The cruise ship fiasco

[mac]

The more I hear about how this cruise ship hit rocks, the more dumbfounded I get. From the reports I've read it seems that whomever was at the helm decided to do a buzz job on the island, to borrow a phrase from flying. And it seems that they had done this same maneuver before. The fact that someone steered a ship into rocks doesn't really surprise me. There have been incompetent people doing that for thousands of years. What really surprises me is how a four year old ship, equipped with the most modern navigation systems and computers, didn't sound alarms, bells, whistles, and loud gongs. You can get a decent marine GPS that has the entire US mainland and coastal waters mapped, along with the depth of the water, for well under a grand. It even shows you a "fisheye" look as you proceed showing the bottom. Any recent airliner has computers that will not allow a pilot to do something really stupid. How something this big and this expensive could not have a basic system like this is beyond me. I suspose that's what the lawyers are thinking too.

 

[rph9168]

In addition to the negligence of the captain it sounds like the crew did a lousy job getting the passengers off the ship. I have a feeling the safety regulations in force now will be carefully examined and changed as a result of this tragedy.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

They said those waters had been charted for 500yrs, and that this captain had done a closer path in aug, so i am sure he ignored the equipment then. They tell us all the time while flying, as a pilot we are the weakest link. Our plane has this g1000 panels and will advise about tfrs, class b and restricted air space.

 

[pitzerwm]

It is a division of Carnival Lines. The CEO isn't handling the PR very well either.

 

[MEP001]

There was even a recent video of a small plane landing where they just forgot to lower the landing gear. The two pilots both ignored the warning beep and were completely confused by the rough landing.

 

[rph9168]

This tragedy will haunt them for a long time. Carnival has not done well with the PR work. This will have a negative effect on all cruise lines but obviously it will hurt Carnival and all the lines they own the most. I have a feeling that this captain will do a long prison term for this.

I read that in order to do the maneuver he did he had to switch the operation of the ship from automatic to manual so it will be hard for him to shift any blame. The latest excuse I heard that he gave was that he accidentally tripped into a rescue boat and couldn't get back on the ship. Don't think that one will float very well.

 

[Waxman]

It is very scary to me that someone who is hired to act as a professional captain of a humungous cruise ship could act this way, costing passengers their lives and endangering the whole ship.

I went on one cruise and hated it. This latest incident is ridiculous and the captain should receive max. punishment allowable by law.

 

[pitzerwm]

Apparently, the whole crew training was way sub par. I went on one cruise, and we held a drill the first day, and they made a big deal about doing your part correct. Apparently here, the announcements were not even heard all over the ****. Some people didn't know there was a problem.

 

[MEP001]

Apparently here, the announcements were not even heard all over the ****.

Did you typo "ship?"

 

[pitzerwm]

yes apparently

 

[mac]

I've been on a couple of cruises and can't really understand why people like them so much. You sit around most days and gorge on food and drinks, play bingo, go to crowded places where the locals try to shake you down, and listen to ship announcement about how all of the crew works for tips.

 

[pitzerwm]

Mac, us ADD people are not cut out for cruises.

 

[MEP001]

There are some convenience factors to a cruise that you don't get if you take a tour of multiple places via flights and several hotels. If you tried to book a trip to see all the places on a typical 1-week cruise you'd spend at least a day in taxis to and from the airport, in the airport and in the air and lugging your stuff around for each destination. That said though, I prefer to get my "vacationing" done in day trips to places I can drive.

 

[I.B. Washincars]

"You sit around most days and gorge on food and drinks"

Didn't you kinda just answer your own question?

 

[Greg Pack]

You sit around most days and gorge on food and drinks, play bingo, go to crowded places where the locals try to shake you down, and listen to ship announcement about how all of the crew works for tips.

This sounds very much my life here now. Just replace the words "ship" and "crew" with "wife".