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Celebrity Cruise Millenium Cancellation Update
Miami - (July 09, 2007 ) - Celebrity Cruises has cancelled two 12-night Mediterranean sailings onboard Celebrity Millennium due to damage to the ship’s propellers. The ship will reenter service for its July 24 sailing. On July 2, while anchored off Villefranche, France, the ship’s propellers struck a submerged rock, following an electrical malfunction. Three of the four blades on the starboard propeller and one on the port propeller were damaged and needed to be replaced.
The company originally thought divers could accomplish the repairs while the ship was docked. The company has now concluded that a drydock is necessary. As a result, the remaining portion of the current cruise, which began June 30, has been cancelled. The next cruise, scheduled to depart July 12, has also been cancelled.
“We deeply regret having to cancel these sailings and apologize to our guests for the disruption this will cause them,” said Dan Hanrahan, president of Celebrity Cruises. “We will continue to aggressively address the repairs and return the ship to service July 24.”
The ship will remain in Civitavecchia until the night of July 11, while the company assists guests in flying home from Rome and Venice. Guests from the June 30 sailing have received an onboard credit and other compensation that is equal to their full cruise fare, and a future cruise credit worth 50 percent of the value of their current cruise fare.
Guests booked on the July 12 sailing will receive a full refund of all monies paid to Celebrity Cruises and a future cruise credit worth 100 percent of the value of their cancelled sailing.
The company has established a special Help Desk to assist guests or travel agents who might have questions about this matter. That toll-free phone number is 1-888-281-9343.
Celebrity Millennium departed Barcelona, Spain, June 30 on a 12-night Mediterranean sailing that was scheduled to concludes in Venice, Italy, July 12. The ship was then scheduled to depart Venice July 12 on a 12-night Mediterranean sailing that was to conclude in Barcelona, Spain, July 24.
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I am a passenger on board the Millenium right now. I am South African with a family of 6 and travelling with another family of 4. We do not feel that we have been adequately compensated for the loss of our holiday/cruise as have the people who booked on the following cruise of the 12th July. They have received a refund plus a free cruise whereas we got boarding in a harbour one and a half hours bus journey outside Rome for a week. From the time the ship’s propellors hit rock and got damaged, we were led to believe on an hourly basis that it was hopeful for us to continue on our cruise once repairs were done. This has not happened and the least compensation afforded us (current passengers) should be a 100% discount on a future cruise. Our flight fairs alone amounted to R80 000 ($10 000). We only came for the cruise and have therefore now lost that money. They have offered a refund on this “cruise” but this is poor compensation. If I wanted to sit on a boat in the bay with my family for 12 days, I could have done that back in Cape Town, I certainly didn’t need to spend R80 000 to do that. The 12 days spent on this ‘hotel’ has hardly been a pleasure either, we have had to listen to complaints and arguments, not to mention the hysteria that went on at first from all the passengers. It was not pleasant. If I could find someone from Celebrity who could give me some ‘real’ answers, we would appreciate that. All the officials sent on board have not been able to give us any of the answers we required. This has been a horrible and very expensive time at that.
Boy do I understand your frustration. I have never been on a cruise with this kind of problem, but I know at the very least I would be extremely disappointed about the missed ports and the stationary ship. I hope that the Celebrity officials can come up with a compensation package that meets your needs.
I was also on this ship and agree with Shirley-we were deliberately given half truths to keep our spirits up with promises that the ship would depart”Later Tonight”. It was obvious to 2300 unqualified passengers that the ship could not be repaired yet the Captain and his crew insisted to the last moment that the cruise would continue.Celebrity should realise what their passengers had to endure and offer them a 100% credit for ther next cruise as well as the refund already offered.
Howard and Shirley, I hope that Celebrity does come around and give you not only the full refund on this cruise but also a full future cruise credit. While you did get to have some of the benefits of this cruise, it certainly was not the vacation that you had planned for. I know when I plan my vacation I like to have as many of the details planned ahead of time as possible. Then to got on the ship and not be able to travel to many of my planned destinations would be frustrating.
