Live from the Brilliance - at 3:45 am all H*** broke loose!

[perkyblue]

Your comments regarding whether passengers occupying a $20,000 suite should be given a priority lifeboat and given an earlier warning to evacuate the ship would be interesting. Perhaps that already is the case - I will ask RCI on that one.

 

 

Of course I don't think people in suites should have priority access to lifeboats! That is a completely different thing. I don't think you understand my thinking here -- I was looking at RCI's original monetary offer as a partial refund. A life on the ship is equal to any other life on the ship, but a monetary refund is dependant on what a person has paid.

 

So are you opposed to RCI's decision to give everyone a full refund of their cruise cost? Because now they really are giving those who paid more for their stateroom more money.

[ginjam]

I have just received the posting regarding the listing of the Brilliance. Glad most of you are OK. For those with injuries get well soon - but think of the stories you can tell over dinner with friends back home

 

I read with interest that Carribean are giving full refunds and I am sure you feel the ordeal warrants this. However do you think it would have been offered if the word 'mistake' was not used by Captain Wright.

 

Bad weather, poor sea conditions and entering a busy port you would expect the captain to slow the ship down and sounds very sensible to me and as a passenger I would not expect a refund. Yes OK if the captain had not slowed down and hit another ship then compensation would be appropriate.

 

I first went to sea in the 70's and often had very rough weather and even in recent years I was on the QM2 maiden transatlantic voyage where we went through very rough weather, had a fire onboard and the doctor was kept busy with cracked and sprained bones. No one I recall on the voyage even thought of compensation we just put it down to part of the experience.

 

WE ALL MUST REMEMBER THE WEATHER AND THE SEA ARE UNPREDICTABLE AND WHEN TAKING A CRUISE OR A VOYAGE WE MUST ANTICIPATE THAT THESE THINGS HAPPEN.

[Ocean Boy]

Ten American Presidents were descendants of those 50 souls and one of them was Franklin Delano Rousevelt.

 

 

I guess that sheds some light on his propensity for social programs.

[Smallmarinerstale]

Hi there lame as it ma be but how does every1 get their cruise history to be at the bottom without having to retype it in everytime?

[alwayshappytocruise]

Hi there lame as it ma be but how does every1 get their cruise history to be at the bottom without having to retype it in everytime?

 

Go into User CP (top of the page) and add/edit it to your signature.

[BrianAlt]

Am I the only one on here who thinks this is actually very exciting? I wouldn't mind being on this cruise, especially if they offer to pay for my next cruise.

 

I was thinking that I'd like to be on this cruise for the experience of it all. But then on the other hand, I'm sure it would be a terrifying experience. Luckily (and seemingly) no one was seriously injured, but it certainly could have happened.

 

So, yes and no?

[rlaro1]

if she listed 20 degrees ,people would be walkinf on the walls, at 28degrees she would have rolled over, ive been in monsoons on a destroyer in the navy ,take my word for it she never went to 20 degrees maybe 10 or 12 but never 20

[Cruiser523]

I haven't seen this posted, this is the latest update from their CEO on the situation: http://www.nationofwhynot.com/blog/?p=2963

[xpcdoojk]

With a list like that at must have felt like The Poseidon!!

 

As more and more cruise ships, with larger and larger capacities, take to the high seas, IMHO it is just a matter of time till there is a real tragedy at sea.

 

Mother Nature is creating bigger and bigger storms challenging the floating cities, you know who is going to win!

 

Thank goodness this latest problem was handled by the liner.

 

Do you really believe storms are bigger now than say 100 years ago for example? Any basis for this belief? Or do you just feel this must be true because you watch tv?

 

One part of your post I might agree with is someday something tragic might happen because something will inevitably occur. It is the nature of such things that have a teeny tiny one in a million chance of happening happens and then talking heads on TV say how obvious it was that it would happen. No it just means that something rare and tragic occurred. Stuff happens.

 

JC

[critterchick]

if she listed 20 degrees ,people would be walkinf on the walls, at 28degrees she would have rolled over, ive been in monsoons on a destroyer in the navy ,take my word for it she never went to 20 degrees maybe 10 or 12 but never 20

 

90 degrees would have people looking like Fred Astaire, putting the walls where the floor should be. My 23-year Navy vet husband told me (and I believe him, so that's one of us;)) that he was on ships without stablizers (LSTs, although don't ask me what the initials stand for, landing somethings :o) that sometimes listed 45 degrees or more. Those on watch passed the time by counting how many times the ship's bell rang on its own.:eek:

 

I haven't seen this posted, this is the latest update from their CEO on the situation: http://www.nationofwhynot.com/blog/?p=2963

 

I'll bet Dirtgirl was first in line for the disco!:D

[Captain Jake]

Am I the only one on here who thinks this is actually very exciting? I wouldn't mind being on this cruise, especially if they offer to pay for my next cruise.

