A Cruise is Much Safer Than Driving a Car

[KatetheWanderer]

Cruising has an amazing safety record. Ninety million passengers in twenty years with rarely any fatalities. Four thousand souls escaped the Concordia. That is like 20 jumbo jets going down carrying 200 passengers each. Vastly different rates of survival. I've a friend who is too scared to fly so always goes to Europe on a ship. But are some of the ships getting too tall and more prone to heeling over? I'm not afraid to cruise again but I'd think a bit about a ship like The Oasis. We just don't have a tremendous amount of experience yet with the truly megaships. I wonder how much the profit margin has affected the worst-case scenario analysis.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2087350/Costa-Concordia-tragedy-Cruising-accused-putting-profits-safety-PSA-reassures-passengers.html

[YII]

Thanks for the info, Captain Obvious.

[sidari]

Kate .... most cruise ships with around 28 feet underwater need about 26 feet of water under them so they do not roll over! where the ship stopped was very shallow and hence the buoyancy and stability was compromised!

 

Having been on Oasis and the Costa Deliziosa i would have to say that Oasis is a more stable platform due to its width.

[KatetheWanderer]

Thanks for the info, Captain Obvious.

 

To you of course First Officer Wise One but not to all of those booked cruisers out there cancelling out of fear. At ease.

[KatetheWanderer]

Sidari, I see. Good to know. That article mentions the tall ships heeling over. The first time I saw one of the really tall ones, it looked a bit tipsy to me. It seems to be something of a controversy in the industry with experts weighing in on the wisdom of the engineering. Of course, if the cruise is cheap enough, I'd go on the tallest :)

[Route6A]

For some time, I have been concerned with safety on cruise ships, and I have been sailing since 1975 when I was quite young.

 

Within the past five years, I have had the misfortune to sail on two ships which were taken through very high winds and high seas in order to keep to the schedule. In one instance, the ship sustained damage, and in the other, the ship entered a number of lists, one lasting about fifteen minutes. The sustained list was terrifying, and resulted from a strong wave hitting the starboard side of the ship.

 

Another issue that concerns me is the cutback in crew numbers, which has been impacting service, and must surely also impact safety in an emergency. I began noticing this in 2009 after the economic turndown, which began in 2008.

 

Simply put, I no longer trust the cruise lines to place safety above their bottom line. I will miss sailing immensely, but I do not think it prudent to take cruises any longer. The lines I have sailed include Cunard, Regent, Silversea, Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean and many, many years ago, Costa.

 

I am sure others may disagree with me, and I wish them happy, safe sailing.

[momofteens]

I couldn't agree more. I've been sailing for many years and have also noticed the cut back in staff.

[Hunwolf]

People drive a car out of necessity.

 

People spend their discretionary savings to cruise. It's a luxury vacation for many, and one that could easily be replaced with another type of vacation. I've already seen people rebooked from the Concordia to land based vacations. You are also placing your safety in people's hands who apparently have competing interests.

 

In short you drive usually because you have too...you cruise with a line because you choose too.

 

A really embarrassing thread.

[KatetheWanderer]

People drive a car out of necessity.

 

People spend their discretionary savings to cruise. It's a luxury vacation for many, and one that could easily be replaced with another type of vacation. I've already seen people rebooked from the Concordia to land based vacations. You are also placing your safety in people's hands who apparently have competing interests.

 

In short you drive usually because you have too...you cruise with a line because you choose too.

 

A really embarrassing thread.

 

You have to find a new line Hunwolf. When I spied the snark, I looked at your other posts and sure enough, yesterday you posted in response to someone else's thread --

 

"This thread is beyond embarrassing."

 

Cute that you keep typing in comments to threads that you find embarrassing. Why take the time?

 

Newsflash--some of us drive for purely social pursuits, vacations, recreation and other non-necessity purposes. The point is simple. Why not cruise for a vacation if you are willing to assume the inherent risks in riding in an automobile for a vacation? Hope this helps!

[bubbasqueen]

This is predicatable. Do you post after a plane accident on other boards also?

[KatetheWanderer]

Bubba, in Oregon, we spell it predictable :)

[bubbasqueen]

Bubba, in Oregon, we spell it predictable :)

Yes, I didn't spell it right. But you edited your original post. So what? Come on!

[Bella cruiser]

OK, so I agree, cruising is discretionary not compulsory.....so is flying. I contend that if this was a plane crash you would more than likely have 100% fatalities on board.

 

I think cruising is a very safe way to travel, and won't be put off by this tragedy.

[sidari]

70 Million Passengers worldwide cannot be wrong including 1.71 million from the UK ..... :)

 

Kate ... checkout the dimensions of the Oasis online, at times you could not even tell it was moving and all the lifeboats are at a level where you can step right in to them should they be needed.

[bobstheboy]

Absolutely agree that cruising is statistically a very safe way to travel.

 

However, having been on numerous ships and different lines, I will not sail with Costa again. This is not a knee jerk reaction. On our last cruise with Costa in July 2011,we commented several times that by the time public announcements went through the different languages and reached English (5th on the list) we had either lost interest or the surrounding noise blocked it out. I can only imagine the same scenario in an emergency.

 

Many others will no doubt feel the same.

[Hunwolf]

You have to find a new line Hunwolf. When I spied the snark, I looked at your other posts and sure enough, yesterday you posted in response to someone else's thread --

 

"This thread is beyond embarrassing."

 

Cute that you keep typing in comments to threads that you find embarrassing. Why take the time?

 

Newsflash--some of us drive for purely social pursuits, vacations, recreation and other non-necessity purposes. The point is simple. Why not cruise for a vacation if you are willing to assume the inherent risks in riding in an automobile for a vacation? Hope this helps!

 

 

Hmmm...I have my very own cyberstalker...;)

 

I think most sensible folks can understand the difference between having to drive a car as a mode of transport to/from work, school, etc. and making a decision to spend your discretionary $$$ wisely.

 

It's a stupid analogy and most folks can see that.

[KatetheWanderer]

Absolutely agree that cruising is statistically a very safe way to travel.

 

However, having been on numerous ships and different lines, I will not sail with Costa again. This is not a knee jerk reaction. On our last cruise with Costa in July 2011,we commented several times that by the time public announcements went through the different languages and reached English (5th on the list) we had either lost interest or the surrounding noise blocked it out. I can only imagine the same scenario in an emergency.

 

Many others will no doubt feel the same.

 

I know what you mean. I was on Costa recently for 18 days. The language thing was difficult and embarkation involved a mass of cruisers being flooded through two agents. Some other Americans I was with swore they would never cruise Costa again. We even discussed how chaotic it would be had there been an emergency. I loved the rest of the cruise though. The itinerary (a transatlantic with several stops in Europe, one in Africa, several in the Caribbean) and the price were unbeatable. Service was better than I'd had on my 15 other cruises on American based lines. The ship, the Atlantica was gorgeous. The international aspects were great and added to the adventure except for the pushing and crowding during line forming. I would definitely cruise Costa again even with those downsides and with what happened on the Concordia.

 

Not sure about the tall, tall ships. Once a ship grounds, it seems the water depth below that normally acts as a stablilizer is partially or largely removed from the equation. One commentator said that the ship listed off the rocks on the sea floor and had it been in deep water, the listing would never have occurred. Now, I'm reassured about listing with the rogue wave scenario but not the grounding. Still, cruising is such a safe and comfortable way to travel, tall ship or not.

[KatetheWanderer]

Yes, I didn't spell it right. But you edited your original post. So what? Come on!

 

Forgive me. I couldn't resist the correction after I saw your screen name :) It was too tempting.