Celebrity Millennium Itinerary Change

Celebrity Millennium® Installed power: 2 × General Electric gas turbines 50,000 kW (combined) Propulsion: 2 × 19 MW Rolls-Royce/Alstom Mermaid azimuth thrusters Speed: 21.8 knots (40.4 km/h; 25.1 mph

Another Propulsion Problem

Once again a cruise ship has been forced to change its itinerary due to an electrical problem impacting the ship's propulsion.     No, it's not a Carnival ship this time.  They don't have the corner on problems after all.

Celebrity Millennium currently on a Singapore-to-Hong Kong cruise, will be making some itinerary changes as it is forced to sail at a reduced speed until the problem is resolved. 

Millennium was originally scheduled to call in Hanoi (Halong Bay) on Tuesday, April 9, and finish the cruise in Hong Kong on April 11. Due to the propulsion problem, the ship will spend both Tuesday and Wednesday at sea in order to arrive in Hong Kong as scheduled. 

The propulsion on Millennium is different than on the Carnival Legend which suffered a similar issue about a month ago, forcing it to limp along back to port.   The Celebrity Millennium-class ships have had propulsion issues over the years but they remain a solid workhorse for the line.

Engineers onboard the vessel are working on the problem and hopefully it won't have a domino effect  on other cruises.  We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as new information surfaces.   As has become standard in the industry, Celebrity will compensate the passengers for missing their planned port.

Caribbean Princess Cuts Cruise Short

Propulsion Problems

Cause Cancellation

More Troubles for Carnival Corporation

Princess Cruises, who's parent company, Carnival Corporation, has been in the news all year, has issued a statement that Caribbean Princess has experienced a problem with her port propulsion motor during its current sailing.  It has been determined that the ship's current sailing must be canceled to allow for repairs.

The ship has returned to San Juan where the repairs will take place. All passengers will be able to stay onboard through Sunday, to enjoy an extended visit to San Juan, until their previously scheduled flights home.

Caribbean Princess was sailing on a seven-day Southern Caribbean voyage from San Juan, which departed March 11. The ship was scheduled to call in St. Maarten,  St. Lucia, Grenada, Bonaire, and Aruba before returning to San Juan on Sunday, March 18.

More Lost Revenue / Refunds

Passengers will receive a full refund of the cruise fare plus a future cruise credit equal to 25% of the cruise fare paid on this voyage. Further information will be communicated to passengers onboard.

If you read the cruise contract, you'll notice that skipping a port doesn't entitle passengers to any compensation, but Princess Cruises has announced the compensation plan above.   An extended stay in San Juan isn't what the passengers had signed up for, so the refunds seem to be the right thing to do.

What About Next Sailing

At this time it is unknown how the repair process may impact the ship's next sailing, departing March 18. Princess Cruises will communicate any impact to the next voyage as soon as information is available and impacted passengers and their agents will be notified.

UPDATE:  After further review by technical experts, Princess Cruises has confirmed the full extent of the damage to the motor. They now know the time and work required to make the repairs and have had to cancel the next two voyages, departing March 18 and March 25. 

Passengers booked on these sailings will receive a full refund as well as a 25% credit towards a future cruise. Those who booked their flights through Princess will receive a full refund or a future air credit based on the type of air purchased. Passengers who booked their air independently can submit their air change fees to Princess for a refund.  Princess  will also refund any transfers, pre- and post-hotel packages and government fees and taxes.

Source: Caribbean Princess Update 
 

 

Bad Timing

There never is a good time to have mechanical problems, but this is probably one of the worst times for this to occur.   This is Spring Break time, where the ships are full of passengers who have longed for the time off from school to take to the oceans and other warm destinations.

It will be interesting to see how the non-cruise media spins this story.   Reality is that ships are full of all kinds of mechanical parts, and everyone knows that they can break, and usually they break at the wrong time.   Just ask a "road warrior" how many times they were delayed due to mechanical problems with an airplane.   The difference is, odds are there's a spare plane or spare parts not far away, and usually you can be on your way after a short delay.  That's not the case with a cruise ship - there aren't any spare ships waiting around to come to the rescue of their sister-ship.

Let's hope that the repairs can be done quickly so that there isn't any further impact on the cruise schedule for Caribbean Princess.

Ship Profile | Itineraries & Pricing | Deck Plans | Dining Menus   Wine Lists | Kids Programs | Ship Reviews | 360 Tours | Photos

Maiden Voyage	2004 (Refurbished: 2009)		Passengers (dbl)	3,100
Tonnage	113,000 Tons		Normal Crew Size	1200
Length	950 feet		Crew Nationality	N/A
Beam	193 feet		Nationality of Officers	British/Italian
Draft	27 feet		Nationality of Dining Staff	N/A
Speed	24 knots		Registration Country	Bermudan

MSC Opera Loses Power

MSC Opera Bridge View                Credit: MSC Cruises

Electrical Power Problem 

Disrupts MSC Opera's Baltic Cruise

UPDATE: May 17th - Guests Disembark and Return Home from Stockholm, Sweden
MSC Opera will resume service next week, on Friday May 27^th, cruising from Southampton on a beautiful 8 night Norwegian Fjords cruise.  

MSC Cruises would like to once again thank the Stockholm Port Authorities for their efficient cooperation in assisting both the company and its guests and would like to apologize for any inconvenience experienced. 

UPDATE:  May 16th - MSC Opera's May 17th Cruise Cancelled

Despite having the majority of power restored, MSC Cruises has cancelled the next scheduled cruise so that technicians from STX Europe and the cruise line can examine the electrical system and determine the cause of the failure.   Impacted passengers will be contacted and offered compensation.

Read More:  UPDATE MSC OPERA TECHNICAL ISSUE

MSC Opera lost power Saturday following problems with one of its electrical panels.  The ship was in the midst of  a 10-night Baltic sailing out of Southampton, England when trouble began.

According to a statement from the line, tugboats will assist the 58,600-ton, 1,756-passenger ship, which has been diverted to the port of Nynamshamn, Sweden.  The photo above, from MSC's website, shows  a view from the bridge with tug boat guiding the ship.


Details are sketchy at this time, but it appears that the electrical problem has knocked out at least half of the ship's power, causing a disruption in toilet facilities and hot food service.  The situation sounds very similar to the incident that left Carnival Splendor without power last fall, however in that case, there was a fire.  There is no indication that a fire occurred on MSC Opera.

The statement indicated that passengers onboard the Baltic cruise would be issued a future cruise credit, in the same amount, that could be applied to another sailing through December, 2012.   There is no word yet about MSC Opera's next sailing, which is scheduled to depart next Tuesday.


We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as new information is made available.