Imagine going on a luxury cruise on Cunard’s Queen Anne which holds more than 3,350 passengers and fares for its first-ever world voyage begin at $16,379 per person, only to be ordered to hide on the ship for two days when passing through the Sulu and Celebes seas? Would you knowingly sign up for this?
The United States State Department issued another travel warning for the Bahamas today.
The U.S. State Department reissued a “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution Due to Crime” for the Bahamas, stating:
“Violent crime, such as burglaries, armed robberies, and sexual assault, is common, even during the day and in tourist areas. Although the
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced today that it will hire lifeguards on certain of its cruise ships, according to a press release.
The press release, which also advertises "27 dining options, award-winning entertainment, superior guest service and more across all of the brand’s 14 ships," states that NCL will finally employ "certified lifeguards"
Two months ago, I wrote that Royal Caribbean Cruises was advertising that it was going to hire lifeguards on its cruise ships. In our December 22, 2016 article titled Royal Caribbean Cruises to Hire Lifeguards, I noted that Royal Caribbean had reconsidered its policy of only posting “swim at your own risk” signs and providing life
A lifeboat accident occurred this afternoon while the Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas was in the port of Charleston.
A passenger aboard the cruise ship (who wishes to remain anonymous) informed me that a lifeboat had fallen from the cruise ship and was upside down in the water. He sent photographs of the lifeboat
Two weeks ago, we reported that Royal Caribbean was posting a job description for a lifeguard on an onboard crew TV channel on one of its cruise ship (Ovation of the Seas).
We viewed this as good news after at least five passengers, mostly children, have drowned or nearly drowned in the
Royal Caribbean is now advertising that it is hiring lifeguards on its cruise ships. The cruise line posted the availability of the lifeguard position as of December 21, 2016.
The posting (below) indicates that the lifeguard "will need to perform rescue of Guests in danger of drowning and be vigilant to potential accidents. Will be trained
A U.S. citizen was reportedly the victim of medical malpractice at a large public hospital (Princess Margaret) in Nassau, Bahamas and is now telling the world about his ordeal.
As explained in a local Fox News station and in a gofundme page, Jake Tyler (Beiersdorf), a young man from Minnesota, traveled to Nassau in
Earlier this week, a 10 year old child drowned in a crowded swimming pool on NCL’s Norwegian Gem.
It’s the seventh time that a child has drowned, or nearly-downed, on a cruise ship in just two years. The incidents occurred on cruise ships operated by all of the major cruise lines’ ships: Carnival, Disney
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According to the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, cruise ships are required to have "acoustic hailing and warning devices" in certain high risk areas. These devices emit a high pitched noise that is directed toward approaching vessels and causes intense pain to the ears of the vessel’s occupants.
The reason for this law is
A newspaper in Oman published a report today indicating that a cruise ship, approximately 15 nautical miles off Masirah Island (east of Oman) "was aggressively approached by two skiffs suspected of belonging to Somali pirates" on November 23rd. The newspaper reports that the two skiffs ended their pursuit only when a shipboard private security team fired
Cruise Critic reports today that just one month after HAL’s Veendam flunked an inspection by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Blount Small Ship Adventures Grand Mariner’s 100 passenger cruise ship also failed a CDC inspection:
"Moldy ice-cubes, inadequate monitoring of food temperatures, raw meat stored with nonmeat items, ingredient containers left open, dirty
The cruise industry trade organization, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), announced with great fanfare a new lifeboat training policy. This is a result of what CLIA is calling the cruise industry’s "operational safety review" after the Costa Concordia disaster.
Every six months, the CLIA cruise ships will conduct lifeboat drills. The lifeboats will be lowered
Fairplay published an interesting article (an excerpt is available here) about the International Maritime Organization’s ("IMO") "guidance" regarding the presence of armed guards on shipping vessels.
The IMO met at its offices in London last week and discussed the issue of protecting seafarers who are employed on vessels which are increasingly being targeted by pirates. One of the issues discussed is the use
The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K. has a amazing article today by Richard Snailham about the Discovery cruise ship, operated by Discover the World cruise line, confronting a Somali speedboat as the ship sailed from Mombasa towards the Seychelles Islands.
The good news is that the pirates decided not to try and board the cruise ship. Mr. Snailham 
attributes this happy ending to "rolls of
An article today by Wolfgang H. Thome of eTurboNews (ETN) raises two disturbing scenarios:
1. It is only a matter of time before Somali pirates hijack a cruise ship, and
2. There are no plans in place to rescue the passengers when this happens.
The article is entitled "Somali Piracy – a Problem from Hell – What is the Naval Coalition Doing
Today, six crew members filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for injuries sustained when the Maersk Alabama was hijacked by Somali pirates in April. The crew members sued Maersk Line 
Ltd., the operator of the vessel, and Waterman Steamship Corp., the crewing company which hired them. They are seeking damages for physical and mental injuries and loss of income.
The seaman allege that Maersk failed to