 

I would rather things go reasonably smoothly.Wouldn't want to be part of the added drama some pax might cause

:cj

[Leafpeeper]

Just to put the record straight - William Bradford was a passenger on the Mayflower and not the captain. That honour went to Christopher Jones from Harwich, Essex where we live. The Mayflower (built in Harwich, UK) could indeed be thought of as the first cruise ship by the fact that the passengers were fare payers. They indeed sufferred much more than those on the Brilliance did, however, they were prepared to endure whatever was thrown at them as the most important part of their life was to practice their religion the way they wanted too.

 

Just how Master Jones managed to get them to the New World with only one death onboard often amazes me too. His only aid was a compass and his skill - unlike today, when the sun stops shining and the stars are not in view, he relied on dead reckoning with the added penalty like having a blindfold on to get them there. All this before the steering wheel was invented too!

 

Before anybody starts decrying the Mayflower just remember that she is the most famous ship ever to have sailed the ocean. Had those 102 passengers perished during the 66 days they were at sea and 50 not survived the winter of 1620/21 to sit at that first Thanksgiving table, then the world as we know it would have been a different place. Ten American Presidents were descendants of those 50 souls and one of them was Franklin Delano Rousevelt.

 

You may also be interesting to hear that last September we sailed on the Jewel of the Seas from Harwich to Cape Cod on the exact 390th anniversary of the 1620 sailing of the Mayflower and travelled the same course for some of the time. As we passed Plymouth, Devon we had on the pool deck a Pilgrim's party and on our first sea day I gave a lecture about the Mayflower. Another point that may interest folk is that I am part of a project that is building a new Mayflower of Harwich which in 2020 will sail to New England carrying descendants of the original Mayflower and good wishes from the UK to the USA on that momentous occassion.

 

Very interesting. We live in the Manomet section of Plymouth, which is named after the Indians. We may have taken over their land but at least we gave our streets their Indian names--not to mention the funds our casinos have returned.

[CRUISENSNOOZE]

Glad to hear you are all ok. The major difference is that RCL have not shirked their duties and denied all. Better still a full refund...

We too have been in very rough seas and seen shops smashed and then 7 days without air conditioning in 40 cabins in very hot climes. Salty water for drinks etc etc and guess what - not a mention from the company!! Then, blow me when we complain we are militant!!! What more can you expect from this 4 ship aging company from scandinavia.

[Realdolby]

Having just read the RCI statement and comments that the terrible events were due to mistakes made by the captain or his executive crew, I hope that a full investigation is carried out by RCI or an independant body and made known to all.

 

We all leave our lives in these peoples hands whenever we go on a cruise and there is no excuse why such negligent actions should go unpunished. The bad weather was forecast well before the Brilliance had sailed into it and the waters around Alexandria are notoriously unpredictable. In North American terms it can be likened to the the Pollack Rip off Cape Cod where throughout the centuries over 50% of all marine wrecks have occurred.

 

I am more and more getting worried that because of cost cutting measures our safety is being overlooked. After the Titanic sank in 1912 a few things were made mandatory and became part of worldwide maritime law. First of course was that their must be enough lifeboats carried to save all souls aboard, another was that all passengers must have their own personal lifejacket and be shown how to use it. With the advent of modern cruise travel the law was amended regarding lifejackets and it was thereafter obligatory that passengers must be given instructions what to do in case of a major disaster and evactuation of the ship was imminent. Muster Drill or Lifeboat Drill as some call it had to happen at least once during a cruise. Those ships under American law had to perform this before leaving the embarkation port or as soon as practical. Each passenger had to be shown by their cabin steward where in the stateroom they could find their lifejacket and it was his responsibilty to make sure that they were the correct size, especially when children were in one of his/her cabins.

 

At a pre designated time seven short blasts on the ships horn followed by one long blast would mean that the passengers had to put on their lifejackets and proceed to their Muster Station. Those that could not manage to put on their lifejacket had to seek attention from a member of the crew to help them. The reason that lifejackets had to be taken to the Muster Station was that a) everybody knew where their lifejacket was and b) it was in good order, fit properly and the whistle was present. The whistle was one of those things that the Titanic enquiry said must be on every lifejacket.

 

Over the years, because the cabin steward had to double up and help with the Muster Drill the lifejacket was put on passengers beds and was their waiting for them when they first arrived (first cost cutting excercise). Passengers were still expected to take their lifejacket with them and unless disabled, they had to use the stairs to get to their Muster Station - all fine and dandy still. During the last few years, especially on RCI ships, the law has been bent to suit the cruise lines perception of what is ok safetywise. On our last two RCI cruises the lifejackets were NOT on our beds waiting for us and we were told by our cabin steward that we must NOT take them with us to the Muster Drill. ALL the elevators were working throughout the drill and disabled passengers who needed them and were in wheelchairs or on mobility scooters could not get in one.

 

The Muster Drill itself was a farce as no roll call was made and the event was treated as a fun occassion by the crew. The usual video and photographer presence was enhanced fourfold and every passengers had to have their presence added to the ship video and a photograph taken - is this the new RCI roll call? The disabled in wheelchairs were not allowed early leave of the drill and consequently, as all the elevators were still in operation, it took half an hour for them to return to their cabin.

