Millennium - two cruises disrupted/cancelled due to propeller trouble, ship now fixed

**Ally** · 07-05-2007, 11:02 AM

3rd July while in Villefranche, Millie touched bottom after drifting onto rocks. She is said to have scraped her hull and damaged her starboard propeller blades.

The port of call due at Florence was cancelled and the ship is making her way direct to Civitavecchia for repairs. Passengers have been compensated.

No injuries have been reported.

Previously there had also been electrical problems onboard.

**Ally** · 07-05-2007, 11:34 AM

Appears that the itinerary on the current cruise is all over the place. Replacement blades were sent for but not enough arrived so the ship stayed in Civitaveccia longer than expected, Naples is almost certainly off.

Cabin credits and compensation claims being dealt with but apparently the crew are pretty vague as to progress of repairs.

**Ally** · 07-05-2007, 01:36 PM

The revised itinerary will feature the cancellation of calls at Naples, Santorini and Athens. Instead, Millennium will go to Corfu, a new addition to its itinerary. It will finish out the cruise with an unscheduled visit to Dubrovnik and then wind up in Venice.

**Ally** · 07-06-2007, 04:49 PM

Celebrity Millennium, which has been under repair in Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) since July 4, is not resuming its 12-night Mediterranean cruise tonight as planned. The ship will remain in Civitavecchia until tomorrow, July 7.

The ship's propellers struck a rock while anchored off Villefranche on Monday and skipped a call at Livorno to head directly to Civitavecchia for repairs; three of the four blades on the starboard propeller and one on the port propeller needed replacing. Royal Caribbean spokesman Michael Sheehan said that a particularly stubborn bolt has thrown them off schedule.

Passengers will be getting a full refund, and Royal Caribbean is organizing transportation from Civitavecchia to Naples (a 4.5-hour motorcoach ride) as well as several different complementary tours.

**Ally** · 07-08-2007, 04:03 PM

The rumours are circulating that Millennium's next cruise could be in doubt. The repairs are not going well and if they are not completed within a set period of time, the next cruise is likely to be cancelled and the ship go into drydock.

If anything is announced it will be posted.

**Norman** · 07-08-2007, 04:25 PM

No problem on this boat, always carry a spare.

Norman

**Ally** · 07-08-2007, 04:29 PM

Ah...yes...sadly the Millie is pod driven, and she has several individual blades that have been distorted, Norman....no easy task to repair unfortunately. There is also the possibility that the pod (or pods) have been damaged in some way too.

She is due on her next cruise on 12th July. Having been stuck in Civitavecchia for 5 days now, does look like things have not gone according to plan.

Oh for the want of good old fashioned shafts & props

**Norman** · 07-08-2007, 04:39 PM

Yes, but the Millie is only a medium sized ship, hitting the bottom is a common occurrence, and with the larger ships being built and the ones sailing it seems this is going to happen regularly.

Norman

**Ally** · 07-08-2007, 04:40 PM

Alot of the NCL ships carry spare pod propellers on the bow...they often stand up like shark fins. Had Millie had spares, perhaps this delay in her repair would not have happened.

**Ally** · 07-08-2007, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dijoy

Yes, but the Millie is only a medium sized ship, hitting the bottom is a common occurrence, and with the larger ships being built and the ones sailing it seems this is going to happen regularly.

Norman

True...I dare say there was some choice language on the bridge when she wandered at anchor and grounded. Some poor blighter will get the blame for all this mess. The refund on the stuck cruise has apparently cost RCI/Celebrity 4c per share.