Alaska cruise cancelled after embarkation

[Pattycruise]

Someone in a FB casino group reported their Radiance sailing out of Alaska has cancelled due to engine problems., they had already boarded when the decision was made.  Full refund, FCC and $600 towards air. 
another person responded that they were on the sailing that disembarked that morning and the ship had engine issues through the night.

Next weeks passengers received a “standby for more info” as the ship should be sailing this week to get those next sailers next week from the other end,  they report they should hear something by Tuesday.  

Im sure many people are wishing they purchased travel insurance and others are glad they did. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

All I can say to this is…WOW!  

[FloatyBoaty]

There're 2 threads on CC about this with a couple of people currently on the ship sharing info, but reporting bad azipod and techs flying in to evaluate...

[Matt]

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/09/02/royal-caribbean-cancels-radiance-of-the-seas-sailing-due-propulsion-problem

[rjac]

My wife and I did the land portion of this land/cruise portion first. We finished up Denali and got to the Port in Seward on Friday, September 1st. Early on the motor coach the "adventure guide" informed us that she was just notified that the Radiance had a "propulsion system issue" that they were working on and our cruise might be delayed. We finally got to Seward about 5:30 and boarded the ship with no problems nor mention of any ship related problems. Once in our cabin, the captain made an announcement that the problem wasn't fixed, the ship had to go to dry dock and the cruise was cancelled. He did mention that we would receive a letter detailing the reimbursement packages and comps. We quickly headed to the conference room where four staff members were assisting guests with return flights home through Royal's Air/Sea. Within 1.5 hrs I received an email with our flight arrangements for Saturday night. So we headed to the nearest bar for a few complementary drinks then off to dinner. Saturday we took the last shuttle bus back to the Anchorage airport and caught our flight home later that night. 

Are we disappointed, yes of course. Butthese things happen and it was out of our control. We did get to see Denali and a few of the small towns around Denali. Didn't see Mt. Denali because of the clouds nor did we see any wild life but we really enjoyed that national park. We were totally satisfied with the way the captain, his staff and crew quickly reacted to this problem. Very professional, we can't complain. We look at it this way, we travelled to Alaska and got to have dinner and a night on the Radiance of The Seas. By the way, she's a beautiful ship for her age, just a "little" problem with her propulsion system.

rjac

 

[Matt]

Thanks for sharing your experience @rjac. Sorry it happened to you, but sounds like you made the best of it.

And that 100% FCC will be mighty sweet when you cash it in.

[rjac]

Matt,

Already planning fir next year. Not sure it will be on the Radiance. Hope Royal let's everyone know what happened. The ship was headed back to Victoria, Canada to dry dock. That doesn't sound like a quick turnaround, especially if that azipod is severely damaged.

rjac

 

[Jill]

Just read in a FB group that she’s headed to Victoria on 9/6 for dry dock repairs until 9/16. So another sailing will be cancelled as well. That’s a bummer. Heard she hit some ice that damaged the propulsion system 

[twangster]

Waiting to see how this plays out.

The dry dock near Victoria was booked on May 2021 by someone for the period Sept. 6 - 18.  

https://cse-egd.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/Reservations-Bookings/Calendrier-Schedule?lang=eng

It's possible Royal was able to "acquire" this time slot from who ever booked it but that means that company has to postpone whatever work they were getting done.  That may not be an option as this company has been planning for their dry dock for over two years.   If I was that company I'd ask for some pretty serious compensation before giving up my time slot in the dry dock.   

As of tonight, Sept. 4, Radiance is still in Seward.  If she is running to Victoria on one azipod I would have thought she would have left by now to limp her way down there.  At an average speed of 12 knots it will take around 4 days.

Time will tell.

[smokeybandit]

Is it confirmed it's a drydock? Or just wetdock maintenance?

[twangster]

14 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Is it confirmed it's a drydock? Or just wetdock maintenance?

The older azipods like Radiance have can't be serviced in the water.  

Newer azipod designs allow for some maintenance while wet.   Radiance was breaking new ground by using azipods back in her day.  Most cruise lines continued to use conventional propulsion and rudders in that era.  As azipods became proven their design evolved so that some maintenance could be done from the inside.  That isn't possible with the azipods on Radiance.  They have to be taken apart from the outside to reach the internal parts.  

So if it is internal azipod maintenance, which will be confirmed by the azipod engineer who has flown in, that means dry dock.  

If it is just a bent propellor blade, that's another story.   Propellor blades can be replaced while wet.  

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, twangster said:

So if it is internal azipod maintenance, which will be confirmed by the azipod engineer who has flown in, that means dry dock.  

If it is just a bent propellor blade, that's another story.  

