ShipCritic Blog » Amazing But True

Can You Fall Off a Cruise Ship And Survive?

Anne Campbell — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:20:12 +0000

The answer is sometimes, if you’re damn lucky.

Yesterday a passenger fell from a Norwegian Cruise Line ship leaving New Orleans and survived; the crew saw him go over and immediately went after him. After being treated by NCL medical staff he disembarked for additional medical care.

Another happy ending: In 1996, shortly after a Carnival ship sailed from San Juan, a drunken 23 year old passenger fell off the ship. Part of a group celebrating Spring Break, the man decided to urinate off the side of the ship and climbed a 4 l/2 foot high railing into a restricted area. He fell 76 feet into the 850-foot deep harbor.

Both the Coast Guard and Carnival staff immediately commenced a rescue operation with boats and helicopters after closing the harbor. Despite hours of searching they never found him.

The passenger swam four miles back to San Juan and was found sitting on the beach, banged up a bit but sober. While he was in the water for 10 hours he was in relatively good condition.

The men who survived had two things in common: other passengers saw them go over and immediately notified the crew. And, they were very, very lucky. Other passengers have disappeared from cruise ships for unknown reason and never seen again.

Here’s a cute story. My brother and sister in law were aboard a Windjammer cruise when the ship’s cat fell overboard after being perched on a railing calmly watching passengers party. Crew members raced to a boat, rowed back to the likely spot he went overboard and pulled a terrified kitty from the water.

When they arrived back at the Windjammer boat, however, they were met by a Captain furious they had launched a rescue operation without permission (he wouldn’t have given it, not for a cat). And he announced that the cat would be disembarking at the next port of call.

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7 Things You Should NOT Do On A Cruise Ship

Anne Campbell — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 19:16:00 +0000

As a journalist covering the cruise industry I try to be as thorough as possible in providing tips and advice on taking a cruise. However it’s inevitable that I’ll overlook some actions that, in hindsight, should have been covered earlier. I’ll actually be surprised at the stupidity of some people, heightened with alcohol. Most of these can be covered in a short list of what NOT to do during your vacation.

1. Don’t wreck the ship. Cruise ship staff have no problem with well behaved drunks but do frown on highly inebriated passengers who try to damage the ship. A ship’s captain once told me how surprised a group of New York City fire fighters and cops were when he booted them all off the ship at the first port because while drunk, they ran around the ship pulling fire alarms.

2. Don’t try to sink the ship. You may have read about the drunken passenger who went into a restricted area and released the the Ryndam’s anchor. Since the ship was under sail this action could have sunken the vessel. As it was, passengers were woken up and had to go to muster stations with life jackets. The guy could get up to 20 years in prison.

3. Don’t try to have thrill-seeking sex in a lifeboat. Nothing you do on the deck of a cruise ship is private because cameras are everywhere. But let’s say you beat officers racing to grab you (you’ll later be tossed off the ship). The chances are very good you will fall in the ocean.

4. Don’t jump in the pool when there’s a net over it. Most often, a net over the pool means there’s no water in it. So when you take a flying leap you will get tangled in the net and it will be a very big deal for staff to get you out of this situation, not to mention embarrassing when passengers surrounding the pool laugh their heads off at your stupidity.

5. Don’t get into fights with other passengers or tell them to go f-ck themselves in public areas. In October we posted a story about an elderly couple who did just that and were tossed off a Cunard vessel. Click Here

6. Don’t climb over the railing. In January, 2001 a 19 year old Carnival Sensation passenger climbed over the railing and threatened to kill himself after an argument. After his girlfriend pleaded with him to climb to safety, he complied, but slipped and fell. He did not survive.

7. Don’t bring drugs aboard ship. I’ve heard Carnival’s famed cruise director, John Heald, telling passengers that if they bought drugs in port, to get rid of them before arriving in the home port, Miami. But invariably a passenger will ignore the warning, put pot in his/her suitcase and get busted the moment they disembark the ship. The DEA’s dogs, which sniff suitcases on the pier, will find the drugs.

