Regal Princess - Stuck on sandbar in the Amazon

[TexasMom2]

He probably was the Captain who drove the Diamond Princess into the dock, tipped the Grand Princess over and lighted the Star Princess on fire... :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 

Different captain, as noted by T&J above almost 4 hours before your post. It's getting tough to keep up with all the antics of the captains these days. Maybe they'll start using aliases to keep us on our toes.:)

[bdjam]

He probably was the Captain who drove the Diamond Princess into the dock, tipped the Grand Princess over and lighted the Star Princess on fire...

:D :D

Different captain, as noted by T&J above almost 4 hours before your post. It's getting tough to keep up with all the antics of the captains these days. Maybe they'll start using aliases to keep us on our toes.:)

Given that Regal Princess was inside the mouth of the Amazon River when she came up against the sand bar, her navigation was under the direction of the local pilots. Because the Captain isn’t familiar with the area, the pilots are supposed to give him direction exactly so this kind of thing doesn’t happen. Perhaps if people knew how navigation of a cruise ship really worked, they wouldn’t be so quick to pass negative judgment on crew members.

As for aliases, why would they do that? It seems to me over the last few months of Princess incidents, the Captains have performed brilliantly - the should be proud of who they are.

[kruisey]

Thanks for your comments T&J. Any time I've heard dire warnings about a ship that I'm looking forward to visiting, I've always had the best time. I'll be looking forward to a great cruise on Regal Princess in just a few months. I'll just be careful and approach the cookies with caution, LOL.

Gee whiz after 'THe Society of Dentists' sent that special recipe to the Regal:D :D :D

[morticia52]

Well said bdjam,

 

I think you'll find the Pilot takes precedence over the Captain in matters of navigation once he's on board the ship. So don't go blaming the crew, it ain't their fault!

[Charles4515]

Well said bdjam,

 

I think you'll find the Pilot takes precedence over the Captain in matters of navigation once he's on board the ship. So don't go blaming the crew, it ain't their fault!

 

No, the pilot does not take precedence over the Captain. The pilot is only there to advise and guide. They don't let some pilot wreck a million dollar ship. The Captain is in charge and responsible, and makes the final decision on navigation.

[bdjam]

No, the pilot does not take precedence over the Captain. The pilot is only there to advise and guide. They don't let some pilot wreck a million dollar ship. The Captain is in charge and responsible, and makes the final decision on navigation.

Right – the pilot is there to advise navigation of the ship in an area where the Captain might not be familiar. So if that’s the case and the pilot directs the Captain in a way that gets the ship hung up on a sandbar, who holds the responsibility for the poor navigation? Right – the Captain is responsible for the ship, but not for being directed into a sandbar by someone who is supposed to be familiar with the area and avoid such things.

[coiran]

Although the Pilot has control of the ship the Captain has final responsibility for the ship, crew and passengers. BTW it is more like a 600 million dollar ship. The fact that the ship ran aground does not portray an inept Captain and crew - the Pilot is supposed to know the channels.

Ron

[Charles4515]

Although the Pilot has control of the ship the Captain has final responsibility for the ship, crew and passengers. BTW it is more like a 600 million dollar ship. The fact that the ship ran aground does not portray an inept Captain and crew - the Pilot is supposed to know the channels.

Ron

 

i did not say the Captain was inept. A sandbar is actually something that might not have been there the last time either the Captain or Pilot was there. They can form fast from flooding. Although the ships do have sonar to warn them of obstacles.

[cruzisme]

Interesting how there can be such discrepency in describing the Regal? I guess it only takes one or two bad things to happen and some peoples' feelings about a ship are made.

 

I too was on the Regal in Feb of this year. When I first walked in, I was surprised by the 'plainess' compared to other cruise ships. By plainess, I meant no brass handrails etc, but rather a metal alloy (chrome?) handrails. However, you get used to it! I loved the StageDoor Lounge where they actually had a decent sized dance floor! The musicians on board were great, at the Stage Door and upstairs every night at the Dome. We managed to dance a lot aboard this ship!

 

Food was good, comparable to other cruises we have taken on Princess RCI or NCL. Now maybe not every dish was your favourite, but hey, you are on a cruise--it's better than slaving away at your job, isn't it?

