Discovery's engine gremlins returned?

[✪ Ally]

After all of the difficulties last year that ended up with Discovery missing ports and having more than the usual number of inspections...along with some very unhappy passengers and the eventual loss of the managing director, it appears that the gremlins have returned.

Reports from various sources state that the ship has suffered another engine breakdown in September and that caused Lisbon to be missed.

According to Paris MOU she was inspected in Venice on September 19th, 2009 and she again had deficiencies in her engineroom, safety training & ancilliary equipment departments. This sort of problem plagued her last year also.

The ship is very old, she takes alot to keep up to date and in good working order. Her twin sister, Pacific, has been laid up in Genoa for over a year now after engine trouble and failed inspections, so it is now only a matter of time before Discovery will require replacement.

A repeat of last year's problems will almost certainly hit VoD very hard and could well undo any damage limitation done after last year.

Any updates will, of course, be posted, and if anyone has experience of problems this year with a messed up itinerary, do please register & let us know on this thread

[✪ Ally]

In May 2009 she was inspected at Cadiz and had 10 deficiencies...

- Fire safety measures, Fire prevention structure
- ISM related deficiencies, Documentation
- ISM related deficiencies, Maintenance of the ship and equipment
- MARPOL related operational deficiencies, Garbage
- Propulsion & aux., Auxiliary engine
- Propulsion & aux., Cleanliness of engine room
- Propulsion & aux., Other (machinery)
- Propulsion & aux., Propulsion main engine
- Ship's certificates and documents , Other (certificates)
- Working spaces and accident prevention, Obstruction/slipping, etc.

The September 2009 deficiencies....

- ISM related deficiencies, Development of plans for shipboard operations
- Life saving appliances , On board training and instructions
- Propulsion & aux., Auxiliary engine
- Propulsion & aux., Other (machinery)

[ThirstyTed]

Hi Ally

(Missed you on the other site)

We were on Discovery when she had an engine shut-down en route to Lisbon, which was skipped. Thereafter stops at Gib and Almeria were pretty much on sked, as was arrival in _France_ - at Marseilles where the <Cruise to the Riviera> was terminated, instead of Nice.

Last year's events attracted a great deal of attention but this time 'All's quiet on the Western Med' - perhaps because there was a very high turnout of previous Discovery voyagers (over 90 pc) on board and including a large Mr Bridge contingent.

Regards, Ted

[✪ Ally]

Ello Ted & welcome to the Cruising Forum...my new project

I am so sorry to hear that your VoD cruise didn't go to plan, especially after all of the grief that the company caused last year and the many promises made to improve their customer services & product in general.

Last year I advised people with experiences that were not up to scratch to contact Which? who had been brought into the difficulties by Paul Sawtell at BBC Sussex. I have done a thread here onsite with ways on how to gain satisfaction after a bad experience, it can be found here...

http://www.thecruisingforum.com/showthread.php?t=646

After David Yellow left VoD last December I had hoped that things would have improved...infact the absence of any problems during the Scandinavian season made me think that the company had finally turned a corner and come to realise that changes needed to be made after the debacle last year.

However, with reports of more engine trouble and some pretty extensive failures on inspections this year, it doesn't appear to be the case unfortunately.

Discovery is getting on in years and like her sister Pacific, well sadly they are fast approaching the time when they become more of a liability than an attraction to cruisers. It would be a terrible shame to lose both ships but if neither can be maintained properly and if they constantly fail to meet the requirements, then their time is limited.

What did VoD say about the messed up itinerary...did you get any form of compensation or refund given...any explanations?

As for the group, well I fear that is probably all that the company can guarantee thesedays since the reliability issues have caused many to second thought on booking...the extremely heavy discounting is proof that the company is struggling to regain it's one time position with a high repeat cruiser ratio.

It's a great shame

[Hoagy]

Hi Ally,
I think Discovery will be going into drydock in Barcelona for two weeks in November so hopefully the machinery will be repaired.
The age of the ship is a large part of the charm; at least she looks like a ship, not an office block.

[✪ Ally]

Ello & welcome to the Cruising Forum Hoagy

I agree, she is part of the charm of cruising...being an old fashioned ship that looks like a ship and behaves like a ship is her main appeal. I too hope that her drydock will finally sort out her problems and not find new ones that could cause more difficulties, which was the case with her sister Pacific.

She still has a big following and it would be foolhardy of VoD management to throw that away.

[✪ Ally]

As reported by Ross at Cruise Junkie...

The 40-night "Egypt, Arabia & the Orient" cruise was supposed to leave Barcelona on 28 November, but dry dock delays kept it in port until December 1 and rough seas caused further mayhem with the scheduled itinerary. Passengers boarded the ship on the 28th as planned, and lived onboard while it remained docked in Barcelona for a few extra days. The delay in departure resulted in the cancellation of a scheduled call in Valletta, Malta. When Discovery finally departed, rough seas further impacted the itinerary. Discovery is now spending December 1 to 4 at sea, which will result in a missed call in Alexandria, Egypt. Its visit to Port Said, Egypt, and Suez Canal transit will each be delayed by a day, and the ship will then skip its second day in Safaga to get back on schedule. Passengers on this voyage will receive a refund equal to the cost of two days of the cruise and a £50 per person shipboard credit.

[✪ Ally]

Well it appears that life aboard Discovery has not improved.

Reports elsewhere suggest that the engine troubles that have plagued the ship for so long have yet again resurfaced causing aborted and shortened port calls, problems with airconditioning and in some cases no engines at all.

Upon arrival in Mumbai passengers have also encountered difficulties with VoD flight arrangements, many losing a day in port due to unexpectedly early flights home.

[✪ Ally]

Just checked ParisMOU for Discovery's latest safety inspection and as before she is still failing on the same items as she did in 2008/9...

DISCOVERY

Inspection details :

Date of first boarding : 13/05/2010
Date of final boarding : 13/05/2010
Port of inspection : Valletta, Malta.
Type of inspection : More detailed inspection
Nb of deficiency(ies) : 4
Ship's particulars at the time of inspection :
IMO number : 7108514
Name : DISCOVERY
Flag : Bermuda,UK
Callsign : ZCDG2
Ship type : Passenger ship
Gross tonnage : 20216
Keel date : 1970

Classification society :

- Class certificate issued by Lloyd's Register (LR), classification society responsable for issuance of class certificate as at date of first boarding

Statutory certificates :

- International Air Pollution Prevention Cert is issued by Lloyd's Register (LR) last survey in Norway on 18/09/2009 by Lloyd's Register (LR)
- Oil pollution prevention (iopp) is issued by Lloyd's Register (LR) last survey in Italy on 18/09/2009 by Lloyd's Register (LR)
- Load lines certificates is issued by Lloyd's Register (LR) last survey in Italy on 18/09/2009 by Lloyd's Register (LR)
- Document of compliance (DoC) is issued by Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) last survey in Monaco on 29/04/2009 by Registro Italiano Navale (RINA)
Ship manager
- V Ships Leisure SAM, Monaco

Areas inspected :

- Accommodation and galley
- Engine and steering room
- Navigation bridge
- Outside decks and forecastle
- Passenger spaces

Operational controls carried out

- Communication equipment
- Emergency generator
- Emergency steering

Deficiencies :
- Fire safety measures, Other (fire safety)
- Load lines , Other (load lines)
- Propulsion & aux., Auxiliary engine
- Propulsion & aux., Auxiliary engine

Those same deficiencies appear on the last 5 inspections dating from September 1, 2009 in Gdynia.

Coupled with reports of mechanical issues interupting itineraries again this year, things really have not improved with this ship. Maybe it is time she was retired...perhaps that is why her parent, All Leisure, purchased Alexander von Humboldt II (currently on charter to Phoenix-Reisen). The Alex would make a good replacement for Discovery, she certainly has a far better record than Discovery...and she is ideally suited to Antarctic/Arctic cruising, unlike Discovery.