Your travel safety protocols... after Costa Tragedy

[drarill]

I have been following the Costa tragedy and decided that we can all benefit from our “travel safety protocols”. For example years ago, for our first Mediterranean Cruise, someone suggested that we should have a “virtual” copy of our passports. We did, in case someone loses their passport, it is easier if you can print a copy and take it to your embassy.

-My husband always carries a small flashlight on his backpack. In case of an emergency this backpack, with copies of our passports, some money and other essentials is easy to get at our cabin

-Have a “virtual” copy of your credit cards. If you can afford having an AmExPlatinum Card, it will also be a good idea.

-Discuss your emergency plan with your family. At the muster drills they usually tell you to go to your room, get your medicines and essentials, and change to something warm and comfortable shoes. If you have children discuss with them if you are going to meet at your cabin or the muster station.

-We are D+ Crown & Anchor members, and we have witnessed how the muster drills have changed over the years. Lifejackets are not required during the drills anymore (same in Disney, NCL and Celebrity). If you are new to cruising, it will be a good idea to try the lifejackets in your stateroom.

Please share your ideas with your CC community, and tell us what you will do different after reading the threads about the Costa tragedy.

[clean1owner]

I have been following the Costa tragedy and decided that we can all benefit from our “travel safety protocols”. For example years ago, for our first Mediterranean Cruise, someone suggested that we should have a “virtual” copy of our passports. We did, in case someone loses their passport, it is easier if you can print a copy and take it to your embassy.

-My husband always carries a small flashlight on his backpack. In case of an emergency this backpack, with copies of our passports, some money and other essentials is easy to get at our cabin

-Have a “virtual” copy of your credit cards. If you can afford having an AmExPlatinum Card, it will also be a good idea.

-Discuss your emergency plan with your family. At the muster drills they usually tell you to go to your room, get your medicines and essentials, and change to something warm and comfortable shoes. If you have children discuss with them if you are going to meet at your cabin or the muster station.

-We are D+ Crown & Anchor members, and we have witnessed how the muster drills have changed over the years. Lifejackets are not required during the drills anymore (same in Disney, NCL and Celebrity). If you are new to cruising, it will be a good idea to try the lifejackets in your stateroom.

Please share your ideas with your CC community, and tell us what you will do different after reading the threads about the Costa tragedy.

 

Not a thing.

[bplazo]

Op that is a good idea about the backpack and to have a small flashlight.

[sparky-elpaso]

All good ideas. I do have copies of our passports which I carry in my bag but I hadn't thought of making copies of our credit cards. It probably would be a good idea to leave copies of everything with our son at home too.

[sherilyn70]

I have copies of my passport, birth certificate and drivers license all available in a secure document online. I also have links to all of my credit cards available globally on the internet. I try to always have an ID on me physically at all times, on the cruise ship however I wasn't walking around with a credit card and may change that even though it's not needed when on board. I always took my phone with me into ports even when it was off for "just in case" there was an emergency as well.

 

When I go out in normal every day life I always have my debit card, a back up credit card (with a fairly high limit), and my ID on me for emergencies even if I wasn't planning on spending any money. I also always have my cell phone on me. I think I may carry over over all of these practices for the cruise in a few weeks.

[dwdwnurse]

These are all great suggestions. I have always made copies of our Passports and driver's licenses, but have never scanned them and sent to an email address. I will definitely do this before our next cruise!

 

Thanks!

[Kartgv]

We just posted this on the "Ask a Cruise Question" board in response to a "Will you continue to cruise?" question. Yes we'll still cruise and try to follow the wise old advice to "Live each day as if it were your last". We've always been very conscious of exits and emergency procedures, so no change there. We will, however, add an emergency information packet to the small purse DW always carries. A ziplock bag will include copies of our passports, some cash, a list of emergency phone numbers (especially our TA and our travel insurance company), one credit card. A small flashlight will also go in the purse, as well as maybe a 2 day supply of critical prescription medicine. All of this will take up very little room and will hopefully never be needed, but we now know that it could make a tremendous difference if there were a ship emergency or even if you ever got left in a port.

