Another lie from Celebrity, re: Silhouette

[Crazy Cruzer]

In my opinion, although this schedule change is undesirable, Celebrity have been totally honest and above board!...

 

Looks like that last post was pretty up front.

 

I noticed that Marineboy is in the UK. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that he is the only one who is reporting having received a proper honest notice. Could this be due to differences in UK laws and regulations? I'm disappointed that Celebrity has been dishonest excuses to other customers and hope they come clean to all passengers ASAP. From the various posts on the boards it seems like this is well beyond the situation of a couple customer service clerks being ill informed.

[DinaS]

In my opinion, although this schedule change is undesirable, Celebrity have been totally honest and above board!

 

Below is part of the notification I received from Celebrity's UK Customer Service team:

 

14th December 2014

 

Dear ......

 

Important changes to your booking on Celebrity Silhouette / 12/21/2014

 

 

I am sorry to let you know that we have had to change the itinerary for your sailing as above. We know that

you will be disappointed and we only take this action when it is necessary. On this occasion, I’m afraid we

have had to alter the ship’s itinerary due to the Celebrity Silhouette currently experiencing a minor restriction

on her top speed.

 

As a result it will be necessary to bypass San Juan, Puerto Rico and the Celebrity Silhouette will spend the day

at sea. The remainder of your itinerary will remain unchanged. We realise that this change may be unwelcome

and we are sorry that this change will affect your holiday plans.

 

We would like to assure you that the small restriction on the top speed has no impact on other parts of our

operation.

 

As a gesture of goodwill, and to thank you for your understanding, Celebrity Cruises will provide each

stateroom with a $100 onboard credit, plus $25 for each third and fourth guest. This credit will be applied

directly to your onboard account and may be used for any onboard purchase or service. Any unused portion

will be refunded to you at the end of your cruise.

 

Guests who booked shore excursions in San Juan through Celebrity Cruises for Sunday will have those funds

automatically refunded to them in the form of a credit to their onboard account. This credit may be used to

book another shore excursion, or for any purchases onboard. Any unused portion will be refunded to you.

Our Shore Excursion staff would be happy to assist you with activities and excursions in Basseterre, St. Kitts,

and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

 

We apologise for these developments and its impact on your scheduled itinerary. Our staff in Port Everglades

will do their very best to minimize any further inconvenience to you.

This letter is for your information, however, if you have any questions......

 

 

I for one, will use the extra time on board to relax and enjoy all the Silhouette has to offer.

 

Strange that today is December 5th, and that letter is dated December 14th.

[rucruisn2]

I still have not received any email as in the letter others on later sailings have. We leave 12/7.

[Charles4515]

I still have not received any email as in the letter others on later sailings have. We leave 12/7.

 

 

My guess is that the letter will be given to us at embarkation.

[wwcruisers]

First, blaming others and/or outside forces is not as problem peculiar to big companies. It's human nature. I forget who said it but the paraphrased quote is if you could kick the ass of the person most responsible for your problems you wouldn't be able to sit down.

 

I completely disagree with the last poster who seemed to suggest giving your customers honest answers would overwhelm the customer relations functions of the company. This is, IMHO, dangerous short-term thinking.

 

This issue is burgeoning into a PR problem that threatens to scuttle Celebrity's goodwill with a not insignificant number of its customers. Trust and integrity are valuable commodities that, once squandered, are nearly impossible to regain.

 

X would be far better off being upfront and honest and allowing any affected passengers to cancel and rebook a future cruise without penalty. I suspect very few passengers would take them up on it having made arrangements for vacation time, flights, pet and baby sitters etc. But if they took a hit on a handful of sailings that cast off at less than 100% capacity it would be a wise investment in their brand.

 

This is a classic PR blunder. Pennywise. Pound foolish.

 

Totally agree with your post -- and I LOVE your paraphrased quote (I'll have to remember that one)! :D

[jayoldschool]

No notification here.

