Britannia broke her lines

[carlanthony24]

From another site someone has had confirmation they are flying to Stansted tomorrow.

[Eglesbrech]

4 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

Of course not but sometimes you just have to make do. People would soon be kicking off if they had just been transported to the airport for 2 days. I know where I would rather be in all honesty. Not ideal. Someone even mentioned when the ash cloud caused the closure of air space. People were in the same situation but they just had to make do..... Do you think people were kicking off when cruise ships went out to collect people and bring them back.....

“Make do” when you have booked a cruise and others are still enjoying it. An interesting perspective.

 

If it was me

 

a. I would have protested against being taken off in the first place.

 

b. I would have wanted to know where I was going re accommodation and the standard

 

c. I would want to know the selection criteria for those being off loaded

 

d. I would have asked what alternatives had been explored.

 

 

 

[carlanthony24]

12 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

“Make do” when you have booked a cruise and others are still enjoying it. An interesting perspective.

 

If it was me

 

a. I would have protested against being taken off in the first place.

 

b. I would have wanted to know where I was going re accommodation and the standard

 

c. I would want to know the selection criteria for those being off loaded

 

d. I would have asked what alternatives had been explored.

 

 

 

You can't do much when the ship is damaged and legally can't sail with all guests.... People were not forced off. Some volunteered. Some did not like the idea of staying on after the incident and eventually others had too because the lifeboats they would of been assigned to was not ship worthy. Even crew were being disembarked apparently. It seems like people were told were going to the airport but then plans changed.

 

It seems like we only get half the story.....People saying they were going to airport others saying they were going to a hotel. Selection criteria as above. Alternatives were trying to get people home and trying to find hotels that had enough availability with all the other chaos going on.

 

I could imagine the headlines. If ash cloud closed the airspace again. "Cruise guests left on cruise ship and unable to return home. Can't afford to pay kennels, car parks etc. 

 

So I take it if you were on the cruise and had chose to stay onboard you would not be enjoying yourself still. okay then.... 

Edited August 29, 2023 by carlanthony24

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

“Make do” when you have booked a cruise and others are still enjoying it. An interesting perspective.

 

If it was me

 

a. I would have protested against being taken off in the first place.

 

b. I would have wanted to know where I was going re accommodation and the standard

 

c. I would want to know the selection criteria for those being off loaded

 

d. I would have asked what alternatives had been explored.

 

 

 

All very valid points but the fact remains to sail within the law and to prevent all 4,000 people being made to leave and fly home these "volunteers" were necessary and prepared to make that sacrifice presumably after asking these types of questions.  Moley explained the "guests of staff" etc were automatically chosen.  That along with contractors etc would have been presumably a fair chunk.  We will probably never be party to how the rest were selected. Mind you one very vociferous "terrified" lady from Wales presumably got her wish to get off and fly home!

 

I'm not in any way suggesting anyone did or didn't do the right or wrong thing, I'm merely saying it's unfortunate the incident occurred at a time of a national problem and everyone had to accept this was a far from normal disembarkation situation.  As I said, damned if they do, damned if they dont.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by Megabear2

[Eglesbrech]

3 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

People were not forced off.

Do you know that for a fact?

[carlanthony24]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

Do you know that for a fact?

Moley even said.... Coming from the job I use to do. I know exactly what would of been going on.

Edited August 29, 2023 by carlanthony24

[Eglesbrech]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

As I said, damned if they do, damned if they did,

I agree with that but I would still have expected a duty of care re the accommodation.

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, carlanthony24 said:

Moley even said....

Did he? Where did he say that?

[carlanthony24]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

Did he? Where did he say that?

I am not the only one to say it check Megabear post out.

[Megabear2]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

I agree with that but I would still have expected a duty of care re the accommodation.

The staff and contractors might think it's an upgrade!  Joking apart I'm certain if there is a problem on that front for paying guests it will be being discussed with the care team who are now on site in Palma.

