Are people telling you you're crazy to keep cruising after Concordia?

[Warmer Climes]

We cruise every year during February break so WOOHOO it's coming right up! But I have had five people tell me that they would NEVER cruise after seeing the pictures of the Concordia. The first four had never cruised before so I just attributed their reactions to lack of understanding of cruising, but today an experienced cruiser told me "never again" and was surprised that we have booked another cruise for next year.

 

I guess it's no different than people being reluctant to fly after a plane crash but maybe it's the dramatic pictures on the tv that make people react like this.

 

Barb

[puddles99]

Yes, I've had several folks who were surprised and a few even tried to talk us out of our plans (my Mother in Law in particular), but everyone who has questioned our plans has not cruised themselves. To each their own . . . I'm willing to put my confidence in the NCL crew!

[time2cruise1]

Nobody has said that to me. We cruised the week after the accident. 4 in my party had never cruised before and had no hesitation.

[palmyrafan]

I've had a couple of people tell me that we should be careful about cruising after what happened to the Concordia.

 

But DH and I aren't afraid of cruising with NCL. Our captains have always shown due diligence and we even had one change the itinerary at the last minute to avoid a hurricane!

 

No, we aren't scared of NCL. Some of the other liners, maybe.

[Novastar]

As the NTSB would tell you, the riskiest method of travel on a cruise vacation:

 

- is not the cruise ship

- is not the airplane that you take to the port

- it is the car that you drive to the airport

[chrispb]

No-one has said that to me either and we are sailing on Costa:)

People generally realise that it's very unusual for a cruiseship to sink, far more unlikely (I think) than a plane crashing.

I'm sure I'll be thinking of those poor people who lost their lives but I believe that you can't keep yourself wrapped in cotton wool.

[Fishbait17]

People keep telling me that there must be some amazing deals on cruises after the disaster - the way they talk they think it's almost free! I don't know about anyone else, but the pricing I have been checking is either staying the same or going up, up, up!

 

Robin

[Cubechick]

Nope

[pjnj40]

Cruising won't stop me. Since Concordia, I am not afraid. I know all cruises line somehow revamp the situations and protocols regarding to the accident. I read somewhere on this board that HAL had kicked a passenger off due to missing the muster drill. I gave HAL three cheers for that. Also i read their saying at muster drill, everyone is quiet and some crew members had to straighten out the disrespect passenger of how to attend the muster drill. So, we all learn how to revamp ourselves to make it better. Always remember, we learn from a bad mistake.

[mpk218]

Its all silly , trains planes cruise ships . Whats the alternative ? Lock your self in the basement;)

 

There are 5000 airplanes in the air at any given time Every day . Look at those stats .

And its been Years since a "sinking" most never sink.

 

Heres a short list.. ( does not include the Sea Dimond in '07.)

 

Dec. 17, 2000: The Sea Breeze I sinks following engine failure 200 miles east of Cape Charles, Va. No passengers are aboard the ship, which is sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Charleston, S.C. All 34 crewmembers are saved.

Aug. 4, 1991: Luxury Greek liner Oceanos sinks off the coast of South Africa when the engine room floods. The 571 people on board are rescued. The ship’s crew had failed to replace ventilation pipes it removed during repairs.

Aug. 31, 1986: The Admiral Nakimov, a Soviet cruise ship carrying 1,234 passengers to a holiday resort, collides with a cargo vessel twice its size and sinks into the Black Sea eight miles off the port of Novorossysk. Seventy-nine people are killed, 836 are rescued and 319 people are never found.

Feb. 16, 1986: The Soviet cruise ship Mikhail Lermontov sinks in 100 feet of water off the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island after hitting a reef. One of the 330 crewmembers dies, but the rest of the crew and all 409 passengers, mainly elderly Australians, are evacuated.

Sept. 11, 1982: A 152-foot cruise liner, the Majestic Explorer, got stuck on a shoal in Frederick Sound off southeastern Alaska. One woman dies and two are injured during the rescue. The remaining 77 passengers and 21 crew are safely evacuated.

Oct. 4, 1980: The luxury liner Prinsendam, a Holland America Line ship carrying 319 passengers and 203 crew members, catches fire during a violent storm. All passengers and crew are successfully evacuated

[Davechipp74]

Yes, I've had several folks who were surprised and a few even tried to talk us out of our plans (my Mother in Law in particular), but everyone who has questioned our plans has not cruised themselves. To each their own . . . I'm willing to put my confidence in the NCL crew!

 

I'm in the same boat exactly, down to the MIL.

No worries here

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love this app :)

[janvino]

Yes, I keep hearing this and I keep replying that "Cruising is safer than my daily commute or being a Canadian tourist in Mexico":cool:

[suzequ]

Yep, I've gotten a little of this - also notably a long-time cruiser who says she's now quitting. But I have no hesitation about going; 1st because I trust the NCL captains/crew; 2nd because I always make certain we have life jackets in the room and know how to get to our muster station/life boat.

