Are Mega-Cruise-liners Safe?

[lighthouse206]

It was a real emergency and I did notice all but 3 of the boats had been launched from the starboard side last night and the same can be said for the port side.

 

Been well documented that the lifeboats were a problem....

 

When ship lists more than 20 degrees, they start to become unusable.... see last paragraph:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16576289

[keystonemama]

Lol tell your husband to take off his purse! These ships are completely safe (as are airliners). No matter how well built or safe these ships are you can't avoid stupidity and HUMAN ERROR, which is the case 95% of the time!

 

 

LOL, you tell all 6'5 of him, he carries it right behind his M16. :p

Happy Sailing,

[tntornadox]

The last image I saw of the ship before she rolled showed all lifeboats gone on the starboard side and there are none left on the port side, so at some point all lifeboats were lowered before the ship sank.

[Medtech2]

It does not matter whether the superstructure is made of steel or aluminum. The higher they build the superstructure, and the more passengers there are above the water-line, the higher the center of gravity will be. Taking this together with the shallow draft of these boats increases the possibility of them capsizing.

 

In addition, with the increasing number of cruise ships being built. there is a need for better trained and a more experienced crewmen. Yet the economy is forcing many if not all of the cruise-lines to cut the costs of operating these ships. This may have also contributed to what happened in respect to the Costa Concordia.

 

I am not saying that a small ship is disaster-proof, but cruise-lines will have to take into account what could happen when they are building larger and larger ships that may not be as seaworthy as the older liners.

The Titanic was smaller....

 

And "unsinkable"

 

.....

[Blurgh]

It was a real emergency and I did notice all but 3 of the boats had been launched from the starboard side last night and the same can be said for the port side.

 

If you lose 6 lifeboats on a full ship, that's kind of a problem. Next time you go out on the lower open deck, check the counts for each lifeboat. There's normally not an empty or even partially full one on a fully booked ship.

[cruisinfanatic]

If you lose 6 lifeboats on a full ship, that's kind of a problem. Next time you go out on the lower open deck, check the counts for each lifeboat. There's normally not an empty or even partially full one on a fully booked ship.

there are many life rafts that you are not counting

[TVMet]

On our bridge tour of the Carnival Dream last year (we were docked next to the Oasis) I ask the captain about the size of these ships. He said if you'd ask him if a ship the size of the Oasis was possible 10 years ago he would've said no. He said the biggest problem with the super-mega ships was the cost of operation starts to go up. The tour guide said (the crew trainer) for example, we saw in the laundry a huge machine that folds bed sheets automatically. It is a big machine, and expensive. The Dream class has to have 2 of these in case one is broken. But on the Oasis class, they need 2 for everyday operation, that means they really need 3 in case one is down. So, the guide and captain said these ships are getting so big and expensive to operate the financial reason for making them so big starts to go away. Someone ask the captain about the Dream's size and safety, he said the same thing stated earlier in the thread about how much aluminum is used on the top of the ship, which makes it much lighter than you'd think. The problem with aluminum is it can burn at high temperatures, as we saw with the Princess ship fire a few years ago. The captain said the biggest issue with the newer tall ships is the wind acting like a sail and pushing the ship in a way you don't want to go. He said the balconies don't help. He said he was much more concerned about high winds when docking than any other aspect of the ship. This is the same captain who was known to not want to dock in Roatan, BTW. Anyway, he was very nice and answered all of our questions, the tour was well worth the price.

[Blurgh]

there are many life rafts that you are not counting

 

They're accounted for, too. I'm sure they have a couple extra lying around, but still...

[tntornadox]

They're accounted for, too. I'm sure they have a couple extra lying around, but still...

 

More than a couple, from what I understand, most modern cruise ships carry nearly double the ships compliment in life rafts. You've no doubt seen them all over the Promenade deck in their white canisters.

[keystonemama]

My mother always told me if you can't say something nice don't........

But dang folks....you were born with brains-use them.

 

To the Mrs. above..I'm so very sorry you are barred from large ships (they can be a joy). Just because your husand spent time in the navy doesn't make him a marine engineer does it..in short, he doesn't have a clue as to what he is talking about. Want a low slung (NO superstructure ship)..try on the Edmund Fitsgerald....just take a look at an aircraft carier--talk about a top heavy ship.

