Oceania lied to passengers about discount

[LHT28]

I will repeat this

There are a couple of kitchen crew that are on the medical team

They went to the fire victims .... so yes they came running from the kitchen

 

Then they helped the doctors onshore checking on people

 

Maybe the OP was upset because they did not get their breakfast after the alarm went off

 

I think overall Oceania & the crew did a good job from the start to get people to safety then back to Miami withing 24-36 hrs

Then sent home from there

I cannot imagine getting flights to Miami the same same day as the fire

Apparently they flew out late at night which is not usually the case from the Island airport

Just sounds like somebody trying to get something for nothing by whining

 

JMO

[Leejnd4]

Just sounds like somebody trying to get something for nothing by whining

 

JMO

 

My thoughts exactly. Which is why I find the original post so troubling. It's just distasteful to attempt to profit off a disaster in which people died.

[Paulchili]

I will repeat this

There are a couple of kitchen crew that are on the medical team

They went to the fire victims .... so yes they came running from the kitchen

 

Then they helped the doctors onshore checking on people

 

Maybe the OP was upset because they did not get their breakfast after the alarm went off

 

I think overall Oceania & the crew did a good job from the start to get people to safety then back to Miami withing 24-36 hrs

Then sent home from there

I cannot imagine getting flights to Miami the same same day as the fire

Apparently they flew out late at night which is not usually the case from the Island airport

Just sounds like somebody trying to get something for nothing by whining

 

JMO

 

+1 - agree with your statements Lyn

[TrulyBlonde]

+1 - agree with your statements Lyn

 

+2 Paul

[wally_bushy]

We were on the Caribbean cruise of December 4, 2014 that ended with an onboard fire and death of 3 people. We were subsequently interviewed on National TV, National News Radio and Newspapers about our ordeal. While in the warehouse in Saint Lucia we were given a document signed by the Vice President of Oceania that stated "we would get a 50% future cruise credit". When we got to the hotel in Miami, I asked one of Oceania's representatives what the terms of the discount were and were told that we would get 50% off what ever the price of the future cruise was even if it was a discounted price. We are now told that the discount is 50% of what we paid for the ill-fated one. This is not what we were told or what the document stated in the document. OCEANIA LIED TO US!!!!!

Take a big breath...relax... now think of the three people and their families.:mad:

Edited March 5, 2015 by wally_bushy

[Mura]

Several nights ago I was watching a follow-up program on the Contra Costa disaster. This featured survivors.

 

One of them was a young woman who was on the entertainment staff. She was expected to assist but was also the first to say that she had not been properly trained to act in that capacity with a disaster of this magnitude. HOWEVER ... she stepped up, acted like a leader and managed to calm some terror-stricken people (one of whom was a new crew member who'd just boarded the ship a week earlier).

 

She may not have been thoroughly trained to deal with such a situation, but she saved a number of lives that night.

 

The show also featured another family -- a newly married couple on their honeymoon who were traveling with several other family members. They went through hell but managed to save themselves by quick thinking after all the life boats were gone.

 

So I agree that merely seeing chefs running out of the kitchen does NOT necessarily mean they were running AWAY.

 

Mura

[Leejnd4]

Take a big breath...relax... now think of the three people and their families.:mad:

 

Seriously.

[StanandJim]

Several nights ago I was watching a follow-up program on the Contra Costa disaster.

 

May I presume that you are writing about the Costa Concordia disaster?

 

Contra Costa is a California County, near San Francisco.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_Costa_County,_California

[Paulchili]

May I presume that you are writing about the Costa Concordia disaster?

 

Contra Costa is a California County, near San Francisco.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_Costa_County,_California

 

That said, some parts of CCC are a disaster :D

[buggins0402]

Several nights ago I was watching a follow-up program on the Contra Costa disaster. This featured survivors.

 

One of them was a young woman who was on the entertainment staff. She was expected to assist but was also the first to say that she had not been properly trained to act in that capacity with a disaster of this magnitude. HOWEVER ... she stepped up, acted like a leader and managed to calm some terror-stricken people (one of whom was a new crew member who'd just boarded the ship a week earlier).

 

She may not have been thoroughly trained to deal with such a situation, but she saved a number of lives that night.

 

The show also featured another family -- a newly married couple on their honeymoon who were traveling with several other family members. They went through hell but managed to save themselves by quick thinking after all the life boats were gone.

 

So I agree that merely seeing chefs running out of the kitchen does NOT necessarily mean they were running AWAY.

 

Mura

 

In our situation, it was one of the singers who managed information at the dock, as people came back to the ship from excursions or being about the town of Castries. He was excellent. I tried getting more information from him as to what had happened, but he just stayed in a mode of saying what he could (would not confirm fatalities had happened) and encouraged people to go to the ferry terminal for the direct information from the cruise line.

