STAR-BULLETIN / APRIL 2001 Celebrity Cruises had to cancel a Hawaii trip on the Infinity, pictured above, but the ship is expected to resume sailing next month.

---

Engine trouble cancels
10-day cruise to Hawaii

Celebrity Cruises has canceled a 10-day cruise to Hawaii because of engine trouble aboard one of its ships, the company said yesterday.

Passengers booked on the canceled cruise aboard the 1,950-passenger Infinity will get a full refund plus a free cruise of 10 nights or less on one of the company's other ships on or before this Sunday.

The Celebrity Cruises ship Infinity was scheduled to set sail on Sunday from Ensenada, Mexico, and cruise around the islands before arriving in Honolulu.

Celebrity had to cancel that trip because the starboard thrust bearing in the ship's propulsion system needs to be replaced, according to the Miami-based Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Because the ship will be in drydock for the work, the cruise had to be canceled, the company said. The Infinity, launched March 3, 2001, is one of the cruise line's Millennium class of ships, which were all built after 2000.

It's not the first time a Hawaii cruise has been canceled on the Infinity. In January 2003, two cruises to the islands were canceled when the ship also had to go into drydock for repairs.

The Infinity is expected to return to its scheduled sailings on April 6, when it is to begin an 11-night cruise from Honolulu through the islands, then to Ensenada.

Celebrity said the canceled cruise will cut earnings this year by 3 to 4 cents a share, according to Bloomberg News. The company said on Feb. 1 net income would rise to $2.70 to $2.90 a share in 2005 from $2.26 last year. The cancelation's impact on earnings will be evenly split between the first and second quarters, it said.

Dan Hanrahan, president of Celebrity Cruises, apologized in a statement for the cancellation.

"Although the ship continues to operate safely, this is a matter that must be addressed now," he said. "An unscheduled drydock can never happen at a good time and I am sorry about the disruption to our guests' vacations."