Crown Princess Incident

[mbisson]

And my family's been cruising for 15 years. (This was the first on princess. But I'm certainly not going to go on that line after this)

 

I have bad news for you! We were on the Norwegian Sky when nearly the exact same thing happened on it in May '01. I got to researching after that and this isn't really that uncommon an occurrence.

 

-Monte

[Layla]

Godspeed to everyone on board.

[cruzegirl]

Wow.... I have tried to get on this board since about 3pm after my first post as the news was going.... It has been down.... Not just slow but down.... Not good with so many people trying to get info. and help those on board.... But understandable..... So many of us out there....

I hope everyone is ok.... Seems they all got into the port ok.... Carol and Nancy, hope your ok and not hurt..... I'm a nurse and my heart goes out to all on board....Not just those hurt but I'm sure everyone is really scared....Especially the kids...... Be safe everyone....:)

[Kat_in_Texas]

This is awful news. Nancy, Carol, and friends ... I'm so sorry that you have had to experience this scary and upsetting situation, and do so hope and pray that you are all alright. You are in my thoughts tonight.

 

Also praying for all of those injured and affected by this incident, especially those seriously injured passengers.

 

Nancy, post when you can and let us know how you're doing.

[Bunti]

Wow, lost my post.

 

Well, just echoing the prayers and good thoughts towards Nancy and Carol, and the other passengers on the Crown Princess.

 

Hope that they can find and correct the problem which caused this.

 

Sue had a good idea ladies, hug the family and then have a stiff drink!!

 

I sure hope we hear how the little girl who was hurt is.

[whherron]

If you stock in the parent compnay of Princess I would call your broker and advised them of a sell point on your stock or in plain english what price to sell when the price drops.

Paul

 

My best wishes and thoughts to the people involved in the Crown incident today.

 

Paul, Princess is a part of Carnival. Carnival also owns Costa, Cunard, HAL, Seabourn, and Windstar.

 

There's nothing wrong with putting a stop limit on your stock if you're worried about it, but I wouldn't think this would be a huge long-term issue. Carnival has too many boats in the water with all of its companies.

 

(I've been thinking about buying some shares of CCL because Cunard gives onboard ship credit for CCL stock holders, and I have a trip on the QM2 coming up next summer. If the stock drops several dollars in the next few days, that actually works to my advantage. I'm having to really work to find some sort of silver lining in this crisis, though.)

 

Bill

[denneym1]

What I am about to say is not to be rude or mean just reality and coming from an Economist with a PHD from MIT I hope everyone will understand.

 

If you stock in the parent compnay of Princess I would call your broker and advised them of a sell point on your stock or in plain english what price to sell when the price drops.

 

A PHD from MIT? I think you need to ask for a refund, at least for the English classes.....well, probably for the Economics classes too.

 

Certainly it has not been a banner year for Princess, with the Star fire and now this. But, Princess survived the Star situation, the ship was repaired and is now back to earning money. Will this put a bit of a dent in Princess' pocketbook? A little, but they have a thing called INSURANCE for these kind of situations. Insurance to cover injured passengers, and insurance to cover loss of income, and insurance to cover damage to the ship. And, if this turns out to be a defect in the ship, the builder is going to face some of the liability as well as Princess. The biggest damage Princess will suffer from this is to thier reputation, especially as it so closely follows the Star fire. So, not a great day for Princess, but not time to watch for falling chunks of sky, either. I am on one of thier ships next week, and I am not too worried about them filing bankruptcy in the middle of my cruise.

MD

[Whimsy]

I just heard about this late this evening. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this and I hope all the injured recover quickly.

[pmvogelalex]

this is the same kind of incident as happened with the hal ship i was on going to alaska

in the last night of the cruise , at 1130 pm a sharp tilt sent the piano crashing down the atrium, almost killing 5 folks.

 

It was very scary.

[doggfan7]

An Update from the Crown...

 

First off, I will write up a review of the cruise after we get home (which even before the incident was one of our least favorite cruises and vowed not to return to Princess).

 

I was in the Emerald Deck hallway when it happened and found myself forced to the wall and unable to walk or move. I heard the sounds of kids crying and glass breaking and TV's falling off shelfs and truly felt that the ship was going to cap-size and we were all going to drown.

 

When we righted, I ran to the atrium to see the damage and what I saw simply amazed me. The shops were destroyed with all the glass shattered and display cases topppled over and merchendise all over the place (pictures of everything to come). The casino tables were toppled and chairs broken. I helped a lady climb out of a pile of chairs that attacked her. All of the books in the library had fallen off their shelfs and the Wheelhouse Bar model ships had been broken. I didn't realize the true extent of the damage until I went to the 5th deck on the floor of the Piazza.

