Current pod status on Infinity?

[mocro]

We're first-time Celebrity cruisers (waiting for a Royal Suite to become available) and hope to sail on the Infinity's August 12th round-trip to Alaska out of Vancouver. I've spent the past few hours reading member reviews of the Infinity and am struck by what an issue the pod malfunctions were on the ship last summer. Does anyone know if this problem has been resolved on the Infinity?

 

Also, the reviews/posts are a mix of good and bad, but I pretty consistently am reading how challenging Vancouver embarkations were last summer. My inclination was to arrive at the ship 2 hours before the scheduled embarkation time to board and explore, but so many reviews talk about passengers being held captive for hours. Any sense whether arriving @ 11 a.m. for a 2 p.m. scheduled boarding time is doomed?

 

We've been really psyched about this cruise and now I'm reading lots of posts about a ship that seems to be in need to some refurbishment. Please help me get excited again!

[Bfson]

You do know there is a separate check in line for the folks in the suites?

[mocro]

Yes, thank you. I wasn't concerned about length of wait in lines, but rather than Celebrity wasn't letting anyone board for hours after the scheduled embarkation times for a variety of reasons.

 

Hope I don't seem ignorant about the pod issue. I've now spent the better part of an hour reading specific Infinity pod threads (this site could become a part-time job!) and I realize the pod issue far from fixed. We'll probably stay w/Celebrity as the price is good for the product and we're really more interested in the ship than hot for a specific port. Because this is an Alaska sailing, I assume we'll see quite a bit from the ship regardless of where we dock.

 

Glad I'm not Celebrity trying to figure out how to fix this.

[Hlitner]

I can give you the latest on the pods from info obtained 2 weeks ago from the Staff Captain. One of the two pods is currently limited to operating at 75% of capacity which effectively limits the maximum speed to about 17.5 knots. This was more than enough speed on our Feb 11th 14 day cruise to make all of our ports. The Pod problem is primarily an issue regarding the bearings and bearing ring that attaches the pods to the hull, and they simply were not designed to handle the weight and stress of an operating cruise ship. Eventually, all of the pods will be repaired with newly designed bearings and their rings, but it will be done over a period of about 4 years. It was mentioned that they will first replace a single pod on each ship and replace the 2nd pod on a future drydock. The reason is that the ships can function quite well on a single pod (in fact they often only use a single pod in order to save fuel) although it still would reduce the maximum cruising speed. In the meantime (before they get all the pods replaced) the cruise will do their best to maintain the current pods and "hopefully" make all their ports.

 

Hank

[dutchess43]

To Hlitner

Can you tell me if the Infinity has the new bedding? I was on the Millie a month ago & they had the new bedding if was fabulous.

thanks

[LeftcoastBC]

X has scheduled a dry dock for the Infinity Before the Alaska Season starts.

 

(One can only hope that it is for pod maintenance.) and new stuff :D

[dkjretired]

X has scheduled a dry dock for the Infinity Before the Alaska Season starts.

 

(One can only hope that it is for pod maintenance.) and new stuff :D

 

Infinity does not appear to have a dry dock scheduled through the summer. She appears to finish up the S. America cruises, do the Hawaii and then goes right into Alaska.

[Jeepers385]

Actually Infinity is scheduled for a one week dry dock in Vancouver in May. We come off her on 5/20 and the trip after us was cancelled so she can go into dry dock for the week.

[mii]

Hi Debbie: Jeepers is correct. We are also on that cruise that leaves S.F. May 7, goes to Alaska for a 13 nite and ends in Vancouver on the 20th and then one week dry-dock.

 

marilyn

[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

Just got off the Infinity. No new bedding. Same ugly bedspread and matching curtains. However trip was great to Carnaval was great. Ship gave us resevered seats worth $450 each plus transportation to and from.

Jerry and Sandy

[LeftcoastBC]

Infinity does not appear to have a dry dock scheduled through the summer. She appears to finish up the S. America cruises, do the Hawaii and then goes right into Alaska.

 

Try booking a cruise on the 20th MAY. She will be hunkered down in her second home at Esquimalt BC...

 

;)

[Quickcanuck]

So....would one pod at 75% allow them to maintain a 14 day Hawaii round trip schedule without missing any ports?

 

We're booked on the April 22 San Diego-Hawaii-San Diego...

[Germancruiser]

Hi I am booked on the same cruise, also interessted in the New about " our " ship. A shame we haven´t the new bedding- but I always sleep like nowhere else on a cruise.

As long as they don´t cancel the whole cruise, I can deal with a missing port.

So let´s cross fingers.

Greetings

Michael

[Germancruiser]

By the way, Quickcanuck we have a nice Roll Call running, you are welcome to join us.

Greetings

Michael

[docjph]

Pods? I’ll tell you about pods. We were on the May 2006 summit Alaska cruise. :mad: We missed 2 ports, got into other ports late, did not see Hubbard’s glacier and went down the inside passage AT NIGHT. All because of 1 pod!!! DON’T TAKE A CHANCE ON ANY MILLIUM CLASS SHIP. THEY ALL HAVE AND ARE STILL HAVING POD PROBLEMS.

DON’T SAY YOU WERE NOT WARNED.:eek: FIND ANOTHER SHIP WHILE YOU CAN!!!!!!

[usha]

You're really busy spreading cheer tonight, aren't you, docjph??? You've posted this same litany on other threads.

