century 10/13 cruise cancelled in Nice

[steamboats]

Appalling Behavior

We have disembarked the Century after our ill-fated cruise. As most of you know, the Captain announced that there were problems with the rudders (both) on our ship, and that the cruise has been cancelled.

 

Now, there are two types of people in the world. The first person tries to begin a riot, claiming Celebrity will be hearing from their attorney and that they will never cruise with “this” cruise line again. To make matters worse, they then commence to take out their frustrations on the dining room team, the stateroom attendants, the bar servers, and the front desk. Some of the behavior I have seen – by people from all areas of the world- has been egregious – and frankly, disgusting. These people do not understand that the crew has now been affected by this too. While all of us are spending thousands of dollars to cruise the Mediterranean, these fine folks will go without tips – and on a long cruise such as this one, this is a huge chunk of their pay check.

 

There is another group of people who seem to take the situation head on in a civil manner. Are they upset? Of course. Do they publically debase someone because they are frustrated? No. I am happy to say that the world still has a FEW good people left in it that have not let money change the values that their parents have instilled in them. These people are making lemonade out of lemons. Some have gone to Monaco for the week, others on to Italy, while others have opted to head back to Barcelona to take another cruise. Has it been a pain? Yes – there is nothing like being stuck in a tendering port, that by the way is on strike, and trying to get all the information you need while being 6 hours ahead of everyone you know.

 

It has been a trying situation, but I must say that I am more upset over the treatment of the crew then I am over the broken rudders. Celebrity will remedy this issue with the best intentions, but at the end of the day, they have a ship to fix before this same situation happens to another 1800 people booked on a transatlantic cruise.

 

I don’t wish this situation on anyone, but let me tell you – the people that are acting like obnoxious, rude, “I’m better than you” people, should be barred from sailing Celebrity again. One cannot go to the restaurant, the pool, or walk the halls without hearing someone just moaning and complaining and just ripping apart the crew. At the end of the day, it is these people that have ruined my cruise.

 

Julie,

 

great post!! I´m still appalled by the behavior of my fellow travelers on the Oasis of the Seas when we had to skip St. Thomas due to a crewmember who decided to jump overboard. My thoughts and prayers were with this crewmember and his family. Others were only thinking about being reimbursed for this "major inconvenience". Sure I was disappointed missing this port (would have been my first time). But anyway trying to save a life is way more important than a shore stop. I just heard that there was an article in the Chicago Tribune blaming RCI for not paying enough to compensate this incident (in our case, balcony, 3 people, we did receive a total of $500 cruise credit for a future cruise).

 

steamboats

[Ontario Cruiser]

Stereo

You were complaining on the rollcall for the Millie even before we sailed. I am sorry you are so disappointed with Celebrity. Maybe you should read the Feb 29th rollcall on Princess and see how the Chilean earthquake disaster was handled by Princess. We received our refund with in a month and as mentioned were able to go on the Infinity right away without paying.

Enjoy life

Ontario Cruiser

[cruise pup]

My recent flight from Orlando to New York was delayed 2 3/4 hours due to a storm. We waited comfortably in the airport terminal and once we boarded we took off without any problems. So imagine my surprise when I received a letter from Delta apologizing for the delay and giving me an additional 1,000 Skymiles to my account. This was totally unsolicited on my part.

[mental]

Just heard about this. I hope everyone gets home with no problems.....:):):)

 

Bob

I was lurking on this site after reading on the Eclipse site about the Century problems and was glad to see you still around. Got another cruise planned yet? We are only two weeks away from the Eclipse TA and have a huge CC group...we will miss you!

[steamboats]

CrusinGerman,

 

As I said I´m no expert in travel law (I´m into administrative law). But I think we´re talking about this EU legislation:

 

Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (in German) regarding cancelled flights:

 

Article 5 Cancellation

3. An operating air carrier shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with Article 7, if it can prove that the cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.