I hope you did get to enjoy Rome. This would not be my first choice of ways to see it, but the city and surrounding area does have so much to offer… not what you planned on, but hopefully you were able to enjoy at least something on your “cruise”.
I too was onboard the Millenium and fully agree with Howard and Shirley.
We were a family of 10 there to celebrate my father’s 90th birthday; a once in a lifetime occasion. When the cruise started to “unravel,” one of my sons chose to return home immediately, not wanting to give up his whole year’s vacation time sitting in Citiviteccia. The rest of us hung in there, believing in the stories we were told about the repairs. When it became clear that contrary to Celebrity’s daily promises that the ship would be repaired, that we were in fact not going any where, we finally arranged our own alternate plans (without ANY assistance from the cruise line). My Dad ended up coming down with a horrible cold as we dragged him from place to place on a bus. The trip was a disaster!
This was NOT what we had all planned on for over a year and no amount of recompense will ever pay us back. But I absolutely feel that we suffered and were inconvenienced at least as much, and I think more, than those from the next canceled cruise who are being offered a 100% future credit. And I feel that we should be offered at least the same credit. Though to be honest, I’m not sure that I would even consider traveling with Celebrity again, even if it were free, after seeing how poorly they handled themselves.
My wife & I were also aboard this ill-fated cruise. We had planned it for over a year, and were very disappointed that we did not get to the Ports we expected.
We were very disappointed in the lack of communications as we sat in Port outside of Rome.
We were repeatedly advised that the propeller problem was correctable, and that we would be leaving the next day. This obviously did not happen. I feel that the truth was withheld from the passengers for too long a time.
The Captain began peridiotic updates every 2 hours after the passengers became disappointed about the lack of good communication.
Accidents happen!! I feel sorry for the Crew aboard this ship. They had to absorb a lot of grief that was NOT their fault. Many Service workers were stiffed out of their tips because of this Accident. My wife & I took care of the Service staff!! They were EXCELLANT!!
We commend Celebrity for doing the right thing as far as compensation! If we get full restitution for this cruise and a compensated future cruise, I will be a Celebrity fan forever!
I must say that the service staff were always courteous despite hardships that was beyond their control.
I must compliment Celebrity Cruise Lines, because they DID the right thing. They gave us credit for the Cruise “That never Was”, and Credit for a future Cruise (100%).
How can we ask for more?
I am planning a cruise on October 18, 2007, leaving from Mobile Al. How will the hurrican that has just hit the islands of Cozemel affect this trip. Will it be cancelled or is there anything that I should do at this point ? This is a very special trip as I will be celebrating my 50th birthday ! I would like for it to be pleasant on the ship as well as off the ship.
Well here are few things that come to mind. First, I lived in Mobile for 4 years and experienced at least one Hurricane year. So it is possible that a trip leaving out of Mobile could be directly affected by another hurricane in October, but you never know when it comes to weather. As for the damage caused by Dean to the Yucatan area of Mexico, there has been some damage, especially to the pier in Costa Maya, however early reports are saying that Cozumel and Cancun did not experiences extensive damage. When there is damage the pier, the cruise line have several options. They can reroute the cruise to different ports, or they can tender into the port. Tendering is done by the ship dropping anchor and then using smaller boats or life boats to bring passengers to the port. This is often the normal mode of operation in many ports, Grand Caymen or Cabo San Lucas come to mind. My advice is to be willing to “go with the flow” as far as the condition of the Yucatan area of Mexico. I’m sure that some damage will be evident, but hopefully it will not affect your cruise too much. If you still have concerns you, contact your cruise line, watch news reports, travel information ect. about the ports that you’ll be visiting.
This cruise was planned for 3 years. We were taking our children and there partners on a holiday of a lifetime. We will probly never get another chance of the whole group being together.The cruise and air fares cost me A$40K, what we got back was A$20K. I would like to be kept informed as to any group action.
Colin Stubbs