 

This was by no means anything remotely near the Concordia disaster...but it does show that the cruise lines put all hands on deck for these situations.

 

When we exited the ship both times during the power outage, staff was on each stairwell lighting the way. These crew members obviously had assigned locations for such an event, from which they would have to rush from their normal duties in which to fulfill.

Edited March 5, 2015 by buggins0402

[Mura]

May I presume that you are writing about the Costa Concordia disaster?

 

Contra Costa is a California County, near San Francisco.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_Costa_County,_California

 

Indeed! I am a native Los Angeleno although I've been living in NYC for more years than I lived there ... Contra Costa, Costa Concordia ... not much of a difference to me!

 

Mura

[Leejnd4]

This was by no means anything remotely near the Concordia disaster...but it does show that the cruise lines put all hands on deck for these situations.

 

I would also tend to believe that the Concordia disaster, and all the press related to how the captain behaved, led directly to all cruise lines re-evaluating how they deal with ship disasters and tightening up their policies and training such that it would be highly unlikely that passengers would be abandoned by crew ever again. But maybe I'm just too optimistic.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Leejnd4

[LHT28]

The Oceania crew have drills when the passengers are off the ship enjoying the ports

If you are on the ship usually part way though a longer cruise 10+ days they have an emergency drill

sometimes a MOB practice depending on the port

 

This was long before the Costa disaster

 

You will find the entertainers do double duty when there is a drill & though I have never been in an emergency situation I am sure they have jobs to do in the event of an emergency

 

When you go to the Muster drill just have a look at the faces of those in the emergency vests

I will bet some are the entertainment crew as well as housekeeping staff etc...

[wally_bushy]

Seriously.

Not sure you understood my intent.

I think the loss of three people is a bigger issue than the definition of a 50% discount. It is unbelievable that this was posted.

[Leejnd4]

Not sure you understood my intent.

I think the loss of three people is a bigger issue than the definition of a 50% discount. It is unbelievable that this was posted.

I was agreeing with you. Sorry that wasn't clear. I agree with you 100%. My fault...I was being too cryptic.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Leejnd4

[chengkp75]

[quote name='Leejnd4']I would also tend to believe that the Concordia disaster, and all the press related to how the captain behaved, led directly to all cruise lines re-evaluating how they deal with ship disasters and tightening up their policies and training such that it would be highly unlikely that passengers would be abandoned by crew ever again. But maybe I'm just too optimistic.[/QUOTE]

The IMO, through the SOLAS requirements, regulates the training of crewmembers. SOLAS was adopted in the wake of the Titanic, so its been around a while, and while it is constantly under revision, there was no real change to training requirements after Concordia, though the STCW committee is in constant session, and may be working on revisions.

While I know that the international crews on the non-US flag cruise ships do a good job of training for emergencies, one area that I feel the IMO should address is the fact that only the deck and engine departments are fully credentialed mariners. This means that they have to take training ashore in firefighting, crowd and crisis management, and lifesaving. The hotel staff is only required to receive training onboard to fulfill the specific job listed for their position in the station bill (list of emergency duties). The USCG requires that [B]every crewmember onboard that is assigned an emergency duty[/B] must be a fully credentialed mariner (so the dishwashers, dancers, to the Captain on the Pride of America are all documented by the USCG).

While training and drills do promote the "muscle memory" to help people react to actual emergencies the same way they have been trained to react, an unfortunate fact of humanity is that until you are actually called on to face the fire at the business end of a hose, you will never know how you will react. As one who over 40 years at sea has had to fight shipboard fires and emergencies, I have found that I am able to run towards the danger, and for that I am grateful, but it cannot be expected of everyone.

In any emergency, whether on ship or land, there will be those who are designated as emergency responders who may or may not respond correctly. Just as there are passengers who will react positively and those who will "freeze" and become a liability to others.

You can look down through time at maritime disasters, from the Titanic to the Morro Castle, to the Concordia, and find examples of crew behaving as they should to protect the passengers, and those that will only look out for themselves. The requirements have changed through these disasters, but the performance will still depend on the innate nature of the individual.

I don't want to scare anyone from cruising, I feel it is as safe as any other form of transportation or vacation, in some areas safer.

I feel that the crew, based on reports I have read, and I tend to collect the official investigation reports of maritime incidents like this (though it is too early to see the final report on this one), that the crew did a fine job in this instance. The crew saw to the passengers, and the fire was extinguished in a short time. The fatalities were caused, in my experience, immediately at the time the fire happened (I know one was transferred to hospital), and due to the nature of the fire, these gentlemen were doomed from the instant the fire started.