Live from Millie 6/30-7/12- Damage

[jordie]

http://www.accuweather.com/world-index.asp?partner=google&KNC-google&HBX_PK=world+weather&HBX_OU=50

 

By the way, here is a good link to check the weather out for our trip... it goes 15 days out, how, I have no idea, but venice looks nice for next wed, thurs and fri!:D Gives us something else to do while we wait for the next report!

[AJCruizer]

Unsceduled day at sea and no Florence stop...

 

Yesterday while we were in Villefranche the boat drifted towards shore and ended up hitting submerged rocks. (Someone wasn't doing their job). Most people felt a shudder about 5pm last night, then noticed something was wrong when the cooks and mechanics were looking over aft deck 10. If the cooks are looking over, it really must not be normal.

 

Well, after a night of silence from the bridge, we discover through a letter slipped under our door at 6am that three of the four blades on the propeller on the starboard side were damaged. We were supposed to leave port at 8pm, but didn't leave until 11pm. Because of the damage, the ship can only travel at 11 knots instead of 22. They tried to go faster, but the ship was rocking so bad it felt like a fast rolling earthquake. We're still rocking pretty good, a mechanical rocking, not wave rolling. We are going to have to pass up Florence today and travel straight to Rome so they can attempt to fix it. They did credit $ to our shipboard account because of the missed port, but it doesn't really make up for not seeing Florence. There are some very unhappy passengers here today, including myself.

 

This was in addition to a 5 min blackout on day 2 at Sea. Dh was in the casino and our poor tablemate was in the shower. No lights or water, the pumps stopped too.

 

I'll keep you updated when we hear more.

 

A bad day on a ship is better than a good day at work:)

[kimdave68]

A bad day on a ship is better than a good day at work:)

 

What if you work on the ship? ;)

[HISTORY]

we will keep everyone updated when we arrive and throughout the cruise next week. I was so worried it would be cancelled. I don't want the people following us to feel the same way. I would not care at this point just to be floating around away from a stressful job, home and responsibilities. There are 7 in our group other than my husband I did not even tell the others what was going on. Not worth the worry if we did not have a cancelation to deal with. By the way Friday the 13th is my lucky day!:D

[Host Anne]

History ~ have a fabulous time. Get that relaxation you need and deserve!!!!!!!!!!! :D Safe travels!

[Cruise Gypsy]

By the way Friday the 13th is my lucky day!:D

 

Mine too - I was born on Friday the 13th. So I will send my good luck to you. I hope you have a great trip.:)

[martodd]

As of 10:00 a.m. Rome time we are still here. The last update came at 7:30 a.m. and we were told that the bolt for the last prop has come off but the prop is jammed in it's housing. They will give another update at 11:00.

I understand all the comments about a bad day on a ship is still better than a good day at home. But we are here with three children that have had enough of Rome(and we even booked three days post cruise here because we didn't think the one day that we should be here would be enough). They missed out on the leaning tower, Pompei(not willing to ride 4 and a half hours in a bus each way for it) Athens (that my teenager studied all year and spent a good night crying about missing that when the announcement came over), Santorini (My girls were dying to see the black beach and white buildings like in the movie they love, the sisterhood of the traveling pants. And they just took away the added port of Corfu, due to the prop still being stuck so we will not be visiting Greece at all.

So yes, we are still in the sunny Med. on a wonderful ship. But the shops have not been open since the 3rd, there is no casino, and the activities are limited. The only thing around is Rome,and that is 1 1/2 hrs. away by train and this is our 5th day here. We planned a year, my husband owns his own buisness and it is hard for him to leave for this long a period of time. We also have a family of 5 and it cost over $5,000 just to get us here.

So, through this whole thing we have tried to be some of the positive ones around, travel does not always go as planned. But, it is even starting to wear thin with us.

As I sit in the Computer Lab (on free internet due to the problem) many of the people here are making plans to leave the ship now and finish their vacation on their own.

One note, many people have been burned by tour companys that are still charging them for not showing up. Rome in Limo did not charge us for the missed port of Livorno (The one tour we made was them in Rome and Carlo was wonderful), Dennis in Athens did not charge us and Thira Tours in Santorini did not charge us. In that respect we are luckier than most.

[C 2 C]

travel does not always go as planned. But, it is even starting to wear thin with us.

