Ah, the azipods. The bane of existence for the NCL Star and our poor Captain. The ship has been bedeviled with problems since December, and NCL has tried to fix them on the fly – but obviously unsuccessfully. In a nutshell: They’ve changed itineraries since December, giving guests refunds ranging from 25% to 100%. The cruise prior to ours was so decimated – they lost Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Komodo, Cairns and Brisbane. A 21 day cruise with tons of ports ended up with only 4 ports and lots of sea days. It was so bad, that the passengers protested in the atrium to get more money back – they were originally given only a $1,000 shipboard credit and a 50% discount on a future cruise, but due to their protest got 100% of their cruise fare back.
We knew going in our cruise was affected as well. We lost Burnie in Tasmania, Napier in New Zealand and the Milford Sound sailing. We were bummed, because those were the only 2 new ports for us! – but what can you do? NCL gave us a $500 cabin credit and 25% off a future cruise, which we weren’t very happy about. We really felt that the cruise was affected more drastically than they were compensating. Missing the sound sailing was huge in our opinion. Before we left for Sydney, we actually emailed the CEO of the company with our concerns and made some phone calls – none of which were successful – but we’ve got some great contacts now!
But now. Well. Let’s just say the situation has changed. We sailed from Melbourne last night around 6:30, and woke this morning after a very smooth evening. A cold front had come through last evening, and the captain had told us to expect some rough seas, so I, for one, was very happy that it was so smooth and steady. Of course there was a reason for that: we’re not moving!
Oops. Apparently the 2nd of 2 azipods quit last night and we’ve been adrift off the coast of Australia for the whole night. That explains the smooth seas! We’ve only sailed 72 miles from Melbourne. Hmmm. I think missing 2 ports was the least of our worries!
The Captain made his first announcement around 8am, explaining we’d lost all propulsion and that we were waiting for a tug to come get us and tow us back to Melbourne, where we’ll be for 5 days. We’ll get a 100% refund and a 50% discount on the next NCL cruise we book. Plus, of course we can stay aboard and take advantage of all the services – which is a good thing because that means free food and drink! And we all know how expensive it is out there on land in Australia.
So for now…that’s our story of the cruise to nowhere. We will of course, continue our updates as we know more. That’s all for now in the peaceful, lake like Tasman sea, 17 miles off the coast of Australia.
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