 

I saw a man with a leg broken in half weeping and hobbling to his wife who was thrown to the other side. Blood was everywhere and grown men and women were crying holding each other. Escapes display cases were broken and the dining room and bar glasses and silverware were shattered and everywhere.

 

The crew of Princess was absolutely terrific and organized I felt and quickly setup a makeshift hospital in the Michalangelo Dining Room. Passenger EMT's, nurses, and docters took control of the hospital and quickly began assesing hundreds of injuries. One passenger in particular was a docter from NYC and actually took over the entire process and was quite efficient and heroic and the ship crew took orders from him. They used the table linens as blankets and arm slings.

 

We heard over the intercom a call of 'Code Alpha, Code Alpha, Code Alpha...stretcher team report to cafe caribe'. I overheard a passenger say that a dishwasher was injured severly by falling dishes and knives.

 

We are getting off tomorrow. Princess is refunding us the entire cruise but NOT covering our card expenses. They are refunding ALL travel expenses.

 

My mother was injured bad with 3 herniated disks and was sent to the hospital but is on her way back to the ship now.

 

All drinks for the rest of the cruise are free though, not that it really matters.

 

One thing that really bothered us is that Princess did not allow any family members to travel with those sent to the hospital, but did keep us in contact.

 

I will stay on with some other Cruise Critics here in the Internet Cafe to answer any questions.

[cruisePRN]

I am so sorry about your ordeal. I hope everyone recovers and gets home safely. Best wishes XOXOXOXOXOXO

[Jamrenjer]

Dear Nancy & Carol,

You have so many people praying for you-- and all on board.... Hang in there! We all wait to hear how everyone is--- hope all can get home quickly-- and all injuries heal fast!

[bluewatersahead]

My thoughts and paryers are with all of you! Please keep us posted on the little girl.

[wrp96]

doggfan7, I'm glad to hear you are okay, hopefully your mother will heal quickly. Safe travels home.

[Merion_Mom]

7/18/2006

Crown Princess Statement

 

 

July 18, 2006

 

After departure from Port Canaveral at approximately 3:40 pm eastern time, Crown Princess experienced an unexpected list to the port side as she began sailing north towards her final port of New York.

 

The ship is safe, and seaworthy, and we are currently investigating the cause of the list. We understand that some passengers were injured as the ship sharply turned, and we are in the process of determining the number of injuries and their extent.

 

Crown Princess is now returning to Port Canaveral, where the ship will be met by medical personnel to assist passengers who may require medical attention.

 

Further details will be released as they become available.

 

Crown Princess is currently on a 9-day Western Caribbean sailing, roundtrip out of New York, with calls at Grand Turk, Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman. Port Canaveral was the last port of call before returning to New York.

 

For additional information, please contact 1-800-PRINCESS

I'm going to respond to this one without reading all eight pages, so if there is redundancy here, I apologize.

 

We departed on time from Port Canaveral at 2:07 P.M.

 

The list was to starboard. (if list means the side that went down)

 

Captain Andy came on the loudspeaker and his voice was QUAKING. That was far and away the most upsetting and frightening thing.

 

He has said all along that it involved the steering. It seems to have something to do with the computer controlling the steering. He took it off the computers entirely, and it has been "driven" by hand since.

 

Princess is giving all passengers a FULL refund of cruise fare. Princess is covering all legitimate expenses in getting home. This includes hotels, transfers and airfare, whether changes or new tickets.

 

People can stay "as long as they have to". Some are getting off tomorrow; some not until Thursday.

 

There are people sitting around in bandages, braces, slings and ice packs.

 

Some people got "dressed" for formal night.

 

There were three "seatings" in two dining rooms: Botticelli and Michelangelo. Those were the ONLY places open. 6:30, 8:30, & 10:30. We were told that entertainment would go on! We didn't attend any, because we were having such a blast in the dining room.

 

I brought down my last bottle: my finest. A fabulous 1985 Chateau Greysac Hauc Medoc. mmmmmmmmmmm Like everything else today, no charge.

 

Bars are open - nothing fancy. Sodas, drinks, internet, phone, corkage......all free. Casino is giving refunds on any proven funds. (I had some in my "bank")

 

People were lined up three hundred or more long to the Explorers Lounge, where you had to pick up luggage tags and tell them when you wanted to get off the ship. I'm supposed to put my bags out any time tonight, and call someone, I think, and my bags should be waiting in the terminal in the morning.

 

I plan on grabbing transport at about 7:30 for a 10:35 flight on USAir to Philadelphia.

 

My limo pickup for Red Hook is thrilled to be picking me up at the Philly airport instead. That had heard about our situation.

 

Nancy and I are fine. Except............