 

 

Article 8 Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

 

 

Article 9 Right to care

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:

(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;

(b) hotel accommodation in cases

- where a stay of one or more nights becomes necessary, or

- where a stay additional to that intended by the passenger becomes necessary;

© transport between the airport and place of accommodation (hotel or other).

2. In addition, passengers shall be offered free of charge two telephone calls, telex or fax messages, or e-mails.

 

 

So as far as I do understand this there´s no compensation for extra costs for train tickets.

 

 

Regarding a cruise it must be this:

 

 

Council Directive 90/314/EEC (in German)

 

Article 4

5. If the organizer finds that before the departure he is constrained to alter significantly any of the essential terms, such as the price, he shall notify the consumer as quickly as possible in order to enable him to take appropriate decisions and in particular:

- either to withdraw from the contract without penalty,

- or to accept a rider to the contract specifying the alterations made and their impact on the price.

 

7. Where, after departure, a significant proportion of the services contracted for is not provided or the organizer perceives that he will be unable to procure a significant proportion of the services to be provided, the organizer shall make suitable alternative arrangements, at no extra cost to the consumer, for the continuation of the packag, and where appropriate compensate the consumer for the difference between the services offered and those supplied.

If it is impossible to make such arrangements or these are not accepted by the consumer for good reasons, the organizer shall, where appropriate, provide the consumer, at no extra cost, with equivalent transport back to the place of departure, or to another return-point to which the consumer has agreed and shall, where appropriate, compensate the consumer

 

 

Article 5

2. With regard to the damage resulting for the consumer from the failure to perform or the improper performance of the contract, Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the organizer and/or retailer is/are liable unless such failure to perform or improper performance is attributable neither to any fault of theirs nor to that of another supplier of services, because:

- the failures which occur in the performance of the contract are attributable to the consumer,

- such failures are attributable to a third party unconnected with the provision of the services contracted for, and are unforeseeable or unavoidable,

- such failures are due to a case of force majeure such as that defined in Article 4 (6), second subparagraph (ii), or to an event which the organizer and/or retailer or the supplier of services, even with all due care, could not foresee or forestall.

In the cases referred to in the second and third indents, the organizer and/or retailer party to the contract shall be required to give prompt assistance to a consumer in difficulty.

 

 

As far as I understand this the reimbursement of any damage is up to the member states and especially in Germany there is no compensation in case of force majeure. So it´s not European law but law of the member states. And the German §615f Abs. 1 BGB excludes any kind of financial reimbursement in a case of force majeure. And Art. 4 No. 7 is saying that the organizer has to get you back to the place of departure which is Barcelona.

 

steamboats

[C 2 C]

From a comment on USA today:

 

Celebrity did an outstanding job with the unruly mob. People acted like they were on the titanic. Smashing furniture, smoking in their rooms, standing in the Grand Foyer in their underwear. They screamed at staff and made donkeys of themselves. I thought we were going to have a riot. It became surreal. It looked like the Superdome after Katrina. The staff was professional and courteous Shame on these wealthy ugly Americans. I for one am grateful for all they did

[tomcruiser1234]

Just a thought

 

The crew all had it quite rough I am certain, just by some of the comments made on this board. However, not knowing how the crew will fare in regards to income, they will enjoy some well deserved time off until the 25th Trans:rolleyes: So those getting on shortly you will likely have a great time with a well rested crew.

 

Sorry for all that had their trip cut short, perhaps some got on other ships. Wish all a safe journey home.

 

Celebrity is still my favorite cruise line, But don't forget if you do not like your first answer from X, just call back and ask someone else politely. This always seems to work best for us with X.

[C 2 C]

For those who were on this cruise:

 

Did Celebrity present you with alternatives such as returning to Barcelona for a cruise on Voyager or Constellation?

Did the excursion desk suggest and assist in planning a bus tour(s) to Italy or Spain (avoiding strike bound France) with a Barcelona destination?

Did Celebrity in any way assist with hotel options and flights other than saying computer use and telephone calls are free?

