OMG too many people left behind

[dougp26364]

From what I know this was more than a suspension of tendering, the ship actually did sail on to another port down the coast.

If I was standing on the dock watching the ship sail away, I would certainly feel as if I was being left behind, especially if I was in my day shorts, and it was raining hard.

Watching our clothes and passports sail off without us would be just too much for for my wife. I hope all effected are able to rejoin the ship without too much stress.

 

 

Just one more reason we leave the copy of our passports in the stateroom and keep the real passports on us. In a case where you miss the ship in a foreign port, having the real passport makes it that much easier to get home. I'd bet getting left behind if far more common than having a passport stolen.

[selma]

Just seen on the Dutch news paper "DeTelegraaf" a photo of the snowstorm in the French Med.

Been to Villafrance and to tender in that weather is dangoures.

 

Do take De Telegraaf with a grain of salt. It's one of the lesser newspapers around, more the gossip type that wont mind one bit to 'spice up' news or use pics from a different sight for 'livening up' another piece of news.

 

Having said that, weather is very bad in France. Some regions have been getting snow. And I don't mean snow that melts as soon as it hits the ground, I mean so many inches of snow some of the traffic came to a total halt yesterday. Parts of the french med. coast has been dealing with major rain fall, major winds etc. The tv-reports we've been seeing over the Dutch news are not nice. I'm talking cars in port carparks being swept away by the seawater as if it were leaves blowing in the winds. Haven't seen any specific news about Villefrance, but if it is anything like that RCCL made a very wise decision by getting out of such a situation and tender at another port.

[14Terry]

Just one more reason we leave the copy of our passports in the stateroom and keep the real passports on us. In a case where you miss the ship in a foreign port, having the real passport makes it that much easier to get home. I'd bet getting left behind if far more common than having a passport stolen.

 

 

Dougp26364, I'm with you on this!

[History addict]

We've just had a letter from Rooyal Caribbean notifying us of a change in itinerary from Marseilles to Toulon for our cruise on 3 June on Adventure due to adverse weather conditions in the South of France.

 

We've tendered in Cannes before during high seas and it isn't for the faint-hearted. I've no doubt that had it been like that in the morning then none of us would have been allowed off the ship.

 

As I understand it, this part of France does get bouts of high winds at times. It's just mother nature and we all have to work around it.

[mamachicky]

I hope no families were divided in this mess. Some parents leave their children on board while on excursions. It would be devasting for a parent to return to the ship and it is gone with their littles ones onboard.

[TEXASMUNK]

YOu...on the pier

Ship...sailing

 

DUH! That is left behind!

 

But, no one has truly understood the situation! This is yet another evil conspiracy by RCI to charge these folks for a land tour!!!!!

[bionicman97]

wow that dumbest argument ever in here, grow up people

 

You'd be surprised :eek:

[TNTJOE]

Thak God I came upon this message, I have been trying to find out what happened in France. My sister and brother in law are on this ship and I received a message from her saying there was a disaster in France but they are OK......I had ano idea what happened. My mind is a little more at ease.

[mechcc]

I hope no families were divided in this mess. Some parents leave their children on board while on excursions. It would be devasting for a parent to return to the ship and it is gone with their littles ones onboard.

 

That is just plain scary! Can you imagine the fear of a 3 or 4 year old (and even older) whose parents don't come back to the ship before the ship sails away?

[selma]

Thak God I came upon this message, I have been trying to find out what happened in France. My sister and brother in law are on this ship and I received a message from her saying there was a disaster in France but they are OK......I had ano idea what happened. My mind is a little more at ease.

 

Disaster is a bit of a strong word, we're used to this kind of nature acting up every once in a while at coastal Europe. Having said that, for those that are not familiar with it, it can be very impressive and even scary.

[ChipLondon]

YOu...on the pier

Ship...sailing

 

DUH! That is left behind!

 

!!

 

Correct, that is how I saw it. :)

[philnpen]

Is this the same area of the Med where a giant wave slammed into a cruise ship, broke windows and killed a passenger?

 

All the more reason to jusr sail in the Caribbean where all we encounter are a couple of hurricanes that with plenty of warning the ships can avoid.

[mcca2]

Did any post say which ship it was? :eek:

[selma]

Is this the same area of the Med where a giant wave slammed into a cruise ship, broke windows and killed a passenger?

