Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy

[Trip]

They just interviewed 3 local siblings that were onboard.They mentioned the kindness of the crew, but were dismayed at their fellow passengers as being very uncaring towards one another. They were awating a flight to Rome, then onto Barcelona, to meet up with their relieved parents.

[Trip]

They just interviewed 3 local siblings that were onboard.They mentioned the kindness of the crew, but were dismayed at their fellow passengers as being very uncaring towards one another. They were awating a flight to Rome, then onto Barcelona, to meet up with their relieved parents.

[Mike M]

I spoke online with Nancy from Cruise Planners and so far she hasn't had any cancellations because of the Concordia. That may change next week. It wasn't until later in the day, on Saturday, that the pictures hit the major news outlets.

I will say that my Carnival stock isn't going to be worth as much on Monday afternoon.

Take care,
Mike

[johnthed0g]

The latest on our news is 3 dead (one crew) about 50 missing, 2 people found in the ship alive, voice contact with at least one more. Captain & 1st officer detained, alleged abandoning ship, manslaughter & causing a shipwreck. The ship appeared to be off course & hit rocks, Capt. headed for shallow water near land to avoid a total sinking. The ship either hit rocks because of a mistake or was suffering a power loss that caused lack of steering & navs. It was the last day of 7 nights, muster drills are held once on the cruise & after that for joining passengers by video. As far as I know.

[ToddDH]

I just read where I believe a Korean couple who were on their honeymoon were rescued from their cabin last night. They were in good shape. Rescuers heard their screaming.

They also recovered the "black box" that will provide navigational information.

I hope something is done for the population of Giglio who opened up their homes, fed and gave clothing to the passengers, despite being outnumbered by passengers at least two or three to one.

[johnthed0g]

Originally Posted by ToddDH

I just read where I believe a Korean couple who were on their honeymoon were rescued from their cabin last night. They were in good shape. Rescuers heard their screaming.

Sorry Todd but I can't help seeing a funny side to this bit....those were the days eh?

[Dhill]

I read that they recovered the black box from the ship.I never knew they had black boxs on cruise ships that should help to answer some questions. The article also stated that the captain has been arrested.Said he was one of the first in a life boat! Thats not good what kind of person would do that?That seems like the lowest of the low.If that is true I hope he gets everything he deserves!

[johnthed0g]

Dhill, not true from what I hear, the Captain went ashore to supervise the majority of his passengers ashore, yes he should have designated a senior officer for that & stayed on the ship, but first off is not correct as I hear it.

[Dhill]

Well that maybe just passing along what I read.May be the article I read was wrong

[Dhill]

Originally Posted by johnthed0g

Dhill, not true from what I hear, the Captain went ashore to supervise the majority of his passengers ashore, yes he should have designated a senior officer for that & stayed on the ship, but first off is not correct as I hear it.

I was just think about the captain going ashore to supervise the passengers ashore! Thats a bunch of crap. The captain is suppose to be the last to leave his ship.Going ashore to supervise sound like a cowards way out! What ever happened to going down with the ship I mean come on have a little bit of pride.

[beenie weenie]

This is an excerpt from a news article I read



"Passengers said they had never participated in an evacuation drill, although one had been scheduled for Saturday. The cruise began on Jan. 7.
Miriam Vitale, a hostess on the cruise liner who disembarked earlier this week in Palermo, told SkyTG24 the ship conducts a drill every 15 days. She said that since passengers on the Concordia embark or disembark every day, some passengers could miss it depending on which day they begin the trip."


Most of the passengers whose interviews I have read are all saying the same thing... Communication was poor, crew were unprepared, direction and information was late in coming which is understandable if the Captain left the ship at any part of this process and also understandable if they had not been doing regular muster drills.


I think I mentioned earlier that we did not have a muster drill until the day after we boarded in Civitavechia when I sailed the Concordia, If what Ms. Vitale states above is accurate, then once every 15 days is completely unacceptable.

[geno500]

Hi I was on a Costa ship in December,the running of the ship was slack,we arrived in Savonna which is the home port for Costa and boarded the ship,we went to cabin and looked at the news letter that you get every day telling you wants on,we then went for a late lunch and a drink,returned to cabin and as it had been a long day had a afternoon nap,two nights later we mentioned to the people on our table at dinner that it was about time we had a boat drill,they were amazed it had happened the afternoon we had arrived ,in order to comply with the boat drill you have to give in your boat drill plastic cards to the person running it,we still had ours as we had not attended,the crew should have contacted us and made sure we did attend the boat drill,with regard this sinking,what is strange is they should have been nowhere near that island ,I suspect somebody entered the wrong course into the auto pilot,the news that at least 40 people are still missing may prove false as the majority of the people were Italians so would have got relations to pick them up and take them home ,what is more worrying is that at least 23 fillipino crew are missing the crew have nowhere to go and stick together so if 23 are missing I fear they maybe dead.