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The Cruise Industry’s 9/11 Experience

Anne Campbell — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:02:12 +0000

EDITOR’S NOTE: We all remember where we were on 9/11 (I was in New York and this is always a horrible anniversary for those of us present for the disaster). The cruise industry also had an emergency with passengers and ships all over the globe. Below is my interview with the president of Princess Cruises about his challenges that day conducted after the event.

* * * * *

“Before the second plane hit, I reached the head of Princess’ marine operations and said, ‘this is going to be a very busy day,’” says Phil Kleweno, president of Princess Cruises.

While we all stood transfixed before our TVs as the terrorist attacks of September 11 unfolded, cruise line executives weren’t afforded that luxury. With millions of their customers literally at sea during one of the most precarious moments in our history, they had to react immediately to ensure their passengers’ safety.

In case you worry about another terrorist incident occurring while you’re aboard ship, or when you’re on the far side of the world about to embark on a cruise, it’s reassuring to know how quickly a cruise line can react, and what steps they will take to ensure your safety. The experience of Princess Cruises last September is typical of how effectively the major lines reacted in protecting their passengers.

Kleweno, like the rest of Princess’ staff, immediately jumped into action. “Even before the World Trade Center fell, I notified our call center to expect a huge rush of calls,” he said. Kleweno’s next order of business was to account for all the employees, staff and crew, then start studying the particular situation of each ship.

“Remember, we are all very dependent on air travel, and there’s a huge ripple effect in getting passengers to and from ships,” he points out.

His first priority was Royal Princess, which had sailed from New York en route to Newport, Rhode Island only hours before the attacks on the World Trade Center. Then there was the matter of 300 passengers who were staying in a midtown Manhattan hotel, scheduled to board a ship of Princess’ sister company, P&O. “For the first 24 hours, we had to account for each person, in some cases entering their rooms to see if the towels were wet, as evidence that they’d been in the hotel,” he recalled.

The Pacific Princess, on its way back to New York, had to be diverted to Boston.

But Kleweno’s biggest challenge was in Istanbul, where the Golden Princess was scheduled to disembark 2,600 passengers and board thousands of others, many of whom had just arrived in the Turkish city on or before September 11.

Trying to bring nervous passengers back home was a logistical nightmare, because all U.S. airports were shut down, and no one knew how long that would last. “There was no airlift–and we had thousands of people in Istanbul, in a Muslim country.

At the same time, our security folks were chatting with FBI, who were saying, ‘Gee, you have a big white target sitting in Istanbul,” he said

Kleweno said that as a matter of policy, Princess always defers to the recommendations of its own security staff. “We have security staff that interacts with all the governments. If they had said, ‘I don’t feel safe sitting in Istanbul,’ we would have left. And we have a longstanding, loyal relationship with local officials, especially the Turkish police. We were in constant contact with them, and they doubled the number of officers in port,” he said.

Still, there were nearly 800 passengers waiting to board Golden Princess, and 2,600 more disembarking in Istanbul who couldn’t get out of Turkey. Princess found hotel rooms for many, and opened up the ship to accommodate those who didn’t feel safe ashore. Planes were chartered all over the world to get passengers home. “We paid for everyone’s air, whether they bought a ticket from us or not,” Kleweno recalled.

The line decided to keep Golden Princess in Istanbul until all disembarking passengers were safely on their way out of the country. “The ship didn’t move until the wheels were up on the last charter,” he said.

The ship eventually left port four days late, on what was originally scheduled as a 12-day cruise to Barcelona, carrying 700 booked passengers and 700 others who stayed aboard from the previous cruise.

Kleweno credits the tireless work of his entire staff, in the Los Angeles office and aboard the company’s 19 ships scattered around the globe. “Everyone in the country had their own way of processing what was happening, but our staff put off their own feelings for a week in taking care of our passengers,” he said.

