Millenium Passengers Nearly Riot!

[wwcruisers]

Although I also read the situation differently, I've no issue with that.

 

The point if they came in is for a reason. I believe the alternative you imply you are fine with (an out of control riot), I would not be.

 

Actually, I implied no such thing (although that may be what you inferred).

I also have no problems with the Ketchikan Police Dept -- who simply responded to a 911 call from onboard the ship (according to the statement given by their Chief.) My problem is that the ship's head of security was not doing his/her job -- and allowed armed local police to board and do it for them. (That is, if you believe the police chief, and not Celebrity's spokesperson.)

 

If you read my original post on this matter, what really concerns me is the precedent that this sets. Imagine you are in port in say, Mexico -- and the Federales or local police show up. Is ship's security supposed to just let them board, on the claim that a call for help was made from somewhere on the ship?

[wwcruisers]

 

Too bad no one posted a video...then maybe everything would have suddenly worked out as it should have...something needed to get someone's attention in Miami...clearly nothing did...

 

Well, the week is young. Someone may have some good footage, and just be trying to get the most exposure (or $$) as they can, for it. :rolleyes:

[sandyss]

Received an email from Celebrity this morning promoting their Alaska cruises. The email contained this quote.:

 

“We just returned from an amazing Alaskan cruise. Millennium was the perfect ship to take this cruise on. For anyone who has never been... this cruise is definitely not one to be missed.”

 

Now why didn't they ask me for a quote about our August 16th cruise???

[willie2845]

I can't help but wonder what would have happened if a similar mechanical problem had occurred on a TA, where the ship is in open ocean for days. I've always been nervous knowing that no matter what happens, there will be many days during TA's when you absolutely cannot leave the ship.

 

:( We just cancelled a TP on the Millie, we've been on the Connie when it had a Pod problem the first or second year it came on line. We don't want to be on a ship in the middle of the Pacific with that kind of trouble! But then we just booked a back to back on the Infinity. :rolleyes: But if you want to go TA or TP on Celebrity it's hard to avoid the M class ships, and we really love the M class ships, just not the Pod system. :(

[Gran2five]

Thank you Sandyss for your post. Wow is all I can say. When we realized that there was a second problem with Millie, I felt for the cruisers who were supposed to board on the 23rd and who didn't know if they should cancel flights etc. I didn't realize the total disorganization that was going on your cruise. So sorry for your experience. Celebrity truly disappoints.

[2morecruises]

Not all are flying ... for some it's a bus. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~~

 

Sorry LuLu, to get out of K town it's either "float out" or "fly out".

[sept10dsm]

Just a question, is the ship still there and are all the passengers safe and sound now? I looked for an article but didn't find any. Thanks.

[Can'tstopcruising]

I certainly understand the feelings of the passengers, but what "riot" were they going to have.....were they going to start to throw things through windows; tear apart the guest services desks....I mean really.....a riot implies some sort of attack or destruction of property. Was someone worried that the crowd would find the hotel director and throw him off deck 11?

 

Sure...lots of unhappy people....but that's not a riot. I am sure that if some officer had come out with a bullhorn and started to talk about what was happening...and suggested places for people to go to have their issues addressed, the unhappy gathering would have quickly disbursed. they didn't need police or security....they needed someone to stand up and say I am in charge and I am going to address your issues. Note: as far as I know, we still don't have anyone in Celebrity who stood up and said I am in charge, I am the leader of sorting this out. No one in charge = mayhem.

 

Will Celebrity ever learn?

[The_Big_M]

If you read my original post on this matter, what really concerns me is the precedent that this sets. Imagine you are in port in say, Mexico -- and the Federales or local police show up. Is ship's security supposed to just let them board, on the claim that a call for help was made from somewhere on the ship?

 

It doesn't say they just let them board though. The police chief says they met with security, so had a discussion.

 

There's then the statement that together they 'contacted' guests, but that is pretty general and can be taken multiple ways.

 

In any case, security met and discussed first, and clearly there was an issue. So I don't see that the above suggests any concerning precedent.

[sandyss]

Just a question, is the ship still there and are all the passengers safe and sound now? I looked for an article but didn't find any. Thanks.

 

The Millennium, with only crew aboard, is currently sailing along the California coast en route to the Panama canal.

 

Passengers were all safe. There never was a question about passenger safety. Just passenger stress and frustration regarding the evacuation directives from Kechikan.

[vermonter16]

Unfortunately, these folks were getting upset at the wrong people. Celebrity reps are just messengers and people think that showing force by a number of people getting together to 'get answers' is actually going to get them somewhere. Having worked in customer service, you deal with the best of humanity and the worst of it. Unfortunately, most of the time it is the worst.

 

What people don't realize is that they are the ones responsible for causing chaos most of the time. If they would just be calm and 'LISTEN' and then state their case, it would be so much more productive.

 

Just to give an example (which is kind of an apples and oranges one), DH and I were at at a Cirque Du Soleil show in Maryland. The show was getting ready to start and a storm rolled through while we were under a tornado watch. The tent got a little breezy (it is a big top tent - although built to withstand monsoon winds) and BAM - people started freaking out in one area and it was like a domino effect. People were pushing and yelling and screaming, the little girl sitting next to us with her parents was crying. The Cirque folks were trying to keep everyone calm and inside the tent....to no avail. The crowd pushed their way through, knocking over chairs, spilling their drinks, even leaving items they had purchased. The family next to us stayed with us as we calmed the little girl and told her that DH was a volunteer with the fire department and that he knew what to do, etc., etc. She calmed down, we waited for the crowds to be gone and finally we left the tent as the last people. We talked to a couple of workers as the crowd had mostly disappeared and they said that if people had just stayed put, the show would have gone on....now of course it was cancelled because everybody had panicked and left - literally! People ran out in the middle of a storm with lightening, instead of just remaining calm and waiting for instructions or an update from the show. They were their own worst enemies on that day and I certainly won't forget the experience.

