CARNIVAL SPLENDOR Repairs Until February 2011 – Updated
UPDATE: December 15, 2010:
Repairs will take even longer to complete and now the CARNIVAL SPLENDOR is not scheduled to return to service until February 20. The ship is currently in San Diego but will proceed to San Francisco for dry docking.
“We sincerely apologize to our guests for having to cancel these additional cruises,” said Gerry Cahill, Carnival’s president and CEO. “We made our best effort back in November to estimate the necessary repair time with a strong goal of not having to modify it at a later point in time. Unfortunately, as the repairs have progressed and we have discovered additional issues, it is now clear that we need more time. We know this is extremely disappointing for our guests and particularly disheartening for those who already had their vacations cancelled once and are now being affected again.”
UPDATE: November 18
CARNIVAL SPLENDOR will be moved today from her current B Street Pier to the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal, some two and half miles south. The ship is being relocated to an industrial facility more suited to the major repairs needed. Although there are three key shipyards in San Diego (General Dynamics NASSCO, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems), they all lie south of the 200 foot tall Coronado Bridge. CARNIVAL SPLENDOR requires a 215 foot clearance.. Carnival estimates that the vessel may be berthed at Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal through December.
Original Post: November 16
Carnival Cruise Lines announced today that repairs to CARNIVAL SPLENDOR, following the fire and power loss well covered in the media last week, will keep the ship out of service for two months. CARNIVAL SPLENDOR is scheduled to re-enter service on January 16, 2011 from Long Beach, CA.
Passengers who were booked on the canceled voyages will receive a full refund of their cruise fare and air transportation costs, along with a 25 percent discount on a future cruise.
CARNIVAL SPLENDOR was towed to San Diego, CA, where she remains today, following the fire which occurred off the Mexican coast on November 8.
A team from the U.S. Coast Guard, NTSB and flag authorities, along with Carnival’s engineers and technicians, is currently on board investigating the cause of the fire. Carnival personnel are being assisted by representatives of the shipyard that built the vessel and other manufacturers of engine room components in assessing damage and necessary repairs.
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What Carnival is not saying is that they are NOT protecting the rate booked by passengers on the upcoming cancelled cruises. It is all well and good to say they are giving a 25% discount on a future cruise, but if the new rate is more than 25% higher, Carnival stands to profit from the incovenience caused to passengers who will lose out on their vacations in the next two months. Their altruism is questionable at best.
If aft engine room out of order,the forward compartment must be able to provide enough power to avoid a complete loss of everythings at sea.If specialist and authorities are still assessing the dammages, how they can say newt cruise will have ETS Port the 16 Jan 2011???
Also it seems that tbe is no Ocean going tug available in this area, i say tugs with 200 Tons bollard pull ????
Many, and probably the majority of the passenegrs on the Slendor, were booked at low, discounted fares, not to mention, upgraded to higher priced accommodations. Re booking will be asssesssed on the particular booking and pricing and cabin assignment(s) based on the future canceled cruises, and applied to the new cruises on individual basis.
In all fairness to these futrure passengers, they can work out the best and most suiitable future cruise with Carnival directly, and if they booked initially with a reputable travel agent, their best solution SHOULD be taken care of.
As for the above quote “What Carnival is not saying…..” how does anyone know what carnival is saying, except those within the Carnival Corporation.
How foolish is that to base a thought just on pure guess work.
There are always bargains to be had on Mexico cruises. January is a lower cost month typically anyway. If not ……. possibly a lower rate on Princess or Holland America.
WOW ! Splendor really appears top heavy in that picture !
Shawn Dake’s comment is spot on. I experienced the same thing when I telephoned to rebook my canceled cruise. So I get to pay more money for a delayed cruise, and NOT get a 25% discount on a future cruise. I think Carnival is tring to win public support by presenting a general statement, but then twisting the details to their financial favor so as to recoup as much lost revenue as possible. They are in a tough spot, and it’s not the end of the world, but I certainly think they are being disingenuous.