[Trip]

John, I dont believe Todd was jesting at all about the recovery of the honeymoners. Simply, stating that they were screaming to be heard to steer the recovery crew to them.

[geno500]

I would also add that I have been on a number of cruises ,I have always said that if anything happened there would be panic and the crew would be next to useless,the reason is the ships are so large now and trying to remove 4000 people in a short time will always prove impossible,the cruise lines know that,but go through the mandatory boat drills to cover themselves ,when you take a cruise you must remember this ,take one rather like you would take a airflight you know that if something major was to go wrong your chances are slim,but its a rare thing for a aircraft to crash as it is a ship to sink,with regard whats being said on the news,the ship should have passed that island to seaward and gone on to Savonna,that ship was on the wrong course and hit those rocks hard enough to rip the bottom out of her the fact she is on the other side to the holes you can see must mean that there are even bigger holes on that side,what is unforgivable is they still kept saying it was a electrical failure stopping people leaving the restaurant until the ship started listing ,when I was in the merchant marine many years ago we were always told you have 5 mins to get your act together or see davy jones up close.

[Lakers Fan]

I personally do not believe that the muster drills would have made a difference .I know that on the cruises I've been on a lot of people were not paying attention .Its human nature to panic .

[beenie weenie]

Originally Posted by Henry43

I personally do not believe that the muster drills would have made a difference .I know that on the cruises I've been on a lot of people were not paying attention .Its human nature to panic .

Henry I could not disagree more. Sorry, but muster drills are not only for the benefit of the passengers (which at least they know where their life jackets are, and they know where to find a lifeboat, hopefully at least remembering what a muster station is or where they muster, it also helps parents with children to know if they have appropriate life jackets in proper sizes for the kids and forces the room stewards to provide them.) It is also a valuable practice for the crew... I cannot help but wonder if the report I quoted earlier is accurate and they were so cavalier to only do muster drills every 15 days, how often did they do safety drills for the crew...

I cannot remember one cruise except my Costa Cruise where they did not spend at least one port day out of between 5 and 14 day long cruises doing a crew only safety drill practicing different aspects of their jobs in an emergency situation.

The more this situation unravels and unfolds the more thankful I am for the watchful eye of the U.S. Coast Guard. I promise I will never ever complain again about taking my life jacket to muster drill.

[johnthed0g]

Originally Posted by Trip

John, I dont believe Todd was jesting at all about the recovery of the honeymoners. Simply, stating that they were screaming to be heard to steer the recovery crew to them.

He wasn't joking I was....oh well...

[johnthed0g]

If a ship is lying on it's side basically sinking it wouldn't make any difference if they had been to a muster drill, if it was me & the ship was going down I would be heading UP. I heard they have full drills regularly but as people join the ship at different points they are expected to watch a video & are told where to assemble, if people don't bother what can they do? I don't expect anyone to go down with the ship, why should they?

[Queen of Oakville]

I had not heard about this until last night.

My first thought - I'm sailing in 60 days.

As I read through this tread, I just feel sick for these people.

How many times, have we all complained about Musters? At least I have. @Beenie, I haven't taken a life jacked to a muster in a long time.

I think I always look at musters as one of thoese things that just delays me from getting to my meet&greet or getting ready for dinner. It's just like sitting on a plane and ignoring the drill. This gives me a new respect for the safety protocols.

I'm unfamiliar with European sailings. Are they different than Caribean ones? Why would the must not have been done on day 1? Or do people get on and off at each port?


As for the captian - who knows what the truth is. I'm not sure I fault him for getting off the ship. Maybe he has a wife and family. I know there are expectations for bravery ..... but I'm not sure anyone signs up for the job of captian with the expectation or realization that one might have to go down with the ship.

I also don't know all the details yet, but don't understand why the captian was arrested? Was there negligence or alcohol or some other factor?

[Manuel]

Originally Posted by Henry43

I personally do not believe that the muster drills would have made a difference .I know that on the cruises I've been on a lot of people were not paying attention .Its human nature to panic .