[mmgg4422]

tell us what you will do different after reading the threads about the Costa tragedy.

 

I will do nothing different. But if something like this actually makes you think, I suggest you lock your screen doors and start to wear tin foil on your head to keep the aliens from reading your thoughts...

[bubbadog]

You should take your family,and go to the small life rafts,That are on several decks,and go over the procedures to launch a rafts,that are in those small barrel containers,ALWAYS grab the line,that is on the end of the container,and TIE THIS OFF FIRST, tie it to the railing,ok do your searches, for the rest of the instructions,HOPE this helps you,on your next cruise,Have a safe and wonderful cruise:))):p This is why i like to book higher balcony rooms,and not insides on lower levels,

PS. Alot of times,people or passengers,Will be frantic,and not tie off raft,so when they launch it it floats away and the people are without a raft.ok i will be quiet lol:))):o

[tazdeb]

I think most of you should take extra care driving to the port......your most likley to get injured during that part of your trip.

[CruisinGerman]

After what is coming out of the news, I think that cruise lines also need to revise emergency protocols and passengers, like myself, need to be more aware of them when taking a cruise.

 

1. I think all muster stations should be led by an emergency expert from the Security and Safety Department, not by waiters, dancers and bartenders as is commonly done now.

 

2. I think that two licensed tender/evacuation boat pilots should be assigned to each evacuation boat station. Your waiter doesn't tender you to port in Grand Cayman or Santorini -- why should he be the one to rescue you when the ship sinks?

 

It is just now coming out in the news that a 48-year old Colombian waiter who has worked for Costa for 17 years drove the life boat back and forth 10 times to rescue about 500 people.

 

3. If it is no longer going to be mandatory to wear life vests to the muster drill, I think everyone should practice in front of the room steward as to how they are used, or be made to watch a video. If life vests are no longer placed in the cabins, passengers must be made to know exactly where to obtain them.

 

4. Cruise lines, when building newer ships, should start to remember that a ship is not a land building, and should limit the size and location of large crystal chandeliers and other large items of glass that easily fall, shatter and injure passengers.

 

5. International maritime safety organizations should carefully examine the fact that ships are getting larger and larger and perhaps limit this. The only reason the cruise lines want to build larger and larger ships is to pack more and more people in them for revenue purposes and economy of scale. The same activities can be accomplished on smaller ships. No matter how modern, state-of-the-art a ship may be and no matter how highly-trained the crew is purported to be, in a true disaster or other emergency, it would be quite difficult to evacuate 6,000 to 7,000 people no matter how calm people might remain, and people, by nature, do not remain calm.

 

6. Cruise lines, just like any other multinational corporation, should have disaster and emergency plans and protocols in place and advertised to the passenger as to what assistance will be provided and how. It is downright shameful that people are just being dumped in Rome with no other assistance, just as it was shameful how RCCL dumped passengers in San Juan awhile back, and how the Brilliance broke down and passengers were just removed from the ship, or how Celebrity broke down in Villefranche and just dumped passengers off the ship.

 

Just my two euro cents and I do hope that the remainder of the passengers are accounted for and no more deaths are reported.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[clean1owner]

You should take your family,and go to the small life rafts,That are on several decks,and go over the procedures to launch a rafts,that are in those small barrel containers,ALWAYS grab the line,that is on the end of the container,and TIE THIS OFF FIRST, tie it to the railing,ok do your searches, for the rest of the instructions,HOPE this helps you,on your next cruise,Have a safe and wonderful cruise:))):p This is why i like to book higher balcony rooms,and not insides on lower levels,

 

PS. Alot of times,people or passengers,Will be frantic,and not tie off raft,so when they launch it it floats away and the people are without a raft.ok i will be quiet :)lol)):o

 

 

A lot of times??? How often do these things go down? Am I leading such a sheltered life that I am missing something?

[KarinaGW]

I have been following the Costa tragedy and decided that we can all benefit from our “travel safety protocols”. For example years ago, for our first Mediterranean Cruise, someone suggested that we should have a “virtual” copy of our passports. We did, in case someone loses their passport, it is easier if you can print a copy and take it to your embassy.

