More bad press for Carnival

[Underwatr]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/19/princess-cruise-ship-allegedly-ignored-fishing-vessel-in-distress_n_1437276.html

 

I heard about this on the radio this morning. Two people onboard the stranded fishing boat died after allegedly being ignored by Star Princess on March 10.

[beachbum53]

As usual, the Huffington Post has twisted the facts around. The article makes it seem as if the Star Princess is somehow responsible for the unfortunate deaths of the two fisherman. Yes, Princess Cruise Lines is owned by Carnival Corp., but so what? Why did the person that wrote the article feel it was necessary to mention that? It's as though the H.P has some sort of vendetta against Carnival.

[Underwatr]

As usual, the Huffington Post has twisted the facts around.

Here's the National Public Radio story that I heard this morning:

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/19/150897139/cruise-ship-didnt-aid-drifting-boat-passengers-say

 

The article makes it seem as if the Star Princess is somehow responsible for the unfortunate deaths of the two fisherman.

International law requires a ship to come to the aid of a ship in distress. Passengers on the ship saw the fisherman in distress, informed the bridge, yet the ship did not turn around. Somehow the star Princess did not provide aid as required by law, and two people died.

Yes, Princess Cruise Lines is owned by Carnival Corp., but so what? Why did the person that wrote the article feel it was necessary to mention that? It's as though the H.P has some sort of vendetta against Carnival.

It's not unusual for the parent of a subsidiary company to be identified, espeicially if it suggests that there is a common thread between the subsidiaries (I'm not saying that, but surely somone can wonder).

[gdisney]

There's an active thread on this in the Princess forums. Sorry..but this really doesn't belong in the 'ask a cruise question' thread. ;)

[PeterPan]

I continue to wonder why the Huffington Post is even cited as a news source. :eek:

[navybankerteacher]

There's an active thread on this in the Princess forums. Sorry..but this really doesn't belong in the 'ask a cruise question' thread. ;)

 

On the contrary, I believe it does belong here as it really addresses the question of the training given, and attitude shown by, cruise ship personnel. The captain of the Costa Concordia displayed an unfortunate attitude, and the lack of organized evacuation displayed lack of training for the remaining ship's officers and crew generally.

 

Unfortunately, recent incidents show a disturbing level of professional seamanship which needs to be addressed -- which will probably be forced upon the lines to cope with the negative publicity. This will probably result in increased fares as the lines will have to cover the costs of proper levels of competent staffing.

[Cruzaholic41]

As usual, the Huffington Post has twisted the facts around. The article makes it seem as if the Star Princess is somehow responsible for the unfortunate deaths of the two fisherman. Yes, Princess Cruise Lines is owned by Carnival Corp., but so what? Why did the person that wrote the article feel it was necessary to mention that? It's as though the H.P has some sort of vendetta against Carnival.

 

Well, the mentioning of Carnival is sensationalism. But frankly, they are correct (rare for Huffington Post). Carnival Corp does own the line.

 

As for Star Princess being somehow responsible for the unfortunate deaths, if they intentionally ignored this distress and intentionally failed to stop and render assistance, then yes, they absolutely are responsible - to a degree.

[Putterdude]

Quite right there is an active thread re this topic in the Princess forum. That said I don't think people should be jumping to conclusions until all the facts are known. Capt. Edwin Perrin has been with P&O and Princess for many years and has been involved in at least one well publicized rescue. Having sailed with him, he strikes me as a real seaman and knows very well what is expected of him when a vessel is found to be in distress.

[0bnxshs]

There's an active thread on this in the Princess forums. Sorry..but this really doesn't belong in the 'ask a cruise question' thread. ;)

 

Here's the thread... http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1617040

 

I continue to wonder why the Huffington Post is even cited as a news source. :eek:

 

+1

[0bnxshs]

On the contrary, I believe it does belong here as it really addresses the question of the training given, and attitude shown by, cruise ship personnel. The captain of the Costa Concordia displayed an unfortunate attitude, and the lack of organized evacuation displayed lack of training for the remaining ship's officers and crew generally.

 

Unfortunately, recent incidents show a disturbing level of professional seamanship which needs to be addressed -- which will probably be forced upon the lines to cope with the negative publicity. This will probably result in increased fares as the lines will have to cover the costs of proper levels of competent staffing.

 

There was a good NOVA episode on PBS last night called Why Ships Sink that addresses some of the issues you raise here.

[boogs]

This is how this unfortunate story should have read: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4806

 

In this incident the Royal Caribbean ship did what they should have done, err on the side of safety and humanitarianism.

