August 9th celebrity millenium. Engine problems!

[Orator]

Perhaps this thread should be combined with Host Andy's earlier thread?

[sunsetme]

who says the ship will be fixed on time? You never know about these things.

[K.T.B.]

Wow, 100% refund and 100% future cruise credit if they stay on the ship? What's not to like about that? All kinds of fabulous opportunities for tours from Seward. Then, if they've never done an Alaska cruise before and want to see the missed ports, they can just book next year for free.

 

Agreed.

 

While I would be very disappointed in missing ports, the compensation is way above what to expect.

[ischeer]

We had similar situation on the Caribbean Princess last year, and the ship was required to return to San Juan, instead of continuing with the scheduled itinerary. The engine failure occurred during the sailing to the first port (St. Maarten)

We received similar compensation, except that the future cruise credit was 25%, not the 100% that Celebrity is offering. Also, there was no "Option 2" made available.

[deserttraveler]

Having been to all the ports except Icy Strait Point, and to a couple of other Alaska ports as well, Seward has more "real Alaska" to explore than the along-the-way ports. See Exit Glacier instead of Mendenhall, and find excellent "substitutes" for everything you might have seen in the other ports. Yes, the shopping in Seward will be poor compared to the other stops, but is that really what we go to Alaska for?

 

And seeing all this from a floating hotel that serves really good food? Sounds like a great deal to me.

[Aloha 1]

Kudos to Celebrity for stepping up quickly on this. Now, just make sure everything gets fixed before we board in November!

[watson524]

I'll keep my fingers crossed too as we're on the 8/16 Sailing and coming out to Vancouver on Thursday

[flagger]

I can tell you that it is easy to say from the comfort of your home that the compensation is more than fair. As an agent I agree it has been quite generous.

 

On the other side of it, I have two clients part of this family who are making a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska in the twilight of their years. More than likely they will not be able to return. While they are all making lemonade out of lemons. Four days in Seward and a group of sea days to Vancouver was not the experience for which they had hoped.

 

The airfare was quite significant for an open jaw airline ticket to ANC and return from YVR. While yes they are getting a cruise, and I know the contract says what it says, it is still far from the same!

[rnrcruzin]

Disappointing, but wow, that is the best compensation package I have heard of. Kudos to Celebrity for really stepping up here. Hope people can still have an enjoyable vacation and that the ship is repaired for the next sailing.

 

I think we all need to give Carnival a big round of applause for making this all possible.

[drarill]

Perhaps this thread should be combined with Host Andy's earlier thread?

 

Good idea :):)

Kudos to Celebrity for stepping up here!!

[cruisestitch]

Don't make me laugh like that again -- I almost spilled my beverage all over the keyboard!

[Ellen S]

I can tell you that it is easy to say from the comfort of your home that the compensation is more than fair. As an agent I agree it has been quite generous.

 

On the other side of it, I have two clients part of this family who are making a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska in the twilight of their years. More than likely they will not be able to return. While they are all making lemonade out of lemons. Four days in Seward and a group of sea days to Vancouver was not the experience for which they had hoped.

 

The airfare was quite significant for an open jaw airline ticket to ANC and return from YVR. While yes they are getting a cruise, and I know the contract says what it says, it is still far from the same!

 

Hope your clients can do some day trips in the area. My favorite area is the Kenai and it's a day trip. Also you can do a glacier trip on a small boat. We did a week on land and that's almost what they are doing. Probably can into Anchorage also.

You will have to post what happened when they get home.

[Umbarger]

I sure wouldn't mind staying in Seward for a couple days and a free cruise. ;-)

[Vitality08]

A quick question out of curiosity:

 

Does anyone know the rationale behind giving a 100% credit to those that stay on the ship and use it as a hotel and 50% to the people that don't?

 

I've been trying to figure that out and I come up blank. I know no one probably knows for sure, but I'm open to theories too.

 

Thanks.

[annpharm]

A quick question out of curiosity:

 

Does anyone know the rationale behind giving a 100% credit to those that stay on the ship and use it as a hotel and 50% to the people that don't?

 

I've been trying to figure that out and I come up blank. I know no one probably knows for sure, but I'm open to theories too.

 

Thanks.

 

 

A theory a friend suggested to me was that Celebrity will be paying for hotel and airfare if you get off the ship, hence 50% towards future cruise, still full refund for this cruise. If you stay on the ship, you just may purchase photos and alcoholic beverages....so that's a plus for them.

