century 10/13 cruise cancelled in Nice

[excitedofharpenden]

Sorry this has gone on but there are other companies that have done better than it appears Celebrity has done at the moment ........

 

That probably has a lot to do with the fact that Thomson are a tour operator specialising in package holidays and were probably able to source hotel accommodation very easily.

 

Phil

[hcat]

If another cruiseline had a similar issue and it was handled better, I'd like to know what line and how it was handled? Are X loyalists ready to try elsewhere after hearing all of this? I am quite sure than many of those on board will be frustrated enough to never cruise RCI again, but, is the frustration pouring over to other cruisers not on board?

 

******************************************************************************

This really is a standard cruise contract for major mass market cruise lines... Carnival,Princess,Holland etc. Now if you take a small Regent ship or Seabourn then you may get more assistance with flights and alternative arrangements.

 

I really am getting tired of the X bashing right now as they did follow their contract by getting passengers to Barcelona and giving one nite of accomodations. Albeit, it wasn't handled in the best manner but we have yet to hear from the majority of pax on board. Only those that flew home immediately and didn't make any Lemonade out of their lemons.

 

I for one would like to hear from NPSoo1 and other pax.....

 

You may be tired of "X" bashing but we take 2 or 3 cruises per yr--mostly with them & Royal & are very disappointed. Simple things could have been done like a reminder abt the port agents, list of hotels & alterntatives..free phone cards.. If I can think of this so could they have ahead of time--maybe a contingency protocol!

 

Glad our next big cruise is on Princess. We'll only take "X" for non-Europe & non-exotic trips where we can get home on our own easily!

[brentp]

I've been following this thread and other online reports.

 

I must say, is does certainly appear that Celebrity may have severely damaged their Brand on this one by badly mis-managing the whole situation. I have now read from multiple sources that the Captain and Sr. Officers made the one announcement - then "disappeared" with no other support or assistance offered.

 

Confusion, . . . unfortunately, that goes with a crisis, . . . but lack of leadership during the crisis, that is unforgivable. It brings back memories on that other cruise ship (the Oceanos?) that was sinking and the Captain/Sr. Officers were the first off the ship. Left the passengers to fend for themselves with only entertainers left to lead the evacuation. That was criminal. But this Century reaction makes you really wonder what this captain would have done if this breakdown occurred in the middle of the ocean. Very Scary!

 

Frankly, I am now ashamed to be a stock holder in RCI. We can only hope they learn from this experience and have a crisis team trained and ready for the next "event" - and there will be one at some point. I also hope they publicly fire the Captain - for he should not be part of a company that should know how to handle a crisis better than this. If this truly is the way they will respond to all crisis events - then I will take my business elsewhere.

[Ontario Cruiser]

******************************************************************************

This really is a standard cruise contract for major mass market cruise lines... Carnival,Princess,Holland etc. Now if you take a small Regent ship or Seabourn then you may get more assistance with flights and alternative arrangements.

 

I really am getting tired of the X bashing right now as they did follow their contract by getting passengers to Barcelona and giving one nite of accomodations. Albeit, it wasn't handled in the best manner but we have yet to hear from the majority of pax on board. Only those that flew home immediately and didn't make any Lemonade out of their lemons.

 

I for one would like to hear from NPSoo1 and other pax.....

 

 

Glad our next big cruise is on Princess. We'll only take "X" for non-Europe & non-exotic trips where we can get home on our own easily!

If you think Princess is any better check out the Star Princess I think the date was 29th of Feb 2010 cruise from Valpariso, they were worse

Ontario Cruiser

[everbell]

 

Glad our next big cruise is on Princess. We'll only take "X" for non-Europe & non-exotic trips where we can get home on our own easily!

If you think Princess is any better check out the Star Princess I think the date was 29th of Feb 2010 cruise from Valpariso, they were worse

Ontario Cruiser

 

I was just thinking the same thing -- Princess was insisting that my parents fly into Santiago (which both the American and Canadian governments had travel advisories against) or they would forfeit their cruise.

 

Once the dust settles, hopefully Celebrity will do the right thing by those who were on the ship. I think these incidents point to the need for the cruiselines to have emergency response teams who can assist the on-board staff in situations like this.

[curiouscat]

This is Princesses contract.. which is part of Carnival which also runs Holland America..

 

EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION OR SHORTEN CRUISE; SUBSTITUTION.

