USA Today is reporting that Celebrity Century has suffered some sort of rudder damage that will necessitate a drydock. As such, the current Mediterranean sailing - which only departed two days ago - is now cancelled.
Divers reportedly discovered the problem while the ship was docked in Villefranche, near Nice, France. What led divers to inspect the ship in the first place is still unclear. It is also unknown how and when the rudders became damaged.
Passengers are reportedly allowed to stay onboard the ship until Saturday, at which time they have to be off. Complicating matters is the fact that hotel space in Villefranche and Nice is not only scarce, it's beyond the means of many passengers. USA Today states Celebrity is only offering bus transportation back to the embarkation port of Barcelona - a ten hour trip - due to the recent French rail strike.
At this point, the line still expects to operate the October 25th Transatlantic to Miami as scheduled.
We will update this story as more details become available.
2 comments:
I was on this cruise. Your comments are way understated. Celebrity was not prepared for this. Imagine if it happened at sea that first evening. You might want to check the crew listing for the next sailing to see if the Captain's name has been changed.
Hi William,
Your comments echo everything I've been reading about the incident aboard Century: it sounds like Celebrity handled things miserably, creating one of the worst PR disasters I've personally seen of late.
I suspect they've lost many passengers thanks to the poor handling of their guests. I do hope your next cruise is better!
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