Infinity-Wrote on the Panama Canal Wall!

[nmtraveler]

The crew isn't responsible for keeping the ship centered in the canal but they still end up painting it.

[vabeach522]

NMtraveler,

 

Nope. We didn't reach out and touch the wall. We waited until we docked in Cologne and then got off the ship and danced on the dock. Would love to spend some time there. Perhaps one day. Maybe when they finish widening the canal, ships may be able to stop in Panama City.

[vabeach522]

NMtraveler,

 

Nope. We didn't reach out and touch the wall. Didn't even think of doing such a thing. Would love to spend some time there. Perhaps one day. Maybe when they finish widening the canal, ships may be able to stop in Panama City.

[TPKeller]

I really have a hard time imagining anyone getting upset about a little ink or paint along the inside of the Panama Canal.

 

There is a whole word used to describe ships that are built to the maximum size that will fit though the canal: Panamax. These ships literally just barely fit. How can they not scrape from time to time?

 

The last 4 US Battleships were designed and built to just fit through the canal. The canal locks are 110 feet wide, the battleships are 108 feet, 2 inches, and 887 feet long! Imagine what that must be like! That's not a lot of clearance! I wonder if any sailors over the years left their own "kilroy was here" drawings!

 

Theron

[setsail]

This is interesting. When we were in Alaska and pulled into (I belive it was Ketchacan) the rocks on the mountain side and the pier area before you dock are all painted up with the cruise line logos and the usual things that people paint on places like that. They make light of it on the ship and from the dates it has been going on a long time. Only place I have seen this.

[jezzdogg]

Just read that they are thinking of a pier for the ships to dock in while in the Gatsun lake. This would allow more tourists to fet off the ships and spend $$$$$$$ and help their economy

[canderson]

This is interesting. When we were in Alaska and pulled into (I belive it was Ketchacan) the rocks on the mountain side and the pier area before you dock are all painted up with the cruise line logos and the usual things that people paint on places like that. They make light of it on the ship and from the dates it has been going on a long time. Only place I have seen this.

Will have to dig back through the Alaska trip pictures to see if I can find one to match. Note: This is an unofficial but encouraged practice, not graffitti.

 

It wasn't just one logo per cruise line, either. Each ship that had docked had its own company logo with ship's name, so there was one for the Summit, one for the Infinity, etc. These are rather carefully painted by someone selected from among the crew -- one per ship only. If it falls into disrepair, it's up to a future crew to touch things up a bit.

[Joy2]

This is one of the most intriguing things about Skagway - when we pull in and aren't berthed right by the hill and the railroad I am disappointed - this has become a historical exhibit of who has been there before us - so many of the ships are no longer in service - . This is obviously a planned hillside as it has very well copied renditions of each ship's seal - many with a word or two about their cruise. While some wandering tourists (not from cruiseships I would hope)_ have added their own initials or bits of grafitti, the hillside is still a collage of ships - I always look to see what's new since our last visit -

 

Skagway must be very proud of her contribution to maritime history - and the many artists who painstakingly left their marks amaze me with their artistry.

[setsail]

Thank you Joy for giving the correct location. Did not look back through our pics and was just guessing on the location.

[vabeach522]

I think what we're going to do is just print out this e-mail string from the board and send it in. There are a myriad of views on this thread on the events concerning the grafitti and the officers' remarks. It's interesting to see how fellow cruisers viewed the events. Would like to make sure head office has opportunity to learn of attitude of a few on the ship in positions of authority and passenger interaction/control. If I ran a business, I believe I would appreciate feedback before it became a rampant problem. Thanks for all of your inputs.

[Ammonium]

This thread interested me since I was a passenger on Infinity the next week when we went from Ft. Lauderdale to Valparaiso.

 

A previous poster said "It did have a new captain, as our cruise on Infinity ending December 20th was the last for our captain. We had the new captain aboard with us also, but he was young and this Panama Canal trip would have been his first in command."

 

When we started the cruise, we had a really young captain, who seemed rather uncomfortable up on stage at the captain's welcome toast. However, at the Captain's Club Coctail party a few days after (the day after we transited the canal) there was a new captain -- he had a mustache and was at least 20 years older. This was extremely confusing since nobody had said a word about a new captain.

 

Looking at the past "Celebrity Today!" announcements, our original captain was named Dimitrios. The first reference to the new captain, Gerassimos, was the day between Aruba and the Canal. But the certificates we received for transiting the canal were signed by Dimitrios. This led us to think that the first captain was unexpectedly relieved of his command in Aruba.

 

I had been following some of Infinity's previous transits through the canal through the webcam on celebrityatsea.com. On previous trips it looked like passengers had been allowed on the bow of the ship (near the helicopter pad). During our transit, however, nobody was allowed on the bow -- it was completely empty. When I asked if passengers could go out there I was told that the bow was closed for the day.

 

I wonder if these changes with the captain and the new rules had anything to do with the previous transit?

[degarr]

I had been following some of Infinity's previous transits through the canal through the webcam on celebrityatsea.com. On previous trips it looked like passengers had been allowed on the bow of the ship (near the helicopter pad). During our transit, however, nobody was allowed on the bow -- it was completely empty. When I asked if passengers could go out there I was told that the bow was closed for the day.

 

 

I wondered why when I looked at this transit on the web cam why no one was on the bow, what a shame, I am going in April and will be Mr Cranky Pants, if for some reason the Captain at the time chooses to close the bow, one of the apparent best vantage points.

