Last spring, early in Diamond Princess' first season cruising to Alaska, while docking at Victoria, strong winds caused a minor collision with the pier. The more serious damage came under the water. Divers found scratches in the starboard propeller which, left unrepaired, would make the ship operate less efficiently. 

The immediate solution was for the divers to grind the propeller down slightly to remove the scratches, but Princess said shortly after the incident that they wanted to replace the propeller when a drydock could be scheduled at a convenient time. 

Before they attached a time frame to the repair, many passengers with bookings for the Alaska season were nervous about their sailing being canceled in favor of an unplanned drydock. Princess soon announced that the drydock would be scheduled sometime after this year's Alaska season. That let all future Alaska passengers breathe easier. 

Now, with the end of the Alaska season coming, we've heard from passengers now concerned about the status of their upcoming fall and winter cruises. When will Princess be scheduling Diamond's drydock? 

Again Princess says you can relax. The repair is now planned during the ship's regularly scheduled drydock in December of 2005. 

Princess spokesperson Julie Benson said that weekly when the ship has been in Seattle, divers have been going down to check the propeller and grinding it to make whatever fine adjustments are necessary, if any. This has been working so well, she said, that Princess has decided to continue monitoring the propeller like this and defer the propeller change until the regular drydock. 

As you may remember from our original story, it wasn't a matter of Diamond Princess being disabled with the scratched propeller; it was just a matter of it operating efficiently. So, future Diamond Princess passengers, you can rest easy now on all accounts. Your vacation plans won't be disrupted by a propeller repair.

Excerpted from the full article which was carried in the August 27, 2004 edition of Cruise News Daily.

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