 

All the more reason to jusr sail in the Caribbean where all we encounter are a couple of hurricanes that with plenty of warning the ships can avoid.

 

Too funny!

 

You know, they can -more or less- predict the path of a hurricane because we've got weather predicting skills and science. Those skills don't automatically disappear when entering the Med. Storms etc. are predicted in the same way. Whenever possible, those with any sence will avoid those storms that need avoidance, either for safety reasons or passengers comfort. Just like with a hurricane, sometimes things can chance unexpectedly and hit with "little to no prior" warning.

 

Broken windows on a cruiseship in the Med? Of course it's just my humble opinion and experience as part of a fishingcommunity and -family, but that doesn't happen unless there was something 'up' with that window. That or we see a hurricane hit at the Med. ;) All in all, the Med is a very safe place to sail, year round.

 

 

One hint for those thinking this is something to avoid; don't come to my neck of the woods. ;)

[ChipLondon]

Sorry not funny at all, it happened and people got hurt, what is funny about that. What was "Up" with that window is that it got hit by a very large wave. Did you also consider the Tsunami funny as well?

 

Too funny!

 

.

Broken windows on a cruiseship in the Med? Of course it's just my humble opinion and experience as part of a fishingcommunity and -family, but that doesn't happen unless there was something 'up' with that window. That or we see a hurricane hit at the Med. ;) All in all, the Med is a very safe place to sail, year round.

 

 

One hint for those thinking this is something to avoid; don't come to my neck of the woods. ;)

[NYC cruiser lady]

Too funny!

 

Broken windows on a cruiseship in the Med? Of course it's just my humble opinion and experience as part of a fishingcommunity and -family, but that doesn't happen unless there was something 'up' with that window. That or we see a hurricane hit at the Med. ;) All in all, the Med is a very safe place to sail, year round.

 

Unfortunately, it is true and there were some injuries, but no one died. It happened last fall in the Med on a RCCL ship. The ship was late getting back into port for disembarkation after the incident and embarkation for the next cruise was delayed while the ship was repaired. The captain required that all portholes be sealed on deck 2 (and maybe 3).

[grand isle joe]

I was just off the Disney Magic and on the 11th we hit a storm outside Villefranche and we were rocking and rolling. 60 mph. gale force winds with the ship listing alot in 20 t0 25 ft waves and swells. Sailed it out a couple hours while the ship headed towards the coast. Alot onboard were sick. We enjoyed the excitment but alot were miserable. I just can't imagine anyone possible even surviving in a tender in that weather. For the safety of the ship they had to get out into deeper water. Nobody can do anything about the weather.:eek:

[NorbertsNiece]

Sorry not funny at all, it happened and people got hurt, what is funny about that. What was "Up" with that window is that it got hit by a very large wave. Did you also consider the Tsunami funny as well?

 

Agreed. How can someone use the term funny in this predicament?

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

I ws on the Brilliance last Oct with "Singlemom" and I can assure you it was not funny at all. People were injured but as was said, nobody was killed.

[selma]

Sorry not funny at all, it happened and people got hurt, what is funny about that. What was "Up" with that window is that it got hit by a very large wave. Did you also consider the Tsunami funny as well?

 

Apparently, you read something into my posting I had no intention of saying. I'm sorry that you, or anybody else, did so. It might help to remember that english is not the native tongue of all of those on CC.

 

I find it funny that somebody states they find the Med a place to avoid, directly related to the weather of the Med and correlated safety issues. The Med is a very safe place to set sail.

 

By stating imho there was something 'up' with the window, I was implying imho the window had to have been in a 'compromised' situation. Just being hit by a large wave isn't a 'regular' cause for a window to give away. There had to be 'more' to it. Either in the condition of the window or there had to have been a totally-out-of-the-ordinary-for-that-region (read; hurricane) wave hitting that window.

 

I know the conditions of the Med. I know the conditions of the North Sea by hart (a place with more risk, more storms etc.) Been there, done that, blabla. ;) Eventhough where possible it will be avoided, the community I live in has been out on sea in conditions alike anything between beaufort 8 and 11 bashing ships. Not something I would advice when looking at the risk of getting sick to your stomach, but it does not normally knock windows out. Not on ships of such a size they're designed to withstand seas and atlantic crossings.

 

If I find a tsunami funny? Come on, we all know that isn't a serious question. We can talk tsunami if you want to, but I seriously doubt that it is of any importance that my family was directly impacted by the tsunami of 2005. Or that I live in a community that lives with and from the sea and thus understands as no other what risks nature bears with it, besides all of the gifts, wonders and beauty.

