Is the infinity having propulsion problems???

Everyone seems to be complaining about late departure from BA. Poor communication again but I was watching shore side, ambulance was sitting waiting then some one was taken off and taken away. As soon the doors closed crew was ushered aboard and the walkway was raised very swiftly. Then away.

This is the letter we sent. So far, they have said they would not do a thing for us. Interesting that they are giving 50% off on a future cruise to those who were cancelled for 4/2. Fact that they did cancel that cruise proves that there really was as problem. We, and our friends who were also on that trip, would be interested in any suits.

February 6, 2018

 

Dear Ms. Lutoff-Perlo,

 

We are Elite Plus cruisers on Celebrity, Captain’s Club #700500850. We have just returned from the January 21, 2018 Antarctic sailing on the Infinity. As I am sure you are already aware, this cruise was extremely disappointing and, we feel, very mishandled by Celebrity from before we started.

First, I would like to start with the good news. The staff, especially cruise director Alejandro and his team, were outstanding and did all they possibly could to keep us entertained and help to make the best of a bad situation. This holds for everyone from the dining room, housekeeping, the kitchen staff, Paulina the Captain’s Club hostess, Javier the concierge liaison and guest relations. Sadly, they were constantly berated by very upset passengers for a situation that was totally beyond their control.

The problems began with your decision to continue this sailing with a damaged ship, resulting in the initial cancellation of Puerto Madryn, 2 days before we left for Buenos Aires. We were told by Mickey Live, who was a major contributor to any success the cruise had, that Antarctic itineraries were only completed as originally scheduled 40% of the time! Knowing these odds that it was likely to have to miss another destination, makes it especially unconscionable to have had to proactively cancel one of only 4 planned stops. It was obvious the ship was running on one engine, causing it to not be able to maintain necessary speeds to reach the other destinations on time. Perhaps if this had not been the case, we would have reached Pt. Stanley prior to the bad weather setting in. Apparently a competing line was in the area and was able to complete their total itinerary, including Puerto Madryn and Pt. Stanley.

Due to the need to reduce speed, we also got to Ushuaia a few hours later than scheduled. We were told that this would be compensated for by staying in port longer. However, with shore excursions not beginning until 5 pm and most not returning until 10:30, the town was completely closed down when they concluded and so staying until 2 am was useless and again put us even further off schedule. In essence, on a 14 day cruise we had 1.5 ports and missed having the up close wildlife experience that most of us had come for.

But for us, that wasn’t all. Our third day in Buenos Aires pre cruise my husband was mugged in a supposedly good part of town, losing an expensive watch and sustaining much bruising to his arm. Apparently, about 20 other similar incidents occurred with passengers on this ship. On February 1, the captain sent out a letter of warning about this type of activity in Buenos Aires. Clearly, this was a known problem as many of the entertainers and staff “joked” about it. This warning should have been posted prior to any passengers arrival in Buenos Aires, perhaps on your website.

Then, on the final day we participated in the Tigre River excursion with airport drop-off. As we approached the airport, the guide informed us that all our luggage had been transported to Terminal A. Passengers who had flights from Terminal C, which we did, were to get off the bus, get their luggage and return with it to the bus to be driven to Terminal C. We were encouraged to leave carry ons and personal items on the bus as the driver would remain. When we returned to the bus, number 18, with our luggage, it had left without us, but with my husband’s leather jacket clearly visible on his seat and our carry on with all his medication (he is diabetic) and our jewelry!!! Fortunately, bus 19 was still there and was able to call ahead and make sure that bus 18 waited for us to get there. But the tour guide, Gabriela, was very clearly negligent in not being aware that people were missing.

In speaking with fellow passengers it was agreed that Celebrity missed a tremendous opportunity to diffuse some of the disappointment and verbal abuse of their staff by offering something like free drink packages or unlimited internet for the remainder of the cruise. Not even one free drink was offered!

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we will never repeat. We expect Celebrity to make major compensation for this disaster up to a refund for the cost of the cruise, and/or a major credit to a future cruise. We had reserved 2 additional cruises on board before the major problems began, but are seriously debating whether to continue our relationship with Celebrity.

Looking forward to a timely response,

JMO - the unfortunate BA incident should not have been included in the letter - Celebrity had no control over that.

Annie

JMO - the unfortunate BA incident should not have been included in the letter - Celebrity had no control over that.

 

Annie

Disagree: Not sure why is X sailing to such a dangerous place and allegedly not warning pax? On a cruise stopping at Acapulco a few yrs ago after a few gang shootouts and a tourist shooting and armed robberies, we were given a warning letter from the Captain..,and advised to excercise extreme caution if we got if off the ship...