 

I can imagine how horrible it is for adults to have their plans messed up. For children it must be an unimaginable disappointment, like Santa not coming as promised. Some of us frequent cruisers sometimes forget that it is not easy to relive a vacation, The time is lost forever.

 

The English word travail originated from a French word meaning heavy labor - travel originated from the same word (in ancient times, travel was heavy labor).

[kelbit19]

I am curious to know how travel insurance can help in this situation. Unless Celebrity actually cancels the cruise, would most policies would cover anything?

 

I am hopeful that Celebrity will end up refunding air to everyone --even if they booked their own.

[berryhappy24]

Remember, the Millennium actually LEAVES Venice on Friday July 13th, so they have from the 11th when it docks at noon till the 13th at 3 when she leaves...more than 48 hrs if they get there in time to fix that last prop...i won't mention friday the 13th in the same sentence again!:rolleyes:

 

 

Don't count on it, it's taken them 5 days to remove one nut/bolt. Joke of the day, "the captain is having a hard time removing his nuts." See, we are making the best of it.

[ATLfuzzy]

As of 10:00 a.m. Rome time we are still here. The last update came at 7:30 a.m. and we were told that the bolt for the last prop has come off but the prop is jammed in it's housing. They will give another update at 11:00.

 

Phooey! I am sorry. We will stay tuned, I hope you move soon. For some reason I was thinking they were going to leave the remaining repairs (prop?) for Venice and move on in the current state. Apparently not?

 

Good luck.

[CDNCRUISER1979]

2:30 PM in Civitavecchia (1.5 Hours outside of Rome) and bored out of my mind.

Now given my mood continues to proceed through a downward spiral I'm going to try to be as objective as I possibly can as I write this. I can certainly say that there have been great efforts made to try and keep people happy.

Approximately a year ago I spent the better part of a month debating how to see Europe and what parts. Having been on a Royal Caribbean cruise before I convinced my fiancée (who was leary of boats to begin with) to take a cruise in Europe. She was resistant but I finally sold her on the idea. I’m going to pay for that mistake dearly for a long time to come.

We were married on June 23rd, and June 27th our Honeymoon began. We arrived in Barcelona jet lagged, and have to say it was a beautiful city. We both loved it and had a great time (too bad we didn't get stuck there).

Upon arriving on the boat, we where both unimpressed with the sheer number of children on the boat. We where certainly sold on paying more for Celebrity (opposed to the RC cruise I originally had picked out and was upsold from) for the food and lack of families aboard. I must say: to me - having cruised RC now, and Celebrity I really can not see a difference. I would argue, save your money and do RC if you are questioning the two the extra was not worth it.

So as we sit here sipping on overpriced alcohol (not much else to do at this point saw every site around here) writing this on the snails pace internet, with a garbage and sanitation barge immediately beside me in the ugliest port in all of Italy I have to say if someone was selling me this idea for the $ 1600 in airfare from Toronto that I paid I would have said no thanks.

We’ve been sitting 5 days at this port, and at this point the best way to relate this experience would be a minimum detention prison with improved amenities. It’s hard to empathize, its one of those things you have to deal with in person to truly understand. You get one honeymoon in your lifetime, and you definitely want to make the best of it. For me getting this much time off work is something that will probably not happen again for 20 years. From 30, I’ll be 50 and can’t say I’ll have a shot at Europe for 3 weeks again before than. I’m not sure how you compensate someone for that, but waiving the cruise fee shows some acknowledgement but if I could go back in time I certainly would. I regret ever having booked this cruise. I’ve been looking forward to my honeymoon for a long time, but I’ll be regretting it for a much longer time.

I hope anyone coming has better luck than we did, and wish you all the best in your travels. :) :)

[sasset]

Have they given you any idea how much notice you will have before you sail?Are you free to be off and away from the ship to sightsee as you choose or are you required to be ready to sail with minimal notice?

 

Regards

[rebeccalouise]

2:30 PM in Civitavecchia (1.5 Hours outside of Rome) and bored out of my mind.

 

Now given my mood continues to proceed through a downward spiral I'm going to try to be as objective as I possibly can as I write this. I can certainly say that there have been great efforts made to try and keep people happy.

