A number of Royal Caribbean crew members have contacted me complaining that they don’t feel safe because of ongoing construction on the Freedom of the Seas to install an advanced emission purification system (AEP), also known as a “scrubber system.”
Contractors from Harris Pye Engineering have been aboard the cruise ship retrofitting the ship with
A hoax is defined as a "deliberately fabricated falsehood made to masquerade as truth."
Royal Caribbean engaged in a hoax when it characterized the big, dangerous fire on the Freedom of the Seas which engulfed the little port of Falmouth with billowing black smoke as just a "small fire."
Cruise lines used to be able
There is an ongoing social media battle between the cruise industry and the proponents of improving the industry. This blog is part of that struggle. Our motto is “every thing the cruise lines don”t want you to know.”
Every time there is a cruise ship fire, the cruise lines rush to send out the message
The U.S. Coast Guard from Air Station Kodiak in Alaska medevaced a 83-year-old passenger man from a Holland America Line (HAL) cruise ship on Wednesday.
The man was suffering from symptoms of a heart attack.
A MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew transferred the man to an emergency medical team on the ground.
The Coast Guard did not
Royal Caribbean started spinning the story on the Freedom of the Seas fire yesterday before the ship stopped burning, saying things like:
It was just a small fire that was quickly extinguished. All systems are operational. Passengers mustered only as a precaution. No injuries to passengers. Guests able to leave the ship to enjoy Falmouth
The Times of Malta reports that a 20 year old passenger from Scotland was charged today with raping a woman who he met on a cruise aboard the Celebrity Reflection.
The newspaper says that the man allegedly raped the woman on the Celebrity cruise ship a year ago today. The man also faces charges of
The Juneau Empire reports that a 40-year-old cruise ship worker from Honduras.was caught sexually assaulting a 26-year-old woman, also a crew member, from Ottawa, Canada.
On July 12th at 2:30 A.M., the woman reportedly had "left the crew bar and was walking back to her room alone when a man she didn’t know grabbed her from
I have received several calls this morning from friends in Montego Bay and Ocho Rios that the Freedom of the Seas is on fire as it approached the port of Falmouth, Jamaica.
I also have friends / former Royal Caribbean crew members in Falmouth who are going to obtain photographs of the blaze on the
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Defense Imagery and Video Systems has reported that the U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a 79 year-old passenger from the Carnival Breeze yesterday.
The cruise ship was approximately 90 miles northwest of San Juan, Puerto Rico when the passenger needed emergency medical treatment.
The Coast Guard helicopter hoisted the patient and a cruise ship nurse and transported
A 41 year old man returning on a cruise was arrested on child pornography charges last Thursday after his cruise ended and the ship returned to Charleston, South Carolina, according to a report in the Post and Courier newspaper.
The newspaper reports that Eric Jason Blankenship of West Virginia was charged with one count
A Stena cruise / ferry ship carrying 600 passengers collided with an oil tanker and sustained serious damage early today near Gothenburg, Sweden.
As you can see in the accompanying photo, the Stena Jutlandica was hit by the tanker on its port side. It reportedly took on water.
A Swedish newspaper said that the tanker
Le Télégramme reports that a British chef was found hanging in his cabin aboard the Crystal Serenity cruise ship.
The ship left Bordeaux yesterday for Brest. The crew member was found in his cabin Saturday morning.
The investigation and the autopsy reportedly will be held in Bordeaux.
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This is the third alleged suicide by hanging
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A Norwegian television station is reporting that a woman went overboard today from what is described as an "Italian cruise ship" near Flåm, Norway. The woman was critically injured.
TV 2 Nyhetene reports that the woman is 40 years of age and she went overboard after a violent episode with another person on the cruise ship.
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Cape Cod Today reports that the U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a sick passenger from a Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) cruise ship near Cape Cod yesterday evening.
The Norwegian Dawn contacted the USCG’s station in Boston around 8:30 PM and said that a 19-year-old woman suffering from appendicitis needed medical help.
A helicopter crew took off
The images posted on Twitter yesterday of ISIS blowing up an Egyptian Navy frigate are frightening.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The SITE Intel Group says that the terrorists destroyed the naval ship with a guided missile. The images were widely broadcast. Time and Al Jazeera and many other newspapers and news stations published
WNEM reports that Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut joined the family of George Smith to plead for a federal law to protect cruise passengers.
Senator Blumenthal and Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts have introduced the Cruise Passenger Protection Act of 2015. WNEM says that the new law will:
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Yesterday I announced that we will begin regularly featuring photos and videos from crew members of the conditions which they face working on cruise ships.
There was a spirited debate which followed on our Facebook page about the issue.
One cruise passenger commented: " No one forces these people to work on the cruise ships.
Over the years, crew members have sent me lots of stories about what it’s really like to work on a cruise ship. Lots of time they send photos and videos of the working conditions they face.
It’s not the pretty images shown to the guests who occasionally go on behind-the-scene tours.
"Ship life" is how
