Question:

This article is an update from when the Holiday made its 4 day trip to Cozumel on 12/30 a Cruise To Nowhere. This article is in today’s Mobile Register. David Jacobson Baton Rouge Holiday faces week in dry dock Saturday, January 01, 2005 By EDDIE CURRAN Staff Reporter Vacationers with reservations aboard Carnival’s Holiday won’t be cruising to Mexico but will instead be visiting closer destinations or no destinations at all, a company spokeswoman said Friday. Some voyages scheduled for this month face cancellation, she said. The Holiday’s next cruise, a five-day voyage departing Monday with day-long stops in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, won’t make it to those Mexican resorts, said spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz. Instead, the ship is headed to Key West, Fla., where passengers will have several hours to go ashore, she said. By early next week, the company hopes to know when the Holiday can come out of the water for repairs. The repair schedule will in turn determine the status of future cruises, the spokeswoman said. One thing’s for certain: The Holiday’s engine requires repairs that are expected to take a week or longer, and cruises prior to those repairs won’t be making their scheduled stops in Mexican resort areas, said de la Cruz. The Holiday can only sail at about half speed, and in the allotted time periods can’t make it to Mexico and back, she said. "We haven’t officially made any determinations beyond Monday’s voyage, because we’re trying to nail down when the ship will go into dry docks," said de la Cruz. "We want to have all our ducks in row before we start making any announcements beyond Monday." Carnival, which operates the Holiday, is contacting travel agents who booked people on Monday’s cruise to notify their customers of the change. Passengers will have the option of canceling and receiving a refund or a credit for a future cruise, or proceeding with their trips. Those who choose the second option will receive a $100 credit for on-board purchases. "We did send faxes to all the travel agents, but given that it’s a holiday weekend, we’re hoping that as many people as possible get the word," de la Cruz said. Those who don’t will be told about the change in plans as they arrive at the Mobile Cruise Terminal on Monday, she said. Alton Wallace of Orange Beach and his wife Patsy won’t be making the drive to Mobile on Monday, he said. "I don’t really want to go to Key West. I’d rather just get my money back if that’s what they’re going to do," Wallace said Friday. The Wallaces have one of about 20 cabins reserved by choir members at Gulf Shores Methodist Church, he said. "I’ve heard from several others that they would just want their money back," he said. The engine problems developed on the voyage that returned to port Thursday morning, and the company immediately tried to ascertain the extent of the problems, as passengers for that afternoon’s cruise arrived at the terminal. "They brought in divers to look at the ship, and by the time they realized the extent of the problem, we had processed about 250 people (for Thursday afternoon’s trip) and had another 300 in line waiting," Mobile cruise terminal director Al St. Clair said Friday. Carnival decided to go ahead with the four-day cruise, and to call it the "Cruise to Nowhere." That’s an industry term usually applied to planned two-day trips without a destination, said the Carnival spokeswoman. About 5 percent of the 1,700 people canceled but most went ahead with the trip, a company official said. The reaction to the news was mixed, but there was "not anybody who was real happy," said St. Clair, who was at the terminal Thursday. "It was not an easy decision for people to make, and we had quite a few people who deliberated quite awhile," St. Clair said. "One of the concerns was, ‘How far would they be going?’ They wanted to go some place warmer where they could enjoy the pool, and at that point in time, it was rather sketchy, and I still don’t know how far out they went," he said. "We tried to help them from a terminal standpoint as much as we could, and those that left, we refunded their parking money right away," he said. As of Friday afternoon, de la Cruz wasn’t sure how far south the Holiday would venture. "The captain will just be looking for good weather and smooth seas," she said. "One of the nice things is that they don’t have to sail to a particular direction and they can just try to find good weather." The ship, which is the oldest vessel in Carnival’s fleet, requires a part that’s made in Italy, St. Clair said. The second factor, he said, is available space at a ship repair facility, probably Mobile’s Atlantic Marine. Said de la Cruz, "The facility has to have room for us and we have to have parts in, so there’s quite a bit involved to get it scheduled, but we’re working diligently." Currently scheduled cruises past Monday include the five-day excursion to Mexico set to leave Thursday, a four-day trip set to depart next Saturday, and a five-day voyage scheduled to begin Jan. 16. That trip almost surely will be canceled, St. Clair said. "They’re going to go into dry dock and they expect to be in dry dock for about a week to repair the engine, then they’ll need to do a sea trial," the Mobile city official said. De la Cruz encouraged people with reservations for upcoming voyages to contact their travel agents. Also, they can call 1-800-CARNIVAL. "We’ll give them updates as soon as we have them," she said. The city invested $20 million in the cruise terminal, and bad news for Carnival is bad news for the city. St. Clair said he hopes news of the Holiday’s problems won’t dampen what to date has been a successful operation. "Some people will, I guess, think a little bit more carefully before taking a cruise out of here than they normally would, but other than that, we’re doing the best we can," St. Clair said. "We try to make it as painless as possible from a terminal standpoint."