I agree that is is human nature to panic. I also have been in situations where I have seen it happen.

TM

[johnnyjumpstart]

CNN reporting that 2 bodies were pulled from the ship bringing the death toll to 5 people, with about 15 unaccounted for at this point.

[Dhill]

Originally Posted by johnthed0g

If a ship is lying on it's side basically sinking it wouldn't make any difference if they had been to a muster drill, if it was me & the ship was going down I would be heading UP. I heard they have full drills regularly but as people join the ship at different points they are expected to watch a video & are told where to assemble, if people don't bother what can they do? I don't expect anyone to go down with the ship, why should they?

Except the Captain! If theres not enough time for everyone to get off the ship or enough avilable life ratfs then why should the captain leave the ship to have the passengers fend for themselfs? He is the man in charge he is responable for his crew and passengers safety and he is accountable for everything that happens on his ship

[Paul Motter]

I am surprised at the lack of disclosure coming out of Costa/Carnival. The best thing they could be doing right now is describing exactly what happened and reminding us that this could have been a tragedy of Titanic proportions.

It is a good thing the ship was able to get back to shore before it took on so much water it sank.

People have asked why the ship tilted toward the shore and I explained that above - but I don't get why it is facing south when it was headed north.

It appears the captain tried to turn the ship around and bring it into port in Porto Giglio. he didn't quite make it. he must have had some steering power, though I don't know what. (I would like to know).

[Dhill]

Originally Posted by nlb1050

Maybe it is time to make a change in the procedures for picking up passengers only once per cruise and not at multiple ports. And to do as the ships do in the US which is to have muster prior to leaving the home port.

Thats what Princess did. We missed are flight along with about 5 other couples thanks to Alaska airlines. When we met up with the ship in Hilo that was the first thing they did was gathered everyone in the Chapel and had a drill for us

[johnnyjumpstart]

ABC news is reporting the 2 bodies pulled from the ship were elderly male passengers. They were in their cabin & wearing their lifevests.

[felix_the_cat]

This is just so sad. The last I heard there were still 10 missing.

Carnival is trying to find a way to protect their a$$es here. As usual this is what cruiselines do. I don't think it's going to work this time. Far too much publicity. I watched 15 minute segment on the news here this morning. Most segments are 2 minutes at best.

I also heard an interview with a number of Americans who are together in Rome. Law suits abound. They've already gotten together as a group for this one and announced it.

So, where is cruising going to go now? Expecially Carnival group. I know there are die hard cruisers on here and cc who are saying it won't affect cruising. I say they are dreaming. The cruiselines are trying to attrack new cruisers. They need them with the "bigger and better." Not going to happen very easily. I have already received one phone call from a new cruise who has cancelled out any thought of cruising. I expect many more to come, not just for me of course, but for everyone!!

[johnthed0g]

Originally Posted by Dhill

Except the Captain! If theres not enough time for everyone to get off the ship or enough avilable life ratfs then why should the captain leave the ship to have the passengers fend for themselfs? He is the man in charge he is responable for his crew and passengers safety and he is accountable for everything that happens on his ship

We don't know the circumstances, he should have stayed on the ship but someone went ashore to supervise, it may have been a considered decision among the senior staff who stayed on the ship. Not really our place to condemn anyone.

[johnthed0g]

I expect they are saying nothing until they know the full facts.

[Mike M]

Originally Posted by johnthed0g

We don't know the circumstances, he should have stayed on the ship but someone went ashore to supervise, it may have been a considered decision among the senior staff who stayed on the ship. Not really our place to condemn anyone.

There is no reason at all that the Captain should have left the ship before all recoverable passengers were off the ship. It is a hard and fast Maritime Law and is punishable by loss of license, fine and possible imprisonment. This would supersede even an order from Corporate, or "group" decision to leave the ship. A senior officer should have been dispatched to shore if there was a need to coordinate.

On this point I will condemn the Captain for the decision to leave the ship before the passengers had evacuated.

Take care,
Mike

[Aerogirl]

Originally Posted by Trip

They just interviewed 3 local siblings that were onboard.They mentioned the kindness of the crew, but were dismayed at their fellow passengers as being very uncaring towards one another. They were awating a flight to Rome, then onto Barcelona, to meet up with their relieved parents.

Trip…. I’m not surprised by this at all; we see it in everyday life. Very sad that the help thy neighbor is rarely exercised now days.