Okay, we're warned. THink we'll stick with our b/2/b on Summit.:p

[reggierail]

It's a real shame that there seems to be a very small, but vocal and determined number of people that are living in the past. The speed restrictions have been in place on Infinity since January and the only modification to the schedule was announced Jan. 29th. It involved the March sailing and the change delayed the time arriving in a port in Ecuador by 3 hours and delayed the departure by 2 hours. This resulted in an overall reduction of the port time of one hour.

Everyone that was on the May 2006 Infinity sailing needs to get a life and move on. I myself have had a marvelous cruise on Infinity and I know many others that have sailed the Millie class ships with no problems whatsoever. It would be a shame for anyone to miss a wonderful experience on these marvelous ships because of a few nay sayers that refuse to move on with their life.

 

JMHO.

 

Reggie :eek:

[Germancruiser]

I couldn´t agree more Reggie, I also had the exprience of a pod failure on board the Summit back in 2005 in Alaska, the cruise was shortend by one day. I was dissapointed of course, but I had a wonderfull cruise as always. We got compensation, which totaly satisfied me.

On the other hand I am really a " glass half full" person, I try to make the best out whatever happens. You can´t change some things, so just take them, and make the best out of it.

Greetings and happy cruising

Michael

[lisiamc]

Pods? I’ll tell you about pods. We were on the May 2006 summit Alaska cruise. :mad: We missed 2 ports, got into other ports late, did not see Hubbard’s glacier and went down the inside passage AT NIGHT. All because of 1 pod!!! DON’T TAKE A CHANCE ON ANY MILLIUM CLASS SHIP. THEY ALL HAVE AND ARE STILL HAVING POD PROBLEMS.

DON’T SAY YOU WERE NOT WARNED.:eek: FIND ANOTHER SHIP WHILE YOU CAN!!!!!!

 

 

On the other hand, I've taken five cruises on Summit and never had any trouble. The pod problems are unfortunate, but the vast majority of cruises on the M-Class ships are not affected. The odds are way in favour of not having a disruption. I would be very happy to take five more cruises on Summit, given the right itineraries.

 

If you like the destination and the price, that should be the important consideration, IMHO.:)

 

Lisa

[tbelian]

Caribbean on the Constellation, Jan 2007. No pod problems.

[Captain Cosmo]

I'm puzzled that so many posters object to the honest posts of other passengers who had cruises that were profoundly impacted by the pod problems. If you don't care about missing ports or scenic parts of the cruise's itinerary then its no big deal. However, I think that people who come to these boards looking for advice and information have a right to know about the risks involved with an M-class ship and then they can make up their own minds about whether or not its a problem for them. Attacking people who are providing information that is completely factual - simply because it rains on your "don't worry -be happy" parade - is not only rude but a violation of the board's terms of use. No one "gets off" or "enjoys" posting negative information, but when I see a poster who is considering something like an Alaskan cruise on an M-class - where the itinerary IS the trip - it would be wrong NOT to let them know about the risk involved. So, let others post their experiences without flaming them because their point of view or their actual experiences differ from yours. No matter how recently an M-class has been in drydock or how recently one pod has been replaced with another defective pod you are still taking a risk. If your cruise is in the Carribean - where the ports are very similar - then its no big deal if the cruise doesn't stick completly to its itinerary, so the risk factor is low. On the other hand, if its your "trip of a lifetime" to Alaska or South America you may want to consider other options. Remember, just because you don't care where your ship winds up or when doesn't mean that everyone else has the same mindset.

[catmand]

My goodness.........! It isn't that people shouldn't hear about problems people had on the ship BUT these problems happened last YEAR, how about looking at what problems the ship has had recently?

We have sailed on 3 M class ships, over 34 days on 3 cruises and have yet to miss a port or even run late.

So, while there MAY be potential problems, before getting upset about what MAY happen, think about your itinerary. I know those of us booked on the May Alaska cruise know our ports are close enough that we will/should make them all.

[Cachecara]

As someone who comes to these boards looking for info to help plan the "most optimal cruise experience" I can, I appreciated seeing the info regarding pod problems.

Travel agents, even good ones that cruise, often don't tell you the things you don't know to ask. That's the great thing about this board.

I have been planning my Alaska cruise for almost 2 years. Knowing about a potential problem helped me decide which ship to sail this itinerary.

So seeing 2 sides of the coin are helpful to some of us.

[Susan-M]

I think that people who come to these boards looking for advice and information have a right to know about the risks involved with an M-class ship and then they can make up their own minds about whether or not its a problem for them.

 

I agree that it's nice to be informed of the risks involved .... but is it really necessary for someone to post,

"DON’T TAKE A CHANCE ON ANY MILLIUM [sic] CLASS SHIP. THEY ALL HAVE AND ARE STILL HAVING POD PROBLEMS.

DON’T SAY YOU WERE NOT WARNED. FIND ANOTHER SHIP WHILE YOU CAN!!!!!!"

It seems a little extreme to me.

 

 

No one "gets off" or "enjoys" posting negative information

Based on some of the posts that I've read, I disagree with your comment.

 

We had a wonderful Med cruise on Millennium and I'm glad I wasn't swayed in my decision to book that cruise by the negative posts regarding pods.

[docjph]

I'll tell you what. You and your spouse work hard for 2 years and save for your dream vacation, then miss half of it( 2 ports, inside passage and Hubbard's Glacier). Then they comp you both a total of $250.00 ship board credit, now, tell me how you would feel.