 

Last major mega ship to sink...how about the Andrea Doria...again driver error in heavy fog but very low death count.

 

Listing..Yeah it listed...hit rocks in shallow water thus listing and rolling over on its side when it hit bottom. A ship does NOT list severely just becuase it has a hole on one side--what, the water behaves and just stays on the side with the hole? Big hole in the side will cause a slight list but that is about it until it goes down. Google pics of the Andrea Doria...listed and rolled at sea but took a long time...NO problem getting the rafts off.

 

This accident- stupidity of the captain and crew in following his navigational instructions. You follow orders but only to a point. You can bet every cruiseline is gonna have a "talk" with every officer reinforcing you do not pull such "drive by" stunts. As for the prior authorized driveby at a different location the year before..you can bet that will never be allowed again.

 

You also have issues with no SOS etc...the captain froze...you can test, drill etc all you want but until you get to an emergency you never know how someone will react. The captain of the airplane on the Hudson is a prime example of those who react well under stress in an emergency while this incident is an example of just the opposite.

 

Ah, yet again, another poster who can't read well, where did I say I was barred? This southern chic was raised right, no one "barrs" me. If I choose to go, I will go, DH or no DH.

Where did I say he was an engineer, didn't, he did however get injured in Iraq along w/7 of his best men who didn't make it, he fights so you will have a "free" opinion, whether it's considered right or wrong.

Although he is very smart as is his DW and since our youngest son is in pre-med I guess that mean's he got good genes from somewhere.

And...you didn't listen to your mama, cause you weren't being nice saying he doesn't have a clue as to what he's talking about. BS. Nice enough? He has an opinion like everyone else, your's doesn't make you right, just different.

Happy Sailing,

[lillian marie]

I'm not a fan of the mega ships either not on safety features but on simple size and number of guests, too crowded for me. I'm going on the conquest soon and that's as big as I'll cruise.

[Tyron]

My mother always told me if you can't say something nice don't........

But dang folks....you were born with brains-use them.

 

To the Mrs. above..I'm so very sorry you are barred from large ships (they can be a joy). Just because your husand spent time in the navy doesn't make him a marine engineer does it..in short, he doesn't have a clue as to what he is talking about. Want a low slung (NO superstructure ship)..try on the Edmund Fitsgerald....just take a look at an aircraft carier--talk about a top heavy ship.

 

Last major mega ship to sink...how about the Andrea Doria...again driver error in heavy fog but very low death count.

 

Listing..Yeah it listed...hit rocks in shallow water thus listing and rolling over on its side when it hit bottom. A ship does NOT list severely just becuase it has a hole on one side--what, the water behaves and just stays on the side with the hole? Big hole in the side will cause a slight list but that is about it until it goes down. Google pics of the Andrea Doria...listed and rolled at sea but took a long time...NO problem getting the rafts off.

 

This accident- stupidity of the captain and crew in following his navigational instructions. You follow orders but only to a point. You can bet every cruiseline is gonna have a "talk" with every officer reinforcing you do not pull such "drive by" stunts. As for the prior authorized driveby at a different location the year before..you can bet that will never be allowed again.

 

You also have issues with no SOS etc...the captain froze...you can test, drill etc all you want but until you get to an emergency you never know how someone will react. The captain of the airplane on the Hudson is a prime example of those who react well under stress in an emergency while this incident is an example of just the opposite.

It was stated by some of the officers that the captain deliberately steered the ship towards the island once he realized how bad the accident was... :) I guess we'll get a formal report from Costa/Carnival Corporation that'll put an end to the speculation and shut some mouths. :D

[wwaggone]

My DH will agree with you. He refuses to get on a ship as large as the Allure or the Oasis of the Seas. Mind you, he is ex-Navy. He has traveled extensively, on fuel tankers and air craft carriers. He takes one look at the number of people and the build of these ships and says "No". It is too large, it can capsize to easily, I will not sail on that.

 

No problem, plenty of smaller ships to choose from for my vacation's. :D

 

 

 

Happy Sailing,

 

Just got back from the Allure of the Seas and you are really missing out on an incredible ship. It was the easiest embarkation and debarkation process we have ever had including all our port stops and never felt crowded.