Carnival Vista in Dry Dock

Carnival Vista in Dry Dock
By Mike Miller

Yesterday the Carnival Vista was taken out of service in order to make some repairs to the propulsion systems. Over the past few weeks, the Vista has been completing cruises but with less ports due to slower cruising speed. 

The first of a kind procedure is what makes it really interesting. If you might remember, earlier in the year the Oasis of the Seas was damaged by a crane at the dry docks in Freeport Bahamas. Well, there was also damage to the facilities there as well. Because of that, Carnival has partnered with Vanguard to complete a dry dock while still in the water.

The Boca Vanguard will meet the ship in Grand Bahama and the process begins. The Vista will sail on to a platform that is submerged by filling ballast then once the ship is in place, the ballast are emptied and the ship is raised out of the water. This will allow workers to get to and replace the two Azipods. Once the repairs are done, the ship will be lowered back in the water and will complete some test to make sure all is in good order. 

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Now, you might be saying, what is an Azipod? These are propulsion units which sit below the waterline in the aft of the ship. They not only control speed but they rotate allowing the ship to turn almost on a dime. 

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This is a pretty cool experiment and I wonder if it will allow cruise lines to make repairs faster without having to remove ships from service for so long. The Vista is expected to return to service on July 27th sailing out of Galveston TX. She sails 6 & 8 Night Western Caribbean itineraries from Galveston year round. 

Freedom to Roam Travel
Mike Miller
(904) 534-4318
mike@freedomtoroamtravel.com