New propulsion problem on Millennium

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Exactly!

 

We have decided to take the Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver to Seattle and stay there a few days. Then rent a car and drive leisurely down the Oregan coastline to San Francisco and stay there 3 nights. Then make our way to San Diego. Cheaper than paying for a change of flight and we have to stay somewhere for the 9 days, so we may as well make lemonade from lemons.

 

Sounds like a great plan. Try to allow enough time south of San Francisco to drive Highway 1 along the coast and to visit Hearst Castle on the way. Both are well worth it. I'd even give up a day in San Francisco or Seattle to make this happen. Have a wonderful trip!

[AlanAllyn]

I believe what the poster was saying was that they would have to pay $4,810 to change their flights so that they could go directly to their new cruise. So now they have to keep their flights and vacation for the 9 days (that they were supposed to have spent on the Millennium) before boarding their new cruise. Either way they are out $4,810 change fee, or the cost of 9 days hotel, food, and transportation. Not such a no brainer to me.

That's not a fair way to look at it.

 

What they have done is changed their 9-day cruise vacation into a 9-day land vacation. The refunded fare from the cruise should cover most, if not all, of the costs of a land vacation. They are making lemonade.

[sandyss]

Celebrity is STILL sending out literature promoting Millennium Alaska sailings.:( Here are some excerpts from an e-mail I received from them this morning. They really need to review their procedures!

 

"Now's the time to make your Alaskan dreams a reality. With three ships exploring this glacial getaway, featuring exciting excursions and captivating Cruisetours, the options and photo ops are endless."

 

"Now sailing from Seattle, Seward, or Vancouver, bask in the breathtaking beauty of Hubbard Glacier on board Celebrity Century®, Celebrity Millennium®, or Celebrity Solstice® as you visit a variety of ports and cities along the way."

 

I'll add another quote from the email that I received this morning.:

 

“We just returned from an amazing Alaskan cruise. Millennium was the perfect ship to take this cruise on. For anyone who has never been... this cruise is definitely not one to be missed.”

 

Having just returned from the truncated August 16th cruise, this email rubbed salt in the wound. We would have given Celebrity a slightly different quote to use. But for some reason, they didn't ask me.:D

[moebruin]

Sad to see many of my fellow Millennium passengers had a rotten experience.

 

For me personally things couldn't have turned out better. 4 enjoyable days and 1 not so enjoyable day in Ketchikan and then a beautiful land tour. To me catching Mount McKinley yesterday and today in crystal clear skies makes up for missing Juneau. Most people beg for a peak of the mountain and no refunds if its too cloudy or rainy. That was 5 beautiful free days on the Millennium and a credit for another free cruise what more can I ask.

 

For those driving down the coast to San Diego for their cruise you are in for a treat. A great drive through some great places and at some point you may end up near where I live. You will enjoy and probably will conclude it was a blessing in disguise.

 

Good luck and enjoy.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[Islandgirl4242]

Exactly!

 

We have decided to take the Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver to Seattle and stay there a few days. Then rent a car and drive leisurely down the Oregan coastline to San Francisco and stay there 3 nights. Then make our way to San Diego. Cheaper than paying for a change of flight and we have to stay somewhere for the 9 days, so we may as well make lemonade from lemons.

I really hope you enjoy your lemonade...you deserve to!! The Amtrak trip will be beautiful as it follows the coast for much of the trip. The train station is in downtown Seattle and there is much to see and do in Seattle. We live on an island NW of Seattle and friends visiting us from Australia also did the Amtrak trip and loved it. You'll be seeing a beautiful part of our country and I hope you enjoy each and every minute of your trip. So great to read that you're moving forward after the Millie problems!! ~~Judy

[Islandgirl4242]

Sad to see many of my fellow Millennium passengers had a rotten experience.

 

For me personally things couldn't have turned out better. 4 enjoyable days and 1 not so enjoyable day in Ketchikan and then a beautiful land tour. To me catching Mount McKinley yesterday and today in crystal clear skies makes up for missing Juneau. Most people beg for a peak of the mountain and no refunds if its too cloudy or rainy. That was 5 beautiful free days on the Millennium and a credit for another free cruise what more can I ask.