Carrier may, at any time, without notice or liability for refund, payment or compensation or credit except as provided herein, cancel the Cruise, change the date or time of sailing or arrival, change the port of embarkation or disembarkation, shorten the Cruise or substitute ships, aircraft or other transportation or lodging. Passenger shall have no claim against Carrier, and Carrier shall not be liable (whether for damages or a refund, payment or compensation or credit of any kind) for hotel or meal charges, travel expenses or other loss, delay, inconvenience, disappointment or expense whatsoever in such circumstances, except as follows:

• (A) If Carrier cancels the Cruise before it has started, it will refund the Cruise Fare (less any air or accommodation charges incurred).
  
• (B) If the sailing is delayed and You are not accommodated on board the ship, Carrier may arrange accommodations and food at no additional expenses to You.
  
• © If the scheduled port of embarkation or disembarkation as specified in the passage ticket is changed, Carrier will arrange transportation to it from the originally scheduled port.
  
• (D) If the Cruise is terminated or ends early Carrier, at its option, may issue a cruise credit, make a proportionate refund of Your Cruise Fare, transfer You to another ship or transport You to the scheduled final port. If the performance of the Cruise is hindered or prevented by any cause or circumstance whatsoever, including but not limited to a good faith belief by the Carrier or the ship’s Captain that the Cruise or any portion thereof may endanger the vessel or expose any person or property to loss, damage or delay, the Cruise may be terminated and You may be landed with no further liability of the Carrier for refund, payment, compensation or credit of any kind.
  

I'm just pointing out that this applys to all mass market lines... so the lesson is to know this and prepare yourself for contingency plans that works best for you. Especially if you have mobility problems or don't like to travel on your own....

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

Thomson behaved like this because it is a European company and was very familiar with the travel protection laws that have been in effect here in the EU since about 1990 (this incident occurred in 1996).

 

It has nothing to do with the fact that they were a tour operator.

 

Celebrity and RCCL also offer extended cruise tours throughout Spain and France.

 

A division of Celebrity/RCCL, named Pullmantur, is one of Spain's largest tour operators.

 

Celebrity could have done a lot more had it been so inclined.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[anonymouscruiser1]

Once the dust settles, hopefully Celebrity will do the right thing by those who were on the ship. I think these incidents point to the need for the cruiselines to have emergency response teams who can assist the on-board staff in situations like this.

 

Could not agree more.

[Cruise Junky]

 

Glad our next big cruise is on Princess. We'll only take "X" for non-Europe & non-exotic trips where we can get home on our own easily!

If you think Princess is any better check out the Star Princess I think the date was 29th of Feb 2010 cruise from Valpariso, they were worse

Ontario Cruiser

 

Major difference in that the earthquake was not Princess's fault. I'm not saying they did the right thing in South America but the earthquake was out of their control and a lot of passengers did make that ship. Also if you had adequate insurance you could claim your air back. Passengers on Celebrity couldn't because they were on the ship and had used it.

[everbell]

If you think Princess is any better check out the Star Princess I think the date was 29th of Feb 2010 cruise from Valpariso, they were worse

Ontario Cruiser

 

Major difference in that the earthquake was not Princess's fault. I'm not saying they did the right thing in South America but the earthquake was out of their control and a lot of passengers did make that ship. Also if you had adequate insurance you could claim your air back. Passengers on Celebrity couldn't because they were on the ship and had used it.

 

Yes and no. Because the cruise wasn't cancelled, Mom & Dad couldn't claim that. Princess provided NO assistance to get them to the next port (even though they booked cruise air through Princess). (And some of the stories of how people made the ship -- 18 hour bus rides, etc. were harrowing). Mom & Dad had to make their way to another port, without Princess confirming which ports the ship would actually dock at.

 

My point here isn't to slam either company. They've both screwed up. Eventually, everything got sorted to my parents' satisfaction in terms of their cruise, and I am hopeful that Celebrity will do the same thing here. It did take a while (a couple weeks at least) for it to be resolved to their satisfaction, however.

[Cruise Junky]

http://news.cruisereviews.com/20090629109/royal-princess-loses-engines-cruises-canceled/

 

Here's news of another line handling it.

[Jade13]

My thoughts go out to everyone involved in this mess. My husband and I were on the Century in November 09 and spent the night in Villefrance's harbour due to a rudder problem. We were told a part had to be brought in which caused the delay in leaving. The cruise went on as scheduled for the rest of the trip. Last year we were on a similar itinerary but we stopped in Cannes, rather than Villefrance.

 

Very interesting. Does this mean they had a known rudder problem on Century?

[Jade13]

We finally made it home from our ill-fated cruise on Celebrity Century. For those of you who weren't there to hear the captain announce on the PA system second night out that our cruise was cancelled and we had 48hrs. to get off the ship, will never know the shock and dismay felt by every passenger on board.

