Propulsion problems aboard Celebrity Millennium

[Jason]

The Celebrity Millenium, which was to have taken off Friday, will remain in port in Seward until Tuesday due to engine trouble. It has 2,038 passengers on board and 1,364 crew members.

The ship arrived four hours later than scheduled Friday morning after experiencing an electrical problem with one of the ship’s two propulsion motors, discovered while at sea yesterday. The intricate repairs required to restore power to the motor will take several days, according to Celebrity Cruises.

The delay left the hundreds of passengers scrambling to find a way back to Anchorage to catch a flight home, or trying to make other last-minute arrangements as Hertz rental cars and coaches had been pre-booked and were generally full. It also delayed check-in by at least an hour, and affected the various excursions that generally take place.

Passengers arriving in Seward to board the ship were alerted to the issue late afternoon and were invited to stay the night on the ship before deciding whether to stay on board the ship and leave with it Tuesday morning, headed straight for Vancouver, and skipping planned stops in Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway, or to leave the ship Saturday and make other arrangements.

In a letter to passengers Master of the Celebrity Millennium, Captain Konstantinos Nestoroudis apologized for the inconvenience and the disappointment they must be feeling. In reward, the cruise line offered to refund passengers who stay on the ship a refund for the full amount of their ticket paid plus 100 percent credit toward another future cruise ship ticket worth the amount paid, and if they chose not to stay on board the ship, a credit toward a future Celebrity cruise worth 50 percent of the fare paid in addition to a full refund.

The captain also warned that due to the high number of guests departing Friday and arriving over the weekend for other cruises, hotels in Seward and Anchorage are extremely limited, as are air options out of Seward and Anchorage.

Passengers milled around the cruise ship terminal this evening, many disappointed and confused as to their options, although some sought out things to do here in Seward for the next three days. An Iditaride Sled Dog tours employee took advantage of the situation and handed out brochures for their tours. One local cruise ship worker commented that the delay might help local downtown businesses.

Her prediction was realized Saturday as the sun came out, and the majority of passengers reportedly decided to stay and enjoy the local attractions. They filled the streets and businesses, the path to Exit Glacier, took wildlife cruises and dog-sled tours, filled the harbor and sea life center helped by additional shuttle buses provided by the cruise ship company. The special shuttle was even seen parked outside of town at the low-cost liquor store, SAK Pride.

By Heidi Zemach reporter, Seaward City News

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[Mach]

This should be interesting... will the media beat up on Celebrity the way they bashed Carnival? There wasn't a peep in the media about this...

http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/US-Warship-Suffers-Generator-Problems-at-Sea-2013-07-22/

Ships are simply machines... nothing more. EVERY machine will break. When I was flying with the Air Force we memorized, word for word, procedures to follow in the event of various mechanical and system failures... and these are some of the most technically advanced machines in the world! The procedures I referenced were called 'Bold Face Emergency Procedures' and if you could not spit them out verbatim at ANY time you were grounded... end of story. Why? Because we KNEW the machine was going to fail at some point... it was never a question of 'will it?'... it was a question of 'When will it?' If a billion dollar jet is EXPECTED to fail why should anyone be stunned when an engine shuts down on a cruise ship?

- getting off my soap box now -

[Sarge6870]

As I have stated in the past, many new or non-cruisers seem to forget that these cruise vessels operate 365 days a year. If you do the math, a cruise ship that carries an average 3000 passengers per voyage, totals to over 1 MILLION passengers sailed over one year. I have experienced in the past minimal forms of inconvenience ranging from the ship having to change itinerary to air conditioning not working in the cabin. In ALL cases, the crew or line responded with resolve. Give it time Mach, I'm sure the media will jump all over this especially if another cruise line or Carnival in general has an on-board issue of ANY kind!!!

[Mach]

As I have stated in the past, many new or non-cruisers seem to forget that these cruise vessels operate 365 days a year. If you do the math, a cruise ship that carries an average 3000 passengers per voyage, totals to over 1 MILLION passengers sailed over one year. I have experienced in the past minimal forms of inconvenience ranging from the ship having to change itinerary to air conditioning not working in the cabin. In ALL cases, the crew or line responded with resolve. Give it time Mach, I'm sure the media will jump all over this especially if another cruise line or Carnival in general has an on-board issue of ANY kind!!!