 

Photos are also free. Just take 'em. We have been carefully squirreling ours away. I'm sure that many of you do this, too.

 

They are gone. Photog staff says that they touched nothing. Creepy......this means that someone else took our pictures. Nancy is in tears. Neither of us took pictures of each other or us together, because we planned to buy the ship's photos. Now they are gone. It's as though the cruise has been wiped out.

 

I'm tired, and I have to go finish packing.

 

Love to all........thank you for your good vibes.

[Merion_Mom]

I just talked to the ER nurse who was helping out in the medical facility, and she said that the little girl is going to be fine. She was cut, and it hit an artery. They stabilized her and she should be ok after treatment.

[cnmiranda]

Warmest regards to all of you on the ship. So glad to hear the little girl seems okay. Wishing everyone safe travels home and thank you all for taking the time to keep in touch. So sorry this happened to all of you.

[wrp96]

Carol, safe travels home to you and Nancy both. When is Nancy leaving? Maybe some other CCer has some pictures of you guys that they can send you.

[flvol77]

I just talked to the ER nurse who was helping out in the medical facility, and she said that the little girl is going to be fine. She was cut, and it hit an artery. They stabilized her and she should be ok after treatment.

 

Any idea of the degree of the list? I heard 50 degrees, but I just don't see how that is possible.

[Merion_Mom]

My friends and I were suppose to leave Thursday the 20th. Please, G-d speed to all of you. If anyone needs help contacting people or just need to talk, I am a nurse and will help. You can e-mail me at compdok@verizon.net

 

Brandy07-Joyce

Sorry, Brandy, that won't be happening. :(

[cruzegirl]

Carol,

I'm glad you are ok..... I'm sad someone took your pics.. Just adds insult to injury.... What a shame.... Glad that little girl is ok.... I heard the latest on the news of (2) critical, 1 child & 1 adult, 10 serious injuries and 40 various injuries..... Get home safe..... ;)

[Merion_Mom]

The reason I say about the stock price this is going to cost Princess tens of millions of dollars. The first thing is lawsuits that will be filed by passengers and possible crew. The next is the people on this sailing already saw all he islands and were heading back with 2 sea days to NY so my point is that 75% of the cruise was done but, Princess is going to have to refund the money of the cruises plus a free cruise and a per person not whole cabin credit between 200-600 USD.

Paul, I REALLY want to know your source for this information, because we have been told that we would be refunded our full cruise fare, but NOTHING about additional money or a free cruise.

[Dena]

A PHD from MIT? I think you need to ask for a refund, at least for the English classes.....well, probably for the Economics classes too.

 

 

Don't be too hard on Paul. I have a Ph.D. in engineering from a state university and I've noticed that virtually anyone who has gone to MIT (even at the undergraduate level) will work this fact into the conversation within SECONDS of meeting someone new; I believe they are being taught to do so because nothing else can explain this unique (and exceedingly rude) behavior. People who hold advanced degrees from other universities almost never do this - even those with a Ph.D. from Berkeley or Stanford (I believe either school can claim more Nobel prize winners than MIT). When I was hiring engineers, I had an applicant proudly tell me that she held a Ph.D. from MIT without bothering to say what field it was in. I was looking for an EE - it turned out she was a Chem E, but I hired her anyway because, coming from MIT, I knew she could learn EE on the job :rolleyes: (just kidding).

 

DH and I are keeping the injured in our thoughts and prayers.

 

Something like this happened a few months ago on another Princess ship and I believe someone's arm was broken by a falling TV. I would have thought Princess would have bolted the TVs down after such an incident.

[Merion_Mom]

My thoughts and prayers are also with the passengers of the Crown and their families. This was a terrible incident that Princess can't deny was their fault.

 

My sister and her husband were on the ship on their honeymoon. Luckily they're ok, just a banged up knee (she went for xrays) and lost shoes. From what she had said, it was very scary and kids were flying out of the pools. And my family's been cruising for 15 years. (This was the first on princess. But I'm certainly not going to go on that line after this) The captain had come on the intercom and said something was a mistake so they can't really backtrack either and claim a rogue wave or something.

From what my sister told us, Princess isn't arrainging for any travel for anyone. They're only (hopefully) reimbursing them as well as giving them back the money for their cruise. So I'm going to imagine that flights back to New York out of MCO are going to be at a premium. So with all of the trauma of what happened on the ship, they now have to find a hotel and flights.

If you want help, Princess will provide it. You just have to ask. My observation is that people are either quite competent to do this on their own, or passengers are helping passengers.

[Tristan]

Thanks SO very much for the update.

That sounds absolutely horrifying.

 

I hope you and your family are doing well, and again, I'm sorry to hear

about this disaster.