 

Just a theory. And I agree this is an excellent compensation package. We have a friend onboard and he is trying to make the most of it. He had such issues just getting there (lost mom's luggage, issue with pre-hotel night) and I kept saying it can only get better...oops, guess I was wrong!!

[Lynnees]

Three cruises for the price of none. I would love that!!!

In answer to the above poster, for those who choose to leave and either stay in a hotel or fly home, the cost to Celebrity is much higher than in they were to stay on the ship. Hence the 50%.

[flagger]

I talked to my colleague who has a group of 24 including her and her husband on board this afternoon. The sun came out finally. The did a trek around Seward with free shuttles into town. I know some of her clients are doing Sea Kayaking tomorrow. Also others are doing a cruise around Resurrection Bay tomorrow which my clients are also doing.

My clients spent the day dog"sledding" with the Seaveys and posted a picture of a musher dog on her facebook page. They will do a half day salmon fishing trip on Monday where the silvers are running.

Some people were seen leaving the ship but not en masse. According the the CC story, about 20 had left by the time it was updated. My colleague saw a few more.

Most are taking it all in stride as a floating hotel, but of course some grumpy people have been seen at Guest Relations being rather grumpy.

[Lynnees]

So, 3 cruises for the price of none don't make them happy? What will?

I understand being disappointed but the reality of it is, it is what it is.

[rcifans]

Seems that this is not the first propulsion problem Celebrity Millennium has had. Infact, one incident was only 4 months ago.

Full story: [URL="http://www.rcifans.com/apps/blog/entries/show/31960189-celebrity-millennium-faced-propulsion-problems-in-the-past"]http://www.rcifans.com/apps/blog/entries/show/31960189-celebrity-millennium-faced-propulsion-problems-in-the-past[/URL]

[Bently57]

I have only cruised with Celebrity once, on the Millennium in 2003. They had issues with the azipods then, and it has continued sporadically until the present. I am trying Celebrity again but it will be on the Reflection or Silhouette this time. Hopefully this will be in March 2014. It would be interesting to know how many times this ship (Millennium) has not performed to its full capacity over the last decade. My gut feeling is that it would be a LOT. It is why it has taken me this long to try Celebrity again. I did love everything about that 2003 cruise except for those annoying azipods. However...I am determined to experience Celebrity in the way that so many of you have. Have the new ships had similar problems as Millennium and Summit?

[Andy]

[quote name='Orator']Perhaps this thread should be combined with Host Andy's earlier thread?[/quote]

Hi Orator,

I merged both threads. No idea why some members choose to start new threads when one already existed, as it creates a fair amount of confusion. At any rate, it's combined. I hope this helps !

[We're The Groupnors]

[quote name='wallie5446']Am I reading option 1 correct? Stay on the ship, a full refund, and the full amount paid against a future booking? "terribly disappointed" Yes, but what a deal! Take it and enjoy![/QUOTE]

I agree; Celebrity does take very good care of their passengers when such unfortunate circumstances happen. Our first ever booked Celebrity cruise was on the Infinity to Hawaii, and it got cancelled due to propulsion problems two weeks prior to the cruise. They gave us our money back, and booked us on the Constellation to the southern Caribbean, including air as it had been part of our Hawaii booking, at no charge to us. We were booked on the Infinity again to Hawaii the following year and it happened a second time, but this time just a few days before the cruise. Still, they gave us our money back and a future cruise on Celebrity. It was disappointing at the time, but we made the best of it, and have been loyal Celebrity cruisers ever since. And we finally made it to Hawaii with Celebrity, but on the Summit.

Best of luck with your alternate plans.

[Andy]

[quote name='rnrcruzin'][FONT=Arial][SIZE=3]I think we all need to give Carnival a big round of applause for making this all possible.[/SIZE][/FONT][/quote]

Hi Rnrcruzin,

While that's VERY funny... over the years, Celebrity has generally been extremely generous when past sailings were deviated or cancelled due to pod issues. Millennium's current sailing, is an excellent example of Management's efforts to make things right in a tough situation. Kudos are well deserved, along with their onboard team - who must have their hands full.

Frankly, from all the griping I've read about Carnival's compensation for disrupted cruises/guests... IMO, they could take a huge lesson from Celebrity.

[SPacificbound]

I am definitely impressed with the lemons to lemonade that Celebrity has done here. We haven't been on Celebrity yet but are certainly looking forward to those cruises. :)

[Bababooey Land]

Kudos to Celebrity for stepping up to the plate with excellent compensation!