When will RCL acknowledge the elephant in the room?

[Drill2dk]

RCL has yet to put anything on there website about what happened on Anthem.

They had not responded to most media outlets. Its time for RCL to talk. RCL and cruise lines need reform. They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies. In todays day of technology its not hard. I found out more from cruise critic and social media, and nothing from RCL. If you called this morning, they would only say they had some ruff seas last night on anthem.

I love cruising, but its to be safer.

[mek]

RCL has yet to put anything on there website about what happened on Anthem.

They had not responded to most media outlets. Its time for RCL to talk. RCL and cruise lines need reform. They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies. In todays day of technology its not hard. I found out more from cruise critic and social media, and nothing from RCL. If you called this morning, they would only say they had some ruff seas last night on anthem.

I love cruising, but its to be safer.

 

Did you have friends or family on this cruise?

[yogimax]

RCL has yet to put anything on there website about what happened on Anthem.

They had not responded to most media outlets. Its time for RCL to talk. RCL and cruise lines need reform. They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies. In todays day of technology its not hard. I found out more from cruise critic and social media, and nothing from RCL. If you called this morning, they would only say they had some ruff seas last night on anthem.

I love cruising, but its to be safer.

 

Yes, I agree. Still nothing there. This is bad PR.

[celtcruiser]

When the Brilliance of the Seas encountered heavy seas off of Egypt in December, 2010, Royal Caribbean handled the incident quiet well. Captain Bill Wright (Senior VP Marine Ops) was on You Tube talking about the event soon after it happened, then flew to the Mediterranean to the ship. Let's see how this event is handled. Bill Wright left Royal several years ago, as did many experienced members of the Marine Operations section.

[mcatmcat]

Anthem is considered "the world's most technologically advanced ship". I saw a video in which the captain is speaking saying something like the storm was small and all of the sudden it grew. I am not a meteorologist but sailing on board"the world's most technologically advanced ship" I expect the crew to avoid storm and although storms are formed rapidly at sea I think they were warning that they just ignored.

[JoeRum]

Really? This ship has not made it back to port, they are dealing with extenuating circumstances. Logistics of getting repairs assessed, parts ordered along with dealing with the safety of all on board is enough to keep them busy for weeks. Lord knows how long it will take to fix everything and sail again. Yet the first thing you think to post about this is to bash them for not issuing an "official statement"? I am more concerned for the well being of the passengers and crew.

 

The ship sailed on a set course. They have a navigator on board, they have their own staff of meteorologist in Florida and an entire support staff to help with the difficult decisions that need to be made. The storm intensified and they could not outrun or maneuver through it. The ship sustained a lot ofunexpected damage. Perhaps they have a team meeting the ship when it arrives in port and then after they fully assess things they will make an official statement.

 

The only thing that matters is that the passengers and crew are safe and secure. Give them a chance to get up to speed and I am sure we will hear from RCCL soon.

 

After seeing the post of this trip on Anthem and talking with people on past cruise's out of New Jersey, I think I will always flysouth to catch a ship.

 

JoeRum

[JAYRAY1259]

RCL has yet to put anything on there website about what happened on Anthem.

They had not responded to most media outlets. Its time for RCL to talk. RCL and cruise lines need reform. They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies. In todays day of technology its not hard. I found out more from cruise critic and social media, and nothing from RCL. If you called this morning, they would only say they had some ruff seas last night on anthem.

I love cruising, but its to be safer.