 

For those driving down the coast to San Diego for their cruise you are in for a treat. A great drive through some great places and at some point you may end up near where I live. You will enjoy and probably will conclude it was a blessing in disguise.

 

Good luck and enjoy.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

Sometimes we need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and then move forward...this seems to be just what you did. Life more in perspective!!~~Judy

[crule]

FYI y'all is plural it always refers to more than one person. y'alls is the possessive...so y'alls cruise means the cruise belonging to y'all which means the whole shipload.

 

As a life long Georgian, you're only partially correct. :)

 

y'all can be both singular and plural. But, normally plural.

 

"Y'all come see us."

 

(A contraction of "you all.). Now, if it is large plurality of people, then we tack on "all y'all".

 

"All y'all gonna be able to fit in that Mustang?"

 

But yes . "y'alls" is the plural possessive."

 

"Is that there y'all's cooler?"

 

(and in some parts of the south, that's one syllable - "yallz" and in othe parts, it's actually two syllables - "yallziz"

 

... now back to our regularly scheduled programming....:cool:

[CPT Trips]

As a life long Georgian, you're only partially correct. :)

 

y'all can be both singular and plural. But, normally plural.

 

"Y'all come see us."

 

(A contraction of "you all.). Now, if it is large plurality of people, then we tack on "all y'all".

 

"All y'all gonna be able to fit in that Mustang?"

 

But yes . "y'alls" is the plural possessive."

 

"Is that there y'all's cooler?"

 

(and in some parts of the south, that's one syllable - "yallz" and in othe parts, it's actually two syllables - "yallziz"

 

... now back to our regularly scheduled programming....:cool:

 

?? So there's plural as well as plural plural?? I guess I'm not as bilingual as I thought. ;)

[TLCOhio]

Sad to see many of my fellow Millennium passengers had a rotten experience. For me personally things couldn't have turned out better. 4 enjoyable days and 1 not so enjoyable day in Ketchikan and then a beautiful land tour. To me catching Mount McKinley yesterday and today in crystal clear skies makes up for missing Juneau. Most people beg for a peak of the mountain and no refunds if its too cloudy or rainy. That was 5 beautiful free days on the Millennium and a credit for another free cruise what more can I ask. For those driving down the coast to San Diego for their cruise you are in for a treat. A great drive through some great places and at some point you may end up near where I live. You will enjoy and probably will conclude it was a blessing in disguise.

 

Appreciate your nice update and glad that you were fortunate to be able to adjust and make "lemonade" out of the "lemons"!!! I have told many when doing cruises to think and plan ahead. Have your "Plan A". BUT, also be ready with a "Plan B" in the event of weather challenges and/or other needs to adjust, be creative, etc. Few, however, have as big of difficulty as happened with the Millennium, but you did super well.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Celebrity Solstice Visual Highlights? From our June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in France, Italy, Kotor and Dubrovnik, I have pull together a number of wonderful visuals of the Solstice, its features, food, entertainment, options, etc. We are now at over 9,820 views for this shorter version of my larger full review of that cruise and all of the port pictures/details. Check these postings and added info at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1803477

[Ma Bell]

Exactly!

 

We have decided to take the Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver to Seattle and stay there a few days. Then rent a car and drive leisurely down the Oregan coastline to San Francisco and stay there 3 nights. Then make our way to San Diego. Cheaper than paying for a change of flight and we have to stay somewhere for the 9 days, so we may as well make lemonade from lemons.

 

Sounds like a great time! Enjoy.

[Aloha 1]

17 knots of ''speed to the engine'' is the maximum utilized when sailing with one of the two mermaids/azipods out of commission.

At that rate, it'll be a real 'tight fit'' to enter GBSY in Freeport by 23;00hr ADT 2nd september....

 

RCN, or hobbyist? Enjoying your scientific posts.

[Bfson]

She is now (3pm Pacific Time on Sunday) off the coast of Central California, just south of Monterey. (see http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ )

 

I wonder if she will get any priority at the Panama Canal or will she have to wait her turn? (I have a memory from our canal trip being told that without a reservation--often made a year in advance-a ship could sit for a few days waiting their turn to go through the canal.)

[Rick-cruiser]

Like an able-bodied person might let a handicapped person go ahead of them in line... let's hope the Millennium is given some special consideration, given its circumstances.