 

For travel agents who are also Cruise Critics:

Could you tell us more about how you would have or did help passengers on board?

[Nan-L]

my sister was on this cruise. sent this to me today:

Not sure if you have heard but our cruise ship had mechanical troubles, a broken rudder! This was announced the other night during dinner and the cruise has been cancelled.

 

 

"Following an evening of panic and wine, we finally contacted our AAA agent and she has now booked us to fly from Nice to Venice, spending the night there and then boarding the Costa Cruise Line Serena for a 7 night to Croatia, Greece and Turkey. Did not get a balcony cabin, but do have an outside room"

They going to worry about everything else when they get home..think it's a great choice!!

[Jade13]

my sister was on this cruise. sent this to me today:

Not sure if you have heard but our cruise ship had mechanical troubles, a broken rudder! This was announced the other night during dinner and the cruise has been cancelled.

 

 

"Following an evening of panic and wine, we finally contacted our AAA agent and she has now booked us to fly from Nice to Venice, spending the night there and then boarding the Costa Cruise Line Serena for a 7 night to Croatia, Greece and Turkey. Did not get a balcony cabin, but do have an outside room"

They going to worry about everything else when they get home..think it's a great choice!!

 

Great! Someone who makes lemons into lemonade!

 

We would likely have tried to find a hotel in Rome for the rest of week and definitely not headed directly home.

[uktog]

Julie and Nan-L's sister - WELL DONE!!

I hope if I was in your situation and it was my precious holiday time I would do exactly the same.

 

The legal position and what X did or did not do is either history or future depending on whether further action will be needed and the now is about your precious holiday time.

 

I do hope everyone manages to find something, sadly those with UK travel agents in the main may be struggling as they are not experts in working out solutions they are only good at selling packages

[C 2 C]

Century is proceeding at a speed that will get her to Marseille about 7 am tomorrow. ([Ctrl[ and [+]) might make the map sharper. Note all the red symbols of ships at anchor due to the strike in France.

[Cruiser Susie]

Appalling Behavior

We have disembarked the Century after our ill-fated cruise. As most of you know, the Captain announced that there were problems with the rudders (both) on our ship, and that the cruise has been cancelled.

 

Now, there are two types of people in the world. The first person tries to begin a riot, claiming Celebrity will be hearing from their attorney and that they will never cruise with “this” cruise line again. To make matters worse, they then commence to take out their frustrations on the dining room team, the stateroom attendants, the bar servers, and the front desk. Some of the behavior I have seen – by people from all areas of the world- has been egregious – and frankly, disgusting. These people do not understand that the crew has now been affected by this too. While all of us are spending thousands of dollars to cruise the Mediterranean, these fine folks will go without tips – and on a long cruise such as this one, this is a huge chunk of their pay check.

 

There is another group of people who seem to take the situation head on in a civil manner. Are they upset? Of course. Do they publically debase someone because they are frustrated? No. I am happy to say that the world still has a FEW good people left in it that have not let money change the values that their parents have instilled in them. These people are making lemonade out of lemons. Some have gone to Monaco for the week, others on to Italy, while others have opted to head back to Barcelona to take another cruise. Has it been a pain? Yes – there is nothing like being stuck in a tendering port, that by the way is on strike, and trying to get all the information you need while being 6 hours ahead of everyone you know.

 

It has been a trying situation, but I must say that I am more upset over the treatment of the crew then I am over the broken rudders. Celebrity will remedy this issue with the best intentions, but at the end of the day, they have a ship to fix before this same situation happens to another 1800 people booked on a transatlantic cruise.

 

I don’t wish this situation on anyone, but let me tell you – the people that are acting like obnoxious, rude, “I’m better than you” people, should be barred from sailing Celebrity again. One cannot go to the restaurant, the pool, or walk the halls without hearing someone just moaning and complaining and just ripping apart the crew. At the end of the day, it is these people that have ruined my cruise.