 

Here is another report on the Princess incident: http://gma.yahoo.com/princess-cruises-investigate-why-captain-ignored-distress-call-233100964--abc-news-topstories.html

 

According to this article passengers reported the people on the disabled boat were waving frantically for quite some time. A ship's staff member viewed the waving himself. I find it perplexing that the captain claims he thought the victims were giving the ship a wave of gratitude for avoiding their nets.

 

In the Huffington Post article is mentioned that the ship had made contact with them and was asked that the ship avoid their nets. This must have been done telepathically since as reported in the other article the disabled boat had no radio. :rolleyes:

 

Plus, the captain claims his ship was moving through a fishing fleet at the time. But the other article indicated the disabled boat had been drifting for two weeks before the encounter and was much further from shore than such a small boat should have been. You would think that one of the other fishing boats would have noticed the stricken boat if there were others in the area.

 

Something doesn't seem right.

[gdisney]

On the contrary, I believe it does belong here as it really addresses the question of the training given, and attitude shown by, cruise ship personnel. The captain of the Costa Concordia displayed an unfortunate attitude, and the lack of organized evacuation displayed lack of training for the remaining ship's officers and crew generally.

 

Well, we can agree to disagree, but the thread is titled "Post your general cruise questions here" - and the OP posed no questions whatsoever, they just titled it "more bad press for Carnival". By your logic, ANYTHING could be posted here under the guise that it could raise some questions about something somewhere....but I don't really care i guess, the moderators can do as they see fit. :)

[Cruzaholic41]

Well, we can agree to disagree, but the thread is titled "Post your general cruise questions here" - and the OP posed no questions whatsoever, they just titled it "more bad press for Carnival". By your logic, ANYTHING could be posted here under the guise that it could raise some questions about something somewhere....but I don't really care i guess, the moderators can do as they see fit. :)

 

If you have a problem with it, hit the little triangle instead of posting (twice) on it.

[gdisney]

If you have a problem with it, hit the little triangle instead of posting (twice) on it.

 

I didn't, because as i said, I don't really care. But thanks for the tip.

[navybankerteacher]

As usual, the Huffington Post has twisted the facts around. The article makes it seem as if the Star Princess is somehow responsible for the unfortunate deaths of the two fisherman. Yes, Princess Cruise Lines is owned by Carnival Corp., but so what? Why did the person that wrote the article feel it was necessary to mention that? It's as though the H.P has some sort of vendetta against Carnival.

 

I share your scepticism as to the objectivity of Huffington Post -- which is clearly a politically skewed reporter of events; however, the event was properly linked to Carnival - the owner of both Princess and Costa -- as there appear to be a number of incidents which demonstrate poor training, or maintenance, or staff attitude on cruise ships. The fire on the Costa ship towed into the Seychelles was most likely the result of poor maintenance or poor operation of equipment, exacerbated by ineffective damage control; the Concordia disaster was the result of poor navigation exascerbated by miserable leadership from the captain and poor training of the crew; the trecent Princess incident shows, at the least, poor communications on board ship or disregard of traditional obligations.

 

All of which indicate that cruise lines need to do a better job regarding staffing and training: bad stuff just does not happen by chance -- it is virtually always the result of human error --which is likely the end result of cost-cutting efforts.

[Putterdude]

Here is a copy of a Princess post on Facebook which I have copied from thread on this subject on the Princess forum:

 

"Princess Cruises deeply regrets that two Panamanian men perished at sea after their boat became disabled in early March. Since we became aware of this incident, we have been investigating circumstances surrounding the claim that Star Princess failed to come to the aid of the disabled boat, after a crew member was alerted by passengers.

 

The preliminary results of our investigation have shown that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication in relaying the passenger's concern. Neither Captain Edward Perrin nor the officer of the watch were notified. Understandably, Captain Perrin is devastated that he is being accused of knowingly turning his back on people in distress. Had the Captain received this information, he would have had the opportunity to respond.

 

We all understand that it is our responsibility and also the law of the sea to provide assistance to any vessel in distress, and it is not an uncommon occurrence for our ships to be involved in a rescue at sea. In fact, we have done so more than 30 times in the last ten years. We deeply regret this incident and are continuing our investigation to fully understand the circumstances. "

[Karysa]

We were on the Carnival Destiny years ago and saw broken wood and then a small boat with no one on it. Shortly after the ship made a hard turn and even the crew looked worried. The captain came on and explained that we may be involved in a rescue at sea. It was later determined that the broken wood was a dock and that the boat had been tied to it. Until proven otherwise you have to presume that the captain is telling the truth. This is an awful story either way. Two men have died and two others have had their reputations ruined at best.