 

On return to our cabin we tried to find our lifejackets and they were stuffed in a corner behind some spare pillows. One of them had the whistle missing and the other was way too small to fit my rotund shape!

 

What does all this tell you? Firstly that the cabin steward is not trained or aware of the importance of having a proper lifejacket for each person in his care. Then there is the issue that first-time cruisers will not even be aware that a lifejacket MUST be in their cabin somewhere and any children must have one too. How many will check-out that all is correct?

 

I seriously dread to think what would happen in a real evacuation emergency - is this a time bomb waiting to explode?

 

I see now that all the passengers will get a full refund but this was only after they offered $200 to all those not in a suite and $400 to those in a suite. How dare they think that suite passengers are better than non suite passengers or that their suffering may be more worthy.

 

Brilliance is capable of a list up to 45Deg,and between 15 and 18 DEg without passenger discomfort.It sounds as though for only a short time lising was greater than stated.The actions by the Captain were done to the book,only that on turning to head out to sea the ship failed to respond to a higher speed because of the weather ahead,and before that was going slowly into the port of Alexandria hence the Stabalisers did not function.Should the ship have continued into port then the risk of a collision with another vessel was iminent.

 

The Company hold a fantastic record in Safety of its Passengers and are always ultra fair in any decisions of compensation.Truly they were over generous this time in making full refunds to all.A Captain would never put his self in a position to admit to an error down a tannoy system.In this case he was correct and as such his words were taken out of all proportion.Spare a thought of how RCCL handled the situation and the Million Dollar bill they are faced with.But then some people cruise nitpicking on every issue in order to get compensation.

[mek]

I was on Norwegian Crown off of Ecuador about 13 years ago when we hit some really rough weather and couldn't make it into port. Things were falling and flying all over the place, but this was during the day, not at night and fortunately no major injuries. The only compensation we received was an open bar for three hours and by late in the afternoon everyone was very happy and didn't care that we had missed the port.

[Merion_Mom]

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/

 

They copy pasted the press release from here. Scroll down to News Briefs.

 

No, the blogger absolutely DID NOT cut and paste the Royal Caribbean press release that is on the link which you provided.

 

It was an extremely poorly written paraphrase, which is the reason that another poster commented that a fourth grader may have written it.

[Merion_Mom]

I am not sure why you are surprised by what Carnival did after the Splendor incident. Those cruisers never made port anywhere and went through days of cold food, cold showers, no power, etc. The passengers on the Brilliance had a terrible experience too but they did make their ports except for one. They do have venues closed but they have all the major conveniences that were lacking after the Splendor incident.

 

Yes, they were both incidents at sea but they couldn't be anymore different. I think both cruiselines tried to handle them to the best of their abilities.

 

And remember: Those Carnival passengers were trapped on a ship with A HUNDRED AND FIFTY MAGICIANS!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[critterchick]

Then, blow me when we complain we are militant!!!

 

I'm guessing that the phrase has a different meaning in English than it does in American.:eek:;)

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I'm guessing that the phrase has a different meaning in English than it does in American.:eek:;)

 

ROFL..... the queens English leaves a bit to be desired for me. :rolleyes:

I worked under a UK boss for a few years.....it was like I was living in England! I constantly told her we are in America!! :D

 

***

[Merion_Mom]

I'm guessing that the phrase has a different meaning in English than it does in American.:eek:;)

 

I certainly HOPE SO, Jean! (I second those :eek::eek:)

[Merion_Mom]

if she listed 20 degrees ,people would be walkinf on the walls, at 28degrees she would have rolled over, ive been in monsoons on a destroyer in the navy ,take my word for it she never went to 20 degrees maybe 10 or 12 but never 20

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

 

As stated earlier in the thread - trying reading all of the posts before hitting "submit" - Royal Caribbean's ships (which are the only ships with which we are concerned right now) are built to withstand a list or roll of 45 degrees.

 

The Crown Princess list of 2006 was 24 degrees, according to the USCG report.

 

Without seeming to make light of the situation, a list of 20 degrees is "nothing" compared to what the Brilliance can withstand.

[PH8]

ROFL..... the queens English leaves a bit to be desired for me. :rolleyes:

I worked under a UK boss for a few years.....it was like I was living in England! I constantly told her we are in America!! :D

 

***

I have a good friend(hi Kate!!) who comes up with phrases sometimes,I have to ask her what she means??:eek: Cuz her words mean something totally different than what I would mean..

[shaggyofwv]

I guess that sheds some light on his propensity for social programs.

 

 

LOL. That is some funny stuff.

[johneeo]

Mother Nature is creating bigger and bigger storms

 

And global warming will fry us like french fries in boiling oil.:eek:

 

Mankind is doomed.:rolleyes:

[durangoscots]

90 degrees would have people looking like Fred Astaire, putting the walls where the floor should be. My 23-year Navy vet husband told me (and I believe him, so that's one of us;)) that he was on ships without stablizers (LSTs, although don't ask me what the initials stand for, landing somethings :o) .:eek:

 

 

 

!:D

 

According to my WWII Navy Dad, LST meant "Large Slow Target".