Response:

snip >The engine problems developed on the voyage snip >"They brought in divers to look at the ship,

Divers to inspect mills? Unless it was an intake issue, divers would only be called in for running gear inspection (or hull eyeballing). The engines are inside the ship, although I guess in the case of electric pods, one could consider the pods themselves as an "engine". Tis a bummer about the CTN that those who entered into a passage contract had to make do with. Stuff happens <shrug>

Response:

This article is an update from when the Holiday made its 4 day trip to Cozumel on 12/30 a Cruise To Nowhere. This article is in today’s Mobile Register. David Jacobson Baton Rouge Holiday faces week in dry dock Saturday, January 01, 2005 By EDDIE CURRAN Staff Reporter Vacationers with reservations aboard Carnival’s Holiday won’t be cruising to Mexico but will instead be visiting closer destinations or no destinations at all, a company spokeswoman said Friday. Some voyages scheduled for this month face cancellation, she said. The Holiday’s next cruise, a five-day voyage departing Monday with day-long stops in Cozumel and Playa del Carmen, won’t make it to those Mexican resorts, said spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz. Instead, the ship is headed to Key West, Fla., where passengers will have several hours to go ashore, she said. By early next week, the company hopes to know when the Holiday can come out of the water for repairs. The repair schedule will in turn determine the status of future cruises, the spokeswoman said. One thing’s for certain: The Holiday’s engine requires repairs that are expected to take a week or longer, and cruises prior to those repairs won’t be making their scheduled stops in Mexican resort areas, said de la Cruz. The Holiday can only sail at about half speed, and in the allotted time periods can’t make it to Mexico and back, she said. "We haven’t officially made any determinations beyond Monday’s voyage, because we’re trying to nail down when the ship will go into dry docks," said de la Cruz. "We want to have all our ducks in row before we start making any announcements beyond Monday." Carnival, which operates the Holiday, is contacting travel agents who booked people on Monday’s cruise to notify their customers of the change. Passengers will have the option of canceling and receiving a refund or a credit for a future cruise, or proceeding with their trips. Those who choose the second option will receive a $100 credit for on-board purchases. "We did send faxes to all the travel agents, but given that it’s a holiday weekend, we’re hoping that as many people as possible get the word," de la Cruz said. Those who don’t will be told about the change in plans as they arrive at the Mobile Cruise Terminal on Monday, she said. Alton Wallace of Orange Beach and his wife Patsy won’t be making the drive to Mobile on Monday, he said. "I don’t really want to go to Key West. I’d rather just get my money back if that’s what they’re going to do," Wallace said Friday. The Wallaces have one of about 20 cabins reserved by choir members at Gulf Shores Methodist Church, he said. "I’ve heard from several others that they would just want their money back," he said. The engine problems developed on the voyage that returned to port Thursday morning, and the company immediately tried to ascertain the extent of the problems, as passengers for that afternoon’s cruise arrived at the terminal. "They brought in divers to look at the ship, and by the time they realized the extent of the problem, we had processed about 250 people (for Thursday afternoon’s trip) and had another 300 in line waiting," Mobile cruise terminal director Al St. Clair said Friday. Carnival decided to go ahead with the four-day cruise, and to call it the "Cruise to Nowhere." That’s an industry term usually applied to planned two-day trips without a destination, said the Carnival spokeswoman. About 5 percent of the 1,700 people canceled but most went ahead with the trip, a company official said. The reaction to the news was mixed, but there was "not anybody who was real happy," said St. Clair, who was at the terminal Thursday. "It was not an easy decision for people to make, and we had quite a few people who deliberated quite awhile," St. Clair said. "One of the concerns was, ‘How far would they be going?’ They wanted to go some place warmer where they could enjoy the pool, and at that point in time, it was rather sketchy, and I still don’t know how far out they went," he said. "We tried to help them from a terminal standpoint as much as we could, and those that left, we refunded their parking money right away," he said. As of Friday afternoon, de la Cruz wasn’t sure how far south the Holiday would venture. "The captain will just be looking for good weather and smooth seas," she said. "One of the nice things is that they don’t have to sail to a particular direction and they can just try to find good weather." The ship, which is the oldest vessel in Carnival’s fleet, requires a part that’s made in Italy, St. Clair said. The second factor, he said, is available space at a ship repair facility, probably Mobile’s Atlantic Marine. Said de la Cruz, "The facility has to have room for us and we have to have parts in, so there’s quite a bit involved to get it scheduled, but we’re working diligently." Currently scheduled cruises past Monday include the five-day excursion to Mexico set to leave Thursday, a four-day trip set to depart next Saturday, and a five-day voyage scheduled to begin Jan. 16. That trip almost surely will be canceled, St. Clair said. "They’re going to go into dry dock and they expect to be in dry dock for about a week to repair the engine, then they’ll need to do a sea trial," the Mobile city official said. De la Cruz encouraged people with reservations for upcoming voyages to contact their travel agents. Also, they can call 1-800-CARNIVAL. "We’ll give them updates as soon as we have them," she said. The city invested $20 million in the cruise terminal, and bad news for Carnival is bad news for the city. St. Clair said he hopes news of the Holiday’s problems won’t dampen what to date has been a successful operation. "Some people will, I guess, think a little bit more carefully before taking a cruise out of here than they normally would, but other than that, we’re doing the best we can," St. Clair said. "We try to make it as painless as possible from a terminal standpoint."

Response:

snip >The engine problems developed on the voyage snip >"They brought in divers to look at the ship,

Divers to inspect mills? Unless it was an intake issue, divers would only be called in for running gear inspection (or hull eyeballing). The engines are inside the ship, although I guess in the case of electric pods, one could consider the pods themselves as an "engine". Tis a bummer about the CTN that those who entered into a passage contract had to make do with. Stuff happens <shrug>

Response: