'Voyages of Discovery - M/V Discovery severe engine trouble fixed (at last) - Page 2

**neil** · 07-01-2008, 07:27 PM

Hi

I wonder how many future bookings Voyages of Discovery will loose from passengers who have travelled on the ship since these problems started.

It is nice to know that the wind changed direction when the ship was on its return journey !

Sounds like they think they had a load of simpletons cruising with them !

Lets hope they now do the simple thing and book their next cruise with another company !

Neil.

**Ally** · 07-02-2008, 03:52 AM

I'm afraid that this whole episode with VoD just beggars belief, Neil. I know that the company offers old fashioned cruising experience, but surely they don't think their passengers are equally old fashioned and that they have not got access to sites like this one where they can find out the truth of what is going on...who is being naive here?

I would love it if a member of the management would come on here and explain what has happened, when it happened and, more importantly, when is it going to be put right. At the moment they are acting as if nothing is wrong....when it is plain to see that there most certainly is something very wrong.

Bad business.

**neil** · 07-02-2008, 05:47 AM

Hi

If parts have to be specially made for ' Discovery ' it could take some time as it has been reported that the P & O Ferry 'Pride of Canterbury ' was laid up after some prop shaft damage and is not expected to return to service until January 2009.

If the company would be a little more open about the problem they might get a more sympathetic ear.

Neil

raggy · 07-02-2008, 03:06 PM

Regarding your comment Ally about passengers having access to sites like this, many passengers were quite elderly and hardly anyone was using the onboard internet so maybe not too many silver surfers amongst them.

I bought an hours worth of time online but it was SO very slow that it was all used up in about three-four sessions trying to get onto Hotmail. My last six minutes worth failed to get any site to come up. One lecturer referred to it as the World Wide Wait !!

Raggy

**Ally** · 07-03-2008, 04:14 AM

I feel that the one good thing about this episode, raggy, is that the word is getting out about this problem...albeit slowly but surely. I agree with you in respect to the more elderly passengers may not get to see sites like this either before departure or whilst on board, however there is a chance that their families do surf the web on a regular basis, and may come across this and other boards and can advise their family members who are booked on VoD this summer that there is a problem with the ship.

Bottom line is that no guest should find this information out by reading a cruise discussion board such as this. The problems with the ship should come from VoD first hand, on their website and via letters in a more reasonable time...not a couple days or so prior to departure, which is what they are currently doing.

**Ally** · 07-03-2008, 03:53 PM

Just out of interest, I knew that Peter Knego (from MaritimeMatters) had done a cruise aboard Discovery earlier this year, so I took a look to see if any mention was made about the engine problems...and it is...she first experienced trouble whilst in the Amazon...

Peter Knego's Sea Treks: Abbreviated DISCOVERY Blog <br>by Peter Knego

Also very interesting is the OBC and percentage off a future cruise......now when you compare that to what is being offered now, well it starts to smack of double standards, perhaps?

Now whether the blog can be used in an argument with VoD, who knows, but the letter left in the cabin is there in full.

**neil** · 07-04-2008, 04:59 AM

Hi

Having read Peter's blog it would appear that the UK passengers are getting a very poor deal in compensation compared to what was offered to passengers joining the mv 'Discovery ' in April at Barbados.

Neil

**Ally** · 07-04-2008, 05:07 AM

It's not just the UK passengers who are now being given a raw deal, Neil. The lack of anything covers all passengers on current/future cruises, regardless of from where they hail.

For some reason the OBC etc has been withdrawn full stop...not sure when that happened though, unfortunately

**Ally** · 07-12-2008, 08:57 AM

Update...

Due to another engine problem developing in the last few days...over and above what was already wrong...the ship has now been taken out of service for repairs. The July 13 cruise has been scrubbed and the next cruise due to depart on July 25 is still being advertised on VoD's website.

If the July 25 cruise is scrubbed too, it will be posted here. It sounds like the other engine wasn't able to cope with the extra load added to it from the one already disabled engine. I assume that VoD anticipated that the ship could hang on til the winter season, but obviously that plan has now gone out of the window.

**Ally** · 07-12-2008, 09:15 AM

I wonder how much money this has cost VoD. They were experiencing several cancellations prior to the second engine giving out due to the already messed up itineraries and now their gamble to keep the ship going despite the crankshaft seal failure has meant the other engine has been damaged too. On top of that they were getting irrate guests, both first timers and regulars who were extremely unhappy at the way this problem was handled from day one, who may now go elsewhere to book their cruises.

Very expensive lesson for the company. Two engines to repair, lost business and compensation/refunds in an already shaky economic climate...does make you wonder if the company can survive this latest difficulty. Hunting down a repair yard at short notice won't have been easy or cheap either.