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Radiance of the Seas - Propulsion Problems - Engine, Propeller, or Azipod Issue? How long to fix?

Coochuck

By Coochuck,
in Royal Caribbean International

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twangster "Live from...." Rare

twangster

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, jcl410 said:

Sometime in the mid-2000s the added a 11MW Wärtsilä 38 engine to provide hotel power while in port.... The gas turbine engines are NOT fuel efficient when running a partial load.

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

 

Quality used to be better but now YouTube TV wants you to buy the episode to see it in better resolution.  

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Ourusualbeach

Ourusualbeach

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just announced. She will.sail on the 15th.

 

 

Dear Guest,

Our Marine technical team has given us the green light and we're thrilled to announce that Radiance of the Seas will be returning to service beginning with our September 15th sailing.

With repairs wrapping up and sea trial preparations underway, we're now able to confirm our ability to sail as intended. In response to some comments I've seen and heard, seaworthiness was never in question - the propulsion issue only impacted our speed and ability to make it to ports on time.

 

Thank you for your patience and continued understanding as we worked to resolve this issue. Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or looking to explore, relax, and recharge - we have no doubt your time with us will be nothing short of amazing. We can't wait to welcome you onboard soon!

Edited by Ourusualbeach
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Cherful59

Cherful59

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Just announced. She will.sail on the 15th.

 

 

Dear Guest,

Our Marine technical team has given us the green light and we're thrilled to announce that Radiance of the Seas will be returning to service beginning with our September 15th sailing.

With repairs wrapping up and sea trial preparations underway, we're now able to confirm our ability to sail as intended. In response to some comments I've seen and heard, seaworthiness was never in question - the propulsion issue only impacted our speed and ability to make it to ports on time.

 

Thank you for your patience and continued understanding as we worked to resolve this issue. Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or looking to explore, relax, and recharge - we have no doubt your time with us will be nothing short of amazing. We can't wait to welcome you onboard soon!

I was on board for Radiances 8/25 sailing and didn’t have any delays getting to port or hear about any issues.  This was the smoothest cruise I have ever been on.  I am sorry for those who’s trips have been cancelled, but must admit I am glad I was not impacted by this.  Glad everything is ok again.

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Flannel1

Flannel1

Posted
Posted

Good to see the sea trials happening today, albeit a little later than advertised. I am just going on tracker and manoeuvres, but those with greater expertise will know… I think we all suspend a little bit on the comms and look at what is happening on the ground?  Anyway, all the best to all and for those on the Radiance imminently!

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70sGringo

70sGringo

Posted
Posted

Open letter to RCCL company-

 

Hello. We delighted to know that you have now fixed the Radiance of the Seas propulsion issue and have restored its ability to be revenue-positive for the company again. Woohoo!

 

Now it is time for the company to step up and follow through on your promises to your cancellation-affected customers. We are still waiting for the "100% refund including taxes and fees, pre-paid packages and gratuities..." and Alaska-to-home return airfare that was promised by letter in our stateroom, on September 1, 2023. This would go a long way for your customers to feel better about a bad experience.

 

We understand that RCCL is still within the 14 business day window of refund, but this does not sit well with us (and other posters) who are waiting for some of the thousands of dollars to "go the other way", back to us, the customers. Thousands of dollars which RCCL has held for months. RCCL was perfectly punctual on charging for the two days of gratuities for the time we spent on board, going "0" knots in Seward. It only seems fair, that with a few more button pushes, RCCL could have issued the refunds while charging for those two days of gratuities. We also had problems initially, with submitting the charges for the return airfare. We had to resubmit because RCCL had problems with "the format" of the original Alaska Air email receipts. We have ZERO dollars in reimbursement, so far. 

 

With regard to the "100% Future Cruise Credit", it is going to take some time to decide if we even want to exercise these credits, based on the ordeal after we left Seward. We personally had a terrible night in Anchorage at an awful fleabag highrise hotel (I don't need to name it here. Just read enough Google reviews and you will find it!. My bad). Future cruise consideration will also include reading detailed reviews of the balance of the RCCL fleet. Perhaps due to our own recency bias, we will NEVER set foot on a Radiance-class ship again.

 

We feel that we are at a crossroads with RCCL. The next few days/weeks may determine whether we ever set foot on another RCCL ship (FCC credit or not). This is starting to "feel" like all of those Covid-19 era gripe stories of customers not getting any response from cruise companies that were on the brink of survival while their ships cut figure-eights in the ocean for months.

 

So, please consider our story. Future customers may read this letter.

 

Thank you- 70sgringo
 

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moposh "Live from...." Rare

moposh

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, 70sGringo said:

Open letter to RCCL company-

 

Hello. We delighted to know that you have now fixed the Radiance of the Seas propulsion issue and have restored its ability to be revenue-positive for the company again. Woohoo!

 

Now it is time for the company to step up and follow through on your promises to your cancellation-affected customers. We are still waiting for the "100% refund including taxes and fees, pre-paid packages and gratuities..." and Alaska-to-home return airfare that was promised by letter in our stateroom, on September 1, 2023. This would go a long way for your customers to feel better about a bad experience.

 

We understand that RCCL is still within the 14 business day window of refund, but this does not sit well with us (and other posters) who are waiting for some of the thousands of dollars to "go the other way", back to us, the customers. Thousands of dollars which RCCL has held for months. RCCL was perfectly punctual on charging for the two days of gratuities for the time we spent on board, going "0" knots in Seward. It only seems fair, that with a few more button pushes, RCCL could have issued the refunds while charging for those two days of gratuities. We also had problems initially, with submitting the charges for the return airfare. We had to resubmit because RCCL had problems with "the format" of the original Alaska Air email receipts. We have ZERO dollars in reimbursement, so far. 