Disagree: Not sure why is X sailing to such a dangerous place and allegedly not warning pax? On a cruise stopping at Acapulco a few yrs ago after a few gang shootouts and a tourist shooting and armed robberies, we were given a warning letter from the Captain..,and advised to excercise extreme caution if we got if off the ship...

Maybe I have misunderstood - what was the port of embarkation.??

How can a ship's captain warn passengers prior to embarkation??

If I was complaining about a cruise I would not list events prior to the cruise - just my POV.

We shall just have to agree to disagree,

Annie

Just for the record, this was what Celebrity sent out 2 weeks prior to sailing. As you can see Ushuaia got put back to 2:00pm from its original 9:00 am slot. This was then pushed back to 4:30pm arrival with the excuse of poor weather.

Port Stanley was originally allocated 9 hours which went to 12 on the revised itinerary. We could easily have managed a short stop somewhere if Celebrity had our best interests at heart.

We were short changed!!!

 

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2 Weeks Notice. ?

Ours arrived on the 13th by email from Celebrity, traveling on the 16th from the UK so not a lot of time to think about it.

Problem is now I have one booked in September from NY to Quebec and back with Celebrity but do I trust them to give me the advertised cruise no, DO I WISH TO GIVE CELEBRITY ANY MORE MONEY NO.

Trouble is I cancel I have lost everything yet they change at a late date, options none, monies back very little.

VOTE WITH YOUR CASH DON'T GIVE THEM ANY MORE.

Trouble is I cancel I have lost everything yet they change at a late date, options none, monies back very little.

Which is why, as fellow Brits we never ever book in the UK. US all the time. Generally much cheaper, better perks, and you cancel for no fee up until 90 days before sailing, and you can take price reductions too.

Might be worth thinking about for future bookings (with other cruise lines).

2 Weeks Notice. ?

Ours arrived on the 13th by email from Celebrity, traveling on the 16th from the UK so not a lot of time to think about it.

Problem is now I have one booked in September from NY to Quebec and back with Celebrity but do I trust them to give me the advertised cruise no, DO I WISH TO GIVE CELEBRITY ANY MORE MONEY NO.

Trouble is I cancel I have lost everything yet they change at a late date, options none, monies back very little.

VOTE WITH YOUR CASH DON'T GIVE THEM ANY MORE.

Exactly the right approach. If you read the cruise contract, you have to have great faith in the cruise line because they can get by with doing almost nothing that they have promised. Their response to this whole mess tells me that they really don't care. Too many good choices - I'll never sail them again. Sorry to hear you already have a booking with them. Maybe you'll get lucky and they will actually do what they have advertised. Looking to book another cruise in the near term. Celebrity does not warrant any consideration. With a business that has so many repeat customers, you'd think they would be smarter!

We are on the Infinity rounding Cape Horn right now. Due to the propulsion issues we did of course lose Puerto Madelyn but otherwise everything has gone very well. The late arrival (per revised schedule) into Ushuaia was no problem; all tours proceeded normally with plenty of time to complete before sunset.

The crew clearly have received strict instructions regarding the propulsion issues. Mid-level crew feign ignorance and senior officers claim the planned April 2 drydocking is routine. When you provide historical facts (history of problems, Celebrity’s 2005 lawsuit against the shipyard, etc) they get all flustered and say “I don’t know about that and can’t talk about it”. Regardless—if I were booked on any of the cruises between now and April 2 I’d not be concerned.

Oh, and by the way, the talk of “running on one engine” is nonsense. Both engines are running, but they’ve capped max RPM. I was on the bridge and saw the propulsion monitoring screens; both sides running at equal RPM.

Oh, and by the way, the talk of “running on one engine” is nonsense. Both engines are running, but they’ve capped max RPM. I was on the bridge and saw the propulsion monitoring screens; both sides running at equal RPM.

Thanks ViejoLoco we are on the March 18th cruise and really appreciate the update.

Thanks ViejoLoco we are on the March 18th cruise and really appreciate the update.

Same here. Thanks.

Got some info on the upcoming dry dock... after disembarking passenger in FLL on April 2, she will sail to Panama and transit the Canal April 5. The Infinity will enter the dry dock in Balboa on April 7. Dry dock is scheduled through April 10 then sailing to SAN arriving on the 17th.

Find this itinerary in Celebrity Spain site

Can I just say, for us it wasn't just about the penguins, they were a major contributing factor in us booking the cruise but it was the complete itinerary that sold it to us in January 2016. ...

While I think of it, nobody has mentioned the Argentines who had booked the cruise as a means of paying their respects to fallen family members in the 80's conflict. I maybe wrong but am given to believe that was the essense of the lawyers involvement....

I understand your point, but really? Someone books an expensive 14-day cruise just because they might have a 50/50 chance that they will be able to tender ashore at Port Stanley for a few hours?