 

Approximately a year ago I spent the better part of a month debating how to see Europe and what parts. Having been on a Royal Caribbean cruise before I convinced my fiancée (who was leary of boats to begin with) to take a cruise in Europe. She was resistant but I finally sold her on the idea. I’m going to pay for that mistake dearly for a long time to come.

 

We were married on June 23rd, and June 27th our Honeymoon began. We arrived in Barcelona jet lagged, and have to say it was a beautiful city. We both loved it and had a great time (too bad we didn't get stuck there).

 

Upon arriving on the boat, we where both unimpressed with the sheer number of children on the boat. We where certainly sold on paying more for Celebrity (opposed to the RC cruise I originally had picked out and was upsold from) for the food and lack of families aboard. I must say: to me - having cruised RC now, and Celebrity I really can not see a difference. I would argue, save your money and do RC if you are questioning the two the extra was not worth it.

 

So as we sit here sipping on overpriced alcohol (not much else to do at this point saw every site around here) writing this on the snails pace internet, with a garbage and sanitation barge immediately beside me in the ugliest port in all of Italy I have to say if someone was selling me this idea for the $ 1600 in airfare from Toronto that I paid I would have said no thanks.

 

We’ve been sitting 5 days at this port, and at this point the best way to relate this experience would be a minimum detention prison with improved amenities. It’s hard to empathize, its one of those things you have to deal with in person to truly understand. You get one honeymoon in your lifetime, and you definitely want to make the best of it. For me getting this much time off work is something that will probably not happen again for 20 years. From 30, I’ll be 50 and can’t say I’ll have a shot at Europe for 3 weeks again before than. I’m not sure how you compensate someone for that, but waiving the cruise fee shows some acknowledgement but if I could go back in time I certainly would. I regret ever having booked this cruise. I’ve been looking forward to my honeymoon for a long time, but I’ll be regretting it for a much longer time.

 

I hope anyone coming has better luck than we did, and wish you all the best in your travels. :) :)

 

I am sorry about your honeymoon and the port. But I do hope that you and your spouse took some excursions- like Cinque Terre or Rome. Once you were told that you would be in port for a couple days- then I would have made lemon out of lemonade. Perhaps, you could disembark if you really want to spend some quality time in Europe- with the money you have received- why not get off the "prison ship" and spend the rest of your honeymoon in Florence or Venice. You still have 4 days left.

[berryhappy24]

Have they given you any idea how much notice you will have before you sail?Are you free to be off and away from the ship to sightsee as you choose or are you required to be ready to sail with minimal notice?

 

Regards

 

We are given a "on board" time each day, but then we don't leave, so we could have stayed out later. Last night's was 10pm, so we rushed back from Rome on the train, to discover that we in fact were not leaving until after midnight. So, we went to sleep expecting a sea day today. We slept in to wake up to, you guessed it Civitivecchia...again. We did not plan any excursions because we woke up late and were told to be on board by 6pm tonight. Who wants to bet that we're here again tomorrow?

 

It's hard to plan much because we are not given much advance notice. We did not know on Tuesday that we would be here for 5 days, we were told 2, so extensive day trips were not planned.

[CDNCRUISER1979]

I am sorry about your honeymoon and the port. But I do hope that you and your spouse took some excursions- like Cinque Terre or Rome. Once you were told that you would be in port for a couple days- then I would have made lemon out of lemonade. Perhaps, you could disembark if you really want to spend some quality time in Europe- with the money you have received- why not get off the "prison ship" and spend the rest of your honeymoon in Florence or Venice. You still have 4 days left.

 

I can appreciate the positive perspective, and making lemonade. The challenge for me personally is, although a credit has been promised it has not materialized itself. We took much time to save for this cruise, and do not have the kind of money it takes to just run off and take excursions. The cheapest point we’ve been to has been Rome and it ends up costing us $ 75 Canadian just to walk around the city and grab lunch.

 

Other points are far more expensive, and after 5 days I can honestly say I’d rather play with colored bits of yarn then go to Rome again. I booked a cruise to visit many sites, because I know I get bored VERY quickly of the same place. This is why I can’t stand vacation resorts.

 

So unless they open up the casino which is closed, and I magically win a large amount of money the few euros I have left… on this boat is where I’m stuck and wherever it takes me.