 

Not everyone will be unhappy. If I had been one of the "volunteers" I'd have put it down to experience and make my points when I got home.  I'm certainly no shrinking violet about complaining but even I can accept these really were extenuating circumstances beyond a lot of control.

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, carlanthony24 said:

I am not the only one to say it check Megabear post out.

Megabear said “ We will probably never be party to how the rest were selected” actually.

 

 

[scooby1]

42 minutes ago, GSPG said:

From Estofex.org. Look at the Issue date. A level 3 is not given out lightly!

European Storm Forecast Experiment

Storm Forecast
Valid: Sun 27 Aug 2023 06:00 to Mon 28 Aug 2023 06:00 UTC
Issued: Sat 26 Aug 2023 17:06
Forecaster: TUSCHY

A level 3 was issued for the Balearic Islands mainly for multiple rounds of all kind (extreme) severe events, including significant tornadoes, damaging winds and excessive rain.

 

Great post, but careful with the facts it seems some only want opinion and conjecture. P&O will be doing a fully analysis of what went wrong that we won’t see but I really can’t see that they could have been more on the ball considering the prior warnings. 
 

The replay of the data and timings appear to not show that they were ready at all.

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

The staff and contractors might think it's an upgrade!  Joking apart I'm certain if there is a problem on that front for paying guests it will be being discussed with the care team who are now on site in Palma.

 

Not everyone will be unhappy. If I had been one of the "volunteers" I'd have put it down to experience and make my points when I got home.  I'm certainly no shrinking violet about complaining but even I can accept these really were extenuating circumstances beyond a lot of control.

No not everyone will be unhappy.

 

Like you I would make the points once home, particularly if I had not been a willing “ volunteer”.

[kalos]

5 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

 

It seems like we only get half the story.....People saying they were going to airport others saying they were going to a hotel.

 

4 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

 

I'm not in any way suggesting anyone did or didn't do the right or wrong thing, I'm merely saying it's unfortunate the incident occurred at a time of a national problem and everyone had to accept this was a far from normal disembarkation situation.  As I said, damned if they do, damned if they did,

 

 

 

That's the problem all of our CC reporting members are heading for Gib straights or possibly

in a hotel reported by one couple to the BBC.  When the ship docks and flights return ,we will

know more , hopefully than what we do now .

 

[Megabear2]

2 minutes ago, kalos said:

 

 

That's the problem all of our CC reporting members are heading for Gib straights or possibly

in a hotel reported by one couple to the BBC.  When the ship docks and flights return ,we will

know more , hopefully than what we do now .

 

Personally I've no interest in who was responsible for the actual event occurring in the first place, that's for the "official" enquiry and not for discussion by people not in possession of thr full facts.

 

I am interested in the passengers both currently onboard Britannia, in hotels or at the airport.  Human beings are remarkably adaptable and hopefully will put these events into their memory files to talk about in years to come.

 

I'm certainly not a defender of P&O in the normal ***** ups they oversee but even I can see this was something pretty outstanding and a one off.

 

Whatever happens I wish all involved God speed and s safe trip home however they do it.

[kalos]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Personally I've no interest in who was responsible for the actual event occurring in the first place, that's for the "official" enquiry and not for discussion by people not in possession of thr full facts.

 

I am interested in the passengers both currently onboard Britannia, in hotels or at the airport.  Human beings are remarkably adaptable and hopefully will put these events into their memory files to talk about in years to come.

 

I'm certainly not a defender of P&O in the normal ***** ups they oversee but even I can see this was something pretty outstanding and a one off.

 

Whatever happens I wish all involved God speed and s safe trip home however they do it.

 

Well at least that's me and you singing off the same hymn sheet🙂

[zap99]

58 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I agree with that but I would still have expected a duty of care re the accommodation.

Unfortunately  I doubt P&O had much choice regarding hotel rooms. Thousands stuck in Majorca due to the air traffic issue and at the busiest time of year. I'm sure they did their very best, but you can't please everybody.