 

Our cabin was spacious, tons of storage, great bathroom. In fact I was hesitant about the Regal before the cruise, because I did read negatives on this board. But now that I have been on her, she is one of my favourites! I would not hesitate to cruise on her again--I found the staff much friendlier (all over the ship) than on the Sun Princess of Sept/05.

The captain was only doing this one cruise before he ventured forth onto another ship (Captain Hamish!--a real character)

 

Kudos for the Regal--don't be afraid of cruising on her!

[derf5585]

i Captain or Pilot was there.

 

Every time the word pilot come up I like to post this picture.

[TexasMom2]

:D :D Given that Regal Princess was inside the mouth of the Amazon River when she came up against the sand bar, her navigation was under the direction of the local pilots. Because the Captain isn’t familiar with the area, the pilots are supposed to give him direction exactly so this kind of thing doesn’t happen. Perhaps if people knew how navigation of a cruise ship really worked, they wouldn’t be so quick to pass negative judgment on crew members.

As for aliases, why would they do that? It seems to me over the last few months of Princess incidents, the Captains have performed brilliantly - the should be proud of who they are.

 

You guys are way too serious -- Largin was joking, and so was I, hence the smiley face. The Amazon's sediment bottom is constantly shifting and changing and I'm sure ships get stuck all the time.

[LBL]

I very much like the Regal and have sailed on her several times. Just to clarify something, Captain Vago has been a captain at least since before January 2005, as I sailed with him in January 2005 on the Regal. He is very good and is much friendlier than he sounds.

 

Carole

[bdjam]

Hi

 

Yes Regal IS going to come to the P&O Australia fleet.

 

Of course I am biased but I LOVE the Regal. She is a splendid ship. I had many great contracts onboard her.

 

Check out my blog at www.crewoffice.blogspot.com to see the Regal Princess in her new P&O Australia colours!

P & O Australia’s gain is definitely Princess’ loss…it will be sad to see her go.

[T&J]

LBL, to clarify the post even further Captain Vago was only recently promoted as of Feb 06 as apermanent Captain within the fleet. Prior to that he was a relief and a rotating Captain that replaced those that went on holidays or were reassigned.

[coiran]

Vago was not the Captain on the Regal on our Feb 11 South America sailing.

Ron

[T&J]

You are right Ron, since Vago took over on the follwoing sailing on Feb 24/06 the one prior to mine on March 9/06.:rolleyes:

[Packhorse]

All passengers aboard the Regal Princess have received a $150pp shipboard credit.

 

This has been given for the inconvenience of getting stuck on the sandbar and problems keeping to the scheduled port visits.

 

The ship allowed 2-4 hours for Customs which took 7 hours.

 

We were supposed to arrive in Santarem about 9am and leave at 7pm but arrived instead at 8pm and leave today at noon - we missed out Boca da Valeria and will sail straight to Manaus.

 

Shore excursions have been cancelled / rearranged, and because the internet room was locked until 7pm(wifi was working however) several people could not rearrange private tours.

 

Packhorse

 

75+ Cruises

[partybarbie]

Having cruised previously on the Regal, I look forward to cruising on her again for the 5/1 repositioning from Fort Laud to San Fran.

 

If anyone would like to join our roll call, please feel free to do so. We are meeting for drinks on May 2, 2006, 5:00pm, in the Bengal Bar.

[Sharkin]

My wife and were aboard the April, 7-19 sailing of the Regal. I would like to point out that the captain kept us informed from the very beginning of the sand bar incident. We felt the onboard credit was very generous. While I have no knowledge or experience in handling a vessel of this size, I have spent considerable time aboard smaller boats and skiffs. This does not make me an expert, nor do I feel that I am an expert. With this said, in the interest of accuracy, I would like to point out that when the ship ran aground it was outside the buoys that I believe were marking the channel. As I said before my experience doesn't qualify me say that we should have been between the red and green buoys, but the other ships were. I am not criticizing the captain or the crew as I realize that things happen at sea. We were pleased with the way the whole affair was handled. The CD staff actually had a little fun with it; however I didn't hear Captain Vago make jokes about it, nor was it mentioned in the log. Going off topic for a moment we found all of the accommodations aboard the Regal to be satisfactory. Nothing really stood out above or below the standards we have experienced on other ships and lines.