My take on this is negligence on the part of RCI. Mind you I am a big fan of RCI been on 10 cruises with them and have one booked on Allure in June. But, I find it hard to believe that with all the modern technology that is on that ship that they did not pickup on a storm of that magnitude. How about other ships at sea, were there no reports from any of them warning of 35 foot waves. They had winds in excess of 100 MPH. Dear God a hurricane registers at 75plus MPH. How they could miss this with all the latest dopplar radars and weather tracking equipment is unbelievable. I know it's about the God almighty dollar, but does sending a ship down the Atlantic from New Jersey with a storm forecast like that makes no sense, The risk of passenger safety and of course the possibility of the loss of a three quarter of a billion dollar ship is unfathomable. Cancel the sailing, and take the loss of 10 to 20 million. give free cruises to the passengers and accept congratulations for using extreme caution for the safety of their customers. How many passengers will never cruise again because of that sailing. Many of them were first timers and now they will be last timers. It wouldn't change my mind on cruising because I have been on quite a few, plus three years at sea in the Navy. but I know a lot of people are on the cusp about cruising and now they won't give it another try after that experience. From what I have read from passengers on that ship many were absolutely terrified. I don't just blame the Captain, although he did handle himself admirably once the crisis developed. I also blame RCI themselves for allowing that ship to go out. They will have the spin doctors working overtime on this one for sure. Now they will probably lose a week sailing because of damage to the ship and Coast Guard inspections. So they are losers all around.

[Plum Happy]

RCLcorp also sent out a series of tweets yesterday around 9:42 am explaining everything that happened and that the ship was returning to New Jersey. https://twitter.com/RCLcorp

 

I follow them and receive Royal's tweets as well.

[Plum Happy]

I also want to say that I saw articles quoting RCL in both USA Today and NY Times, which also ran an entire article from a guest on the ship. I was surprised that he didn't have anything really negative to say about Royal, he did take the time to thank the hardworking crew who worked their behinds off cleaning up and making sure the guests were ok.

[Robinhill]

RCL has yet to put anything on there website about what happened on Anthem.

They had not responded to most media outlets. Its time for RCL to talk. RCL and cruise lines need reform. They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies. In todays day of technology its not hard. I found out more from cruise critic and social media, and nothing from RCL. If you called this morning, they would only say they had some ruff seas last night on anthem.

I love cruising, but its to be safer.

 

they certainly did put it out there.

[runawaysoul]

I'm not really sensing any bad PR. I've seen snippets on the news at the office. From what I gather, a technologically advanced ship was caught in a bad storm, no one was seriously injured. So, a ship got caught in a storm. Ok.. It's not swept under a rug or anything.

[RuthlessBoss]

RCL has yet to put anything on there website about what happened on Anthem.

They had not responded to most media outlets. Its time for RCL to talk. RCL and cruise lines need reform. They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies. In todays day of technology its not hard. I found out more from cruise critic and social media, and nothing from RCL. If you called this morning, they would only say they had some ruff seas last night on anthem.

I love cruising, but its to be safer.

 

Is your life disrupted because you didn't get every answer "yesterday"?

 

This event is a work in progress:eek: How would setting up lines make a ship safer?

[Aplmac]

Anthem is considered "the world's most technologically advanced ship".

I saw a video in which the captain is speaking saying something like the storm was small and all of the sudden it grew.

I am not a meteorologist but sailing on board"the world's most technologically advanced ship"

I expect the crew to avoid storm and although storms are formed rapidly at sea

I think they were warning that they just ignored.

This incident should never have happened!

 

Was the bridge pressured by Headquarters to press on regardless?

 

.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Aplmac

[BND]