 

Julie, if everyone handled situations like this in a civilized, let's get through this together and what can we do to help each other fashion, just think how much better not only the end of your cruise would have been, but how much nicer the world in general would be. I hope that your trip home goes well and that your rescheduled cruise is just fabulous. Kudos to you for your take on a difficult situation. I hope we get to meet on a cruise one day.

 

Century is now away under her own steam at about 10 knots heading for Marseille.

 

Julie, nice post and I hope it all works out for you:)

 

Phil

 

That's really good to hear, Phil... I hope the crew is all able to relax at least a little just now.

 

And Nan-L, I hope your sister has a wonderful time on her Costa Cruise... good for her!

[Gusti]

The article from USA sounds disgusting Arno

 

Can that be true. Smashed Furniture? all that other stuff ?

What must they think of us, I am ashamed for them

[Lsimon]

...As far as I understand this the reimbursement of any damage is up to the member states and especially in Germany there is no compensation in case of force majeure. So it´s not European law but law of the member states. And the German §615f Abs. 1 BGB excludes any kind of financial reimbursement in a case of force majeure...

 

I'm reading this with a minor amount of interest since it sounds like it wouldn't apply to Americans and I'm just sitting at home and not effected by all this anyways - except for my general sense of curiosity. I'm not a lawyer either but:

 

But doesn't the concept of "force majeure" imply that none of the parties was at fault? This would be the case in the event of bad weather, a volcano or some other event outside of the cruise lines area of responsibility. A mechanical breakdown of the ship on the the other hand seems like it would clearly be the responsibility of the the cruise line. Isn't that the case?

[hcat]

I am not on board so I do not know how the majority of pax reacted overall--the loud & unruly folks always get coverage while the cooperative folks go about their way.

 

If you are a senior (how sad that one blogger called them nearly dead!), or an inexperienced traveler, are without a phone or an int'l calling plan or have no TA, or an ability to use computers, it could well be very scary...esp. with a transp strike, not speaking French, Nice being a smaller airport & Barcelona being quite far away. No excuse for a near riot but I can see how the stress level would be high if no one is helping the pax solve individual problems & travel situations.....and if there are high costs to re-route air etc..

 

Based on what has been reported, it looks like Celebrity did not learn anything from the Millenium situation; and has not developed a good plan for these unfortunate situations. Staff members should be trained & available to help travelers with alt plans--thru computers & phone calls.. And they should have an immediate team at the Celebrity phone numbers to answer questions of guests who are awaiting the next cruises-- Perhaps they did this but sounds like they did not...

 

How did the rudders break, anyhow? That's the problem with re-furbs-- they make it look nice but it is still an older ship!

[A Sixth?]

.....

How did the rudders break, anyhow? That's the problem with re-furbs-- they make it look nice but it is still an older ship!

 

 

There are no rudders on the Century as I recall. It's pod driven/maneuvered.

 

A much bigger issue than a stuck rudder

[ocngypz]

For those who were on this

For travel agents who are also Cruise Critics:

Could you tell us more about how you would have or did help passengers on board?

 

 

We found out about the problem with Century roughly around 345pm eastern time Thursday when one of our clients called our Customer Service department. Overhearing the conversation as I was walking through the department, I went back to my desk and attempted to call the ship to reach my clients. Call wouldn't go through. So I emailed in hopes they would be picking up their email and respond to me accordingly. I then held cabins on Royal Caribbean, Costa and MSC. None of the cabins held matched Concierge Class. Since full payment was due by midnight, I had to be able to talk to the clients first for cc authorization.

 

About 630pm Thursday I received a phone call from the client's son informing me of the problem. I told him I already knew and was trying to get ahold of his parents. He told me they would prefer to keep sailing and wanted the same type of accommodations. They were booked in Concierge Class. None of the cabins held matched Concierge Class. Tranferring over to the Constellation this weekend was not an option as there were no cabins available. In speaking with the STAR Deck at Celebrity, it had to be done onboard through the Captain's Club rep.

