Silhouette mechanical problem ? (Several Threads Merged)

[OCruisers]

All of us know itinerary changes/missing ports can and sometimes does happen when cruising.

Hope this will not the case for your Silhouette cruise.

Please keep us updated.

LuLu

[suntan]

Hi everyone,

 

I spoke with a rep from Celebrity this afternoon. He didn't know too much about what the problem was other than to say there is a reduction in speed at this time. I asked about other changes to our itinerary (on the Sept. 12th sailing) such as ports of call being missed or other arrival and departure times changed, and he reported the only change is the arrival in Venice is now noon instead of the original 10am arrival time. Keeping our fingers crossed there are no more changes to the itinerary.

[ghstudio]

Hi all,

 

Celebrity Silhouette is currently experiencing a slight restriction on its top speed, which has required us to make modifications to nine upcoming sailings.

It is important for us to assure our guests that this small restriction on the ship’s top speed does not impact, in any way, the maneuverability of the ship or the safety of our guests and crew.

 

Celebrity will contact travel partners and guests should additional modifications need to be made to future itineraries. We apologize for any inconvenience these changes may cause to our guests.

 

Sounds like the ship either lost the use of one of the pods or one of the generators, both major parts that would require major logistics (nine cruises) and an unscheduled dry dock (or shipyard) repair.

 

Experiencing a slight restriction of it's top speed" is marketing speak since ships rarely are scheduled to travel at their top speed. I'm sure there is no safety risk but it does sound like celebrity is trying to protect revenue rather than sharing the facts, whatever they are, with the passengers effected.

[Kevnzworld]

I'm scheduled to sail on the Nov 1 transatlantic on the Silhouette...maybe we will get an extra day or two at sea...I'll take it!

[cle-guy]

I'm scheduled to sail on the Nov 1 transatlantic on the Silhouette...maybe we will get an extra day or two at sea...I'll take it!

 

That's why I posted asking what top speed really is....one poster here said with the slowed speed, the TV indicated they were doing 19kts, and my TA's we were both at 18kts, so the reduced speed doesn't seem to be too much of a reduction unless ship regularly travels at 24kts top speed in the med between certain ports.

[stickey_mouse]

If Celebrity does try to squeeze in a quick dry dock for repair, where and when would that likely occur?

[cle-guy]

If Celebrity does try to squeeze in a quick dry dock for repair, where and when would that likely occur?

 

I read someplace that Freeport, Bahamas has a dry dock RCI uses often (maybe owns?), so I'd speculate it would happen after the TA, perhaps they are looking at which sailings has the lowest overall revenue generated in bookings to determine that versus just saying "we'll cancel the 1st caribbean sailing after the TA". Also they have to find SPACE available int eh dry dock to accommodate the ship, and I read they are generally always in use by someone doing something, so that involves trading slots with other ships....that can take a long time to do.

 

The Allure when it had azipod issues ran for about 6 months before it got fixed another poster told us. Here's lil (its in this thread)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43344575&postcount=18

Edited July 10, 2014 by cle-guy

[ghstudio]

That's why I posted asking what top speed really is....one poster here said with the slowed speed, the TV indicated they were doing 19kts, and my TA's we were both at 18kts, so the reduced speed doesn't seem to be too much of a reduction unless ship regularly travels at 24kts top speed in the med between certain ports.

 

 

That's actually positive news. I don't think the ship can cruise at 18/19 kts with only one engine.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ecslady]

I'm scheduled to sail on the Nov 1 transatlantic on the Silhouette...maybe we will get an extra day or two at sea...I'll take it!

 

I do not want to alarm you, but ....I am on the Sept 23 sailing...but went back on the X website to check for updates, etc. and found that the Nov 1 TA cruise is not even showing up on their website for booking. I hope that is not an indication of when they expect to fix the problem. I have checked this for the past 2 days.

 

So, since you are on the Nov 1 TA sailing, perhaps you have some inside info to share.