 

 

Unfortunately, it is true and there were some injuries, but no one died. It happened last fall in the Med on a RCCL ship. The ship was late getting back into port for disembarkation after the incident and embarkation for the next cruise was delayed while the ship was repaired. The captain required that all portholes be sealed on deck 2 (and maybe 3).

 

I know it happened. Seen the reports, wouldn't dare to say it didn't happen. As explained above, I do have some question marks as to what contributed to endresult of the window giving way.

 

 

GI Joe; I was wondering about the Magic! Nice to read something from you guys, sorry you guys got to experience this side of European weather.

[heatherb1958]

Two passengers were killed, a German and an Italian when a huge wave hit the Louis Majesty of Louis Lines in March this year when it was near Marseilles. The waves were 26 feet and videos were posted on Youtube of the incident.

I just checked cruisejunkie for the info.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyA_O85X-WQ&feature=related

[ChipLondon]

Thank you for clarifying your position.

 

Apparently, you read something into my posting I had no intention of saying. I'm sorry that you, or anybody else, did so. .

[grand isle joe]

 

 

 

 

I live in a community that lives with and from the sea and thus understands as no other what risks nature bears with it, besides all of the gifts, wonders and beauty.

 

 

 

 

I know it happened. Seen the reports, wouldn't dare to say it didn't happen. As explained above, I do have some question marks as to what contributed to endresult of the window giving way.

 

 

GI Joe; I was wondering about the Magic! Nice to read something from you guys, sorry you guys got to experience this side of European weather.

 

Selma, Sorry you had to endure such a negative retort but it happens more than not on these boards. Some never give the benefit of the doubt and love to read negetive in all postings. We are sailors in our spare time and do have a great respect for the power of the sea. We enjoyed the little event and had a nice quiet lunch since most were cabin bound.;) The Magic stood up proud and well and the crew was as professional as could be. We love the Med and like Mark Twain said " everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything."

Wishing you a wonderful cruising in you future.:)

[PCWalton1]

Everyone has different thoughts, while I was thinking of my DH med's that would still be on the ship. Makes you think when you get off and leave stuff on the ship? What does everyone take off when they go ashore?

 

My wife has an extra bottle of meds (got the doctor to write the prescription for extra) that she carried in her bag for the cruise we just finished. Just to be safe.

[Roo]

Hi All,

 

I just came back from the Med cruise on the Brilliance where we had to tender into Villefranche. The seas were calm when we arrived at shore, although it was raining in the morning. I was on the last tender that tried to tie up to the ship but couldn't and were sent back ashore. Here's an email that I sent home:

 

Hi everyone

>

> Since I'm still on shore I have a story to tell you. At 4pm I took the tender back to the ship. We got to the ship but the waves were so strong they couldn't tie up to the ship so they sent the tender boat back to shore.

>

> After waiting outdoors for about 1 1/2 hours it was now about 6pm and Royal Caribbean finally comandeered about 10 shorefront restaurants to serve about at least 1,000 or more dinner (people who had been on tours as well as those who were just on their own).

>

> So now it's 8:30pm and people are starting to come back to the port building. The latest info is that they are going to bus us all to Toulon where there is a naval base and our ship is going to sail there, dock and wait for us.

 

The rest of the long story is the lucky ones got dinner paid for them and had to wait in the terminal until they commandeered about 20 or so buses from as close as Marseilles and as far away as close to the Italian border. After climbing 2 steep hills to get to the busses, we finally started rolling around 11 pm. We arrived in Toulon around 2 am....the last buses to arrive came around 4 am.

 

The UNLUCKY ones were those on RCCL afternoon or day tours as their buses were just redirected to the pier at Toulon. Arriving there at 9 pm they were dumped off - no ship (yet), no shelter and no food for at least an hour.

 

I have a short video of what the harbour looked like around 5 pm when the waves were rough at the shore but it probably doesn't tell the whole story....I'll try and attach it.

 

Twas fun! The good thing is we arrived in Athens on a Sunday and there were no scheduled strikes so tours went on as usual. This was certainly the most interesting of a dozen cruises that I've been on!

 

Nancy

 

I think the video might be too big to attach so ( mb) if it doesn't appear, if anyone has any suggestions how to load it here....please let me know.