We were one of the first to report that the Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess cruise ship lost power last weekend. Princess was cooperative telling us that the cruise ship lost power, and it quickly added that emergency generators supplied power for toilets and so forth, that the cruise ship and its guests were not in
NCL Passenger Falls Two Decks on Norwegian Breakaway, Receives Medical Treatment in Bermuda
The Bermuda Sun reports that on September 17th a NCL cruise passenger was taken to a hospital in Bermuda after she fell two decks and was seriously injured. The woman was aboard the Norwegian Breakaway.
The newspaper states that “it is unclear where exactly on the mega-ship that the accident took place or how it…
Royal Princess Loses Power in the Mediterranean
Cruise Fever reports that Princess Cruises’ newest cruise ship, the Royal Princess, experienced a loss of power in the Mediterranean as the cruise ship was sailing between Mykonos and Naples. Here’s what Cruise Fever is saying:
The cruise ship lost power around 1:30 P.M. local time.
Emergency generators started.
Toilets and emergency services are functional. …
“Black Death Plague Ship?” Cruise Ship Sickness Back in the News
The Daily Record reports that the Fred Olsen Black Watch was nick-named "Black Death" after more than 100 passengers were struck down by a norovirus outbreak during a 12-night Scandinavia and St Petersburg cruise.
The cabins of infected quarantined passengers were marked with crosses to warn cruise staff who wore face masks for protection. Their luggage…
Death Aboard the Carnival Dream
Several cruise passengers have stated that a passenger died aboard the Carnival Dream on September 20 2013.
Cruise passengers indicate that they got into one of the hot tubs on the cruise ship Friday evening and realized that another passenger, a man, was under the water. The man reportedly was removed from the tub, and…
Coast Guard Medevacs Cruise Passenger From Diamond Princess
KCAW reports that a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew, based in Sitka, Alaska, medevaced a 72-year-old woman from the cruise ship Diamond Princess in Icy Strait on September 19, 2013.
The woman, suffering from convulsions, was safely transferred to awaiting emergency medical personnel in Sitka, about 100 miles south of Icy Strait. EMS then transported her…
Carnival’s “Moments that Matter” Marketing Campaign is Offensive and the Timing Couldn’t Be Worse
Last week the public was transfixed on the incredible spectacle of the "parbuckling" project which, at a cost of $800,000,000 and rising, finally but successfully righted the capsized Costa Concordia in the port of Giglio.
The major news networks offered live streaming video of the event. Social media, especially Twitter, provided non-stop, second-by-second updates…
Cruise Ships Swamp Venice
Newspapers are reporting that today the residents of Venice will protest the procession of over a dozen cruise ships which will sail through St Mark’s Basin. The Guardian states that a canal-bank protest is scheduled "over an invasion of up to 13 cruise ships in the space of 24 hours which . . . will turn…
Cruise Ship Bunker Fuel Coming to Your City: Benefits? It’s Cheap. Downside? Asthma, Cancer & Heart Disease.
A local CBS news station (WBZ) in Boston reports that although cruising is a popular vacation, there are significant environmental downsides. The massive cruise ships burn the dirtiest type of fuel in the world, even when they’re sitting in port.
There are schools, playgrounds and residences in the neighborhoods which surrounds the port in Boston.
Crown Princess Rescues Syrian Refugees in the Mediterranean Sea
The Daily Echo reports on the remarkable story of Syrian refugees rescued today at sea.
One of the unlikely heroes is the Princess Cruises cruise ship Crown Princess which responded to the plight of 158 refugees escaping the bloodshed in Syria in an un-seaworthy vessel consisting of 44 children, 20 women and 94 men. The…
“Why Ships Sink” Tonight on NOVA / PBS at 9:00 P.M.
Tonight at 9:00 P.M. NOVA will air "Why Ships Sink" featuring the story of the recent Costa Concordia and the 100 year old story of the Titanic.
I’m in the program, interviewed at the Port of Miami.
Costa Concordia: Finally Upright, What’s Next?
Lots of people thought that once the Costa Concordia was finally brought back from the dead and uprighted in Giglio, the cruise ship would be hauled off into the Italian sunset and taken to a scrapyard for dismantling.
That’s not going to happen anytime soon. As much as we all hope and dream that this…
Costa Concordia: The $800,000,000 Tilt
Its been an interesting two days watching the live streaming video of the "parbuckling" project which raised the stricken Costa Concordia out of the sea. The submerged, starboard side of the cruise ship, which has been underwater and resting on the seabed, is now strangely warped and disfigured.
It took some 19 hours to…
Costa Concordia Emerges from the Sea
Twenty months after the Costa Concordia crashed into the rocks and capsized off the coast of Giglio in a maritime disaster that killed 32 people and terrorized thousands others, the cruise ship emerged from the Mediterranean this morning following a spectacular "parbuckling" salvage effort costing over $800 million.
With many millions watching via live streaming…
Superfast Ferry Collides with Mein Schiff 2 in Italy – Minor Damage Reported
Newspapers in Italy are reporting that a collision took place in the port of Bari (Puglia) in the southest of Italy when a Superfast ferry struck the Mein Schiff 2 cruise ship.
Corriere del Mezzogiorne and La Reppublica (Bari) report that high winds up to 40 knows caused the ferry to break her mooring lines…
Costa Concordia Salvage Begins Now
Its been over 20 months since the Costa Concordia sailed into the rocks near the little port of Giglio. Thousands of passengers and crew panicked. 32 souls perished. 2 bodies of the dead remain in the sea.
Here is my first blog about the disaster. Little did I know just how bad the…
Bahamas Cruise Crime Controversy Continues: Is the Carnival Warning Adequate?
Newspapers in Nassau continue to cover the bickering over whether Carnival Cruise Line should be warning its passengers about the high rate of crime in the Bahamas.
In an article last week, we pointed out the criticism leveled against Carnival by the Atlantis mega-resort that Carnival’s warning letter provided to cruise passengers had the…
One More Day Before the Costa Concordia Rises from the Sea
Monday morning the much talked about "parbuckling" project will finally start to try and raise the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship from the port of Giglio.
I have clicked on the web cams at the port of Giglio hundreds of times since January of 2012 to see what has been happening with the…