[floridafolks]

I do not want to alarm you, but ....I am on the Sept 23 sailing...but went back on the X website to check for updates, etc. and found that the Nov 1 TA cruise is not even showing up on their website for booking. I hope that is not an indication of when they expect to fix the problem. I have checked this for the past 2 days.

 

So, since you are on the Nov 1 TA sailing, perhaps you have some inside info to share.

 

It is sold out!! We did get an update that there would be a couple of minor time adjustments in 2 ports.

Edited July 10, 2014 by floridafolks

[Cruising89143]

I read someplace that Freeport, Bahamas has a dry dock RCI uses often (maybe owns?), so I'd speculate it would happen after the TA, perhaps they are looking at which sailings has the lowest overall revenue generated in bookings to determine that versus just saying "we'll cancel the 1st caribbean sailing after the TA". Also they have to find SPACE available int eh dry dock to accommodate the ship, and I read they are generally always in use by someone doing something, so that involves trading slots with other ships....that can take a long time to do.

 

The Allure when it had azipod issues ran for about 6 months before it got fixed another poster told us. Here's lil (its in this thread)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=43344575&postcount=18

 

RCCL has a 40% ownership in Grand Bahama shipyard as does Carnival Corporation. I don't think that this has changed.

[ecslady]

It is sold out!! We did get an update that there would be a couple of minor time adjustments in 2 ports.

 

That's good news for everyone on the TA!

[obxgirl]

We did a B2B on the Reflection from Venice in 2013. Had a similar situation. It was one of the pods. We missed several ports and were late entering or leaving others. They flew in a crew to fix the problem but they were unable to fix it until we arrived in Miami. Took us 9 days to cross the Atlantic. We were reimbursed for the ports missed.

[Orator]

I sometimes find interesting what is not said. CelebrityCruises has often posted to help cruisers solve problems or announce new programs. The posts and offers of help are most appreciated. Interesting to me that they have not posted on this thread. What can you tell us? The first rule of Crisis Management is to get ahead of the story. Control the story, don't let it control you. Rumors and hearsay can become a PR nightmare.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Orator

[Vivere LaDolceVita]

The Allure ran for about 6 months with propulsion problems before it got an emergency slot in dry dock to resolve. And of course X needs to displace some of its customers who are booked....

 

Likely even after few weeks of the issues, they still don't really have a dad established yet.

 

6 months takes us beyond our sail date...eek. :eek: Faced with the alternative of a canceled cruise, I'm thinking I'd definitely rather just miss a port (even though missing Cozumel would be really, REALLY disappointing). Given the economics of the decision, like you I'm pulling for skipping Jamaica! :)

[cle-guy]

6 months takes us beyond our sail date...eek. :eek: Faced with the alternative of a canceled cruise, I'm thinking I'd definitely rather just miss a port (even though missing Cozumel would be really, REALLY disappointing). Given the economics of the decision, like you I'm pulling for skipping Jamaica! :)

 

 

Actually, looking at a website that has port calendars, on the day we are supposed to be there in Grand Cayman, we are there with:

• Brilliance of the Seas
  
• Carnival Dream
  
• Celebrity Equinox
  
• Disney Magic
  
• HAL ms Nieuw Amsterdam
  

 

If we postpone to Tuesday when Jamaica should be, there are only in port:

• Grandeur of the Seas
  
• Norwegian Epic
  

 

So there is plenty of ROOM for us to do this....but many passengers not in the group may be miffed at missing an entire port. But if one NEEDS missed due to the propulsion issue, this seems like a really easy fix that costs no money, actually saves it buy way of less fuel used at slower than needed speed to get to COZ....

