Abandon ship

[Ians Grandma]

I just finished reading "Burning Cold: The Cruise Ship Prinsendam". It was recommended to me by others on CC. It was a surprise to me to read that the abandon ship, as well as fire containment measures, went so poorly. It was an interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone that cruises. It made me even more aware of the fact that its a mistake to assume that the staff always knows what they are doing! This is not to disparage them only to say that one must try to be responsible for themself and take things seriously. I'm sure that many new safety measures are in place now as compared to 1980.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Ians Grandma

[kazu]

I just finished reading "Burning Cold: The Cruise Ship Prinsendam". It was recommended to me by others on CC. It was a surprise to me to read that the abandon ship, as well as fire containment measures, went so poorly. It was an interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone that cruises. It made me even more aware of the fact that its a mistake to assume that the staff always knows what they are doing! This is not to disparage them only to say that one must try to be responsible for themself and take things seriously. I'm sure that many new safety measures are in place now as compared to 1980.

 

hmm? interesting - everyone on that ship escaped with their lives - we can't say the same for Costa.

 

definitely things are better -but the bottom line is everyone got off alive.

[Himself]

hmm? interesting - everyone on that ship escaped with their lives - we can't say the same for Costa.

 

definitely things are better -but the bottom line is everyone got off alive.

 

Amen!

[Ians Grandma]

While it is wonderful that everyone got off alive it was disturbing to hear that they had problems dropping the life boats, boats almost being lowered on to other boats, crew pushing past passengers to get on the lifeboats, etc. I'm sure that you agree that these things are not acceptable.

I am just going by what the book stated as fact.

[SilvertoGold]

Fascinating book, one we read a week before a 64 day HAL cruise. So, it made an "impression" on us.

 

Dolly was on that ship. It would be something to hear her memories of it!

[Typhoon1]

hmm? interesting - everyone on that ship escaped with their lives - we can't say the same for Costa.

 

definitely things are better -but the bottom line is everyone got off alive.

 

Remind me to never cruise Costa.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We cruised back in the 80's.

Lifeboat drills were not really stressed back then.

Today the crew are really put through the drills to learn how to fight a fire. Not just reading what to do.

Having been on ships when we had a real fire, I really appreciate what the crew do when a fire breaks out and how more equipped they are compared to the 80's.

[SilvertoGold]

We cruised back in the 80's.

Lifeboat drills were not really stressed back then.

Today the crew are really put through the drills to learn how to fight a fire. Not just reading what to do.

Having been on ships when we had a real fire, I really appreciate what the crew do when a fire breaks out and how more equipped they are compared to the 80's.

 

KK, you have summed it up well!

Thanks!

[sail7seas]

We were at Mariners Brunch seated at a table hosted by the Captain. We had just placed our orders with the steward when the Captain received a message a small fire had been discovered. He was out of his chair and calling his apolgies over his shoulder in the blink of an eye. We had the opportunity to learn that it was not a false alarm and there really was a small fire that was well handled and extinguished quickly but it does give one pause.

 

[Mary Ellen]

Our first cruise was the one immediately preceding the one in the book. Due to a very bad storm on our way back (and an additional stop in Ketchikan for medical reasons) we were very late getting back to Vancouver. IIRC it was after noon. We saw a good number of passengers waiting to board for their cruise to Asia. Granted, I was in my 20s, but they all seemed to be over 70. We were very impressed that everyone was safely evacuated from the Prinsendam.

 

Yes, there were lessons learned by the cruise industry from that experience, just as there were from the Titanic tragedy. One thing I understand was that orange became the standard for the tops of lifeboats. That color contrasts well with the ocean, making spotting lifeboats from the air much easier.

 

Bottom line - this is one of reasons HAL has been our primary cruise line for so long.

[BJane]

I agree that "Burning Cold" is a fascinating book. I remember well the media coverage of the Prinsendam sinking. When we visited Valdez on a shore excursion in the late 1990s as we wandered around we came upon the Valdez Museum. There was a Prinsendam lifeboat on display outside. There were also copies of newspaper articles about the incident posted on the outside wall of the museum. Lifeboats have changed dramatically since then!!

[serendipity1499]

While it is wonderful that everyone got off alive it was disturbing to hear that they had problems dropping the life boats, boats almost being lowered on to other boats, crew pushing past passengers to get on the lifeboats, etc. I'm sure that you agree that these things are not acceptable.

I am just going by what the book stated as fact.[/QUOTE]

 

I bolded your last statement only because you can be sure that things have changed in 30 years on HAL!

 

We've had numerous threads on the book "Burning Cold"..You might want to do a search on CC to read all the threads..

 

Take a look at the pics in this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1718340&highlight=burning+cold

 

Also read the posts by Copper 10-8 & Topsham (formerly a ship's Capt.)

 

Many of us had read the book years ago.. On other threads it was duly noted that since many of us had started cruising in the 70's Crew Safety drills have completely changed...

 

We can be sure that the HAL crew's now are experienced enough to handle the life boats & there would be no pushing of Psgrs in an emergency.. Also the newer ships have better equipment than they had on the old Prinsendam..

 

What is most important now is for Psgrs to take the Muster Drill's seriously & stop the kibitzing during these drills..

 

BTW for those who have not read the book it can be purchased at Amazon.Com.. For me it was very interesting reading, as realized after reading that book, that I should take extra care in outlining our own "Boat safety" procedures when we had guests on board..

 

Cheers..Betty

 

P.S. Take a look at this thread from 2009..

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=913349&highlight=burning+cold

Edited February 10, 2014 by serendipity1499

[rafinmd]

I purchased Burning Cold for my Kindle. I actually seldom read on cruises, but will probably get a good start on it on my upcoming flights. From my first glance at the book, the biggest impression it made on me was how much those people paid. I think adjusted for inflation today's HAL fares are a bargain, even with some cutbacks.

 

Roy