Due to the Costa Ship sinking would a Scandenavian crew be better than an Italian..

[evagoblin]

I was wondering if anyone had advice on what lines have officer crews from what countries and does that make a difference in issues of safety.

Reading the news it seems that the crew on Costa (which I assume is mostly Italian) seemed somewhat panicky and disorganized-reflective of the country perhaps. I tend to want to stick to cruise lines of Western countries for that reason, but I do know that even if Carnival owns different lines, they let the line run the way they always have, so perhaps the Cunard staff maybe British would be more competent in handling a crisis than the Costa?

Royal Caribbean and NCL do they both have mainly Scandenavian officers? What about the offshoot of RC, Celebrity?

Does the origin of the officers makes a difference or is it the way the ship is generally run? I know that Holland America which once had a sinking, is VERY strict about the drills.

[Spartan kent]

A Scandinavian registered vessel would have life suits not jackets, the problem is that unless people are used to waiting in line you will have chaos.

[johnthed0g]

Most ships I have been on have "Western" officers.. European, British etc. the crews are usually Phillipino, Indian or lately Eastern European.

[Mike M]

Simple answer: No

There was a myriad of issues that caused all of the issues and loss of life. The number of languages used for announcements being one of them.

The "crew" are a mix of countries and languages. If you sail a Carnival or Celebrity cruise you will also find that most of the senior officers are Italian. Other lines will also have Italian, Scandinavian and a very few American senior staff. The crew will always be a mix of people from all over the world.

Take care,
Mike

[Ron]

I've taken somewhere over 40 cruises on several different lines and as has been said, there's a mixture of nationalities on almost any cruise ship as far as the crew is concerned, and to an extent, even the passengers.
We really don't know for sure how well the crews are trained , how often they practice for an accident, etc., especially the ones that operate mostly in the Med.and European waters.
I would think ( just my opinion ) that the U.S. may be more strict as far as enforcing the maritime laws and regulations re / cruise ships than some of these other countries.

I doubt that any cruise line operating out of the U.S. would go for several days before conducting the safety drills ( aka, muster, musterd & mustard drills --lol )-- I think everyone I've been on has had the safety drills the first evening aboard. The biggest problem I've seen is that people simply do not pay attention to what is being said.You are not supposed to bring drinks to a safety drill but I see that all the time. Usually, there will be several who have already had too much to drink and talk constantly and don't pay the slightest attention to the crew who are trying to explain the safety procedures.On our last cruise, they kept telling everyone they HAD to attend--one couple decided to hang out on their balcony and not go-- the C.D. finally got on the inter-com and said everyone was supposed to attend, even Mr. and Mrs. X who were in cabin # -- on their balcony, advising they could be seen by the video cameras.
Usually these people are the first to panic when something happens but in all honesty, when something does happen, people in general will not act in an orderly, disciplined manner--it's everyone for him / her self and to heck with everyone else. But I guess it's too much to think that in a dangerous situation everyone will act as if they have had military training and will follow orders and instructions.
Seems like the Capt. and a couple of officers of this ship were lacking the in the area of leadership and discipline as , if reports are true, they were among some of the first off the ship. You can bet lawsuits will fly over this and honestly, this may be one case that I would agree with those who file the suits.

[Dhill]

I find it hard to believe that one ethinic group would make a better crew then the next! It seems to me it would be more of an individual thing than an ethinic thing.

[anniegb]

Originally Posted by Dhill

I find it hard to believe that one ethinic group would make a better crew then the next! It seems to me it would be more of an individual thing than an ethinic thing.

Dhill - I agree.

I also agree with AR - everyone for themselves; as someone said in another forum - they are not prepared to queue for breakfast in the buffet - what makes you think they would queue for a lifeboat?

How in the heck did wheelchair passengers cope?

Annie

[richstacy]

Your post is vaguely offensive to Italians who have a very, very long and proud seafaring tradition. Why would you think that a Brit or Scandinavian navigation deck crew would be superior to an Italian one??

[Ron]

I don't think the last 3 posts above mine were directed at anything I said. I hope not, as I was not inferring in any way one nationality was / is better seafarers than any other-- only that all the ships I've been on the crew was a mix of people from a number of countries.
Regardless of where the Capt. and officers were from, with what we have seen and read so far, it appears they were not up to par for whatever reason and does appear that the crew was not trained nor disciplined to handle an emergency. The Capt. is supposed to be in charge of the ship and crew regardless of where he's from. If he doesn't do his job to see the ship and crew are up to safely operating and maintaining a ship, he should face the music for his failure.

[TheDivineMsM]

Originally Posted by richstacy

Your post is vaguely offensive to Italians who have a very, very long and proud seafaring tradition. Why would you think that a Brit or Scandinavian navigation deck crew would be superior to an Italian one??

I agree..I found the post to very offensive.

[belgique]

Hey, that Columbus guy was a pretty good sailor, no?

Italy is a proud seafaring nation with wonderful traditions of exploration and discovery. They didn't just start sailing when cruise ships came along.

I would feel equally safe with a crew from Italy, Norway, the U.S., France, Japan, anywhere.

Let's wait until the facts are in.

[beenie weenie]

I think that regardless of nationality... if people are not held accountable and held to consistently high standards of behavior, they will often grow complacent, get lazy and allow things to slide...

My experience with Costa, on the Concordia a few years ago, led me to believe that the some officers pretty much did as they wished. They could be rude and arrogant. Even though Costa is owned by Carnival Corp. Cruising with them was a completely different experience... a complete departure... I wonder how much control Carnival really exerts in the day to day operations of the Costa ships, or if leaves it pretty much to its own operations center in Genoa....

If the allegations against this Captain are true (that he repeated performed these touristic maneuvers so close to land), he certainly was flagrant and brazen in doing as he wished at the peril of all onboard.

[johnthed0g]

Latest is that the Captain deviated from the programmed course in order to "showboat" past an island where a lot of friends & family lived. The deviation passed the island to the port side (nearer land, 300 metres) when the approved route was to pass it with the island to Starboard.