 

It just goes to show that sometimes, we go along with the crowd thinking that we'll get what's best for us in certain circumstances. Although I wasn't on the Celebrity ship I can only imagine the rumors that were going around while people were in line, filling people's heads with nonsense that they chose to feed into.

[uktog]

All the more reason for someone to show strong leadership in the situation. Where there is a vacuum in the leadership and communication from leaders, rumour will fill that gap for sure.

 

Oh boy there are so many well documented case studies of the role of effective leadership communication in diffusing issues in customer facing crisis. At least Celebrity looks like they have added another to the exemplar bucket of the less positive

[deise17311]

Unfortunately, these folks were getting upset at the wrong people. Celebrity reps are just messengers and people think that showing force by a number of people getting together to 'get answers' is actually going to get them somewhere. Having worked in customer service, you deal with the best of humanity and the worst of it. Unfortunately, most of the time it is the worst.

 

What people don't realize is that they are the ones responsible for causing chaos most of the time. If they would just be calm and 'LISTEN' and then state their case, it would be so much more productive.

 

Just to give an example (which is kind of an apples and oranges one), DH and I were at at a Cirque Du Soleil show in Maryland. The show was getting ready to start and a storm rolled through while we were under a tornado watch. The tent got a little breezy (it is a big top tent - although built to withstand monsoon winds) and BAM - people started freaking out in one area and it was like a domino effect. People were pushing and yelling and screaming, the little girl sitting next to us with her parents was crying. The Cirque folks were trying to keep everyone calm and inside the tent....to no avail. The crowd pushed their way through, knocking over chairs, spilling their drinks, even leaving items they had purchased. The family next to us stayed with us as we calmed the little girl and told her that DH was a volunteer with the fire department and that he knew what to do, etc., etc. She calmed down, we waited for the crowds to be gone and finally we left the tent as the last people. We talked to a couple of workers as the crowd had mostly disappeared and they said that if people had just stayed put, the show would have gone on....now of course it was cancelled because everybody had panicked and left - literally! People ran out in the middle of a storm with lightening, instead of just remaining calm and waiting for instructions or an update from the show. They were their own worst enemies on that day and I certainly won't forget the experience.

 

It just goes to show that sometimes, we go along with the crowd thinking that we'll get what's best for us in certain circumstances. Although I wasn't on the Celebrity ship I can only imagine the rumors that were going around while people were in line, filling people's heads with nonsense that they chose to feed into.

 

All good points...I think with this situation though people were calm , but were being sent ridiculous places and families were being split up on flights...seems that Celebrity was unable or unwilling to listen to calm so people were getting upset...frazzled nerves and all. Still amazes me that they would send people back to Vancouver when the ship was headed to Seward and most people probably had flights from anchorage...if for whatever reason Celebrity was not allowed to send planes to anchorage, just communicate this...a total cluster (edited) this was...

 

 

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[willie2845]

All the more reason for someone to show strong leadership in the situation. Where there is a vacuum in the leadership and communication from leaders, rumour will fill that gap for sure.

 

Oh boy there are so many well documented case studies of the role of effective leadership communication in diffusing issues in customer facing crisis. At least Celebrity looks like they have added another to the exemplar bucket of the less positive

 

:( As far as someone showing strong leadership we won't get any while the bottom line man Michael Bayley is in charge. He will always pick the bottom line over his passengers!!!!! :(

[Can'tstopcruising]

I bet if Andrew Harris was on the ship, it would have been handled better!

[satdan]

I was also on this cruise and in the line in the meeting room. There were a very small amount of people that were causing the ruckus (I am looking at you Connecticut guy). For the most part they were being unreasonable, but Celebrity Go team reps shot themselves in the foot when they told people about the "list" for Anchorage.

We went to Van on the celebrity charter and then booked a flight back to Anchorage to continue our post cruise tour. I hope and expect Celebrity to reimburse that, I just sent my documents to them today.

 

Here is a quote from one of the unreasonable types in line..."I flew here first class and only fly first class. Celebrity must seat me in first class for the charter to Anchorage" And from another "We dont care if there are no hotels in Anchorage, just fly us there" that would have went well with 2,000 lost souls in the Anchorage airport.

[RDC1]

I was also on this cruise and in the line in the meeting room. There were a very small amount of people that were causing the ruckus (I am looking at you Connecticut guy). For the most part they were being unreasonable, but Celebrity Go team reps shot themselves in the foot when they told people about the "list" for Anchorage.

We went to Van on the celebrity charter and then booked a flight back to Anchorage to continue our post cruise tour. I hope and expect Celebrity to reimburse that, I just sent my documents to them today.

 

Here is a quote from one of the unreasonable types in line..."I flew here first class and only fly first class. Celebrity must seat me in first class for the charter to Anchorage" And from another "We dont care if there are no hotels in Anchorage, just fly us there" that would have went well with 2,000 lost souls in the Anchorage airport.

 

In these kinds of circumstances it is a bad practice to ask people where they want to go because invariably the travel capacity will not match up with what people want.

 

With that said Celebrity should have used the information they had already to make some decisions and priorities:

 

1. Those with scheduled Celebrity land tours get first priority to Anchorage (Celebrity would have had this information)

2. Those international (non-North American passengers) with complex travel arrangements next. (Celebrity would know who was from outside of North America)

 

If any capacity remained to anchorage then and only then should they go down a list asking until it is full. They could have used criteria such as cruise fare (suite/veranda/inside) or frequent quest program status.

 

They should have made it very clear how they were doing the assignments.

 

With 2000 passengers in the limited time frame to make assignments including individual desires would be almost impossible.