Cruise Ship Hammered

[Pelagic]

I'm sure that wasn't in the broschure


Passengers hurt as storm rocks New Zealand cruise ship - Telegraph

[Steve Pope]

They are sailing today into another low, 60 booked passengers have cancelled so far. P&O knows best! That is the problem of sailing to timetables and of course getting to and from NZ in the middle of winter

[stuartcnz]

All shipping around New Zealand has been getting a battering over the last week or two. I know of one container ship that was damaged badly enough off Melbourne last week, that it has had to go to Singapore for repairs. It was on it's way to the South Island of New Zealand, but had to take refuge in Sydney. Most other shipping has been delayed by a good couple of days as well.

[Steve Pope]

Re-cap on the sailing of the P&O Pacific Sun, tonights sailing has been cancelled until 10am tomorrow. P&O listening at last.

[Alan Wheeler]

The damage done was not from mere 7m waves. Something isn't being said I am sure. I reckon the ship was either in far more serious seas or they were hit by a rogue wave. I think the ruffer seas than being told was more the case. A close friend was on this trip last year and this year friend of his went on this trip. The mother phoned home to tell her Kids she loved them and that they were sleeping on the floor just inside the exitway to the life boats. They were terrified. So you can't tell me that was the affect of 7m seas on a ship that size with stabilizers.

[boris]

we were on the same pacific sun in june also had some bad weather, missed out on vanuatu, but it is a ship sailing from NZ to the pasific at the wrong time of year, the tickets are cheaper at this time of year for that reason, if you don't like the motion of a ship don't go to sea, i have not time for people who complain about bad weather in winter get over it!

[Alan Wheeler]

It's a cruise ship for crying out loud, not a sailboat on a cruise. That means people that read the glossy brochures that have all the wonderful pictures of fun in the sun and absolutely No experience of the sea take the trip. The trip is Not advertised as a trip out of season. It is advertised as the cruise season. What would anyone novice expect. The passengers are not seasoned sailors and do not go expecting the trip to be ruff to the point of equipment and goods to be thrown across the decks.
The issue is one of profit making. The company tries to get one or two to many trips in at the end of the season. Their attitude is summed up clearly in their statement that they will not refund injured passengers their money. They have stated that they will instead, give the passengers a discount on another trip. What a cheap way out. Most passengers will never intend to go again, not because of what they went through, just for the fact they won't be interested in doing it again.
It's pretty clear that the Captain has pressure placed on him to meet schedules. There is no other way of running a cruise ship, but to stick to a schedule. You have passengers meeting and leaving the ship via flight schedules. An no passenger paid to be on a ship that is tied to the Dock. Yes the Captain has the last say in the schedule, but I bet the Bosses above him put a lot of pressure on him to go.
Personally I hope the injured passengers sue the pants of the cruise company. Maybe it will make them think a little more.

[mike d.]

couldn't agree with you more Alan. my Dad was with Dutch Maritime (later Hapag-LLoyd) and you went when told to because of profits. I understand a company is only a co. as long as it has profits, but sometimes the bean counters need a slap aside the head where safty is involved. regards to all!

[Pelagic]

Ditto !...... same thing that happened with the Philippine ferry that recently capsized in a Typhoon... killing over 800.

[psteele235]

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Here's a CNN video

[boris]

obviouly i am in the minority! If you don't like the heat would you go to alice springs in dec-feb ? your travel agent should be advising you of the likely weather. I would certanly looking

[ssullivan]

On another note:

Watching the videos on CNN caused me to wonder why some of the equipment on the various decks was not affixed to the deck.

If slot machines and tables were flying, they were not adequately prepared for even this modest rolling (you can see how far they rolled by watching the momentum building on the objects that were sliding around on the deck).

To me, it appears as though they rolled to no more than 15-20 degrees, as you can watch the "stuff" go from "not sliding" to sliding, then to stopping as the ship rights itself."

Seems to me you would want to prepare any ship for the possibility of some rolling motion.

It would seem to me than a passenger hurt by flying junk in a roll of a medium amplitude like this one, would have a right to compensation for their injuries. This ship was not prepared to go to sea.

Are many other cruise ships so poorly set up for seas? It's not an are I have ever looked into. Can't imagine why anyone would go on one. Just doesn't seem like fun to me.