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

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, strickers said:

this storm and it's trajectory would have been know about several days ago.

 North Pacific storms aren't very predictable

[ngrund]

13 hours ago, 70sGringo said:

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

 

Starts with 50% as onboard credit, and then at the end if anything is left it will be refunded

[jwlane]

 

12 hours ago, flyswatter15 said:

Currently on the ship perfectly content. 

Versus this?  Have a great cruise!

[Sai1]

16 hours ago, 70sGringo said:

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

 

I am so impressed by how some people can get their bile up so quickly, even without information or facts. (Of course, facts don't matter any more, apparently.) Picketing? Really? Because of dangerous storms? Royal has said they were opening up the bar, and and any unused credits are refunded at the end of the cruise. So - instead of a sailing into extremely rough seas with passengers tossed everywhere or confined to their cabins and barf bags and barf everywhere, etc - you get the same cruise minus a couple of ports (Ketchikan is still on), with food and drink, and at half price to boot (unless you opted for all those extra hot stone massages).  I think Royal has indeed done better. I guess it depends whether you see half full or half empty cups...

[Tree_skier]

I can't believe that people are complaining about the generous compensation. 

 

Some people would complain if you hung them with a new rope.

[70sGringo]

Here is a snapshot of the other cruise ships today, Sat.. 9/16/2023 (marinetraffic.com)

 

Grand Princess/18.2 knots destination Whittier
Niew Amsterdam/17.6 knots destination Glacier Bay
Norwegian Sun/13.3 knots destination Glacier Bay
Volendam/10.8 knots destination Haines
Carnival Miracle/5.5 knots destination Skagway
Quantum of the Seas/18.3 knots destination Victoria
Norwegian Jewel/18.7 knots destination Ketchikan
Seabourn Odyssey/14.1 knots destination Misty Fjords
Brilliance of the sead/16.7 knots destination Vancouver
Celebrity Eclipse/17.4 knots destination Vancouver
Celebrity Solstice/16.6 knots destination Ketchikan
Ovation of the Seas/21 knots destination Juneau
Crown Princess/12.8 knots destination Hoonah
Viking Orion/14.2 knots destination Vancouver

 

Why these ships are on the move and Radiance is not?

Seriously, just trying to make sense of this.

[njkruzer]

7 minutes ago, 70sGringo said:

Here is a snapshot of the other cruise ships today, Sat.. 9/16/2023 (marinetraffic.com)

 

Grand Princess/18.2 knots destination Whittier
Niew Amsterdam/17.6 knots destination Glacier Bay
Norwegian Sun/13.3 knots destination Glacier Bay
Volendam/10.8 knots destination Haines
Carnival Miracle/5.5 knots destination Skagway
Quantum of the Seas/18.3 knots destination Victoria
Norwegian Jewel/18.7 knots destination Ketchikan
Seabourn Odyssey/14.1 knots destination Misty Fjords
Brilliance of the sead/16.7 knots destination Vancouver
Celebrity Eclipse/17.4 knots destination Vancouver
Celebrity Solstice/16.6 knots destination Ketchikan
Ovation of the Seas/21 knots destination Juneau
Crown Princess/12.8 knots destination Hoonah
Viking Orion/14.2 knots destination Vancouver

 

Why these ships are on the move and Radiance is not?

Seriously, just trying to make sense of this.

Where are the ships sailing from?  Radiance is in Seward,  not Vancouver,  Seattle,  or elsewhere.   From a map that was posted it looks like you would sail directly into the storm.  Of course I'm not a meteorologist or a sailor.

[jwlane]

47 minutes ago, 70sGringo said:

Here is a snapshot of the other cruise ships today, Sat.. 9/16/2023 (marinetraffic.com)

 

Grand Princess/18.2 knots destination Whittier
Niew Amsterdam/17.6 knots destination Glacier Bay
Norwegian Sun/13.3 knots destination Glacier Bay
Volendam/10.8 knots destination Haines
Carnival Miracle/5.5 knots destination Skagway
Quantum of the Seas/18.3 knots destination Victoria
Norwegian Jewel/18.7 knots destination Ketchikan
Seabourn Odyssey/14.1 knots destination Misty Fjords
Brilliance of the sead/16.7 knots destination Vancouver
Celebrity Eclipse/17.4 knots destination Vancouver
Celebrity Solstice/16.6 knots destination Ketchikan
Ovation of the Seas/21 knots destination Juneau
Crown Princess/12.8 knots destination Hoonah
Viking Orion/14.2 knots destination Vancouver

 

Why these ships are on the move and Radiance is not?