 

Another thing that hasn't been brought up is the HUGE cost savings for Celebrity from reduced fuel consumption due to the drastically lowered top speed. Anyone want to try the math on that one? I can guarantee it far exceeds $100 per cabin/cruise.

[Happy2cruise]

 

Silhouette is a beautiful ship with a great crew and wonderful food. I would be happy with another long cruise on her going nowhere.:D

 

Totally agree;)...can't wait for March to be on her again:)

[Charles4515]

 

Another thing that hasn't been brought up is the HUGE cost savings for Celebrity from reduced fuel consumption due to the drastically lowered top speed. Anyone want to try the math on that one? I can guarantee it far exceeds $100 per cabin/cruise.

 

 

You don't know! You can't guarantee! I don't care!

[ghstudio]

In my opinion, although this schedule change is undesirable, Celebrity have been totally honest and above board!

 

Below is part of the notification I received from Celebrity's UK Customer Service team:

 

14th December 2014

 

Dear ......

 

Important changes to your booking on Celebrity Silhouette / 12/21/2014

 

 

I am sorry to let you know that we have had to change the itinerary for your sailing as above. We know that

you will be disappointed and we only take this action when it is necessary. On this occasion, I’m afraid we

have had to alter the ship’s itinerary due to the Celebrity Silhouette currently experiencing a minor restriction

on her top speed.

 

As a result it will be necessary to bypass San Juan, Puerto Rico and the Celebrity Silhouette will spend the day

at sea. The remainder of your itinerary will remain unchanged. We realise that this change may be unwelcome

and we are sorry that this change will affect your holiday plans.

 

We would like to assure you that the small restriction on the top speed has no impact on other parts of our

operation.

 

As a gesture of goodwill, and to thank you for your understanding, Celebrity Cruises will provide each

stateroom with a $100 onboard credit, plus $25 for each third and fourth guest. This credit will be applied

directly to your onboard account and may be used for any onboard purchase or service. Any unused portion

will be refunded to you at the end of your cruise.

 

Guests who booked shore excursions in San Juan through Celebrity Cruises for Sunday will have those funds

automatically refunded to them in the form of a credit to their onboard account. This credit may be used to

book another shore excursion, or for any purchases onboard. Any unused portion will be refunded to you.

Our Shore Excursion staff would be happy to assist you with activities and excursions in Basseterre, St. Kitts,

and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.

 

We apologise for these developments and its impact on your scheduled itinerary. Our staff in Port Everglades

will do their very best to minimize any further inconvenience to you.

This letter is for your information, however, if you have any questions......

 

 

I for one, will use the extra time on board to relax and enjoy all the Silhouette has to offer.

 

Before you jump to conclusions that Celebrity has decided to address the real problem....remember that the laws in the EU and Britain are quite different than those in the US. It is quite possible that if they mis-stated the reason for the change, there might have been financial repercussions.

 

Let's see if this letter gets distributed in the US or to non EU passengers.

[Kevnzworld]

I was on the Silhouette for a month in the fall. We were late to one port and another port was changed. There were rumors from previous cruises about missed ports and an engine problem.

I had an opportunity to meet the captain in Michaels club during the transatlantic and I asked him about it. His mood turned dark, he wouldn't answer the question and ignored me other than to say " the ship is fine "

Haha

[Celebrity Cruises]

Hi all,

 

Apologies for hopping into this post a little late. We started researching this issue as soon as we heard that Silhouette was missing San Juan.

 

This is what we discovered:

 

At no time did we refer to this as a weather issue, or an issue with the port of San Juan. From the letter that we shared with guests, "Celebrity Silhouette is currently experiencing a minor restriction on her top speed. Regrettably, as a result of our reduced speed, it will be necessary to bypass San Juan, Puerto Rico, on your sailing. Instead, Celebrity Silhouette will spend the day at sea. The remainder of your itinerary will remain unchanged. We would like to assure you that the small restriction on the top speed has no impact on other parts of our operation."

