Following an incident in which Holland
America Line's Oosterdam sustained damage to one of its two azipod
propulsion units on Oct. 8, HAL has altered its current itinerary
to Mexico in order to arrive in San Diego one day early to repair
the units, the line said.
Damage to the portside
azipod has resulted in a
decreased cruising speed by about 20%. The starboard azipod is
completely functional and at no time was the safety or security of
the vessel in jeopardy, HAL said.
Due to the slower speed
of the vessel, the Oosterdam cancelled its scheduled call in Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico, and automatically credited all passengers with
shore excursions booked. In addition, HAL said each guest will
receive a $150 shipboard credit as well as a future travel discount
of 25% of the cruise fare paid.
The Oosterdam will
arrive in San Diego the afternoon of Oct. 13, where guests can opt
to stay onboard and disembark as scheduled on Saturday morning, or
they can disembark on Friday during a time period that will be
determined by government authorities.
The Oct. 14th sailing
will embark guests as scheduled.
To
contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Johanna
Jainchill at [email protected].