Did you see this? Galaxy pax stranded!

[10s nut]

Celebrity Cruises Galaxy ordered to Leave Charleston, Stranding Hundreds of passengers Still Ashore

 

April 8, 2004 - It's been reported that about 380 cruise ship passengers were stranded in downtown Charleston for several hours after the US Coast Guard forced the Celebrity Cruises Galaxy back to sea for failing to file its manifest paperwork on time.

 

Why the ship was allowed to initialy dock without filing the paperwork on time is currently being reviewed. The ship was escorted 12 miles offshore by the US Coast Guard to international waters to wait the remainder of the 24-hour period required between it's filing notice and its arrival in Charleston.

 

The odd event of seeing your cruise ship sailing away with a unscheduled departure undoubtedly worried more than a few of those left ashore and onboard.

 

Celebrity Cruises spokesman Michael Sheehan said a computer glitch prevented the notice from reaching the Coast Guard on time.

 

The cruise line will face a $32,500 fine for the violation, Coast Guard spokesman Scott Carr said.

 

Source: Charleston-AP

[newtocc]

Yes, I read about that yesterday, it must have sucked!

 

This ship 10/91

That ship 11/95

Whatever ship 12/98

here a ship 13/99

there a ship 14/00

everywhere

a

ship ship 15/05

 

<font size="3" color=red>Over 1 year</font> into my LMBO cruise

[AlC]

Another governmental, bureaucratic bit of Homeland "Security" nonsense. Why move a ship if the terrorists are already off-loaded? Because some fool can say that it has to be done to cover is you know what.

[brn2crz]

OR.

We could just spend millions on hearings to find out why enough was not done to prevent a terrorist attack.

We can't have it both ways.

 

Cathy

NCL-Starward 1982

NCL-Seaward 1986

NCL-Norway 1992

Carnival-Celebration 1996

Carnival-Jubilee 2001

RCI-Rhapsody 1999

RCI-Rhapsody- 2003

Grand Princess or Rhapsody ?

2004

 

 

[MISSYLOU]

Well I for one am a little annoyed that Celebrity has admitted that they were a little late in submitting the manifest. Since we fill out our documentation online and then give them the printed documentation when we check in, it would seem that Celebrity should have all of the passenger information before they ever leave the embarkation port.

 

It does seem that the Coast Guard could have prevented the ship from coming into port or delayed it rather than having stranded passengers on land. And as stated in the article this wasn't the first time it happened.

 

I hope we will read a few posts from passengers on this cruise so that we know how Celebrity handled it and what the passengers reactions were.

 

Karen & Paul

http://community.webshots.com/album/124134511FOjEih

Galaxy B2B 10/04

Mercury 03/04

Radiance 01/04

Summit 09/03, Infinity B2B Hawaii 03/03,Infinity 10/02,

Maasdam 07/02, Sun Princess 03/02,Maasdam 11/01,Statendam 07/01,Dolphin 1990?

 

[CaribbeanBound]

Obviously, Celebrity gave everyone a nice cabin credit for their error, right?

[MISSYLOU]

Well possibly they did give a credit but I was thinking more of how they explained the situation to passengers on the ship who may have been separated from their friends or loved ones on land. Did Celebrity make arrangements for the stranded passengers to have meals somewhere on land? Was there an adequate facility for them to wait until the ship returned? Were all of those who were on shore excursions back on the ship?

 

My main concern or interest in this is that we travel with an elderly couple and we don't always do the same things when we are in port. I can imagine that older passengers might find this to be rather unsettling whereas I know my DH and I could handle it better than some could or would.

 

Karen & Paul

http://community.webshots.com/album/124134511FOjEih

Galaxy B2B 10/04

Mercury 03/04

Radiance 01/04

Summit 09/03, Infinity B2B Hawaii 03/03,Infinity 10/02,

Maasdam 07/02, Sun Princess 03/02,Maasdam 11/01,Statendam 07/01,Dolphin 1990?

 

[brn2crz]

oooohh,see.

 

I knew there was a reason why I would feel funny aobut leaving my child onboard while I went ashore.You just never know what can happen.

 

Cathy

NCL-Starward 1982

NCL-Seaward 1986

NCL-Norway 1992

Carnival-Celebration 1996

Carnival-Jubilee 2001

RCI-Rhapsody 1999

RCI-Rhapsody- 2003

Grand Princess or Rhapsody ?

2004

 

 

[10s nut]

I'm sure there will be some VERY interesting stories from returning passengers! And brn2, you bring up a very good point about the chance of being separated from a child. That would really be a nightmare!

