Celebrity Millennium in Asia Experiencing Propulsion Issues

[LeftcoastBC]

They're crossing the Pacific in 2 weeks. I don't think they'd make a temporary fix

 

I agree !

[DocRonPS]

I was on the Millennium that arrived in Hong Kong on April 11th with one of the propulsion propellers out. We thought something was up when will got to Danang several hours late but all assumed that it was due to Vietnam Immigration. On our way to Hanoi we were only told that there would be a delay in the arrival time. This was updated several times but only by the Charter staff and not by the Celebrity staff. Then we get a notice at 11PM that there was going to be another update and that the crew were in meetings. Then a Charter staff ( the ship was chartered) announce on the PA system at 1230AM that due to propulsion issue Hanoi was to be cancelled as a stop and we were going like a slow boat to China directly to Hong Kong. The Captain did not make any announcement until the next day! He then told us the ship would stop in the South China sea for three hours while the crew could determine the problem. NO FURTHER ANNOUNCEMENT WAS EVER GIVEN! We received $100 credit which I think was pitiful. I booked a single supplement cabin and still was only given the $100 credit and not $200 without explanation from the staff after several inquiries. Our scheduled private tour guide in Hanoi called Celebrity customer service at midnight and they said that there was no reported problem and therefore he assumed that all was a go. We lost our money for that tour without any compensation from Celebrity. Someone tried to get some information regard previous issues with this Ship but were told that this was proprietary information and it could not be released.

 

I wonder if the passengers going to Alaska from Hong Kong ever made it.

 

Food was OK but the late night buffet had minimal selections ( pasta with sauce and dried-out pizza. Ship was to have been remodeled recently but other than a Martini Bar and new design for the Ocean View Cafe, could not see what was remodeled.

[LeftcoastBC]

Missing ports for any reason is disappointing however these things happen...weather being number one but mechanical problems happen also as in this case.

 

I am not going to comment on how much compensation I feel should be given but I know the normal is a return of port charges at a minimum. That's pretty common across all cruise lines.

 

On a charter things may be a bit different in how information is given out....my personal experience has been very similar to yours on non charters. X in my experience has always lacked in their communication skills.

 

Previous info on pod problems are common knowledge on line.

 

It is apparent though at this time the ship is traveling at normal speed as far as is know so we can determine from that that the cause was NOT simialr to all the "Former" problems as they were never a quick fix.

 

So at this time you will get sympathy but not likely anything else.

 

Celebrity has not had a real buffet for several yrs now at night and those type of items mentioned are common these days

[DocRonPS]

Thanks for "listening" about my cruise experience. I have only taken four prior and my last was on the New Amsterdam from Holland America and I found the food to be much more pleantiful. Maybe they are all cutting back except Seaborn and Regent. I only have to leave it to X to determine the loss of port charges. and with 1990 people diving into their port charges to come final with a final a number. IL will at least give it a try. It gave us all to talk about at least.I least I will press on and make take it to LA

times as commnet or Travel and Leisure.

 

DocRonRM

[richsea]

I was wondering, if a ship is chartered, & all guests must purchase their cruise from the charter company, in this case Atlantis, shouldn't all problems be handled with the charter company, & not the cruise line?. Atlantis paid X amount to charter the ship, & resold rooms on the ship at a profit (hopefully). Therefore, wouldn't Atlantis have negotiate compensation from Celebrity, & pass the results on the their customers? Why would Celebrity deal directly with the passengers, & not who they sold the sailing to? Just thinking out loud.

[DocRonPS]

I wholeheartedly agree..Atlantis should provide the compensation. We are not sure out of who's pocket the monies are being credited back. We all agree that the Atlantis owner does not want to fork over $$ if he can push the blame elsewhere. But then again, the mechanical problem is not Atlantis' fault. I am sure there are clauses that no one should do anything. However, the Atlantis owner made a pretty profit and he knows that he has a captive audience. I will see what happens when I call both groups as I am sure many will do the same. Appreciate your comment

[richsea]

So who told you about the $100 credit? Was it credited to your ship board account, or did Atlantis advise you of it? It just seems that in this case, Celecrity should not be dealing directly with the passengers, but Atlantis if anything is due to be returned, Atlantis should do the returning, & deal with Celebrity to recoup whatever they can. They sold you the cruise, not Celebrity. I would imagine that you paid more for the sailing than you would have if it were not a chartered cruise.

[DocRonPS]

Even though Atlantis made the on-board acct credit announcement, the letter came from the Captain regarding the credit. I don't think Atlantis wanted to have any part of the refund and so all the complaints regarding the amount could be blamed on Celebrity. And yes, I paid a quite a bit more for this cruise than I would have for any other cruise being leased or with the ship directly. Think of 1900 people, each paying approx 1900-3000 per person, not per cabin. You do the math!!Plus all the bar tabs, etc.

[Christine Frances]

We are paying 2500+ per person for the exact same cruise next year (balcony):confused:

[Cruise boys]

I was on this cruise and am now home. This was a big problem that left many people very disappointed. At 7:30 one evening, an electrical problem (exactly how they explained it) caused one of the propellers to stop working. They did not notify passengers until 12:30am with a ship wide announcement, including in the cabins, of this problem and that it would mean the ship would continue to sail, but would bypass the last stop of Hanoi and sail directly to Hong Kong. The following day, the Captain announced, with a very scripted message, that they would be shutting the other propeller down for 2 to 3 hours to try to repair the broken propeller. So, we would be simply floating in the sea for that period of time. We did float with the ships whistle blowing non-stop (on and off) for about 4 hours so other ships wouldn't hit us. It was pure fog that day. Not pleasant, however the ship never lost power or electricity. What amazed me was that the Captain never said anything else about this and about 5 hours later we began to sail, obviously with 1 prop going about 9 knots into heavy head winds. The Mellinium limped into Hong Kong on time, on Thursday. We stayed in Hong Kong for two nights and the ship was still in Port late Friday. This was a unique cruise because it was a charter. Celebrity offered each guest $100. Many were disappointed by this. I am not using this post as a way to complain but is 100 percent true and I believe people may want to know about it.

[Cruise boys]

Because the problem was Celebrity's mechanical issue, it had nothing to with the Charter company whatsoever.