 

Just want to make sure everyone was on the same page and to see if there was anything else that we can clear up, or assist with.

[cruisin2alaska]

Hi all,

 

Apologies for hopping into this post a little late. We started researching this issue as soon as we heard that Silhouette was missing San Juan.

 

This is what we discovered:

 

At no time did we refer to this as a weather issue, or an issue with the port of San Juan. From the letter that we shared with guests, "Celebrity Silhouette is currently experiencing a minor restriction on her top speed. Regrettably, as a result of our reduced speed, it will be necessary to bypass San Juan, Puerto Rico, on your sailing. Instead, Celebrity Silhouette will spend the day at sea. The remainder of your itinerary will remain unchanged. We would like to assure you that the small restriction on the top speed has no impact on other parts of our operation."

 

Just want to make sure everyone was on the same page and to see if there was anything else that we can clear up, or assist with.

 

Thank you for sharing that update. Are there any planned changes to upcoming Silhouette sailings (say Dec 7 / 14th cruises) that you can share with the board? Will the "small restriction on the top speed" affect the Western Caribbean intineraries, and if so, what is the revised port schedule?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Keith

[candhu18]

Sorry Mr Celebrity but you had better do some more research. I have a letter issued to us on the 25 Nov (23 Nov cruise) SIGNED by Captain Lekkas that states clearly: that due to heavy swells and winds, adverse weather conditions, stong currents we would not be able to reach San Juan in time. Absolutely NO mention of distressed azipod all blamed on the weather. As I stated on another thread we were some 167 nautical miles from San Juan at 11am on the morning of the day we were supposed to arrive. It was obvious we would not arrive before the 9pm departure time.

 

This lack of sincerity does Celebrity no good.

 

PS The letter continues later with: "There are many things we can control, however, Mother Nature is not one of them."

Edited December 5, 2014 by candhu18

[Celebrity Cruises]

Sorry Mr Celebrity but you had better do some more research. I have a letter issued to us on the 25 Nov (23 Nov cruise) SIGNED by Captain Lekkas that states clearly: that due to heavy swells and winds, adverse weather conditions, stong currents we would not be able to reach San Juan in time. Absolutely NO mention of distressed azipod all blamed on the weather. As I stated on another thread we were some 167 nautical miles from San Juan at 11am on the morning of the day we were supposed to arrive. It was obvious we would not arrive before the 9pm departure time.

 

This lack of sincerity does Celebrity no good.

 

PS The letter continues later with: "There are many things we can control, however, Mother Nature is not one of them."

 

Hi there,

 

The November 27 sailing was affected by both issues. Had the weather cooperated, Silhouette would have still been able to make it.

 

However, the December 7 sailing is not the same.

[tangerinebunny]

I booked the December 7 Silhouette cruise directly with Celebrity and know they have my email address since I received the arrival time order. I have not received the letter that Celebrity Cruises quoted.

 

In the interest of stopping rumor this letter should be going to everyone involved.

 

I'm not angry about the change, but I am disappointed in the lack of notification.

[Islandbuoy]

Hi there,

 

The November 27 sailing was affected by both issues. Had the weather cooperated, Silhouette would have still been able to make it.

 

However, the December 7 sailing is not the same.

 

Please tell us how it is different?

[candhu18]

Now you have confused me. On November 27 we sailed from St Maarten's back to Port Lauderdale. Considering that it is a distance over 1000 nautical miles but we had at least 61 hours to complete then at 17 knots (speed the Silhouette can maintain over long periods according to staff on board at talk) then ofcourse we could make it back in time. The problem was going to San Juan on 23 - 25 November. The distance is just over 900 nautical miles, to make that within the 47 hours scheduled required an AVERAGE speed of over 19 knots. This was beyond the ability of the ship with its azipod problem according staff on board.