 

Returning to my home office I worked on air and land arrangements, still tried calling the ship to no avail. I did receive one email from my clients around 930pm eastern time. They told me the internet was very slow.. and at times just would not connect. They asked that I please try to salvage their 25th anniversary vacation.

 

I continued to work on alternates until 1 am Friday morning at which point I had to get some sleep. I woke up 6 hours later.. my client called at 715. I was instructed not to exceed the cost of their concierge class balcony on the Century. They did not care to spend any more time than necessary in Spain. It was at this point I learned of the Celebrity coach to Barcelona and one night hotel. I was the first person the client called once he bought a French SIM card to put in his phone. Finally, an opportunity to converse in real time!

 

I took a look at air again, and hotels.. called the client back and gave them the option of flying out of BCN on Sunday to Florence, 7 nights 4* boutique hotel in Florence, return air to BCN, another hotel night at their previously arranged post cruise hotel and then returning home to the US on their previously scheduled flight. I was also given an alternate credit card to use for these arrangements which I did not have on file.

 

I booked the air and prepaid hotel then emailed the eticket and vouchers to the clients. Then called them to tell them to pick up their email once they arrived in Barcelona.

 

With the transportation strike issues in France, the rail opportunities were nil. They weren't operating. Flights were still being cancelled. Also, there is not much airlift out of Nice in the first place. Being able to use BCN as a gateway was a godsend since it is a major airport... and I could save the clients money by booking a roundtrip ticket.

 

Important to note I had to also work around the client's return flight on the 26th. After talking to the airline, we could not get 2 seats out of BCN until the 30th which wasn't going to work with the client's work schedule.

 

Every client had their own parameters and comfort zones with which we had to work. Working 6 hours behind Europe made it more difficult. Lack of real time communication at first was the worst.

 

Even with travel insurance alternate arrangements still need to be paid upfront. For some people that could present a problem.

[ghstudio]

i started in thread on a positive note, but this is the first I've been able to reconnect and I can tell you firsthand that the lack of management, the lack of any plan, the complete mismanagement of the situation by everyone on board up to the captain are just not to be believed....and one can only wonder what would happen if there were a true crisis at sea. Clearly, i would not want to be on the Century with the management on board.

 

There is so much to report that they mishandled with everyone giving different information. The most effected were the b2b cruisers (like us) who were fundamentally told, if you want to do something in Europe, join us on the 25th...but we won't help you plan anything....or well give you up to $250 to change your flight plans...and no one on board or at celebrity hq could understand that we had no flight plans to change...we were coming back by ship.

 

The phones and internet were fundamentally always busy; the folks that we were told to call at Celebrity in the US to help us had no idea that there was any problem and refused to offer any help at all.

 

Clearly this ship needs new officers....and celebrity needs a crisis manual that says something other than "call headquarters for help".

 

we were constantly being told that we would get a letter in our staterooms within the hour explaining everything....that letter NEVER came. Bags were supposed to be put in the hall last night before midnight but they didn't distribute the colored labels until about 1AM. There was no relationship between when your flights were out of barcelona and the bus you were assigned....the line to change times was probably 200 people long at 1AM.

 

I will post my letter to all the RCL board members and the CEO once I figure out how to condense the problems into a single page.

 

More when I get home and have my normal computer to compose posts on....look for a new thread on this topic. I started this one...I'm probalby going to start another to keep the focus on how badly this was handled on the ship....and by Celebrity HQ who clearly only cared about getting the ship to drydock...give nothing because giving something costs money. Let me tell you, from the discussion on the ship and on the bus to barcelona, they have lost far more customers than any action might have cost them.

[Texed]

There are no rudders on the Century as I recall. It's pod driven/maneuvered.

 

Century is not pod driven.

[Jade13]

Just thinking aloud, but if you had all that time off for vacation, why not grab a hotel in Nice and enjoy being in France for a week? Then look at changing your ticket for your original departure day, which would give you a few days so you wouldn't be booking as last minute.