[SantaFeFan]

....

The preliminary results of our investigation have shown that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication in relaying the passenger's concern. Neither Captain Edward Perrin nor the officer of the watch were notified. Understandably, Captain Perrin is devastated that he is being accused of knowingly turning his back on people in distress. Had the Captain received this information, he would have had the opportunity to respond. .....]

 

Yep, Captain Perrin, it's all about you being picked on! Two lives were lost due to a breakdown in communication by your staff, and your are more concerned about being accused of not doing your job effectively. Never mind that on your watch the crew you are responsible for needlessly failed to save the lives of two people.

 

Sort of reminds me of a certain Italian captain recently all over the news.

[Putterdude]

Yep, Captain Perrin, it's all about you being picked on! Two lives were lost due to a breakdown in communication by your staff, and your are more concerned about being accused of not doing your job effectively. Never mind that on your watch the crew you are responsible for needlessly failed to save the lives of two people.

 

Sort of reminds me of a certain Italian captain recently all over the news.

 

Wow, you are both judge and jury.

:eek:

[sloopsailor]

Wow, you are both judge and jury.

:eek:

 

WOW! Spoken like a true Princess cheerleader! I checked you profile - over 90% of your many cruises have been on Princess. I would hardly consider you impartial to any critical opinion of your beloved cruise line.

 

Regardless of how much you might try to defend your favorite cruise line, they screwed up, and even they admit it. A major breakdown in communications that cost people's lives should indeed be judged as unacceptable. A captain that worries more about what people think of him rather than the tragedy that occurred under his command should be judged. Santafefan has a valid reason to voice what many of us are thinking - what happened to those poor men should never have happened.

[gdisney]

A captain that worries more about what people think of him rather than the tragedy that occurred under his command should be judged.

 

This was a statement from the company, not a statement from the captain. Who wouldn't be devastated about being accused of 'knowingly' ignoring someone in need of help? It's quite a leap to suggest the captain cares more about his image than this tragedy. We cannot possibly know what's going through his mind right now.

[Putterdude]

WOW! Spoken like a true Princess cheerleader! I checked you profile - over 90% of your many cruises have been on Princess. I would hardly consider you impartial to any critical opinion of your beloved cruise line.

 

Regardless of how much you might try to defend your favorite cruise line, they screwed up, and even they admit it. A major breakdown in communications that cost people's lives should indeed be judged as unacceptable. A captain that worries more about what people think of him rather than the tragedy that occurred under his command should be judged. Santafefan has a valid reason to voice what many of us are thinking - what happened to those poor men should never have happened.

 

An another ill informed comment, if you were to read some of my posts you would find that I am far from a Princess cheerleader in fact the quite the contrary. Princess to me is only a corporate entity that provides cruise vacations for my wife and I, nothing more.

"A captain that worries more about what people think of him rather than the tragedy that occurred under his command" now perhaps you can explain where this statement comes from or did you just happen make it up while determining with all the facts that only you seem to be privy to that the captain is guilty.:eek:

[Underwatr]

If Princess's public statements are about how the Captain feels unjustly criticized, I hope that their non-public discussions are more about how such a notification from passengers made to ship's crew fails to make it to the bridge where something could have been done. Clearly there was a failure onboard to act on critical information that could have saved lives, no?

[gdisney]

If Princess's public statements are about how the Captain feels unjustly criticized, I hope that their non-public discussions are more about how such a notification from passengers made to ship's crew fails to make it to the bridge where something could have been done. Clearly there was a failure onboard to act on critical information that could have saved lives, no?

 

Yes, one could argue that it wasn't the most sensitively worded public statement...and I'm sure they will be having many discussions about communication procedures...

[Sun 4-ever]

HAHA cruzaholic41 you took the words right out from under my fingers to gdisney. If you don't like a topic don't click on it and read about it and continue to post statements when you think it's in the wrong place.

 

I have never cruised Princess but am planning to next April. I do think it is unfair for Carnival to be blamed for something that happens on other cruise lines just because they are the owners. It's not as if Carnival runs Princess. It's just like RCCL and Celebrity, RCCL ownes Celebrity but if you read the boards Celebrity is a much better run company then RCCL.

 

Don't know what happened but my heart goes out to the men who lost their lives and their families:o