Celebrity Millennium in Asia Experiencing Propulsion Issues

[seavoyager6]

"We are STOPPED in the middle of the South China sea....broken propeller".....Just a update, this is just one line out of the email....it further states that they had so far been sitting floating for over 3 hours:( Plus missing Hanoi and now delay. People are staring to worry about missing flights home. And yes everyone heard from the Captain about mechanical failure....and their 100 credit.....If I hear anything else I will pass it on.....

 

That damn Mickey Arison and Carnival

[cruiseblues2013]

Can someone please explain what the "chartered" cruise mean? We are on it April 11, flying out tonight to Hong Kong. Is our chartered too? Thank you.

 

Many times a group comes in and "Charters" the whole ship, it can be any type of group. Then you buy your room through who is sponsoring the cruise. You would know if you were on a chartered ship, you would be joining others that belonged to your group/interest.

[lovestx]

I have to agree with GHStudio. I would be very upset to have missed the Hanoi stop (a dream of mine is to go to Halong Bay and that can be done on this overnight stop) and $100 isn't much to take the sting of that away. Somehow mechanical problems that cause this much disturbance to a cruise don't seem the same as missing a port due to weather.

 

We have only been on two cruises but now have decided that land vacations are a better option for us in cases where there are 'pivotal' ports for us. If went on this cruise, I would have been devastated to miss Hanoi. And if I took a cruise with the hope of having my kids visit Venice, I would be supremely disappointed if I missed that port. In each of our two cruises, we missed ports (Mykonos and Cozumel). Neither was a huge disappointment but being two for two makes us think twice about which cruises and vacations we will book.

 

Do hope that the passengers on the Millenium get to Hong Kong safely and on time.

[vermonter16]

Wow....they are just floating in the sea? Sounds like something that needs to be fixed asap before the ship sails again. It is making a transatlantic over to Alaska in a few weeks (I think) since we are on her first sailing out of Seward.

 

I can understand weather causing someone to miss a port most definitely. DH and I have had that happen although it was disappointing, we understood. This is a mechanical failure....I would have a bit...ok, a lot more heart burn over it as far as compensation is concerned.

[Grannycb]

So, how long will it take to replace the broken propeller? Our bags are packed and we are ready to fly to Hong Kong to join Millennium. What will Celebrity do for arriving passengers if the ship isn't there? This certainly is stacking up to be an interesting cruise.

[Flying is for Planes]

I dont think the prop is broken. Its more an electrical issue

[CruisinMaterial]

I am SO happy I took the voyage last Northbound run because we had the BEST weather for Halong Bay the entire season Celebrity sailed there. I would be devastated if I was on this voyage and they skipped it. I'm now far more happy with my choice to switch and oh yeah, going to Cambodia was also another driving factor! :D

 

I can tell you the Millennium is falling into a state of disrepair. The elevators on the ship can't be trusted and none of the clocks work. The new for profit public spaces which were added look pretty, however, it was blatantly obvious the dry dock Millennium went to was to make her more of a cash cow. They were adding more wifi capability during our sailing which was quite loud during the sea days on the aft mast. :cool:

 

I hope for the best to the people on the next voyage. :)

[vie lee]

I have friends that are getting on the ship this Thursday in Hong Kong - will follow this tread closely and update them because they are older and don't do much on computer.

[LeftcoastBC]

I became pretty familiar with the "Electrical" problems that the M class ships had back in the early 2000's. It was a Pod problem. The pods were Mermaid not Azipod.

 

It is indeed unfortunate that they are where they are.... along way from familiar repair facilities.

 

Hopefully it is not related to the former pod problems and a easier fix.

[ghstudio]

I realize that I sound like the harbinger of doom but don't be surprised if Celebrity delays the departure from HK a day or so and then skips some port(s) on the next cruise...but don't fret, if you are lucky, they may offer you $100. That's more than they have to offer if you read their contract. Perhaps there are some that would prefer $100 to an overnight stop at Halong Bay and Hanoi....

 

Clearly, they will do anything not cancel the next cruise...even if they have to leave a couple of days late, miss a few ports....it's revenue. It is no surprise that the Celebrity HQ staff we talk to knows nothing....they are being told nothing intentionally...business as usual. The game plan is undoubtedly to get everyone to HK so that whenever they are ready to leave, they will leave with passengers which both keeps revenue flowing and avoids having to refund fares, compensate folks for flights they need to cancel, etc, should they cancel the cruise.

 

Hopefully it won't, but this could get ugly fast.....

 

Dead in the water in the china sea is not exactly "good news". They are fine running on one pod.....not so fine running on zero pods.

[TommyD3]

Anyone hear anything new???

 

Our Delta flight from Atlanta to Tokyo today was delayed by 5 hours due to mechanical problems. Fortunately they emailed me at 5 AM this morning. They wanted me to fly up to Atlanta today and sit around till the 1:30 PM flight tomorrow. So we rebooked everything for tomorrow (we would have missed our flight from Tokyo to HK which they only have one per day). Anyway if the new flight does not break down :confused: we will arrive at the ship around midnight:) They claim they will let us on.

 

I just hope we don't arrive in HK to find out the cruise was cancelled:)

 

We are flying home from Vancouver 5 weeks later, so it would be a MAJOR hassle if they cancel the first 2 week segment.

