Do you think you'd cruise again ?

[bepsf]

When I think of how I might have reacted, particularly with my parents and certain less-mobile friends with me - I have a certain concern...

...and when I think of the possibility of our possessions - Tuxedos, Gowns, good luggage, jewelry, electronics, etc - being left aboard to burn or rot at the bottom of the ocean! Sure it's insured, but the work to make the claims - and some things are just irreplacable.

Some may find my thought silly and say, "Well, you'd be lucky to make it out alive - Most people did - One should be happy with that."...

...but thousands of people are paying the price, financially and emotionally - and some of them, with their very lives - for that Captain Schettino's hubris.

[DFD1]

Can't honestly say that I would cruise again if I were one of the Costa passengers who had to swim for shore or had a frightening time trying to save myself or a loved one.

 

However, this disaster has caused me to seriously consider cruising only on the smaller ships where I believe the chances of survival are better.

 

Had Costa Concordia had a disaster in the open sea or in a storm, where she took on water so rapidly and started to capsize so quickly, I think the loss of life would have been truly catastrophic....simply because the number of people who needed to get off the ship was so large.

 

My prejudice for smaller ships is even greater now.

[kazu]

Sorry but how does this related to HAL? :confused:

 

this is something that i think has struck everyone to the core. it's not hard to imagine it on any ship - anywhere - including HAL - and now a concern to everyone. This isn't a ship that lost electricity or had a fire and people had to eat sandwiches. It's a ship that sunk and lives are lost and from evidence so far, due to an inept captain.

[iancal]

Why not. Statistically it is probably one of the safest forms of travel.

 

Probably safer even than being a pedestrian. Same old question arises when there are airplane fatalities.

[peaches from georgia]

We prefer life on the smaller ships and in light of this tragedy and being reminded of how complicated evacuating 4000+ persons is, I think I will be even more comfortable on a small ship. Our favorite size on HAL is the S/R ships, plenty big for me. Our last cruise had 450 pax, even better. Yes, we will cruise again with even more attention to safety.

[RuthC]

If I were to survive the terrible trauma the Concordia passengers went through, I know full well it would be many years before I would want to cruise again. I doubt I have that many years left.

There are too many other ways to travel, relax, enjoy.

[Crazy]

I will be cruising this year in October. I have always been impressed with the way Holland America operates and can't imagine not cruising again.

[catl331]

Of course I will cruise again!

 

Sure we'll cruise again....past final payment so we have no choice.

We've not canceling a cruise coming up in a couple of months either, but would you book another cruise if you had survived a ship abandonment? We're about at the end of our cruising life anyway, and I think surviving an abandonment would make that the last one! :)

[sapper1]

As much as this terrible event has occupied my thoughts and made me very uneasy about cruising, from a statistical point of view we are protected by the law of averages for a while. I feel the same way after a major plane crash.

 

I have also been struck by the way HAL crew members always seem to be holding some kind of safety drill and pay strict attention to detail. The officers seem to exude confidence and competency from the captain on down the ranks.

 

Do you remember the contentious thread from a few years ago where the woman went ballistic against HAL when they fired her daughter, who was a member of the entertainment staff, for skipping out on a safety drill in Alaska after she had been ordered not to do so? She wanted to go on a shorex with her family who had been aboard and decided she would just go and take her punishment. Well the punishment was that HAL decided that if she did not take safety preparations seriously she was gone.

 

Most of us tried to point out that the mother was wrong to be upset with HAL but she wasn't having any of it. She could not understand how a member of the entertainment staff would have anything to do with safety on the ship. I certainly hope the mother has been reading the news for the last week and now "gets" it. The point in bringing this up is to say that at the time of the incident I remember thinking that I was glad that HAL took the incident so seriously. It was an indication that it was a tight ship, which is a very good thing.

[Bramcruiser]

Its hard to answer definitely without having actually experience such an event in real life. But at this time I would say.....yes, I would cruise again.

[COLLEYBERRY]

 

Hi Sapper

 

The question remains if went you through what the Costa cruisers have ..would you cruise again?

 

I to have always been reassured by the apparent competency of the Hal crews...there is something very reassuring about the Dutch approach to cruising....cruising is extraordinarily safe and I supposed the chances of two harrowing sea recuses in one's lifetime is highly unlikely... that being said

I just don't know if I could board another ship. Hoping against hope the Captain wasn't a jerk.

[sapper1]

 

Hi Sapper

 

The question remains if went you through what the Costa cruisers have ..would you cruise again?

 

I to have always been reassured by the apparent competency of the Hal crews...there is something very reassuring about the Dutch approach to cruising....cruising is extraordinarily safe and I supposed the chances of two harrowing sea recuses in one's lifetime is highly unlikely... that being said

I just don't know if I could board another ship. Hoping against hope the Captain wasn't a jerk.

I guess I can't answer your question as you posed it as I really don't know the answer. I wonder how many of us really do.

 

I can only tell how I feel as a spectator and what I have observed on HAL ships.