[icewolf14]

hmmm...that is interesting.....i was on the same cruise as vabeach, with the vandalism....our captain was very very young, and it was announced that it was his first cruise and that he was the youngest captain in celebrity history.....and we were allowed on the helo pad.....i didnt go because i was a little under the weather (too much fun the night before ;) ), so i sat on my parents balcony and watched us go through the last set of locks.....however, some people threw their chocolates to the workers below, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy them, and gave a thumbs' up to the people beside us......its interesting that you got a new captain so fast....so im wondering if maybe they took the vandalism thing seriously and booted him.....or if it was because of something else.....i made a few friends from the staff/crew on the infinity.....i think i will email a few and see what went on.......let you know if i hear anything

[icewolf14]

ok, just got word that he as just a staff captain, for the previous one retired, so the younger one, the one we had sailing through the canal, took over until the other captain could come on board....so he went back to being second-in-command....no scandal, nothing like that..... just one retiring and the other taking over until another one came on board....... hope this helps :-)

[vabeach522]

For those who asked that we post when/if we received a reply.

 

This is the letter that we sent to Celebrity. The same letter was sent to both Mr. Richard Fain, CEO and Mr. Jack L. Williams, President and COO. Our letter was sent on Jan 24, 2005:

 

 

We would like to bring a matter to your attention that occurred during our sailing on the Celebrity Ship, Infinity, Panama Canal Cruise, leaving San Diego on December 20, 2004.

 

During Infinity’s transit through the canal, several adult occupants in the port side Penthouse cabin placed graffiti on the wall of the canal while the ship was in the last lock before reaching the Atlantic side of the canal. When we reported this behavior to the guest relations staff, we felt their response and that of the senior concierge, Mr. Alex Cole, were outrageous.

 

As a sanity check, we posted the facts of the issue on the cruisecritic bulletin board to get feedback. For the most part, those that responded seemed to agree that it was a travesty that anyone would vandalize the canal. Further, it would appear the consensus is with us that the response of the staff was inadequate, cavalier and patently offensive.

 

This was our first cruise with Celebrity. We had heard such wonderful things about the line and were anxious to experience it ourselves. This incident certainly left a very bad taste and with several other postings on the various computer bulletin boards from others about passengers being subjected to rude comments and inappropriate behavior by crew members on several Celebrity ships, we are hesitant to repeat.

 

Perhaps you can address the issue and explain the inaction and the offensive remarks of those that represent you in senior positions on the Infinity. Hopefully, this feeling toward passengers is limited to this ship and not the entire fleet?

 

We are enclosing the pictures that we took of the vandalism and the jumping between penthouse antics. Additionally, I am enclosing the posting thread from the cruisecritic bulletin board that contains the comments made to us by Mr. Cole.

 

Thank you for your time. We appreciate any response you may provide to us.

 

///////////////////////////

 

Below is the response we received from Celebrity today:

 

"Thank you for writing to Mr. Fain's office regarding your recent sailing. Your correspondence has been directed to my attention to personally contact you to discuss your concerns."

 

"We regret that the unruly behavior of some of our gusts affected your expectations for an upscale, peaceful, and quiet stay onboard. Though we are unable to have an effective influence on the actions of our guests, we do strive in attempting to handle each individual situation as it arises. We regret that in the separate instances you reported, they were not handled professionally. Our staff is trained to handle these situations discreetely and as rapidly as possible. In most circumstances, our guests respect the property of Celebrity Cruises and the value of their safety during their stay; unfortulately, there are instances when people are just not as considerate as we would like them to be. We sincerely regret that your expectations in this situation were not met."

 

"We would like to reiterate that the situations described in your letter and photos are not behaviors our staff and dedicated guests are accustomed to; therefore, a copy of your letter has been forward to the Captains of all our ships, so they can take precautions when cruising the inside canal passage. As we cannot control the negative feedback of other guests' postings on a web site, we can only strive to make every sailing orchestrated with the intent of providing our guests with the highest standard of service possible and the most memorable vacation experience."As our employees continuously strive to make these service standards a reality and their vacation a valuable memory, we must keep in mind that, unfortunately, the value of a perfect cruise is not important to all of the guests that sail with Celebrity Cruises."

 

"As we value your loyalty to Celebrity Cruises, we would like to thank you for bringing these important issues to our attention. We hope to have an opportunity of welcoming you back onboard on of our ships in the near future."

 

//s// Faye Miles Corporate Guest Relations

[CelebrityMan]

Vabeach522,

Thank you for posting Ms. Miles' response. I have been wondering, of late, if you had heard anything.

Assuming you have posted her words verbatim, I must say I am less than impressed with the corporate response. I believe I have previously outlined in a post(s) to this thread what I feel the appropriate actions should be.

I'm wondering if the contemptuous individuals privileged to occupy the Penthouse suite would, with as cavalier an attitude, desecrate the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.? There are nearly 60,000 casualties remembered there. During the construction of the Canal, some 25,000 people perished, or approx. 500 per mile of waterway. The Canal and its' locks exist as their memorial.

It saddens me that our 'modern' world has become so jaded in what we appreciate and value from our heritage, that graffiti of this nature can be summarily dismissed.

Thank you, again, for your conscientious efforts. I do hope to meet you on a future Celebrity sailing.






CM

[Traceybell]

Vabeach522,

Thanks for posting your experience and the letters. Just wondering how you feel about the letter you received from X? Did you feel that the response received was what you were expecting?

Thanks - Tracey

[canderson]

I am pleased to see that they have notified the captains of these ships that this problem exists, and we can only hope that they are successful in driving home with their respective officers and staff that they need to be more proactive in dealing with this problem in the future. We can only wait to see, in the event that someone we know here experiences this again, that appropriate action is actually taken. It would be impossible to judge just yet. After your initial thread, at least we are all more aware of the potential for this to occur.

I'm also heartened to hear that they acknowledged that the response you received on your cruise was "unprofessional". That's as close to a confession to a serious need for improvement as you'll likely ever hear in such a reply.

I'm happy to say that our two transits have gone (as far as I've been able to tell) without such incident.