To learn what the experience was like for passengers, we chatted with Kathy Evans, who arrived in Istanbul on September 11, the day before her scheduled Golden Princess departure. She learned of the events happening in New York as she was visiting the Blue Mosque, where a young Moslem man told her how sorry he was that so many Americans had lost their lives. Back in her hotel, Kathy learned the awful truth from CNN.

“The next morning, September 12th, we called Princess, told them that we were in Istanbul and asked what we should do,” Kathy said. “They told us to be at the dock the following morning as scheduled. The cruise was still on, but there might be some changes in the scheduled stops. We felt very fortunate. Princess could have easily chosen to cancel the cruise and we would have been left with very few options.”

“From the very beginning of the cruise, Princess told us that the safety of their passengers took priority over everything else,” she recalled. She said the line kept its shore-side customers well informed of their options, including the line’s plan to charter a plane flight from Istanbul to the U.S. Kathy opted to go on the ship, where on the second day of the cruise, the captain announced that everyone who boarded in Istanbul would receive full credit for a future cruise.

When the ship departed, passengers were told that for safety’s sake, the Golden Princess would sail directly to Barcelona, skipping scheduled stops in Kusadasi. Athens, Venice, Florence, Naples and Monaco.

“While at sea, we kept noticing what looked like air force jets patrolling the area. It may have been a coincidence, but it was almost as if we had an escort all the way to Barcelona. There had been police boats in port keeping watch over the ship to prevent any unauthorized boats from getting too close. Even though we were technically a big white floating target, we never really felt like we were in any danger,” Kathy said.

While there were some disgruntled passengers, Kathy Evans isn’t one of them.

“Three days later, after we arrived in Barcelona. Princess arranged for special excursions while we were there. We had five wonderful days to see all of the sights of Barcelona that we would have otherwise missed. I can’t tell you how wonderful Princess was throughout this trip. They did everything they could to ensure our safety as well as provide us with first class accommodations, service, food and entertainment,” Kathy said.

The lesson for fence-sitting future cruisers: If you hesitate to travel because you are afraid that unforeseen events might put you in jeopardy, think again. Cruise executives and their security staffs have contingency plans in place for almost everything, and the experience of September 11 proved that they are ready to react quickly during emergencies, not only to protect passenger safety but also to minimize the disruption of the passengers’ cruise experience.

Any other cruisers affected by the terrorist act in New York?

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Amazing But True Stories of the Cruise Industry!

Anne Campbell — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:48:49 +0000

I’ve been covering the cruise industry since 1993 and prior to that, worked at Cunard Line. Over the years I’ve collected stories of events that have happened … all of them true.

*** Rosemary Roberts’ family decided it was time she enter a nursing home, but Roberts had a better idea of a future dwelling?on board a cruise ship. Roberts eventually cruised and lived aboard the former Royal Viking luxury liners for 18 consecutive years, transferring to another vessel in the fleet when her “home” ship entered its annual dry dock. She banked and voted by mail, and when her family decided to pay her a visit, they merely consulted a Royal Viking brochure. Roberts pointed out “it’s cheaper than a nursing home,” and, at a $400 per diem for her room, board, and entertainment, she may have been correct. It was certainly a lot more enjoyable. In the early 1990’s, shortly before the demise of the Royal Viking Line, the cruise company evicted Rose Mary, citing psychological problems. She was 89 at the time.

*** In 1996, an 18-year-old inebriated passenger aboard Carnival’s Celebration decided to relieve himself while standing on a high deck, shortly after the ship left San Juan. As his shocked traveling companions looked on, he fell several decks off the Celebration into the Caribbean. His buddies immediately notified Celebration’s senior officers, who contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. A massive search immediately got underway , involving dozens of boats and helicopters. In a strange turn of events, the passenger turned up safe and sound, on a beach near San Juan, having swam four miles to shore. He spent two nights in a local hospital and returned home in excellent condition. However, he may opt to use restrooms in the future.