-My husband always carries a small flashlight on his backpack. In case of an emergency this backpack, with copies of our passports, some money and other essentials is easy to get at our cabin

-Have a “virtual” copy of your credit cards. If you can afford having an AmExPlatinum Card, it will also be a good idea.

-Discuss your emergency plan with your family. At the muster drills they usually tell you to go to your room, get your medicines and essentials, and change to something warm and comfortable shoes. If you have children discuss with them if you are going to meet at your cabin or the muster station.

-We are D+ Crown & Anchor members, and we have witnessed how the muster drills have changed over the years. Lifejackets are not required during the drills anymore (same in Disney, NCL and Celebrity). If you are new to cruising, it will be a good idea to try the lifejackets in your stateroom.

Please share your ideas with your CC community, and tell us what you will do different after reading the threads about the Costa tragedy.

 

I have .jpgs of both our passports on my phone and a very bright flashlight app on same. I have a ziplock bag I carry in my pocket/purse for it in case of rain locally (likely) and, I guess, ship sinking (REALLY REALLY unlikely).

[Artemis908]

I read a post done by one of the passengers from Costa on these forums and I got the impression that the crew members on the boat didn't know how to drive the life boat. That's definitely a start... I think it's okay that the waiters are taking charge during an emergency but they should know what to do... and how to operate a life boat.

 

I noticed Princess' muster drill was a lot more intense and long. In fact a few people passed out during it. They packed us pretty tightly and made us stand for a pretty long time, a lot of older people couldn't take it. I was getting a little light headed too because I was in a wedding dress with a corset. :P

[Phillies14]

After what is coming out of the news, I think that cruise lines also need to revise emergency protocols and passengers, like myself, need to be more aware of them when taking a cruise.

 

1. I think all muster stations should be led by an emergency expert from the Security and Safety Department, not by waiters, dancers and bartenders as is commonly done now.

 

2. I think that two licensed tender/evacuation boat pilots should be assigned to each evacuation boat station. Your waiter doesn't tender you to port in Grand Cayman or Santorini -- why should he be the one to rescue you when the ship sinks?

 

It is just now coming out in the news that a 48-year old Colombian waiter who has worked for Costa for 17 years drove the life boat back and forth 10 times to rescue about 500 people.

 

3. If it is no longer going to be mandatory to wear life vests to the muster drill, I think everyone should practice in front of the room steward as to how they are used, or be made to watch a video. If life vests are no longer placed in the cabins, passengers must be made to know exactly where to obtain them.

 

4. Cruise lines, when building newer ships, should start to remember that a ship is not a land building, and should limit the size and location of large crystal chandeliers and other large items of glass that easily fall, shatter and injure passengers.

 

5. International maritime safety organizations should carefully examine the fact that ships are getting larger and larger and perhaps limit this. The only reason the cruise lines want to build larger and larger ships is to pack more and more people in them for revenue purposes and economy of scale. The same activities can be accomplished on smaller ships. No matter how modern, state-of-the-art a ship may be and no matter how highly-trained the crew is purported to be, in a true disaster or other emergency, it would be quite difficult to evacuate 6,000 to 7,000 people no matter how calm people might remain, and people, by nature, do not remain calm.

 

6. Cruise lines, just like any other multinational corporation, should have disaster and emergency plans and protocols in place and advertised to the passenger as to what assistance will be provided and how. It is downright shameful that people are just being dumped in Rome with no other assistance, just as it was shameful how RCCL dumped passengers in San Juan awhile back, and how the Brilliance broke down and passengers were just removed from the ship, or how Celebrity broke down in Villefranche and just dumped passengers off the ship.

 

Just my two euro cents and I do hope that the remainder of the passengers are accounted for and no more deaths are reported.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

Your kidding right....I'll do nothing different, kind regards:rolleyes:

[rumpelstiltskin]

Admittedly, I've never paid close enough attention to the muster drill instructions.:o

 

And I've haven't packed a small flashlight over the past several trips, so that will change, too.

