the pool or sports deck.  Particularly with the requirements today to collect/filter/treat everything that is scraped off the hull, you would need two 40' shipping containers, at least, to get all the gear together.  I firmly believe they are mobilizing this service, but there are other ships in the world besides cruise ships that need hull cleaning, and so last minute cries for help may not work.

 

Thanks for the info- appreciate learning about it. Now- any thoughts as to why it seems to be just this ship? And, I guess, how it is possible that with nothing better to do during the shutdown, nobody was thinking that this might develop?  

[mrbocbox]

Live from the bottom of the Eclipse. 

 

[ARP]

May 22 cruise cancelled and Eclipse going into dry dock for 7 days to remedy the problem. I am scheduled for May 29 so I hope this happens.

 

Alan

[Veinless]

Yup, **** this company. 

[TeachAloha]

I am heartbroken we won a move up bid and this was DH's first big vacation post-covid (he's a nurse and needs to request time 3 months in advance so missing the whole season) I have been on hold and depending on how fast they can post the refund no time to get something else lined up. I am trying to not be mad, but this seems like something that was VERY preventable. Not to mention all the $ spent on winter gear  😞

Edited May 5, 2022 by TeachAloha

[phoenix_dream]

I am so sorry for those whose cruise on 5/22 just got ruined, and at the same time so relieved for the rest of us with upcoming cruises scheduled.  This certainly seems like something that could have been recognized before she even started sailing again.  

[TeachAloha]

It's wild. I am on the phone right now and the agent said I was wrong it was sailing??? I read her the letter am now on hold.. Will keep you updated. 

[s0479]

5 hours ago, 5waldos said:

15 minutes ago, TeachAloha said:

It's wild. I am on the phone right now and the agent said I was wrong it was sailing??? I read her the letter am now on hold.. Will keep you updated. 

Well I will say the 5/15 isn’t showing on the website - I thought it may have been because they were updating everything- I would hope they wouldn’t mess up the communication that badly!

Edited May 5, 2022 by s0479
Didn’t show

[TeachAloha]

1 minute ago, s0479 said:

 

I'm on the 05/22 that got cancelled : (

[CruisinNole]

I feel so sorry for those going through such a stressful and totally avoidable situation. We were on the Century 12 years ago on a 12 night Mediterranean cruise that was cancelled on the 2nd night due to broken rudders. It was poorly handled by the ship's personnel and Celebrity. This brings back a lot of bad memories of the frustration and uncertainty we passengers experienced. Hope Celebrity does right by those affected.

[s0479]

10 minutes ago, s0479 said:

 

Nevermind now 5/22 not showing 

[donnydiva59]

We were booked on May 22nd Eclipse cruise now cancelled.

Travelling from UK and had booked flights, Rocky Mountaineer plus all extra sundries.

antigen tests , ESTA and ETA , airport car parking etc 

ALL non refundable unless Air Canada and Rocky Mountaineer can be rebooked.

total incompetence by Celebrity.

 

[tpeacockiii]

24 minutes ago, donnydiva59 said:

We were booked on May 22nd Eclipse cruise now cancelled.

Travelling from UK and had booked flights, Rocky Mountaineer plus all extra sundries.

antigen tests , ESTA and ETA , airport car parking etc 

ALL non refundable unless Air Canada and Rocky Mountaineer can be rebooked.

total incompetence by Celebrity.

 

This is the unfortunate costs of cancelling the sailing. Vancouver isn't convenient for most people to get to. Even for us coming from Atlanta, the trip is involved. We're on the 5/29 sailing. I'm optimistic that the drydock goes well (still no clue where that is) and our sailing is not impacted.

 

There's no easy answer for Celebrity - you either piss off 1 sailing of passengers or an entire seasons of passengers. They should have been able to handle this BEFORE the Hawaii cruise began - for whatever reason they didn't catch the issue until after it was too late apparently.

[s0479]

14 minutes ago, tpeacockiii said:

This is the unfortunate costs of cancelling the sailing. Vancouver isn't convenient for most people to get to. Even for us coming from Atlanta, the trip is involved. We're on the 5/29 sailing. I'm optimistic that the drydock goes well (still no clue where that is) and our sailing is not impacted.

 

There's no easy answer for Celebrity - you either piss off 1 sailing of passengers or an entire seasons of passengers. They should have been able to handle this BEFORE the Hawaii cruise began - for whatever reason they didn't catch the issue until after it was too late apparently.

Word is they were scheduled to fix right before Hawaii cruise but there was poor weather and it couldn’t be done.  I guess it’s a pretty involved process of how and where it can be done.

[BigAl94]