[wwcruisers]

She is now (3pm Pacific Time on Sunday) off the coast of Central California, just south of Monterey. (see http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ )

 

I wonder if she will get any priority at the Panama Canal or will she have to wait her turn? (I have a memory from our canal trip being told that without a reservation--often made a year in advance-a ship could sit for a few days waiting their turn to go through the canal.)

 

Like an able-bodied person might let a handicapped person go ahead of them in line... let's hope the Millennium is given some special consideration, given its circumstances.

 

The fact that she is a "Panamax" ship might also be a factor -- pro or con, who knows? But, when we transited the Canal on Radiance, we were told that they can only have one Panamax ship in certain parts of the Canal (the Gaillard Cut comes to mind) at a time.

[MicCanberra]

She is now (3pm Pacific Time on Sunday) off the coast of Central California, just south of Monterey. (see http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ )

 

I wonder if she will get any priority at the Panama Canal or will she have to wait her turn? (I have a memory from our canal trip being told that without a reservation--often made a year in advance-a ship could sit for a few days waiting their turn to go through the canal.)

 

Like an able-bodied person might let a handicapped person go ahead of them in line... let's hope the Millennium is given some special consideration, given its circumstances.

Yes, lets hope so.

I believe the canals revenue would be down for this passage as well as the canal charges for

A) the ship's tonnage; and

B) each passenger/crew.

[gblotter]

I wonder if she will get any priority at the Panama Canal or will she have to wait her turn? (I have a memory from our canal trip being told that without a reservation--often made a year in advance-a ship could sit for a few days waiting their turn to go through the canal.)

Celebrity was very specific that all passengers needed to be off the ship by 1:30pm on Thursday. They announced this a number of times over three days.

 

I wondered at the time if this deadline was in order for Millennium to meet a timeline for passage through the Panama canal. Pure speculation on my part.

[sbkluvs2travel]

Exactly!

 

We have decided to take the Amtrak Cascades train from Vancouver to Seattle and stay there a few days. Then rent a car and drive leisurely down the Oregan coastline to San Francisco and stay there 3 nights. Then make our way to San Diego. Cheaper than paying for a change of flight and we have to stay somewhere for the 9 days, so we may as well make lemonade from lemons.

 

Hope you have a safe journey and good experiences as you have dealt in such a positive way with a sour situation. "Life is Good".:)

[The_Big_M]

Yes, lets hope so.

I believe the canals revenue would be down for this passage as well as the canal charges for

A) the ship's tonnage; and

B) each passenger/crew.

 

I believe it will still be up as it's extra revenue that it wouldn't have otherwise had.

[BEAV]

I wonder if she will get any priority at the Panama Canal or will she have to wait her turn? (I have a memory from our canal trip being told that without a reservation--often made a year in advance-a ship could sit for a few days waiting their turn to go through the canal.)

 

When I spoke with our TA last Wednesday about our 9/13 cancelled Millie cruise, she said those in her office were voicing concern about Millie's passage through the Canal. She, too, mentioned the LACK of priority, given the circumstances, and wondered who long it will take her to make the journey from Pacific to Atlantic. I think of it in railroad terms -- a local going into all the passing tracks and waiting while the express trains whiz by on the main line. Will be interesting to track Millie once she reaches Panama....

[bighairtexan]

The canal charges differently for cruise ships than it does for cargo ships. The passage fee is based on the number of BERTHS on a cruise ship. Empty or full the cost is the same. Cruise ships are given precedence over other ships going through the canal. If you've been to the canal you see scads of ships just sitting there waiting for a slot. Some wait hours, some days, some much longer. A cruise ship gets to go through pretty much immediately. Hence the very high tariffs no matter how many or few passengers.

 

It costs the Millennium around 500K for passage each way.

[MicCanberra]

The canal charges differently for cruise ships than it does for cargo ships. The passage fee is based on the number of BERTHS on a cruise ship. Empty or full the cost is the same. Cruise ships are given precedence over other ships going through the canal. If you've been to the canal you see scads of ships just sitting there waiting for a slot. Some wait hours, some days, some much longer. A cruise ship gets to go through pretty much immediately. Hence the very high tariffs no matter how many or few passengers.

