INFINITY & MILLENIMU / ITINERARY SWITCH

[goouchjac]

Hi Everyone - I Think The Swithch Will Be Just For The Winter Season In 06' . This Should Not Affect Anyone's Cruise As Both Ships Are In Ft. Lauderdale At The Same Time In Dec 05' . As Both Ships Are Identical Except For Calling Certain Rooms By Different Names And A Few Changes In Decor - - This Change Should Not Cause Any Type Of Panic. In Fact , If Anything , It Should Be A Huge Positive . In The Spring Of 06' , When Both Ships Are Again Back In Ft. Lauderdale , I Would Expect That They Would Resume Their Normal Itineraries. It Takes Time To Reprogram All The Software In The Data Base - - - But Look For This Change To Occur.

Hi brandylane,,,your not saying where you are getting your info from,,don't want to be a doubting Thomas, but I spoke to cc today and they don't know anything about a switch of the ships,,,,would love to do the Infinity, hope you are right,,,waiting to hear from host Andy and what he can dig up;)

[Andy]

Hi brandylane,,,your not saying where you are getting your info from,,don't want to be a doubting Thomas, but I spoke to cc today and they don't know anything about a switch of the ships,,,,would love to do the Infinity, hope you are right,,,waiting to hear from host Andy and what he can dig up;)

 

Hi Ann !

 

I did call Celebrity today, and they know nothing about it. Of course, I am NOT doubting brandylane. I want to make that clear. Besides, sometimes we know things here..... quicker than they do :)

 

I am still trying to see what I can find out. Maybe Rick (Chessbriar) will find out something as well.

 

Stay tuned !

[goouchjac]

Hi Ann !

 

I did call Celebrity today, and they know nothing about it. Of course, I am NOT doubting brandylane. I want to make that clear. Besides, sometimes we know things here..... quicker than they do :)

 

I am still trying to see what I can find out. Maybe Rick (Chessbriar) will find out something as well.

 

Stay tuned !

Hi Andy,,Yes. I called also and got the same answers,,will stay tuned and hope "brandylane" is correct.....:)

[cfprunner]

- - This Change Should Not Cause Any Type Of Panic. In Fact , If Anything , It Should Be A Huge Positive.

 

While I am 'with you' on the 'no cause for panic', I can't figure out why it's a huge positive for anyone except maybe one poster who has sailed on Millie 4 times and wants a change.

[goouchjac]

While I am 'with you' on the 'no cause for panic', I can't figure out why it's a huge positive for anyone except maybe one poster who has sailed on Millie 4 times and wants a change.

The answer to that is, having sailed on the Millie 4 times, the Summit twice it would be nice to try the Infinity..Even tho the M class ships are exactly the same, crew, decor and etc. will be different and a nice change...The Millie needs some TLC and I understand she is going in dry dock in Nov...we saw alot of things last Dec. that need fixing and improvement....;)

[cfprunner]

The answer to that is, having sailed on the Millie 4 times, the Summit twice it would be nice to try the Infinity..Even tho the M class ships are exactly the same, crew, decor and etc. will be different and a nice change...The Millie needs some TLC and I understand she is going in dry dock in Nov...

 

Goouchjac: I understand why this is a good thing for you, but I DO NOT understand why this is "a huge positive" for any else.

 

Personally, I'd rather sail on a ship a month after it was in dry dock as everything will in in ship shape.

[flagger]

If this is true as I booked with Celebrity, I wonder when they will give me notification of the ship change so that I may decide if I wish to cancel or change my cruise or not. I booked the ship and you can quote and shake the terms of the contract at me all you want, but if they are making a decision over six months out on something that might affect my decision to give final payment or not; they must give me an opportunity to cancel.

 

Patiently waiting to be contact directly by Celebrity...

 

Not holding my breath though.

[brandylane5102]

Hi Everyone - Why Is This A Huge Positive ?? It Eliminates The Possibility Of Having Pod Problems In South America On The Infinity And Having To Cancel A Two Week Trip. While The Infinity Is A Spectacular Ship With Incredible Staff - - I Believe It's Been 4 Years In A Row Where They Had To Cancel At Least One Cruise And Do A Pod Repair. The Millenium On The Other Hand , For Whatever Reason,has Not Had These Problems. So , From A Business Point Of View , It Makes Perfect Sense To Send The Millenium To South America Over The 3 Winter Months And Keep The Infinity Based Out Of Ft. Lauderdale Where It Will Probably Be Doing One Week Sailings.

No Reason To Be Upset Over This Possible Winter Switch , The Ships Are Identical And Everyone Will Have A Great Experience.

Whatever Ship You Get - Bon Voyage .