To say Celebrity did little to nothing to help the passengers, is a vast understatement. The Captain and senior officers vanished and left the mess in the hands of 20 year old crew members who were trying their best but had no power to assist anyone. The phones in cabins never worked, although Celebrity kept insisting they were available. Computers were down or extremely slow with long lines of people waiting to make any kind of arrangement to get home. I must add that Bob in the computer room was the only crew member of any competence and tried his best to help during a terrible situation. The biggest joke was when they slipped a notice under our cabin door Thursday night after being told the cruise was cancelled, saying we could still book Celebrity tours for Friday of Nice and Monaco!!!! What morons!!

Seeing that we had one day, Friday, to make plans to fly home, no phones or computers to reach anyone, it's a miracle we were able to make our arrangements by taking a bus to the Nice airport and switch our plane reservation out of Barcelona to Tuesday. This meant we were to take the 10 hour bus ride to Barcelona!! Fun!!

There is so much more that I can add to this saga, but suffice it to say that Celebrity handled this crisis in the worst way. We are experienced travelers and were able to get home safely, but I shudder to think that there are still many passengers struggling to get home.

There can never be enough compensation to make up for this nightmare.

 

I am really sorry to hear this. Regarding the tours of Nice and Monaco on Friday, they should have been COMPLIMENTARY. Shame on Celebrity.

[Christine Frances]

From FaceBook

 

 

 

Celebrity Cruises continues to work on repairs to Celebrity Century’s rudders. The ship sailed as planned from Villefranche to Marseilles, where she is currently in wet dock. While the ship has been alongside in Marseilles, divers from the United States, Canada and France have been working tirelessly on steps that must be completed before the dry dock work can begin. We have been working closely with the shipyard and French port authorities and feel confident that the ship will be able to enter a dry dock as scheduled later this week.

We are pleased with the progress that has been made in wet dock and are on schedule to complete the repairs before Celebrity Century’s next scheduled sailing from Barcelona on October 25. We encourage guests on the October 25 sailing of Celebrity Century to monitor Celebrity Cruises’ website –

[CaroleLee]

From FaceBook

 

 

 

Celebrity Cruises continues to work on repairs to Celebrity Century’s rudders. The ship sailed as planned from Villefranche to Marseilles, where she is currently in wet dock. While the ship has been alongside in Marseilles, divers from the United States, Canada and France have been working tirelessly on steps that must be completed before the dry dock work can begin. We have been working closely with the shipyard and French port authorities and feel confident that the ship will be able to enter a dry dock as scheduled later this week.

We are pleased with the progress that has been made in wet dock and are on schedule to complete the repairs before Celebrity Century’s next scheduled sailing from Barcelona on October 25. We encourage guests on the October 25 sailing of Celebrity Century to monitor Celebrity Cruises’ website –

 

Very frustating to all. From personal experience I will recount my experience on Crown Princess. I was on the NY-NY cruise of the Crown Princess when the ship tilted

causing the cruise to be cut short in FL. Besides the injuries, property damage etc this is what the Capt & Princess announced. The internet and phone lines were opened up free for everyone. An announcement was made that we could either make our own arrangements or the ship would assist us. We were remined to keep all receipts. In addiiton credits for the cruise, etc would be forthcoming. I made our own flight arrangements (one way to NYC). Kept receipts. Sent itemized list to Princess (including lunch at the airport) Within 1 billing cycle credits were on my VISA plus I received a cheque for property loss ( eyeglasses, etc). IMO this is the way any company shoudl conduct themselves. The amount of good will generated by the manner in which Princess handled the incident went a long way to negate the poor PR of a ship tilting.

Carole

[CHAMPAGNELASS]

Got home to Scotland from Century cruise late last night with my partner and 13 yr old daughter and to all those who weren’t on board , I am a” lemonade from lemons” kind of person but there just weren’t enough lemons !!!

First of all can I just say that I am a worldly traveller, and I have cruised with Celebrity before and have never had any complaints , but on this occasion they got it badly wrong .

To give 1800 people , most of whom were non Europeans and a lot of whom were elderly and infirm , 1 day in which to make alternative travel plans when it was almost impossible to get a phone line and the computers kept crashing due to the amount of users , was ridiculous .

I totally agree with other cruisers such as ghstudio and oatmeal that there was a total lack of management skills and communication.

