The cancelled sailing is a seven-night Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Seward. Summit is currently sailing a 13-night West Coast / Alaska cruise that will end in Vancouver, as scheduled on May 20.

Guests booked on the cancelled sailing will receive a full refund and a free Celebrity cruise from North America of up to seven nights, departing on or before September 30, 2007, excluding holiday and Celebrity Xpedition sailings. Travel agents will receive full commissions for the cancelled sailing, plus a $50 rebooking fee per stateroom when their clients reschedule their cruise.

"I sincerely apologize to our guests who are affected by this cancelled cruise," said Dan Hanrahan, president of Celebrity Cruises. "Although Summit continues to operate safely, this is a matter that must be addressed now. Our business is to provide the best vacations possible and I regret the disruption this will cause our guests. We will do everything we can to assist them onboard other sailings."

Celebrity has established a special help desk to assist guests and travel agents with rebooking, air transportation, land tours and other issues. That toll-free number is 1-888-281-9343.

The cancelled cruise is expected to have a negative impact on the earnings of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. of approximately $.04 per share.

[ 05-11-2006: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

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RCCL pod plague continues
May 11, 2006

YET another cruise has been cancelled due to emergency podded propulsion maintenance. The Vancouver-Seward sailing of Summit, scheduled for 20 May and operated by Celebrity Cruises, will be cancelled as the vessel is dry docked to replace its starboard thrust bearing. “Although Summit continues to operate safely, this is a matter that must be addressed now,” said Celebrity president Dan Hanrahan. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd-owned vessels have been persistently plagued by voyage cancellations since the launch of Chantiers de l’Atlantique newbuildings with the Mermaid podded propulsion system. According to UBS analyst Robin Farley, the Summit dry docking will represent the twelfth time a Millennium-class vessel has been hit by this issue, bringing the cumulative impact on RCCL to $0.34-$0.39 per share since 2001. RCCL continues to pursue its legal case against Mermaid manufacturer Rolls-Royce. Rolls-Royce has previously told Fairplay that pod performance “depends not only on its design but on how it is integrated into the ship”.

Fairplay

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Originally posted by Jonathan:
Summit always seems to have a lot of problems with pods

Jonathan

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It seems like Celebrity has dealt with pod problems on the entire MILLENIUM Class--I believe all 4 of those vessels have had sailings cancelled due to problems or preventative measures taken with the pods.

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Originally posted by cruiseshipluver:
i figure that bow thrusters work very hard... might not be as hard as the main propulsion units. When summit isnt using the thrusters to turn, she is usign them to dynamic position or for lateral movement towards or away from a berth... So its only a matter of time b4 a cruise ship's thrusters have to be repaired or maintained.
cruiseshipluver

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Originally posted by Joe1690:
[QB]Yep, all 4 millennium class vessels have had pod problems. THe pods were designed to last 2 years but unfortunately they have not. QB]

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I did not realize that these pods were "disposable", only intended to operate during a short life-span. I always thought they were a long-term component of the entire ship!

Is this true of all pods on every ship?

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Originally posted by Matts:
Sorry about the bow thruster thing - that was me misreading.

As for 2 yrs - I thought that was something to do with ball bearings isn't it - certainly not changing whole pods. Otherwise surely they would have picked some reliable ones by now

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It's the thrust bearings that are causing the problems with the Mermaid pods on the Millenium Class ships. They are not ball bearings. They are ring shaped bearings that transfer the thrust being generated by the prop and its shaft to the pod. Without a thrust bearing the prop would pull its own shaft right out of the pod.

As for the statement about the pods only being designed to last 2 years? That is one of the most ridiculous posts ever posted on this forum.

Brian

[ 05-11-2006: Message edited by: Brian_O ]

That also doesnt make much sense. A mechanical peice such as that should not have to be replaced every 2 years. You dont see any other ships with pods and im asuming that they all share some sort of similar bearing that functions that same way only modified differently for the pod, but you dont see any other ship with pods having to have a bearing replaced every 2 years. The simple explanation to my knowledge of this problem is manufacturer flaw.

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Originally posted by Ernst:
Also other podded vessels have problems - but the Millenium class appears to be the worst.

Has anyone more detailed informations on problems with pods (not only with the Millenium class)? (I do not consider 'bearing problems' as detailed description) Why is everyone so tight lipped about that?

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Originally posted by Jonathan:
Wasnt at one point celebrity suing the manufacturer of the pods on all its milli calss vessels?

Jonathan

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They were suing Alstom and Rolls Royce, but I haven't seen any follow up.

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Jonathan wrote:
Wasnt at one point celebrity suing the manufacturer of the pods on all its milli calss vessels?

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Jonathan, the above report I posted from Fairplay answers your question: RCCL continues to pursue its legal case against Mermaid manufacturer Rolls-Royce.

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[ 05-12-2006: Message edited by: Pascal ]

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Originally posted by Pascal:
As far as I know, MSC Opera and Lirica have pods, just like Carnival and Costa Spirit class, HAL and P&O Vista class, RCI's Voyager and Radiance classes. I think we've never heard of any propulsion trouble with those ships.

[ 05-12-2006: Message edited by: Pascal ]

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Not all pods are the same and Rolls Royce is not the only manufacturer of pods.

It is the Rolls Royce Mermaid pods rather than pods in general that have been causing huge problems for Celebrity's Millenium Class ships.

On the other hand, ABB's Azipods have proved to be less troublesome to date.

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Originally posted by Pascal:
As far as I know, MSC Opera and Lirica have pods, just like Carnival and Costa Spirit class, HAL and P&O Vista class, RCI's Voyager and Radiance classes. I think we've never heard of any propulsion trouble with those ships.

[ 05-12-2006: Message edited by: Pascal ]

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