My take on this is negligence on the part of RCI. Mind you I am a big fan of RCI been on 10 cruises with them and have one booked on Allure in June. But, I find it hard to believe that with all the modern technology that is on that ship that they did not pickup on a storm of that magnitude. How about other ships at sea, were there no reports from any of them warning of 35 foot waves. They had winds in excess of 100 MPH. Dear God a hurricane registers at 75plus MPH. How they could miss this with all the latest dopplar radars and weather tracking equipment is unbelievable. I know it's about the God almighty dollar, but does sending a ship down the Atlantic from New Jersey with a storm forecast like that makes no sense, The risk of passenger safety and of course the possibility of the loss of a three quarter of a billion dollar ship is unfathomable. Cancel the sailing, and take the loss of 10 to 20 million. give free cruises to the passengers and accept congratulations for using extreme caution for the safety of their customers. How many passengers will never cruise again because of that sailing. Many of them were first timers and now they will be last timers. It wouldn't change my mind on cruising because I have been on quite a few, plus three years at sea in the Navy. but I know a lot of people are on the cusp about cruising and now they won't give it another try after that experience. From what I have read from passengers on that ship many were absolutely terrified. I don't just blame the Captain, although he did handle himself admirably once the crisis developed. I also blame RCI themselves for allowing that ship to go out. They will have the spin doctors working overtime on this one for sure. Now they will probably lose a week sailing because of damage to the ship and Coast Guard inspections. So they are losers all around.

 

Yes, it was a hurricane force storm, but the ship can easily handle it. The reason cruise ships avoid hurricanes is for the passenger's comfort. The Captain doesn't make decisions in a bubble. If you've ever been on a bridge tour, that is usually explained. Captain Marek on Vision told us in December that if he even varies a little from the planned course, Miami is on the horn immediately asking him why.

[bigque]

Really? This ship has not made it back to port, they are dealing with extenuating circumstances. Logistics of getting repairs assessed, parts ordered along with dealing with the safety of all on board is enough to keep them busy for weeks. Lord knows how long it will take to fix everything and sail again. Yet the first thing you think to post about this is to bash them for not issuing an "official statement"? I am more concerned for the well being of the passengers and crew.

 

The ship sailed on a set course. They have a navigator on board, they have their own staff of meteorologist in Florida and an entire support staff to help with the difficult decisions that need to be made. The storm intensified and they could not outrun or maneuver through it. The ship sustained a lot ofunexpected damage. Perhaps they have a team meeting the ship when it arrives in port and then after they fully assess things they will make an official statement.

 

The only thing that matters is that the passengers and crew are safe and secure. Give them a chance to get up to speed and I am sure we will hear from RCCL soon.

 

After seeing the post of this trip on Anthem and talking with people on past cruise's out of New Jersey, I think I will always flysouth to catch a ship.

 

JoeRum

 

[runawaysoul]

Weather predictions are almost worthless. There's been several times when I was in college, which is within 30 minutes of the beach, where a tropical storm was coming in with "no chance" of turning into a hurricane. Sure enough, I'm looking out the window at a class 1 hurricane and watching trees fly like kites. It is what it is. Cruising is mostly a vacation for the haves than the have nots, so there's not many people who are going to cry a river about people having disruptions to their luxurious vacation. Surely the captain purposely powered his way through a bad storm specifically for the purpose of messing up their vacation. Right.

[Aquahound]

They need to have emergency lines with staff that are able to contact the ship and give status updates during emergencies.

 

They do. It's called the internet. Everyone on board is welcome to log on to contact their family. Otherwise, I don't know what you're getting at. This isn't a loss-of-life situation and the ship has had no loss of power. :confused:

Edited February 9, 2016 by Aquahound

[Karma5]

My take on this is negligence on the part of RCI. Mind you I am a big fan of RCI been on 10 cruises with them and have one booked on Allure in June. But, I find it hard to believe that with all the modern technology that is on that ship that they did not pickup on a storm of that magnitude. How about other ships at sea, were there no reports from any of them warning of 35 foot waves. They had winds in excess of 100 MPH. Dear God a hurricane registers at 75plus MPH. How they could miss this with all the latest dopplar radars and weather tracking equipment is unbelievable. I know it's about the God almighty dollar, but does sending a ship down the Atlantic from New Jersey with a storm forecast like that makes no sense, The risk of passenger safety and of course the possibility of the loss of a three quarter of a billion dollar ship is unfathomable. Cancel the sailing, and take the loss of 10 to 20 million. give free cruises to the passengers and accept congratulations for using extreme caution for the safety of their customers. How many passengers will never cruise again because of that sailing. Many of them were first timers and now they will be last timers. It wouldn't change my mind on cruising because I have been on quite a few, plus three years at sea in the Navy. but I know a lot of people are on the cusp about cruising and now they won't give it another try after that experience. From what I have read from passengers on that ship many were absolutely terrified. I don't just blame the Captain, although he did handle himself admirably once the crisis developed. I also blame RCI themselves for allowing that ship to go out. They will have the spin doctors working overtime on this one for sure. Now they will probably lose a week sailing because of damage to the ship and Coast Guard inspections. So they are losers all around.