 

I don't understand why an interrupted cruise means you have to take a bus back to Barcelona and fly home immediately? Make lemonade out of lemons and all that jazz...

 

Just to add...don't get me wrong, I'd be upset, but I would refuse to have it totally ruin my vacation. Think in a few years the funny story you'd have.

 

I'm in total agreement with you, although we would probably look into going to Italy.

 

I also believe that if X was going to bus people to Barcelona they should also provide a hotel, not just dump them there. But, people all all doing diff things.

 

World travelers can navigate on there own, including the majority on this web site. The majority of those that are the most "angry" may also be those who aren't able to make all of these decisions/changes on their own.

[A Sixth?]

Century is not pod driven.

 

 

Oops.... my bad. Having been on the Millie and Summit recently forgot the Century is a smaller older ship..... I have to say I loved the 'ride" of the pod drive ships....

 

Ironically a rudder issue is a less technical fix (likely).

[C 2 C]

I believe that the rudder problem may involve the electronics that operate the rudders... hopefully it's not an issue like backing into the rocks which Millennium did with the pods in an "oops moment,.. "did I or the ship do that"....

 

I believe that Celebrity is very consistent; there is no crisis team in charge of communications. There is no distribution of the facts to the offices at Captain's Club or in Miami.

SNAFU.. There were similar posts about Infinity in Mexico, Millennium in Alaska, Millennium in Villefranche etc.

 

The unfortunate situation causes so many people to strike out at the people who work the hardest, do the most to create that special experience while cruising. The people in charge just aren't.

 

The reports that passengers could not use Celebrity air connections such as Choice Air.. the experts who deal with large numbers... unbelievable. There should have been one desk for people who wished to fly... book a charter for a group, book excursions for others, put them on other ships. A 1,000 cabins trying to make their own plans with limited computer resources, language limitations etc...

Some people behaved very badly, inexcusably so. But I think Celebrity set the stage for this crisis because there is no plan when something goes wrong... They have had so much practice you would think that eventually they would get it right.

Finally on facebook:

by Celebrity Cruises on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 6:05pm

 

You may have heard that Celebrity Cruises has canceled the remainder of a 12-night Mediterranean sailing onboard Celebrity Century due to damage to the ship’s rudders. It was a difficult piece of news to deliver to our guests onboard. However, safety is our utmost priority. Celebrity Century will remain in Nice (Villefranche), France until Saturday, October 16, before continuing to drydock for repair. We are sorry for this unexpected development and its impact on our guests' vacation plans, and are working to assist them in making travel arrangements. The ship is scheduled to reenter service for its next sailing on October 25.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

It was definitely a rudder issue.

[jgnova]

I just thought I'd post a short narrative of a similar situation we faced on a Deilmann cruise on the Danube in 2006. For those readers who have only cruised at sea, a river cruise is subject to water level problems - too low and you can't go anywhere - too high and you can't get under bridges or around major river bends.

 

On our April 2006 cruise on the (unfortunately now defunct) Deilmann Mozart, the Danube was at or near flood stages for the first half of the week. Not only could they not get the boat upriver to the normal embarkation in Passau, they also could not get to Budapest. They waited until the night before we were scheduled to leave for Budapest in the hope that the levels would subside but it didn't happen. So they announced that anyone who wanted to stay on board in Vienna was welcome to do so - but those who wanted to go to Budapest would be bussed there and put up at the Kempinsky. They had several of their staff on each bus to answer questions and serve beverages. At the Kempinsky (a six star hotel) we were given lunch on arrival as well as dinner that night and breakfast the next morning. All tours we would have taken were still available. The only disappointments were not spending that time on the river and not being able to see St. Stephen's Cathedral and Cardinal Mindszenty's grave in Esztergom.

 

But that's how you treat passengers when something happens beyond your control. They alerted us two nights in advance of a possible problem, announced the new arrangements the next night, and spared no expense.

 

j