 

I don't think I am EVER going to take another cruise half way around the world - just too hard:(

[sandyss]

This is on the CC website.:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5301

 

Also this was posted yesterday.:

 

Bob Kobosky Currently onboard the Millennium. We were 2 hours late arriving into Chan May yesterday (Monday). Noticed we were moving a bit slow. No word about the engineering issue and tours were changed accordingly. When we boarded the ship after the tours there were rumors floating that we would be late to Halong Bay and, sure enough, our Celebrity Today had us arriving about 3 hours late into Halong Bay. During the shows at 8:30pm and 10:30pm announcements were made that there were ongoing discussions and we would have an update at 11:00pm. There were no updates until 12:30am stating that due to propulsion issues we would not be calling at Halong Bay. They stated that passengers on Celebrity excursions would receive a refund and that anyone on a non-Celebrity excursion should contact the front desk. We are part of a group of 23 that had hired a junk in Halong Bay so we will need to see how that will be handled. No information yet this morning (it's about 8:00am on Tuesday here) on what the day's schedule will be - and no word on what type of OBC will be offered. Will keep you posted.

 

On the whole, the trip has been fantastic - HOT in Bangkok and Saigon. We are in Aqua Class and Blu has been very good - truly restaurant quality and Breakfast is almost better than dinner. Can't say much about entertainment in general as this is an Atlantis Charter and they bring on their own entertainment. Last night our headliner was two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster (Anthying Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie) and she brought the house down.

[vermonter16]

Thanks for the update!

[CruisinMaterial]

When I was thinking about this again this morning it dawned on me about an incident which happened when we were pulling into Chan May on our sailing. While maneuvering a fishing net came up from under the boat in the aft section as I was at Oceanview Cafe's outdoor terrace eating breakfast when we arrived. Fishing nets and propulsion equipment don't go well together. I remember telling someone who was looking over the railing with me and saying that wasn't good.

 

Whatever ends up happening I'm confident the ship will be in HK for the new cruisers arrival, you just may not leave on time. :cool: I just hope hope hope for everyone's sake if that is the case you guys are not docked at Kai Tek because it's in the middle of no where! :(

[Grannycb]

The news posted on the Millenniun April 11 Roll Call is the ship is nearing Hong Kong.

[ghstudio]

I don't think the plan is to use the new terminal until the fall....so the Millennium should dock at Ocean Terminal, very convenient to shopping, sightseeing, etc. It's actually a great location, even if you were booking a hotel. The new dock is at the old airport site, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

 

The fishing net sounds ominous and it could certainly cause all kinds of problems in both maneuverability of the pods themselves as well as the propellers. Hopefully, repairs can be made by divers without a need to drydock, if that's the case. If it's electrical, it's probably easier to fix, if the parts are available.

 

I'd also add that if the problem was caused by a net that was floating, untethered to anything, then it was completely unforeseeable or avoidable by the captain and bridge. That sort of stuff does happen. It is highly unlikely that this incident was caused by lack of maintenance or poor design....the gremlins that are haunting Carnival these days.

 

Hope all goes well and the next cruise gets underway on schedule....

[MVPinBoynton]

Missing Halong Bay would be a major disappointment. It was certainly one of the highlights of our SE Asia cruise. Unfortunately no amount of compensation can be enough for missing a port like that. I have missed ports due to weather; but missing due to a mechanical issue would be much more disturbing. And missing a flight home would be even more so. I hope it gets to HK on time and the issue can be fixed for those of you on the next cruise.

[CruisinMaterial]

The news posted on the Millenniun April 11 Roll Call is the ship is nearing Hong Kong.

 

That's good news. By the time I get home tonight to check the AIS it would be docked already in HKG. :cool:

[jeanniejampots]

Last night our headliner was two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster (Anthying Goes, Thoroughly Modern Millie) and she brought the house down.

 

 

Oh my ogd I would be happy to float along for weeks if Sutton was there to entertain me:)

[ghstudio]

The Millennium is not showing on AIS. Does that mean they aren't as close to HK as they think?

[Archer0749]

The ship I was on caught a fishing net on our way to Asia. Several of us were divers and had to gone down and cut it off when we pulled into Midway. it was cleared away fast.

 

Hope it's that sort of issue for the Mille.

I don't think the plan is to use the new terminal until the fall....so the Millennium should dock at Ocean Terminal, very convenient to shopping, sightseeing, etc. It's actually a great location, even if you were booking a hotel. The new dock is at the old airport site, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.

 

The fishing net sounds ominous and it could certainly cause all kinds of problems in both maneuverability of the pods themselves as well as the propellers. Hopefully, repairs can be made by divers without a need to drydock, if that's the case. If it's electrical, it's probably easier to fix, if the parts are available.

 

I'd also add that if the problem was caused by a net that was floating, untethered to anything, then it was completely unforeseeable or avoidable by the captain and bridge. That sort of stuff does happen. It is highly unlikely that this incident was caused by lack of maintenance or poor design....the gremlins that are haunting Carnival these days.

 

Hope all goes well and the next cruise gets underway on schedule....

[JoePDX]

Millennium is finally showing up on AIS. Currently traveling at 8.4 knots, pretty slow....

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?zoom=10&mmsi=249055000&centerx=114.5109&centery=21.93592

 

Joe

[Christine Frances]

20-30 miles out! Look at that Marine traffic:eek: May be the reason - no other ships are going much faster.

[cruiseblues2013]

Millennium is finally showing up on AIS. Currently traveling at 8.4 knots, pretty slow....

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/default.aspx?zoom=10&mmsi=249055000&centerx=114.5109&centery=21.93592

 

Joe

 

Thanks Joe, I haven't heard anything from our friend since yesterday, so watching this closely....glad they are getting there, slow but sure.

[JoePDX]

Thanks Joe, I haven't heard anything from our friend since yesterday, so watching this closely....glad they are getting there, slow but sure.

 

Currently following a pilot boat in Victoria Harbour and soon to dock at Ocean Terminal. It's just before 4:00 a.m. Hong Kong time.

 

Hopefully we'll get some postings from those currently on board after she docks.

 

Joe