*** Morgan Robertson’s “The Wreck of the Titan,” is an unusual novel describing the doomed voyage of the luxury liner Titan, the largest and most glamorous liner ever constructed. Carrying the wealthy and prominent of her time on her April maiden voyage between Southampton and New York, she set out to break a nautical speed record. In the middle of the night, the Titan struck an iceberg and sank, killing most of the passengers as a result of an insufficient number of life boats. Sound familiar?

Yet, “The Wreck of the Titan” was published in 1898, fourteen years before the Titanic sank! (I have a reprint of this book)

*** Between 1972 and 2007, Queen Elizabeth 2 made a yearly ninety day world cruise, carrying 1,200 passengers, whose median age is 72. In addition to carrying more than a ton of caviar, the QE 2 transported 27 coffins during its annual circumnavigation of the globe. Let’s hope they’ll run out of the caviar and not the latter!

*** In the 1970’s, before cruise lines worried about polluting the oceans, passengers aboard a now-defunct Royal Viking Line cruise ship sailing off the coast of Brazil, were invited to put a message in a sealed bottle and toss it in the ocean. A year later, one couple was contact by a boy in Indonesia who had discovered their bottle on a local beach. They exchanged mail for a while and the couple eventually went to Indonesia to visit him. They paid for his visit to the United States, later for his college and medical school expenses.

***In the 1960s, Holland America’s Rotterdam was sailing between Nassau and New York when a worried woman informed the ship’s officers that she couldn’t locate her husband. The staff scoured every inch of the ship and determined that he must have fallen overboard. Turning the ship around, they charted a course for their most recent port of call, where he had last been seen aboard the vessel. To everyone’s amazement, especially the Rotterdam’s captain, the elderly gentleman was found alive, treading water in the ocean, a full 18 hours after he had fallen from the ship. He did not request a refund for the time he wasn’t able to use the ship’s facilities.

*** Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE 2) entered service in 1968, and during her early years as a transatlantic liner, she carried many celebrities. Among them was artist Salvador Dali, who booked two suites — one for himself and the other for his two pet cheetahs. During the first night at sea, the cheetahs completely destroyed their penthouse suite and after a brief stint in the dog kennel, they were evicted from the ship. Apparently the QE 2 was not up to the cheetahs’ typical speed.

*** In “The European Discovery of America,” Samuel Eliot Morisson described what he considered the first pleasure cruise in history. It took place around 1536, when a London merchant chartered two vessels to set sail to Newfoundland, with the dual goal of catching codfish and enjoying the cruise. Sixty persons signed on, but the excursion was hardly a success. The first ship was lost soon after setting sail, and although the second eventually reached its destination, the voyagers found nothing but misery and had to resort to cannibalism. When the ship eventually returned to England, there were few survivors. As a leisure-time activity, cruising was set back several centuries!
Any “amazing but true” stories to ad?

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Passengers Encouraged To Bring Alcohol Aboard Cruise Ships

Anne Campbell — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 13:03:39 +0000

It’s a Good News, Bad News situation.

Bookings are so high in the first quarter, 2010, that most cruise lines will increase fares between ten and 15% starting today. The highest increases are expected to affect cruisers booking Caribbean, Alaska and Mexico itineraries.

But to counter that, the Cruise Ships International Association (CSIA) reports that its 35 member cruise lines have unanimously voted to reverse its policy of forbidding cruise passengers from bringing alcohol aboard ships for consumption on their voyage.

According to CSIA president Carrie Vale “We’ve listened to cruisers who have expressed the desire to save money by bringing their favorite alcohol aboard ship. And, cruising is all about personal choice: You may still buy a cocktail for $12 per shot but now you will have the choice of purchasing a bottle duty free for about the same price.”

“This shows that there is no bigger vacation value than cruising,” Vale said.

Previously bottles of alcohol were confiscated when passengers tried to board the ship with bottles stashed in carry-on bags. This policy was in place to boost on board spending by forcing cruisers to purchase spirits, wine and beer from the cruise line. However, many cruisers skirted around the restrictions by bringing alcohol aboard in plastic bottles and in suitcases, which were loaded separately and not subject to cruise line inspection.

