Status of Millennium Drydock?

Hi - our rollcall thread is buzzing because of an apparent change in the itinerary for Millennium's transatlantic scheduled to depart Barcelona on Friday the 18th of November. The change (which Celebrity reps deny but which is reflected on the Celebrity website :confused: )shows the ship remaining docked in Barcelona for the first three days before departing, which cancels the first two port stops, leaving only three stops total for a 14-day cruise.

I believe that the Millennium should have started its drydock in Barcelona today (11/5). One possibly explanation for the change to our cruise would be if they realized that the drydock would take longer than expected. Is there anyone in Barcelona or who has any insight into the work being done to know whether that might be true? Any hard info would be welcome - a bunch of us booked on the transatlantic are getting wildly different stories from Celebrity Customer Service.

Thanks, all!

Millennium's last cruise before the dry dock ends November 6 in Barcelona (tomorrow). The ship will then sail empty from Barcelona to Marseille where it will enter drydock in the morning of November 7. This has always been the schedule, and so far, everything seems to be on track.

I don't see a link between the drydock and Millennium staying in Barcelona for 3 days (as celebrity.com seems to confirm, unless it is not up to date). If the ship makes it to Barcelona on time, it is able to depart on time.

From your roll call, I understand that some people claim that ports where dropped because Celebrity was unable to book births. That seems strange so close to departure. These births have been booked months ago.

My best guess is the website is wrong. I also remember from the Millennium/Infinity switch that Celebrity has no staff that is able to update the website during weekends. They work Monday through Friday. So I guess if the website is wrong, it won't be updated until Monday.

My best guess is that your itinery didn't change.

The Millie starts it's drydock on November 6th until November 18th. The drydock will take place in LaCoruna, Spain.

I have a friend on the ship - they were just given this information late yesterday.

Thanks, Florisdekort and QueenOTS: I agree that we'll need to wait until Monday to get a straight story from Celebrity. For whatever reason their Customer Service staff seems to be the last to know what's going on. If their webmasters only work on Monday to Friday it's still a mystery as to how (and why?) they posted the changed schedule on Saturday morning - one of the people on the rollcall thread checked it last night and it still had the previous itinerary.

Depending on how this works out, perhaps the lesson is to never book a cruise scheduled immediately after a drydock?

Interesting. When I was on Millennium October 1 through 13, even the Captain told us that dry dock would be in Marseille. I wonder why they changed it to La Coruna on such short notice.

I do believe it was quite a surprise to everyone, and not a happy surprise either. Like I said, earlier in the day no one really knew where they were going for drydock, then later in the day they had been told of the change.

The crew is very unhappy with this change as there is nothing to do in LaCoruna and it is supposedly cold there now. At least cold to the crew's standards.

Interesting. When I was on Millennium October 1 through 13, even the Captain told us that dry dock would be in Marseille. I wonder why they changed it to La Coruna on such short notice.

Our waiter told us the same thing on the cruise after yours. A lot of the staff are leaving the ship to spend 12 days at home and are flying back to Marseille to rejoin the ship before the transatlantic.

Thanks for asking the question out here on the main board, Bruce. You can always count on the CC folks to be in the know.

How far is LaCoruna from Barcelona? I find it very odd that they would change the drydock location at the last minute - I wonder what they can do in LaCoruna that they can't in Marseille? Wasn't the ship built in Marseille? Is LaCoruna close enough to Barcelona that they can squeeze an extra day or two out of the drydock? I suspect there will be some last minute work going on during our three days in Barcelona, and that's why we won't be departing on schedule.

To the poster upthread with the friend on board - has there been and scuttlebut aboard about mechanical problems? Pods, etc.?

As saddend as I am about missing two ports, I feel much worse for the crew, some of whom were going to be enjoying some time off in Marseille, and some of whom were going to be flying home for vacation. That's really crappy for them.

Amy

Is it possible that the rioting that is now occuring in Marseilles has made Celebrity change the location of drydock?

As for staying in Barcelona for the extra days, they may finish up the drydock there. If the ship is not full, they can do some of the cabin rehabs while there on the empty cabins and mechanical areas.

The changing of the itinerary has become the norm for Celebrity. All 3 of the last cruises we have taken, a major change occurred very close to the sailing date. Not good business, when the customer begins to feel a "bait and switch" is happening.

Wow... Millennium dropped its passengers in Barcelona this morning at 7 am (local) and was back at sea at 9.30 am... that must have been the quickest debarkation ever! She is now sailing to the dry dock. Since it is still at see at 15.30 pm, 6 hours later, I am starting to think it might be headed for Southern France, Marseille, after all.

I think the rioting must be a factor in the switch. Certainly if they had also just cancelled Marseille as a port, I would guess it would be for that reason too.

If, in fact, we are also losing Rome and docking in Barcelona for three days, I would have to assume that the drydock work will extend there. Maybe the new shipyard can't get all the necessary work done in the 12 days scheduled. It is pretty last minute for them.

I found LaCoruna on my trusty globe. I just assumed it was also in the Med, but it's all the way around north of Portugal! It's going to be quite a haul getting the ship back to BCN. I just hope the Millie makes it back for embarkation on the 18th:eek:

Wow... Millennium dropped its passengers in Barcelona this morning at 7 am (local) and was back at sea at 9.30 am... that must have been the quickest debarkation ever! She is now sailing to the dry dock. Since it is still at see at 15.30 pm, 6 hours later, I am starting to think it might be headed for Southern France, Marseille, after all.

Will the webcam stay on the entire time? I guess I'll keep an eye on it. How long does it take to sail to Marseille? If she's still sailing long after that, I guess we'll have our answer:confused:

Will the webcam stay on the entire time?

Unfortunately that varies. When Infinity was in the San Francisco dry dock, the webcam stayed on. When Constellation (?) was in a dry dock somewhere in the North East last year (can't remember where), the webcam was switched off...

Will the webcam stay on the entire time?

Unfortunately that varies. When Infinity was in the San Francisco dry dock, the webcam stayed on. When Constellation (?) was in a dry dock somewhere in the North East last year (can't remember where), the webcam was switched off...

Anyone know how long it would take (I presume at full speed) to get to Marseille from Barcelona? I would imagine if they weren't docked by evening (our time) that would mean they were heading to LaCoruna?

I wish the Celebrity webcams were like the ones at Princess that indicate where the ship is enroute to.

Amy

And the plot thickens.............this is becoming a bit of drama on its own! Looking forward to the next chapter tomorrow.............

How does one find the Celebrity webcam? I am either stupid or it is a secret I don't know!

Thanks,

K

Does anyone know details regarding the drydock- what will the upgrades be, etc.? We did the transatlantic last April, and doing it again next April- Millenium was well maintained, only a couple areas looked a bit used . . .

thanks!

K - go to www.celebrityatsea.com you'll be able to find it from there.

Amy

I am sure this is an error on the webmasters part. Celebrity does change itineraries but never this drastically this close to sailing unless there is an extreme exigency.

I am not going to let this get me down since the odds of this being true are 1%.

idssms

It is either pitchblack in front of the Millie's bridgecam or they have caught on to us trying to monitor the voyage to drydock.............interesting.

It's night in Europe:eek:

It is either pitchblack in front of the Millie's bridgecam or they have caught on to us trying to monitor the voyage to drydock.............interesting.

It is night.

K - I can tell they haven't turned off the webcam because the icafe cam is still turned on. It is rather black, though, usually at night you can see lights on the bow or from the bridge. All depends on where the cam is, I guess.

Amy

I'm predicting the ship will not be done, we will be cooling our heels at a hotel in BCN, paying for our own meals and entertainment.