Seriously, just trying to make sense of this.

Obviously someone failed a course in map reading and/or internet research.  @70sGringo, did you look at the portion of MarineTraffic where it gives the time of the last position update???  Nieuw Amsterdam's stated posistion is 17+ hours old.  See Post 103 for its actual position and sea state.  Look up these ships on CruiseMapper and get back to us.

[Sai1]

46 minutes ago, 70sGringo said:

Why these ships are on the move and Radiance is not?

Seriously, just trying to make sense of this.

Once you have left home port, you have reduced options to be safe. Cruises in the Caribbean have occasionally diverted and changed route substantially or skipped ports because of hurricanes. The waters off of Alaska are "interesting" because of the wide open fetch and also because of the usual direction of the waves abeam, creating a lot more rock and roll, and sea sickness. The 7 day trips that are up and back from Vancouver and Seattle have a lot more options to hide behind islands in the Ketchikan. Juneau. Sitka area, etc, than the wide open stretch leaving from Seward down to those ports. And those ports are much further south than where the storm seems to be heading. I would trust the judgement of the crew in erring for safety when you have the option to do so before heading out to sea. and I respect their compensation package to make up for it. And, I would not be picketing RCL over this.

[jwlane]

57 minutes ago, 70sGringo said:

 

Seriously, just trying to make sense of this.

Here's some sense.  Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Sun are inside passage, protected from the open ocean.  Most of the others are south of the low.  Wonder how are Quantum passengers are enjoying the 14' seas with 34 knots on the tail?  Nieuw has 40 knots on the nose.

 

BTW, Grand Princess is docked in Whittier.

 

Does this help answer "Why these ships are on the move and Radiance is not?"

[jwlane]

3 hours ago, 70sGringo said:

Why these ships are on the move and Radiance is not?

You're RIGHT!  Ships ARE on the move.  Carnival Luminosa is skipping ALL its Alaska stops and heading straight across the Pacific.  Thanks @kwokpot for the latest.

[Oceansaway17]

I was on the Grand Princess for two weeks and got back last week.  On the way up to Whittier we had very very rough weather and missed Hubbard Bay.  It was one of the roughest nights in my entire cruising career.  Of course, I was in the front of the ship up on deck 9 but the banging of the hull and vibrations were horrible.  I feel if I had been on a larger ship like say Ovation, it might have been different.  Be glad Radiance is staying in port because the upper gulf of Alaska can be very nasty when it wants to be.  Oh lucky me I will also miss the NE/Canada weather and I sail to Boston on Wed. I dodged two bullets this summer. 

[GimmeOcean]

1 hour ago, jwlane said:

You're RIGHT!  Ships ARE on the move.  Carnival Luminosa is skipping ALL its Alaska stops and heading straight across the Pacific.  Thanks @kwokpot for the latest.

$200 OBC? Royal’s compensation looks pretty good in comparison.

[Sai1]

Windy is showing 30-50 knot winds this evening, and I took a screenshot of someone else’s photo reportedly from Royal, indicating waves up to 30 feet. 

[Anthony4866]

We were on Radiance for the September 1 cruise from Seward which was cancelled as we stepped on the ship. Fine we kind of understand- propulsion problems and rumours of a previous rough sailing that may have caused damage to an azipod. We had to accept all that BUT all compensation was refused for pre cruise flight, hotel, bus transfer to Seward and more. In the letter they gave us on the ship it said "We’ll cover any pre-paid transportation change fees up to $600 USD" Nope they refuse - tough luck for us. Also we had to press them by phone to refund our pre booked excursions and specialty resto dining which should have been automatic. No recourse as to any further compensation- period. Hmmm. Anyhow I don't recommend sailing from Seward on a one way cruise. Pretty challenging to get there. Maybe if you combine it with something on land then power to you. Nevertheless we're going out on Vision in a month and Quantum next year so are sticking with RC for some reason. Maybe it's the Diamond status and being a Shareholder which made no difference to them.