Allure propulsion issues

[tltay2005]

Just got an email about our June sailing (and by the way it looks on FB, so did many others sailing on her between now and August) that our arrival at Falmouth will be delayed by over an hour due to propulsion issues (this has been on going for a few months). This will mess up an excursion I have planned as we will now be arriving after the scheduled start time. We did book through RCL so I am hoping they can adjust the time to later instead of cancelling. Anyone had this issue in the past few months and can give me some insight on how they handle this?

 

[jenf22]

I saw this thread on Cruise Critic. Maybe the people there can help.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2659781-they-changed-my-itinerary/

 

[a1tinkfans]

Late June cruise... same issue
Why not get this fixed RCCL???

 

[truck1]

Late June cruise... same issue
Why not get this fixed RCCL???

Because the ship has to go into a drydock to fix it. Either in 5 months was the earliest they could get her in or she was already scheduled. Oasis I think went back to drydock early for the same issue a few years ago. I'd expect to see it in the other ships in the class also.

Basically if it's what I'm thinking this is the problem The azipods rely on bearings to move smoothly and remain in a stability position during normal operation,during turns etc. Despite the makers best efforts, the bearings still wear out prematurely. This means that the pods wont turn as smoothly as required and it puts more stress then designed on certain points. So they cant use as much power on that 1 particular pod. Which results in a slower speed.

 

[truck1]

Just went and looked. If RCLs site is correct theres a 7 day cruise missing from Sept 22-29. Theoretically it's possible shell go to Freeport for a fix. Which most likely is a replacement pod, as opposed to fixing the existing one. Theyll pull the bad 1, replace it, test it and let the ship go, then fix the broken one and use that as a spare for the next time.

 

[OKW Lover]

Just wanted to say that we were on the Allure just a couple of weeks ago (4/21-28) and our port times were slightly affected by the propulsion problem. Perhaps the most disappointing was our time in San Juan where the ship had to leave early (1-ish) in order to make it to Labadee on time. Other than that, there was no real impact on the cruise experience. Seas were smooth and there was no apparent issue with seakeeping.

 

[jenf22]

Just went and looked. If RCLs site is correct theres a 7 day cruise missing from Sept 22-29. Theoretically it's possible shell go to Freeport for a fix. Which most likely is a replacement pod, as opposed to fixing the existing one. Theyll pull the bad 1, replace it, test it and let the ship go, then fix the broken one and use that as a spare for the next time.

I thought the Freeport drydock wasn't an option because it was damaged from the crane that fell on Oasis. Maybe they'll have it repaired by September. I thought I read somewhere that is was Freeport or Cadiz as far as options for the Oasis class ships.

Sorry for the people who are having their port times affected. That's a real bummer. We were on Allure last October and just LOVED the ship.

 

[bdiddy]

We got the email last week our port on the June 2nd sailing has been changed from St Thomas to San Juan and I’m so upset and disappointed. My husband and I got married on St Thomas 20 years ago on our first RCL and our daughter is named Charlotte Amalie. It was the whole reason we picked this particular cruise and for our daughter to finally go to her namesake. I just don’t understand the switch when St Thomas and San Juan are right next door to each other. You’d think it would make more sense to change St Kitts or Nassau because they are further away?

I know that they can change at any time and blah blah but this is such a bummer and is going to put a cloud over our trip. I got scolded by even saying this on one of he Allure pages on FB that we should just be happy we are cruising. But St Thomas really meant a lot to our family and I’m just so sick about this.

It’s also not an option to cancel or rebook at this point because of our summer schedules. If we cancel - no vacation this year for us which really stinks. Also, like a dummy I booked our flights through Spirit instead of the usual Southwest and we’d lose almost all our airfare.

We’re going to make the best of it and I’m sure we’ll still have fun but it’s a HUGE disappointment. We’ll just have to go back to just St Thomas sometime, hopefully soon because we obviously can’t risk trying a cruise again.

 

[tltay2005]

Just got an email from RCCL and they were able to reschedule our excursion for later in the day .

 

[truck1]

I thought the Freeport drydock wasn't an option because it was damaged from the crane that fell on Oasis. Maybe they'll have it repaired by September. I thought I read somewhere that is was Freeport or Cadiz as far as options for the Oasis class ships.

Sorry for the people who are having their port times affected. That's a real bummer. We were on Allure last October and just LOVED the ship.

Theyll have everything back in place, if not already. The main problem is that Oasis spent extra time in the dock that threw off everyone's schedule. The Disney Dream was scheduled for her drydock and I forget when but it's been pushed by a few weeks. Usually as 1 ship leaves the dock the next is less then a day away to take its place. It's a really tight schedule. If you look at Meyer Werfts webcam in Germany that's building the Spectrum class, as 1 ship leaves the drydock, the next is already 1/3 done in the same dock. Any little issue has a bigger effect down the line.Theres only a handful of docks close relatively speaking that can do work on ships. Most in the US, but Freeport is the favorite for work Visa related ease.

 

[truck1]

We got the email last week our port on the June 2nd sailing has been changed from St Thomas to San Juan and I’m so upset and disappointed. My husband and I got married on St Thomas 20 years ago on our first RCL and our daughter is named Charlotte Amalie. It was the whole reason we picked this particular cruise and for our daughter to finally go to her namesake. I just don’t understand the switch when St Thomas and San Juan are right next door to each other. You’d think it would make more sense to change St Kitts or Nassau because they are further away?

I know that they can change at any time and blah blah but this is such a bummer and is going to put a cloud over our trip. I got scolded by even saying this on one of he Allure pages on FB that we should just be happy we are cruising. But St Thomas really meant a lot to our family and I’m just so sick about this.

It’s also not an option to cancel or rebook at this point because of our summer schedules. If we cancel - no vacation this year for us which really stinks. Also, like a dummy I booked our flights through Spirit instead of the usual Southwest and we’d lose almost all our airfare.

We’re going to make the best of it and I’m sure we’ll still have fun but it’s a HUGE disappointment. We’ll just have to go back to just St Thomas sometime, hopefully soon because we obviously can’t risk trying a cruise again.

Dont give up on going to St Thomas by cruise. Things happen. It's a rarity that ports get changed like this. Forgetting the hurricanes that basically took out the Caribbean for all intents and purposes I can count on 1 hand the number of times that lines have had to do major route reconstruction due to an extended issue. Been there twice. once on Disney and honeymooned there. Love the island also.

I've noticed this a lot lately. When an issue occurs, theres 2 groups. 1 is, ok, we cant go to where were supposed to, but being on a ship trumps the inconvenience. The other is the world will stop spinning because I cant get what I want. I've seen it on Disney, Carnival and other lines.

 

[bdiddy]

Dont give up on going to St Thomas by cruise. Things happen. It's a rarity that ports get changed like this. Forgetting the hurricanes that basically took out the Caribbean for all intents and purposes I can count on 1 hand the number of times that lines have had to do major route reconstruction due to an extended issue. Been there twice. once on Disney and honeymooned there. Love the island also.

I've noticed this a lot lately. When an issue occurs, theres 2 groups. 1 is, ok, we cant go to where were supposed to, but being on a ship trumps the inconvenience. The other is the world will stop spinning because I cant get what I want. I've seen it on Disney, Carnival and other lines.

Normally I would definitely be in the camp of “who cares” but this change just really hit home this time.