To make cruising even more family friendly, there will be no charge for soft drink or bottled water.

Well, cruisers…..will you bring a bottle or go on purchasing cocktails aboard ship?

(Oh, and Happy April 1)

(Photo: MegaGadgets)

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A Cruise Ship Comedian Tells All!

Anne Campbell — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:03:02 +0000

“For a brief period (two years) of opportunistic curiosity, I worked on cruise ships, or, as I lovingly referred to them, three thousand drunks and a designated driver,” says DJ Hazard, a comedian who once worked aboard an unnamed ship, tells all in today’s San Francisco Examiner.

Since most cruisers are curious about what it would be like to run off to sea and work aboard a behemoth, you’ll love his funny, poignant and at times acerbic report. click here

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EEEEEEEK!!! Happy Halloween!

Anne Campbell — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:15:48 +0000

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1582213041472&source=jl999

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Buy Your Own Cruise Ship! They’re on Sale!

Anne Campbell — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:36:21 +0000

Those of us who think we can run a ship better than the cruise lines do now have the chance. They’re on sale for low, low prices!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P79Pg2FzqsQ&feature=related

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Mystery Cruise Ship Detained in New York

Anne Campbell — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:18:09 +0000

Late this afternoon I came across a news item of interest, that a cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers has been detained in New York by the U.S. Coast Guard for safety violations. In fact they found 66 violations including damage to the hull. And, none of the news organizations appeared to know the ship’s name or cruise line.

HUH? That’s certainly a first for me. I mean, you can’t tell the name or owner of the ship? Impossible.

Granted, it took a bit of digging but here are the details. The name of the ship is The Peace Boat, charted by a non-profit Japanese outfit, Peaceboat , which sails around the globe “to promote peace, human rights, equal and sustainable development and respect for the environment.” The ship was sailing between Greenland and Venezuela when the Coast Guard decided to board the ship and inspect it.

Ships don’t normally have holes in their hull but given this ship’s history, it’s understandable. According to Wikipedia, the Peace Boat was built in 1955 as the Empress of Britain sailing transatlantic between Canada and Europe. In 1975, she was purchased by Carnival Cruise lines as one of the original “Fun Ships”, the Carnivale. From 1993 through 1997 she sailed for Epirotiki and Royal Olympic as the Festa Marina and Olympic. Today she is owned by Topaz Holdings of Greece, which charters the ship to the Peace Boat folks.

There may be a vessel built before 1955 that is still afloat, but I can’t find it.

According to local media, passengers are delighted to hang out in New York while Topaz Holdings’ owners figure out how to correct the safety problems. And it’s nice to know that not all geriatic vessels are immediately sold for scrap metal, as the SS Norway was two years ago.

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Scientology Cruise Ship Shut Down

Anne Campbell — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:53:36 +0000

It’s a clear case of good news and bad news.

If you yearn to study Scientology while taking a cruise, here’s the perfect ship: the Freewinds. The Church of Scientology decided to get into the passenger shipping business and formed Majestic Cruise Line to operate its sole ship. Built in 1968, the Freewinds sails on Caribbean itineraries as a “floating classroom” where members can take the church’s advanced classes although the ship was a setting for a huge birthday bash for actor Tom Cruise.

The bad news is that the ship was shut down this month because blue asbestos (which causes cancer) was discovered in the ceiling and panelling. It is presently sitting in the Curacao Drydock Company sealed and isolated by local health officials until it is determined that the toxin can even be removed from the ship.

According to Wikipedia, in 2001 an architect submitted a sworn affadavit claiming there was blue asbestos on the Freewinds. In Curacao the ship’s Captain admitted that during previous maintenace by his personnel asbestos was released into the ventilation system but not reported.

Since Freewinds does not enter a U.S. port, the ship would not be inspected by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Previously officials in Bonaire cited the Freewinds as an environmental hazard because the ship discharged large amounts of waste water into the islands inland waste pit.

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