I'll keep watching but if you recall the incident aboard the Grandeur of the Seas (the fire...) there was much less wailing and gnashing of teeth on the part of the media than there was regarding the Triumph.

If you consider that last year there were 14,700,000 cruise line passengers world wide and then look at the approximately 3000 people effected by the problem on the Triumph (truly impacted... not inconvenienced as in a cancelled sailing...) your chances of encountering a similar situation looks like it's less than .02%... that's pretty good odds your cruise will be trouble free!

[Sarge6870]

And as with my last nine cruises, a .02% chance I will continue to take

[Howardrice]

It seems to me that celebrity has hit a home run with the quality of their response to this mechanical problem. The passengers get a free cruise with all the amenities and then a future cruise free! The ship is functionally perfect except for propulsion. As far as I know, no other line goes this far to compensate. Mechanical problems will happen but it's the cruise lines response that matters. Compare this immediate response to recent calamities. That's why u won't read about it because their is no incompetence to report.

[Mach]

And as with my last nine cruises, a .02% chance I will continue to take

Roger that, Sarge!! In fact, throw me in that brier pit! I LOVE sea days and I'd take a few additional days bobbing about sea if something went wrong. I know that the cruise line would take good care of us ensure that we're entertained and fed!

I remember when the Conquest couldn't come home to Galveston because of Hurricane Ike. They got an additional 5 days on a perfectly functional ship before making port in NOLA and being transported and housed by the cruise line. Man! That sounds like a dream to me!!!

[Mach]

It seems to me that celebrity has hit a home run with the quality of their response to this mechanical problem. The passengers get a free cruise with all the amenities and then a future cruise free! The ship is functionally perfect except for propulsion. As far as I know, no other line goes this far to compensate. Mechanical problems will happen but it's the cruise lines response that matters. Compare this immediate response to recent calamities. That's why u won't read about it because their is no incompetence to report.

That's pretty close to how Carnival handled the situation with the Triumph except that Carnival also gave each passenger $500 cash and paid for all of their housing and transportation needs... Seems like Celebrity took a lesson from someone else...

[Sarge6870]

" That's why u won't read about it because their is no incompetence to report."

Pardon me Howard if I seem to be reading into your post, but if your referring to the Carnival Triumph with your remark of "incompetence" related to the failed sailing she had, I would like you to watch this video posted on YouTube from a passenger that sailed the Triumph when she failed. PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE AT THE 4:09 TIME WHERE THE POSITIVE RESPONSE FROM CARNIVAL EMPLOYEES BEGIN AND AT 5:50 WHERE THE POSTER IDENTIFIES THE ACTIONS OF THE TRIUMPH CREW. We sailed on the Triumph a few years prior to that incident and she was and IS a beautiful vessel. It is an unfortunate happening but from all indications (reports and posts), the crew did the best they could with the resources they had to work with. Again, excuse me if I mis-read your post, but the video is worth watching.....

[Mach]

" That's why u won't read about it because their is no incompetence to report."

Pardon me Howard if I seem to be reading into your post, but if your referring to the Carnival Triumph with your remark of "incompetence" related to the failed sailing she had, I would like you to watch this video posted on YouTube from a passenger that sailed the Triumph when she failed. PLEASE TAKE SPECIAL NOTE AT THE 4:09 TIME WHERE THE POSITIVE RESPONSE FROM CARNIVAL EMPLOYEES BEGIN AND AT 5:50 WHERE THE POSTER IDENTIFIES THE ACTIONS OF THE TRIUMPH CREW. We sailed on the Triumph a few years prior to that incident and she was and IS a beautiful vessel. It is an unfortunate happening but from all indications (reports and posts), the crew did the best they could with the resources they had to work with. Again, excuse me if I mis-read your post, but the video is worth watching.....

Thank you, Sarge... I sailed on the Triumph two weeks before the incident and she was lovely with a fabulous crew. Jen was actually the stand in CD on the Conquest when she got stuck at sea because of Hurricane Ike so she's no stranger to adverse situations.

A very good friend of mine was on the Triumph for the problematic cruise and he had nothing but praise for the staff and crew. What was seen on the various news channels and news shows was extraordinarily rare if not vastly blown out of proportion.

Regardless of the cruise line in question the first duty of the staff and crew is to the safety and comfort of the guest and what we saw in the video you posted is an excellent example of that.

Once again, my thanks.

- Mach