Unexpected Dry Dock Ends Alaska Sailing Season Early

Celebrity Millennium

2013 Alaska Season

Over in Ketchikan

Celebrity Millennium has been experiencing mechanical problems since early August, resulting in the early termination of its latest cruise and cancellation of 4 sailings ending the Alaska sailing season early for the vessel.

During the August 2nd sailing, the ship was delayed coming into port at the end of the cruise.   The ship made news as it was stranded in Seward during the August 9th sailing for emergency repairs. The ship bypassed all ports, sailing directly to Vancouver.

The final straw was on the August 16th sailing when the ship was stranded in Ketchikan in need of additional repairs.  Celebrity then decided to cancel the four remaining cruises and transition the ship to Freeport, Bahamas where it can undergo maintenance at the dry dock facility.

Celebrity Cruises provided charted air transportation for all passengers as well as compensation for the cancelled cruises.   

This is not the first time this year that Celebrity Millennium has had propulsion problems.   Itineraries were impacted in April (see Celebrity Millennium Itinerary Change).

 Propulsion: 2 × 19 MW Rolls-Royce/Alstom Mermaid azimuth thrusters

The Celebrity Millennium-class were the first of the larger class ships to be introduced to the Celebrity fleet later being  joined by the modern and popular Solstice-class ships.   Propulsion problems have often occurred with the azipod system, which improves maneuverability of the vessel.  In many of the previous cases, problems could be repaired by the onboard mechanics.   When they can't be resolved, unexpected dry docks, like the current one, result.

Hopefully the impacted passengers will be able to return to Alaska another time.  We are certain that Celebrity Cruises made the decision to cancel the remaining cruises after exhausting all other options.

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Cruise Line Cancels Remainder of Cruise ...

Fire Onboard ....

Generator Failed ...

Propulsion Problem ...



These are some of the headlines from this year that have been making the news.  In some cases, several of the stories were from one cruise line (I'm certain you know which one - we don't want to inflict any more pain on their management, employees, or loyal cruisers).

Just today there is news about a UK based cruise line, Voyages of Discovery, who has had to cut their current nine-day Celtic Treasures cruise short due to generator problems.   They were docked in
Killybegs, Ireland when two of their four generators starting having technical problems.   Technicians have been unable to resolve the problem so the line has terminated the cruise there and will fly guests to the disembarkation port of Portsmouth.

Fortunately, in this most recent generator issue, there was no loss of complete power as the two remaining generators could run all the ships functions, however, that would be insufficient to sail.

What Do You Think? 

For us, these news stories don't change any plans that we have for future cruises.  The way we look at it: much like other mechanical items such as cars and planes,  ships can have parts fail and they will do so at the most inopportune time.  There is only so much that can be done to prevent it from happening.

How many airline flights a day are cancelled due to weather or mechanical issues?   They usually don't make the news unless there's some huge number of cancellations, perhaps due to a storm or computer glitch.

Both the airlines and cruise lines are in the business of making money, and moving passengers is the only time when that is possible.  Therefore, it is in their best interest to have their fleets working.   Both sub industries have to adhere to safety and maintenance rules and are under regular review.

The news media does have a flare for hyping certain types of stories.  They do so to increase their following which pays their bills.  

Do the stories have an impact on your vacation plans?  

In the left-hand margin of our blog, we've created a poll to allow you to share your feelings.   We'll run it for several days so that you have an opportunity to vote.   If you have comments, you can share them here or on our Facebook Page.

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.

Azipod Problems for Carnival Legend

Another Day - Another Problem for Carnival 

We're sure that is how Carnival Cruise Lines President and Chief Executive Gerry Cahill must be feeling as each day there is yet another incident of some kind in the news. It is a bit unfair to them since these types of problems occur on all lines, since they all use products from the same provider (ABB). 

The latest problem announced today is a propulsion problem on Carnival Legend causing them to change its current itinerary and left it limping towards port in Tampa at 14 knots (16 mph).  The ship made it's port call in Mahogany Bay, Roatan, in addition to visiting Cozumel and Costa Maya earlier in the week, but will skip its planned visit to Grand Cayman and proceed to Tampa, FL, it's home port where it is expected to arrive on Sunday.

Once again, Carnival is going above and beyond by compensating passengers: Guests on the current voyage will receive a $100 per person credit and a full refund on pre-purchased shore excursions for Grand Cayman. In addition, guests will receive 50 percent off a future Carnival cruise.

UPDATE:  March 21st: 

Carnival Legend's March 24 sailing will again replace a scheduled call on Grand Cayman with a stop in Costa Maya, the third sailing to do so, because of a problem with one of its Azipod® propulsion units. The remaining port order will also be altered.

Technicians continue to work on the propulsion system.  The problem doesn't impact the hotel operations, but it does cap the maximum speed of the ship which is the reason for the itinerary changes.


Passengers on the affected sailing have the option of canceling and receiving a full refund or rescheduling for a future departure date.  Unless passengers had their heart set on Grand Cayman, they should still experience a fun Caribbean adventure.   Hopefully Carnival will be able to correct this situation soon.


How Does a Ship Move

We'll take this opportunity to look inside the propulsion system that is used on Carnival and most cruise lines. ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve performance while lowering environmental impact. They are the producers of the Azipod® which is used on the Carnival Legend.

What is an Azipod

Azipod® is a podded electric propulsion unit where the variable speed electric motor driving the fixed pitch propeller is in a submerged pod outside the ship hull, and the pod can be rotated around its vertical axis to give the propulsion thrust freely to any direction. Thus the ship does not need rudders, stern transversal thrusters or long shaftlines inside the ship hull. 

Azipod propulsion system was introduced some 20 years ago and the system has gained a position of a major propulsion system for luxury cruise liners and ice going tonnage. The concept has many benefits. Due to the azimuthing propulsion its maneuverability is excellent, it saves space inside the vessel hull and gives a lot of freedom for ship design. Especially in ice going vessels the system improves the performance in ice operation. However, the most important benefit of the system is reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

More Technical Details

If you still want more technical details or if you are curious about what propulsion unit is on the ship you plan to sail on, see the ABB website which has all the information you'd ever want to know.

ABB, Propulsion Products References 2013
English – 2013-02-05 – 0,35 MB – pdf

Azipod General Presentation
English – 2012-07-06 – 8,54 MB – pdf

To the passengers on Carnival Legend - enjoy your leisurely cruise back to Tampa enjoying all the onboard activities of the ship. Plus do take advantage of the future cruise credit. 

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