I was one of many who was standing in line at guest relations at midnight because I didn’t have my luggage tags or disembarkation information ,even though we were told to have our luggage outside our cabins by then . I was informed that they were running late due to the volume of work involved. This was understandable , but we should have kept being informed of this . I personally spoke to Sue , the Cruise Director, and informed her that this was the reason a lot of people were standing in line and that if an announcement had been made to let passengers know that they were still running late then people wouldn’t be panicking as much. She then made an announcement conveying this information.

I was back in the long line at 2am the morning of disembarkation as we had been given a time to get of the ship at 7am . Considering that we were staying in Nice we didn’t want to be off so early . By contrast other passengers in the line had been given a later time to get off the ship which would have meant them missing their flights .

It was total chaos .

In my opinion , Celebrity should have given their passengers 2 days in which to make onward plans , especially as there were transport strikes and a major fuel shortage in France . Again , this is something that I feel passengers should have been informed of

.

I didn’t book my flights through Celebrity so I was well aware that they were not obliged to fly me home ,but due to me having a bad back and my daughter suffering from travel sickness if she is on a coach , the 10 hour trip to Barcelona was not an option for us. We were going to travel by train to Paris but there was a train strike ,and im so glad we didn’t as they are now rioting in the streets there. Although I had my drivers license with me and am a trained police driver , on seeing the bumps and scratches on every car that passed , and also driving on the opposite side of the road from the UK , I was not confident enough to drive a hired car. We opted to stay in a hotel in Nice until our flight on Tuesday. For all those say they would have used the $250 compensation to enjoy the rest of their holiday , can I just say that Nice is probably the most expensive place I have ever been and unless you are intending eating MacDonalds for your stay , your money wouldn’t go very far . 4 euros for a Coke !! Plus, had I wanted to spend a week in the South of France I wouldn’t have booked a cruise that took in 7 ports of call in 3 different countries .

To add insult to injury , we discovered on Sunday night that our flight back to Scotland was no longer flying due to the fuel shortages. We then had a last minute panic to get British Airways flights home on Monday instead at a cost of almost 1000 euros and we lost a nights paid hotel accommodation into the bargain not to mention all the other expenses.

Had we been given more time to arrange our travel plans and also been made more aware of the ongoing situation in France , which I’m sure Celebrity knew all about , then we might have been able to go to Italy and salvage what was left of our vacation. But when you are given 1 day with limited access to phones and very limited internet ,if you were lucky to get either , then you just want to get home .

I know and fully understand that braking down in Villefranche was a logistical nightmare for Celebrity , but not enough time , information or support was given to their passengers and if they don’t do something to win back the support of those caught up in this then it will be a PR disaster for them .

[Ontario Cruiser]

About the Princess Valpariso situation. I was on the 2nd leg and only about 250 of the passengers made the cruise at that port. Maybe act of God but Princeess didn't do anything for their passengers. I thjnk that all cruise lines are taking this attitude now. We have to be prepared to look after ourselves in any situation..Ontario Cruiser

[wwcruisers]

Chamagnelass -- thank you for the detailed report on your experience. So glad that you and your family made it home safely. When you have time, would it be possible to send a letter to Celebrity (RCCL) HQ in Florida? You did a very good job of separating the problems over which X had no control (eg, the local strikes) from the specific issues that they dropped the ball on. The more that RCCL/X corporate hears from people like you, the better chance that they will actually do something to fix their policies, and improve their employee training.

Again -- thank you so much for taking to time to post.

[YOW]

We have to be prepared to look after ourselves in any situation.

 

And that is the lesson in all of this.

 

At the end of the day, Celebrity is just another mainstream cruise line, just another business with waning customer service and shortsightedness to the immediate bottom line. There are some areas in which Celebrity excels, but when things go south, it seems they just don't get it.

 

For those of us who consider ourselves world travellers, having a backup plan and being flexible kinda go with the territory. For those who cruise for the ease and convenience, however, this should be a red flag to have a reliable team in place -- travel agent, comprehensive insurance plan, and friends or family back home who can look after things just in case.

[martyap]

We never travel to Europe without our own phone. Several years ago I bought a quad band, unlocked phone on Ebay for $75. I now use a TravelSim.uk sim card which gives me not only a UK number but a USA number as well. Incoming calls to my UK # are free and to the USA number, .23 cents a minute. Outgoing calls are very reasonable at about 40-60 cents per minute. Friends can call my USA number at no charge to them and I can receive the call in Europe for pennies.......certainly a great thing to have.....especially in a situation like this.....Marty

[bobgail]

To all you who like playing amateur lawyer and think that quoting the contract means that the cruise line is off the hook, financially and ethically:

 

These contracts are written expressly to protect the company and are completely one sided. Passengers accept the contract because they have no choice, except not to travel.

