Chit - Chat for CruisersOpen Forum for non-cruise posts. Please refrain from inflammatory rhetoric that could be considered offensive. We reserve the right to edit or delete for any reason.
Not trying to be a kill joy but as somebody who once worked in the cruise industry (at a time when a giant ship was only 45,000GRT) I often wonder about just how safe these new Mega Liners really are.
Don't get me wrong, I would still much rather be in a ship that has problems than an aeroplane ................ but.
In this day and age the bulk of the crew are not really life time 'servers' often we see heaps of youngsters who are, no doubt, earning a few bucks before they settle down to what they really intend to do and all the more power to them. Even in the time of long term committed crew, things go wrong. I remember during one exercise which entailed finding five fake bombs scattered around the ship, four were found and disposed of - unfortunately the fifth was found by a crew member who was so proud of the fact that he took it to the bridge, arriving there just as the timer to go off .... Oh well, I suppose a ship can survive without a bridge and most of it's Deck Officers, (I know the Engineers would think so).
My son actually worked in one ship for about three months to get some extra cash. He did some shore training which included splashing around trying to get a raft upright but this seemed to be about it. With smaller ships I believe that you would still have a very good chance of survival if something went wrong (and one day it will). However, the Mega Ships are a bit of a worry - you have to remember that even these are pretty small when pitted against the sea.
Now any disaster of note is going to caused by a combination of incidents, it is seldom that one thing goes wrong with sufficient impact to be fatal. I suppose what I would really like to know is.
1) With the large open spaces within new ships, say the Atrium, how can you stem the inflow of water - no use saying it is too high above the water line for this to happen - that would be mistake No1.
2) As you could have up to around 4000 souls in the ship - how do you keep control - this is now not just a pleasant boat drill with a gin tonic waiting at the end, this is a sloping deck, confusion and panic.
3) Take it one step further and imagine that the ship has lost total power (it happens), main lighting has gone and you are trying to do everything on emergency power.
4) There may be fire but even with no power I am quite impressed with the modern FF systems - provided they work and do not depend on a computer telling them what to do.
5) Is there sufficient space for everybody on board in the boats and rafts on only one side of the ship - ships seldom go down on an even keel - meaning that often all the boats on one side become useless.
6) I believe with the shorter cruises that are now the 'in thing' people just would not have time to get to know the vessel well enough to find their way around in the dark - let's face it they are pretty big.
7) What is the approximate estimated time for evacuating 4000 pax from a ship that is going down - I will be kind and even say "In perfect weather conditions".
Having said all that I do believe that ships are still the safest form on transport on the planet BUT they are not infallible ..... nothing is.
Perhaps we could get somebody from one of the cruise lines to pass comment.
Having survived over twenty years at sea - it is not a matter of being scared - just asking the questions - that is the right of any consumer. Only a fool walks around blindfolded when they have the chance of seeing and learning, that is, unless they like bumping into things.
When on the Grand - they stated that they had 2x the amount of life boats necessary for everyone on the ship. They said that if one side was emmersed in water, there was enough life boats on the other side to get everyone to safety. And those life boats are so much nicer then the ones that came on the older boats!
I don't worry about ships sinking. I am more likely to be hurt in my car within a few blocks of my house.
If I looked at everything as dangerous (and most eveything is) then I would never leave my house. Oh, no, that wouldn't be good - it could flood, burn, have a plane crash into it, a tornado might blow it away, a hurricane may destroy it, etc....
It is going to be more dangerous for me to fly 13 hours to Hawaii than to be on the ship for 12 days....
Your fears are obviously not unfounded to you and I am not trying to discount them, but please explain to me why getting a tax bill prompted to you finally state your feelings in this matter....
Not trying to start anything,
Jodi
11 days til the Spirit moves me.
252 days til the Sensation hits.
Jodi
I have no fears about travelling - as a member of the million mile club I would be a wreck if that were the case. Rather, I just like to ask the questions that sit in the back of the mind.
Probably the fact that I have survived one plane crash (well a seaplane that missed the water and decided to transform itself into matchwood on a beach) and one sinking (very small inter island vessel that just got too tired to battle the elements anymore) makes me more aware than for most as to how frail all travel is.
However, it does not scare me, I relish just 'going somewhere'. I think many mistook my scribbling for something else. Oh well
Location: Wisconsin....about 100 miles south of the Frozen Tundra and 70 miles east of Camp Randall
Posts: 9,241
Re: What if
FAB - I understood what you were saying. It is a little frightening to know what could happen. I am a nurse and once I was in the hospital (just before I became a nurse but had worked in health care for years and was very knowledgable) - I had been through a battery of tests and I did fine, until they came in to tell me they wanted to do a bone marrow biopsy - I was fine right up til that moment, because I knew what they were looking for (and none of it was good at all)....I like to be informed, but there are times when ignorance really is bliss.
BTW - I do wonder about what you were talking about, but I have faith in the crews and in the majority of the pax I'm sailing with to get it right.
What if
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