This whole episode speaks volumes about the lack of redundancy in her systems. That’s the ship engineering and the safety regulations at fault, no matter what particular failure there was. I wonder how pervasive this design issue is?
We’ve lost quite a few fine ships to SOLAS 2010 and the Code is apparently not good enough.
This ship was fortunate to be only a few days out of port in dulcet conditions.
On John Heald’s blog entry of the 17th, he offers us a nice slideshow of the crew at work, food being loaded and prepared, and the Navy and CG nearby.
http://johnhealdsblog.com/2010/11/17/the-pictures-tell-the-story/
Pacific coast near San Diego have not Salvage tug of 200/250 Tons bollard pull. Only assistance tugs for LNG like the SMBC MONTERREY with 75 Tons.Difficult to believe that for a country so much active in all the ships security fields.!!!!
This is a suggestion for a more enlightned review of what may have taken place during the towing back to port during the Carnival Splendors journey.
Tuesdays Wall Street Journal, front page, below the fold, topic: SPAM, and the serving of food to passengers and crew during the towing.
The US press tore Carnival apart over the entire time the Splendor was dead in the water, This article helps to sort some issues out, and it appears that carnival was not the ogre the press made it out to be. visit the site at: WSJ.com
When I called to rebook I got the same answer “we did not promise to protect previous rates.” I have been a faithful Carnival cruiser for many hears. This was to be our 8th cruise, all on Carnival. I was extremely disappointed in how this was handled. Sure, we could get a refund, and sure we could rebook, but we booked over a year in advance to get a good rate, the 25% discount did not come close to the early saver fare we originally booked. We have been looking forward to this winter vacation ever since. Now they were telling me that I could rebook, but I was going to have to almost pay double! Not fair! I was on the phone for 2 hours, and 4 supervisors and finally got rebooked at the same price. I should not have had to work so hard to get what should have been automatically done in order to compensate. I am happy with their final offer to us, but this faithful Carnival cruiser was left not feeling like the feeling was mutual. Bad, bad experience. They had no control over the fact that we had our cruise canceled but full control of how to compensate their customers.
The new crop of mega liners dont have the hull lconfiguration
and deep draft that gives stability of liners of the past.
Top heavy ? Yes. A mere gist of wind will causing docking a nightmare!
Get used to arrival delays and dockside damages.
Here in Tidewater Virginia , just north of Hatteras NC, a rare winter event is taking place, and we are getting 12 inches of snow. Pretty, just the day after Chrstmas. My palm trees are a sight, as if they were iced by a bakers fine frosting. My Tibetan Terrier loves the snow. Whats not to love?
Canceled flights, passengers stuck in the Virginia airports, Norfolk and Newport News/Williamsburg, that can not get to their cruise port(s). Passengers stuck that only want to get home from holiday visits. Passsenger that can not get to their ships in Baltimore and New Jersey, Philly. Or, passengers trying to return home after a cruise.
Oh, this storm is a gentle giant, dropping lovely white stuff in my gardens, BUT the giant will enter the Atlantic, and blossom into a major blizzard to hit the major cities from DC northward. Oh to be on a new top heavy flat bottomed squared aft flounder in winter blizzard – NOT!
Unfortuately accidents happen. While I feel for these passengers I think that Carnival has nt taken responsibility for shoddy performance. I was on the Splendor in Decvember 2009 whe a fork lift ran into a water tight door and held up departure at Long Beach for almost 9 hours. As a result of that & them having to turn around to air evac an ill passenger, I lost almost $300.00 in a shore excursion at Puerto Vallarta. Carnivals’s response to this was basically “Sorrty about that” I booked a cruise for November of 2010 with the early saver rate & after long deliberation I cancelled it because of the bad taste I had over what happened with the Splendor. Bottom line is, yes Carnival is less expensive than other cruise lines but in the end you get what you pay for.