 

It costs the Millennium around 500K for passage each way.

Thanks for the clarification. When we went through in 2009, they explained it all but I must have misunderstood.:D

 

I believe it will still be up as it's extra revenue that it wouldn't have otherwise had.

The canal would get the fees x 2 for the extra two passages, but as it turns out, for this particular passage the canl's fees are the same empty or full.

[c-legs]

She is still north of San Francisco this morning and traveling at 17.7 knots...so she has speed up a bit. Still a long trip ahead.

 

No doubt she is helped along by the prevailing currents which are ''following'' instead of ebbing. Thus, a 17knot maximum speed to the engines can actually result in an actual forward speed higher than that.

Along the Calidornia coast, I'm sure she'll reach 17-18 knots of actual speed with no more than ~~ 15kn speed to the engines.

We got to remember she's sailing on half her mermaid azipods capacity....

Thankfully, it's been ''straight shot'' for ~~ 3 says now.

[c-legs]

She is now (3pm Pacific Time on Sunday) off the coast of Central California, just south of Monterey. (see http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/ )

 

I wonder if she will get any priority at the Panama Canal or will she have to wait her turn? (I have a memory from our canal trip being told that without a reservation--often made a year in advance-a ship could sit for a few days waiting their turn to go through the canal.)

Im pretty sure that when Celebrity finalized the ultimate sail plan with the various authorities ( including the Panamian canal authorities), following determination of a drydock availability at Freeport from late 2nd Sept., special ''booking preferences'' were secured to ensure as swift a passage thru the canal as possible ( perhaps with a ''slight priority fee''....:rolleyes:).Under the current circumstances, it's a must.....

Of course, she could show up at Fuerte Amador and find a couple of tankers or/and bulk cargo carriers not exactly doing what was planned for them to do.....:rolleyes:

[c-legs]

Celebrity was very specific that all passengers needed to be off the ship by 1:30pm on Thursday. They announced this a number of times over three days.

 

I wondered at the time if this deadline was in order for Millennium to meet a timeline for passage through the Panama canal. Pure speculation on my part.

Most defenitely.In order to get to Freeport for mid evening,local time, 2nd September, she has to transit the canal within a certain time window,with little leeway for ''unforseen obstacles''...so I'm positive they filed a sail plan that was not too flexible, thus the sudden urgency to leave Ketchikan as close as possible to 15;00AK thursday.

So far, she's had a near ''straight shot'' with following currents....easy enough.....the canal, that's another story and we're hoping she makes it as planned.

[seaplus]

Some Perspective

I have just found Cruise Critic recently--so please don't flame me!

 

My family was aboard Celebrity's Infinity in January 2003, when the ship lost a propulsion pod in the middle of a cruise from FL to San Diego through the Panama Canal. The decision was made by Celebrity to cancel the cruise in Acapulco. All passengers returned to the ship from their day in ACA and were told to have their baggage outside the room by 11:00 pm, and all passengers would be disembarked at 7:00 am the following morning. After a chaotic disembarkation, we were brought to a hotel for a couple of days, then boarded a charter flight to SD (which was diverted to LA). The way the trip ended, the chaos, the lack of information, the constantly-changing third-hand stories from the Celebrity reps that were sent to control the mess...it was just HORRIBLE!

 

We were given a 25% refund, and 50% off a future cruise, to be used within 1 yr, same class of cabin, holidays blacked out, on voyages of less than 14 days--ie, so many restrictions that we personally were unable to use the coupon. There was, as I remember, similar talk of lawsuits, boycotts, lynchings, etc. What ended up hapening? Zip.

 

Here's the point: On 2/1/2003 as we wearily woke up in the LA Airport Hilton, after our "nightmarish" and "traumatic" ordeal was almost over, my wife flipped on the news on CNN while I was getting out of the shower. I still remember the sound of her voice saying "OH MY GOD!," as the wreckage of the Space Shuttle Columbia fell back to earth over Texas.

 

I remember what I said to her: "Those people had a bad trip. We had an adventure."

 

So get some perspective--time will heal these wounds, you will go on other cruises, and 99.9% of the people in the world would love to trade places with you as you endure the unendurable.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Astro