 

If every contract was a closed issue, we wouldn't need courts or lawyers. The contract is the starting point for negotiations, not the end point. It expresses the legal minimum the company hopes will prevail.

 

It is perfectly acceptable to view the contract as a negotiable item in times of trouble. I'm sure that most companies see their obligations as extending beyond the written word, especially if they are pressured by their consumers. We should be standing behind each other as passengers instead of so graciously letting these companies off the hook because their smart...lawyers tried to protect them in every way possible. Don't you think Celebrity is watching these boards to see how much they can get away with?

 

There have been plenty of instances where an offer was made, passengers rebelled ( and indeed this is true of other businesses as well ), and a better offer was forthcoming. Passengers, don't let Celebrity ( or any cruise line ) off the hook because of a paragraph in their contract. That's just the starting point....

[ghstudio]

For those that would like to comment on their experiences, I would suggest sending a note to:

 

Dan Hanrahan, CEO Celebrity

1050 Caribbean way

Miami, Florida 33102

 

Dan reports to:

 

Richard Fain

Chairman and CEO Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD

1050 Caribbean Way

Miami, Florida 33102

These are not the "official" places to send comments, however I'm sure that Dan and Richard would like to hear how well their employees did handling this situation....

[CruisinGerman]

That is precisely why I have been outlining the legal protection under EU law.

 

First, so Europeans would not be side-stepped and tricked into accepting something less than what they are actually entitled to;

 

Secondly, so Americans can have an idea of how this issue is treated under EU law so that when negotiating with Celebrity, they can negotiate something similar or better knowing full well that passengers who purchased their trips in the EU are treated under different rules.

 

Please stick up for your rights -- whether those rights are strictly legal (EU passengers) or equitable and ethical (U.S. passengers), but don't let a unilateral adhesion contract scare you into not doing anything.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[hcat]

If you think Princess is any better check out the Star Princess I think the date was 29th of Feb 2010 cruise from Valpariso, they were worse

Ontario Cruiser

 

I was just thinking the same thing -- Princess was insisting that my parents fly into Santiago (which both the American and Canadian governments had travel advisories against) or they would forfeit their cruise.

 

Once the dust settles, hopefully Celebrity will do the right thing by those who were on the ship. I think these incidents point to the need for the cruiselines to have emergency response teams who can assist the on-board staff in situations like this.

 

Thanks for the info---This is making me nervous-- we never really cared to travel abroad--too complicated to make plans, do not have many foreign language skills, won't drive rentals in another country, not adventurous, etc,..

 

When we discovered how easy it is to cruise, we expanded our cruise horizons to Europe-- & have had two great trips so far...guess we will hope for the best in Great Britain & then stay closer to home after that--

 

I never expect a perfect trip & have never really had a bad one,,,but I guess we have been under a very false sense of security thinking the cruise lines would take care of us no matter what..

 

Our condo in Fla is looking good once again!

[LeftcoastBC]

I have not had the time (nor the inclination frankly) to read all this thread. But what I have read brings back memories of the Infinity passengers being set ashore in Acapulco when a pod issue came up. I ws there.

 

There are voices of reason and there are those that are not. There are those that have some idea about what happened and those that don't. There are those that made out ok and those that didn't. The vocal ones of both sides will have there thoughts seen and read here.

 

This is a situation where Celebrity finds themselves in a distant port and where most officers and likely the Captain, without any experience in managing 1800-2000+ passengers, most of whom need quite a bit of guidance for some reason or other (Mostly age or physical concerns) having to Leave the ship unscheduled and more importantly when they don't want too. The ship is without their normal baggage handlers and transportation providers etc etc. They drop the ball on the most important thing. Communication of a plan.

 

With today's ships being larger and "Things" happening unfortunately all to frequently I would think that RCL, (Celebrity) somebody, anyways would have recognized this constant flaw in their plans and stepped in with a "Plan"

 

You need time to plan what you are going to do. Build that time into things so that "The Plan" doesn't fall apart ever hour or so or become something that can not be completed.

 

If you have never been in the lobby of a ship trying to get information when surrounded by hundreds of others and no information is forthcoming.....you can see only singers and dancers and a besieged cruise director & staff trying to calm all the little old ladies and men and deal with some really irate folks. You have no idea what a mess it is.

 

Someone said you must be prepared to look after yourself and that is so true.

 

Picture a S class ship in the same predicament. I can't imagine.

 

I wish everyone a safe trip home and an easy and successful conclusion to your dealings with the Head office of the cruise line. Time will make it a great story for most but for some it will end their relationship with RCL.