[macfin]

I do not think it will, not make us cruise, as a matter of fact we are booked this may on explorer..with that bein said, i/we will be more vigilant in watching paying attetion to the muster drill and the directions on the back of the door...i am an avid sailor of 30-40' sail boats, when we go out we always have back ups for doc's on land with somebody...

 

i will always carry my walet as i do now when i am on a cruise..it always has everything in it in a copy form...

 

the important thing is to be vigilant!!

[Beth C]

I would be leery of keeping copies of your passport, credit cards etc on you at all times... you're more apt to be pick pocketed / robbed in port than you would be to go down on a sinking ship. If someone gets your magic ziploc bag of information... same as keeping images of it on your cellphone - not the most secure and i'm thinking that my iPhone as amazing as it is, will be rendered useless once it's soaked in salt water. I leave a copy of my passport home with a friend or neighbour who can then fax it to me if ever needed and i'm hoping they have enough credit on their credit card to get my butt home!

[clean1owner]

After what is coming out of the news, I think that cruise lines also need to revise emergency protocols and passengers, like myself, need to be more aware of them when taking a cruise.

 

1. I think all muster stations should be led by an emergency expert from the Security and Safety Department, not by waiters, dancers and bartenders as is commonly done now.

 

2. I think that two licensed tender/evacuation boat pilots should be assigned to each evacuation boat station. Your waiter doesn't tender you to port in Grand Cayman or Santorini -- why should he be the one to rescue you when the ship sinks?

 

It is just now coming out in the news that a 48-year old Colombian waiter who has worked for Costa for 17 years drove the life boat back and forth 10 times to rescue about 500 people.

 

3. If it is no longer going to be mandatory to wear life vests to the muster drill, I think everyone should practice in front of the room steward as to how they are used, or be made to watch a video. If life vests are no longer placed in the cabins, passengers must be made to know exactly where to obtain them.

 

4. Cruise lines, when building newer ships, should start to remember that a ship is not a land building, and should limit the size and location of large crystal chandeliers and other large items of glass that easily fall, shatter and injure passengers.

 

5. International maritime safety organizations should carefully examine the fact that ships are getting larger and larger and perhaps limit this. The only reason the cruise lines want to build larger and larger ships is to pack more and more people in them for revenue purposes and economy of scale. The same activities can be accomplished on smaller ships. No matter how modern, state-of-the-art a ship may be and no matter how highly-trained the crew is purported to be, in a true disaster or other emergency, it would be quite difficult to evacuate 6,000 to 7,000 people no matter how calm people might remain, and people, by nature, do not remain calm.

 

6. Cruise lines, just like any other multinational corporation, should have disaster and emergency plans and protocols in place and advertised to the passenger as to what assistance will be provided and how. It is downright shameful that people are just being dumped in Rome with no other assistance, just as it was shameful how RCCL dumped passengers in San Juan awhile back, and how the Brilliance broke down and passengers were just removed from the ship, or how Celebrity broke down in Villefranche and just dumped passengers off the ship.

 

Just my two euro cents and I do hope that the remainder of the passengers are accounted for and no more deaths are reported.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

Your kidding right....I'll do nothing different, kind regards:rolleyes:

 

Unfortunately, I don't think Gunther / Uta is kidding.

 

When something like this happens, there will always be those who overreact and start calling for more regulation that would have done nothing to stop this accident from happening. As more and more reports of what happened come out, the more it looks like the accident was caused by human error. The Captain messed up.

 

Human error is the #1 cause of commercial carrier accidents that result in death. No matter how hard you try, you simply can't regulate stupidity.

[clean1owner]

Sorry double post

[teajak]

All good ideas. I do have copies of our passports which I carry in my bag but I hadn't thought of making copies of our credit cards. It probably would be a good idea to leave copies of everything with our son at home too.

We put copies of our credit cards and passports on the bulletin board in our kitchen, our daughter and our neighbor each know exactly where they are.We also take a copy with us.

[TPKeller]

These are all great suggestions. I have always made copies of our Passports and driver's licenses, but have never scanned them and sent to an email address. I will definitely do this before our next cruise!

 

Thanks!

