Source: Cruise Junkie dot Com


Events at Sea by Mercury

Other
Ships:

Century (1995)
Constellation (2002)
Galaxy (1996)
Infinity (2001)

Mercury (1997)
Millennium (2000)
Summit (2001)
Zenith (1992)
Xpedition (2001)

Click here for Illness Outbreaks by Mercury

Click here for Illness Outbreaks by Celebrity Cruises
Click here for Environmental Events and Fines by Celebrity Cruises (RCCL)
Click here to return to Events by ... Index Page



The events listed have been reported in the public domain or to cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard.  The list is by no means comprehensive.  For that reason it is necessary to be cautious in drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data.  Keep in mind that some companies may be more transparent than others about things that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate.  With that said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns seen viewed separately by ship.




Updated 1 March 07
dd/mm/yy
2007
Incident
18.2.07

On-board the Mercury: the ship was forced to return to San Diego after five hours at sea so that divers could remove fishing line and rope wrapped around the starboard propeller shaft.  When the ship finally left San Diego it was 13 hours behind schedule on its 14-day cruise to Fort Lauderdale.  The itinerary was modified to skip the first port, Cabo San Lucas, and the scheduled arrival and departure for the second, Acapulco, was altered. Staterooms received a shipboard credit that varied based on stateroom category..

Delay
--
Missed port
dd/mm/yy
2006
Incident
16.11.06
The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer report that Celebrity Cruises faces a $100,000 fine for the Mercury dumping 500,000 gallons of untreated wastewater into Puget Sound.  Though it initially claimed it hadn't dumped, shipboard documents contradicted the company's claim.  The dumping happended 10 times over nine days in September and October 2005.
Environmental
19.5.06
Coast Guard officers removed the captian from them ship after he failed a breath-alcohol test during a routine safety inspection.  The ship delayed its departure from Seattle until a new captain was located.  On July 31, the Captain pled guilty to  operating a ship while under the influence of alcohol; he paid 1 fine of $15,000 and placed on probation for one year.  He also was banned from entering U.S. waters as an employee of any commercial vessel for one year. Intoxicated Captain
1.5.06
From a passenger:  On the 4/28-5/8 2006 sailing from San Diego to Mex. Rivera the ship lissed Mazatlan due to a partial breakdown of main bearings in one of the propeller shafts.  The ship went from Cabo San Lucas to Acapulco in order to effect repairs.  The engineering staff said considerably abnormal levels of metal shavings were noted in the bearing packs indicating an imminent breakdown.  A $25/person credit was issued for missing Mazatlan -- we spent 2 days in Acapulco instead of one. Missed Port
dd/mm/yy
2005 and earlier
Incident
27.8 - 3.9.04
A 40 year old passenger went missing the second day of the cruise.  The cruise line calls the disappearance a suicide but the family thinks otherwise, especially given that the cruise line had withheld information from them.  (See Arizona Republic, November 10, 2005, "Daughter vanishes while on Alaskan cruise: The strange disappearance of Miriam Carver)  For more information see here.
Passenger missing
16.5.03
Miami Herald reported on May 17 that a suit had been filed charging that RCI and Celebrity Cruises charged at least $150 million in fraudulent taxes to passengers that the companies pocketed as additional fare revenue.  A settlement reached in 1997 in a similar case barred RCI and Celebrity from charging customers "any fees in addition to the advertised initial ticket price, except those fees acrually passed on by the company to a government agency." (See "Cruise lines accused of fraud," Jay Weaver and Dale K. Dupont, Miami Herald, May 17, 2003)
Port taxes



Illness Outbreaks at Sea by Mercury

dd/mm/yy
Reported Illness Outbreaks
9.6.06
The ship reported that 4 of 848  (0487%) crew and 121 of 2025 (5.98%) passengers were ill.  The predominant symptoms were vomiting and diarrhea.  The 7 day Alaska cruise ended in Seattle on June 9.
4.4.06
From a passenger onboard after two cruises with illness outbreaks:
We left San Diego on 03/27 - 4/07 cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  Embarkation was slightly delayed so the ship could be completely sanitized as 5% of the pax on previous cruise reported symptoms of GI illness.  We were told that some sanitizing efforts would be ongoing while the ship cruised. The reality was this: On day three they began spraying every surface with chlorine bleach around the clock. Doors, walls, hand rails, chairs, tables, desks, mirrors, elevators both inside and outside. Literally everything.  We left the ship in Acapulco on Sunday (April 2) because the living conditions were unbearable.  Walls were running with chlorine, clothes were being ruined, breathing was difficult, eyes and mucus membranes irritated from exposure to the fumes.  Many pax were annoyed and angry but I guess my tolerance is far less than theirs.  Celebrity agreed to pay for a flight home from Acapulco.  Passengers remaining onboard were told Tuesday night (April 4) that they would
receive a 25 percent refund of the amount paid for this sailing, and a 25 percent credit for a future Celebrity cruise (based on the amount paid for this sailing).
27.3.06
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the ship returned from a 10-day Mexican Riviera cruise during which 107 of 1976 (5.41%) passengers and 24 of 841 (2.85%) crew members reported ill with symptoms consistent with norovirus.  The cruise line's Director of Corporate Communications said the virus was brought on board by a guest, but the fact is that this is the second cruise in a row with the illness -- it was likely already on the ship.  Go here for a passenger's account of being onboard.
17.3.06
On March 14, 2006, Celebrity Cruises reported that an elevated number of passengers and crew were experiencing symptoms consistent with acute gastroenteritis, mainly diarrhea and vomiting.  On March 17, the ship’s medical staff indicated 14 of 840 (1.67%) crew and 191 of 1902 (10.04%) passengers had reported ill. The ship is on an 11 night Mexican Riviera cruise due to end in San Diego on March 17.
2.3.04
I received a report from a passenger who had been quarantined in his room for three days that a number of passengers became ill with gastrointestinal illness on the February 20th ten day cruise to Mexico. The total number reporting ill is unknown and probably remained below the 3% threshold (for this ship, less than 56) of the CDC.
16.8.02
Health Canada is investigating an outbreak of salmonella on two separate cruises (July 28, August 4).  30 cases were reported, though the outbreak likely affected more people who have not reported illness.  Salmonella is a bacteria that is transmitted through food or drink.