Infinity Hawaii 4/8/07

[JanePT]

I just heard from my TA that there has been an "itinerary modification" on this cruise. Celebrity is eliminating one day in Honolulu. The reason stated is speed constraints. Has anyone heard anything else about this?

 

[BSeabob]

Unfortunately this is true!! Dry dock is scheduled for Victoria BC week of 20th may. before the Alaska season starts. My informaation is that X has offered compensation to Pax in various levels depending on your booking and place of origin. You should check with your TA are booking agency.

 

[MamaFlo]

We are on the cruise immediately after yours and our itinerary has also changed, we get into Hilo 2 hours later and depart Maui 12 hours earlier.
For this we are getting a $300 shipboard credit (we are in a CC cabin). From what I understand, both your cruise and ours is being compensated the same:
$200 - interior and windowed cabins
$300 - balcony cabins (reg & cc)
$500 - suite (ss, cs, rs, ph)

We feel this was fair compensation especially when part of the missed time (for us) in Maui we would have been sleeping anyway.

We are just hoping that the cruise isn't cancelled. We can handle missed ports, etc, we'd be devestated with a cancelled cruise.

Enjoy your cruise on Infinity and bring her back in good condition for us .

 

[JanePT]

Thanks for the info. I agree, I think the compensation is fair. I'd rather be on the ship! Eleven more days. Can't wait!!!

 

[Spender Nui]

[quote JanePT]I just heard from my TA that there has been an "itinerary modification" on this cruise. Celebrity is eliminating one day in Honolulu. The reason stated is speed constraints. Has anyone heard anything else about this?[/quote]


Was there more than one day scheduled in Honolulu? Whe we did this cruise we had only one day there. It would be a major disappointment to miss it.

 

[JanePT]

Hi - just back from the cruise and saw your response today. Yes, we were supposed to be in Honolulu from 7:00a.m 4/16 to 11:30 a.m. 4/17/07. Due to speed constraints, we left Oahu at 11:00 p.m. on 4/16. Apparently, that was not enough time either. Infinity arrived in San Diego nearly 6 hours late on Sunday. What a mess! We were driving, but many, many people had to spend their last days at sea trying to re-book flights/accommodations. As much as I love Celebrity, it will probably be never that I will sail on Infinity. That ship just has too many problems, which I know are well known to this group. I will write a full review in a few days.

 

[Conniemc]

Yeesh. So much misinformation out there. Okay guys, this is the straight poop. The ENTIRE Millenium class of ships, which includes Infinity, Millenium, Constellation AND Summit were built with serious defects in their rudders and stabelizer equipment. Naturally, RCCL spent billions on these ships. They couldn't "throw them away", so they began an active lawsuit with the builder years ago. In the meantime, each and every one of them "takes turns" breaking down. They dry dock them, bandaid the problem and resail. NOW....as you know, when you are engaged in a lawsuit of this proportion you cannot discuss it freely with your passengers. Therefore, while on board the ill fated 4/8 cruise, I heard every lie in the book told to passengers from "strong winds", "heavy seas", "minor engine issues", etc.

I have been sailing these ships since they were built, and will continue to, with the full knowledge that they will continue to "break down" every so often. The people who DO know the truth, will have it verified by higher ups or if you're Elite class, the rest will lie to you. I'm sure they are told to - it IS an active lawsuit. Unfortunately, I was one of the poor people who couldn't possibly make my flight back east, and it proved a very, very tiring 36 hour trip home. However, I got the "news" days before the rest of the ship and was able to reschedule on the redeye that night. Many people were stuck for days and had to pay for brand new tickets.

So, let's get the TRUE information out there, and end the misinformation. I had a MAGNIFICENT TIME and have already booked again. I stayed in CC, was at table 400 and could not have had a better cruise. Any details you might want, ask!=docdance

 

[BSeabob]

I'm not sure about the "Misinformation" that Conniemc is referring to. Hope it's not from our thread here. I just reread the thread and it looks ok.
X has a problem with the M class that we (those at Cruise @ddicts and others that keep in the know..know) That is for sure.

The cruise experience for An intinerary that is effected depends on where the ship is and how badly the problem of the day effects the speed of the particular ship. Long hauls suffer the most from what I have read. eg. the delays on the Hawaii crossings.

The Infinity seems to suffer most but purhaps the dry dock in the next few weeks will help. Fingers crossed.

We also enjoy the M class. big but not too big and feels smaller that it looks.
BUT those that cruise within a tight timeframe and or need the itinerary of a once in a life time cruise may want to think twice about this class until a fix is found.

 

[Conniemc]

Oh, not fom the board. I was specificially referring to my many sailings on M class where personnel continually spins the truth to the passengers. Although I WAS correcting the one lady who said she would never sail Infinity again. That's a mistake. It's the whole class, and like I said, the occasionally issues (as long as you go into the trip armed with that knowledge) are well worth taking anyway.