 

I expect that is not the answer you were looking for but it is the best I can do. I just don't know the answer.

 

Good to see you posting again. Missed you.:)

[COLLEYBERRY]

 

I don't suppose there really is an answer....but if need be...I'd share a lifeboat with you anytime :):) Hope all is well.

[DoverHeights]

I'm pretty sure that if I had been on board the Costa Concordia, I would be most uneager to cruise again "any time soon". When I sailed on the NA last August, I was "impressed" at just how difficult it was to get on/off at Mykonos - because of a strong wind and resulting swell. When you then think about getting off via a lifeboat (at best), from a heavily listing (increasingly) ship, the difficulty and danger increases by orders of magnitude. If you then add panic, age, infirmity.. and say, fire - probably the most likely cause of disaster, and place your vessel in rough seas, miles from anywhere - your difficulty increasing x 2000 or x 4000 or x 6000 passengers plus crew ... ????. At least HAL's crew of dour Dutch officers gives me more confidence than Costa's Dolce Vita set.

 

I hope the above scenario does not happen - but who would have thought the course of events which beset the CC could ever happen. Statistics might reassure you as an individual that the chance of such a disaster happening to you is remote, but the same statistics probably would state that the chance of a giant cruiseship disaster is becoming more and more certain

 

Will cruise with HAL again, but always "glancing over my shoulder", Michael

[esther e]

Given our age and mobility issues, if we were on a ship that capsized or had similar tragedy, I can honestly say no, we would not cruise again. We have many cruises under our belts and would be gun shy about stepping on another ship.

 

I agree with Ruth C. She summed up my feelings quite well.

[KirkNC]

 

 

I appreciate this is a hypothetical question, that hopefully none of us will ever know the real answer to...but if you had experienced the terror of the Costa cruse line tragedy ....do you think you'd cruise again ?

 

Statistically, cruising is an extremely safe choice of vacation travel ...I just don't know if I could get back on a ship ,after going through such an ordeal.

Colleen

 

Hard to answer a hypothetical question like this as who knows how the experience would change you. I would hope I would still enjoy cruising.

[gelo7]

Without a doubt.

[Viesczy]

Without hesitation I'd cruise again if involved in a situation like that... almost like an added excursion! Life is terminal; we all go in the end the only difference is typically how and when. If it was our time, we'd end up going together doing something that we loved.

 

I turned 40 this year, I am in the upper percentiles of physical strength and endurance of any age so I am pretty sure physically I could make it out of any situation alive.

 

Derek

[CowPrincess]

As another poster pointed out (Sapper, maybe?) statistically it'd be good. Emotionally, I don't think I could get on a cruise ship again if I'd experienced what the pax of Concordia did. I'm pretty sure I don't have the intellectual toughness required to overcome the visceral "fight or flight" physical/emotional response.

[beachbum789]

I would cruise again. No matter what mode of travel there is always a chance for for a problem.

[mearsfansinboise]

I would absolutely cruise again... I don't fly...the only way I get places is by car or boat. So....yes, yes and yes again.

[jtl513]

... from a statistical point of view we are protected by the law of averages for a while. I feel the same way after a major plane crash.

 

As another poster pointed out (Sapper, maybe?) statistically it'd be good.

That sounds logical, but it's not true. Unless the ship sinking or plane crash is the result of a design flaw or a system flaw (e.g. air traffic control problem), just because a catastrophe happened yesterday does not lessen the chances of the same thing happening today. Statistically each event is independent of any other. Of course no ship Captain in the world will be buzzing any land mass today. :)

[ANSalberg]

 

 

I appreciate this is a hypothetical question, that hopefully none of us will ever know the real answer to...but if you had experienced the terror of the Costa cruse line tragedy ....do you think you'd cruise again ?

 

Statistically, cruising is an extremely safe choice of vacation travel ...I just don't know if I could get back on a ship ,after going through such an ordeal.

Colleen

 

Of course we'll cruise again -AND we have several for the next year booked. You DO realize that cruising is "safer" than driving on a crowded free-way or more pleasant than FLYING anywhere? Certainly for the families that lost someone in the Costa accident, this isn't a "Small Deal" and I would NEVER ever belittle that pain. BUT cruising -WITH some common sense of PASSENGERS in FOREIGN ports - is still "Safe" and literally MILLIONS of people cruise successfully since "Titanic" !!!

Anne

[Sage]

Thank you Brian. I could not have said it better.

[sapper1]

That sounds logical, but it's not true. Unless the ship sinking or plane crash is the result of a design flaw or a system flaw (e.g. air traffic control problem), just because a catastrophe happened yesterday does not lessen the chances of the same thing happening today. Statistically each event is independent of any other. Of course no ship Captain in the world will be buzzing any land mass today. :)

Whether it is true or not, if one perceives it to be true it alleviates the angst that may be associated with taking a cruise in the near future. So I will hold on to my false perceptions which will allow me to enjoy our upcoming cruise.:)