A & E Investigative Reports

[Cruise Arizona]

I've started posting on my website the TV programs airing about cruising.

 

I just caught the A&E/New York Times: Investigative Reports show about the Cruise Industry.

 

If you watched this show and knew nothing about the cuise industry you would come away with the idea that you are putting your health, saftey, personal property, and life in great peril if you ever even step onto a cruise ship and that more government regulation is needed to keep this profit driven greedy industry in check.

 

Did anybody else check this show out?

 

What was your thoughts on the fairness of this show.

[BrooklynGirl2]

I didn't catch that show Suzanne, so I can't offer my thoughts but thank you for compiling a list of cruise related TV programs. We needed a place like that to reference when looking for cruise shows.

 

BTW, is this a new website? It looks very nice. I'll have to stop in more often.

[Cruise Arizona]

I'll have to let everyone know when it was on again, because I personally thought it was pretty biased, but I'm usually on the opposite side of the NY Times so who knows if it is more me or the reporting.

 

Anyway, my DH, the computer nerd, set me up with my own web site. I plan to post some pictures in the next couple of weeks, some of them over 20 year old.

 

Be sure to Tivo or watch the show next time, because at the least it was very interesting.

[starsjohn]

Do run a google search on the the Carnival Corporation's pay to the chair of board's compensation. It is millions a day for what? Its millions for the board of directors while cutbacks and nothing for the ship workers. Its just corporate greed.

[Cruise Arizona]

They spent a lot of time dogging Carnival, but they also took a few digs at RCI and featured Mellenium, as the next generation of large ships that have too many subcontractors and will be subject to design flaws.

[nu2sea]

They spent a lot of time dogging Carnival, but they also took a few digs at RCI and featured Mellenium, as the next generation of large ships that have too many subcontractors and will be subject to design flaws.

 

Did they know anything about the pod problems or was this done before they became apparent?

 

Thx,

Susan

[wrp96]

I looked at the credits at the end and it was copyrighted in 2000. I don't know if that is when it actually was filmed or not. I only came in for the 2nd half of the show, and all I heard was bad mouthing of the cruise industry.

[kalamari]

There is a reason why sometimes it's hard for people to digest shows like this, primarily because it sorta "blows" the romanticisim out of the cruise industry that all have come to love. I've dated a crew member for a long time and have heard similar stories from him. Also, cruise companies spend lots of money to "keep things hush hush" so as to not taint the industry. When the Norway had the boiler explosion a couple of years ago, it was all over the newspapers in Miami what the company was doing to "buy out" the families of the unfortunate victims in an effort to avoid a public relations disaster. You can also look on the federal election websites for different political interests and see why some officers and members of the board for almost all of the cruise companies give thousands of dollars to special political interest groups (mostly environmental and anti labor laws) to lawmakers in the states where their ships may be based out of. Unfortunately,there's a lot of stuff out there that is true about the industry and people won't even stop to consider if even a tiny bit of it is true..but like all things, study it and see what you believe about it....Menina

[waltw]

Hmmmm? "buy out" would that be like a settlement to avoid a lawsuit and a hugh payment to lawyers instead of the victims who deserved payment? A fair settlement quickly made after an accident sound like good PR!

[cechase]

I must agree with Waltw. I spent 38 years as a corporate and real estate attorney, before retiring in 2001. When an incident occured whether an accident or discrimination, or such other cause occured, I would dig out all of the facts from all sides, prepare an analysis for my corporate client, including jury verdict analysis for the venue in which the incident occured and give my opinion. In most cases, where there was liability, I would recommend a settlement amount as well as provide the costs of defense. These early settlements worked out well for the persons injured who in many cases had not yet signed an outrageous contingent fee contract with a lawyer, as well as for the client.

 

As to security, I can only talk about Celebrity - but in our three cruises I thought that security was very tight. Well in advance to boarding, they have all of your personal information, including passport data. At check-in, you are given a Sea Pass, a credit card sized card which opens your cabin door, and allows you to make charges on the ship, and which is required to either board or depart the ship. When you first board and use your Sea Pass the first time, they take a picture of you.

 

Of course, all of your luggage has been screened before boarding, and any carry-ons are screened when you board. In my mind this is pretty tight security and control of who is on the ship.

[tarheelmjfan]

We watched that show. I agree they made cruising sound pretty scary. :eek: Not that I don't believe them. I do! I just found myself thinking that I'm glad I don't have any potentially life threatening illnesses. It only makes sense that the ships wouldn't be equipped to treat every situation, but perhaps they should be a little better trained. I don't think expecting the ship's dr. to be a MD is asking too much. I had heard the story of the girl, Amy, who disappeared from the ship several times. It is a reality check, & reminds us that we should all keep a little better tabs on our kids. This was an adult & it happened to her. I'll keep all this in mind, when I board Century in Nov. Other than the part of keeping tabs on my child, I'll forget about the rest by the time we have our picture taken. :D

[Liat]

I believe that this was an older show being re-run, and probably not descriptive of today's travels. But in the sequence about the man who died, there were several critical unanswered questions. First and foremost - what was the cause of death?

It was mentioned that he had a bypass the year prior, but no mention was made of a heart problem. If there was a fall, and he hit his head, dying less than 24 hours later, it sounds like a subdural heamatoma of the brain, in which case only major neuro- logical surgery might ( and the emphasis is on "might") have helped. But it is absurd to think cruise ships would have to supply neurosurgeons, even if they could find them and persuade them to leave their well paid land practices. And the fact that the doctor on board was Osteopathic rather than Medical should not be of concern. For general practice purposes ODs are quite as well qualified. I do know that in 1999 Carnival's Elation detoured to Cabo San Lucas (Matzatlan was the first scheduled stop) to debark a passneger for medical reasons. And on a Galaxy transatlantic trip between the Azores and Madeira the Captain sped up to assist a medical helicopter in reaching the ship. It did, but unfortunately was too late, although not for lack of effort by Celebrity.

When we consider the thousands of people traveling on cruise ships; their relatively advanced age; and the fact that large numbers of people are dying on land in the best equipped hospitals in the world every day, and occasional death at sea should not cause undue concern.

The biggest concern is still the virus problem; but the measures take in the past two years have lessened the danger considerably. I have not heard of a serious outbreak since Regal Princess' Trans- atlantic repositioning in August 2003.

[cruiseyguy]

I've noticed that this show has certainly kept everyone away from cruising and prices reflect it!

[kalamari]

From what I recall, the "buy out" was a settlement..the problem was that it was tens to hundreds of thousands less than what the victims families could have received....the families had reportedly felt like they were getting exploited. Also from what I recall, part of the idea behind what the lawyers were trying to do was to use this toward legislature to change maritime laws for labor laws, etc. I can't speak for Celebrity and how their employees are treated, I only know in the case of another major cruise company (the one my sweetie works for) that the "behind the scenes" rules for crew and staff can be considered deplorable in some cases, and there are sometimes threats and intimidation to "keep quiet".

 

There are lots of websites out there that talk about the "underside" of the cruising world. Like all things, you have to decide for yourself what to do with the information before making judgments..M

 

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm? "buy out" would that be like a settlement to avoid a lawsuit and a hugh payment to lawyers instead of the victims who deserved payment? A fair settlement quickly made after an accident sound like good PR!