[goouchjac]

Hi Everyone - Why Is This A Huge Positive ?? It Eliminates The Possibility Of Having Pod Problems In South America On The Infinity And Having To Cancel A Two Week Trip. While The Infinity Is A Spectacular Ship With Incredible Staff - - I Believe It's Been 4 Years In A Row Where They Had To Cancel At Least One Cruise And Do A Pod Repair. The Millenium On The Other Hand , For Whatever Reason,has Not Had These Problems. So , From A Business Point Of View , It Makes Perfect Sense To Send The Millenium To South America Over The 3 Winter Months And Keep The Infinity Based Out Of Ft. Lauderdale Where It Will Probably Be Doing One Week Sailings.

No Reason To Be Upset Over This Possible Winter Switch , The Ships Are Identical And Everyone Will Have A Great Experience.

Whatever Ship You Get - Bon Voyage .

Hi brandy,,,,agree totally! ships are like you say exactly the same, only difference is Infinity is newer!!;)

[shaq]

To me it would make a difference. I'm on the Infinity in Jan. From the reviews posted on the Millie which have not been favorable, especially on the condition of the ship, I would want to be notified way before final payment is due.

 

Why would a person not object to the switch. The Infinity is ranked the best Big Ship and the Millie didn't even make the top 5.

[Andy]

To me it would make a difference. I'm on the Infinity in Jan. From the reviews posted on the Millie which have not been favorable, especially on the condition of the ship, I would want to be notified way before final payment is due.

 

Why would a person not object to the switch. The Infinity is ranked the best Big Ship and the Millie didn't even make the top 5.

 

Hi Shaq !

 

I agree that you should be notified IF there is in fact a change. No argument there.

 

However, ship ratings are VERY subjective, and the 2 ships are about as close to twins as possible. IMHO, I would never consider cancelling if I was in your situation, and they made the switch. I hope you do not cancel IF this happens. Millennium is an excellent ship. Please try not to worry. Enjoy your Cruise !

[chessbriar]

Why would a person not object to the switch. The Infinity is ranked the best Big Ship and the Millie didn't even make the top 5.

 

Shaq,

 

One thing to keep in mind when you look at those rankings, they take into account itinerary and shore excursions. It's not just about the ship.

[hajekfam]

To me it would make a difference. I'm on the Infinity in Jan. From the reviews posted on the Millie which have not been favorable, especially on the condition of the ship, I would want to be notified way before final payment is due.

 

Why would a person not object to the switch. The Infinity is ranked the best Big Ship and the Millie didn't even make the top 5.

IF this change occurred - it would be post Millie drydock (Nov. 6-12).

What are the rankings based on and who was doing them? For example, if done by passengers, have they cruised on both for the same itinerary within a reasonable time frame? If rankings are given by passengers who have only cruised on that particular ship, I would not give their rankings as much weight because how do you know what they judge the ship by?

[shaq]

Thr rankings that I used are from the following magazines:

 

Conde Nast Traveler - Best cruise ships 2005

Travel & Leasure - Best cruise ships 2004 ( the 2005 rankings will be out in August)

[brandylane5102]

Hi Everyone - With The Millenium In Dry Dock In November , I Would Presume There Would Be New Carpets , Bed Spreads Etc Etc And Would Be Be In Great Shape For The 3 Months In South America . This Way Everybody Wins - - Celebrity With Pontentially Fewer Headaches And Those Cruisers In The Caribbean Looking For A New Celebrity Product Over The Winter.

To Be Honest , I Think Celebrity Is Making A Great Strategic Decision With This Move. I Think The Bookings Will Go Through The Roof For Infinity When This Is Announced. As For The South American Itineraries , This Has Already Been A Growing Market For Celebrity.

[Shmobo]

I will be on the Millie for the Dec 24 sailing...

 

I don't mind going on either of them...as long they are not switching the sailing dates as I have all my air arranged already..

 

I never sail on Infinity, don't mind trying her out too..

[cfprunner]

Hi Everyone - Why Is This A Huge Positive ?? It Eliminates The Possibility Of Having Pod Problems In South America On The Infinity And Having To Cancel A Two Week Trip. While The Infinity Is A Spectacular Ship With Incredible Staff - - I Believe It's Been 4 Years In A Row Where They Had To Cancel At Least One Cruise And Do A Pod Repair. The Millenium On The Other Hand , For Whatever Reason,has Not Had These Problems. So , From A Business Point Of View , It Makes Perfect Sense To Send The Millenium To South America Over The 3 Winter Months And Keep The Infinity Based Out Of Ft. Lauderdale Where It Will Probably Be Doing One Week Sailings.

No Reason To Be Upset Over This Possible Winter Switch , The Ships Are Identical And Everyone Will Have A Great Experience.

Whatever Ship You Get - Bon Voyage .

 

Brandy: I agree that it's not a big deal, and I agree that it makes good business sense.

 

However, I once booked a Southern Carribean cruise on the Infinity and THE DAY BEFORE WE LEFT we learned that the Infinity had pod problems and while our cruise was not cancelled, desired stops like Barbados and Grenada were replaced with Nassau and St. Thomas--places we had been to before and weren't excited about going back.