This is an age-old tip, but always worth saying again. It's even easier to do this if you use one of the large web-based e-mail providers, such as GMail or Yahoo. Just mail the scans to yourself, and move them into some sort of a reference folder. That way they're easy to find, even years from now. Make sure you keep an eye on the expiration dates, and send new scans as you get new cards and passports.

 

Theron

[Cruise_Kitten]

In response to a post:

 

1. I think all muster stations should be led by an emergency expert from the Security and Safety Department, not by waiters, dancers and bartenders as is commonly done now. I believe all staff should be trained to handle any emergency not just certain officials, more trained people, better chance of being helped!

 

2. I think that two licensed tender/evacuation boat pilots should be assigned to each evacuation boat station. Your waiter doesn't tender you to port in Grand Cayman or Santorini -- why should he be the one to rescue you when the ship sinks? The only reason the waiter was helping was because the officials who were meant to be doing their duty were no where to be seen by anyone!

 

It is just now coming out in the news that a 48-year old Colombian waiter who has worked for Costa for 17 years drove the life boat back and forth 10 times to rescue about 500 people. At least he was doing something unlike the Captain who ran off as soon as he could!

 

3. If it is no longer going to be mandatory to wear life vests to the muster drill, I think everyone should practice in front of the room steward as to how they are used, or be made to watch a video. If life vests are no longer placed in the cabins, passengers must be made to know exactly where to obtain them. Have you taken your life jacket out and then tried to put it back neat and tidy? I have, it's like a puzzle! I'm not saying it shouldn't be done but it never goes back the same way it came out!

 

4. Cruise lines, when building newer ships, should start to remember that a ship is not a land building, and should limit the size and location of large crystal chandeliers and other large items of glass that easily fall, shatter and injure passengers. All these are taken in to consideration before they are placed, built or even designed. But you could say the same about cars, trains, planes or anything that carries people!

 

5. International maritime safety organizations should carefully examine the fact that ships are getting larger and larger and perhaps limit this. The only reason the cruise lines want to build larger and larger ships is to pack more and more people in them for revenue purposes and economy of scale. The same activities can be accomplished on smaller ships. No matter how modern, state-of-the-art a ship may be and no matter how highly-trained the crew is purported to be, in a true disaster or other emergency, it would be quite difficult to evacuate 6,000 to 7,000 people no matter how calm people might remain, and people, by nature, do not remain calm. Yes people do panic but they should have more then enough common sense to realise that if they stayed calm then the situation would be smoother. It's these people that panic that caused the situation to get out of control in the first place!

 

6. Cruise lines, just like any other multinational corporation, should have disaster and emergency plans and protocols in place and advertised to the passenger as to what assistance will be provided and how. It is downright shameful that people are just being dumped in Rome with no other assistance, just as it was shameful how RCCL dumped passengers in San Juan awhile back, and how the Brilliance broke down and passengers were just removed from the ship, or how Celebrity broke down in Villefranche and just dumped passengers off the ship. Should you not do this yourself? Are you not a responsible adult that takes out travel insurance before you go on holiday? I certainly do. I also make sure I have a back up plan and a second back up plan! I have traveled enough to know what to do in emergencies, CALL MY EMBASSY!

 

I Don't know what other countries are getting but our news in the UK seems pretty accurate as we have accounts from some of our Brits who were on the ship. The Captain fled the ship, the officials were nowhere to be seen, the other members of staff had to do the duties of others and panic was spread across the ship because they were not told what to do before the ship even left port! All because of the one stupid decision of the captain to give the passengers and the islanders a show! Well the certainly got one didn't they!

 

CK x

[Mac303]

When we cruise, I always carry our US Passport Card's along side my seapass, and credit card, even if the passport card is not valid for use on air travel, it is a valid proof of US Citizenship, and will help speed up the process of getting a new passport in the event something occured.

 

The cost was $20 dollars (ea) when we renewed our passports.

[ksuds]

I would hope with this horrible incident, more focus is put on training all cruise staff for emergencies.

 

Yes, we all assume nothing will ever happen. But from what I've read and seen on TV, the Costa staff did not handle this situation well. Very disorganized and no leadership.