 

So X could make COZ a two day sailing, move grand cayman to where jamaica was canceling jamaica, still do Labadee (saving X and Making X money) and make us all happy....:D

Edited July 11, 2014 by cle-guy

[JAN2355]

We are on the Silhouette on 12th September Eastern Med and Greek Isles and have just been notified that there is a change to the docking time in Venice. We were due to arrive at 10am and it will now be midday! Shame as this will limit our time in Venice but at least we are staying there overnight so do not have to be back on board any special time that day.

[suntan]

We are on the Silhouette on 12th September Eastern Med and Greek Isles and have just been notified that there is a change to the docking time in Venice. We were due to arrive at 10am and it will now be midday! Shame as this will limit our time in Venice but at least we are staying there overnight so do not have to be back on board any special time that day.

 

We're also on your cruise. We have received nowt from Celebrity about this. All the information I have received on this situation is from my dear friends at Cruise Critic.:) We have a shore excursion scheduled for 11:30am in Venice. We need to hear from Celebrity if that excursion has been rebooked (if so it will be for the 2nd time) or cancelled so that we can make alternate plans. We are staying an extra day in Venice so the time change for us is not such a big deal. But no more time changes eh! Lots to see and do in all the ports of call and not enough time to see much if arrival and departure time change.

[JAN2355]

Yes we received the same message yesterday from our Travel Agent about the Venice delay.

[Vivere LaDolceVita]

So X could make COZ a two day sailing, move grand cayman to where jamaica was canceling jamaica, still do Labadee (saving X and Making X money) and make us all happy....:D

 

From your lips to God's (i.e., =X='s) ears. That would be ideal.

[nineteen]

Yes , I agree. I am on the first sailing after TA. I would like to see this change, makes more sense then shortening port times. We hadn't planned on doing anything in Jamaica anyway. I hope they let us know soon. 1. if canceling cruise for dry dock or 2. making port of call changes or port time changes. I have private excursions planned(booked). Lets hope Celebrity is reading and listening to Cle-guys solution. Win ..Win

[C 2 C]

We did a B2B on the Reflection from Venice in 2013. Had a similar situation. It was one of the pods. We missed several ports and were late entering or leaving others. They flew in a crew to fix the problem but they were unable to fix it until we arrived in Miami. Took us 9 days to cross the Atlantic. We were reimbursed for the ports missed.

 

Reflection is having a problem again according to Cruise Critic News.

[Orator]

Might be time for a quick dry dock so they can resolve the problem and perhaps change Cellar Masters. I won't be on an S Class ship until January,2015 and would welcome the change.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Orator

[onesycamore]

I was on the June 22 cruise out of Venice. We received notification the first night of some minor modifications to the schedule. They shortened our time in Dubrovnik by two hours (first stop). They also shortened our time in Rome by 1 hour. Those were all the changes. During the longest segment Dubrovnik to Rome, we were sailing at a pretty good clip. Sometimes schedules can be impacted if multiple cruise ships are trying to access the same port at the same time.

 

We were on the same cruise. On one of the days of the cruise, the Captain had his usual "fireside chat" with passengers (in the theatre). Someone asked about the shorter time in Rome (1 hour later arrival; 1 hour earlier departure) and he explained that "for technical reasons" at certain times, the ship is required to run at 22 knots instead of its usual 24 knots "for data collection purposes". He assured everyone that this was not something that people s/b concerned about. In any event all 5 of the other ports were "as scheduled". Non issue, as far as we were concerned

[lovestx]

For those of you with a 12 noon arrival in Venice, please note that our June 10 sailing had an original 9 a.m. arrival time and we learned when checking in that we would not dock until 12 noon in Venice for mechanical reasons. But, in reality, we didn't actually dock in Venice until closer to 1 p.m. and the gangway didn't open until about 1:30 p.m. (Barwick Cruiser, can you confirm that my memory was correct?). So folks who are scheduling private tours should be aware that 12 noon is not a hard and fast time. Folks on our cruise were very disappointed by the late arrival as it really cut into their day in Venice.

 

We had a marvelous cruise on the Silhouette and no other ports or times were affected.