 

With regard to the "100% Future Cruise Credit", it is going to take some time to decide if we even want to exercise these credits, based on the ordeal after we left Seward. We personally had a terrible night in Anchorage at an awful fleabag highrise hotel (I don't need to name it here. Just read enough Google reviews and you will find it!. My bad). Future cruise consideration will also include reading detailed reviews of the balance of the RCCL fleet. Perhaps due to our own recency bias, we will NEVER set foot on a Radiance-class ship again.

 

We feel that we are at a crossroads with RCCL. The next few days/weeks may determine whether we ever set foot on another RCCL ship (FCC credit or not). This is starting to "feel" like all of those Covid-19 era gripe stories of customers not getting any response from cruise companies that were on the brink of survival while their ships cut figure-eights in the ocean for months.

 

So, please consider our story. Future customers may read this letter.

 

Thank you- 70sgringo
 

I'm sorry you had a bad experience and have not received renumeration.  :classic_sad:

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jcl410

jcl410

Posted
Posted
On 9/12/2023 at 6:49 PM, 70sGringo said:

Open letter to RCCL company-

 

.....
 

 

It sounds like you had more issues than I did.... If I read this correctly, you booked your return flights back yourself. What day did you fly out? Did you end up flying out on Monday? 

 

 

I had Royal Caribbean book out flight back to Baltimore for Sunday. We spent Friday and Sat. night on the ship. We got off at 0830 Sunday with no line, and the bus got to the airport in plenty of time for the 1400 Alaska airlines flight.  

 

I received the FCC emails on Sept. 8th. I received the first credit back to my card from RCI on the 13th. It's not the cruise cost, so I assume it's the  Shore Excursions refund.... 

 

And slow refunds to credit cards are hardly only an RCI problem..... I'm still waiting for my refund from American Airlines for my cancelled Vancouver to Baltimore flight! 

 

As far as not booking a Radiance class ship; don't forget that Alure of the Seas had to do a couple of  unscheduled drydocks (cancelling a cruise) to fix an azipod issue.  Stuff happens

 

Aloha,

 

John

 

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taznremmy

taznremmy

Posted
Posted

I was scheduled to be on the Radiance on 9/8 and thru to San Diego.


 I was on the Ovation for the 9/1 sailing and suppose to transfer to Radiance for the 9/8.

 

I feel very fortunate that with the help of RCCL and my TA, I was able to obtain a cabin on Ovation for 9/8 and 9/15  and will hopefully catch up with the Radiance on 9/22 for my last two sailings.

Not my first choice, but I am thankful I was able to obtain a cabin on Ovation for the two weeks , and very grateful to RCCL for allowing those of us doing a B2B to cancel without penalty.

Ship happens.

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70sGringo

70sGringo

Posted
Posted

Wow, flyswatter15. What a bummer. I am sorry that RCL turned your cruise into a "revenue sea trial". I thought our experience of Sept 1 was bad enough. This seems worse. 50% refund of what? Not your real hard-earned money you plunked down up to a year ago, but onboard credit? How many over-priced hot stone massages can one have in seven days? One port visit instead of five? I do not envy the Guest Services people who will be working the counter for the next few days. More passenger meltdowns coming! 

I would be spending the next 3 days while tethered to Seward, negotiating my exit back to ANC-to-home and alternate compensation deals. I was thinking... have passengers ever picketed a cruise ship? If RCL is wise, they would be re-opening the free booze to keep the passengers from organizing. 

Seems like RCL kept the truth out while they allowed everyone to show up on "embarkation" day.

Another black eye for this company.

Best of luck to all onboard. I hope they can get this ship fixed eventually, but the optics look bad.

RCL, my opinion is that you can do better, especially with being upfront and honest to your Sept 15 passengers.

Sorry, sorry, sorry

 

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GimmeOcean

GimmeOcean

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

 

It's most certainly the weather. Do you really want to sail in that with 40+ mph winds?

 

image.png.6a0ad972edbfb1f03130f560363e8e76.png

 

 


The lengths they’ll go to to hide the fact the ship is still broken! Even manipulating the weather! (pulls tin foil hat tighter)

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chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, flyswatter15 said:

I’m perfectly aware of the situation. I also think the engine played a part in the decision on “what if” it had issues again in massive swells. 
 

I understand weather. I don’t need it explained to me. I’ve been watching the storm system for a week. 

So you think that had they not had an azipod problem that they would say, "yeah, there's 20-30 foot seas out there, let's take the passengers out in that for a thrill.  What the heck, the ship is in perfect condition, let's trash it in order to keep the original itinerary"?  Gotta love all the armchair ship Captains and CEO's who've never taken responsibility for thousands of lives.

 

I've been in the Gulf of Alaska in that kind of weather, and it's not something I ever cared to repeat, even after 46 years at sea.  And, a cruise ship would be worse than a tanker, with passengers flying all around their cabins.

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chengkp75

chengkp75

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, 70sGringo said:

I hope they can get this ship fixed eventually, but the optics look bad.

And you know how, that the ship is not fixed?  Gotta love the conspiracy lovers.  Those same folks would be suing RCI for "pain and suffering" if the ship went out into the storm.  SMH.

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strickers

strickers

Posted
Posted

There's a lot of anger being vented here and rightly so, but looking at the safety situation objectively then the decision not to sail is absolutely the correct one. However, what is totally unacceptable is the manner in which this significant change has been communicated, this storm and it's trajectory would have been know about several days ago. I doubt very much that the decision not to sail was made after everyone had boarded and it smacks of cynical corporate greed, earlier notice would have enabled people to cancel and rearrange their hard-earned holidays. Rant over.

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