 

Further, we had used up a ton of FF miles to do roundtrip to PR only to find out we would return to FTL (for a week in dry dock). This caused some major scrambling to change my return frequent flyer tickets.

 

Of course we could have cancelled but at that point, the tickets would go to waste and we were obligated to take our vacation from work. We didn't have much choice other to sail on the ship with the limp.

 

If the ship switch last for 14 weeks, and the ships hold 2000 people at a time, Celebrity has just exposed 336,000 to a ship with pod problems. However, 168,000 people can rest easy knowing that they just got switched to a ship without pod problems.

 

That's not what I call "A Huge Positive".

 

There another way to look at this:

 

I have a very valid reason to want to sail on Millie instead of Infinity, while another poster here has an equally valid reason to choose Infinity over Millie. Some people are concerned that Millie is getting worn out. I personally believe that getting a ship 1 month after drydock is as close as you can get to sailing a brand new ship, without the 3 year wait.

 

If the ship doesn't really matter, then why not just list the class of ship with each cruise?

 

How many people would be upset if Celebrity didn't give them their confirmed cabin number and said "The cabins in this catagory Are Identical And Everyone Will Have A Great Experience, Whatever cabin You Get."?

[iandjm]

Thats a shame I wa slooking forward to sailing on a recently refitted Millennium on Jan 29 in the Caribbean. I also wanted to show my friend who is coming along the Olympic restaurant :mad:

 

Why on earth ehtey dont just replace the complete pod assy's on the all the 'M' class ships. The newer pod systems are far more reliable.

 

Any news will be greatly appreciated

 

Ian

[Andy]

Thats a shame I wa slooking forward to sailing on a recently refitted Millennium on Jan 29 in the Caribbean. I also wanted to show my friend who is coming along the Olympic restaurant :mad:

 

Why on earth ehtey dont just replace the complete pod assy's on the all the 'M' class ships. The newer pod systems are far more reliable.

 

Any news will be greatly appreciated

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian !

 

A few things to consider ...

 

1. This switch has NOT been confirmed by Celebrity yet.

 

2. Try not to be disappointed. Infinity is virtually identical to Millennium. Other then some cosmetic differences, the ships are very similar.

 

3. Infinity has the same specialty dining restaurant as the Olympic. The name is different though. It is called the S.S. United States.

 

I am sure Celebrity is working hard on resolving the pod issues. Every time a sailing is cancelled, it costs them a lot of $$$. Hopefully, they will figure it out, in the near future.

 

Enjoy your Cruise !

[waltw]

At this time this whole line of thought is only a rumor! I am booked on one of the Infinity SA cruises. Pod and bearing problems have been noted in the M class ships with the exception of the Constellation. This fact should enter into the company's plans but they also have to believe that they are not going to face more problems, otherwise they would pull the ships and do the repairs without facing even more PR problems as they deal with ships that are between ports, loaded with paying guests that are demanding compensation for missing ports of call or rescheduling plane connections that were booked as use it or lose fares. Only X has some knowledge of what is happening and they are not saying anything at this time. I just hope that I am on a ship in SA waters in March of '06!

[cdbaum]

I personally hope that this is only a rumour. I have nothing against the Infinity but booked a cruise specifically on The Millenium this December because it has the sports bar and because we got engaged on her on our first cruise.

 

I won't let a change bother me, a cruise is a cruise.

[cfprunner]

One reason why some feel a stronger draw to the Olympic is that it is the only one that has the actual paneling from the sister ship of the Titantic dating back to 1911. You don't have to be a romantic to find that more interesting than glass from a 1952 ship.

[bulldogatl]

I was on the Infinity last Christmas for the Panama Canal Cruise. Over 14 days we had no problems (knock on wood). Thanks to her I'm in love with the M Class. However .. I was interested in trying out Milly to see the difference. I'm a sports nut so the sports bar might have been fun. Also wanted to see the difference in specialty restaurants. We almost booked Milly for the Med in April but got a bit pricey. I think I read somewhere that X was suing the pod manufacturer. Anyhow .. my only complaint on Infinity was that they never cleaned the Thasa pool .. had green slim all over the sides. Yucky!! The finally cleaned it when I took pictures of it and showed the purser. Otherwise, Infinity was great. Any M will do I think! The new ship X ordered is gonna be even bigger and better!

[iandjm]

I was on Infinity for the Panama Canal cruise in April so know its pretty well identical to Millennium. I just found the Olympic restaurant surroundings a lot nicer than the SS United States Restaurant. Any ideas when any news about the swap will be known?

 

Ian

[gann]

Maybe I missed reading it, but will the crews also switch ships? You get to know some of the crew members and look forward to taking a cruise with them again. We are on the Millennium right after it comes out of dry dock and will be the first time on her, but have taken the Infinity twice and the Constellation once. I feel sure that they will replace the pods on the Millennium when she is in dry dock so should not have problems on the SA cruise. We had pod problem on the SA Infinity cruise and missed stopping in Ecuador. It was still a great cruise.

Don