[reggierail]

I feel so much safer after hearing this.

 

Reggie

 

Rhapsody 10-17-04

 

Mercury 12-06-04

 

Monarch 3-29-04

 

Viking Serenade 1998

Viking Serenade 1999

Voyager of the Seas 2000

Viking Serenade 2001

Majesty of the Seas 11-2002

Norwegian Sea 11-2002

Vision of the Seas 11-2002

Mercury 5-03-03

Monarch of the Seas 6-09-03

Mercury 10-12-03

Monarch 11-17-03

Monarch 1-19-04

 

God bless the USA and all freedom loving people. May God protect all those who fight and die to protect those freedoms.

[ebonybee]

I know nothing first hand about the situation. But I wonder if port authorities weren't "teaching" Celebrity a lesson. Maybe they had been warned before and someone decided to put some "teeth" into the warnings. I really to bet they meet the 24 hour deadline now!

 

04/04 Brilliance

[emmylou]

I sure hope they file what needs to be filed from here on in.We are onthe Galaxy 5/7 for a Transatlantic cruise out of Baltimore and from what I am told the building doesn't hold all the passengers and some have had to wait on busses until they start boarding can you imagine having to sit on a bus for twenty four hours for the ship to be able to come into port

because they didn't file thier papers on time.If I were one of the passengers this happened to I know what frame of mind I would be in when I got on board.

emmylou

[cusyl]

Wow, that's terrible! Why the heck were passengers allowed to get off the ship to begin with if the papers were not in order. Hope someone does post from the ship to tell us what accomodations were made for them while waiting. Better here than in some foreign country though.

[C 2 C]

Who did the coast guard punish? The stranded passengers. Once a fine had been decided upon and all the terrorists who call Baltimore home were offloaded to purchase all those Charleston souvenirs.. talking about closing the barn door after all the horses are gone... or is that mixing metaphors.. I sure feel safe now that I know the coast guard is there watching for the paper trail of cruisers recording their real terrorist names on the list..

[Catnip]

A1C,

My thoughts, exactly!!

 

"To live on the land...we must learn from the sea"

 

(26 prior cruises. Nobody cares, so why list them all?)

 

 

[Lois R]

A question..so what exactly happens? They send the ship back out to sea?...and then come back and pick up the stranded passengers?...I don't mean for my question to sound stupid...

 

Next up...HORIZON Sept 18th to Bermuda!

 

See My Century and Mercury Pictures at:

http://community.webshots.com/user/lovescruising

[Guest]

Here's the full story as reported by the Cruise Critic news.

 

"April 12, 2004

 

Coast Guard Forces Celebrity's Galaxy To Depart Charleston

In what appears to be the result of a computer snafu, 382 passengers on last week's 11-night Galaxy cruise from Baltimore to the Caribbean were ... stranded. In Charleston, South Carolina, that is -- a genteel port city where it is fair to say the concept of being stranded is an oxymoron.

 

The ship was slated to dock in Charleston and duly -- as is required by post-September 11 law -- filed its passenger manifest to the U.S. Coast Guard via email somewhat in advance of its deadline. Alas, due to a boondoggle that, at this point is still not quite unwound, the ship's dispatch wasn't received in time.

 

The ship arrived, as scheduled, in the relatively early morning hours of April 7 ... and began to disembark passengers for the day's excursions in Charleston. Alas, sometime around mid-day, the Coast Guard figured out that it hadn't received the manifest within the required time frame and so, at about 2 p.m., ordered the ship to head for international waters. Which Galaxy did indeed do -- sailing 12 miles out while some 382 passengers were still meandering around Charleston, completely unaware that the ship had, well, left. Galaxy staffers did remain at the port to alert unsuspecting travelers (and let's be honest, who wouldn't want the luxury of a few extra free hours in Charleston?).

 

Ultimately, Celebrity Galaxy was permitted to return once the 24-hour mark had passed (about 7 p.m.) and it quickly picked up remaining passengers and headed out for two days at sea before its next port call at St. Maarten. The Coast Guard and Celebrity Cruises are still disputing the issue (Celebrity maintains, and according to a source has the records to prove, that it sent its list a full day and a half in advance of its arrival at Charleston). "We were able to show that our computers were speaking to the Coast Guard computers," says Michael Sheehan, a Celebrity spokesman, "and for reasons no one yet knows the transmission didn't arrive for 21 hours."

 

This is the second instance in 2004 when the Coast Guard has played "tough guy" to ships not adhering to the 24-hour regulation (whether it was the fault of a computer connection, or manifests simply were ignored). Earlier this year, P&O's Oceana neglected to file its manifest -- at all -- and yet still assumed its scheduled anchor position in St. Thomas. Passengers were being readied for tender transport onto the island before Coast Guard officials ordered the ship to depart."

 

Char

 

[cruiselovers]

Tom Ridge and his DHS are idiots...These lame excuses for Govt employees are causing mass disruption...It took us 2 1/2 hours to get off RCL the other day...3 Customs (idiot) employees were trying to disembark 3600 passengers...Can't imagine how many hundreds of passengers missed their flights due to the total incompetence of the customs people...

 

These guys take the fun out of cruising!

 

Princess: Ocean: 3/02

RCL: Enchantment: 8/01

Grandeur 1/00

Celebrity: Century 8/00

Galaxy 8/03

NCL: Norway: 7/86, 3/87, 6/90, 4/03

Navigator of the Seas 4/04, Golden Princess 8/04

 

[tbelian]

America -

 

Land of the free, home of the brave!

 

Trying to keep it that way.

 

The world, and more specifically, America, has been changed. Deal with it, or, move. Despite the changes, bad or good, that have been made, 'we' Americans still have more civil liberties than any other country on the planet.

[AlC]

Sorry, tbelian, but.......

 

America and has been the Land of the Free....and because of terrorist attacks inside our borders we are asked to accept limits on our freedom. If the "DHS" asks us to do this, the department should be prepared to enforce the laws professionally and proficiently.

 

Failing to do this makes the "DHS" look like a bunch of bumbling idiots. One does not clear 2000 or so pax with 3 customs agents. One does not allow a shipload of potential terrorists to offload then move the ship. The only people being inconvenienced by these goof-ups are freedom loving Americans not Islamic terrorists. That is why we get posts from posters with strong opinions.

[Cathy Laz]

I'm with you TEBELIAN,

 

Nothing will ever be the same again. I was sitting in the middle of the Atlantic heading to Canada on 9/11. We were "sitting ducks" so to speak and that day changed the way I think and look at everything. We are not perfect, but if we do not try to find a way to accommodate our pleasure with security, we might as well go back home and lock ourselves inside forever. I am more willing to put up with a little more inconvenience for the security of our freedom. It may not work, but we have to try. It is so easy to blame our Government instead of supporting it - broken as it may be. It is still better than most.

[patqrq]

Was one of the passengers stranded in Charleston.An announcement was made on board at approx. 1030 AM that no one would be permitted to embark or disembark from that point on and that the ship would be temporarily reposition for several hours until the "paper work" was corrected.We were provided with pizza and sodas in the terminal.For those of us who had lunch in town,we were reimbursed via our stateroom account.The following day we had open bar for one hour prior to each dinner seating.I also heard that the passengers who were not able to disembark in Charleston were reimbursed port fees.Celebrity was very apologetic for what they claimed was the coast guard's mistake.Upon embarking at approx 7:30 pm, we were informed by members of the coast guard that it was the cruise line's fault.We made the best of the extra time in port and did not let it ruin our vacation.

 

ppppqqqq

[angelpug]

Thanks patquq for posting!

 

It's nice to get firsthand information. Glad Celebrity helped everyone make the best of it!

 

Hope the rest of your cruise was wonderful. You were boarding the Galaxy as we were disembarking...sorry we took a little longer than usual to get back! The Atlantic was a bit rough on the Sunday before we got back to Baltimore...made for a crazy packing day!

 

Take Care!

Jaime

 

Until We're on the Summit

 

[jgrkld]

One of my co-workers was on your cruise, so I'll hear from him on Monday.

 

Charleston is a wonderful place. I'm happy you made the best of it. If I were to be stranded, this is the place I would want to be "stranded." I'd probably thank the Galaxy for leaving me there longer (we've been there 5 times - 2 times with the Galaxy). It sounds like Celebrity tried to compensate. It seems more people would have been in port by 10:30am than what was reported.

 

Celebrity Galaxy Eastern Caribbean 3/25/2002 & 11/24/2003; Celebrity Galaxy Western Caribbean 11/22/2002 & 4/18/2003; Celebrity Millennium Mediterranean 9/8/2003

[wallie5446]

Looks like the folks that were on the cruise had no problem with what, how, why, when, & where. Only problem is with them that had to stay home and post to these boards.

 

WE LOVE THE WATER AS LONG AS WE ARE ON A CRUISE