That's my question. Though if they have to replace a blade it wouldn't take 2 weeks. Then again you can't get a new propeller blade shipped overnight from Amazon like you could that lifeboat for Navigator

[twangster]

8 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

That's my question. Though if they have to replace a blade it wouldn't take 2 weeks. Then again you can't get a new propeller blade shipped overnight from Amazon like you could that lifeboat for Navigator

Celebrity's M class share a similar azipod.  There is a long history of azipod issues over the years.  Fortunately the manufacturer figured out how to create some stability with them.    Having said that they've been down this road before and it was a bumpy road.

Only time will tell.  

[mills10]

We had an Alaska cruise on Quantum in 2023 and in 2022 Quantum was having that engine trouble.  Now we have another Alaska cruise booked on Radiance for 2024 and now she is have engine trouble.  Good thing correlation isn't causation, but still maybe I need to stop booking Alaska cruises... 

[twangster]

I see Radiance is still in Seward.

Considering a 3 -4 day sail to Vancouver at reduced speed, or a 2 1/2 day sail at a higher speed, it's curious they haven't left yet if it's resolved.  If it is resolved why would they wait and sail at high speed consuming substantially more fuel compared to taking their time at a slower speed?

If it isn't resolved yet then the next cruise is on the bubble.  They had better fix it soon and get underway to make Vancouver by Friday morning.  

[twangster]

TA on another site just posted the 9/8 sailing has been cancelled. 

[smokeybandit]

Sure wish they would have given the same compensation for the Panama Canal cruises that they're giving for these

[baltodave]

11 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Sure wish they would have given the same compensation for the Panama Canal cruises that they're giving for these

I agree but the issue is RC didn't "cancel" those cruises.  They just changed the itinerary (and they did not charge change fees).  In our case, we opted to switch the sailing to Odyssey the same week because Panama is very expensive to fly to for just sailing to the southern caribbean.

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, baltodave said:

I agree but the issue is RC didn't "cancel" those cruises.

They were canceled. The day of the announcement that cruise showed as canceled in my account.

[bobroo]

On 9/4/2023 at 5:19 PM, twangster said:

The older azipods like Radiance have can't be serviced in the water.  

Newer azipod designs allow for some maintenance while wet.   Radiance was breaking new ground by using azipods back in her day.  Most cruise lines continued to use conventional propulsion and rudders in that era.  As azipods became proven their design evolved so that some maintenance could be done from the inside.  That isn't possible with the azipods on Radiance.  They have to be taken apart from the outside to reach the internal parts.  

So if it is internal azipod maintenance, which will be confirmed by the azipod engineer who has flown in, that means dry dock.  

If it is just a bent propellor blade, that's another story.   Propellor blades can be replaced while wet.  

During an engine room tour on Serenade I was told you can actually get inside a Serenade azipod. There is access from the berth of the ship. It was also said that the scuttle hole/hatch to get in there was only for the smallest of people. Dennis the Chief Engineer said he does not fit anymore. I looked at Dennis and said to myself "Eww...I bet he wears about a 32... DAMN!" So, very restricted access, confined space, and I'm guessing very little working room.

Radiance should be the same. And although you might be able to send a spare kid from Adventure Ocean in there with a flashlight and a GoPro to investigate; you are probably not able to get the gears and parts themselves through that same scuttle hole to make repairs. So yeah, it's dry dock required.

During the tour I asked why do azipods break and that it seemed to frequently happen to Oasis class ships. While they can malfunction for a variety of reasons I was told that often the big culprit is that they've sucked something in. Underwater debris like a stray timber or metal pipe can make its way through the fins of the propeller and jam up against the hull and/or damage it's internals pretty good.

 

 

 

[CruisingNewb]

On 9/2/2023 at 12:12 AM, Pattycruise said:

Im sure many people are wishing they purchased travel insurance and others are glad they did. 

I am curious about this.  If RCCL issued full refunds, FCC and $600.00 towards air, would the insurance companies reimburse?  Wouldn't this be a windfall or double payout?  In this scenario, I would like to know how the insurance works.  

[Matt]

Progress being made

[Geezer Of The Seas]

On 9/4/2023 at 6:19 PM, twangster said:

The older azipods like Radiance have can't be serviced in the water.  

 

https://maritime-executive.com/article/jury-awards-norwegian-159m-in-damages-from-azipod-dispute-with-abb

Dredged this up from a prior reading. NCL had a bone to pick with Version 1.0, apparently successfully.

[smokeybandit]

For some reason letting us know that "highly specialized technicians" were required amuses me.  Like anyone thought they would just make a PA announcement asking if there are any Jiffy Lube employees on board.

[AlmondFarmer]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

For some reason letting us know that "highly specialized technicians" were required amuses me.  Like anyone thought they would just make a PA announcement asking if there are any Jiffy Lube employees on board.

I heard a rumor that first request was for any guest with Duct Tape to please bring to Guest Services.

Too bad MacGyver wasn’t on board. 

[smokeybandit]

And she's back!

 

[rjac]

GREAT NEWS!!!