Alaska cruise canceled mid-passage for 2,200 passengers
| JUNEAU, Alaska
The Celebrity聽Cruises聽ship that returned to Ketchikan,聽Alaska, after experiencing mechanical issues last weekend will remain there at least until Thursday, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Cynthia Martinez, a spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean聽Cruises聽Ltd., which owns Celebrity聽Cruises, said by email that charter flights had started taking passengers from Ketchikan, in southeast聽Alaska, to Seattle or Vancouver, British Columbia. She said 635 of the roughly 2,200 passengers who were on the ship had booked a post-cruise tour with Celebrity聽Cruises聽and would remain on the Millennium until Thursday, since their tour was scheduled to begin on Friday. After their tours, they will return home as planned, she said.
Martinez has said the 965-foot ship, which also carried nearly 960 crew members, experienced a mechanical issue with one of its two propulsion motors. She said the ship had an issue with the same motor on a prior Alaska聽outing.
The mechanical problem also has forced the cancellation of four future Millennium聽cruises, Celebrity聽Cruises announced late Tuesday, sailings that had been scheduled for Aug. 23, Aug. 30, Sept. 6 and Sept. 13.
The current聽cruise聽was a seven-night sailing that had left Vancouver on Friday. It was leaving Ketchikan 鈥� one of several ports of call scheduled before the聽cruise聽was to end in Seward 鈥� on Sunday only to return later that evening. The ship has been there since.
Coast Guard spokesman Kip Wadlow said the聽cruise聽company will need to file a sail plan that will allow it to move the ship for further repairs. Martinez said the ship will be repaired in the Bahamas.
The聽cruise聽line has said passengers on the current聽cruise聽would receive refunds of their聽cruise聽fares and chartered air travel home. It also said it was offering future聽cruise聽certificates for 100 percent of the fare paid for this聽cruise.
Passengers booked for the additional canceled sailings are to receive full refunds and certificates for a futurecruise.
The聽cruise聽line was re-booking passengers on the current聽cruise聽who had purchased their air travel through the company, Martinez said. Those who made their own travel arrangements will need to make their own flight plans from the point of their charter flight destination, she said. The company will reimburse those guests for any change fees or change in fare price, Martinez said.