I thought the $300 credit I received was generous, since I couldn't have cared less about spending the night in Hawaii. However, NO ONE in Customer Service on the ship knew about it. Hundreds of passengers had to produce "proof" of such a credit and nearly 8 days went by, before "headquarters" confirmed the credit, and it was applied. I thought that was very poor communication in RCCL's end. And the REALLY late arrival should have been conveyed far sooner, to give people a chance to rebook. I think they delayed the announcement for so long, as to 1) give a more accurate number of hours late and 2) not to ruin everyone's last week at sea. But they clearly knew this issue many days before the announcement was made.

Again, I've been crusing for 30 years, starting back as a teenager on HAL, (Statdendam) and have sailed many other lines, before they all got eaten up into the mega companies we now have. Anyone remember Home Lines? I remained with HAL until the price wars destroyed the very thing I cruised for. All old time formalities and class. I found that in Celebrity back in 2000...and won't ever switch again. Although I'm still trying to convince my parents who remain with HAL or Princess and have done at least 57 cruises.

 

[Conniemc]

Boy, this stinks. I just watched the Infinity pull into San Diego ON TIME...and they got the same $300 credit I got. But we all missed all of our flights by arriving 6-7 hours late and also had our itinerary changed. Not fair! :X I couldn't quite tell from the cams, but they clearly changed the intinerary...maybe skipped a stop? Well, at least those people will be able to get home on time and get to work tomorrow.

 

[neelie]

I was on the cruise that sailed from San Diego April 22 and returned May 6 - on time. Yes, we got $300/cabin credits, too, but we also had several disapointments and itinerary changes to our planned trip.

We spent 5 hours in the SD Convention Center on April 22, waiting for the Infinity to first arrive then be prepared to sail again. We were initally told the ship would sail 5 hours late (10PM) but it got underway at around 8PM. We felt like herds of cattle as we were bussed from the CC to the pier, then loaded onto the ship. It was certainly a disappointing start to our long-awaited trip.

We booked over a year and a half prior to sailing. Several months after booking we were notified by the TA that Kauai was to be cut from the itinerary. We were told some lame story about damage to the dock from the earthquake last fall. We were told by a tour director in Hilo that there was no damage in Kauai.

Then a few weeks before sailing we were informed that one day of the scheduled two day stop in Maui would be cut. THEN a week or so after that the TA informed us that Kona was going to be cut! But it seems that there was enough flak generated from either TAs or cruisers, so Kona was not cut. We still lost a day in Maui.

We did have very rough seas on our return to San Diego. We sailed from Maui at 9:30 PM on April 30, and had 5 full days at sea, with two being pretty miserable from the intense rocking.

We were told many different stories as to why the ship was delayed, why the itinerary was changed, and why we were cruising below the ship's capability speed-wise. I think what really got me was that there were SO many lies. Why would a big company like Celebrity encourage their employees to lie to customers? I just did not get that.

I will certainly think twice about sailing with Celebrity again.

 

[Conniemc]

I beleive they would LIKE to tell you the truth, but is not legally or monetariy a good idea. No one is supposed to openly discuss a alawsuit, but they could at least they have one

 

[Frank Black]

The bottom line is that all the ships with Azipods (HAL has them , Carnival has them etc.) are prone to problems. But the Infinity has by far the worst record. And for some reason Celebrity keeps sending the Infinity to "speed sensitive" destinations like Hawaii and South America. So any loss of speed due to mechanical issues force cancellation of ports and late arrival times. Until it gets fixed, they should just stick the Infinity to shorter cruises with ports closer to each other.

 

[JanePT]

Hi Frank - I agree with you. I have had the pleasure of sailing on all the Millenium class ships. The only time I have experienced significant problems is when on the Infinity. That is why I will probably never book a future cruise when I am aware from the beginning that Infinity is the scheduled ship. We all work long and hard to be able to travel in the style we love, but I have to say after our 4/8/07 cruise to Hawaii, I felt totally ripped off when I got off the boat (and this was related to other issues I experienced on the ship, too). First time I ever felt that way after a Celebrity cruise! Additionally, I'm really not interested in any lawsuits -- not my problem -- but getting full value for my money is very interesting to me!

 

[BSeabob]

Frank

there are a number of firms that make Pods. Azi are NOT the ones on the M class. In fact their pods rarely have had problems at all. Perhaps they are the ones on the other lines that you mention in your post

The Pods on M Class are made by Rolls Royce of all companies. BTW QM2 has the same and they are called Mermaid Pods.

I've sailed the infinity a few times now. Once we had a cruise stopped. I still like the ship size space etc. but as I stated above if I had time constaints and or was planning "My once in a lifetime" cruise it would not be on the Infinity for sure and probably not any other M class.

I sure am going to miss my Zenith...It always got me to where I was going.

 

[Conniemc]

"We spent 5 hours in the SD Convention Center on April 22"

Holy New Orleans Batman - okay, you got me beat on that one. At least, we were given the luxury of an additional half day at sea (with all services open until 1:3opm), while our planes all took off without us. So, I suppose I would rather have had my problems than sit in a convention center until bedtime...we both had our itinerarys cut though - hence the $300 credit - but that really didn't bother me one bit. I just love to be at sea. My next sailing is Constellation 1/28/08 - it's in dry dock now - so hopefully it will be a smooth experience. And I'm sticking to CC Sky deck.