[jamminlion]

I have had a couple of friends ask me if we are changing our vacation plans, too. The short answer is that we are not! I doubt that another captain will make the same foolish mistakes that the Concordia Captain made - including deserting his ship.

 

I truly believe that NCL Captains (and all Captains really -save for 1 fool) are competent, show good judgement, and take their jobs very seriously.

[NJ04SS]

I've been hearing this for a few days now, but in my eyes - when its your time, its your time. If a ship goes down that I'm on and I make it, its obviously not my time and just gives me an interesting story to tell the family around the Holidays. However, I do wish everyone a Safe and Happy Cruise!:D

[Journey11]

About two weeks ago, I saw a story line on one of the news shows that said Travel Agents had noted a decrease in cruise bookings. I have not seen much more regarding this and I could understand there possibly being an initial decrease just because of all the press about this unfortunante Concordia matter. However, as another poster stated, I have seen no decrease in cruise fares since then. Frankly, I am more concerned about a Norovirus outbreak on a ship than I am about the ship sinking. But neither will deter me from continuing to cruise.

[VonChap]

We did get an email from a family member since we are leaving on the Spirit on Saturday. They were reminding us to "pay attention during the Muster Drill". :) Yep, we already do that.

 

They were more worried about sharks than the boat sinking. (DH would love to swim with sharks, for some reason)

[willysgrandma]

We've not seen any decrease in cruise bookings and we are traveling this year again.

 

That was such a rare thing to happen it is probably is a LOT safer cruising now because any ships that got a little lax on security will sure be doing everything the right way now to ensure that nothing like this happens again.

 

My response is I feel a lot safer now because of this. And I never didn't feel safe cruising and also have never experienced a Ship Captain who I felt did anything unsafe like the Costa clown did.

[mikedw]

In the late 80's when I attended Submarine School at the Submarine Base in New London, a shipmate asked an instructor if subs were dangerous. His reply was that anything that moved was potentially dangerous. People have short memories, the Concordia diaster is already yesterdays news and most people have probably forgotten about it.

[www3traveler]

We cruise every year during February break so WOOHOO it's coming right up! But I have had five people tell me that they would NEVER cruise after seeing the pictures of the Concordia. The first four had never cruised before so I just attributed their reactions to lack of understanding of cruising, but today an experienced cruiser told me "never again" and was surprised that we have booked another cruise for next year.

 

I guess it's no different than people being reluctant to fly after a plane crash but maybe it's the dramatic pictures on the tv that make people react like this.

 

Barb

Because I have done 15 NCL cruises, I have had people ask me my opinion about the Costa accident,but never I have had anyone say that I should stay home. I have never felt unsafe on a NCL ship and hopefully never will. I am a widow who chooses to travel alone, so I do worry about my safety. I hope that at least for awhile, people WILL pay attention to what is said at the Muster Drills.

[Mooder]

Several times I have heard "that's why I'll never cruise," obviously from non-cruisers. No one expects me to stop cruising, thinks I'm crazy or tried to talk me out of it. As for the dramatic pics, as horrible as it was, it pales beside a plane crash in terms of percentage of survivors. So, flying seems much scarier to me - but I still do it because that's how you get places! ;)

 

I'm counting on being one of the smart ones who follow the captain. :)

[cliffd64]

No one has commented about the Concordia ... but when the Somali pirates were at their height, I did get a few people who had never cruised (or seen a globe before) ask if we were worried about pirates on our cruise....

[halos]

To be honest, I think most people think of my cruise addiction as crazy and it has nothing to do with Concordia...people have been suggesting I go to ship rehab for a long time.

:D

[js]

We cruise every year during February break so WOOHOO it's coming right up! But I have had five people tell me that they would NEVER cruise after seeing the pictures of the Concordia. The first four had never cruised before so I just attributed their reactions to lack of understanding of cruising, but today an experienced cruiser told me "never again" and was surprised that we have booked another cruise for next year.

 

I guess it's no different than people being reluctant to fly after a plane crash but maybe it's the dramatic pictures on the tv that make people react like this.

 

Barb

 

Yes, some have told me they will never cruise again and how can I keep booking them.

I was hoping the prices would have went down after that but no such luck :(

[deladypilot]

As a pilot and daughter of an airline pilot, I have heard all my life how people wont fly because it is dangerous. I have finally gotten tired of explaining to them that the averages are better flying than driving.

 

Back a few years, the NTSB posted that over 40,000 people had died in car accidents in one year and that 245 had died in plane crashes. HMMM which one is safer?

 

If every night on TV the news casters would report every person that died that day on the road around the world, then it wouldnt be long before people would understand.

 

So - I have quit trying to make them "get it" because you just cant change peoples minds when it has already been made up.