[candhu18]

Starboard azipod struggling:

[ghstudio]

If you are interested in the weather in San Juan on any specific day:

 

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/TJSJ/2014/11/27/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

 

There certainly was some bad weather in and around SJ although from the discussion here, I can't tell what date the ship was supposed to get there.

 

I'll give celebrity the benefit of the doubt...that it really was both....but it would have been better to not blame the entire thing on the weather.

 

Near as I can tell there is no difference in the planned cruise schedule for 12/7....so I'm kind of interested in hearing why it's different too.

 

Perhaps the worst info to come out of the two threads about the Silly's problem is that the Captain essentially refused to admit there was a problem at all to Kevin. I suspect he was under strict orders from HQ not to discuss the issue. Who knows what information I'll get some day that is "censored" by HQ.

[candhu18]

Thank you for the weather link GHStudio. Some passengers have photographs of the seas. I don't recall them being wild. I'm sure I'll have some as well.

[candhu18]

Of interest - The Independence of the Seas did the longer journey to St Maarten in two days around the same time as the Silhouette's missed San Juan voyage.

[jayoldschool]

Hi all,

 

Apologies for hopping into this post a little late. We started researching this issue as soon as we heard that Silhouette was missing San Juan.

 

This is what we discovered:

 

At no time did we refer to this as a weather issue, or an issue with the port of San Juan. From the letter that we shared with guests, "Celebrity Silhouette is currently experiencing a minor restriction on her top speed. Regrettably, as a result of our reduced speed, it will be necessary to bypass San Juan, Puerto Rico, on your sailing. Instead, Celebrity Silhouette will spend the day at sea. The remainder of your itinerary will remain unchanged. We would like to assure you that the small restriction on the top speed has no impact on other parts of our operation."

 

Just want to make sure everyone was on the same page and to see if there was anything else that we can clear up, or assist with.

 

Putting aside the fact that one of your captains gave differing information, can we get some honest answers regarding upcoming sail dates? Will we be calling on San Juan on Dec 21st? If not, will Celebrity be making arrangements for a different port of call? There is plenty of time to arrange this, and your valued customers have paid for (and expect) a three port of call cruise.

[rucruisn2]

Hi all,

 

Apologies for hopping into this post a little late. We started researching this issue as soon as we heard that Silhouette was missing San Juan.

 

This is what we discovered:

 

At no time did we refer to this as a weather issue, or an issue with the port of San Juan. From the letter that we shared with guests, "Celebrity Silhouette is currently experiencing a minor restriction on her top speed. Regrettably, as a result of our reduced speed, it will be necessary to bypass San Juan, Puerto Rico, on your sailing. Instead, Celebrity Silhouette will spend the day at sea. The remainder of your itinerary will remain unchanged. We would like to assure you that the small restriction on the top speed has no impact on other parts of our operation."

 

Just want to make sure everyone was on the same page and to see if there was anything else that we can clear up, or assist with.

 

Celebrity Cruises,

Please listen to my phone call to your customer service dept. (your recording tells us it is taped) on 12/4/14.. I believe I spoke to Ashley. She clearly told me there was an issue with the Port of San Juan. I can't make up this stuff, I not that smart. All of us on these forms would appreciate honest answers. And if the person doesn't know, just say you don't know. Don't make up stuff.

I leave day after tomorrow and at this point I'm not excited to go.

[candhu18]

Oh what a tangled web we weave

When first we practice to deceive. - (Marmion, 1808)

[Stevekiel]

Sudden Cancellation

Celebrity Cruises has canceled its January 4, 2015 Eastern Caribbean sailing of Celebrity Silhouette so the vessel can go into dry dock for maintenance, Cruise Critic members report. Passengers were given a full refund of their cruise fare, or offered a chance to rebook on Celebrity Reflection and other Silhouette sailings, along with $200 or $400 onboard credit, depending on cabin category. In addition, Celebrity is paying $200 to reimburse for flights ($300 for international air).