Disney Wonder Dry Dock Watch - 11/10 Wonder departs on first cruise out of Galveston

[truck1]

I was on the EBPC and had numerous "sundowner" conversations with one of the contractor company owners who was on the cruise as well. They are adding an Aux emergency generator on deck 7 (16 tons). In the event of complete power loss DCL wants to have backup to provide a cooking space (cabanas) and water for passengers. The Carnival episodes were a warning flag and DCL never wants to be in that position. In addition, they are they are changing out the entire fire suppression system in the engine room. Currently it is CO2 which limits the ability of the crew to be in the same space. The switch is to a high pressure mist system which allows crew to remain in engine room safely.
The ducktail is being added for fuel efficiency and as counterbalance for the new gen.

That's interesting. Im almost positive that they already have a emergency generator on board in addition to the mains. Ill have to go back and look and see.

 

[arlopop]

They have some backups in place, however, the contractor I spoke of (whose company is actually putting in the gen and the fire suppression system) said that the redundancy was very important to DCL. He doubted, based on his opinion of the high quality of DCL's maintenance operations, that the generator would ever be needed, but DCL felt strongly about multiple systems to prevent anything like the Carnival incidents. He had owned his company for 30 years, worked with multiple lines during that time, and felt DCL went further than any in their systems regarding safety and comfort of guests. From his point of view (purely in terms of engineering) no other cruise line was more proactive or more willing to expend resources than DCL when it came to safety. He said he had been regularly asked by DCL execs throughout the year of meetings preceding the drydock if what they were planning "was enough" - did they need more?

 

[FlagTechMgr]

That's interesting. Im almost positive that they already have a emergency generator on board in addition to the mains. Ill have to go back and look and see.

All cruise ships have emergency generators, but SOLAS only requires they power navigation and safety circuits/equipment. Since these are emergency generators to power hotel services for the comfort of the passengers in case of a power outage, they are additional to SOLAS requirements and therefore optional.

 

[Corfam]

Photo from: https://twitter.com/puertodecadiz

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow, there is already quite a bit of paint missing!! They are moving quickly!

 

[Corfam]

Duck Tail being prepped.

Photo from: https://twitter.com/seaplace_es

 

[Corfam]

Another article about the Wonder renovation....in Spanish. Use Google Translate. I saw no new info.

http://cruceroadicto.com/reforma-del-disney-wonder.html

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Could they maybe be adding a retractable roof? For Alaska?

 

[Dug720]

Could they maybe be adding a retractable roof? For Alaska?

Pretty sure we would have heard about that.

Again, the ducktail addition does not necessarily mean added weight. It serves other purposes.

 

[gingerfeathers]

They're making quick work of that exterior paint! I'm so excited to see her when she's done and in Galveston! Thanks everyone for keeping us all updated and posting photos--I've been looking forward to watching the progress each day.

 

[Corfam]

My daughter (with eagle eyes) pointed out that one of the two photos I posted in message #327, copied from the http://cruceroadicto.com/reforma-del-disney-wonder.html article was actually the Magic. The article had the wrong caption. Obvious, once you pay attention to the crane details between photos. I am deleting the Magic photo (port side view with white Navantia crane) from the earlier post. You can refer to the article if you want to view again. Sorry for the error.

 

[IBelieveInTheMagic]

This is exactly what I've heard as well @arlopop. Some info has already been reported (which that isn't directed at you ) since the aux generator was added to her sister ship the Disney Magic as well. But indeed the information you noted is what I heard and understood too.

Someone can chime in if they remember but I think the Wonder lost power on the 2015 Alaska season for a few sailings. I briefly remember hearing about it and not sure of all the impacts but the ship did continue. I'm certainly not any expert on the engines, generators, etc., but I remember the discussion at that time was the Wonder would get the enhancements to mimic the Disney Magic during her re-imagineering to help.

I can add, we also lost main power when we were leaving Endciott Arm and were in Animators Palate for dinner. The generator power kicked on after a few minutes but there was only limited lights in there but not a big deal to us. The crew kept working but I understood this was not usual. We did get full power restored about 15-30 minutes later and friends that were in another location said the captain did make an announcement and advised the engineers were working on it.

Heather

 

[SillyInventor]

That was an incident that broke down one of the main generators. The Wonder has 5 of these, while only 4 are needed for full power. She sailed for a while with 4 generators available and the broken unit was exchanged later.

Edit: found this on Cruiseminus.com:

• November 26, 2009, while on a 7-days Eastern Caribbean itinerary and en-route to Bahamas from St Thomas, the ship experienced engine problems (a failure of its main diesel generator- 1 of all 5 units). The incident was caused by a short circuit in the alternator’s winding, which resulted in the generator’s shutdown. The voltage drop caused shutdowns of the fuel pumps of generators 2, 4 and 5. This subsequently caused the affected generators to shutdown. These shutdowns led to a total blackout (electrical power loss). The ship also lost propulsion and drifted. Soon, the emergency generator started to provide electricity, then the generators were restarted. Full power outage and the propulsion were restored ~45 min after the incident occurred. The main generator’s repair cost the cruise line ~US$1 million.

 

[cgolf]

Duck Tail being prepped.

Photo from: https://twitter.com/seaplace_es

Was surprised to see someone use these pictures on Instagram without giving credit. I am assuming they aren't a random person either because DCL follows them. Tempted to comment asking if they too, the pictures

 

[cgolf]

Not sure how to share instagram pictures on here, but user kenja7 has a picture of something being installed in the kids pool area. If you search either drydock or disneywonder over there a few pictures are starting to show up. To the mods if putting an instagram user name breaks any rules please delete this post.

 

[AquaDame]

Not sure how to share instagram pictures on here, but user kenja7 has a picture of something being installed in the kids pool area. If you search either drydock or disneywonder over there a few pictures are starting to show up. To the mods if putting an instagram user name breaks any rules please delete this post.

Not that I am aware of so I think we are good! I would post a link to it but... there is a naughty word on the post.

 

[cgolf]

Not that I am aware of so I think we are good! I would post a link to it but... there is a naughty word on the post.

Yeh I should have put a disclaimer on that, but it is a pretty cool picture. I am guessing that is the splash zone around what used to be the Mickey pool. From what I saw the last time, these are some characters that do the drydock work

 

[closetmickey]

Can you post the photo here for all the non instagramers?

 

[cgolf]

Can you post the photo here for all the non instagramers?

I will let @AquaDame make the call on that one since I would need to provide a link to give credit to the person posting the picture. Since there is a swear word in the Instagram post we may be out of luck.

 

[truck1]

All cruise ships have emergency generators, but SOLAS only requires they power navigation and safety circuits/equipment. Since these are emergency generators to power hotel services for the comfort of the passengers in case of a power outage, they are additional to SOLAS requirements and therefore optional.

That much I knew. What I was thinking was that with Disney in generals propensity for overkill, I'm really surprised that they did not put in enough emergency power for a little bit of hotel services in addition to whats required by SOLAS.