[Eglesbrech]

Just now, zap99 said:

Unfortunately  I doubt P&O had much choice regarding hotel rooms. Thousands stuck in Majorca due to the air traffic issue and at the busiest time of year. I'm sure they did their very best, but you can't please everybody.

Yes I fully comprehend the circumstances and the challenges Zap. 

 

What we don’t actually know is if they could have spent another night in port accommodating all guests until flights / decent hotels were available? Was there a choice?
 

All I know for a fact is that that I personally would have been horrified to spend a night in a mouldy room when I had paid for a cruise.

 

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

None of us would like it having our cruise terminated in exchange for hotels or flights of any kind - but we all know that occasionally exceptional situations arise, and lead to exceptional experiences that we would not have predicted - sometimes we have to simply shrug shoulders and say, "That's life" and move on once we get back home.

[Guest]

My friend is a navigational officer on a different cruise line. He said sometimes there is just nothing that can be done. He said they could have missed the port or stayed out at anchor. They will have known there was a weather front, but by the time they got in to port and realised it was worse than expected, it may have been too late. These fronts come in fast. 
 

As Captain Kate said in her instagram the other day, Civitavecchia  actually closed its port due to bad weather so ships couldn’t get in or out. The Beyond was lucky as the wind was pushing them against the dock. The ships docked on the other side required tug assistance  So maybe Palma port authority is at fault? 

[Mollag]

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

So it was blue sky with no wind then 80 knots. That's out of the blue, but that's not what happened

 

Very Bad weather was forecast, it was worse than expected yes, but not out of the blue. 

 

Captain prepares based on the information given , but not on the forecasts of expected wind that we all see , but on the possible worst extreme case , he sees multiple scenarios . Its his job to build in safety margins. 

These squalls don’t just happen anyone whose spent anytime at sea knows you can usually see them coming in the shape of an ugly black cloud many miles away and decent seaman keep a weather eye out for such things maybe P&O should add this to their watch keepers list of duties as they don’t appear to be too observant, I’m not saying they could’ve prevented this happening but they should’ve been more aware of what was about to happen. Fail to prepare prepare to fail. 

[jeanlyon]

They were already in port when this hit!!  If you are moored up to the quay with 6 or more huge warps, they should hold.  It must have been some wind.  As I said before, exactly the same thing happened on Aurora in Rome.  Luckily we only broke a few and the tugs were in time to hold us on for 6 hours.  It came out of nowhere.

[AndyMichelle]

Please correct me if I have got this wrong, but if the ship was in port overnight and the weather was going to be bad the next day, what sense would it have made to be floating around at sea in a bad storm? 

Surely being (safely😂) secured in port would be preferable? 

 

Andy 

[P&O SUE]

2 hours ago, Eglesbrech said:

But then you they were not removed from perfectly comfortable cabins with food an entertainment a few steps away? At least some of these people were removed from a nice cruise ship and appear (if the reports are accurate) to have been placed in a mouldy hotel with inedible food.

 

At the point that passengers were removed it was already all over the press that there were flight delays and so probably pressure on accommodation. They were still removed.

I think when passengers were first being asked no one would have known about the air traffic control problems. It was August bank holiday so everywhere full and from the first reports I heard it appeared they were being flown straight home they wouldn’t have expected to stay one night let alone two and certainly not in an unsuitable hotel. I feel very sorry for them as they probably thought they were flying straight home.
 

No  way I would have volunteered, i have a fear of flying. I expect we’ll find out soon enough how their hotel experience was.

[bobstheboy]

26 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Please correct me if I have got this wrong, but if the ship was in port overnight and the weather was going to be bad the next day, what sense would it have made to be floating around at sea in a bad storm? 

Surely being (safely😂) secured in port would be preferable? 

 

Andy 

You would think so Andy, but often the opposite is safer. A huge ship the size of the Britannia, side on to the wind is like a huge sail and the forces are extreme. The old saying of riding out a storm being the best option is true. I experience it many times on a lot smaller ships in my time in the Royal Navy.