 

Good statement, I agree with you……..

[KW_Cruisers]

The cruises we've been on that erred on the side of safety had just as much trouble from pax. Staying on schedule helps the bottom line, with not being easy to change airline schedules for people to arrive when seas are calm. Not being able to change work schedules for people working is a problem too when things don't go as scheduled.

 

There's really no easy answer, but am sure the home office is not thrilled about cancelling cruise dates or changing itineraries at the last minute. Are the days when the captain made all the calls gone? It seems that execs make all the calls now, but sure they get feedback from the captain and try to preserve equipment, crew and paying customers whenever possible.

 

Getting great minds together to control weather has been considered, but it's cost prohibitive so far.

 

When we were on one cruise where all the ports were missed because of rough seas from Alaska or when the ship stayed in port for 3 days because of fog in Galveston, the cruise line refunded everything too. :cool: The one from Alaska first offered $50 to offset inconvenience, but didn't know there were 200 lawyers aboard who sprung into action to get management to provide full refunds before we disembarked in Canada.

 

At least our Med cruise this year has made the call early to skip Turkey, but came up with a couple of other great ports. Most cruise lines don't want to risk having ships between Turkey and Greece because delays from having to help refugees out at sea in small vessels can throw off schedules as well as being inconvenient but required by maritime law to help those in distress at sea.

 

The adventures continue ...

This incident should never have happened!

 

Was the bridge pressured by Headquarters to press on regardless?

 

.

[FSUNole]

Do you think the capt has a death wish? Or maybe he was playing Russian Roulette with the passengers lives as a fun game!!

 

I am so tired of people spewing garbage with ZERO information. If you don't know, don't comment. If you HAVE PROOF of negligence provide it!! and since you don't shut it...

 

This is why an investigation is necessary... to get the real information from RCI regarding these event. A post mortem, of sorts.

[FSUNole]

My take on this is negligence on the part of RCI. Mind you I am a big fan of RCI been on 10 cruises with them and have one booked on Allure in June. But, I find it hard to believe that with all the modern technology that is on that ship that they did not pickup on a storm of that magnitude. How about other ships at sea, were there no reports from any of them warning of 35 foot waves. They had winds in excess of 100 MPH. Dear God a hurricane registers at 75plus MPH. How they could miss this with all the latest dopplar radars and weather tracking equipment is unbelievable. I know it's about the God almighty dollar, but does sending a ship down the Atlantic from New Jersey with a storm forecast like that makes no sense, The risk of passenger safety and of course the possibility of the loss of a three quarter of a billion dollar ship is unfathomable. Cancel the sailing, and take the loss of 10 to 20 million. give free cruises to the passengers and accept congratulations for using extreme caution for the safety of their customers. How many passengers will never cruise again because of that sailing. Many of them were first timers and now they will be last timers. It wouldn't change my mind on cruising because I have been on quite a few, plus three years at sea in the Navy. but I know a lot of people are on the cusp about cruising and now they won't give it another try after that experience. From what I have read from passengers on that ship many were absolutely terrified. I don't just blame the Captain, although he did handle himself admirably once the crisis developed. I also blame RCI themselves for allowing that ship to go out. They will have the spin doctors working overtime on this one for sure. Now they will probably lose a week sailing because of damage to the ship and Coast Guard inspections. So they are losers all around.

 

Ditto