[CDNCRUISER1979]

Here's our lovely port view for all to enjoy! Viva Civitavecchia!

[jordie]

I truly cannot believe the ship is still in rome and am deeply empathizing with you all... so what was the last update? What is wrong the the prop?what time will you be "leaving" now? are you still stopping in dubrovnik? Is it that they are trying to fix it all now in rome, not any repairs saved for venice? Should I stop packing (again)? sorry for the line of q's but I am getting nervous again for the 7/12 sailing as we leave in 24 hrs.

[stuart1895]

I truly cannot believe the ship is still in rome and am deeply empathizing with you all... so what was the last update? What is wrong the the prop?what time will you be "leaving" now? are you still stopping in dubrovnik? Is it that they are trying to fix it all now in rome, not any repairs saved for venice? Should I stop packing (again)? sorry for the line of q's but I am getting nervous again for the 7/12 sailing as we leave in 24 hrs.

 

Jordie, thankfully we dont leave home until wednesday but I can imagine how you are feeling right now. Just not knowing what to do!!

[rebeccalouise]

I would personally get off the ship at this point. If I flew to Europe and only had X number of days to see Europe- I would be content to just see one or two more ports for a few hours. I would get off and go to Rome- stay in a nice hotel on the Via Veneto (the Imperiale) and then make my way to Venice- where i am assuming everyone is flying out of. I'd go on line to see about train tickets- since you are stuck there. Check RailEurope.

[DavetheL]

Just how and when does Celebrity let passengers on the cruise on the 12th out of Venice know if it's being postponed? Seems like it would be tough to find hotel accomodations for 2,000+ people looking at an empty dock.

 

And just how long does it take to sail from Rome to Venice? This certainly takes the fun out of packing...

 

Dave

[berryhappy24]

I truly cannot believe the ship is still in rome and am deeply empathizing with you all... so what was the last update? What is wrong the the prop?what time will you be "leaving" now? are you still stopping in dubrovnik? Is it that they are trying to fix it all now in rome, not any repairs saved for venice? Should I stop packing (again)? sorry for the line of q's but I am getting nervous again for the 7/12 sailing as we leave in 24 hrs.

 

 

The problem is with the port prop. The bolts have been removed, but the prop is stuck in the housing. They tried to cut it out, but their tools didn't work. They had more tools sent in from Norway. We have no news this afternoon. Like I said before, we were "supposed" to leave around 7pm tonight, but I'm not holding my breath. At this point we assume that we're missing Croatia as well. ...how many countries does it take to sail a ship? So far we've involved the US (props), Sweden (crew) , Norway (tools), France (built the ship), Greece (captain), Italy (port).

 

The staff has a Euope party planned at 4:30 on deck 10 this afternoon. They're planning many activities to keep us entertained and "happy". The captain said he'll see us there, we'll see about that too. Maybe he'll send a stunt double.

 

We've been in talks with friends familar with the area and are planning to see other parts of the area tomorrow if we're still here. As you can see from the other pax's photo, the port in Civitivecchia is not much to look at, ugly in fact.

[sasset]

I am curious to know how travel insurance can help in this situation. Unless Celebrity actually cancels the cruise, would most policies would cover anything?

 

I am hopeful that Celebrity will end up refunding air to everyone --even if they booked their own.

 

I am curious about this too. If one chose to leave the ship now and make their own way to Venice, incurring new expenses alon the way, but the Millennium finally left Civitavecchia (let's say worst case - on the 10th) and got to Venice on the 12th the cruise was complete. Would the trip be considered interrupted - making only two of seven ports? Would insurance cover anything new that was incurred.

 

Regards

[jordie]

That's the million dollar question dave L, how long does it take to sail from rome to venice?

[rebeccalouise]

when Celebrity refunded the cruise fare ( I know that it hasn't been credited yet)- that told me that they felt that the repairs might take longer.

 

Now, you know that the ship- if anything is going to sail to Venice. I doubt there will be time to squeeze in (at best) one port along route. They are offering free transportation to Rome I understand. If that is the case- do it. From there make your way to Venice. There is alot to do in Venice and why not make the most of your trip? Four nights ($1000 for a nice hotel) $ 500 for meals- $ 250 for train rides. That's $ 1700. You have been refunded approximately $ 6000. Just get off the ship and do your own thing.